Jinting Han people

Chapter 88 Lu Ji on Feudalism (5k)

In the stereotype of later generations, Lu Ji was a pure scholar, whose literary talent overshadowed all other aspects. And for someone who is good at writing beautiful articles, people always think that he should be delicate and fragile, beautiful and slender.

But this is a misunderstanding.

When Liu Xian first saw Lu Ji, his first impression was of his cheerfulness. Lu Ji stood over seven feet tall and possessed a dignified demeanor. His features were sharp, his brows and eyes were resolute and profound, his chest and shoulders broad, and his arms long, creating an aura of unstoppable strength. It was immediately clear that he was a man of strong opinions and difficult to convince.

After hearing Pei Wei's remarks, Lu Ji chuckled softly. It was clearly a chuckle, but his voice was so loud and clear that everyone around him heard it. Turning to look, they saw him standing beside Shi Chong and his brother Lu Yun, along with Jia Mi, Zhang Hua, Sima Yun, and others—all distinguished guests at the banquet. Even those who didn't know him knew he held a special position.

Pei Wei, who was already acquainted with him, asked, "What is Shi Heng's opinion?"

Only then did everyone realize that this person was Lu Ji.

Lu Ji waved his sleeves and said, "I dare not offer any insightful opinions."

Originally, everyone had a very good impression of Lu Ji, but when Lu Ji opened his mouth this time, he caused a murmur of laughter from the crowd.

Lu Ji was born in Wu. During the Three Kingdoms period, Jiangzuo and the Central Plains had been separated for decades, leading to the local people adopting the Wu dialect, which differed significantly from the Central Plains. Lu Ji, however, forced his use of the elegant Central Plains dialect without removing the Wu accent, creating a rather comical contrast with his handsome appearance.

Lu Ji was clearly used to this. Even when others laughed at him, he pretended not to hear them and continued, "Mr. Pei just said that if everyone could be content with their lot, the world would be peaceful and the country would be forever secure. While this vision is a good one, it's unattainable, isn't it?"

Pei Wei asked, "Where did this come from?"

Lu Ji said: "Although Emperor Wen of Wei likes to make big statements, he once said something very well: Since ancient times, there has been no country that has not been destroyed, and no tomb that has not been dug up."

"Even the rule of the Three Dynasties, as virtuous as they were, was ultimately destroyed by tyrants. The prosperity of the Yao, Shun, and Yu dynasties, which passed to virtuous men, lasted no more than a hundred years. Life and death, rise and fall, are natural laws. If someone like Wang Zijiao truly defied the constraints of life and death and ascended to heaven on a crane, they would no longer be in this world, would they?"

"You just said that what is valuable is what is worthless, and that we should follow the natural order of all things. Now you're saying there's a way to make mountains and rivers last forever. Isn't that a contradiction?"

Lu Ji's voice was like a loud bell, and he waved his arms back and forth while speaking, coupled with his sonorous and powerful tone, giving the audience a penetrating sense of power. The audience was attracted by his words and no longer cared about his strange accent.

Pei Wei had obviously given this some thought, and he quickly replied, "What Shi Heng said is certainly true. There is no immortal person or nation in the world. But the lifespan of a nation varies, and its lifespan has different heights. As the saying goes, if you aim for the best, you will get something in the middle; if you aim for the middle, you will get something below; and if you aim for the worst, you will get nothing."

"Although I may have exaggerated just now, as a minister, if I cannot think about things from the longest-term perspective and only focus on the present, then how can I care about the longevity of my country?"

Hearing this, Lu Ji replied calmly, "What Pei Jun said is probably just scratching the surface."

Facing a second-rank official who was recognized as the king's assistant, Lu Ji's words shocked the people around him. Could it be that he thought he could make a more in-depth argument?

Lu Ji said, "When we discuss the length of a nation's reign, it's like discussing a person's health. Prolonging it is like diagnosing an illness. What Pei Jun just said is actually the word 'education'. It sounds nice, but it's just a small medicine to prevent the problem from getting worse."

Pei Wei questioned, "The word 'education' means to start from the root of thought. How can it be called a minor medicine?"

Lu Ji laughed and said, "Starting from the mind, it sounds mysterious, but in reality it's too empty. Pei Jun just said that we should look for it from the principle of 'existence', why are you confused now?"

