In addition to reading, I just think about some problems every day in the academy, and my life is comfortable. In the blink of an eye, it is the cool autumn of September, and the leaves are bleak and turning yellow day by day. Gao Shun also came back from other places and brought two jars of wine. According to him, there are not many grapes planted, so the price is still relatively expensive. The servants everywhere did not have much spare money, so they collected more than two thousand kilograms of grapes in total. Moreover, during the first brewing, I didn't have a good grasp of the entire brewing process, especially the sealing problem, which was difficult to solve. In the end, less than 700 kilograms of wine was brewed. When selling, I followed my prior instructions and sold it to merchants under the name "Snow Lotus Jade Liquid". On the one hand, it was to keep the raw materials confidential. On the other hand, it was because at that time, wine, salt and iron were all state monopolies. You can make wine, but after it is made, you must sell it to the government at a specified price, and the government will sell it uniformly. If I sell wine to the government like wine shops everywhere, how much money can I make?
More than 700 kilograms is only more than 300 jars. Although the quantity is not large, it is still sold at a high price. According to Gao Shun, there was a servant who was very knowledgeable in business. The wine and grain sales he presided over caused many merchants to complain about losing money. When I hear merchants shouting about losing money, I want to laugh. Merchants naturally will not do business at a loss. The reason why they shout about losing money is because the merchants in the mall in the previous life lowered the prices no matter how low they were for the people who came to buy things ( Small items range from 1 to 5 yuan, and larger items range from 50 to hundreds) will say: "You are really good at bargaining. I have never sold it so low today (or this month or this year)!" This is actually the case. After a businessman completes a transaction, he will subconsciously release the pressure to complete the transaction. I also heard Gao Shun reply that according to my instructions, except for those who left contacts in the town and were responsible for purchasing daily necessities, the rest of the servants had gone into the mountains to hide in batches carrying the grain purchased with the proceeds from selling wine.
Based on the principle of digging holes deeply and accumulating grain widely. When I assigned these servants, I told them that we should find settlements in deep mountains and dense forests where there are few human traces and it is best to be easy to defend and difficult to attack. The latest task now is to plant grapes on settlement sites in order to brew snow lotus jade liquid in exchange for food and a small amount of weapons. The other thing is to adopt some ten-year-old boys and train them if conditions permit, so that they can practice the swordsmanship compiled by Gao Shun if they are fearful and powerful; and they can study some pamphlets compiled by me if they are smart.
Xun Yu and Xun Chen also came to my place from time to time to play a few games. One day in particular, they took a sip of wine and refused to leave, even asking what it was. I coaxed them into saying that this was the fairy dew brewed from Tianshan snow lotus harvested by alchemists from the Tianshan Mountains in the Western Regions, and they were stunned for a moment. It was not until I rinsed both jars with water twice and made sure again and again that I had nothing to hide, and got my promise that I would give each of them a jar next year that I left in frustration.
A year has passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, there have been several winter snows. Some of the students in the academy have already left due to their long journeys. I also plan to leave in the next few days. I will first go to the most advanced settlement to celebrate the New Year, and then observe the performance of various princes during the Yellow Turban Uprising. During this year, by reading the collection of books in the academy and combining it with the history I knew in my previous life, I discovered a problem or a huge obstacle.
The feudal rule of more than two thousand years in Chinese history is fundamentally derived from the system of the Qin Dynasty. In the era of the Ancestors, that is, the era of Yao and Shun, for which there is no definite evidence to prove its authenticity, the "monarch" was elected by everyone and could also be deposed by everyone. This position was occupied by the capable and could not be hereditary. "At the beginning of the life of the original people, There must be no king and ministers, and they cannot govern each other, so they all raise one person to be the king. The husband said that if we raise him together, we can also abolish him together." Only later did the monarchy system undergo major changes. The monarch turned into a slave owner, and everyone became a slave owner. For slaves, the position of monarch becomes the monarch's private property and is passed down from generation to generation. This change deviates from the original intention of the ancestors to "raise one people to be the king." "Therefore, a king who serves the people of the world is not someone who drains the world's life and blood to feed their arrogance and indulgence." It is not enough, but it is also a plan for future generations, and all cruel and restrictive methods are flourishing." The turning point of the monarch changing from a "virtual king" to a "tyrant", from "public office" to "private property" was in the Qin Dynasty , the first person to create the figurines was Qin Shi Huang Ying Zheng. Although the Qin Dynasty actually existed for a short time, its institutional structure and cultural legacy deeply shadowed later generations. Although the Qin Dynasty died in his second generation, Qin Shihuang was still able to realize his ideal of passing on the imperial system to eternity on another level - the following Although the monarchs did not necessarily appreciate Ying Zheng as a person, they imitated Qin Shihuang's ruling style. (As the novel needs to be set in the slave society period, readers are advised not to delve into it.) The core of Qin's politics and the secret of Qin Shihuang's governance is the sanctification of monarchy. How is the transformation of this "thief" into a "saint" accomplished? The kings in ancient times had a relatively loose relationship with "Heaven". Some tribes have priests who specialize in worshiping heaven, and some tribes have kings who also perform the duties of priests. When Qin Shihuang arrived, he used rituals to solidify the relationship between the king and "Heaven", named himself "Yellow Emperor", changed it to "Emperor", and proudly assumed the title of "Son of Heaven".
