Chapter 54 Section 7: "Ming Emperor's Ancestral Instructions" "Not a single word is allowed to be changed"

Zhu Yuanzhang carefully wove the spider web, of course, to live in all the subjects for the enjoyment of the royal family.However, he weaved the net too smoothly. If he was not careful, he not only netted the civilians and officials, but even the descendants of the royal family. The disadvantage of Zhu Yuanzhang's autocracy is that only the emperor is responsible for the future and destiny of the entire country, and everyone else lacks a sense of responsibility.The emperor had to be the ever-active, ever-vigilant, naturally lively "soul" of this vast empire. "If the emperor's personality were not of the above-mentioned kind--that is, thorough, moral, industrious, full of energy without losing his dignity--then everything would fall into disarray, the government would be dissolved, and into a state of insensitivity, because there is no other legal power or agency except the supervision and inspection of the emperor. The duty of government officials is not out of their own conscience or their own sense of honor, but a kind of external order And tough sanctions, that's how the government sustains itself."

This is the weakness of autocratic regimes: the so-called "one word can prosper the country", "one word can ruin the country", "the people save the government, and the people lose the government". Zhu Yuanzhang was certainly aware of the weaknesses of the system he had created.He is always worried that his descendants will lose their sense of responsibility and act recklessly, causing the operation of the state machine he designed to fall into chaos. If so, the consequences will be unimaginable. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang not only had to decide the appearance of the empire when he was alive, but he also had to pre-set the trajectory of each successor after his death.

Therefore, he spent a full six years, deleted and edited seven times, and wrote a book called "Emperor Ming Zu Xun", which is dedicated to his dear descendants. In the preface, he exhorts his descendants thus: You grew up in a deep palace, ignorant of the world.And I was lonely and poor when I was young, and when I grew up, I was in the army. I joined the army at the age of twenty-four. I was a soldier for the first three years, and then I rose step by step. , and finally ruled the world.Therefore, I have studied the sophistication of human feelings and the hypocrisy of human feelings.

The heroes are the most powerful and cunning characters in the world, and the most difficult to control. I have already subdued them all.The common people have become more and more cunning in the midst of war and chaos, and they are the most difficult to rule, and I have managed them submissively.Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, I began to formulate the laws and regulations governing the world. Over the past ten years, I have continuously revised them and made detailed regulations. Now they have all been issued.After promulgation, the effect is good. Now, I am doing this "Emperor Ming Zu Xun" again, as our family's family law.I posted the draft in the west wing room, and read and revised it every morning and evening, in order to be safe. In the first and last six years, I made major revisions seven times before it was finalized. It was not easy!But with this thing, it will be easy for you to be emperors!

All my descendants must strictly obey my detailed regulations, and are not allowed to be clever and violate my established law.Do not change a single word!If you are really obedient, then the world of our old Zhu family will surely last forever! Let's take a look at what's in this "not a word allowed to change" thing. In this book, Zhu Yuanzhang stipulates in detail the code of conduct from the emperor to the prince.From "how to administer administration" and "how to enforce the law" to "how to arrange daily life", "how to manage the harem", "how to salute among the royal family" and other details of life.The detailed and cumbersome regulations are unimaginable.

I will not introduce the major principles of state governance in detail, but just quote a few small details to see how carefully Zhu Yuanzhang has considered for future generations.The first chapter in the name of the opening is safety first: For the sake of safety, when you discuss secrets with your trusted ministers, the guards with knives are only allowed to stay ten feet away from you. Every night, be vigilant.It's okay to listen to the movement in the city often, and listen to the sound of the city to see if there is anything unusual?You can also go to the yard to see the weather and astrology. Is there any sign of disaster?

As a benevolent father and grandparent, he even thinks about how the offspring eat, which meal to eat more and which meal to eat less: When the emperor lives in the palace, he has to get up early and go to bed late every day, drink less alcohol, and eat meals on time!Don't eat too much in the afternoon! (If you are going out on the road, you may not be restricted by this article.) There are also many precautions in other chapters.For example, if a woman in the palace is sick, she can only see a doctor during the day, and no matter how urgent the illness is at night, she can only endure it.When inviting a doctor, one supervisor, one door official, one bureau official, three eunuchs, and two old women are required to accompany the doctor into the palace.If these people do not accompany them and only ask the old woman to accompany them into the palace, dangerous things will easily happen. The officials will be beheaded, and the eunuchs, doctors, and old women will all be executed in a hurry.

Furthermore, he personally stipulated what the prince should bring with him when he went out: one chair, one footrest, one water jug, one water basin, one incense burner, one incense box, two whisks... After reading these regulations, You will understand why Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it for six years and changed it seven times.See how blessed it is to be a descendant of Zhu Yuanzhang, who hardly needs to carry a brain when he is born.For more than three hundred years, the Ming Dynasty basically operated according to the political model formulated by Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang. Everything has been established and everything has been customized, leaving almost no power for the subsequent emperor. freedom of.The emperor was not allowed to leave the Forbidden City if there was no urgent matter.Throughout the year, from day to night, almost all activities have a fixed schedule.

For the princes, this happiness was even more unbearable.Because of the continuous rebellion of princes, the descendants of emperors inherited the spirit of Taizu and continuously strengthened the regulations on princes, so that the princes in the middle and late Ming Dynasty almost became prisoners.These people who were originally considered the happiest people in the empire were not even as good as ordinary people in terms of freedom of life.The royal family is only allowed to sit and enjoy the blessings, and is not allowed to engage in any profession.The prince can only live in the palace for the rest of his life, and if he wants to go out for a walk in the city, he has to send someone from thousands of miles to submit an application to the emperor himself.Without the emperor's personal permission, the prince would not even be able to go out of the city to visit the tomb.In order to prevent the princes from colluding, the emperor stipulated that the princes should not meet each other for life.

"History of the Ming Dynasty: The Biography of the Kings" commented that the feudal vassals of the Ming Dynasty...had a false name, and they were rich in salary.The defense is too strict, the legal system is increasing day by day, go out of the city to sweep the tomb, please promise later, the two kings will not meet each other.The feudal ban is strict, as far as this is concerned.