Dashun Yongchang

Li Zicheng nodded slightly and said: "It cannot be said that the villages in the south of the Yangtze River are insignificant, but if the cities in the south of the Yangtze River are controlled, the villages in the south of the Yangtze River will not be able to cause any disturbances.

For hundreds of years from the Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, the economy and population of the Jiangnan region have always been ahead of the whole country.There is basically no undeveloped wasteland in the ten prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River. Towns have been established in places with convenient transportation, and these towns are nodes for material exchange with surrounding villages.

Therefore, as long as we control the towns in the Jiangnan area, it is equivalent to controlling the economic and transportation points of the Jiangnan countryside.Divided villages, no matter in manpower and material resources, are difficult to compete with towns.

Of course, although the towns in the south of the Yangtze River are developing well, the concentration of population and economy is not high enough. We need to encourage these towns to continue to develop and concentrate the surplus labor and materials in the Jiangnan countryside to the cities, so that the rural areas will be completely controlled by the cities.In that way, those country gentry and landlords who show off their power in the countryside will completely lose their power. "

When he fought with Li Zicheng in the past, Zhang Nai felt that he could still keep up with Li Zicheng's thinking.What made him feel inferior was Li Zicheng's perseverance.However, since Shanhaiguan withdrew his troops, he found that he couldn't keep up with Li Zicheng's thinking more and more, as if he suddenly became another person, and he was no longer as uncertain about the future as in the past, as if he had a The real picture scroll that everyone can't see is ordinary.

After hesitating again and again, Zhang Nai couldn't help but suggested to Li Zicheng again: "Or I should lead the troops to the north, and His Majesty will sit here. I think that I am more suitable to go to the battlefield, and handle civil affairs in the rear. I always feel that my hands are tied."

Li Zicheng stretched out his hand and patted Zhang Nai's shoulder. He also agreed with the other party's opinion in his heart, but he knew that it would be impossible for him not to go north this time, because everyone was waiting for him to preside over the overall situation. If he didn't go, people's hearts would be scattered. up.

Li Zicheng smiled and nodded to Chen Yuanyuan who was standing in front of the door, and said to Zhang Nai: "I have told you so much just now, don't you understand? Yangzhou is the foundation of my Dashun in the future." , there is no important general sitting here, how can I rest assured.

In the battle with the Qing soldiers in the north, it is impossible for us to lose strategically, but not necessarily tactically.After all, the warrior saints have said: Victory and defeat are commonplace for military strategists.Anything can happen on the battlefield.If something really happens, I and everyone can only rely on Huai'an and Yangzhou to make a comeback, so your responsibility is heavy..."

There were five dishes and one soup on the dinner table today, Chen Yuanyuan first served a bowl of dried duck bamboo shoot soup for the two of them to warm up their bodies.Li Zicheng felt delicious after a few sips, and then saw a plate of fried hairtail on the table, and couldn't help asking: "Could this hairtail be purchased by the military?"

Chen Yuanyuan opened the earthen jar hidden in a straw warmer, and replied while filling the rice: "Yes, didn't you tell them to bring some to taste, they sent it over early in the morning, I thought it would be good I made it at noon for you to try something new, but these were kept in ice cubes and delivered, and the taste is much better than those pickled with salt."

Li Zicheng took a piece of hairtail and tasted it, and then said: "Let them send two salted ones to taste. In addition, the Statistics Department will investigate the sources and prices of ice cubes and salt used by these fishermen. The storage time and method of general seafood. Find out if there is a better storage method, such as heating it and sealing it with an earthen jar, and then transporting it to the front line or inland for sale.

It would be even better if a proposal to expand fishery production could be given.It takes at least two years to raise a pig, and the meat is only 90-100 catties, but it does not take two years to catch a net of fish.It is impossible to let the army eat meat every day, at least they have to get some salted fish for their meals. "

Chen Yuanyuan handed over the job bowl and agreed, and sat quietly aside, while Li Zicheng also talked about military affairs with Zhang Nai.For this topic, Zhang Nai is much more active than before, basically he talks and Li Zicheng listens.

In general, this time Li Zicheng went south to recover the four towns and the Jianghuai area. The total strength of the local officers and soldiers, the Denglai Navy, and the Chongming Island Navy was about 15. 5 people.In the past three months, Zhang Nai has been rectifying the 10 troops who surrendered to the Ming Dynasty. Excluding more than 2 people who were demobilized, tens of thousands of people transferred to other places, and recruited nearly 12 new recruits, and finally formed [-] troops.