Ying Zheng claimed to be a "Taoist", a "Great Sage", an "Emperor", a "Son of Heaven", and a "Dragon". When these titles are taken together, their social and historical effects are as follows: his contributions to the past and present , a gift to the world. Therefore, Qin Shihuang declared: "Within Liuhe, there is the emperor's land." "Wherever people go, there are all ministers." Since the pre-Qin Dynasty, "the world" has been a concept with unlimited space. The emperor occupies the world, which means that the royal power transcends space. At the same time, Ying Zheng also announced: "I am the First Emperor. The generations to come will be counted, and the second and third generations will last forever, and will be passed down to infinity." He wanted to extend his autocratic power forever through future generations, thereby achieving the transcendence of time. This view of power has gradually been accepted by the people through the manifestation of violence and the penetration of culture. People in traditional China believe that managers have administrative power because they can embody God's will to the greatest extent. In Chinese political culture, most rulers appear to be perfect. The kings of the Western Zhou Dynasty reflected in "Poetry" were like this, the Qin Shihuang who was engraved in stone in Langye was like this, and the same was true for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, etc. The ancient Chinese were accustomed to saying "Long live, long live, long live" to living emperors, but not accustomed to criticizing any shortcomings of the emperors. This is the result of thousands of years of high-pressure politics and cultural obscuration. Based on these concepts, Ying Zheng identified three unquestionable values: imperial power comes from divine authority, imperial power is unlimited in space and time, and imperial power is also perfect. It is precisely because the monarch monopolizes the right to worship heaven that his power becomes "sacred and inviolable" and the people fall into an abyss of eternal destruction. This ceremony consolidated the structure of unified power: "China has been in a state of interconnectedness since the end of the earth, but only the emperor can sacrifice to heaven. Since the emperor holds one day to suppress the world, the world looks to the emperor as if he were one day. Although he is a slave to the world and is a thief, he still thinks of the world. Don't dare to accept your orders. The people are so stupid that they are extremely unequal." In this way, "justice" is in the hands of the king in this world, not in the hands of "God" in the other world.
China has never had a spiritual and power system similar to the Christian church that can effectively restrict and balance monarchy. Although Western monarchs once claimed that "I am the country," their secular power needs to be recognized by religious leaders. In other words, Western kings could not obtain their power directly from God, but had to "intermediate" it through the pope or archbishop. At the same time, the pope also controlled the church through the "power of investiture" to prevent it from being affected by the king. This is the fundamental difference between Chinese and Western political civilizations. In the Middle Ages, Kaiser Henry IV once challenged the pope's "right to investiture" and consecrated three bishops. Afterwards, he convened a synod of bishops and declared that he would no longer honor Gregory VII as pope. Pope Gregory VII announced the excommunication of Henry IV, "depriving Emperor Henry IV of his sovereignty throughout Germany and Italy, and prohibiting anyone from honoring him as king." The Kaiser was under tremendous pressure, and powerful nobles held a meeting, all of whom wanted Henry to humble himself. The council decided that if the Pope did not annul Henry's excommunication within a year, Henry would lose his throne. At this time, Henry was in a critical situation. In order to keep the throne, he had to brave the severe cold, cross the Alps, and personally go to the castle where the pope lived to perform penance. Wearing the penitent's rough woolen robe, with his bare head and bare feet, Henry stood on the snow for three whole days before he could enter the pope's chamber and obtain his absolution. King John of England was also excommunicated by Pope Innocent. Faced with the danger of losing his throne, he had to surrender to the pope and plead to "re-become a subject of God and the Roman Church." After being forgiven, King John immediately handed over his crown and scepter to the pope's representative Rudolf, who kept them for five days before returning them to show the pope's supreme authority. This kind of situation is absolutely impossible to appear in China's history. In sharp contrast, after the Chinese kings sanctified their monarchy, their power was unitary. The kings could expand their territories and control people's hearts as they pleased, and they could also abuse their subjects without any shame. However, the subjects were "loyal ministers" after all. " Or "traitor", just in the king's mind. Although many of the founding kings actually came from rebellion, after the rebellion was successful and the dynasty was established, they immediately established a mysterious connection with "Emperor and Heaven" and became the only representatives of God's order in the world.
After the model of sanctifying monarchy was finalized in Chinese political history, it caused extremely serious consequences. One of the consequences was that the emperor himself became the source of power. The final decision-making power of the court in the use of political power rested with the emperor alone. There is no legislative basis or specific system to limit the emperor's power. The second consequence was that under the shroud of absolute royal power, both the people and the scholar-bureaucrats lost the right to move freely, lost the "chivalrous" spirit of ancient times, lost their economic self-sufficiency, and became complete slaves. The third consequence is that the political, economic, and cultural aspects of Chinese society have been in a state of stagnation for a long time.
As for the "Three Cardinal Guidelines" that evolved around the divine right of kings, emperors of all dynasties, even if they were as "uneducated and unskilled" as Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang, still needed exquisite cultural and academic packaging. The Qin system has such a strong vitality and can be constantly reinvented and used by Chinese emperors of all dynasties. In addition to its effectiveness at the practical level, it also has profound academic origins. The academic origin of Qin's politics, that is, the crux of China's authoritarian cultural tradition, lies in the "cultural collusion" of "Confucianism and law", which is embodied in the three cardinal principles.
Divine right of kings! The king is the guide for the ministers, the father is the guide for the son, and the husband is the guide for the wife! It was like two mountains weighing me down and I couldn't breathe. From a purely psychological analysis, these things firmly bind people's thoughts and give everyone a powerful psychological suggestion and hypnotic effect to determine their destiny.
Oh shit! Damn it! Are you asking me to come to this era with the knowledge from my previous life just to contend with these two mountains?