Chapter 555: The Daily Use of the Common People is the Way

Zhu Zhu Yijun was not a dictator who couldn't listen to a single opinion. Otherwise, how could someone like Lin Lin Fucheng, who pointed fingers at state affairs all day, have survived? How could it be his turn to chatter endlessly?

Lin Lin Fucheng had always been very cautious, hovering on the edge of the red line.

"If you are not in that position, do not discuss state affairs."

You are not in that position, so you don't know what kind of difficulties you have to face. Pointing out problems is certainly fine, but if you insist on planning specific decrees, you can take the path of the imperial examination and climb step by step to the highest position.

Just like Zhang Zhang Juzheng, who climbed to the top of the mountain and looked down at all the mountains, planning the fate of the empire.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng was such a vivid example right here.

Zhu Zhu Yijun took one last look at Li Zhi. This trip to the capital seemed to have been a heavy blow to him; he looked a bit dejected.

A playboy Young Master had sprayed Li Zhi until he was speechless, making Li Zhi somewhat doubt his life. He felt that the capital was indeed full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers!

Young Master Huang and Young Master Wang—were they ordinary people? One backed by the Grand General's mansion, the other backed by a father who was the Second Assistant and Minister of Justice. They were not ordinary people. Moreover, these two were eloquent, which was well-known to everyone in the capital. Even Lin Lin Fucheng, who had shown off in many gatherings and fought against Confucian scholars without falling behind, was no match for Young Master Huang.

Young Master Huang was not a playboy at all; he was clearly the demon king himself, the one the warriors challenged. The demon king not only didn't stay in the palace and set up various levels of challenges to let the warriors gain comrades and equipment on the way, but instead blocked the entrance to the novice village and slaughtered everyone. That was naturally invincible, but it was also somewhat "not following the martial arts."

"Investigate Li Zhi's past and send it to the palace," Zhu Zhu Yijun instructed the Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander Zhao Zhao Mengyu. One day—the Great Ming Emperor wanted to know all the information about Li Zhi. Three minutes was a bit too difficult.

Zhao Zhao Mengyu accepted the order and handed it over to the Criminal Investigation Battalion Commander. Zhao Zhao Mengyu didn't need to go out in person for a hermit like Li Zhi.

The emergence of freedom factions like Li Zhi and Lin Lin Fucheng was very normal, because Great Ming's economic structure was quietly undergoing earth-shaking changes, especially with the five major maritime trade offices as the main focus. Lin Lin Fucheng was from Songjiang Prefecture, and Li Zhi was from Quanzhou. Both were at the forefront of opening the seas, thinking about where Great Ming should go amidst cultural exchange and integration.

The empire's economic structure was changing, and the social structure was changing rapidly as a result. Society would move toward transformation. During this time of transformation, everyone in Great Ming was thinking about institutional changes. In the wave of great reflection, all kinds of figures would inevitably emerge—a hundred schools of thought contending, a hundred flowers blooming.

It would be strange if Li Zhi didn't come after hearing about the gathering and talking style in the capital.

This kind of gathering and talking without any bottom line or rules was actually very dangerous. It would tear apart all the collectives in Great Ming, and then they would fight endlessly around various propositions. The freedom faction was the first to emerge because they were the boldest, had the least constraints, were the most committed to breaking old rules and customs, were the most daring to question, and were the most daring to express themselves.

Zhu Zhu Yijun watched the fun and even personally entered the field to block the warriors at the entrance of the novice village. In fact, he was setting the rules. The rule was that you could discover problems and express opinions, but you couldn't point fingers at policies, attack the court's decrees with an attitude of "I am absolutely correct," and take further actions that would worsen the situation in Great Ming.

Taking Li Zhi's gathering and talking proposition as an example, he threw out a radical theory, attracted everyone's attention, and then kept drumming up this radical theory, making more and more people believe and support it, until it finally became a combined force that influenced the imperial court's decrees.

"No representation, no taxation." Then, since there was no representative for the poor laborers in the court, the poor laborers didn't have to pay taxes. This looked very beautiful, but with "putting the wrong hat on the wrong head" and impersonation, those classes above the poor laborers would snatch the definition of "poor laborers," because there were no rules, and they would be even more unscrupulous in their exploitation of those below.