Although recruiting at the same time as demobilization seems a little unnecessary, it has greatly changed the internal power relations of these surrendering officers and soldiers.To put it simply, by dismantling the old army and new recruits to form new combat units, the Marshal's Mansion's control over these surrendered officers and soldiers was greatly strengthened.Especially those non-commissioned officers and officers who were selected from the grassroots officers and soldiers for training, and after they were placed back in the army, their past loyalty relationship was broken up, and these people began to pledge their allegiance to the Marshal's Mansion.

After listening to Zhang Nai's report, Li Zicheng finally had a little more confidence in going north.This is also the reason why he has not ordered to go north for a long time. He hopes to give some more time to get used to this new army that has just been reorganized.

Chapter 282 New Deal 97

Zhang Nai finished his lunch with Li Zicheng, and roughly finished reporting on the military affairs.Li Zicheng asked him to go back and sort out a detailed plan for the deployment of troops, and prepare a recruiting plan for 3 recruits, preparing to replenish the army with new blood after the war.

When Li Zicheng sent Zhang Nai out of the yard, seeing that there was no one else around, Zhang Nai took the time to ask a question, "After your majesty goes north, if there is any change in Mingzhen temple, how should I deal with it?"

Although Zhang Nai was talking about Ming Zhen Guan, Li Zicheng knew that the other party was talking about Zhu Cihong.After he lowered his head and thought for a few breaths, he looked up at Zhang Nai and said: "The meaning of Cihong's existence is to allow us to have a channel to communicate with those gentry and landlords. The fundamental reason why Chongzhen died for the country is that He is a man without common sense, so we cannot communicate with him.

The reason why I let Cihong get in touch with those folk affairs is that I hope he can understand what is common sense. Only when he knows what is common sense can we communicate with him on the basis of common sense.How can we communicate with a ruler who doesn't even know the common sense that if there is no harvest, people will starve to death?

Secondly, as long as Cihong exists for a day, those gentry and landlords will not be able to establish a new leader with appeal, and they will not be able to call on the people in the south of the Yangtze River to be hostile to us with the hatred of the king and father.

Therefore, the change in the Mingzhen Temple is nothing more than some people trying to persuade Cilang to leave Yangzhou and go to Nanjing or the area controlled by the gentry and landlords.But not everyone is in favor of this action, at least those northern gentry and landlords who followed Cihong southward are not happy. What they now hope is to fight back to their hometown and take back their property.

Therefore, as long as you hold back those northern gentry, they will naturally suppress the radical claims of those southern gentry for us.The only variable that will appear is Zhu Cihong himself. If he really wants to cross the river, then other people's opinions are irrelevant. "

Li Zicheng paused for a moment to consider, before loosening his brows and said: "As I said just now, from the current point of view, communicating with a Zhu Cihong who has common sense is better than being with a group of people who are fighting against us to the end with the hatred of the king and father." Dealing with gentry and landowners.

After all, the biggest threat to us now is the Jiannu and those frontier soldiers and landlords who surrendered to Jiannu, not the household dogs in the south who just want to guard their families.If it really comes to such an irreversible time, we can only get together with Cihong and send him across the river safely. We must not let him have any problems in our hands. "

Zhang Nai bowed his head to Li Zicheng, and replied seriously: "I understand what your majesty means, and I will try my best not to let such a thing happen. Then I will go down the mountain first..."

When Zhang Nai went down the mountain, he happened to meet Zhu Cihong, Ma Shiying and others.Seeing the heroic young generals seeing him and the others just nodding to the prince and walking away, Ma Shiying couldn't help asking the prince, "Who is this guy? He looks very arrogant."

Zhu Cihong replied somewhat ignorantly: "Is there? Yihou is just not good at talking with people, but he is not arrogant. Both he and Chief Guard Li are the adopted sons of His Majesty, so they are different from others."

Ma Shiying closed his mouth thoughtfully, followed the prince and continued to walk up the mountain.Ruan Dacheng on the side looked at the completed stone trail, and couldn't help but admire: "This mountain road is built really fast. When I came here more than half a month ago, I only built a little bit at the foot of the mountain, and now it's halfway through. The mountainside. It seems that the entire mountain trail will be completed by the end of this year."