"Human thought cannot transcend what we see and hear; it is always derived from reality. Guan Zhong said, 'When the granaries are full, one knows etiquette; when one has enough food and clothing, one knows honor and disgrace.' Mencius also said, 'If one is poor, one should take care of oneself; if one is rich, one should help the world.' This shows that human thought and ideas change with the times and are born out of circumstances."

"We talk about educating people, starting with the root of thought, but can words alone truly reach the heart of the people? The so-called Confucian way of the gentleman requires daily self-cultivation and reflection three times a day, without a moment's slack. But Mr. Pei just said that everyone is born with a destiny, each one different. If farmers can't grasp the way of the gentleman, doesn't that mean that the lower classes are destined to be restless, and unrest is destined to be extinguished? Isn't this world's politics hopeless?"

Lu Ji's move of using Pei Wei's rhetoric to attack Pei Wei's ideas was like using one's own spear to attack another's shield. Pei Wei looked rather embarrassed, but he quickly came up with another argument to save the situation:
"Of course I know this, but what I'm saying isn't just for the common people; it's also for the upright scholars. If common people start a rebellion, there will often be people who take advantage of the chaos and not only fail to do their duty to suppress the bandits and disregard the principles of loyalty and filial piety, but instead harbor unreasonable ambitions. This is like adding fuel to the fire, compounding the chaos, and ultimately harming both themselves and others!"

"I use this to warn you, the nobles and upright, that to employ men and to suppress rebellions and insurrections is not the highest art of governing a country?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Ji laughed and said, "It's just a minor trick. It only treats the symptoms and not the root cause! If you really want to make people immune to all diseases, you still have to treat the root cause."

“What does it mean to start from the root?”

"Start with the system!" Lu Ji said firmly. "The system is the foundation of the country and the backbone of the country. Without the system, there is no country. And the quality of a country's system is enough to determine the length of its life."

System? The very word struck everyone as refreshing. After so long, discussions often focused on empty talk. Even Pei Wei's criticism of Wang Yan, while somewhat scornful, remained largely empty talk. Unexpectedly, Lu Ji suddenly offered a fresh perspective and a fresh perspective. Everyone present was filled with curiosity, holding their breath, waiting to hear what he had to say.

But Lu Ji did not start by discussing the system, but continued to talk about the changes in thought:

"I know there's a popular sentiment going around right now, claiming that morals are declining and people's hearts are no longer the same. The values of loyalty and filial piety advocated by the ancients seem completely ineffective today. Officials often disrespect their superiors, and ministers repeatedly embarrass the emperor. And the idea of filial piety has become a hypocritical concept since the Han Dynasty."

"And everyone has discovered that the so-called loyalty and filial piety cannot be combined into one. Loyalty and filial piety refer to loyalty to the king and filial piety to the family. But what if the king and the family come into conflict? This is particularly common in times of chaos. For example, Xu Shu abandoned Liu and fled to Wei. This is an example of abandoning loyalty for filial piety. Another example is Jiang Xu, who lost his mother and quelled Ma Chao's rebellion. This is also an example of abandoning filial piety for loyalty. Loyalty and filial piety are often incompatible. Then, Confucius's words about self-cultivation, family harmony, governance of the country, and peace in the world are completely unreasonable."

"If you want to manage your family, you can't manage your country; if you want to manage your country, you can't manage your family; if you want loyalty, you can't be filial; if you want filial piety, you can't be loyal. That's why the spirit of loyalty and filial piety in the orthodox teachings has collapsed. That's why we're here to discuss things in a pure way, and not to discuss Confucian classics. What do you think? Is that right or wrong?"

Lu Ji's remarks were succinct and, in just two paragraphs, he expounded on the causes of the current trend of pure discussion in the literary world, demonstrating immense depth of thought. Le Guang, who was moderating the debate, nodded repeatedly. Seeing the crowd gathering around him, making the table airtight and somewhat heated, he smiled and said, "Everyone, please take a seat first, and let Shi Heng have his say."

Everyone finally woke up from their dream and nodded in agreement. At this point, no one mocked Lu Ji's accent anymore. Everyone sincerely admitted that he was probably the most talented person present.

At this time, Wang Yan had already stood up and gave his seat to Lu Ji, saying jokingly: "Perhaps I will give you my position in the court in the future!"

Lu Ji bowed calmly and said modestly, "I will not make you regret it!"

