New Shun 1730

"Excuse me, everyone. I just heard you talking about the situation in the world, which makes a lot of sense. I was so excited that I couldn't help but interrupt you."

After some polite words, the young man who was talking loudly just now also tried his best to say a few polite words in Mandarin.

The scholar sat down next to him and introduced himself briefly.

The scholar's surname was Meng, his name was Songlu, and he studied with Cheng Tingzuo, a famous scholar in Jiangnan.

Because Cheng Tingzuo studied the knowledge of the ancient Confucian school in the north, this school emphasizes "ritual, music, agriculture, soldiers, astronomy, geography, food, goods, rivers and canals, all of which are explored to the source", Cheng Tingzuo's knowledge is mainly based on Xizhai, and he also studied Lizhou and Tinglin, so he read a lot and returned to practical use.

He is also the pillar of the southern transmission of the Yanli School in the north.

Before, Cheng Tingzuo and Wu Jingzi broke up because of the reform of the salt administration. Now that the news of the reform came again, Cheng Tingzuo asked his disciples to go to Haizhou to see and meet.

The reason why Cheng Tingzuo himself did not go is also complicated.

Age is only one reason, and the other reason is the key point.

The northern ancient Confucian school, founded by Yan Yuan, actually faced the same problem as Dashun: destroying without establishing.

It is definitely critical of Song and Ming Neo-Confucianism.

And Yan Yuan's attitude is that he simply disdains to debate the classics, and just criticizes.

The so-called [ancient poetry and books are nothing more than the spectrum of practicing economics, but as long as you get the path, the truth and falsehood are irrelevant].

Translated into colloquialism, it means "it's useless to debate the classics, let's see it in practice."

Whether it works or not depends on the effect and practice, don't talk too much about qi, reason, Tai Chi and other things.

And this leaves a big problem.

It is not okay to destroy without establishing, and many things cannot be seen only in practice.

The ancient Confucian school itself is too utilitarian. To reflect righteousness from utilitarianism is already very close to heresy.

In addition, he has no control over his mouth and is very harsh in criticizing people.

In the academy, he taught his disciples swordsmanship. When the school gathered, the disciples would often use swords, guns, sticks and clubs to "lift stones beyond the distance, fight, sing and dance", and he was extremely strict with his disciples. It is said that his disciples were good at swordsmanship. When they took swords to the street, someone asked if they could play with swords. The disciple said he could not out of modesty, but Yan Yuan scolded him for being hypocritical and asked him to show off his swordsmanship in public. The disciple knelt down for a long time and asked his master for forgiveness.

Liang Qichao, a later generation, commented that one of the reasons why their knowledge was eventually annihilated was that it was "too bitter".

In theory, this taste is obviously learning from Confucius, but the times are different after all. There are too many legacy, which makes many people feel that this taste is not very Confucian.

In addition, as long as there is a "path" and no distinction between "true and false", it is too much to pursue utilitarianism, which is always too much like heresy.

Some things have actually taken root. And with the intrusion of other religious philosophies with worldviews, things like "qi" and "reason" must be distinguished.

In addition, if you want to prove that you are not a heretic, you can't just talk about reality, you still have to interpret the scriptures.

So when it comes to them, the focus is not on criticism, but on "interpreting the scriptures to prove my moral economy".

Cheng Tingzuo now basically recognizes the development model of southern Jiangsu, and believes that although there are shortcomings, it has great potential. He hopes that he can become the one who transforms Confucianism into a guide for the real economy and integrates it with Confucian principles.

Historically, Hu Shi commented on him, saying that "in the atmosphere of the Qing Dynasty's confinement, most scholars were trapped in philological research, and only two people had the dream of creating a 'new philosophy'. One is Cheng Tingzuo and the other is Dai Zhen."

However, this new philosophy may be difficult because of the foundation.

It requires a deep foundation in Confucianism.

It also requires seeing these new things, new developments, new ideas, and new ideas.

It is also necessary to integrate them into one, without mutual exclusion.

Cheng Tingzuo must stay in Songjiang Prefecture, grow up, comprehend, write books, and integrate them, and he can't wander around blindly. In this day and age, if you travel thousands of miles, you will die easily. It is better to stay in Songjiang Prefecture to perfect the theory.

