My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 294 The enhanced version of Yongzheng is terrifying, forcing the hypocrite to admit defeat!

Yongzheng gave a disdainful sneer.

"You're not emulating any sages at all; you're clearly just doing it for your own selfish gain."

“You have never stood on the side of the common people, nor on my side.”

"You are a disloyal and unjust thief! A thief in human clothing!"

After Yongzheng said this, all the princes and ministers present were stunned and stared wide-eyed.

After hearing Yongzheng's words, Hongli raised his eyebrows slightly, thinking to himself that Yongzheng was becoming more and more confident after being armed with some ideological weapons by him.

Therefore, even when debating with Confucian officials, the goal is no longer simply to persuade someone or make them submit to him, but rather to first make a judgment about others.

Of course, there are also blindly confident people who will jump to conclusions about others without any investigation, which leads to labeling.

But Yongzheng is clearly not like that. He is now making a conclusion based on evidence, so it cannot be considered labeling.

Because at this moment, Yongzheng himself knew very well that he was not labeling Lu Shengnan or showing favoritism; he was giving a reasonable and well-founded evaluation of Lu Shengnan.

After all, as an emperor with great power, Yongzheng disdained to use framing and slander to negate a person, especially a Han official like Lu Shengnan who posed no real threat to him.

Lu Shengnan was stunned when Yongzheng immediately berated him as a thief in human clothing, which then filled him with rage.

Because he never considered himself a thief, nor did he feel that he harbored any selfish motives, he wrote books and established his teachings.

"If Your Majesty wishes to execute me, I have nothing to say. After all, if Your Majesty commands me to die, I have no choice but to die."

"But why does Your Majesty slander me?"

"When I wrote 'A Commentary on Reading the Zizhi Tongjian,' was it out of personal motives, or to steal anything?"

"I did not offer this to Your Majesty in the hope of gaining official rank and title; I did not publish it in the world in the hope of gaining fame and influencing future generations; and I had absolutely no intention of seeking personal gain in it."

"We beg Your Majesty to see the truth!"

Lu Shengnan fell into the trap of self-justification and began to argue based on it.

Yongzheng said, "That's because I haven't passed away yet!"

Lu Shengnan immediately turned pale and denied it, saying, "I had absolutely no such intention!"

"How do you prove it?"

"Fine, you don't need to prove it."

"Let me ask you this: You say that feudalism is the best system created by the sages, and that it has no drawbacks. You say that abolishing this system will have endless consequences, and that not governing the country according to this system will also be harmful and not beneficial."

"Currently, the government is in dire straits and society is in turmoil, all caused by the implementation of the prefecture-county system."

"Then why did the six feudal states perish, while the Qin dynasty, with its prefecture-county system, won?"

"Furthermore, you say that the current government is in dire straits and society is in turmoil. So, is there a large-scale popular uprising in our Great Qing Dynasty, or is there a large-scale invasion by foreign enemies?"

"Furthermore, you say feudalism is good, then let me ask you: if my Great Qing truly grants autonomy to various regions, and if a feudal state needs relief due to natural disasters or man-made calamities, but other feudal lords are unwilling, wouldn't the affected feudal state launch a large-scale invasion of other feudal states?"

After Yongzheng asked this question, Lu Shengnan remained silent for a moment, and then said: "Qin was able to destroy the six states because the six states did not all follow the teachings of the sages and did not know how to respect etiquette; the current state of the court is indeed in a bad state, so everyone is in danger, and even the royal family is not spared; the strikes against examinations and tax resistance are rising one after another, which shows that society is in turmoil. Why does Your Majesty deceive yourself?"

"As for the situation Your Majesty mentioned, it will not happen, because if our Great Qing grants tax-farming privileges to families that value propriety and benevolence, there will naturally be no situation where they are unwilling to help neighboring countries!"

Emperor Yongzheng sighed deeply and said, "If it were the old me, I would have been furious upon hearing this, but now I am neither angry nor surprised; I simply find it normal."

"I will only ask you one question: in your eyes, are you Han commoners even human beings?"

Emperor Yongzheng inquired about Lu Shengnan.

Lu Shengnan was quite surprised by Yongzheng's question.

Don't answer no.

The Book of Documents says: "The people are the foundation of the state; when the foundation is firm, the state is at peace."

The Mencius said: "The people are the most important, the ruler is the least important, and the state is the next most important."

"You have never been willing to treat the people as human beings, so you only say that Qin's destruction of the six states was not due to popular resentment, but rather to a lack of respect for etiquette, and you dare not go any deeper. The so-called lack of respect for etiquette is simply not treating the people as human beings." "You regard the fear and insecurity of the royal family and officials as a sign of a terrible state of affairs, and the unrest among the gentry and powerful as a sign of social unrest, but you do not believe that the Qing Dynasty is still peaceful because the common people have not rebelled and the Russians have not dared to raise an army; this is entirely because you do not treat the people as human beings, and you do not judge based on whether the people are living in peace or not."