Zhu Cihong continued from the side: "This is not too fast, as long as you pay enough wages and provide enough materials, isn't it normal to complete the project according to the construction schedule?"

Ruan Dacheng and Ma Shiying glanced at each other and fell silent.Although what the prince said is good, this is a government project, not a private project.If private funds are used to build this climbing path, it is natural to calculate the time to supply materials so that the craftsmen can complete the work according to the stipulated time limit.But if it’s a government project, the craftsmen and materials are apportioned to the private households, and maybe a little money for work and food will be distributed, but even if the handlers don’t deduct it, it’s only enough to meet the food and clothing of the craftsmen and husbands, and it won’t give you much money. .

Therefore, this kind of project hosted by the government either cut corners or cut corners or shut down for three days because there was no material. The projects that could be completed according to the schedule were rare, or more labor was used than was actually needed.According to the prince, it is impossible for the government to provide enough wages and construction materials, unless the officials below suddenly start to perform their official duties.

Of course, in such a realistic situation, the two of them are not enough to mention it to the prince.So the two had a haha ​​and changed the subject, which seemed to prevaricate the question again.

After entering the Daming Temple, Ma Shiying looked around and couldn't help smiling when he heard the sound of chanting scriptures from the direction of the main hall, "Unexpectedly, Emperor Yongchang is still a person who worships Buddha, and he can live in the same temple with Buddhism, but Qiu has nothing to do with it." guilty."

Zhu Cihong frowned when he heard this, and after he struggled for a moment, he honestly warned Ma Shiying: "Your Majesty does not pay respect to the Buddha. Besides destroying the temples of evil gods such as Wutong, Master Nan'an also confiscated the real estate of many temples and Taoist temples. Of course, the confiscated property ended up being used to build schools.

Daming Temple was also confiscated a lot of land leased to others.His Majesty said that people in Dashun can freely believe in religion, and religious people can also preach within the scope of the law, but there are two things that are not allowed.The first is to force others to believe in religion, including forcing children, parents, brothers and other family members; the second is to operate land, business and usury in the name of religion.It is okay for temples and Taoist temples to grow a few acres of land by themselves, but it is illegal to rent it out to others for profit.

The reason why the Marshal's Mansion and the Daming Temple can coexist peacefully is because His Majesty does not interfere with the normal religious activities in the temple, and the monks in the Daming Temple have not engaged in any superstitious activities.It's not that His Majesty has any special feelings for Buddhism, Mr. Ma don't misunderstand. "

Ma Shiying straightened his posture immediately, and thanked the prince for his suggestion.Although it was only the first time he met the prince, he had a very good impression of the prince. The prince was young but his ideas were very upright. He didn't look like a puppet under house arrest by Li Zicheng at all.In this regard, Ma Shiying felt that it was not a bad thing to replace Emperor Hongguang with a prince.

After entering the gate of Daming Temple, military officers came forward to inquire and led them to Pingshan Hall.After stepping into the Pingshan Hall, Ma Shiying was also quite surprised, because the furnishings here were somewhat beyond his imagination.He originally thought that for an emperor on horseback like Li Zicheng, the Pingshan Hall should not be decorated magnificently, at least it should be full of weapons and armor.

But the Pingshan hall in his eyes is full of a bookish atmosphere. There is a partitioned reception area in the middle, and the office area behind the reception area. A large case is full of documents. The bookcase for files, and the files that cannot be accommodated by the bookcase are stacked on the ground.On the left hand side of the reception area are rows of bookshelves, and on the right hand side are a large sand table and many hanging maps.Obviously, the emperor on horseback did not rely on force to rule under his own rule.

Just when Ma Shiying was reevaluating Li Zicheng in his heart, Li Zicheng who got the news just happened to come up from the steps. While walking towards the Pingshan Hall, he greeted Zhu Cihong, Ma Shiying and others, asking them to sit down and talk.

After meeting Li Zicheng, Ma Shiying was thinking about how to open his mouth and establish a relationship between the two, when he heard Li Zicheng say to him: "Fu Wang and Mr. Ma Ge are able to understand righteousness and eliminate a military disaster in the south. , It can be said that there is nothing good about it.

