Chapter 476: People's Livelihood and National Foundation
"Even if it lasts for ten thousand years, only the princes and their descendants will protect the people forever." [Shang Shu·Zicai]
Luoyang, Bi Guiyuan.
At this time, it was dusk and the night was getting darker. Half of the bright moon emerged from the clouds between the east mountains and hung high in the sky. Although it was not full of brilliance, it still shone brightly. The night wind blew from the east side of the pond, stirring it up.
The sparkling silver waves stirred the faint fragrance in the air, until they stopped in front of the brocade screen that was several people high.
Dozens of screens and curtains circled an open space, with hundreds of guards and soldiers standing guard all around. Mu Shun held a lamp in his hand and stared at the open space for a moment, then suddenly took a few steps towards a certain place:
"Your Majesty, look at this!"
Under the orange-yellow light, several water-pink peonies the size of an adult's fist are blooming with bright yellow stamens in the shade of green leaves.
The peonies and peonies of this era had not yet been carefully cultivated by flower farmers in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and there were not so many varieties that competed for their beauty. Although not gorgeous enough, they were also naturally carved. The peonies that Mu Shun saw were particularly beautiful, not only with the rare double petals.
, and the pattern is also very large.
The emperor and Jia Xu heard the sound and came over. The emperor bent down and took a look by the light. Under the moonlight, he saw that the pink peonies were either spitting out their pistils and waiting to bloom, or their delicate faces were shy among the leaves. They were really beautiful.
"The days are short and the nights are long, why not travel by candlelight." The emperor softly chanted a poem collected by Yuefu and sighed: "Unexpectedly, Bigui Garden suffered a war, and the red and green tiles were all turned into dust, but the flowers planted in the garden were still full of vitality.
"
The old flower beds of Bigui Garden were originally planted with countless exotic flowers and plants, but they were either burned to death or died of drought, or flowers such as peonies and lilies had their bulbous roots dug out and eaten by hungry people.
After this extinction, only some wild peonies with deep roots and tenacious vitality survived.
It was May, the south wind was warm, and the weather had been fine these days. The wild peonies in Bigui Garden were in full bloom in the spring breeze. When the people of Luoyang saw this scene, they were amazed and said that this was the former site of Bigui Garden after it was burned down.
This is the most prosperous time for peonies to bloom. If the emperor had not previously expressed a cold attitude towards the "auspicious" Hanzhong deer herd, Henan Yin Luoye would have written a special book about it.
Jia Xu was also very interested in appreciating peonies with the emperor in this old flower garden, following suit: ""Poetry" says, 'Pick peonies and brush them with thin words.' The flowers and plants are in full bloom, and they can be picked by anyone, and they will come back to life year after year.
The reason why it will never be destroyed is because its roots are in the soil."
"For example, in a country, the Zhou Dynasty declined, but etiquette still exists in the world. This 'ritual' is the root of Zhou." The emperor stretched out his hand and tapped the petals of peony. The smooth and light touch came from his fingers, which was like
He was touching the cheek of a beautiful young girl: "It's just that the 'ritual' cannot be restored, and it is difficult to restore the world."
"Your Majesty's words are reasonable, but they are not allowed to reach the ears of Zheng Gong and Cai Gong." Jia Xu said as if he was joking.
The emperor also knew that most of what he said was unreasonable. If there were no "propriety", how could the minister respect the emperor? How could the son respect the father? How could he occupy the great righteousness and attack the Yuan family in the name of "propriety"? But if we study it carefully, the ruler would
The world cannot be rejuvenated by just relying on the word "ritual". It also needs other means of governing the country and bringing peace to the world. But on the surface, "ritual" must still be respected as the main one.
He smiled, knowing that Jia Xu and Mu Shun were not heretics, so he asked with confidence: "The root of Zhou is 'ritual', and the root of Qin is 'dharma'. Neither of them can make them die like this grass and tree."
And resurrected. But the revival of our Han Dynasty must have its roots, but I don’t know where the ‘roots’ of this dynasty are?”
