Seeing the Zijuan and Zixiao sisters enter the house, Yang Sichen turned around and left the Jade Wave Courtyard, heading towards Anlan Court.
However, when he reached the entrance of Anlan Court, Yang Sichen remembered that Old Master Yang had gone out today. He didn't know if he had returned yet. Seeing that there was a little servant girl guarding the side, she asked,"Is my father in Anlan Court?"
The servant girl nodded and replied,"Young Master, Master just came back fifteen minutes ago."”
Yang Sichen nodded and walked towards Anlan Court. The servant girl had already run off to report the news.
Yang Sichen entered the main room of Anlan Court. Just as he sat down, the servant girl ran over and said,""Young Master, Old Master wants you to go to his study. Old Master is waiting there.”
Yang Sichen nodded and was led by the servant girl to Old Master Yang's study.
After entering the study, Yang Sichen saw Old Master Yang sitting in front of the desk, looking at him with a smile. Yang Sichen stepped forward and bowed." Father, I have something to discuss with you."”
Old Master Yang pointed at the small stool in front of the desk, indicating for Yang Sichen to sit down. He then asked,""What is it?"
Yang Sichen sat down and replied," This…My son bought a few children a few days ago. He wanted to train them as his trusted aides, but they're too young and can't do much. My son doesn't have the time to discipline them. Therefore, his son wanted to send them out to study for a few years. His son would pay for the teacher's training himself, but his son was ignorant and did not know which academy to send them to. Did his father have any good ideas?”
Old Master Yang thought for a while and asked,"What do you plan to do with them in the future?"”
Yang Sichen replied in a low voice," If we follow the plan, if our Yang Family wants to establish a country overseas, then we must face a very serious problem-- There were many so-called scholars who could recite poems, but there were too few who had truly broadened their horizons. It was good to use these people to defend the country, but it was really too difficult to use them as the main body to establish a country overseas. Loyalty to the country was still the mainstream. When the Emperor issues an imperial edict, those people might betray us and even chop off our heads to offer to the Emperor. Our Yang family started off as a pirate, we don't care about serving the country. However, with only a few hundred people in the Yang family, the possibility of establishing a country overseas in a short period of time would be very slim.”
Old Master Yang frowned and gestured for Yang Sichen to continue.
Yang Sichen paused for a moment before continuing,""On the one hand, we can form an alliance with other merchants and pirates to develop and benefit together. On the other hand, we have to cultivate our own trusted aides. At the very least, we have to have the ability to balance the other people in this interest alliance. However, this is not the best way. In my son's opinion, the best way is for us to build the country's structure first, and then attract other merchants and pirates to join this interest alliance. Then in the early stages of development, we can only rely on our own trusted aides. At present, our Yang family is not ready yet.”
"What do you plan to do?" Old Master Yang stared at Yang Sichen and asked.”
Yang Sichen looked around and made sure that no one was eavesdropping. He then said,""Father, I believe that we can't rely too much on the existing private schools and government schools to cultivate our own strength. After all, these educational institutions teach that all things are inferior except for reading, loyalty to the monarch and the country, and this is exactly the opposite of the national system that I hope to establish! His son believed that the various schools of thought should be allowed to contend. At the same time, the current Confucian doctrine must be revised. In the new Confucian doctrine, it emphasized the people as the foundation. The object of loyalty changed from the king to the nation and the country. In addition, the four classes of scholars, farmers, businessmen, and merchants must be equal, and the officials should no longer be superior. The new Confucian doctrine had to change the old Confucian interpretation of the original book. For example, the interpretation of the monarch, minister, father, son and son. The old Confucians believed that this sentence meant that the king would always be the king, the ministers must always submit, the father would always be the father, and the son must obey regardless of right or wrong. The new Confucianists could explain that a ruler must first act like a ruler, and only then would a subject be able to fulfill his duties. A father must set an example for a son to be a good son. This was exactly the same as Zhu Xi's saying," The monarch regards his subjects as his brothers, and the subjects regard the monarch as their confidants; The monarch regards the minister as a dog or a horse, and the minister regards the monarch as a countryman. The monarch regards the courtiers as dirt, and the courtiers regard the monarch as enemies.”They corresponded to each other. In fact, the abolition of the absolute power of the monarch over the subjects naturally abolished the absolute power of the government over the common people. The relationship between people was re-regulated by the law of equal rights and obligations. This is the most beneficial thing for us businessmen.”
Yang Sichen took a sip of tea and said,""My son's plan is to write a scientific enlightenment course under the guise of understanding things, and then set up a school overseas to promote his theory and cultivate our own talents. A few days ago, his son had already given his grandfather a copy of the initial scientific enlightenment course. He didn't know if his grandfather was reading it now.”
Old Master Yang heard half of it and frowned as he thought about it for a cup of tea's time before he sighed,"Little Chen! It's a waste of your talent if you don't become the chief assistant scholar. If you can really achieve these things in China, then China will definitely undergo earth-shaking changes. Compared to this, Uncle Zhang's whip technique is far inferior!”
