Chapter 297: 295 Sovereign, Ministers, and People

Seeing Zhao Han begin to read On the Sovereign, both Gao Gao and Wu Yingji felt uneasy.

This essay is an exposition on monarchical power: the state is like a great commercial firm, and the common people are all shareholders. The Emperor is the hired head manager, while the officials are the hired second manager, third manager, and branch managers.

It faintly reveals an intent to limit monarchical power.

Although Huang Zongxi had thrown caution to the wind, he was still rather tense, constantly observing Zhao Han's expression.

To everyone's surprise, Zhao Han was actually smiling.

That smile was neither contemptuous, nor delighted, still less angry. It was like... like a village tutor grading a schoolboy's assignment — the feeling was very hard to describe.

The essay was very short; he finished reading it quickly.

He actually did not get angry?

This was beyond the expectations of both Gao Gao and Wu Yingji. They were struck both by Zhao Han's breadth of mind and by his depth of reserve. In their view, it was both at once: Zhao Han could tolerate dissenting views while at the same time controlling his emotions — inwardly, he most likely already detested Huang Zongxi.

Zhao Han asked, "Do you wish to limit monarchical power?"

Huang Zongxi answered, "A succession of sage rulers would naturally be best, but it is hard to avoid the emergence of fatuous and incompetent sovereigns."

Zhao Han said with a laugh, "You say the common people are shareholders. Then I ask you, which are the major shareholders, and which are the minor shareholders? Which shareholders have the final say?"

Huang Zongxi was instantly dumbfounded.

"Let us speak on a smaller scale," Zhao Han set down the essay. "This firm under Heaven has ten thousand shareholders. Ten of them are major shareholders; they can nominate the second manager, the third manager, and the branch managers. Apart from the Emperor, the head manager, all the other managers must heed the words of the ten major shareholders. The managers collude with the major shareholders to cook the books, drain the firm, embezzle, and misappropriate funds. So then, whose great firm is this? Does it belong to the ten major shareholders, or to all ten thousand shareholders?"

Huang Zongxi fell into bewilderment.

Zhao Han continued, "The great firm that is the Great Ming — it is precisely the managers who are draining it, the major shareholders swallowing up the minor shareholders' capital, so that the firm has been running at a loss all along, and on top of that its business is being squeezed out by the Manchu Qing firm. Chongzhen, as head manager, wanted to turn the tide with all his might, yet trusted no one. While he was disciplining the other managers, he was also forcing the shareholders to put in money. The major shareholders were unwilling to invest, so they made the minor shareholders invest. The minor shareholders had no money and starved to death one after another. I, along with Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, are all minor shareholders driven to the end of our rope — we could only withdraw our capital and establish a new firm."

Gao Gao and Wu Yingji's eyes went wide. Could the great trend of the realm be described in such terms?

Zhao Han then pointed at Huang Zongxi: "This so-called Donglin Faction, the Restoration Society — they are either second managers, or shareholders who aspire to be managers. You yourselves believe you can run the firm to prosperity, yet you have been embezzling the firm's silver all along. Even if you are not embezzling now, you will in the future! Let me ask, how many incorruptible officials are there under Heaven? In my view, the eunuch faction and the Donglin Faction are birds of a feather... Gentlemen, do not be angered. I know you possess moral integrity, but of what use is moral integrity to governing the state and bringing peace to the people?"

Huang Zongxi stood up, cupped his hands, and said, "Many thanks for your instruction, sir. I take my leave!"

Zhao Han said, "Stay on this very boat."

The three men were led to a cabin, where they lodged together with Zheng Sen, Kuang Lu, Wang Dai, Zhang Jiayu, and the other secretaries accompanying the army.

Amid mutual pleasantries, Huang Zongxi took out On the State and the Realm, reading it over once more while pondering deeply.

The next day, the boat traveled west.

Huang Zongxi wielded his brush and wrote swiftly, not only revising On the Sovereign, but also dashing off two more essays in succession: On the Minister and On the People.

Taken together, the three essays had roughly the following content:

The myriad people are born of Heaven and nourished by Earth, seeking survival and propagation through labor. The hundred crafts and hundred trades have no distinction between noble and base; all create wealth for the state.

