Retracting his gaze from the dark night, Wang Zeng asked Wang Yi, "Is there anything else?" ”

Wang Yi held a wooden box in both hands and said respectfully: "Yan Neihan brought back this wooden box from Jingxi Lutuo, and asked me to present it to the adults with my own hands." Pen ~ fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info According to the visitor, this is written by the officials under the capital of Jingxi Road, Xu Longtu, called "Rich Country and People's Policy". This policy analyzes the new policies of Jingxi Road in detail last year for the Holy Lord's consideration. ”

"Oh, show me." Wang Zeng turned around, took out his reading glasses from a small box on the table, and brought them up.

Wang Yi stepped forward, put the wooden box on the table, and said softly: "It's late at night, adults rest early, and it's not too late to see it tomorrow." ”

Wang Zeng said: "It's okay, I have my own measure." You go back first, you don't have to stay here with me. ”

Wang Yi promised, bowed, and walked out of the study.

Wang Yi is the son of Wang Zeng's younger brother, not his own son, because Wang Zeng got a son late, succeeded Wang Yi, and has always been by his side. Wang Zeng was married to the daughter of the virgin Cai Guangji and died early without children. In the first year, before the palace test, he married the daughter of the prime minister Li Xin, and the king went first. He remarried the wife of his ex-wife's sister and gave birth to four boys and three girls.

In this era, it is very common to marry a sister-in-law after his wife dies for some reason, in addition to Wang Zeng, there is also an Ouyang Xiu, which is what Wang Gongchen jokingly called "the eldest aunt is the little aunt" in history.

The son went out of the study and closed the door.

Wang Zeng opened the wooden box under the light, took out the "Rich Country and Security Policy" inside, and watched it carefully under the light.

This is not one of the few manuscripts copied by Xu Ping on Jingxi Road, but Yan Shu copied it himself in private, and the handwriting is extremely neat, but it is not as detailed as the real manuscript, and there are many omissions. Doing this behind Xu Ping's back, Yan Shu was always a little weak-hearted, and it was not good to blatantly borrow all of them and transcribe them one by one, and some of them were written by him from memory.

Does Xu Ping know that someone will copy it in private? That must have been guessed, otherwise he wouldn't have read the manuscript so closely. This kind of thing is originally to prevent gentlemen and not villains, so many people are involved, how can it not be known. As long as the real manuscript does not flow out, then the copy can be corrected at any time, and the transmission can be disrecognized, and there is an initiative for good or bad.

Wang Zeng has never forgotten since he was a child, and all the sons of a hundred schools of thought have dabbled in it, even if he is proficient in the classics of the Buddha, unlike Fan Zhongyan and others who have a habit of ideological purity, and Ouyang Xiu, who regards the Buddha as an enemy, is even more incompatible.

"Rich Country and People's Policy" has not really been released until now, one is that Xu Ping must have practice, and practice can persuade others, and the other is to combine it with Confucian classics. There are many schools of Confucianism, and there are many ways to say many truths, and there must be trade-offs and foundations in the middle, so that we must be able to justify ourselves and not deviate from the fundamental purpose of Confucianism.

This is where the value of Li Jing lies, and on the most fundamental theoretical basis, "Rich Country and Security Policy" is deeply imprinted by Li Jing's thoughts. Li Jing is an anti-Meng banner figure, before he met Xu Ping, whoever said that Mencius was not good, he would be a confidant, only by seeing that Mencius was useless, in Li Ji's view, he could read the sage book clearly. This is also no way, when it comes to financial management and national use, it has to be played from Xunzi. Among the early Confucian scholars, only Xunzi was not bound by righteousness and profit, who did not use his name?

But Li Ji didn't respect Xun, he was just anti-Meng, and then became another family. Before Mencius was erected, Confucianism and Legalism, Confucianism and Taoism, Legalism and Taoism, and Legalism and Taoism, the ideas became more and more unified, not without reason. Later, Wang Anshi changed the law, respecting Meng on the one hand, and managing money on the other, which was the foundation of Li Jing first.

Wang Zeng has no prejudices about the various schools of Confucianism, but he has no feelings about the previous content, as long as he does not depart from the fundamental benevolence-centered, people-oriented, and can justify himself, in Wang Zeng's view, it is a success. What attracted Wang Zeng's attention was that the book officially divided interests into private interests and public interests, private interests are not necessarily evil, public interests are not necessarily justice, public interests and private interests should be coordinated with each other, complement each other, and be each other's inside and outside, and finally say that public interests are the great righteousness of the world.

