For the students of the civil service school, they were not familiar with Zhu Yijun. Therefore, when Zhu Yijun appeared here, they only felt that it was a novelty and didn't pay much attention to it.
However, when they saw Lv Shenxing accompanying Zhu Yijun, they were somewhat surprised.
"Your Majesty, Mister Li's courtyard is in front!"
Lv Shenxing said as he pointed to a small courtyard not far away.
Zhu Yijun nodded his head and said with a smile, "Alright, you can go do what you need to do!" After he finished speaking, he led Zhang Jing inside.
After entering the courtyard, Zhu Yijun discovered that it wasn't a very big courtyard. There were three rooms, and there was a pear tree in the courtyard that didn't have any leaves now.
In the courtyard, there was a stone table and a few stone stools.
With a glance, Zhu Yijun saw Li Zhi. He saw that Li Zhi was making a stove. The charcoal fire was blazing, and Li Zhi was roasting something.
After taking a closer look, it was actually a sweet potato. Zhu Yijun immediately smiled and walked straight to Li Zhi's side. He discovered that Li Zhi was still roasting very seriously. He didn't even hear the sound of his footsteps.
Zhu Yijun discovered that Li Zhi was very skilled at roasting sweet potatoes. Obviously, it wasn't his first time doing this.
"Roast one for us!" Seeing that Li Zhi still didn't respond, Zhu Yijun said with a smile.
When Li Zhi heard someone speak, he was startled. However, when he clearly heard what the person said, he quickly raised his head and knelt down, saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty!"
"That's enough!"
Zhu Yijun waved his hand and then said to Zhang Jing, who was behind him, "Go and bring a stool over. We, Li Zhi, and you can chat here!"
At this time, Li Zhi also stood up and respectfully stood to the side, not saying anything.
When Zhang Jing's stool was brought over, Zhu Yijun sat down and smiled at Li Zhi, saying, "Sit, let's chat. You roast the sweet potato. Don't forget to roast one for us. We also want to eat it!"
This was not a lie. In his previous life, there was an old man selling roasted sweet potatoes at the entrance of Zhu Yijun University.
Every night, on the way back to the dormitory, Zhu Yijun would buy one. The sweet and fragrant roasted sweet potato had accompanied him through those days of studying hard. To Zhu Yijun, roasted sweet potatoes were not just food.
Now that he saw it in this life, he really wanted to eat it. Of course, it was also to get closer to Li Gui.
Li Zhi nodded and said, "To be able to invite Your Majesty to a meal is this subject's honor."
Zhu Yijun looked at Li Zhi and said, "We heard from Lv Shenxing that you had come out of seclusion. We thought of coming over to chat with you.
I brought you here from Jiangnan, I have the responsibility to take good care of you. "
"I'm also quite curious. I want to see what you've comprehended. Tell me."
Li Zhi was silent for a moment, then opened his mouth and said, "This subject has comprehended a few things. This subject intends to teach while writing. This subject also hopes that Your Majesty will allow this subject to teach a few students and disseminate my teachings."
"You speak well. We will allow you to gather disciples of the School of the Heart!" Zhu Yijun made a faint promise.
Zhu Yijun's thinking was much more far-fetched than Li Zhi's. In this era, it was impossible to forcefully open a new path. One needed to have support.
At present, the School of the Heart was flourishing. Quite a few officials in the court were disciples of the School of the Heart.
Zhu Yijun did not feel that they were sincere. Of course, there were definitely inflexible defenders of the School of the Heart.
However, the majority of them used the School of the Heart as a stepping stone. When he expressed his support for Li Zhi's teachings, countless people would come to learn from him.
When the time came, with the identity of a disciple of the School of the Heart, he would be able to quickly gather countless disciples.
"This subject wishes to write a 'Treatise on the People'," Li Zhi said with a smile. "This is not a book, but rather an essay. An essay expounding my own teachings.
This subject has already thought of the opening sentence. However, I am still pondering over it. "
"Let's hear it!" Zhu Yijun looked at Li Zhi, his eyes filled with encouragement.
Li Zhi did not deliberately mystify him. He directly said, "Heaven nurtures all people, and all people are born equal!"
Hearing Li Zhi's words, Zhu Yijun nearly fell off his chair. These words were too familiar. He carefully looked at Li Zhi. Did this fellow transmigrate to this world?
Zhu Yijun was even more familiar with another way of saying these words.
That was: All people are born equal. They enjoy the inalienable rights bestowed upon them by their Creator. These rights include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
We believe that these universal truths are self-evident.
These words came from the famous "Declaration of Independence" in later generations. It was absolutely famous.
Li Zhi's words, "Heaven nurtures all people, and all people are born equal." This was simply a copy of this saying!
After staring at Li Zhi for a while, Zhu Yijun forcefully suppressed the urge to pull this fellow out and chop him up. He smiled and asked, "How did you comprehend this principle?"
"This subject has done some research on Buddhism. Buddhism pays particular attention to the equality of all people."
"Daoism pays particular attention to inaction. The inaction between people and the inaction between the heavens and the earth are all to expound a point of view. That is equality.
Confucianism pays particular attention to the golden mean and benevolence. "
"This subject feels that only equality can lead to benevolence. Benevolence to pigs and dogs means that a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen. That is hypocrisy. If one truly loves benevolence, then one should not eat. If one does not eat, then naturally, one should not kill. Why not learn from Buddhism?"
Zhu Yijun looked at Li Zhi with a somewhat strange expression. Are you trying to say, "If there is no trade, then there is no killing?" This is completely wrong!