This was already happening in Great Ming; it wasn't Zhu Zhu Yijun worrying about nothing. In the early years of Great Ming, there were a large number of relief institutions and official residences in various prefectures to settle wandering people who had nowhere to go and help them survive the harsh winter. However, these relief institutions and official residences were occupied by some people. They clearly possessed a vast amount of resources, yet they still coveted the life-saving grain of the poor laborers, cutting off their last hope.

Zhu Zhu Yijun returned to the palace. Li Zhi's personal resume was already placed before the Emperor's imperial desk. All the articles Li Zhi had written before entering the capital were also placed before the Emperor.

Li Zhi was no longer young. He was born in the sixth year of Emperor Jiajing and was already fifty-six years old, only two years younger than Zhang Zhang Juzheng. Eleven years ago, when Zhang Zhang Juzheng was forty-seven, he was already the Grand Secretary of the Empire.

Li Zhi and Zhang Zhang Juzheng were both scholars of Great Ming. They both stepped onto the stage of the imperial examination. Li Zhi became a scholar at twenty-two and a *juren* at twenty-six, but Li Zhi did not pass the palace examination. Like Hence Hai Rui, he became an instructor. Li Zhi became an instructor in the thirty-sixth year of Emperor Jiajing, and retired from the position of Prefect of Yao'an in Yunnan in the ninth year of Emperor Wanli.

"First an official, then a monk—nothing strange about that." Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at Li Zhi's life and found that compared to Hence Hai Rui, who carried a coffin to remonstrate, and Zhang Zhang Juzheng, who tried to save the empire as a regent, Li Zhi's political achievements were not prominent. It wasn't that they weren't prominent; he was a person of no fame. His evaluations for several years couldn't even be considered very good.

Standing from the perspective of the Emperor Zhu Zhu Yijun, Li Zhi failed to climb up in the officialdom.

After retiring from the position of Prefect of Yao'an in Yunnan, Li Zhi lived in the home of Geng Prince Dingxiang's younger brother, Geng Geng Dingli. Geng Prince Dingxiang did not like Li Zhi's rebelliousness, so after Geng Geng Dingli became seriously ill, Li Zhi moved to Macheng, and later returned to Quanzhou, and then came to the capital from Quanzhou.

The gathering and talking style in the capital was extremely popular. Li Zhi entering the capital to gather and talk was also for his own propositions, belonging to his own theory of freedom.

At the age of twelve, Li Zhi began to criticize Confucius, or rather, Li Zhi had always been the kind of person who was not very willing to be bound by rules.

This kind of person was not liked in the officialdom because the officialdom was a place where rules were greater than heaven. Li Zhi, who didn't follow the rules, naturally had a bumpy official career.

"On Old Farmers and Old Vegetable Growers." Zhu Zhu Yijun saw what Li Zhi said about Confucius when he was twelve.

"Old farmers and old vegetable growers" comes from the *Analects of Confucius, Zilu*.

Confucius's disciple Fan Chi asked to learn how to farm. Confucius said: I am not as good as an old farmer. Fan Chi then asked to learn how to grow vegetables. Confucius said: I am not as good as a vegetable grower.

After Fan Chi left, Confucius said to his disciples: "Fan Xu is a petty person! If those in power love ritual, then no commoner dares not to be respectful; if those in power love righteousness, then no commoner dares not to obey; if those in power love trust, then no commoner dares not to be sincere. If it is like this, then the people from all four directions will carry their children on their backs and come. Where is the need for farming?"

Fan Chi is a petty person. If those in power love ritual, then no commoner dares not to be respectful; if those in power love righteousness, then no commoner dares not to obey; if those in power love sincerity, then no commoner dares not to be honest. As long as you use ritual, righteousness, and trust, then the people from all four directions will come to join you. Where is the need for farming?

This is the same principle as Mencius using the division of labor to refute the agricultural school. The Great Harmony world pursued by Confucianism is a world with strict hierarchy, where everyone does their own thing well.

"The virtuous and the people plow together" is the proposition of the agricultural scholar Xu Xing, and Mencius used the division of labor to refute Xu Xing.