"Rich Country Security and People's Policy" is about how to seek public interests, do not harm private interests when seeking public interests, promote each other with private interests, develop together, and bring prosperity to the whole society. Limiting the desires of the individual and developing the common good is the means. After the public interest is expanded, so as to increase the private interest of each person, this is the goal. Let everyone get more and more wealth and satisfy more and more desires, which is the final problem to be solved in the "Rich Country and Security Policy". How to coordinate in the middle, how to determine the system, and how to adjust the interests of individuals and the whole are the "rites" that Li Jing believes are, and "rites" are the foundation of the world.

The Confucian concept of "rites" is almost all-encompassing, including all social norms such as law and morality, and the principles followed by such norms are divided into many schools. Mencius talked about goodness, paying attention to etiquette and benevolence and righteousness from the inside out, it is the natural nature of human beings, as long as you discover her, cultivate her, guide her, pay attention to self-cultivation and clear ambition, and cultivate my heroic spirit. Xunzi talks about sexual evil, and human nature is selfish, so "etiquette" must be compulsory, and only by destroying people's desires can "etiquette" exist. This selfish and evil nature of human beings will inevitably lead to wars between people and wars between countries, and if we want to prevent all this and achieve the ideal society of great harmony, we must eliminate people's desires and impose the principles of human conduct in the world.

Obviously, as long as the Confucian concept of Xunzi's Datong society is abolished, and the desires of rulers such as kings are satisfied, and the desires of the ruled are restricted, and the thoughts and actions of the ruled must serve the rulers, then they are Legalists.

Mencius's emphasis on self-cultivation, the inner sage and the outer king, moved closer to Taoism and Mohist.

There was a Song dynasty, and the main controversy in the Northern Song Dynasty was whether to respect Meng or Xun. In contrast to the impression of Xu Ping's previous life, it was the reformers who respected Meng, represented by Wang Anshi, including Fan Zhongyan before him. And those who respect Xun are conservatives, represented by Sima Guang. Among them, there are the largest centrists, some who neither respect Meng nor Xun, and there are those who respect Meng but can't talk to Wang Anshi in any way. The impression that Xu Ping learned in his previous life was that Wang Anshi talked about financial management, which was quite in line with the Legalists, which was actually completely contrary to the ideas of this era.

Jingkang's change, because it was the New Party that was in charge at that time, Wang Anshi's new school was dealt a fatal blow, Zun Xun and Zun Meng began to merge, and the contradictions were no longer so acute. Mencius's official status rose, but Xunzi's thoughts were deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and Mengpi Xun's bones began to emerge. At this time, the mainstream of ideological controversy slowly shifted to the school of merit and science. With the demise of the Song Dynasty, the science of self-denial and revenge, the preservation of heavenly principles to destroy human desires, and the opposition between heavenly principles and human desires finally triumphed. Only when people's desires are extinguished can they preserve the principles of heaven, then of course their desires are evil, and they say that the principles of heaven are in the hearts of the people, so they must first cultivate themselves, and they have left the skin of Mencius. Of course, this idea had already had a hint when Han Yu proposed a different temperament, so Ouyang Xiu, who later held high the banner of Han Yu, believed that "a gentleman is just a self-cultivation and self-cultivation, and the good and evil of sex do not need to be investigated", which was ridiculed by later generations.

Whether it is the reform and reform school of the Northern Song Dynasty that emphasized the "three fearlessness", or the Eastern Zhejiang Shigong school represented by Ye Shi and Chen Liang in the Southern Song Dynasty that continued Wang Anshi's "for the use of the world and the country", the important ideological source came from Li Jing.

Li Jing advocated that there is no good or evil in human nature, and that human desires are unified with heavenly principles, and there is no antagonistic relationship. From this point of view, the core "rites" of Confucianism are re-explained, so that financial management, meritorious service, etc. are all natural meanings, with a strong realism color.

After sorting out the source of this thought, we will understand the importance of Li Jing's theoretical foundation for Xu Ping's reform and cultivation. Without the unity of Li Jing's desire to create wealth with heavenly principles, there would be no ideological basis for labor to create wealth, and reform would lose its legitimacy. If human desires bring evil consequences, then the wealth that satisfies human desires is also evil, and the more they are, the more useless they are to the world.

"Public interests are based on private interests, and are used for all people, so it is said that seeking public interests is the great righteousness of the world."

Wang Zeng drew a line under these words, raised his head, took off his reading glasses, and rubbed his forehead.

The distinction between righteousness and benefit is a hurdle that cannot be bypassed, and if this step cannot be crossed, countless disputes will arise in reform, and if you are not careful, you will die halfway. The significance of this sentence to Xu Ping's New Deal is like the sentence in his previous life, "Poverty is not socialism", which was widely accepted, and the reform became just. But such a simple sentence, it is not a simple thing to be truly recognized, his previous life may be blurted out by 10,000 people, but how this sentence is combined with the original system, and all kinds of theories in all aspects of the theoretical system, 10,000 people may not be able to say it clearly. When everyone can say this sentence as a matter of course, there are countless people behind the hard work, and no one can stop the reform.

