The two words "people are prosperous and the country is strong" and "the country is prosperous and the people are strong" seem to be similar, but in fact, there is a huge difference between them.

First of all, let’s talk about “the country is rich and the people are strong”. This is a commonly circulated vocabulary in the Wei Dynasty today. It is based on the “country” and emphasizes that the definition of “country” is placed before “people”, and what does “country” look like?

What about existence?

"Country" refers to the state of the country, which is the ancestral foundation of the Ji family and the royal family with the surname Zhao. It is said that the emperor and the country are not separated from each other. In the Wei Dynasty, the emperor was the country, and the country was the country of the emperor of Wei Dynasty.

This sentence is in line with the national conditions of today's Wei Dynasty, which is "country-oriented" and "loyal to the emperor and patriotic".

The phrase "the people are prosperous and the country is strong" is exactly the opposite of the previous sentence. Although the literal meaning is, "when the people are stable and prosperous, the country will be strong and prosperous", the problem is that it puts "the people" first and not before the Wei Dynasty.

Before the Emperor of the Wei Dynasty, the true meaning of Sheji was "people-oriented".

This involves political will. You must know that today, whether it is the Wei Dynasty or other countries, the state system is "country-based", and the country and the emperor are placed first, which is the "loyalty" advocated by Confucianism.

", but the phrase "the people are prosperous and the country is strong" defines the state system as "people-oriented" and puts the people's livelihood before the imperial power. This is to the left of the idea of ​​imperial power. In other words, this sentence is widely used today.

Wei made political and ideological mistakes.

It is no exaggeration to say that fortunately the person who proposed this sentence was Zhao Hongrun, the eighth son of Emperor Zhao Yuancai of the Wei Dynasty. Otherwise, if an ordinary scholar had proposed this sentence, it would be a big deal.

Because of this, Zhongshu ordered He Xiangxu, Zhongshu left prime minister Lin Yuyang, and Zhongshu right prime minister Yu Ziqi. These three Zhongshu provincial officials did not dare to speak nonsense. Look at me and I look at you. They are keeping secrets.

appearance.

Perhaps they were still guessing whether this sentence would come from the mouth of a young scholar who had just embarked on his official career, because only those fledgling and passionate scholars would rebelliously ignore it because of their youth.

The high and mighty emperor

The common people at the lowest level put power first. It was not until several years passed, and they struggled in the officialdom, that they gradually realized that the purpose of their existence as officials was not to benefit the people, but to assist the imperial power.

to rule the people of this country.

Precisely because they clearly understood all this, none of the three ministers dared to speak.

Seeing this, the old eunuch Tong Xian reminded Zhao Yuanci in a low voice: "Your Majesty, if you don't tell the truth, I'm afraid the three adults will not dare to discuss this matter in detail."

Seeing Tong Xian speaking in a relaxed tone, Zhongshu Ling He Xiangxu was moved in his heart, thinking that if it really came from the mouth of an arrogant scholar, Tong Xian's tone would never be so relaxed.

This is a guiding light!

But what should be asked, He Xiangxu still has to ask: "May I ask Your Majesty, I wonder who this sentence... came from?"

In fact, the Emperor of Wei also understood the truth, but he did not expect that even his three most trusted ministers of Zhongshu Province would keep it secret.

He smiled and explained: "It was what my eighth son Hongrun said."

When they heard that it was the prince who said it, the three Zhongshu Provincial Ministers breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that since it was the prince who mentioned it, there would be no political issue with this sentence.

The Emperor Wei saw the expressions of the three ministers and laughed and cursed: "I was just asking casually. Look at you, you are all timid. He Xiangxu, you are twenty years older than me."

Zhongshu Ling He Xiangxu didn't care when he heard the words. He blinked and said humorously: "As the saying goes, the older a person is, the less courageous he becomes. The veteran is over sixty years old. His courage is as courageous as a grain of rice. How can he stand it?

I'm frightened. Your Majesty doesn't know that my heart is beating like this just now."