The promise that the Marshal's Mansion can make about this is that Nandu will no longer pursue the act of arbitrarily electing King Fu to succeed him, and no one will be able to hold this matter to anyone in the future.Cihong, please express your opinion too. "

Zhu Cihong replied without hesitation: "Yes, what His Majesty means is what I mean. If anyone makes trouble with this matter in the future, he will deliberately overthrow the imperial court."

Although what Li Zicheng and Zhu Cihong said was a bit straightforward, they gave Ma Shiying a reassurance.If he came to Yangzhou in person but couldn't even get this promise, then he would have to consider whether to resign and go back to his hometown.

After Ma Shiying stood up and thanked Li Zicheng and the crown prince for their generosity, Li Zicheng said to him again: "The past matters end here. Since Mr. Ma Ge can come, then I won't talk about nonsense.

Jiannu and the rebels have already gone south, and I have been busy with the expedition these days, so I don't have much time to test it out with you.Now that past matters are settled, let's talk about present and future affairs.

So, Mr. Ma Ge, what is your philosophy of governing the country?Or, where do you plan to take this country? "

This question caught Ma Shiying a little off guard. He didn't expect Li Zicheng to ask such a question. He originally thought that Li Zicheng would talk about the exchange of benefits after meeting him.After all, the promise Li Zicheng made to him through Ruan Dacheng was not about governing the country.

It's just that Ma Shiying looked at Zhu Cihong who was sitting on the side, but he couldn't talk about those promises. He could only rack his brains to think about what Li Zicheng was thinking, and secretly gave Ruan Dacheng a wink, hoping that this old friend would Get yourself out of trouble.

Seeing this, Ruan Dacheng interrupted and said: "Brother Yaocao has a big game in mind for the way of governing the country. But it seems that it is not the time to talk about the way of governing the country right now? Your Majesty is about to go to the Northern Expedition. Shouldn't the Northern Expedition be used for peace?" Is the world the most important thing? If the world cannot be peaceful, how can we talk about governance?"

Li Zicheng shook his head and said, "Although war is the most important thing right now, we must at least let the people know what kind of country they are defending. What Cihong and King Fu are fighting for is not the position of emperor, but the position of emperor." It is where the country is going. If it is only for the throne, why should I invite Mr. Ma Ge to come over..."

Chapter 283 New Deal 98

Li Zicheng's problem is a bit difficult for Ma Shiying. Since he promoted King Fu to the throne, he has been thinking about how to stabilize his position and attack his enemies.To be honest, he really didn't have time to think about such things as governing the country.

Even if he persuaded King Fu to abdicate this time, and then came to Yangzhou to meet the crown prince and Li Zicheng in person, what Ma Shiying considered the most was how to reach a cooperation with Li Zicheng to ensure that his status remained unchanged.

Therefore, he really never thought that he would be asked such a formal question when meeting Li Zicheng for the first time.Of course, Ma Shiying is not without answers, and he also has a standard answer. If the scholars who joined the cabinet in the Ming Dynasty were asked by the emperor how to govern the country, they could use this standard answer to answer.

But this standard answer is exactly what he can't say, because the standard answer is "to be close to the sages and far away from the villains". As long as the emperor is close to the sages and the court is full of righteousness, the country will naturally improve. This is the so-called sage The truth is that the arch is ruled.

It's a pity that he, Ma Shiying, is an out-and-out villain in the eyes of the world. If he comes up with the set of "a virtuous man, a villain far away", then Li Zicheng will take him down without any other excuses up.

Although Daming still has half of the country, Ma Shiying is still a courtier of Daming, but after Li Zicheng conquered the four towns and forced King Fu to abdicate in the name of the prince, it has actually become Emperor Yongchang who decides the politics of Ming Dynasty.

The reason why Shi Kefa and others in Nanjing City were unwilling to come to Yangzhou was that they were unwilling to bow to Emperor Yongchang who forced his father to die for his country, except that he had no face to face the prince.In other words, even Qingliu, who hated the peasant army the most, now has to admit that Yongchang Emperor Li Zicheng has the legal principles and power to influence the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, Ma Shiying came to Yangzhou this time to pay homage to the late emperor and meet the prince in name, but another important task was to communicate with Li Zicheng to determine the changes in the political situation after Nanjing.When Rema Shiying wanted to communicate, he reached an exchange of interests with Li Zicheng, such as exchanging his loyalty for the retention of power.

