Chapter 306: As long as the green mountains remain, there will be no shortage of firewood
Yao Guangxiao took the half jade pendant with a serious look, "Please rest assured, the three families, even if I risk my life, I will keep a spark for the Jiangnan Aristocratic Family Alliance."

Zhao Wei, the head of the Zhao family, patted Yao Guangxiao on the arm and said, "Besides the little emperor who was carried by Lu Xiufu to jump off the cliff, there is also a Song Gong Emperor Zhao who is still alive.

According to the records left by the ancestors of the Zhao family: In October of the 25th year of Zhiyuan, Kublai Khan issued an edict to send Zhao to Tibet to study Sanskrit and Western Tibetan scriptures.

In December, Zhao set off, and it is said that he entered a place in U-Tsang from Tosma.

There was no further record of it in Chinese historical books afterwards.

If I unfortunately die overseas in the future, I hope that Master Daoyan can inherit the last wish of the Zhao family ancestors and try to find the descendants of Emperor Gong of Song."

Yao Guangxiao was immediately filled with respect when he heard this, "I never thought that the ancestor of the Zhao family had such a connection with the last emperor of the Song Dynasty.

I swear to heaven here that if I can return to China one day.

He must travel all the way to U-Tsang to look for traces left by the descendants of Emperor Zhao of Song Gong.

Going to Japan will be full of dangers and difficulties, so I hope Master Zhao will take good care of himself."

The ancients always attached great importance to oaths. When Zhao Wei saw Yao Guangxiao swearing to the sky in front of everyone, he couldn't help but be deeply moved.

However, when he thought about his family's future fate, the expression on his face became tragic again.

“My Jiangnan Zhao family is at least a descendant of the Song Dynasty royal family, but now we have to leave our homeland and go overseas.

I don’t know if I will have the chance to return to my roots in my lifetime. When I think about it, wealth and glory are just like passing clouds. I am really unwilling to accept this!”

Since ancient times, any reform will inevitably lead to a redistribution of benefits.

Once there are more gentry and powerful people like the Four Great Families in Jiangnan, it means that those in power in the ruling class will have less benefits to distribute.

Yao Guangxiao has always believed that selfishness and greed are human nature.

After all, no one is a saint, especially the backbone of the Jiangnan family alliance who have already developed ambitions. It is impossible for them to be content with mediocrity.

Rather than letting them stay in the Ming Dynasty and cause trouble, it is better to let them go to Japan to create a new world.

"I once listened to a wise man debate on scriptures, and there was a famous saying in it that was very thought-provoking.

Save people and lose land, and everyone and land will survive; save land and lose people, and everyone and land will be lost.

Even ordinary people know the truth that "as long as the mountains remain, there will be no shortage of firewood."

If you lose your lives for a momentary gain or loss, and lose the Jiangnan family alliance that is the backbone of the alliance, how can you gain a firm foothold in a foreign country?"

The other two family heads who were originally affected by Zhao Wei's emotions were suddenly hit by a wake-up call.

If a person has someone he fears and cares about, he will be more or less cautious in doing things.

Su Zhao, the oldest patriarch of the Su family, made full use of his age advantage and made the final decision before others could react.

"We are now in a difficult situation. The Ming Dynasty is in its early days and it is difficult to destroy it in a short period of time.

But looking back over thousands of years of history, no dynasty has been able to do this, and the Holy Emperor has always been in power.

As long as a foolish and incompetent monarch appears in the Ming Dynasty, it will be the day for us to return to our homeland in the south of the Yangtze River.

As long as everyone has the courage to "sleep on straw and taste gall", even if our generation cannot get what we want.

As long as the incense continues to be passed down, one day the Ming Dynasty will perish in the hands of your descendants."

Zhu Linfeng, the head of the Zhu family, who had already figured out the interests involved, nodded indignantly and said, "Although the Qin Dynasty and the Mohist School cooperated to sweep across the six kingdoms, they ultimately could not escape the fate of perishing in the second generation.

In view of this, Emperor Wu of Han implemented the policy of "rejecting all schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone" to govern the country. Now the Ming Dynasty refuses to learn from history and goes against the will of the world.

Sooner or later, they will bring disaster upon themselves!"

In fact, according to historical records: Although Emperor Wu of Han attached great importance to Dong Zhongshu's ideas and propositions, he did not use Dong Zhongshu himself.

Dong Zhongshu, who had been waiting to become a high-ranking official to show his talents, was expelled from the central government by Emperor Wu of Han and demoted to the local level, where he eventually became only a small governor of Jiangdu.

Instead, Gongsun Hong, who was a latecomer who changed from a Legalist to a Confucianist, became the prime minister.

This is mainly because Emperor Wu of Han was a very pragmatic person. Although he attached great importance to Confucianism, it did not mean that he would accept all of Dong Zhongshu's ideas.

In the actual process of governance, Emperor Wu of Han only adopted the idea of ​​"respecting Confucianism alone" but did not agree with the idea of ​​"abolishing all schools of thought".

The reason for doing so was precisely because he saw the disastrous consequences brought about by Qin Shihuang's policy of "respecting the Legalist school alone and abolishing all other schools of thought."

Therefore, Emperor Wu of Han learned the lesson of Qin Shihuang. On the one hand, he wanted to elevate Confucianism to the supreme position, while at the same time absorbing the parts of various schools of thought that were beneficial to him.

On the one hand, he adopted the idea of ​​"great unification" proposed by Dong Zhongshu and implemented unified policies and laws throughout the country.

On the other hand, in terms of governing methods, Emperor Wu of Han still adopted the ideas of Legalism.

While enforcing severe punishments, he even did not hesitate to abuse cruel officials such as Zhang Tang.

Ji An, a loyal minister during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, said that Emperor Wu of Han "had many desires inside but was benevolent and righteous outside", which was a very accurate statement.

Later, Emperor Xuan of Han, Liu Xun, openly taught his son Emperor Yuan of Han: "The Han system combines the kingly way with the hegemonic way.

The kingly way is Confucianism, and the hegemonic way is Legalism.

It is simply not feasible to simply use Confucianism.”

Now, in order to quote classics, Zhu Linfeng did not hesitate to tamper with history and confuse the public, which made Yao Guangxiao despise the so-called Neo-Confucianism even more.

However, he remained expressionless, and instead followed the other party's words and said, "Once the Zhu family master said this, it was like the sound of a morning bell and an evening drum, which made me think deeply. It really benefited me a lot.

It just so happened that I had nothing to do, so I told fortunes for the successor to the Ming Dynasty.

This man succeeded to the throne at a young age and had no ability to intimidate the foreign kings.

There will definitely be a lot of devastation at that time, and for everyone present here, that is a great opportunity given by God!"

Su Zhao, who was leaning on a cane and stroking his beard, sighed, "I am old now, and I am afraid that I will never be able to return to Jiangnan in this lifetime.

If the day predicted by Master Daoyan really comes true, I hope everyone will go to the Su family’s ancestral grave and tell me the good news.

That way, even in the afterlife, I will have no regrets."

About another hour later, the women from the Su, Zhu and Zhao families finally packed their bags.

Li Ziwen, who was alone and helpless, was coerced and lured by the other three family heads and finally got on a carriage bound for Quanzhou Port.

Looking at the high walls, courtyards, white bricks and black tiles in front of him, Yao Guangxiao remembered a poem.

"While the rich wine and meat smell, the road with frozen bone!"

He knew very well that big families could live well in any era, and the only ones who truly suffered were the common people.

However, as long as the plan formulated by His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin can succeed, Yao Guangxiao firmly believes that sooner or later, this situation can be changed.

(End of this chapter)