Did Heaven grant power to the emperor, who then distributed it to officials, or did the populace bestow power upon the emperor and the imperial court and government?
No one dared to answer this question.
Only Zhu Jinsong, the emperor, could utter such words. If it were anyone else, let alone Zeng Cheng, the Grand Secretary of the Great Ming, or even Zhu Erdan, the emperor's own brother, they would have to carefully weigh the consequences of speaking such a sentence.
However, the fact that no one dared to answer the question did not mean the question did not exist, because Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of the Great Ming, had already openly posed the question.
Zhu Jinsong tapped his fingers on the table and smiled, "No one wishes to answer this question? Then I shall ask another—which comes first in this world, the ruler and the minister, or the populace?"
Zeng Cheng and the other dignitaries averted their gaze, focusing on their noses and hearts. They thought to themselves, what difference was there between this question and the previous one?
The answer was obvious. People certainly came first in this world, followed by tribes, and then leaders slowly emerged from tribes. Therefore, the answer to this question was that the people came first, and the ruler came after.
But this question, like the previous one about who granted power to whom, was taboo!
Seeing that Zeng Cheng and the other dignitaries dared not answer this question, Zhu Jinsong was unfazed. Instead, as if answering himself, he said, "The people came first, and then the ruler. Therefore, the power to govern the country is actually entrusted to the emperor and officials by all the people under Heaven."
"It is a pity that some have forgotten this principle, or perhaps they do not wish for all the common people to know this principle, because once they know it, they will try to seize the power that rightfully belongs to them."
"Some people wish to firmly hold this power in their own hands to benefit themselves—including myself, I also hope that the Great Ming empire will last for ten thousand generations, and selfishly wish that my descendants can continue to be emperors of the Great Ming."
"However, to achieve this goal, some people treat the common people as fools, deceiving them. They even wish to blind the eyes and stop the ears of the common people, and sew up their mouths. If possible, they even wish to break the backs of the common people, so that they will obediently accept their fate of being enslaved and ruled."
"These people have forgotten that this world is ultimately constantly progressing, perhaps fast, perhaps slow, but it has never stopped."
"The common people do not know these principles now, but that does not mean they will not know them in the future—from the moment writing and language were born, this outcome was already destined."
Speaking of this, Zhu Jinsong suddenly changed the subject and said to Zeng Cheng and the other dignitaries, "Do Your Excellencies know what is the best way to rule for ten thousand generations?"
Zeng Cheng and the other dignitaries were still bewildered.
Frankly, Zeng Cheng and the other dignitaries believed that what Emperor Zhu had said earlier was very reasonable, because knowledge, including language, writing, and technology, tends to spread from the top down. Books would gradually become more accessible, and more people would read them. There would always be some who could understand the principles the Emperor had spoken of.
However, what Zeng Cheng and the other dignitaries could not understand was why Emperor Zhu Jinsong, after saying all this, suddenly asked how to rule for ten thousand generations.
Furthermore, since the beginning of the world and the reign of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, where had there ever been eternal rule? Zeng Cheng and the other dignitaries had not studied the situation in Europe in great detail, but in the Central Plains, the longest-reigning dynasty was the eight hundred years of the Zhou Dynasty. Where was there any truly eternal rule?
However, as Zeng Cheng and the other dignitaries continued to be bewildered, Zhu Jinsong went on to say, "The best way to achieve true eternal rule is to construct a false image of a prosperous age for the people, allowing them to eat their fill, but not too much. Provide them with numerous novels, plays, and various other distractions, allowing them to detach from the contemplation of books."
"For example, the concept of loving all people mentioned in Europe, or indulgences. For instance, the destruction of books, prohibition of history, and the policy of 'fostering ignorance and reducing population' that the Great Qing has been implementing all serve this purpose, and no one has ever revealed these things."
Zeng Cheng and the other dignitaries remained bewildered.