What an arrogant answer! Liu Xian was secretly surprised, but after hearing Lu Ji's remarks, he had to admit that in terms of talent, Lu Ji had every reason to be proud. Now Liu Xian just wanted to know what Lu Ji's next thoughts on the system would be. After everyone had taken their seats, Lu Ji had become the absolute focus of everyone's attention. He remained calm and composed, maintaining the demeanor of a general, and continued along the previous topic:

"Nowadays, people often use the present to infer the past, saying, based on the Jizhong Chronicle, that the ancient times were just as hypocritical as we are today. But this only sees one side of the story."

"How can the ancient teachings be equated with the present?"

"Duke Zhou established five ranks of nobility and divided the empire into fiefdoms. The princes and ministers were either brothers of the Zhou clan or officials who had made contributions to the founding of the state. High-ranking officials intermarried, and the state was governed by blood relatives. According to the Zhou rituals of the time, the lord above one's superiors was not only one's father, but also one's elder. If one was unfaithful to one's lord, one would also be unfilial to one's parents."

"Similarly, if a scholar-official wishes to govern a country, he must first unite his brothers and friends who hold hereditary nobility positions—that is, manage his family well. Only then will he have sufficient political energy to govern. Only after successfully governing a small country can he pacify the world. These so-called virtues of loyalty and filial piety are actually based on the Zhou Dynasty's system of feudal fiefdoms. This is why loyalty and filial piety can be integrated and the country's prosperity be prolonged."

"In the Qin State, Duke Xiao of Qin abandoned Confucianism in favor of legalism, promoting Shang Yang's reforms. He disregarded the country's long-term stability and only sought to annex the world through tyranny and military might. Consequently, successive Qin kings disregarded moral integrity and recruited unscrupulous talents from across the country, such as the duplicitous Zhang Yi, the calculating Fan Ju, and the ruthless Bai Qi. These talents proved highly effective, ultimately uniting the six kingdoms and pacifying the Guandong region, achieving the great cause of unification."

"While inciting greed and disregarding morality to conquer the world might be feasible, governing a country with this approach will never bring lasting peace."

"Successive Qin kings favored talented individuals without moral integrity, so naturally, their prime ministers also lacked integrity. Prime Minister Li Si and Zhao Gao staged a coup, allowing Qin Shi Huang to succeed his father, Fusu, and the throne to Hu Hai. Was there anything unexpected about this? Institutionally, the Qin royal family rarely held real power. The only one who wielded absolute power, the emperor, held absolute authority and commanded the entire nation."

"If the emperor himself is old and unable to govern, he will eventually have to rely on the prime minister to assist him. These prime ministers are promoted based solely on their talent, not their moral integrity. When the emperor is healthy, they are naturally submissive and do nothing wrong. But when the emperor is weak, they hold great power and are not related to the emperor by blood. Isn't this the most normal thing to do?"

"And if this happens, and there are no royal family members or princes to rescue the country, the country will eventually be destroyed. Isn't this the inevitable outcome?"

"So the downfall of the Qin Dynasty, in the final analysis, was due to the Qin State's inability to implement the feudal system."

"And Emperor Gaozu of Han learned the lesson of the fall of Qin and extensively granted fiefs in Guandong. He also established the White Horse Alliance, emphasizing to the princes and royal family that 'no one without the surname Liu could be made king, and no one without military merit could be made a marquis.' Didn't this have an immediate effect?"

"When the Lü clan usurped power, it was the Liu clan kings appointed by Emperor Gaozu of Han who jointly fought against them. This is how the Liu clan's rule was preserved."

"Later, Emperor Wu of Han failed to consider the long term and, obsessed with monopolizing power, weakened the feudal lords with the Enfeoffment Decree. This immediately backfired, first with the Witchcraft Incident, which killed his own son, and then with the entrustment of power to Huo Guang, leaving the Han dynasty's rise and fall in the hands of the Huo family. After Emperor Yuan of Han, Wang Mang usurped power and rebelled. Wasn't this also a case of exploiting the country's lack of strong vassal states?"

"Fortunately, the imperial clan still had some strength left during Wang Mang's reign, and they ultimately united to elect Emperor Guangwu to the throne, thus restoring the country's prosperity. However, Guangwu failed to learn his lesson and continued his policy of strengthening the trunk and weakening the branches. This ultimately led to the country's repeated decline, first to Dong Zhuo's control and then to Emperor Wu of Wei."

