Lecture 3: Conspiracy for the Country and Confidence: Strange Phenomenon in the Ming Empire in 276 Years

“Country” and “family” are the two most important concepts in traditional Chinese ethics. Some people sacrifice their personal interests for the sake of the country, and some people sacrifice the national justice for the sake of their family. > > The old problem of not distinguishing between family and country. In ancient China, it was difficult to distinguish between country and family in the political field. Especially for those in the upper echelons of politics, the country is home, and this "home" is the home of the emperor. What is pitiful is that there are still many upright ministers who are fighting for their "family", but they themselves feel that they are loyal to the country. > > Untimely Thoughts Ming Taizu killed meritorious officials indiscriminately and created unjust prisons. From his own point of view, this was to consolidate his rule, so that the country would have no rebellion or conspiracy in the future, and future generations could sit in peace and stability. However, the country is not his own, so why would he exchange the lives of his ministers for the power of his descendants? This is a typical example of "no distinction between family and country." > > If Zhu Yuanzhang's "no distinction between family and country" is because for him, family and country are unified, then those ministers who were loyal to death would be a sigh. > > Fang Xiaoru (also known as Mr. Zhengxue.) is one of them. His tragedy began from the first day he entered the political arena, because he was not a simple minister, but a thoughtful and ambitious intellectual. > > It can be said that his thoughts became the root cause of his ultimate sacrifice for the "country". > > In the early Song Dynasty, the 15th generation ancestor Fang Xiaoru moved from Tonglu, Zhejiang to Ninghai and settled there ever since. Fang Xiaoru's great-grandfather Fang Ziye and grandfather Fang Jiong successively served as county academic magistrates in Yin County. His father, Fang Keqin, is also a famous local Confucian. In the seventeenth year of Yuan Zhizheng (1357), Fang Xiaoru was born into a scholarly family with generations of scholars. > > When Fang Xiaoru studied Confucian classics, he also summarized the experiences and lessons of the rise and fall of dynasties in the past, discussed the methods of governing the country, and put forward his own political opinions. It can be summed up mainly as follows: advocating benevolent government and opposing tyranny. He advocates governing the country with benevolence, justice, etiquette and music, and opposes imposing rewards and punishments on the people. >>During the Hongwu period, with the recovery and development of the economy, class conflicts began to become acute, and small peasant uprisings occurred one after another. Faced with this situation, the Ming Dynasty just suppressed blindly, thinking that through harsh punishments, it could consolidate its dominance. In response to this reality, Fang Xiaoru pointed out that if you want to stop the people from robbing and stealing without any reason, you must first find out the root cause of the robbing and theft. If they have soil to cultivate, an industry to work on, and corn and cloth to use for food and clothing, then prohibit it. Then the thieves can be stopped. And if "you cannot make them live peacefully and restore their nature, but blame them for their inactions and prohibit them from causing violence, the more detailed the legal system will be, the more alienated the people will be." "If you rely on your laws to make the people fearful, the people will always be afraid. Huh!" Here, Fang Xiaoru had dimly realized that the people were forced to rebel, showing a certain degree of sympathy for the people. > > The reason why Fang Xiaoru has this kind of thinking is mainly because he has lived at the bottom for a long time and has heard and witnessed the miserable conditions of working people. This cannot but have a great impact on his thinking. In a fable "The Mosquito Pair", he used the mouth of a child to expose the plundering of the working people by the exploiters: "In the daytime, it is as if they are riding among their own kind, sucking their cream, eating their brains, and making them hungry." Walking in the grass, straying from the road, hearing calls to the sky, and having no mercy. "It is rare to be able to see this. >>Among Fang Xiaoru's political thoughts, what is particularly worth mentioning is the idea of ??"kingdom". He said: "The duty of a human ruler is to provide for the people. ... Heaven establishes a monarch for the people, not to make the people serve the emperor. ... Heaven establishes a monarch not to gain wealth and honor for one person. "This will enable them to educate the people to the best of their ability." But the rulers of later generations did not know that their duty was to nourish the people, so they asked a lot from the people, but those who did the best for themselves were lazy and neglected to cultivate. If the common people do not pay taxes and provide labor on time, the punishment will be increased, so that politics and religion will not be promoted, rituals and music will not be lazy, and the strong, weak, rich and poor will not be in their proper place. He said: "He doesn't think much about his duties!">> Fang Xiaoru further pointed out that from the ministers to the deacons, they all have their own responsibilities. If they do not fulfill their duties, they will be blamed at least, and punished at worst. The duties of a human ruler are far more important than those of a minister, a minister, or a deacon. If a ruler is lazy but not lazy in his duties, although the punishments cannot be added together, God will "severe him in anger." This is simply a deafening warning to tyrants. >>He believes that in order for a ruler to better fulfill his duties as a ruler, he must learn from the ancestors. To learn from the ancient kings, one should especially learn the word "sincerity". He said: "When a sage governs the world, he does not use deceit to estimate the world's human feelings, thinking that rewards and punishments are given, but only with sincerity." However, some rulers are not like this. They "want to be wise" and think that all ministers are all If you are not trustworthy, you will want everything in the world to be your own. Therefore, you will often be harsh and profound, leading to your destruction. This is because you do not know the way to be a king. > > Taizu of the Ming Dynasty was exactly the type of person Fang Xiaoru accused him of. He was suspicious of his ministers and frequently went to jail. Thousands of local officials were executed in an empty seal case. Fang Xiaoru's father, who had always been upright and law-abiding, was also unjustly killed. The case of Hu Weiyong has many more implicates, including the founding father of the country, Song Lian. An atmosphere of terror enveloped the country. Fang Xiaoru's above remarks were a criticism of Hongwu's harsh politics.

