The car drove slowly on the smooth asphalt road in the palace.
Sitting in the carriage, you can feel the heat generated by the burning coal in front.
Fortunately, it's winter now, so it's not uncomfortable to sit in the carriage.
Emperor Su He ignored the constant roar of steam engines.
He looked at the eldest prince Su Shu and taught: "Shu'er, you must always remember that the superior must not be coerced by anything.
Choose the option that best suits your own interests.
As for the matter of saying something without blaming the public, this is one of the ways that civil servants try to coerce their superiors through public opinion.
Comparable to this, there is competing with the people for profit.
When you hear this statement, you just need to think about it, who are the masses? Who are the people?
This problem will be solved easily.”
After the eldest prince Su Shu listened to his father's teachings, his brain started to work quickly, and then his eyes lit up and he asked for advice: "Father, your teaching just now gave me some ideas.
Throughout the dynasties, when people were caught in rebellion, the leaders were executed directly, or even tortured like Lingchi.
Even if he is an accomplice, there is a high probability of being beheaded and a small probability of being exiled.
Unless it's a situation like that in the late Ming Dynasty, no one will resist.
In this way, only the first evildoers will be killed, and the followers will return home.
When it comes to peasant rebellions, civil servants have never said that the law will not punish the masses.
Failure of the law to punish the public generally occurs when officials or scholars are involved.
Competing with the people for profit was something that the civil servants of the previous dynasty often talked about.
In the previous dynasty, ordinary people or small townspeople struggled to survive and save three to five taels of silver every year, which was extremely difficult.
They are people, but they have no ability to compete with the imperial court for profit.
Those who could compete with the court for profit were, without exception, the people in the court and the big landowners behind them.
I can now see clearly that in the eyes of some civil servants, they are the only people.
The people at the bottom are not even human beings, they are just cattle and horses.
My father has cleaned up the officialdom many times and eradicated officials who harmed the people.
But these officials are just afraid of the father, but they always have a sense of superiority."
Emperor Su He stretched out his hand and rubbed the head of the eldest prince Su Shu, and said happily: "Shu'er, after my father has spoken, you can draw inferences from one example and quickly understand the essence of it.
Your cleverness makes my father very happy.
My father strongly agrees with the saying, "Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it."
Scholars rebelled, but it took ten years to succeed.
But the people who really turned against the bottom class, the empire collapsed in an instant.
If you want to win the support of the masses at the bottom, you cannot support the law and not punish the public.
Law is the bottom line for maintaining order in the empire. Once the bottom line collapses, there will be no order in the empire, and the party whose interests will suffer the most must be the royal family.
Those who break the law are always only a minority.
We must unite the majority and attack the minority.
Precisely because they are a minority, there is no need to look forward and backward when dealing with them, and these people cannot cause much trouble.
Even if the court officials resign en masse and refuse to do anything, Enke will be released with the decree of the father and the emperor.
Scholars from all over the country would flock to the imperial examination to fill the vacancies of these officials.
The threat from some officials is not as great as imagined."
After hearing what his father said, the eldest prince Su Shu nodded seriously and said: "Father, I have already remembered these words.
Try to learn to see clearly the interests of all parties and clearly distinguish between the people and the officials.
The son carefully recalled these words of his father and combined them with the things he usually saw.
Erchen thinks of people at the bottom, wealthy people, small landowners or small factory owners, big landowners or big factory owners.
Their interest demands are completely different, and their ability to withstand changes in imperial policies is also different.
The government's administration should take care of the people at the lowest level and try not to touch their interests.
The people at the bottom have the largest base, but they don’t get much benefit from them.
I have learned about the situation of the tax bureau and found out that the taxes paid by the farmers in Henan Province are not as much as the taxes paid by the 1,268 businessmen of the Henan Chamber of Commerce."
Emperor Su He looked at the eldest prince Su Shu, and he was even more satisfied.
This son's divergent thinking is quite powerful. He can immediately consider the burden of people from all walks of life on the matter of not punishing the public according to the law.
The people at the bottom have nothing, so how much money can be scraped from them?
But the most important reason for the demise of the dynasty was that the people at the bottom were harvested too much.
How could the Gungun princes, who were so drunk in the court, attack their relatives and friends?
If the people at the bottom cannot squeeze out the oil and water, they still have to squeeze out the oil.
This was the last year of the dynasty, when the officials forced the people to rebel.
The eldest prince Su Shu saw his father smiling, but the car was still some distance away from Qianqing Palace.
He took this opportunity to ask the unanswered question again.
