Chapter 4 From unspoken rules to the law of blood reward and then to meta-rules

Interviewer: Wu Gou, Southern Metropolis Daily Interview time: September 2, 2003 You are an expert in the study of "hidden rules". Hidden rules are common occurrences in Chinese history, but as a concept of historical research, you were the first to put them forward.After you proposed this term, it can be said that it has contributed a fresh perspective to researchers and lovers of history.You recently proposed a "law of blood reward", which further broadens the horizon of observing history.I have read some scholars' book reviews, and some people think that the "law of blood reward" is actually one of the "hidden rules".I would like to know, what is the connection between the law of blood reward and unspoken rules?How did you discover the law of blood reward from the study of unspoken rules?

The relationship between unspoken rules and the law of blood rewards is a long story.Let's give an example first. In the late Qing Dynasty, civilians in Susong County, Anhui Province regularly gave the police a sum of "hard money", which can be regarded as an unspoken rule.Why send money?Failing to do so, the police tend to make trouble for them.Once a robbery occurs, suspects are designated on a large scale.The police are short of money, and they often ask the thieves to frame the civilians to hide the money, force the civilians to pay bribes to get rid of their ties, and make the civilians go bankrupt.So the civilians gathered to negotiate, and everyone was willing to pay a sum of money to eliminate disasters, and an unspoken rule was born.

Behind the formation of this unspoken rule, we can find something that I call the "legitimate right to harm".Identifying suspects, tracking down stolen money and its owners are all legal powers of the police, and it's no big deal to suspect wrongdoing.However, the risk taken by the suspect is greater, and it may kill someone.From the perspective of people on the side of breaking wealth and eliminating disasters, the money they pay is actually their own life money, and the life money or life money is blood payment.The richer the family is, the more they are willing to spend money to eliminate disasters, and the more lucrative they will be.The unspoken rules are the redemption system for this ability to hurt.

In short, in the process of investigating the formation of unspoken rules, I discovered the legal right to harm, or the ability to harm at low cost, which is a destructive force, not a welfare exchange.I can't give you any sweetness, but I can let you taste the bitterness.If you don't want to suffer, you have to pay.When it comes to making money by harming others, how much various people are worth, whether they lose or earn, this is the field of research on the law of blood reward. Whether it is the unspoken rules or the law of blood reward, there is a kind of "why" power hidden behind it.You interpret this power as "legitimate ability to harm", which determines the establishment of unspoken rules, and the establishment of such rules is determined by the law that violence "has the final say", which you think is the law of blood rewards.I understand it that way, right?Another question is, in addition to the legal ability to harm, what other important factors do you think are important for the creation of unspoken rules?I have an opinion, do you agree?The word "hidden" in hidden rules illustrates the hidden form of this rule system, because it is determined by violence and produced by calculation of interests, rather than based on the moral ideals respected by people, so it is shameful Yes, I think this also reflects the "hypocrisy" side of the orthodox formal rules. In fact, the unspoken rules should be a kind of sub-rule, a supplement to the formal rules. Its existence also has a certain rationality. This "certain rationality" is to establish On top of the "unreasonable" of the formal rules.

The first question, "the most violent has the final say", I call it meta-rules, that is, the rules that determine the rules.The birth process of the unspoken rule mentioned above is the process of injuring the more powerful police and forcing the disadvantaged civilians to establish rules and eliminate disasters.This shows that the most violent has the final say, and this meta-rule can explain the establishment process of the unspoken rules. The meta-rule is not exactly equal to the law of blood reward.The law of blood reward discusses the exchange of life and survival resources, while the meta-rule, as the rule that determines the rules, adds a rule factor into the exchange of the two, and becomes the exchange of life and resource allocation rules.People shed their blood and desperately, and sometimes they don't just grab money and things, but want to conquer the world, dominate the country, and dominate the world. This is an exchange of life and privilege, an exchange of life and rules that are beneficial to oneself.

The power to create unspoken rules is mainly the ability to benefit or harm, referred to as the ability to benefit.This capacity is not necessarily a legitimate right to harm.For example, laziness, sabotage, and procrastination are all things that affect the calculation of interests anyway. I agree with you that the word "hidden" in the unspoken rules reflects the illegality or immorality of such rules, so it cannot be made public.However, if there is something wrong with formal regulations or popular moral concepts, it is evil law and heresy in itself, and the unspoken rules that avoid them have rationality and even legitimacy.When Dabaogan was first born, it could be regarded as an unspoken rule. Later, it became popular and upgraded to a formal regulation.

I know that your works have great influence among college students.Many students who are interested in history may have obtained some kind of enlightenment from your works. For example, they found that if you observe some historical issues from the perspective of unspoken rules or the law of blood rewards, you can find sudden explanations, and this Perhaps it is something that college textbooks cannot provide.There are also some college students who may not regard unspoken rules or the law of blood reward as a methodology for observing history, but as a mirror and reference book for understanding society and reality, and gain some practical enlightenment from them, "learn and apply", Like they treat or Thirty-Six Strategies.How do you feel about this encounter?If you were the teacher of these young students, what would you tell them?

Unspoken rules mainly reveal the unspoken rules that are popular in officialdom.However, the field of our life is not just officialdom.People have friendships, family relationships, classmates, acquaintances, and so on.In these relationships, good will be rewarded with good, and evil will be rewarded with evil, and they generally correspond.At this time, if you adopt strategies such as thick black learning, you may end up shooting yourself in the foot.In these areas of equal strength and corresponding rewards, it is difficult for unspoken rules to play a leading role.In my opinion, working hard and being an honest person is the most cost-effective strategy.

When it comes to officialdom, since there are often conflicts between the interests of officials and the interests of the people, many bonuses happen to be collected from arbitrary fees, and people may indeed fall into a moral dilemma.If you want to be a reasonable and good colleague, you cannot be a good official who cares about the people.Thinking wholeheartedly about the common people and doing nothing at all will often offend colleagues and superiors.Before the reform of the system, before the system responsible to the people replaces the system responsible to the upward, I think it is difficult to get the best of both worlds.At this time, I hope that everyone can live with a peaceful conscience, and don't lose your conscience when calculating the general ledger of life.Nowadays, food and clothing are not difficult to obtain. In my opinion, the spiritual feeling is the main factor to judge the quality of life.

There is no doubt that unspoken rules have always existed tenaciously in history and have never disappeared. Even today, the shadow of unspoken rules is not difficult to see.So, what do you think is the key to eliminating unspoken rules? Eliminating unspoken rules is very difficult, and it has not been eliminated for two or three thousand years.If we continue to follow the old path of two or three thousand years, I think the prospects are not optimistic.However, when Mao Zedong was in Yan'an, he had a famous conversation with Huang Yanpei, which was called "cave pair" in history.Huang Yanpei asked Mao Zedong how to avoid the vicious circle in history. Mao Zedong said that we have found a new way, which is democracy, where the people supervise the government.

Among the unspoken rules, who has the most motivation and ability to eliminate unspoken rules?Of course it's the victim.The victims are the common people who have been raided. They have many people, many eyes, and deep feelings. It is difficult for the bad things that entrap them to escape their eyes.Once the fate and future of officials are in their hands, the space for unspoken rules to play a role must be greatly reduced.This is the key to eliminating unspoken rules.