In the way of Confucius and Mencius, ritual is greater than everything. Therefore, when the Emperor pushes the plow in the spring every year to sacrifice to the spring god, he just does it for show, expressing an attitude of joint participation.

Zhu Zhu Yijun's personal involvement in farming was a very rebellious act. It didn't cause any trouble at the beginning because everyone thought it was a ten-year-old child fooling around. At that time, there wasn't a single scholar-official in the court who knew how to farm. It was Xu Xu Zhenming, who was active in the capital, who was sent to the Emperor.

But ten years later, today, the fire rooms for sweet potato seedling cultivation have spread all over the country. Sweet potatoes, a famine-relief food, have been widely planted. At the same time, various forage grasses from the West have been planted all over Suiyuan, and sugarcane, rubber trees, and palm trees have been planted all over the plantations in Nanyang.

To a certain extent, Zhu Zhu Yijun's behavior is very consistent with Li Zhi's theory.

For example, Li Zhi believes that women should also read books. The Great Ming women's school and weaving institute is the first public school in the history of the Central Plains to provide a place for women to read books. Before this, women's reading was all family education.

Li Zhi said that there is no representative of the poor laborers in the court, and the poor laborers and farmers of Great Ming are highly overlapping.

Can an emperor who knows how to farm be a farmer, or rather, have the qualifications to be a representative of the poor laborers? The various decrees formulated in the Great Ming court need to be explained to the Emperor—that is, they must be responsible to the farmers of the world.

Zhu Zhu Yijun believes that he has this qualification. He started farming at the age of ten, personally engages in farming every year, and has personally been to the barren lands, seeing the diligence and helplessness of Great Ming's farmers. Lin Lin Fucheng pointing at Baoding Prefecture and scolding the Emperor for being incompetent—Zhu Zhu Yijun, as the final reviewer, endured Lin Lin Fucheng and let him scold. Wasn't it just to make the lives of the people better?

"The decree to abolish the status of base-born slaves is a virtue of supreme benevolence. In the fields of the countryside, there are still many suffering people."

The Emperor's imperial edict abolished the status of base-born slaves, and the scholar-officials in the court were all singing praises. This is naturally a benevolent policy, but in the fields of the countryside, there are still many suffering people. The Great Ming Emperor's imperial edict is just like passing gas; it has no use at all.

This is denying Zhu Zhu Yijun's efforts, and even accusing Zhu Zhu Yijun of being incompetent. You, a dignified Emperor, issued an imperial edict that has no use—if that's not incompetence, what is? Zhu Zhu Yijun just deleted this sour poem, but the whole article was kept. The whole article was criticizing the fact that the Emperor's decrees were not implemented.

Zhu Zhu Yijun feels that he, this Emperor, is qualified to represent the poor laborers. He would rather be scolded than let the lives of the people get better.

Li Zhi criticized Confucius at the age of twelve, which was a bit of "childish words without taboo." Li Zhi asked at the age of twelve: "If he doesn't study how to farm, what does Confucius eat and drink?"

Li Zhi is a person who doesn't follow the rules, so he is naturally incompatible with the eight-legged essay. In Li Zhi's own words: "I cannot fit into the deep heart of Master Zhu, so I wonder at myself and want to abandon it." I am a bit strange and cannot fit into Zhu Xi's set, so I can only abandon it.

Zhu Zhu Yijun likes Li Zhi's articles very much. Li Zhi is the enemy of the base-born Confucian scholars for a lifetime. Compared with this, the criticism of the base-born Confucian scholars in the court seems very gentle, and Zhu Zhu Yijun's criticism seems gentle.

Li Zhi even scolds Confucius. As for Mencius and the Neo-Confucianism of Zhu and Cheng, in Li Zhi's pen, they are simply garbage swept into the historical trash heap.

"According to Li Zhi's statement, we should have another burning of books and burying of scholars." Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at Li Zhi's articles and laughed happily at Feng Bao.

Feng Bao leaned over to look and said with great disgust, "Madman's crazy words. When he said these things, he didn't even have the theory of contradictions. Burn all the Confucian classics and bury all the Confucian scholars—what will you use? He speaks nicely. These wild madmen in the folk have always been like this, thinking they have mastered the truth, and pointing fingers is the most annoying thing."