"Father, what I saw in the court today, is this considered a partisan struggle?
Gu Qian Dao Shangshu was taken away without causing much turmoil. This is completely different from the party struggle in my heart."
Emperor Su He saw that the eldest prince Su Shu was very interested in court affairs.
He is also planning to let Su Shu get involved in government affairs, and it is appropriate to teach him some things now.
Emperor Su He put away his smile and said in a serious tone: "As a royal family, we must be wary of cliques among ministers. The factions in the court are constantly fighting, which is conducive to the emperor's rule."
After the eldest prince Su Shu heard this, he looked confused.
"Father, why can't I understand what you are saying?
You said you should be wary of cliques among ministers, and you also promoted partisanship among various factions in the court.
These are not two contradictory things."
Emperor Su He did not explain, but asked: "My father arranged for you to read history books, just to let you learn from history.
Whatever is happening now, something similar has happened in history.
My father will not talk about the history that is too far away, only the history from more than ten years ago.
Many people now say that the Donglin Party had a great responsibility for the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
People like Sun Chengzong and Yuan Chonghuan were members of the Donglin Party.
People like Zhou Yanru and Qian Qianyi were also members of the Donglin Party.
Just because they are from the Donglin Party, can they be classified into the same type of people?
There are no factions in the party, and there are all kinds of strange things.
Because these people come together because of some common interests, they are called the so-and-so party by the world.
But these people have different interests internally.
Because of their ideals, loyalty to the king and country, etc., they simply couldn't get together.
Judging from the history of the late Ming Dynasty, there were still some people who repeatedly jumped between certain parties.
This shows that parties formed based on regional interests or teacher-student relationships do not have strong binding force.
Parties need to face a common enemy, and they can unite together.
Once the enemy disappears, these people will immediately split up and fight with each other.
What the emperor has to do is to find out where the interests of these loose parties diverge.
By dividing and drawing together, they are unable to unite closely.
Several such parties fought among themselves, with the emperor as the final judge.
This will make the imperial power more stable. The emperor is most afraid that one force will gain the absolute upper hand and powerful officials will begin to compete for imperial power.
This situation is the most dangerous. If it develops, Emperor Wu of the Wei Dynasty, Cao Cao, will coerce the emperor to order the princes, and the Taizu of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin and Chen Qiao, will mutiny."
The eldest prince Su Shu's face turned pale when he heard this. He had never seen his father's tone so serious.
This must be a skill that my father believes a qualified emperor must master.
Su Shu bit his lip with his teeth, and the pain caused him to clear his mind. Remember what his father said today, which was extremely important to him.
He blinked his big, confused eyes and asked, "I understand roughly what my father means.
That is to indulge the party struggle of hundreds of officials. This is the idea behind the introduction of hundreds of schools of thought by the emperor.
The various schools of thought did not cause any bigger disputes, and the father asked officials representing the interests of factory owners to fight against those representing the interests of maritime trade.
But my father did this because he was not afraid of big problems in the empire due to party strife.
History books all say that the Tang Dynasty fell due to the Niu-Li factional struggle, the Northern Song Dynasty fell to the old and new factionalism, and the Ming Dynasty fell to the Donglin factionalism."
Emperor Su He chuckled and said: "History books are written by civil servants, and they will naturally attribute the demise of previous dynasties to treacherous ministers and cowardly kings.
During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, a major witchcraft case occurred, and all the princes were involved. The party disputes were not intense.
During the Taizong period of the Tang Dynasty, there was a serious conflict between the power of aristocratic families and the poor families in the imperial examination.
The poor scholars have just grown up, and the aristocratic family is still in control of the court.
The party struggle at that time was far more intense than the party struggle in the late Tang Dynasty.
The Zhenguan era still emerged, laying the foundation for the subsequent Kaiyuan era.
The fall of the Tang Dynasty was a disaster for the vassal towns.
The Northern Song Dynasty fell because of the idiot Huizong of the Song Dynasty and his idiot son.
The demise of the Ming Dynasty was a result of financial bankruptcy and frequent disasters during the Little Ice Age."
The eldest prince Su Shu nodded thoughtfully. He only understood a little bit, but not completely.
Seeing that there was not much left to go, he continued to ask: "Father, why should we be wary of ministers forming cliques?"
The eldest prince Su Shu took advantage of his young age and did not really come into contact with the affairs of the court.
He wanted to understand his father's attitude so that when he does things in the future, he can be targeted.
Otherwise, once he comes into contact with his father's minefield, his many years of management will be ruined.
When Emperor Su He heard this question, he felt something.