This time, Meng Songlu followed the teacher's advice and went from the south to the north to see the whole process of Haizhou's salt reform, so he passed by here.

From Meng Songlu's dress, we can know that this school is really like Liu Yu's evaluation of the new religion and the old religion. Those who shout for the return of the past are mostly reformists; conversely, reformists are often the most fundamentalists.

This school is originally good at martial arts. Although they shout about the return of the past and ancient Confucianism, it does not prevent them from replacing the swords on their waists with muskets, and they do not wear three-foot swords.

Meng Songlu just heard these young people talking, which made sense, and even felt like he could see the light, so he was curious and came to bother them.

After asking, he found out that the young man who spoke just now was actually from the same clan as himself, and his surname was also Meng.

However, his name was not so elegant, called Meng Tiezhu.

After further questioning, I learned that these people were going to participate in the official training and were going to Funing County.

When the merchants in the distance heard this, they couldn't help but feel a little confused.

Such a big thing happened there a while ago, and the merchants had heard about it.

The merchants felt quite sympathetic towards the gentry who were executed, and felt that the Duke of Xingguo had really gone too far this time. It was nothing more than reselling some river workers' grain, how big a deal? It should be fined, but killing people directly, which was inevitably a bit too severe.

Nowadays, who doesn't have some bad things in business? Cheating and deceiving are common means. Not to mention selling private salt, isn't it common to mix sand and gray salt into private salt?

Today I was shot for reselling Hegong grain. If I thought that I would not take it seriously if I didn't resell Hegong grain anyway, what if next time I would strictly arrest him for cheating, abduction, adulteration and smuggling?

What the businessman didn't expect was that none of these poor students cared about killing so many people. They didn't even discuss whether it was right or wrong. They seemed to think it was not worth discussing at all. thing.

Including the scholar who just went over to talk to him, he didn't discuss whether killing someone was a bit too much.

On the contrary, they were discussing, what should they do after the person has been killed?

Meng Songlu was a little curious, wondering what Meng Tiezhu, who had a lot of insight into the matter, thought of Juntian.

He did not mention his disciples, but only said: "Now that the evil gentry has been eliminated in several counties in Funing, the court should implement the method of equalizing land. I wonder if you have any opinions on Mr. Xizhai's theory of equalizing land?"

As soon as Meng Tiezhu opened his mouth, Meng Songlu was directly offended.

"I have read it. After a brief look, I just thought it was all nonsense."

Meng Songlu's face suddenly looked a little ugly. Yan Xizhai was considered his master. How could he not be angry when others directly said in front of him that his master's ideas were nonsense?

That is to say, if he has better self-control, if he is a little bit worse, it is time to pull out the musket.

Meng Tiezhu didn't notice the look of hesitation on Meng Songlu's face, and he was squirting there with all his teeth and claws.

"The methods proposed by Yan Xizhai, Li Gangzhu, and Wang Kunsheng are all bullshit. According to Li Gangzhu, what should I do if the population grows and the land cannot be evened out in the future?"

"What is his idea? What he wants is to divide the world's fields into three levels: upper, middle and lower."

"If all the upper-class fields are equal, then they are all fifty acres; if the middle-class fields are all, then they are all one hundred acres; and if the lower-class fields are all, then they are one hundred and fifty acres."

"When the population increases in the future, this middle field will be developed and maintained into a high-quality field, and then the middle field for one person can become two people..."

"Not to mention whether he has farmed or not, let me just say this. In our village, even if the land is equalized, how can each household have an average of fifty acres, one hundred acres, or one hundred and fifty acres?"

"It doesn't matter whether this is enough or not, let's talk about another one."

"The imperial court doesn't even have official farmland, so how can it equalize the land? What nonsense are the ideas they come up with? Some say that tenants should be allowed to farm for thirty years, and the transition will be gradual; some say that they will increase taxes on private land and allow official land to be farmed. With tax cuts, everyone has donated their land to government land; some have said that they should directly restore the well-field system.”

"I don't see any use for any of these ridiculous ideas. Just say that if you were a gentry, would you be willing to give your land to tenants in thirty years?"