"Uncle Zhang even dared to offend the Emperor when he was promoting this whip method." Yang Sichen smiled bitterly. His son thought that he did not have the courage of Zhang Shuda to go through all kinds of difficulties alone. He wanted to see how the Emperor treated him after Uncle Zhang's death. His son did not want to be reduced to such a state. Moreover, if he really wanted to turn his son's idea into a reality, he would have to go through the Emperor first. If he removed the absolute power of the monarch over his subjects, no matter who became the emperor, they would not be willing to be a rubber stamp.”
"If you were the emperor, what would you do?" Old Master Yang suddenly asked.”
"Father, think about it carefully. Is it true that the greater the power, the more stable the throne?”Yang Sichen didn't answer but asked instead. "Accompanying you is like accompanying a tiger. People wanted to be safe from the tiger. What will he do?"
Old Master Yang thought for a while and then suddenly became enlightened. He said,"This…accompanying the king is like accompanying a tiger. Or help the tiger. Or kill the tiger!"
"Isn't that settled? If the emperor had unlimited power. Then he would be more terrifying than a tiger. In front of the Emperor who knew how to restrain himself. The subjects could still be submissive and protect themselves. If a cruel tyrant appeared. People had to rise up. Fight the tiger with your life. In order to strengthen his sense of security. He said,'If the ruler wants me to die, I have to die'. As a result, only the emperor himself had the supreme sense of security in the entire society. With him as the center. The sense of security of the royal family and the subjects decreased. To the lowest level of the people. The history of the destruction of families and the extermination of county magistrates were the portrayals of their precarious state of mind. How could he obtain the greatest sense of security? He could only be the emperor. So the peasants rose up. The courtiers wanted to seize power and seize the throne. The position of the emperor naturally became unstable. The Emperor's sense of security was gone. The more he strengthened the imperial power. The more the subjects felt threatened. The Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties were all like this. Among them, our Great Ming was the most powerful. For the sake of the imperial grandson's future stability, Emperor Taizu wantonly killed meritorious officials and even abolished the position of Prime Minister. And the result? Uncles usurped the position of nephews, the Emperor slackened his administration, eunuchs monopolized power, and there were endless party struggles…The throne seemed to be as stable as Mount Tai, but in reality, it was always in turmoil. Now, there was only a spark left, and the firewood below would burn the Ming Dynasty to ashes. Didn't this just mean that unrestrained power brought an endless cycle to everyone?”Yang Sichen said.
Yang Sichen took a sip of tea and continued,"" Only by jumping out of this endless loop and establishing a new rule that everyone recognizes and abides by, everyone must move within the framework of the rules, or they will be punished by the rules. Only then can everyone who abides by the rules enjoy a sense of security and the entire country be generally harmonious and stable. " A hundred years ago, some countries on the Atlantic Ocean already had a rough outline of this rule. As for China, based on the current situation, it won't appear even after three hundred years. This was because the power structure of China's government had already been finalized in the Qin Dynasty. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty abolished all schools of thought and only respected Confucianism, which established the unshakable position of this power structure. However, the people of that era had yet to figure out this principle. Although many people wanted to reform in the next 2,000 years, no one dared to touch the structure of the government's power. Changing this was almost a declaration of war against the entire group of established interests! Without the support of emerging interest groups, it was impossible to challenge existing interest groups. Now, almost 1,800 years have passed, and a new interest group has appeared. It's us businessmen. However, our status in Da Ming is too low. I can unceremoniously say that we merchants are a group of pigs and sheep that are at the mercy of others. We don't dare to make our own voices heard.”
"So you urged your grandfather and I to establish a country overseas? If this matter was not handled properly, he would lose his head.”Old Master Yang said.
Yang Sichen smiled and said," Father, you'll be slaughtered sooner or later if you stay in the Ming Dynasty. You might still have a chance to survive if you fight overseas. You might even have a chance to fight for the Central Plains in the future." Why not take a gamble?"
When Old Master Yang heard this, he scolded with a smile,"You little bastard, have you grown bold?" Just a few days ago, you said that you didn't dare to scheme against your grandfather, but it turns out that you've been scheming against him since a long time ago. Moreover…I really want to give you a good beating!”As she spoke, she raised her hand, intending to hit Yang Sichen.
Yang Sichen hurriedly cupped his hands and said exaggeratedly,""Father, please spare my life! Leave this child alive so that this child can continue to help father take care of the Yang family's trivial matters!”
"Go! You little brat still have the nerve to say that. Look at the two broken boats you've made, 100,000 taels of silver. You ran quite fast, but your stomach is smaller than a chicken!! You prodigal!" Old Master Yang flicked Yang Sichen's forehead and scolded him jokingly.
Yang Sichen revealed a fawning smile and asked,""Then about sending the kids to school…"
Yang Sichen cupped his hands and said gratefully,"Thank you for your help, father!"
Old Master Yang waved his hand and said," Go back. Your mother is in a bad mood today, so I won't keep you here for dinner."”
Yang Sichen nodded and left the study room, returning to his own Jade Wave Courtyard.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]