Father can be an enemy to the country

It was not until the door of Liu Bowen's house that King Chu got off the cow and walked into the gate of Uncle Chengyi's house with his hands behind his back.

Liu Li was watering the flowers in the yard. When he saw Zhu Zhen, he smiled sweetly and said, "Good morning, little uncle."

"Well, morning." Zhu Zhen took out a beautifully packaged small box from his sleeve and threw it to her. "This is a snack from the palace. I will bring it to you to try. If you don't like it, just throw it away."

"Thank you, Junior Master. Uncle Junior is so kind." Liu Li happily took it, opened it, and couldn't help but exclaimed. "Wow, what a beautiful snack."

"Huh, I've never seen the world. There are so many types of dim sum in the palace." Zhu Zhen walked into the study with his hands behind his back with a proud look on his face.

"Don't eat." As soon as King Chu entered the door, Liu Xiang snatched the small box of palace snacks from Liu Li's hand.

"Give it to me." Liu Li reached out to grab it back.

"You forgot that you gave him laxative candies!" Liu Xiang whispered: "If you don't save everything, he will take revenge on you!"

"Yes." Liu Li then remembered the sweetened candy she had given to King Chu. The medicine he used was captured according to his prescription.

"But the one I gave him the day before yesterday is fine." Liu Li whispered.

After all, no one would carry around laxative candy all day long and what if they accidentally eat it themselves.

"Anyway, that man is very bad. Don't eat from him, and it's best not to talk to him." Liu Xiang, the fire and theft guard, said.

"He is our junior uncle, you must respect your elders." Liu Li shook his head.

"He, the elder?" Liu Xiang was very disdainful.

But without paying attention, Liu Li snatched the snack back...

After Liu Li succeeded, he ran away.

"Bring it back to me." Liu Xiang chased after him.

"Second Aunt, my brother robbed me of food again." Liu Li calmly used his trump card and said with a smile on the edge of tears.

"Liu Xiang, you're itchy again, aren't you?" Liu Jing's wife, who was washing clothes, immediately glared at her.

"You're cruel..." Liu Xiang braked urgently, not daring to take another step beyond the realm of possibility.

~~

In the study, Liu Bowen had been waiting for a long time. When he saw Zhu Zhen, he smiled sweeter than his granddaughter.

"Come on, let's quickly tell you how the Jiangnan landlords behaved like monsters?" Zhu Zhen asked with a smile as soon as he sat down.

"Having said it all, I don't know much." His Highness King Chu first issued a disclaimer, and then said:

"Probably, it seems that they monopolized the imperial examinations and then took control of the political power. Then they worked hard to benefit the Jiangnan region and helped their hometown pay less taxes. As a result, the northwest suffered a serious drought and the people had no way to survive. They refused to save them. The northeast and the The Tatars have been fighting fiercely for years, but they are indifferent. The court wants to collect money from them but cannot...

"As a result, when the Ming Dynasty fell and the Qing army entered the pass, they suddenly woke up. They tried their best to resist but it was too late. They were killed in large numbers, and their billions of wealth were all taken advantage of by the Tatars."

"Oh, you are so stupid and short-sighted..." Liu Ji sighed sadly after hearing this: "How did my comrade from eastern Zhejiang become such an idiot?"

"Maybe after the Four Books and Five Classics became a stepping stone for seeking fame, scholars lost their public ambition to serve the country and the people, and only had the selfish ambition of 'the book has its own golden house'." Zhu Zhen speculated wildly.

The little historical knowledge he had in his stomach was obviously not enough to help him give the correct answer.

"So, the imperial court has resumed the imperial examination?" Liu Bowen asked softly.

"Recovered." Zhu Zhen nodded and said: "I don't know the specific year of recovery, but I know that the later high officials all came from the imperial examination. They can no longer become high officials through other means."

"Why do you think it's the civil servants who control the court?" Liu Bowen said with an expression on his face.

"Yes." Zhu Zhen nodded and said: "Civil officials first took control of administrative power and financial power, and later, through the Ministry of War, they firmly took control of military power. I remember that two hundred years after the founding of the country, the most powerful general in the court was as powerful as Xu Da A comparable general, in the door letter to the civil servant leader, calls himself "the puppy under the door". When entering and leaving the prime minister's house, he even interacts with the concierge and servant.

"Towards the end of the dynasty, the civil service became more serious. Even high-ranking military attachés like the general must be controlled by low-level civilian officials. The third-grade military attache had to kneel down to talk to the seventh-grade patrol officer, and he would be whipped if he made the slightest mistake. But regardless of civil or military, We are all accustomed to it.”

"Hey, isn't this nonsense?" Liu Bowen shook his head and said:

"Although the current culture of emphasizing military force over literature is also very bad, the culture of valuing literature and deprecating military force as mentioned by His Highness is even more harmful. Once something happens in the world and the country needs brave generals who are not afraid of sacrifice, will they be available? Hu Wuwu A humble person is like an ox or a horse, and if something happens to him, he is expected to sacrifice his life, why should he be treated lightly and punished heavily?"

"Master said it, but please don't use classical Chinese," Zhu Zhen said sarcastically, "I don't quite understand."

"You have the nerve to say it." Liu Bowen said angrily: "If you want to be respected, you can't speak too plainly, and it's also convenient for us to pretend to be mysterious."

As he spoke, he gave him a blank look and said, "If you talk as eloquently as your father, who would believe that you are Liu Bowen's apprentice?"

"Oh." Zhu Zhen nodded vigorously. "I just study hard."

"That's pretty much it." Liu Bowen asked with some confusion:

"It's okay for civilian officials to control the political power and financial power, but how did they seize the military power? The Ming Dynasty was not the Song Dynasty, and it did not emphasize literature and suppress military power. It was almost as good as emphasizing military power and neglecting literature."

This is absolutely true. Boss Zhu was born as a military commander, and he relied on military personnel to conquer the world. Naturally, he will give preferential treatment to military attachés intentionally or unintentionally.

For example, the "Da Ming Code" stipulates that in all official affairs, as long as the matter involves an officer, even if it is a case of "illegal and unfair" against an officer, all judicial offices from the central to the local have no right to interfere. It can only be handled by the Metropolitan Governor's Office and the Metropolitan Commander's Office.

In addition, most of the military officers in this era were the founding heroes of the country, and the commander-in-chief of the army was known as a "lord". Their manners were extremely respected, and local officials were treated as if they were courtesy. This was exactly the opposite of what it was more than two hundred years later.

So even Liu Bowen found it unbelievable when he heard that in the future he would be "the most noble in culture and military but humble in military affairs".

"The teacher has to find the answer to this question himself." Zhu Zhen shook his head. His knowledge was not enough to explain the whole story clearly. I can only offer some advice:

"Personally, I think this may be related to the long-lasting peace. It may also be related to the fact that military officers are all hereditary, and one generation is inferior to the other. However, civil servants have to go through cruel levels of imperial examinations, and the elites are eliminated by the survival of the fittest."

"Hmm." Liu Bowen nodded and said, "It makes some sense."

~~

The whole morning passed again with Liu Ji asking questions and Zhu Zhen answering...

During lunch, Liu Ji refused to let Zhu Zhen go and asked him how civilian officials controlled military power step by step.

While Zhu Zhen was thinking hard, he suddenly heard the voice of his second senior brother outside the door.

"Father, the Third Young Master of Duke Wei's Palace is looking for His Highness outside, saying that there is something urgent."

ps. Keep writing and read it tomorrow morning.