"The Master and His Majesty co-authored the theory of contradictions, which is something that can be used as a replacement. Doesn't it take time to have an effect? If you really do as he says, that will be chaos in the world. It's like people needing to wear clothes—if you burn the clothes and don't have new ones, what will you wear?"

Feng Bao doesn't like these madmen at all, including Lin Lin Fucheng. Eating the Emperor's food and drinking the Emperor's drink, relying on the Emperor, and then turning around to be sarcastic to the Emperor—what kind of thing is that!

If it weren't for the Emperor stopping him, Lin Lin Fucheng would have been in big trouble long ago. The secret agents of the Eastern Depot are not eating imperial grain for nothing.

"It's quite good." Zhu Zhu Yijun still likes Li Zhi's articles very much. He shouldn't have thrown out radical theories. If he organized the collections he had written over the years and published them, he could also become a pillar of the capital's literary world.

Li Zhi was just meeting the demon king who blocked the novice village. Otherwise, in the literary world of the capital, he would also be a great killer.

"Haha, this Li Zhi didn't come by himself; he was driven to the capital by the Quanzhou area. Hahaha." Zhu Zhu Yijun laughed as he read.

Li Zhi was "politely sent out of the border." After Li Zhi returned to Quanzhou, the Prefect of Quanzhou looked at him and thought, "Good, such a big sprayer has returned. You should go to the capital to show off your power!" The Quanzhou area was too small to accommodate this big Buddha, so he gave him some travel expenses and sent him to the capital.

"The local area has no way to deal with this kind of opinion-monger. Suppress him? That's blocking the path of speech. Don't suppress him? That's really hateful. It's better to send him out of the jurisdiction and let others have a headache. This Quanzhou Prefect has no loyalty to the monarch at all, sending such a hot potato to the capital," Feng Bao said fiercely. When he could speak ill of civil officials, there wasn't a single good word in Feng Bao's mouth.

When Tan Lun was still in the Jin Party, Feng Bao also outputted to Tan Lun. Later, when Tan Lun made it clear that he would no longer be with the Jin Party, Feng Bao immediately praised Tan Lun for knowing his mistakes and turning back.

"Looking at his experience in Huangzhou Prefecture, it's very suitable, sigh." Zhu Zhu Yijun studied Li Zhi's articles seriously and was sure that Li Zhi had a lot of things, but he played the wrong cards. Li Zhi's experience after retiring was no longer a tragedy that could be described.

At this time, in the Guangde Bookstore, Li Zhi visited Lin Lin Fucheng with gifts.

Lin Lin Fucheng, as the leader of the Songjiang Freedom School, had to be visited by Li Zhi, an older freedom faction member. Lin Lin Fucheng didn't want to accept the gifts and was prepared to drive the person and the gifts out together, but in the end, Lin Lin Fucheng generously forgave Li Zhi and didn't haggle over every detail.

Young Master Huang likes to watch the fun, but he just watches and rarely enters the field personally. Since he gave such a long speech this time, it was naturally because Li Zhi's argument had some merit, which was why he was willing to talk so much with Li Zhi.

"Don't call me a traitor of the freedom faction in the future. You have also seen the environment in the capital. A Young Master Huang is already so powerful, so how powerful must the court officials be?" Lin Lin Fucheng poured a cup of tea for Li Zhi and said very solemnly, "We are fighting within our own doors—isn't that a joke for outsiders?"

"What Lin Gong said is reasonable." Li Zhi also wiped a cold sweat. The start was unfavorable; the capital was indeed hard to mix in.

"However, these court officials are only powerful in the Emperor Wanli reign; the previous ones were just so-so. Yan Song, for the sake of the power to suppress the Japanese, plotted against Zhang Jing and Li Li Tianchong, causing the Japanese disaster to be rampant. Li Li Chunfang is just a 'green-word' prime minister, a lucky official. Xu Xu Jie is a person who deceives the world and steals fame, holding the banner of the 'clear stream' while taking more bribes than Yan Song."

"Gao Gong is incorruptible and has a virtuous name, but what has he actually done? For the sake of the world's plans, he protected the Shanxi people, causing the Jin Party to grow big. Fighting corruption and catching greed were all small officials. He wanted to do something but didn't dare, and he was stubborn."