Yes, everyone admitted that Emperor Zhu's words were reasonable, but he was saying all these nonsensical things while vigorously promoting social schools in the Great Ming, and analyzing the reasons for rebellions throughout history in the textbooks of county schools, prefectural schools, and even universities, allowing all the common people to understand how governance worked, and how rebellions should be carried out. Did he not have a problem?
Zhu Jinsong looked at Zeng Cheng and the others' bewildered expressions and smiled, "What, you don't understand why I'm saying these things, yet I teach the people rebellion in books?"
Zeng Cheng nodded and replied, "Your Majesty, I am indeed perplexed—though the Great Qing's policy of fostering ignorance and reducing population is utterly inhumane, Your Majesty should admit that their methods are indeed effective. Since Your Majesty desires the Great Ming empire to last for ten thousand years, why bother..."
Zhu Jinsong waved his hand with a smile, "Ten thousand years of empire? What ten thousand years of empire! Although the policy of fostering ignorance and reducing population is good, it cuts off the future of the entire nation from the root. How can it be called effective? If this method were truly effective, how could I have restored the Great Ming empire?"
"Furthermore, they isolated themselves and fostered ignorance and reduced their population, while Europe continued to move forward. Even without my uprising, in a few decades, when the Jianyi court falls completely behind Europe, what do you think those European barbarians will do?"
"Like mad dogs smelling meat, they will pounce and tear at the Great Qing's empire and territory, and the Jianyi court will only transfer these disasters and losses onto the common people of the empire."
"Or, the Great Ming now sells so many firearms and cannons to Europe, and Europe is at war every day. So, who is unlucky? In any case, the Great Ming's treasury has money, and the people of the Great Ming have food to eat, so it will never be the people of the Great Ming who are unlucky."
"Looking back, have there been any rebellions in the Great Ming in recent years?"
"Facts have proven that the policy of fostering ignorance and reducing population is the most unadvisable way to ensure eternal rule. Instead, it is by letting the common people know what rebellion is and how to rebel that they will not easily resort to rebellion."
"To truly ensure eternal rule, there is ultimately only one sentence, and this sentence, I have said it countless times—if we hold the common people in our hands, they will lift us high above their heads!"
Speaking of this, Zhu Jinsong casually picked up a newspaper from the table and said with a cold smile, "These scoundrels are trying to reverse the course of history and take back the rights and benefits that I originally granted to the people into their own hands. They truly have great audacity!"
Zeng Cheng's heart trembled. Just as he was about to offer advice, Zhu Jinsong waved his hand and said, "As I said earlier, I will hand over the problems they have created to the separated Censorate, the Censorate, and the Dali Temple to handle. Consider it practice; I will not arbitrarily start any major cases now."
"What I want to tell you all is that the power held by me, and by all of you, actually originates from the common people. If the common people are satisfied with the Great Ming imperial court, then the Great Ming empire can naturally last for ten thousand generations, and your descendants can also hold high office and ride fine horses like you do."
Just as Zeng Cheng was about to nod in agreement, he suddenly felt something was not right, especially seeing Zhu Erdan and Liu Huaiwen nodding as if it were natural. Zeng Cheng knew that Zhu Erdan and the others had been completely swayed.
Were Zhu Jinsong's theories flawed?
No, these theories were completely correct. Even the emperor's words today were correct, and no one could find any fault with them.
However, as the emperor himself had once said—theories must be combined with practice!
Just like the inexplicable newspapers the emperor had thrown out—was this not a typical situation where the regulations of the Great Ming Law were one thing, and their implementation turned out to be another?
People always had selfish desires. No matter how good a plan or regulation was, it could completely turn into something else at the execution level.
After thinking about it, Zeng Cheng decided to remind Zhu Jinsong: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I believe what Your Majesty has said is very true, but..."
Zeng Cheng pointed to the newspapers on the table and said, choosing his words carefully, "But greed is insatiable. In this world, there are still scoundrels like the 'Eight Great Merchant Families.' Just like these newspapers, I do not believe that some people are not secretly instigating them."