Ma Shiying, who had never considered the way of governing the country, was stopped by a simple question from Li Zicheng.Just when he was dumbfounded and didn't know where to start, Li Zicheng finally stood up dissatisfied, then looked down at Ma Shiying and shook his head and said: "I don't mind working with a bastard, because I think the people are very concerned about today's situation." What to eat is more concerned than the personal morality of a politician.

But I can't work with an incompetent bastard.Since you want to hold the power in your hands, you should at least think about what you want to do with it.If the purpose of your gaining power is to do nothing, it is to let Zhen and Cihong bear the anger of the people on your behalf. Mr. Ma, do you think so? "

Under the persecution of Li Zicheng, Ma Shiying finally came to his senses, and he quickly replied: "No, no, I don't have such thoughts. I just fell into a trance for a while. Attacking with words, the ministers have no time to seek the country, and can only engage in verbal disputes with them.

But I am not without ideas about governing the country, I think the most important thing at the moment is..."

Ma Shiying subconsciously glanced at Ruan Dacheng next to him, and saw that this friend was also looking at him profusely with sweat, and suddenly stretched out his hand to make a small movement to eat, and his mind suddenly became clear, "...is to solve the people's food. Question. Because of the blockade of the Yangtze River waterway, the price of rice in the south of the Yangtze River has skyrocketed, reaching three times the normal level at one point. Because of the drought in Songjiang and other places this spring and summer, the price of rice has even increased to four times.

Although the south of the Yangtze River is known as rich, it is still difficult for the common people to bear such a skyrocketing price of rice.Of course, the reason why the people in the south of the Yangtze River are complaining is not only the decrease in the import of rice from other places, but also the fact that the raw silk and cotton cloth in the south of the Yangtze River cannot be exported, which leads to a sharp drop in the income of the people..."

At first, Zhu Cihong was a little startled by Li Zicheng's sudden change of color. For a moment, he didn't understand that the amicable atmosphere just now became cold when they met.But seeing Ma Shiying's expression change, he also felt something touched in his heart.Previously in Tianning Temple, although Ma Shiying was meticulous in worshiping his father and himself, he did not show much intimacy. Instead, he had a faint taste of scrutiny, as if he was testing whether he was suitable to be an emperor.

Standing there, Li Zicheng didn't pay attention to Zhu Cihuang's mood. After Ma Shiying lowered his posture and expressed his surrender to himself, he sat back slowly, and said in a slightly softer tone: "The words that Mr. Ma Ge said are true. Looks like a chief assistant..."

Although Li Zicheng praised Ma Shiying in his mouth, he didn't take Ma Shiying seriously in his heart.The chief minister of King Fu obviously hasn't figured out one thing until now, how can the promises between politicians count.

Yes, although he made many promises to the other party through Ruan Dacheng, these promises were made to the chief assistant of the Hongguang Dynasty, and the Hongguang Dynasty no longer exists. Whether these promises are fulfilled depends on his mood.Could it be that Ma Shiying can still take the verbal promise made by Ruan Dacheng and demand that he fulfill it?

Without the Hongguang Dynasty, the nominal central government in the south, Ma Shiying himself is actually worthless.Because Ma Shiying, the chief assistant, was not in compliance with the rules. According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, Ma Shiying was not eligible to join the cabinet.It's just that he promoted King Fu to succeed him and made a decision, coupled with the support of the warriors in the joint foreign towns, he barely squeezed Shi Kefa away and served as the chief assistant of the cabinet.

Why did the cabinet ministers of the Ming Dynasty choose from the Ci ministers? Because these Ci ministers have stayed in the capital for at least ten years. They not only have enough time to spend with the emperor, but also have the opportunity to serve as imperial examination examiners as Hanlin bachelors. He has a teacher-student relationship with many Jinshi.Therefore, after they entered the cabinet, they could gain the trust of the emperor and have disciples to run around, so they could naturally coordinate the relationship between the central and local governments.

However, Ma Shiying had never been in the Imperial Academy, and he had no familiar colleagues or disciples to help him, and he only had an interest connection with King Fu. Therefore, his power rested entirely on the title of a bachelor, and he had no closer local connections. Personal contact, this is why after he was attacked by Qingliu, the local public opinion was almost one-sided.