He didn't have much feeling about ministers forming cliques for personal gain before.
But when Wei Shiming and Li Zhisheng fought, they showed strength.
In this way, Emperor Su He truly felt a hint of crisis.
He finally understood why emperors of all dynasties were so wary of ministers forming cliques.
The imperial power has been challenged, which is something that no emperor can allow.
Emperor Su He's words were like the harshest snowstorm in winter.
"Imperial authority must never be violated.
Feeling that the imperial power has been violated, no matter how capable the official is or how good the relationship with him is.
Even if they are not executed, they must be reduced to nothing, and they must never be allowed to come into contact with power again.
Officials form cliques for personal gain, so he has unusual ambitions after all.
He must be obsessed with power and will definitely find ways to usurp imperial power.
Such people must be dealt with, and they must not be allowed to become powerful.
Read more history, the dangers of ministers forming cliques are all written in history books."
The eldest prince Su Shu nodded as if he didn't understand. He said with some doubts: "Father, how do you judge whether the ministers are forming a party or it is a party fight based on interests."
At this time, the car had arrived at the entrance of Qianqing Palace. Emperor Su He got out of the car and motioned to the eldest prince Su Shu to follow him.
He looked at the eldest prince who was following him, looking curious.
Emperor Su He said patiently: "To judge whether a minister is a party member, you must see through the nature of power.
The emperor is the only person in the empire who controls supreme power.
The rights of all officials came from the emperor's enfeoffment.
If certain officials become attached to a certain minister, they will gain power.
This is a certain minister who is trying to divide power.
The ability to enfeoff power is something that only the imperial power has. He is infringing on the imperial power.
If you cannot understand the flow of power, then look at the flow of interests.
When ministers form parties, it must be because of the gathering of interests.
For example, in the dispute between Confucianism and Legalism, the interests of the two schools were loosely contested.
When you find that there is an alliance of interests in the court because of a specific interest, someone must be forming a clique for personal gain.
My father gave an example from the previous dynasty. In order to alleviate the water transportation crisis, knowledgeable people in the previous dynasty wanted to liberalize sea transportation many times.
But a certain faction of the Donglin Party controls the interests of shipping. How could they give up shipping?
When it comes to liberalizing maritime transport, it is clear that the same group of people are opposed to it.
As long as you see through the interests of all parties, it is not difficult to discover that ministers are forming cliques.
It is because of their common interests that they can continue together as a team."
The eldest prince Su Shu was confused when he heard this, but he carefully wrote it down. This will be his guideline for doing things and making friends in the future.
Father made it simple, but if he was asked to judge, he would not be able to judge the specific situation at all.
It's like wired telegraphy, which looks simple, but no country other than the Empire has been able to reproduce it.
But he has understood that his power in the court must be loosened.
If they are twisted into a rope and become a force that controls the government, they will probably be taught a lesson by their father.
The eldest prince Su Shu said humbly: "My father's teachings must be kept in mind by my sons and ministers."
Emperor Su He stopped at the gate of Qianqing Palace. After listening to the words of the eldest prince Su Shu, he first hummed and then said: "Shu'er, you interrupted your university education because you went overseas.
This won't work. You have to go to college and make friends with the strongest group of peers. You may even find like-minded friends in college.
Even if you are a prince, you should still make a few friends.
I don’t even have a few close friends, this kind of life is too lonely.”
The eldest prince Su Shu bowed and said: "My son, I will remember my father's instructions and will plan my time accordingly to go to the university to receive education."
He watched his father approach the Qianqing Palace and summon the important officials of the court to discuss important matters of the country.
The eldest prince Su Shu took a car to Kunning Palace. He wanted to report today's events to his mother in detail and ask her for her opinion.
He was too young and didn't know anything about government affairs. He still didn't understand many of his father's teachings.
His father taught him the art of emperorship, and it was not appropriate to ask the teacher for advice if he didn't understand it.
The eldest prince Su Shu could only ask his mother for help. With her many years of experience, her mother should be able to solve his doubts.
Emperor Su He returned to Qianqing Palace, and he immediately summoned the officials involved in the Gu Qiandao case.
There were some arrangements that he could not tell at the court meeting.
What is said in court will spread throughout the country in a short time.
Some inappropriate words will definitely cause too much trouble.
The Guqiandao case only revealed the tip of the iceberg of maritime trade.
Emperor Su He did not believe that only one official, Gu Qiandao, was engaged in smuggling.
Now the empire must use thunderous force to interrupt the entire smuggling chain.
Emperor Su He would never tolerate these tariff-stealing forces.