"What's the difference between this and empty talk? I also said that if the yield per mu is a thousand catties, even if the current rent is paid, it will be enough without evening the land. But isn't this nonsense?"

After he finished spraying, a classmate next to him said something weird.

"Actually, it's not impossible."

"We can restore the patriarchal system."

"For example, your family shares fifty acres of land. You give birth to three sons, and the eldest son inherits the land."

"The other second and third sons are branches."

"Relying on the taxes collected from the eldest son's land, the court collected taxes to raise ships and troops, and allowed the second and third sons to go overseas."

"If you go to Nanyang or somewhere else, you will be given fifty acres of land."

"In this way, we can really build a well-field system. I think it will take a long time to fill up all the open space on the earth."

It seemed that they often discussed similar topics. As soon as this strange and sarcastic sentence was said, everyone around them burst into laughter.

Meng Songlu felt that this sentence was not ridiculous, it was completely a solution. Why did it seem to be a joke to these people?

"Everyone, this is not ridiculous. This method is not impossible, right? I am so stupid that I really don't know what's so funny about it?"

Meng Tiezhu glanced at Meng Songlu and asked, "Do you know the most difficult part of this method?"

"Where?"

"It's about equalizing the land. You have to equalize the land first, and then you can collect enough taxes to support this large-scale migration. The problem is that the first step of equalizing the land can't be done, and then the rest is Is it just a dream?"

Meng Songlu frowned and couldn't help but said: "Isn't Funing County now using land equalization methods?"

Meng Tiezhu couldn't help laughing and said: "You are a serious scholar. Let me ask you, what do you think of the Tianjun issue?"

Regarding this issue, Meng Songlu has the orthodox interpretation of his school, and it is an interpretation that is absolutely in line with Confucian principles.

"Mencius said: The people are governed by the Tao. Those who have permanent property have perseverance. Those who do not have perseverance. Those who are stubborn have no perseverance. They are willing to ward off evil and extravagance, and do everything for their own sake."

"The Ming Dynasty is in danger of destroying the world because the people have no permanent property."

"Therefore, ensuring the people's permanent property is the foundation of royal government. If the people do not have a permanent property, there will be no perseverance. If the land is not equalized, everyone cannot have a permanent property."

"Therefore, equalizing land is the most benevolent government in the world."

"The well is the foundation of ancient times."

His answers were watertight, and the internal logic and the three views were all standard and orthodox Confucian views.

It’s about ensuring the people’s livelihood.

Meng Tiezhu asked directly: "Is equalizing land the most benevolent government in the world?"

"Of course! Equalizing land is the most benevolent government in the world!" Meng Songlu replied loudly.

Meng Tiezhu couldn't help laughing and said: "Then let me ask you a question. If you offend me, don't blame me."

"Speaking."

"Suppose, during the founding of the People's Republic of China, you shaved your head and became a traitor and led the way, and I stabbed you to death. What would you think?"

Meng Songlu was stunned for a moment, thinking that this question didn't need to be answered at all, right?

"Why ask this? It's a good thing to kill you for the sake of justice!"

"But the problem is that with this justice, we have to find other faults in you, saying that you are morally corrupt, plundering, causing trouble to the people, bullying men and women, you are a bastard, you are not a good person, etc., before we can kill you, otherwise others will ask me to say that you are cruel. Then what's the use of this justice?" Meng Tiezhu asked again with a mean smile on his face.

This metaphor is very simple, Meng Songlu was stunned for a while, not knowing how to answer.

Obviously, it is about the equal distribution of land in Funing.

Since, according to the Confucian justice, the people's permanent property and equal distribution of land are the most benevolent policies in the world.

Moreover, Dashun ruled the country with Confucianism.

So, with this justice, what else is there to talk about? Can't we just distribute it equally?

The court didn't even dare to distribute land equally, and didn't dare to say that the equal distribution of land was the most benevolent policy in the world, and forced the equal distribution of land on the grounds of benevolence. But they can only cover up and find some messy reasons.

Since the court dare not use this great righteousness, it proves that either the whole world does not think it is a great righteousness; or the court does not want to practice this great righteousness at all.

Then, everything derived from this is just as Meng Tiezhu said before - it is all bullshit.