However, the people need to withstand natural disasters, they need to resist foreign enemies, and they need mediation of disputes and punishment of crimes. Thus, there must be a leader; this person is the sovereign of the world.

The sovereign is sustained by the myriad people and holds supreme power. His power is conferred by the myriad people, and he ought to seek their welfare. Otherwise, he is an unworthy sovereign.

The myriad people are multitudinous and the realm is too vast for the sovereign to govern alone; therefore civil and military officials and clerks are necessary. The way of the minister is not loyalty to the sovereign, but loyalty to the people. Officials do not eat the sovereign's salary; they eat the people's salary.

Once On the Sovereign, On the Minister, and On the People were finished, they were first circulated and read within the cabin.

Kuang Lu exclaimed in admiration, "Sir, what great talent! These are peerless writings for the ages!"

"These are words that bring calamity to the state!" Tao Aizhi flew into a rage. "Those who serve as ministers should naturally be loyal to the sovereign. Take Mr. Zhao — without him rallying the call, could there be this well-governed situation in Jiangxi? The myriad people are like a flock of sheep; without a bellwether to lead the way, they would surely perish in the bellies of tigers and leopards. It is not that the myriad people sustain Mr. Zhao, but that Mr. Zhao shelters and sustains the myriad people. We ministers eat the sovereign's salary and are loyal to the sovereign's affairs, that is all!"

Zheng Sen, Wang Dai, Zhang Jiayu, and the others, though they did not speak, all wore expressions of deep contemplation.

Wu Yingji said, "Our arguing is of no benefit. Why not ask Mr. Zhao to look it over?"

"Go then, go!" Tao Aizhi said huffily.

The group went together to the neighboring cabin, where Huang Zongxi, holding the manuscripts in both hands, presented the essays.

This time, Zhao Han laughed even more heartily and nodded in approval: "This suits my intent perfectly. Gentlemen, all of you, sit and let us talk."

Tao Aizhi could not help saying, "Regional Commander, these writings delude the masses with specious words. When a new dynasty is established in the future, if someone secretly stirs up trouble with them, it may provoke great chaos. Take the reigns of Chenghua, Zhengde, and Jiajing — the common people then also endured hardship. If writings like these had been in vogue, I fear the Great Ming would have collapsed long ago. Where then would Zhang Jiangling's reforms have come from?"

"It is not as serious as you say. When the common people cannot survive, they rebel; it makes no difference whether these three essays exist or not," Zhao Han said with a smile. "Those Datong theories, and these three essays — they are both teachings for the people to rebel, and teachings for sovereigns and ministers on how to govern the state. If sovereign and ministers govern incompetently, the people should naturally rebel. Should my sons and grandsons prove to be fatuous rulers, the people should also rebel. If the dynasty perishes in two or three generations, it will have brought disaster upon itself."

At these words, everyone was speechless.

Where was there a founding monarch who cursed his own dynasty, saying it might perish in two or three generations?

Just as everyone was looking at each other in dismay, Kuang Lu suddenly knelt and prostrated himself on the ground: "Kuang Lu of Nanhai is willing to die in service to my lord!"

Huang Zongxi also adjusted his collar, lifted the hem of his robe, and knelt down properly, performing the full kneeling obeisance as he cried out: "Huang Zongxi of Yuyao is willing to die in service to my lord!"

Seeing this, Zheng Sen felt his blood surge with fervor and prepared to come forward and kneel in homage as well.

Zhao Han raised a hand to stop Zheng Sen, and said to the other few men, "You need not kneel. These two do so of their own free will. What they kneel to is not my person, but the myriad people of the realm. I can only receive it on behalf of the myriad people."

Zheng Sen said, "I am also willing of my own free will."

"Haha, you are still young. Some principles require time to be slowly comprehended," Zhao Han rose to his feet and returned the obeisance to Kuang Lu and Huang Zongxi with a cupped-hand bow. "Gentlemen, please rise."

Gao Gao looked toward Wu Yingji, and Wu Yingji looked back at him; both men's feelings were extremely complicated.

Their past words and deeds had already been considered very radical; they had often put up wall posters together in Nanjing.

But compared with Zhao Han, Kuang Lu, and Huang Zongxi, they were utterly dwarfed.