"If you stand in the position of the common people, you will think that the Qin dynasty was destroyed not by the prefectures and counties, but by the people's resentment; you will think that I dare to punish even my own brothers and nephews who commit crimes of corruption and perverting the law, and thus do not allow them to be arrogant and domineering, so that local officials will be even less likely to act recklessly and deceive the people."

"Otherwise, do you think I would dare to abolish the fire tax, dare to merge the land tax with the poll tax, or dare to replace the native chieftains with centrally appointed officials?"

“You keep repeating the words of sages, but you have long forgotten that the sages’ basic requirement for you is to treat the people as human beings!”

"If you Han gentry all treat yourselves, Han commoners, like this, how can I take you seriously?"

At this point, Yongzheng essentially accused Lu Shengnan of not treating Han Chinese commoners as human beings.

Lu Shengnan could only blush and continue to deny it: "I did not!"

"There's none?"

"Believe it or not, I will issue an edict to have you beheaded and your head displayed to the public on the grounds of bewitching the people and disrupting government order. At that time, not a single Han Chinese citizen will feel sorry for you!"

"I said with great confidence," Yongzheng said.

Lu Shengnan glanced at the ministers of the Council of State present.

He knew that now that he had offended Yongzheng, no minister or gentry would dare to spend money to hire people to plead for him. The common people were usually apathetic, resentful of the rich and powerful, lazy and greedy. So, if there were no officials or gentry to organize, he was afraid that not a single commoner would come to plead for him, and they might even cheer.

Because he knew very well that when a local official left office and presented a "ten thousand people's umbrella" to the people, it was actually just a show organized by the local gentry and the people, rather than something spontaneously done by the people. According to the people's true thoughts, they would only be happy that the official left as soon as possible so that a new one could be appointed, or at least bring some new warmth and new opportunities.

Therefore, Lu Shengnan couldn't help but feel fear.

"I can issue an edict that anyone who pleads for your life will not be punished!"

Yongzheng said.

Lu Shengnan could only kowtow and say, "I am ashamed. Since entering officialdom, I have not done anything to benefit the people, which has led His Majesty to believe that I have no love for the people and that my writings are nothing but selfish words."

Lu Shengnan was moved to tears and kowtowed again, saying, "Your Majesty, I beg you to have mercy and give me a chance to prove that I treat the people as my own children!"

Seeing that Lu Shengnan was afraid, Yongzheng snorted and said, "Fine, I am not a bloodthirsty and inhumane ruler. I will give you a chance. Since you advocate feudalism, I will send you to serve in the Mongolian steppe. The Mongolian banners there are no different from feudalism. They have their own taxes and their own population. Go and be a lowly official who is close to the people for the Mongolian princes there!"

"The Mongols are also subjects of my Great Qing. As the sage said, education should be provided to all without discrimination. If you treat the Mongols as human beings, I will naturally believe that you treat the Han people of your own ethnicity as human beings as well!"

Lu Shengnan's eyes widened upon hearing this.

"Your Majesty!"

"I have just come to understand that my work, 'Commentary on the Zizhi Tongjian,' is indeed arrogant and incorrect, and is far inferior to Your Majesty's wisdom!"

"Your Majesty, I beg you to destroy this book and punish me for my outrageous and satirical remarks! Do not send me to the northern deserts!"

Lu Shengnan suddenly kowtowed and pleaded again, clearly unwilling to become a low-ranking official under the banner of the Mongolian princes in the northern desert.

Hongli just sneered.

Lu Shengnan clearly knew that serving as a minor official under the princes of the northern desert, where slavery still existed, would be worse than being cattle or horses, which is why he was so resistant.

After all, although Lu Shengnan said that feudalism was good, he was unwilling to go to a truly feudal place.

Notice!

He admired feudalism because he saw himself as a feudal lord, not as a slave to a feudal lord.

Moreover, while the Mongol princes of this era maintained their feudal autonomy, they were restricted from not only raiding the wealthy lands within the Great Wall, but also from freely migrating and annexing other Mongol tribes.

Thus, if the Mongol princes of this era wanted to maintain their luxurious lifestyle, they had no choice but to intensify their internal exploitation.

Therefore, it can be said that within Mongolia, the lives of the lower and middle classes of Mongols were naturally worse than those during the Ming Dynasty.

Lu Shengnan was clearly not a fool who sat in his study, oblivious to the world around him. He was aware of what it would be like to be a lowly official under a Mongolian prince, which is why he would rather admit defeat than go to the northern desert.

Emperor Yongzheng raised his eyebrows in response.

(End of this chapter)