After Waizhen was conquered by Li Zicheng, what Ma Shiying could rely on was the power support given by Emperor Hongguang.But after Emperor Hongguang abdicated, Ma Shiying was standing on the edge of a cliff and could fall into the abyss at any time.At this time, Ma Shiying still tried to put on an equal posture in front of Li Zicheng and the prince, isn't it ridiculous?

If Ma Shiying was a little reserved before, but after Li Zicheng gave up his resistance, the whole person became cooperative, and it seemed that he finally understood his situation now.

After talking with Ma Shiying for a while, Li Zicheng said: "It is also possible to solve the problem of food for the common people. This kind of governance concept is also possible. But before that, I think it is necessary to restore the prestige of the Nanjing Center. If the Center has no prestige, Even if the best policy is withdrawn, the local officials and gentry below will not implement it. This is nothing. After King Fu returned to the vassal, the decrees of the Nanjing court may not be enforced by local officials. I don’t know what Mr. Ma Ge said Is there any countermeasure?"

Ma Shiying carefully looked at the prince and Li Zicheng, and finally swallowed the idea of ​​welcoming the prince back to Nanjing, and asked Li Zicheng for advice: "I think that the current government orders are often criticized by the local governments. Qingliu wantonly slandered the imperial court. If His Highness can issue a decree, it may be able to achieve some results."

Zhu Cihong turned his gaze to Li Zicheng, but remained silent.Li Zicheng glanced at him, then turned to Ma Shiying, and said: "Although there are ten prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River, they are not as prosperous as Gusu. Although Nanjing is the southern capital, the public opinion of Suzhou scholars can influence Jiangnan. Therefore, we must To set the sight straight, we must first rectify the Suzhou gentry."

When Li Zicheng said this, he turned his head to look at Zhu Cihong and asked, "Cihong, do you know why Ming officials are so keen on making decisions?"

At this time, Zhu Cihong was no longer the young man who knew nothing about the world at the beginning of the year. After he lowered his head and thought for a while, he guessed and said, "I'm afraid it's because of Jing Nan's hero."

Li Zicheng clapped his hands lightly for encouragement, and then said: "That's right, it's hard for Cheng Zujing to succeed, and a group of heroes has risen to the top because of it, which can be said to be a triumph. Just like Lu Buwei's investment in Qin Yiren that day, how can such a lucrative business not be eye-catching ?

However, Chengzu still has merit after all. Jianwen acted too violently at the beginning, and it was his own fault, so we can't make trouble for Chengzu.But counting down, Jing Taichao's change of seizing the door can be talked about.

Xu Youzhen, the hero of the seizing the door change, provoked the change of the royal family for his own selfishness, used his ministers to welcome the deposed emperor, and harmed the heroes of the Jingtai Dynasty who defended Beijing at the beginning. This is the culprit of Ming's decision.Do you know where Xu Youzhen is from? "

Ruan Dacheng blurted out and replied: "Xu Youzhen is from Wu County in Nanzhili. He is also the grandfather of Zhu Zhishan, a famous scholar in Suzhou. Xu's family is a prominent family in Suzhou."

Li Zicheng nodded slightly and said: "A sinner who harmed Daming, but his descendants are prominent families in Suzhou. Yu Qian, the hero who defended Daming, has nowhere for future generations to find. Isn't this the reason for the demise of Ming Dynasty? To rectify one's name, one must promote the good and punish the evil, praise Yu Qian's merits, and attack Xu Youzhen's family, is this the way of heaven and good reincarnation?"

After hearing Li Zicheng's proposal, Ma Shiying still hesitated in his heart, because Qingliu was the one who had a grudge against him, and Xu Youzhen's descendants actually had nothing against him.It's fine to sing praises for Yu Qian, but it seems a bit too much to deal with Xu Youzhen's descendants for this reason.

Seeing that Ma Shiying was still hesitating, Li Zicheng couldn't help but raised the corners of his mouth slightly and said, "I was studying the day before yesterday, and I happened to see such a passage. Gongyang said: Is it possible to avenge the enmity of the ninth generation? Confucius said: The king's way is restored, respect the king and fight against barbarians. Ten Enmity in the world can still be avenged! Mr. Ma Ge, don't forget that Yu Qian was hated by treacherous ministers like Xu Youzhen because of what he did..."