Wang Zeng and Lu Yi's simple generation still grew up in a political atmosphere that advocated quiet and inaction, such as Wang Zeng's father-in-law Li Xin, who was known as the "Holy Minister", said that the prime minister's government should not change the law of the ancestors. Wang Zeng's career is also like his father-in-law, there are no ups and downs, but he has done his best in almost every position. However, Li Xin, the prime minister of this life, commented on his "righteousness and brightness" in the history books, Wang Dan called him a saint, and Song Zhenzong thought that he was loyal and pure, consistent, and a true elder. Wang used to have the style of his father-in-law, but now, he knows that the world has to change.

Even Ouyang Xiu, who was still flying at this time, knew that "everything is extremely unchangeable, it is harmful, and change is reasonable", "Everything is unchanging, everything is changed, and this heavenly principle is natural". How could Wang Zeng not understand this truth.

Change is to change, and the key is how to change. If you mess around like a headless fly and mess around, it's better to be honest and keep it done, and it's better to change than to stay the same. Xu Ping was able to lead people to explain that "seeking public interests is the great righteousness of the world", jumping out of the distinction between righteousness and benefit, in Wang Zeng's eyes, he already has the qualifications to talk about change.

Turning on the lamp on the table, Wang Zeng continued to immerse himself in reading the "Rich Country and Security Policy" on the table. Jingxi Road's new policy last year, as the prime minister, Wang Zeng is naturally clear, and even most of the terms can be treasured by him. But why such a change was taken, and what considerations were behind it, Wang Zeng is not clear. For such a major national event, he believes that Xu Ping must be systematically considered, and it is impossible to be like a naughty boy who can come up with one thing and do it.

Now that he has carefully read the "Rich Country and Security Policy", which corresponds to the reform measures of Jingxi Road in his impression, Wang Zeng slowly began to sort out the context. Why is so much change revolving around cotton? It turned out that cotton could be planted on a large scale, cotton cloth could be produced in factories, and cloth was necessary for the people in clothing, food, housing and transportation.

If you don't eat, you will starve to death, so food cannot be used as a commodity. It is the natural responsibility of the regime to ensure the necessary materials for the people, because you have to use it, so it is not okay for me to use this to make money, and this is the way to destroy the country. The monopoly of salt is regarded as a tax, not as a commodity to make a profit, and cannot be said to be the same as ordinary commercial transactions.

Cotton cloth is not necessary for survival in a sense, but textiles are inseparable from everyone, with a huge scale and a huge amount of profits, which is the reason why Xu Ping chose this industry. Behind the purpose of using the cotton cloth industry to impact the old production relations, Xu Ping did not hide it, and bluntly said that because cloth is an important part of the imperial court's taxation, and even has a part of the monetary function, because it is important, it must be changed.

The so-called wealth is tangible and intangible materials and various products, including cultural products, that can be created with human hands. And people's ability to create wealth can continue to grow with the improvement of production tools, the improvement of the degree of organization, and the deepening of the division of labor and cooperation. The product can only be produced in exchange and distribution where it is needed, and it can become a useful thing, and a useful thing is wealth. In this process, profits can be formed, which in the words of this era are interest, and a part of the profits can be reinvested in life, and production can be expanded in addition to maintaining it.

When such a chain is established, the whole society is organized and operates in order to obtain more wealth. And the acquisition of more wealth, under the principle that public interest is the great righteousness of the world, is integrated into the original ideology.

After reading this, Wang Zeng completely sorted out Xu Ping's new policy on Jingxi Road and pulled out the layer of fog that covered it.

After reading all the books in the box, Wang Zeng looked up and saw that the sky was white outside. Today's rest does not need to go to the court, Wang Zeng can temporarily put aside the trivial matters of the court and politics, and think carefully about this set of "Rich Country and People's Policy".

Putting the book back into the box and covering it, Wang Zeng said softly: "Han Taizu is dying in the world, with Huang Lao's technique, the world has been quiet and inactive for decades, and there is the rule of Wenjing. Emperor Wu rose up, Weijia Hainai, and Siyi were served. Is Emperor Wu's ambition stronger than that of Wenjing and Emperor Ye? That's a fool's argument. At this time and then, by the time of Emperor Wu, it had to change. Now, although it was often impossible to be quiet and inactive in the previous decades of this dynasty, it has to change today. In the art of financial management, Xu Ping is far better than Sang Hongyang, and Yu Dao can justify himself. With this strategy, it is enough to calm the world! ”

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty conquered the east and the west, and the power was rare, which is rarely comparable in ancient and modern times. Soldiers need money and food, and Sang Hong sheep is the money bag of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, ensuring military needs. Can Xu Ping do what Sang Hongyang did? After tonight, Wang thought it was possible, and that it could be done better.