> > At the beginning of the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu (1392), Ming Taizu summoned Fang Xiaoru again. The emperor and his ministers had different opinions on how to govern the country. Therefore, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty believed that "this is not the time to (emphasis on) filial piety and children" and only appointed him as a professor at Hanzhong Prefecture in Shaanxi Province. > > His thoughts were too radical at the time, and Ming Taizu's neglect of him also gave him a strong sense of frustration. Therefore, once he met a monarch who treated him with courtesy, the result could only be "A scholar dies for a confidant." >> Get the king to practice the law, serve the country and forget about oneself. In the leap month of the 31st year of Hongwu (1398), Ming Taizu died of illness. Since the crown prince Zhu Biaoxian had passed away, the young crown prince ascended the throne with the reign name Jianwen and was known as Emperor Hui in history. Emperor Hui was endowed with benevolent nature, loved virtuous people and loved learning. Long before he came to the throne, Ming Taizu had ordered his provinces to declare their decisions, and he often responded with leniency. He also studied the rites and scriptures, referred to the criminal laws of previous dynasties, and revised the "Da Ming Code" formulated by the Hongwu Dynasty, and everyone in the world praised its virtues. Emperor Hui had long heard about Fang Xiaoru's virtuous character. When he came to the throne, he sent a special envoy to Hanzhong to recall Fang Xiaoru to the imperial court. He was first appointed as a doctor of the Hanlin Academy, then promoted to a bachelor's degree, preparing for banquets, preparing consultants, and serving on the left and right every day. He relied heavily on him. > > Fang Xiaoru has long had a long-cherished wish to "make his ruler like Tang Yu and his body like Yi Zhou". Now that he is sidelined to the court, he can realize his grand plans. After entering the dynasty, the monarch and his ministers were in love with each other. Emperor Hui had doubts about his reading, so he often asked Fang Xiaoru to explain. When a matter is presented to the court, and the ministers can discuss it in person, Fang Xiaoru will be ordered to go to the court to comment on it. The agreement between the monarch and his ministers made Fang Xiaoru extremely excited. He once wrote a poem: The wind is soft, the Tongting Courtyard is still cold, and the incense from the furnace is lingering around the jade stems. Huangmen suddenly reported to Wenyuan Pavilion, and the emperor read a book and summoned the officials. I asked Lian Linxuan a few times, and the spring breeze filled the dragon's face with gentleness. Listening carefully to the words of heaven and waving them for a long time, I can return the cigarette with my sleeves. > > Fang Xiaoru, who took "Ming Wang Dao and Bringing Peace" as his own mission, tried his best to assist Emperor Hui and implemented a series of new policies. > > First, be lenient in administration. >>First, emphasizing morality and minimizing punishment. After Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty came to the throne, he implemented a policy of combining leniency with violence and focusing on violence. However, later on, the harsh punishments and laws did not change slightly. However, strict laws and severe punishments only cause offenders to breed more people. Both Emperor Hui and Fang Xiaoru believed that the reason was poor ethics. "Although the country is in good health, the folk customs are still not peaceful. I miss you deeply and want to see the prosperity of rituals and music." This was Fang Xiaoru's ambition and was supported by Emperor Hui. They went against the practices of Ming Taizu and focused on civilized governance and advocating ethics. Emperor Hui once issued an edict to local officials to uphold etiquette and pardon those who were suspected of being imprisoned. As a result, the number of prisoners in the Metropolitan Procuratorate of the Ministry of Punishment was reduced by two-thirds compared with previous years. At the same time, twenty-four court officials were selected as interview envoys to patrol the country, observe customs, stay in seclusion, and initiate things that benefit the people.