"The rise and fall of the Han Dynasty over four hundred years was, in the final analysis, a process in which the county system gradually replaced the feudal system, which ultimately led to increasing instability in the country."

After saying so much in one breath, Lu Ji felt a little tired, but his expression was still very excited. After drinking a mouthful of water from the jade cup, he heard someone ask:
"Mr. Lu, why is the county system contrary to the principles of loyalty and filial piety?"

Lu Ji quickly put down the jade cup and answered the questioner, "Excellent question! This is the core of my discussion!"

"I've said before that the Zhou Dynasty's feudal system encouraged people to uphold loyalty and filial piety, so I won't elaborate on that here."

"But why did the county system lead to the decline of moral standards? The explanation is actually very simple."

"Because the imperial cause is so important and the empire so vast, it can't be shouldered by one man alone. Officials must be appointed to share responsibilities. But these officials under the county system have no connection to the emperor. Why should they be loyal to him? It's simply for personal gain and a salary. And when they take up important positions in a region, according to the county system, they might only stay for two or three years before leaving. So, what relationship do these officials have with the long-term development and specific success of a region?"

"If an official is a rational person, he will realize that the world is the emperor's private property and has nothing to do with him, and the people are also the emperor's subjects and have nothing to do with him."

"Human nature naturally seeks gain and avoids harm. If he wants to profit from this, he can steal from the emperor's private property and plunder the wealth of the people under his rule. Then isn't it natural for him to be disloyal to the emperor? In a few years, I will be moving to another place anyway. Even if he fails to govern here and makes the people suffer, what harm will it do to me?"

"Under the county system, this is what any rational person would do. The principles of loyalty and filial piety cannot be implemented at all. The emperor wants to use harsh laws to curb corruption, but how can this be achieved?"

"On the other hand, the feudal system granted land to officials, and all profits earned belonged to the fiefdom, and they could not leave at will. The officials were forced to consider the interests of the land as their own, and at the same time, think long-term, hoping that the people would live and work in peace and prosperity, and that the population would grow, so that they would pay more taxes."

"This is how institutions influence morality and thought. The county system caused officials to treat the people like prey, while the feudal system caused officials to treat the people like their own children."

At this point, Lu Ji concluded: "The two Zhou dynasties lasted 800 years, the Han dynasty lasted 400 years, and the tyrannical Qin dynasty lasted only 20 years. The quality of the system determines the length of a country's life, which is obvious from this!"

"So I say, if we truly want to ensure long-term stability in our country, we must start with the system. So-called ideology is just the surface of the system."

"If the country wants to restore the orthodox teachings, the most important thing is to truly implement the feudal system."

When Lu Ji finally finished speaking, he looked around. The scholars around him all looked up to him with admiration. Even Le Guang, who was moderating the debate, Jia Mi and Shi Chong, who were listening, and a group of princes, all had looks of genuine admiration.

Lu Ji's recent remarks, a direct attack on both the imperial system and the prefecture-county system, were politically sensitive. However, the audience consisted mostly of renowned scholars, and the so-called gentry of scholars meant discussing the most sensitive topics, demonstrating their own prominence. By speaking in such a public setting, Lu Ji appeared to be open-minded and safe.

Moreover, Lu Ji's ideas were bizarre, profound, and yet surprisingly coherent. Before him, the decline of orthodox teachings was well known, but no one had ever so systematically articulated them, nor had they articulated a rational method for reviving them. By now, everyone felt a sense of sudden enlightenment.

Zuo Si even whispered to Pan Yue beside him, "Your talent is like the river, but Lu Lang's talent is more than the sea!"

So from that day on, Luoyang was called "Panjiang Luhai".

By this time, everyone at the gathering thought that this Qingming Literary Gathering would end with Lu Ji's solo performance. Unexpectedly, someone at the table stood up. His voice was not loud, but his tone was so calm that it was impossible to ignore: "I don't agree with what Mr. Lu said."

Lu Ji looked in the direction of the voice and was met with the piercing gaze of a young man, staring at him unconcealed. He felt a mixture of familiarity and unfamiliarity with this gaze, because in debates, he was always invincible, and others were often jealous and afraid to look directly at him, and few dared to challenge him head-on.

Liu Xian was already prepared to refute Lu Ji.

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(End of this chapter)