The Emperor of Wei laughed loudly after hearing this: "You old man, you were a very bold man when you were young. I don't believe it."

The monarchs and ministers joked happily, and as they talked, they shifted the topic to the sentence "the people are prosperous and the country is strong." This time, the three ministers of Zhongshu Province had no worries and started discussing it one after another.

Zhongshu Zuocheng Lin Yuyang was the first to say: "Except for other things, I believe that what His Highness the Eighth Prince said, 'the people are rich and the country is strong', is indeed a strategy to strengthen the country and its people. The prosperity of a country depends first on its military.

That is, the force of the army. And how to evaluate the force of the army? First, look at the training of the soldiers, and secondly, the armaments... In the past dynasties, the armaments of the Wei Dynasty cost a lot of money. Where did this money come from? Taxes! And taxes,

Then take it from the people. If the people are rich, taxation will naturally flow smoothly, and the national treasury will be full, and naturally a large amount of money can be spent to support the army. On the contrary, if the people can't even eat, how can they pay taxes? If there are no taxes

, the national treasury is in dire straits, how can the Ministry of Revenue find the money to support the army?"

The Emperor of the Wei Dynasty deeply believed that taxation was the foundation of the country. This is a matter known to everyone.

But how to make people rich?

Yu Ziqi, the right prime minister of Zhongshu, seriously proposed a strategy: "Re-business!"

The Emperor of Wei frowned and said nothing.

The so-called mercantile means to strongly support the domestic people to develop business and encourage them to sell local specialties to other places and earn the price difference. But the problem is that the way of making money through business has been controlled by the rich and powerful from all over the world for generations.

, if Zhao Yuansi strongly supports private development of business, it will undoubtedly harm the interests of the rich and powerful.

Behind the rich and powerful, there are almost nobility, ministers, and even royal princes, that is, the upper class. The various problems and relationships involved during this period are so complicated that they cannot be solved by simply proposing a "merchant" national policy.

of.

As if he could see the emperor's concerns, Yu Ziqi whispered: "The total wealth of our great Wei Dynasty is only that much. If there are more than there are few, this is the law of nature... I believe that the key to the problem is not the amount of wealth."

, but it depends on where this wealth is used. The so-called wealthy family is full of wine and meat, and people freeze to death on the road. Some people have no food for a meal, but some people can spend thousands of dollars in brothels..."

"Cough!" Zhongshu Ling He Xiangxu coughed to interrupt Yu Ziqi's overly radical words. After all, Yu Ziqi's words were aimed at the powerful elite in the Wei Dynasty.

Yu Ziqi glanced at He Xiangxu and realized that he had made a mistake, so he stopped talking in frustration.

From the side, Lin Yuyang saw that the topic was a bit heavy, so he hurriedly made up for it and said with a smile: "Master Yu is too cynical. That day, the rich man spent thousands of gold to win a beautiful woman and smiled, which made it a good story for a while. I didn't want to be mentioned in Master Yu's mouth, but he

It’s so unbearable.”

"Huh!" Yu Ziqi, the right prime minister of Zhongshu, snorted lightly but didn't say much.

The Emperor of Wei listened silently. In fact, he had heard about what Yu Ziqi said, but the son of a wealthy family squandered his family wealth. This kind of thing was not the responsibility of the Emperor of Wei. Furthermore, could something like this...

Doesn't this happen to the children of the royal family too often?

In the past two years, didn't the two princes of the county princes get jealous over a brothel girl and disgraced the royal family of the great Wei Ji family with the surname Zhao?

"Your Majesty, it's almost time, why don't you have dinner first?"

Next to him, the old eunuch Tong Xian saw that the Emperor Wei looked unhappy and quickly changed the topic.

"Hmm." Zhao Yuanci nodded.

Seeing this, Tong Xian sent someone down to deliver meals.

Although he was the emperor of the Wei Dynasty, Zhao Yuansi's daily meals were quite simple, with just a few dishes. Only on major festivals would he hold banquets in the main hall to entertain ministers.