"This subject read the theories of various schools and finally comprehended this principle. Heaven nurtures all people, and all people are born equal!" Speaking up to this point, a trace of fanaticism flashed in Li Zhi's eyes. It was completely different from when he had just roasted the sweet potatoes.
"Where did humans come from?
Nuwa created humans, Heaven created humans, and Buddha created humans. When they created humans, did they make any distinctions? "
"No. Buddhism pays particular attention to the equality of all people. Daoism pays particular attention to the indifference of the heavens and the earth, treating all living things as straw dogs. Since there was no inequality when humans first appeared, then why do they now divide humans into different classes?
Heaven nurtures all people, and all people are born equal. "
Zhu Yijun looked at the fanatical Li Zhi. He wanted to shout out loud, but he still asked himself to stop.
"But they are all merchants, and their occupation is a lowly one. They do not produce, but they buy and sell for a profit, reaping huge profits. Shouldn't they be looked down upon?" Zhu Yijun looked at Li Zhi and asked this question.
Li Zhi shook his head. With a serious expression, he said, "There are good people and bad people in every industry."
"Are there no bad people among the scholars?
Those who embezzle grain and oppress the common people. Should they be looked down upon?
Of course!
Are there bad people among the farmers? Of course there are. They are crafty, lazy, greedy, and slippery. They do not farm properly, and cannot raise their wives and children. Should they be looked down upon? Of course they should. "
"Are there good people among the merchants? Of course there are. Although they sell goods, they also gather information from all over the world. Although they do not produce, they also communicate with each other.
They do not steal or rob. They rely on their own hard work to earn money. Why should they be looked down upon? "
"Those unscrupulous merchants, those who sell shoddy goods, and those who deceive the common people, they should be looked down upon."
"Being looked down upon should not be based on what industry they are in, but on what they have done.
The sages taught us to be benevolent and to follow the Three Cardinal Principles and Five Virtues. Therefore, those who violate these should naturally be looked down upon. "
Li Zhi spoke very agitatedly. He waved his hands and gave off a feeling of giving pointers. "Therefore, I have comprehended this saying, 'Heaven nurtures all people, and all people are the root.'"
Good idea!
Regardless of anything else, Zhu Yijun was very optimistic about Li Zhi's idea. This was a good theory that broke the fixed social class and molded values.
Zhu Yijun truly did not expect that Li Zhi would be able to comprehend these things. It was truly amazing!
However, there was a problem that needed to be solved. That was, what should he, the Emperor, do?
Heaven nurtures all people, and all people are born equal. Then, shouldn't he, the Emperor, also be like this?
"Then what should we do?" Zhu Yijun looked at Li Zhi and asked such a crucial question.
Li Zhi's idea was a step further from the idea of both industry and commerce being the root. It was even more radical. It must be known that the idea of both industry and commerce being the root had existed for a long time. Furthermore, it was easier for people to accept.
Nowadays, it was no longer news for scholars to do business. Everyone did it.
However, the previous words were too ruthless. Now that this cloth was torn off, it would be too embarrassing.
Of course, the main reason was that many people could use this theory to exclude others. True merchants, they had no choice but to rely on scholars.
Otherwise, they would not be able to survive. This also led to the transformation of merchants into scholars, becoming official merchants.
Zhu Yijun preferred Li Zhi's idea. He also felt that it was reasonable. As for how to propagate it, Zhu Yijun felt that he was much better than the people of this era.
With newspapers and channels for internal affairs, as long as he was willing to throw in money, it was not impossible to mold Li Zhi into a saint, just like the American election in the future.
He began to build schools and promote free education. In these schools, he taught Li Zhi's ideas.
In the imperial examinations, he enrolled a large number of Li Zhi's disciples. Naturally, this idea would become mainstream.
After persisting for ten to twenty years, the idea of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce would naturally be swept into the trash.
What Zhu Yijun wanted to see now was how Li Zhi answered his question. Only then could he decide what he should do.
"Heaven nurtures all people, and all people are the root. Your Imperial Majesty is the Son of Heaven, sent by heaven to govern all people. Naturally, you must put all people first, treat everyone equally, and work for the welfare of all people. Even officials have the responsibility to protect the land and pacify the people, let alone the Son of Heaven?"
Li Zhi's words were very forceful. Moreover, he was very stubborn.
When Zhu Yijun heard these words, he almost laughed out loud. Li Zhi's saying of "the Son of Heaven governs all people" was actually the divine mandate of the monarch.
What he said afterwards, to put it bluntly, was to restrict the monarch's authority.
As the Son of Heaven, sent by heaven to govern all people, you should treat everyone equally and benefit all people.
This kind of theory emphasized the Son of Heaven's divine mandate of the monarch. When combined with the theory of "Heaven nurtures all people, and all people are born equal", it was undoubtedly very attractive to Zhu Yijun.
As for the part about restricting the monarch's authority, Zhu Yijun didn't care much.
Zhu Yijun was currently the Emperor, but he came from the future. He knew very well the consequences of unrestricted monarch's authority.
Although he didn't know what Li Zhi's theory would ultimately produce, Zhu Yijun still felt that he should give it a try.
In reality, Zhu Yijun had another worry, and that was the divine mandate of the monarch that Li Zhi advocated.
With this divine mandate of the monarch, he would have found a new reason to be loyal to the Emperor. However, Zhu Yijun felt that when combined with Confucianism, it would easily give rise to a fanatical theory of the Emperor.
In addition, with the current strong Han nationalism, the outside world was filled with barbarians. It was very easy to give rise to a theory of racism!
If he strongly promoted the army and raised the status of soldiers, the next thought that appeared might be racism!