"This..." Jia Xu pondered for a moment and replied in a low voice: "In my humble opinion, the 'root' of this dynasty should be the people. The wise kings of our Han family in the past generations have rarely been generous and frugal to the people, so they are in danger."
At this time, there are still people who are thinking about the Han Dynasty. The ancestors of the ancestors entered Hebei, and the powerful people of Hebei gathered to respond. Your Majesty moved to Guanzhong, and the people of Guanzhong gained food and scenery. "
The emperor just laughed at Jia Xu comparing him with Emperor Guangwu. In fact, he knew in his heart that Emperor Guangwu was able to revitalize the Han Dynasty because his surname was Liu. If he did not have the surname, then he would have founded another dynasty. This was very important to the emperor.
It's the same for me. He never believed in the saying that "the destiny lies with Liu". What he wants to explore now is what can make a dynasty last long and prosper after it falls.
So after listening to Jia Xu's words, the emperor categorically corrected him: "It does not depend on the people, but it must depend on the people. This is exactly what Xunzi said about the king, the boat and the people, but in the past, who has really done it?
Be vigilant all day long?"
"The people are also divided into small people and big people." Jia Xu added without comment.
Mu Shun held his breath. Although he didn't quite understand the stratagem between the emperor and his minister, he didn't want to miss a single word. He had a vague hunch that if he thought these words through, his opportunity would really come.
The night wind squeezed in from the gaps in the screen curtains caused the flowers to move frequently, and the fragrance was light. The emperor raised his sleeves and looked at Jia Xu intently: "Does Mr. Jia think that I am pretending to be a great citizen at heart?
A commoner?"
"Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven and has a broad mind. Naturally, he will pretend to be all people in the world." Jia Xu replied matter-of-factly, and he promised to always be so steady in his replies.
The emperor squinted at him, and there was a hint of danger in the gap.
When Mu Shun saw this, he quickly bent down, and the candle in his hand almost burned the peony. He did not expect that such a common question would arouse the emperor's anger, as if the secret hidden in his heart was exposed. But Mu Shun
I also felt puzzled. Judging from Jia Xu's words, as a minister, should he pretend to be smaller than the emperor?
Jia Xu said nothing under the emperor's gaze, only shook his head gently.
The emperor's ferocious eyes disappeared briefly. He turned his face to one side and reached out to block Mu Shun's lamp that was very close to Peony. Seeing that Peony was protected from the fire, he then sighed: "Jia Gong, I
Should have known..."
"Your Majesty, the Prince Consort wishes to see you." Zhang Xiu, the man in front of the palace, showed a shadow outside the screen and said in a deep voice.
The emperor stopped talking, and he would not say any more words.
"Let him in."
"The prince-in-law, Wei Chenyu, comes to see your majesty."
Zhou Yu smelled the rich fragrance of flowers when he came in. When he came in, he saw several eunuchs standing in the open space holding candles, making the surroundings look like daylight, and there were a few clusters of pink peonies blooming like crowns on the top of the green grass. He raised his eyebrows.
: "I came to see you at night, and I hope you will forgive me. This time, I want to ask for your Majesty's orders."
Jia Xu had already taken small steps to retreat behind the emperor, as if he was retreating to a place where the light in Mu Shun's hand could not shine.
The emperor frowned and asked, "What order do you want to ask for?"
"Please give Sun Ce your life!" Zhou Yu didn't mince words. He raised his head, his eyes shining brightly under the firelight.
"He is doing well in Jiangdong, why do you need to ask for help?" The emperor knew that someone had said something to Zhou Yu, or he himself knew something, and was very dissatisfied: "Whose minister are you?"
"I am naturally your Majesty's subject." Zhou Yu said in a neither humble nor overbearing tone: "I am willing to go to Jiangdong alone to convince Sun Ce to do anything. In this way, I can attack from three sides with Xu Huang and Gan Ning to kill Yuan Shu."
He spoke so eagerly, and Jia Xu admired his courage very much. He also knew that the emperor's temperament of being soft-spoken and not tough-minded would cause trouble, and it was just to show his goodwill. At the moment, he could not just sit back and watch, and frowned and said: "Please be careful what you say, Captain Zhou."