Zhao Han returned the three essays to Huang Zongxi's hands and admonished him: "Governing a great state is like cooking a small fish. Your essays are still not detailed enough. You only constrain the sovereign and the officials, saying what the sovereign ought to do and what the officials ought to do. Why not constrain the myriad people as well?"

"Constrain the myriad people?" Huang Zongxi was puzzled.

Zhao Han asked, "Are the gentry and powerful magnates not people? Are bandits, criminals, and villains not people?"

"Many thanks for my lord's instruction. I shall take it back at once and complete it," Huang Zongxi said with heartfelt admiration.

Zhao Han addressed the assembly: "When sovereign, ministers, and people each fulfill their duties and each keep to their proper place, then the realm is at peace and the four seas are abundant. If there is a fatuous sovereign, the ministers should remonstrate; if there are corrupt ministers, the sovereign should punish them; if there are villainous people, sovereign and ministers should govern them. When a fatuous sovereign and corrupt ministers bring great chaos to the realm, the myriad people should rise in revolt and strip them of their mandate!"

Zhao Han pointed at Huang Zongxi: "Write this passage into the essays as well. In the future, it shall be selected for the Datong Anthology and printed for distribution across the realm!"

Huang Zongxi bowed respectfully; suddenly his eyes grew moist. He was certain now that he had met a wise lord.

The group dispersed.

Gao Gao pulled Wu Yingji into a corner and whispered, "What Regional Commander Zhao said today reminds me of the Grand Pronouncements personally composed by the Hongwu Emperor."

Wu Yingji smiled bitterly: "The Grand Pronouncements only allowed the common people to seize corrupt officials and deliver them to the capital. This gentleman, however, allows the common people to rise in revolt. Still, it is not so serious — if the common people have food to eat, they will certainly not rebel. If things reach the point where the whole realm is driven to revolt, then whether these essays exist or not is already irrelevant."

"This line of argument contradicts itself," Gu Gao said. "If the common people have reason to rebel, then as officials and subjects, should we help the common people rebel, or help the Emperor suppress the rebellion?"

Wu Yingji said, "If the Great Ming could still be saved, you and I would naturally help the Emperor suppress the rebellion. Now that the Great Ming is beyond saving, haven't you and I come to help the common people rebel? Your doubt is truly superfluous."

"Indeed." Gu Gao nodded.

Wu Yingji suddenly had a flash of insight. He clapped his hands in admiration and said, "This Regional Commander Zhao is truly formidable. With just three essays, he not only proved that his own rebellion is justified, but also nailed down that the Chongzhen Emperor is a fatuous ruler who deserves revolution. Moreover, landlords and powerful magnates can be denounced as wicked subjects, and his policy of forcibly redistributing land is also justified. What Tartar slaves, what roving bandits — all are scum who bring calamity to the common people. Only he, Regional Commander Zhao of Jiangxi, is the true wise and brilliant sovereign! Whatever he does from now on will be perfectly legitimate!"

Gu Gao was stunned, seized by inexplicable terror.

He had thought Zhao Han was merely full of fervent passion and cared for all the people. He never imagined there were so many complex calculations behind it!

Wu Yingji added, "Even the Grand Pronouncements were shelved by the Chengzu Emperor. How long can the Datong Collection last? At most one or two reigns, and the Datong Collection will surely be mutilated beyond recognition."

Dong~ dong dong~~~

The sound of a zither drifted over. It was Kuang Lu, in high spirits, playing the zither and singing loudly on the deck.

Kuang Lu had not thought as deeply as Wu Yingji. In his youth he was wild and unrestrained, and as a young man he traveled half of China to avoid trouble. He had heard much, seen much, pondered much. Hearing what Zhao Han said today, he was utterly won over by the breadth of his vision.

Another two hours passed. Huang Zongxi came over with the supplemented essay: "Brother Kuang, please help review it. If anything is amiss, I will take it back and revise it."

"I dare not presume to review it — just exchanging views to verify each other's understanding," Kuang Lu said cheerfully.

These two had never known each other before, yet now they seemed like close friends of many years.

While they were discussing the essay, dusk was approaching. The fleet anchored between Hekou Town and Ehu Town.

After many years, Zhao Han had finally returned to Yanshan — and he had come with a great army.

(Begging for monthly tickets.)

(End of chapter)