"It is only Duke Jiangling who is powerful. In these short ten years, the world already has the appearance of great prosperity. He is truly powerful. Wang Wang Chonggu is also powerful, but if Duke Jiangling weren't suppressing him, Wang Wang Chonggu would just be a rebellious official."

Li Zhi had been reading the *Di Bao* every issue since the ninth year of Emperor Wanli. He knew the court better than Lin Lin Fucheng. The court officials were not as mysterious as Lin Lin Fucheng thought. If you say they have talent, they all have talent. If you say they are powerful, they are naturally all powerful. But whether they used it in the right place was another matter.

"It seems that the hermit has a very high evaluation of Duke Jiangling," Lin Lin Fucheng said with a smile. "I thought the hermit had many complaints about Zhang Zhang Juzheng. I heard that the complaints of the hundred officials about Duke Jiangling are not small."

Li Zhi said helplessly, "I just don't have the ability. If I had the ability, I would definitely win a specially granted imperial examination *Ming Jinshi*! I, Li, am incompetent and failed to get the 'highest-highest' rating for nine consecutive years, ultimately stopping at the position of Prefect. After all, it was Duke Jiangling who gave the poor scholars of the world a chance to fight. If you can't fight for it, you can't blame Duke Jiangling for the door being too small."

Li Zhi was in the officialdom, and he could only manage to keep himself clean and close his doors. But he was also somewhat "high-handed and low-handed," becoming a loser in the competition of officialdom.

"Where did this proposition of yours, 'no representation, no taxation,' come from?" Lin Lin Fucheng asked curiously. Could it be that it also came from the West?

Li Zhi didn't hide it and said with a smile, "It came from the theory of contradictions. Contradictions speak of the unified and opposite nature of things. Therefore, the current policies of Great Ming are from top to bottom, and also from bottom to top. I have to say, this theory of contradictions is truly powerful. If I had studied it earlier when I was in Yunnan, I might have been able to go further."

Li Zhi was in Yunnan. The published version of the theory of contradictions was sent to Yunnan in the third year of Emperor Wanli. Li Zhi was a bit disdainful at first, so he didn't study it until the fifth year of Emperor Wanli. Once he studied it, he was immediately amazed. But officialdom has always been like this: if you are one step behind others, it is equivalent to others being two steps ahead.

In the end, he couldn't compete with others.

"That's it." Lin Lin Fucheng nodded. The source of the freedom faction did indeed come from the West, Lin Lin Fucheng admitted. However, it was quickly localized. Foreign monks are actually very difficult to chant scriptures. Whether it is Buddhism, Nestorianism, or Islam, they must be localized; otherwise, they will be difficult to move.

The mosques of Great Ming do not have a single dome; they are all Han-style buildings like temples.

The Governor of Shaanxi, Shi Shi Mao Hua, rebuilt the Tongxin Mosque in Ningxia in the seventh year of Emperor Wanli, tearing down the dome and changing it back to Han-style eaves. Shi Shi Mao Hua said in the memorial that it was "returning to the source." The Huaining Temple in Guangzhou was the first mosque in the Central Plains, built in the Sui Dynasty, and it was not a dome from the beginning.

The Roman hemispherical dome, the Persian spinning-top dome, the Ottoman pot-lid dome, the Timurid radish-head dome, and the Mughal onion dome are not what Great Ming's mosques should look like. Shi Shi Mao Hua's purpose in tearing down the Tongxin Mosque was naturally to establish a province in Gansu, and even more to reopen the great affairs of the Western Regions, not to make trouble out of nothing.

Therefore, any religious theory introduced into Great Ming must be localized, and the theory of freedom is no exception.

Lin Lin Fucheng combined it with "leisure." Now, Lin Lin Fucheng's limited freedom faction has nothing to do with that City of Freedom in Cape Verde. It is more appropriate for him to be called the leader of the Leisure School now.

"Did you understand Young Master Huang's long speech?" Lin Lin Fucheng asked with a smile.

Li Zhi said with a complex face, "I have some insights. Young Master Huang's words mean that criticism is allowed, but you cannot teach the imperial court how to do things."

