"A country is a small tool, it can be possessed by villains, it can be obtained by a small way, it can be held with a small force; the world is a big tool, it cannot be possessed by villains, it cannot be obtained by a small way, it cannot be held with a small force. A country is a villain, but it may not be destroyed. The world is the greatest, and it cannot be possessed by a saint." Listening to the debate between the emperor and Deng Guangjian, Lu Xiufu silently recited in his heart.

This passage comes from what Xunzi said in "The Zhenglun", and is a judgment based on the situation in the Spring and Autumn Period. Lu Xiufu also knew his judgment on the situation in the Qin State at that time. Xunzi believed that the Qin State had a superior geographical environment and abundant resources, which was "favorable". "Looking at its customs, its people were simple, its voice was not dirty, its submissive, and it was very afraid of being in charge and obedient, which was the ancient people."

However, from a higher standard, and from the perspective of "the fame and fame of the king", Qin was lacking. Xunzi specially distinguished the difference between general governance and kingdom, that is, if you just want to build a powerful country, then you can use domineering means. However, to pacify the world, you need purely the standard of the way of the previous kings. If you want to "the world" and let the people of the world return, you need "the appeal of value", which is the shortcoming of Qin.

Lu Xiufu believed that Xunzi's argument was later confirmed. Qin adopted farming and warfare to expand its territory, organize production, break the hierarchy, and encouraged to gain social status through its own efforts. These are all important institutional innovation advantages for Qin to unify the six countries. However, Qin failed to handle the "pacifying the world" well, and even died in the second generation of Qin. This reflected Xunzi's vision and also became a proof of Han Confucians' attempt to integrate the hundreds of schools of thought with Confucians as the main and establish a social order of virtue and punishment.

Lu Xiufu also knew that in addition to his argument for evil nature, he taught two disciples of the Legalists: Li Si and Han Fei. These two disciples once learned "imperial arts" from Xunzi, and embarked on different paths in the great changes in history, thus deriveing ​​different political propositions and strategies for governing the country.

At that time, Li Si and Han Fei had a full understanding of the "historical moment". Han Fei promoted Xunzi's historical view and denied Xunzi's "the way of the previous kings". He proposed that "the ancients competed with morality, the middle ages pursued wisdom, and the present is competing with strength." He believed that the way of the previous kings might be applicable to ancient times, but in this era of competition, it mainly relied on "force".

Although Han Fei was appreciated by Qin Shihuang, he did not get the opportunity to govern the country, and Li Si seized the "time fortune" that realistically turned his "historical consciousness". Because Li Si felt that it was difficult for Chu to realize his ideals, and the six countries showed a decline, he bid farewell to Xunzi and went to Qin to find opportunities. When he said goodbye, Li Si also reflected his understanding of the "historical moment" and he had to seize all opportunities.

Li Si believed that when Qin State wanted to annex the world, it was also a good time for common people to exert their abilities and achieve success. He said that this society generally looked down on lowly people and despised poor people. "If you have been in a lowly position and a difficult place for a long time, you will not hate profits in the world, and you will be entrusted with inaction. This is not the feelings of a scholar. Therefore, this will be the king of Qin in the west."

From this we can see that Li Sizhi lobbying the King of Qin was because he saw that Qin needed to absorb a large number of talents for its big goal, and on the other hand, he wanted to change his situation. This shows that his actions were seriously utilitarian, which was contrary to the Confucian moral standards, but he also had the opportunity to show his talents.

If the emperor conquered the generals of the court, he said that he was invincible in strategizing and the courage to come to the battle personally, then he would be "a kindness of a meal" and a demeanor to the officials in the court. You should know that His Majesty ascended the throne amid the opposition of the civil officials, and regarded him as a puppet, and was not favored by the scholars.

At the critical moment of life and death in Yashan, Lu Xiufu believed that the emperor could escape from the battlefield with his own personal army, and watched the opponents in the court completely destroyed, and then retreated to Yashan to start a new stove. This was much easier than turning the tide and repelling the enemy and moving the court to Qiongzhou. It was also a common method for the superiors to suppress dissidents. After returning to Qiongzhou, although the superiors escaped, the court officials were also panic and worried about being purged.

However, the emperor did not carry out a large-scale cleaning of officials in the court, nor did he lay off redundant officials on a large scale. He only suppressed Chen Yizhong's troops to a limited extent. In the face of great financial difficulties, he gave them an official position and a salary, so that they did not starve to death at that difficult time. After the recovery of Jiangnan, these people were entrusted with important tasks.

Therefore, Lu Xiufu knew that although the officials in the court would sometimes curse the emperor secretly, he was still very grateful to him. This was also the reason why Chen Yizhong returned to China and colluded with officials in the court to try to usurp power after returning to Jiangnan. Except for the gentry and gentry who were purged, there were few court officials involved. In the subsequent riots, the court was able to still support the emperor and no one opposed it when the empress dowager issued an order to execute Chen Yizhong.

After the Northern Expedition, the emperor's authority reached its peak, and his status in the military was unshakable. His trusted officials in the administrative system had already emerged and became local officials. However, under such circumstances, the emperor advocated the restoration of the three provinces and six ministries system, and agreed to reduce the imperial guards and restrict the rights of the inner court.

In the eyes of outsiders, this is the emperor who wants to divide the power of the Secretariat and suppress himself, who is in charge of the prime minister, but Lu Xiufu understands that the emperor suffered the most in this reform. Of course, some people believe that the generals divided the power of the prime minister and avoided the emergence of power and prime ministers, but it also suppressed the imperial power and made it difficult for the emperor to make the imperial court arbitrary decision.

Lu Xiufu was always confused about the emperor's initiative to give up power when his power was at its peak. If the emperor was planning for future generations and worried that his family would not be able to maintain the family business, he thought of maintaining the operation of the court by dividing the power of the general and giving up the imperial power. Although this reason was barely explained, the young emperor was only in his twenties and was young and middle-aged. He could wait ten years or even twenty years before implementing it, rather than the present.
Chapter completed!