If the mainstream of Confucianism in the world does not think that the equal distribution of land derived from the system of permanent property for the people is a great righteousness, then talking about this great righteousness itself is heresy and nonsense.

If, in the debate, it is believed that the equal distribution of land derived from the system of permanent property for the people is the most benevolent policy in the world. But the court has this great righteousness but dare not use it, which proves that the court does not dare or does not want to practice this great righteousness at all.

Then, what Yan, Li, Wang, Cheng and others envisioned, hoping that the court would preside over the equal distribution of land, isn’t that bullshit?

When the court officials and scholars saw the Funing incident, they still thought of "Zheng Bo defeated Duan in Yan". Knowing that the enemy was a fish or a beast, they baited and trapped him. Wasn't this insidious and cunning?

Meng Songlu, the orthodox third-generation descendant of the Yanli School, which was the most radical in the entire Dashun period, did not consider whether this matter was just or not, but only considered how to implement the equal distribution of land in order to completely eliminate the danger of annexation.

However, these new scholars, after seeing this incident, were subtly influenced and felt that they were watching a farce and a joke.

It was a joke that they could directly add righteousness to something, but they were timid and had to find other reasons, and even this still caused the world to shake.

They did not think this was righteousness in their hearts, but when faced with debate issues such as the system of permanent property for the people, they had to admit that it was righteousness.

The degree of ridiculousness is almost as bad as the descendants who sighed that if it were not for Guan Zhong, I would have worn my hair loose and my clothes on the left. They shaved their heads and submitted a petition. The nobles, who had read the debate between Chinese and barbarians, united with the barbarians to suppress the bandits.

Just like the joke Meng Tiezhu said, to kill a traitor, you cannot use the reason of justice, but you have to find personal moral issues or even go to the third way, otherwise you will be accused of cruelty, which is not a joke in itself. What if some people in some places are proud of this.

What is really ridiculous is that the justice of killing traitors is generally recognized by scholars all over the world, but they all say it is right, but they don’t believe that this view is right in their hearts. This lack of confidence leads to the need to find various reasons to add.

To some extent, this is the same dilemma faced by Liu Yu.

Liu Yu hopes to equalize the land.

Confucian reformists also hope to equalize the land.

But the logic and justice of the two are different.

The justice of Liu Yu’s equalization of land is to reduce land rent, reduce interest, boost domestic demand, and promote the development of industry and commerce. This is the first righteousness.

I have this righteousness, so equal distribution of land is equal distribution of land, and it has nothing to do with morality.

It’s just that the righteousness he believes in is not the righteousness of the mainstream three views in the world.

The righteousness of equal distribution of land of the Confucian reformists is derived from Mencius’s principle that the people’s permanent property is the foundation of the king’s government. If the property is permanent, the land must be equalized, and equal distribution of land is the first benevolent government.

The problem is that this seemingly mainstream righteousness is actually just pretending to be the mainstream, but it is not the mainstream at all.

They say it is, but they don’t think so in their hearts.

If Confucianism wants to make a difference in the new era, or if the ancient Confucian school wants to really establish a school, it must break down and then establish a whole system.

When talking about political ambitions, we cannot ignore the economic foundation, the bottom-level construction, the land system, the tax system, and the industrial and commercial system. Otherwise, it is just empty talk, which is not much different from talking about the mind without doing anything.

To some extent, the last practice of Confucianism as a political group failed in the fourth year of the Emperor Dihuang of the Xin Dynasty of Wang Mang.

Now, the faction that is shouting about retro, at least now, has many ideas that are utopian and nonsense, and are completely impractical.

Because the times have changed, the ancient Confucian school must not only solve the problem of agriculture, but also the problems of scholars, workers, and merchants. And with the development of Dashun, the problems of industry and commerce have become more and more important.

Can the framework of the past accommodate these things? Or are these new things stuffed into the old framework of the past? This framework cannot even fit the productivity of the Wang Mang era. How can the productivity of the steam engine be stuffed into it without changing the underlying architecture?

Meng Tiezhu's ridicule did not go to this extent. He just ridiculed these people's ideas for being too nonsense and empty.

Although Meng Songlu felt unfair, he really couldn't find any good reason to refute this young man who always seemed to be mocking with a mean look on his face.