"That is so." Lin Lin Fucheng nodded continuously. The court officials of the Great Ming imperial court have their own difficulties. Pointing out problems is fine, but if you insist on teaching people how to do things, you have to climb above them. The court officials are in high positions and have heavy power; not arguing with your criticism is already magnanimous.

To tell the truth, Lin Lin Fucheng sometimes felt that he could still be alive because Young Master Huang was truly powerful. Which of the articles he published didn't have a reason to be killed? His survival was a sign of the cultural openness of the Great Ming imperial court.

"Speaking of which, it's a shame. Li Li Yashi still stole something and translated my 'strange talk' to the West." Lin Lin Fucheng talked about an article published in *Leisurely Anecdotes*.

Li Li Yashi translated the theory of freedom and *Leisurely Anecdotes*, and translated the concept of the "three mountains" into Latin. The Emperor made a comment, saying it was inappropriate. But in the end, Li Li Yashi still handed that article to Solon and let Solon take it back to the West.

For Great Ming, it was indeed not suitable, but for Spain, whose feudal system had reached its end, it was also a way out. One had to try every path; one couldn't just go on in a muddle. When they were blocked within the Strait of Gibraltar and couldn't move, it would be too late to do anything.

Spain must win the competition with England and the Netherlands; otherwise, it might really be blocked in the Mediterranean and unable to get out.

"I have read that article of yours; it is truly too free." Li Zhi frowned and stood up. "That plan of yours seems to coincide with my popular election of officials!"

"I seem to know why Young Master Huang criticized me so severely!"

Lin Lin Fucheng was stunned. The "three mountains" system that did not rely on the mountains and rivers of the people was really very, very consistent with the points Li Zhi threw out! Especially in the case of immature systems and insufficient exploration, it seemed that they would inevitably experience this stage.

"Fortunately, it was refuted by Young Master Huang, or it would have almost caused a great disaster." Li Zhi said with lingering fear. What kind of chaos would be caused by the "three mountains" plus immature popular election of officials was imaginable.

Li Zhi and Lin Lin Fucheng discussed it deeply. The more they discussed, the more frightened they became. It was fortunate that it was refuted by Young Master Huang, or they would have really poked a hole in the sky.

"I have some articles I wrote in the past." Li Zhi took out his literary collection. He had published these collections after entering the capital, but the sales were extremely bleak, which was why he thought of gathering and talking at the Taibai Tower. People have to eat.

Li Zhi wanted to use the sales of Lin Lin Fucheng's *Leisurely Anecdotes* to make a name for himself.

"Look at you, why talk about taxes? Just write this, write this out, and send it to *Leisurely Anecdotes*!" After reading the material, Lin Lin Fucheng said with mixed feelings: "The notebook of your Baoding Prefecture notes was stolen. Stolen is stolen. Besides not expressing the 'officials forcing the people to rebel,' what you saw and heard is basically written."

Lin Lin Fucheng, who was worrying about materials, found new materials again.

"Will it be too sharp?" Li Zhi said with a complex face.

"It doesn't involve specific decrees, what are you afraid of?! If something happens, Young Master Huang and Young Master Wang will cover it. Write it out and send it to *Leisurely Anecdotes*!" Lin Lin Fucheng said very confidently, "You have to believe in Young Master Huang's power. Look at this, the fifth-rank Doctor of the Five Classics tooth tablet, Young Master Huang got it."

In order to give Li Zhi confidence, Lin Lin Fucheng took out his official tooth tablet.

Lin Lin Fucheng was not in the officialdom, so he didn't understand the process of this tooth tablet, but Li Zhi knew it too well!

This tooth tablet had a problem, a big problem! Great Ming's official status, especially the Doctor of the Five Classics protected by the Embroidered Uniform Guards, was really something a playboy son of a Grand General's mansion could get?!

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xs007zhuikereadw23zw ===== CHAPTER 556 =====

To give Li Zhi confidence, Lin Lin Fucheng took out his own official identification tablet.

Lin Lin Fucheng was not in the officialdom and did not understand the procedures for this tablet, but Li Zhi understood them all too well!

There was a problem with this tablet—a major problem! An official status in the Great Ming, especially for a Doctor of the Five Classics protected by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, could really be obtained by the son of a Grand General's estate?!

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