On the rest of the days, Zhao Yuanxi would basically order people to deliver meals to the Chui Gong Hall, including the meals for the three ministers of Zhongshu Province. Then the four monarchs and ministers would eat in the Chui Gong Hall, and after eating, go to the side hall next door for a short rest.

Or just start working in the afternoon and continue to review and approve the chapters that will never be finished.

This is the daily life of the Emperor of Wei and the ministers of Zhongshu Province.

But after finishing the meal today, the Emperor of Wei had other thoughts.

"Tong Xian, where is Hongrun's residence?"

"Your Highness the Eighth?" The old eunuch thought for a moment, then bowed and replied, "It's Wenzhao Pavilion."

"Who is waiting on you?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, there are twenty young eunuchs in Wenzhao Pavilion who are responsible for the daily life of His Highness and the cleaning of the palace. In addition, the clan government has sent ten clan guards to serve as the personal guards of His Highness, a total of thirty people.

regulations.”

"Hmm." Emperor Wei nodded.

Although there are some favored and unfavored princes, before they leave the cabinet, the princes' treatment standards are the same. This is an ancestral system.

"I want to take a look." Zhao Yuanci stood up, smiled and said to the three ministers of the Zhongshu Province: "Are your three dear friends interested in coming with me?"

Because there was a period of rest after the meal, and the three ministers of the Zhongshu Province were also curious about the eighth prince Hongrun who proposed the words "the people are rich and the country is strong", so after the emperor of Wei asked questions, the three middle ministers

Master Shu expressed his willingness to go together.

So, the group set out from Wende Hall and slowly walked towards the eighth prince Hongrun's sleeping pavilion.

According to the ancestral system of the Wei Dynasty, only after reaching the age of fifteen can the prince be eligible to leave the cabinet, establish a palace, and be granted the title of king. From then on, apart from being more noble in life, he is no different from the ministers in the palace. Before leaving the cabinet,

The prince's sleeping pavilion is placed in the garden of Bianjing Palace. Firstly, the scenery there is good, and secondly, it is relatively close to the East Palace and the Harem. It is convenient for brothers to communicate with each other and to visit their respective concubines in the Harem.

As for the third one, it is far away from the main hall of the Bianjing Palace, the Daqing Hall. After all, the Wei ancestral system clearly states that the prince is strictly prohibited from contacting any officials of the DPRK before he leaves the cabinet, whether proactively or indirectly.

Passively, as the sons of the emperor, the princes only need to study hard in the palace school and do not need to be exposed to anything else.

It is worth mentioning that it has always been forbidden to house maids in the bedrooms of princes. Firstly, it is to prevent the princes from losing their virginity too young and affecting their normal development. Secondly, it is to prevent some palace ladies with evil intentions from clinging to them.

Seducing the young and ignorant prince.

Therefore, the only people around the princes who have not left the imperial court are eunuchs and guards sent by the clan, and the only women they can see are their mothers and concubines.

Therefore, the prince's life is actually not as good as the world imagines.

In about a stick of incense, Emperor Zhao Yuansi of the Wei Dynasty came to Wenzhao Pavilion with the old eunuch Tong Xian and three Zhongshu ministers.

But when he looked up and saw the plaque on this attic, Zhao Yuansi was immediately stunned.

Because the inscription on the plaque is not Wenzhao Pavilion at all, but Xiaoyao Pavilion.

"Isn't it Wenzhao Pavilion?" The Emperor of Wei looked puzzledly at the eunuch Tong Xian who was leading the way.

In fact, Children's Xian was also very puzzled at this moment, thinking that this was obviously Wenzhao Pavilion, how could it become Xiaoyao Pavilion?

"Old slave...I have never heard of Xiaoyao Pavilion in the palace..."

When Tong Xian said this, the Emperor of Wei also felt strange. As the Emperor of Wei, Zhao Yuansi had never heard of Xiaoyao Pavilion in Bianjing Palace.

Thinking of this, the Emperor of Wei waved to Lang Wei who was on duty in the corridor outside the palace and asked: "Is this Wenzhao Pavilion?"
To be continued...