Zhu Jinsong let out a cold laugh and said, "I know that these newspapers have someone behind them, so I also intend to test whether these scoundrels can reach a higher level of deception, or whether the rules I have set can prevail."
Of course, there were people behind these newspapers, and it had to be a joint effort of influential gentry and merchants in the Jiangnan region. After all, a newspaper involved layout, printing machines, paper, printing, distribution, and many other complicated issues. It was not as simple as just getting some paper, writing a few articles, and printing them.
More importantly, even if these complicated issues were resolved, it would only be the prerequisite for publishing a newspaper. The distribution rights of newspapers were held by the Great Ming imperial court. For those people to bypass the court's restrictions, they must first bribe some officials, otherwise, the local government would never stand by and watch them distribute such nonsensical tabloids.
However, Zhu Jinsong was not particularly concerned about these scoundrels.
For Zhu Jinsong, whether it was these "city foxes and mountain rats" or the words he had spoken to Zeng Cheng and the other dignitaries today, they were merely an experiment for Zhu Jinsong.
An attempt to change things while "crossing the river by feeling the stones."
As for the worst-case scenario...
As long as Zhu Jinsong could ensure that the common people were well-fed and clothed, he could act boldly. No matter how he acted, he could not be killed. Even if a lot of messy problems were created, they could be resolved slowly later.
Furthermore, what was the harm in creating problems? Zhu Jinsong could also transfer the risks to Europe through the "small broken pot." Even if he couldn't transfer them, it would at most be a matter of an imperial edict of self-condemnation.
Just like Liu Ye Zhu (a nickname for Zhu Yuanzhang), this fellow also caused a lot of trouble, and when the world was on the verge of chaos, he still resolved the issues through an imperial edict of self-condemnation.
Of course, the imperial edict of self-condemnation was a double-edged sword. It was best not to use it when it could be avoided. After all, Emperor Chongzhen had also issued more than a dozen such edicts, but he still ended up hanging himself from that crooked poplar tree on Meishan Mountain.
After thinking about it, Zhu Jinsong came up with a new strategy.
Zhu Jinsong tapped his fingers, slowly knocking on the table, and slowly said, "Later, have the Hanlin Academy, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of Personnel cooperate to recompile the 'Hongwu Imperial Edict' according to the current 'Great Ming Law,' and convert all of it into vernacular language."
"I do not require you to interpret all the laws and regulations through the 'Hongwu Imperial Edict,' but I want you to collect the contents of the 'Ministry of Revenue Law' and the regulations related to dealing with corrupt officials in the form of stories."
Hearing Zhu Jinsong say this, Zeng Cheng understood Zhu Jinsong's strategy, and Zeng Cheng knew very well that this strategy had a high chance of success.
In essence, Zhu Jinsong's ultimate goal was to strengthen the private rights of the common people and enhance their supervisory role over the government.
To achieve this goal, the prerequisite was that the common people must be literate. This was precisely what Emperor Hongwu had failed to achieve during his reign, because the literacy rate of the common people at that time was terrifyingly low. Even though Emperor Hongwu had created the 'Hongwu Imperial Edict' and could force people to collect it, at most, he could have someone explain it, but the common people could not even read it themselves.
However, Emperor Zhu Jinsong of the Great Ming, since his occupation of Menglianggu, had been tirelessly establishing social schools and had even recruited a large number of teachers who failed the imperial examinations, asking them to help with literacy.
If recognizing five hundred commonly used Chinese characters was considered literacy, then the literacy rate of the Great Ming populace had reached an astonishing level in just over a decade. Although it could not be said to be a hundred percent literacy rate, thirty percent was definitely achievable.
Although recognizing Chinese characters and being able to write them were two completely different concepts, if the literacy threshold were raised to one thousand Chinese characters, then the current literacy rate of the Great Ming would become very low. It might even drop from fifty percent to around ten percent. It might take a generation to recover to the peak of forty percent during the Great Ming period.
However, even ten percent was a formidable proportion. The literacy rate of the Great Qing... was only one percent.