Chapter 284 New Deal 99

Standing on the Pingshan hall, looking at the backs of Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng who left with Li Zicheng, Zhu Cihuang still felt that there were some knots in his heart that had not been untied. He asked Li Zicheng: "Your Majesty, you just told Mr. Ma Ge that you don't mind Is it real to work with an asshole?"

Li Zicheng turned his head to look at Zhu Cihong for a few breaths, and then asked aloud, "You think you shouldn't cooperate with bastards?"

After hesitating for a long time, Zhu Cihong said: "But when I was studying, the teachers all said: the monarch should appoint wise people to govern the country, and the country will prosper. If the monarch is close to villains, the country will perish.

Duke Huan of Qi used Guan Zhong, and Qi State became the overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period.And when he got close to Yi Ya, Wei Kaifang, and Shu Diao, he was starved to death in the palace.Isn't that true? "

Li Zicheng laughed a few times, and then said: "Your teachers only told you some superficial phenomena, and didn't talk about the essence at all. Isn't it important how Guan Zhong governs the country, Yi Ya, Wei Kaifang, Shu Diao How did the three destroy the state system?

Don't talk about the essence, just tell you the superficial phenomenon, that is, don't tell you what addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are, but just tell you to remember the answer.So you remember that 1 plus 1 equals 2, but you don’t know what 4 minus 3 equals.

Reading makes people understand, and this principle is an objective law.Teachers should teach students to recognize, discover and use objective laws, instead of worshiping objective laws as gods.Do you understand it? "

Zhu Cihong was still a little confused, and after thinking for a while, he asked again: "Then, what does your Majesty mean, is that it is the monarch's power to employ people, and whether to use a gentleman or a villain, in fact, has nothing to do with the rise and fall of the country, but has something to do with the monarch himself?"

This question made Li Zicheng ponder for a long time, and then he thought it over and said to Zhu Cihong: "You are only half right, and the other half is that how the monarch employs people is actually related to the monarch's understanding of the world."

Zhu Cihong asked sincerely: "Then how is this level of awareness related to employing people?"

Li Zicheng organized the words in his mind and asked, "Then what do you think the country is?"

Zhu Cihong thought for a long time, and finally replied honestly: "I don't know."

Li Zicheng thought for a while and said, "Have you ever seen a water mill? It is by the riverside or the river. The force of the water flow is used to drive the water wheel, and then converted into the force of up and down, to push the stone pestle to hit the rice in the stone mortar, so that of shelling."

Zhu Cihong flashed a picture in his mind, finally nodded and replied: "I have seen this before, and I have seen it much better when I went south by boat."

Li Zicheng then said: "If a part of a water mill is broken, such as a water wheel, stone reed, etc., can this water mill continue to work to hustle the rice?"

Zhu Cihong said: "Of course we can't continue working."

Li Zicheng then said: "Remove the house and the ground of the water mill, and only talk about the non-stop working structure, we can call it a machine. Although the machine is composed of small or rough parts, each A single component cannot function. They can only be assembled together and successfully moved to exert their own abilities.

The country is actually such a machine. Whether it is a sage or a villain, they are just a tiny part that can be loaded on the machine, and the monarch is the assembler and maintainer of this machine.

Therefore, for the monarch, the most important thing is to make this machine work, and then think about improving its efficiency.Does it matter whether the machine is assembled with sages or villains? "

Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng, who went down the mountain, boarded the boat to the south gate, saw that there were no outsiders around, and started talking about today's meeting with the crown prince and Emperor Yongchang.

Ruan Dacheng was still a little bit aggrieved for Ma Shiying, and said to him: "...I didn't expect Emperor Yongchang to be so ruthless. Anyway, we can be regarded as meritorious ministers, but he doesn't give Yaocao any face."

Ma Shiying, who came down from the mountain, was much calmer at this time. He glanced at his old friend and said: "Actually, it's not ruthless. Emperor Yongchang has already expressed his attitude. All past merits and sins have been cancelled, and His Royal Highness is also allowed to do it." If the promise is not satisfied, it will be a bit of an overreach. You must know that we have no merits for Emperor Yongchang, and it is not good for His Royal Highness to return to Nanjing to inherit the throne."

Ruan Dacheng still said indignantly: "In these matters, we have done nothing to Emperor Yongchang, but if we want to integrate Dashun and Daming, and build a country on top of them, isn't this a merit?"