The Sage of Confucianism and Taoism

Chapter 2469 Making a profit

"To give a very simple example, in "Political History", the people-based government system originated in foreign Athens, but it was essentially divided into three classes: nobles, citizens and civilians. Citizens gained power through war and personal efforts, but But like the nobles, they treat the common people as slaves. It is actually a country of pseudo-people. The great sage Aristotle and others tried their best to oppose civilians taking power. They believed that even nobles and even tyrants were better than civilians taking power. The founder of the so-called people-based Athens was the famous sage Pericles. I don’t admit that such a person has real people’s heart when he treats women as commodities.”

"After Athens, there was another sage named Rousseau. If his achievements in foreign races were transferred to the Holy Yuan Continent, he would definitely be canonized, and his holy status would be extremely high. But he said something that I didn't like but had to agree with. He said "In the strict sense, people-based rule only exists in ideals and is unrealistic. The majority rules and the minority is ruled, which is against the laws of nature. We cannot imagine people holding endless meetings to discuss public affairs."

"When I first read the sage's remarks, I felt quite uncomfortable, but when I think of the history of the human race and the history of all ethnic groups, I have to admit that his words are irrefutable. Moreover, when I saw his words, I thought of a sentence by Kong Sheng Words. People can follow it, but they cannot know it. Of course, after searching. In ancient times, we found that this saying was an error passed down by later generations. The original saying was that the people can guide the people, but not the people. No matter which version, there is no essential difference. Confucius believed that officials only need to tell the people. What to do without telling them why.”

"Before Confucius was canonized, some people said that he was a fool and looked down on the people. Even after he was canonized, some scholars from various schools criticized Confucius for this. However, if we think seriously, we must first abandon all prejudices and regard the Spring and Autumn Period Regarding the level of education, when we want to implement a decree, should we directly tell the people to do it well, or should we spend a lot of time educating them about the ins and outs of the decree and all the relevant details? "

None of the officials spoke, because the answer was in the affirmative. Most of the people at that time could not even read a few characters. If they were really forced to learn government decrees, they might rebel.

Fang Yun said: "So, from a practical point of view, this sentence is correct. Let's look at this sentence now. Let me ask you, if every citizen of Shengyuan Continent now has the right to decide every political order, then What will happen to the world?"

Wei Xu said almost without thinking: "The world is in chaos."

Fang Yun nodded and said: "Yes. Kong Sheng and I have the same view. It's not that Kong Sheng and I think the people are ignorant. We believe that with the current level of education and the current level of the human race's mind and body, we do not have the For those theoretically perfect characters, such as justice, equality, nobility, reason, etc., our actions, thinking, and judgments are often influenced not by reason, but by personal emotions. The alien sage Schumpeter also said something similar."

This time, almost all officials nodded.

Including those officials who had been opposing Fang Yun, they were convinced because what Fang Yun said was true.

Moreover, when Fang Yun said "we", he did not mean "the people". Fang Yun and all the officials knew that even if he had a very high position, even if he was far superior to ordinary people in all aspects, he still did not have those perfect morals. Character and emotions often affect one's decisions.

Fang Yun said: "So, in a people-based country, on the surface, the people hand over power to the 'bureaucratic group'. It seems that the power still belongs to the people, but in fact, the moment the bureaucrats get the power, they become the ones who protect themselves and the bureaucrats." For the sake of power, rather than pleasing the people, it is better to say that they use it for their own benefit. Talent and wisdom defrauded the people of power, and then consolidated their power. In the end, the people could not really deprive them of their power. Throughout history, has any king or leader of a country been truly overthrown by the people? If the leader is defeated, then the winner will be either the elite of the same ethnic group or the leader of the foreign ethnic group.”

All the officials began to try their best to recall history and those famous historical figures.

Cao De'an sighed: "Although the fall of Qin began with Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, the final winner was Taizu of the Han Dynasty. Taizu of the Han Dynasty had a mediocre life, a boy from an ordinary peasant family, but before he started the rebellion, he had already become a pavilion official. Chang, completely different from Chen Sheng and Wu Guang.”

Fang Yun looked at Wei Xu and asked, "I just want to ask, does the current Jingguo, or even the Jingguo in the next two hundred years, have the soil for the birth of a people-oriented and democratically elected system?"

Wei Xu was stunned for a long time, then slowly said: "No, it can't be."

Fang Yundao: "Based on the works of many sages and history, I have summarized three methods of innovation. One is gradual compromise, one is conservative reform, and the other is radical revolution. Democracy, people-based, for Jingguo, There is no doubt that it is a radical innovation. So, what is the result of radical innovation when there are many internal conflicts in the country and there are demons and barbarians from outside?”

Wei Xu answered honestly: "The country is in chaos, and the country may even be destroyed and the family may be destroyed."

Fang Yun said: "Therefore, we and other Jingguo officials should work together to improve Jingguo through gradual methods. Jingguo cannot withstand the big troubles."

In the Jinluan Palace, there were sighs.

It's not the perfect choice, but it's definitely the best choice.

However, these words cannot be published to the public, because this will inevitably be accused of ignorance.

Fang Yun said: "I will discuss the way of governing in a comprehensive manner soon. Now, what we need to do is to improve Jingguo. The Ministry of Personnel is the head of all departments. Today, we will start from the Ministry of Personnel!"

The Minister of Personnel Huang Zongyu said: "Please ask Prime Minister Fang, how to take the first step in improving the Ministry of Personnel?"

Fang Yun said: "The evaluation of Jingguo follows the four virtues and twenty-seven bests. The four virtues are known for virtue and righteousness, clear and prudent, fair and just, and diligent. Such evaluation is too general, especially taking virtue and righteousness as the first choice for evaluating officials, but it cannot really verify the ability of an official. Since we want to benefit, we should naturally speak with political achievements. We should focus on the twenty-seven bests, and make better changes on the basis of the twenty-seven bests."

The so-called twenty-seven bests are judged according to different official positions or talents. For example, if the officials in the Ministry of Personnel are responsible for evaluating and recommending, they can get the comments of weighing and selecting people and promoting talents if they do well.

Huang Zongyu looked embarrassed and said, "It's hard to implement the policy of letting officials do good."

Fang Yun said, "I have a question. If the people, the country, and the human race benefit, is it good for the people?"

Huang Zongyu said, "This is to practice benevolence and righteousness."

Fang Yun said, "Good! Doing good for the people and the country is both good for the people and good for the country. For example, if a county magistrate can make the people rich, every family has surplus food, everyone has surplus money, livestock flourishes, workshops double, trade is smooth, and tax revenue increases, then he is a capable official and should be promoted more than those county magistrates who are only virtuous and diligent but fail to make the people rich!"

"Benefiting the people and the country is the core of Jingguo's reform!"

Fang Yun's tone was firm.

The officials breathed a sigh of relief. They were originally worried that Fang Yun's so-called benefit was as extreme as respecting etiquette and restoring the past. Now it seems that it is just a change in the focus of the assessment, which is completely acceptable.