!
Zhao Jun's rebuke was quite harsh.
Because he made his attitude clear and obviously stood on the side of the reformists, the opposition was frightened.
Fan Zhongyan is Fan Zhongyan, and Zhao Jun is Zhao Jun. Their power is completely incomparable.
At this time, the whole court was solemn, and everyone was bearing Zhao Jun's anger.
But soon, everyone became different again. The opposition discovered that Zhao Jun also stood on the side of the reformists, which made them panic.
This means that Fan Zhongyan’s new policies may continue to be implemented. How can this be possible?
So even after Zhao Jun scolded him, someone still stood up and said, "Master, the laws of our ancestors cannot be changed. If they are changed, it will bring harm to all directions."
"Stop talking about ancestral laws!"
Zhao Jun said coldly, "Laws should also change with the changing times. Shang Yang's reforms during the Qin Dynasty gave the Qin Dynasty the power to unify the world. Yang Yan's reform of the two-tax system gave the Tang Dynasty a half-life. Times are changing, and laws should also change with them. If you stick to the old ways, even during the Shang and Zhou dynasties, people were still sacrificed. Why didn't your father let you be buried with him when he died?"
"You! Dean, how can you be so rude!"
The man was horrified and said, "Besides, this is the law of Taizu and Taizong. How dare you disrespect it like this?"
"Being rude is already considered good enough, you damned bunch of idiots who have nothing better to do. I told you to work properly and instead of listening, you came here to get scolded."
Zhao Jun said calmly, "I'm not disrespecting Taizu and Taizong. I simply want to tell you that their ways were only suitable for their time, not the present. Times are changing, and if we want our country to be strong, we must focus on the future. If you only focus on the present and your own interests, then the court doesn't need short-sighted people like you."
"The sages said, 'Heaven's ways are constant, they do not exist for the sake of Yao nor perish for the sake of Jie. If we respond to them with order, good will come; if we respond with chaos, disaster will come. Putting aside the pros and cons of this new law, let's just say that the officials are in turmoil. If officials can't even look after themselves, who will care about the people?"
Someone retorted, "I personally believe that under the new law, great chaos is imminent, and great chaos will lead to disaster. Can the governor bear the responsibility for this?"
"It's all right for the officials to be uneasy, as long as the people of the world remain calm. The duties, rules, and tasks that you should complete have been laid out for you. All that remains is to obey His Majesty's will."
Zhao Jun bowed to Zhao Zhen and continued, "The so-called unrest among the people is just an excuse you use to refute the new policies. There's no need to be so hypocritical. One is one, two is two. Don't you just want to be lazy? I can give you this choice. Those who complete the tasks under the new policies will receive their full salary. Those who fail will have their salary reduced tenfold."
He spread his hands and said, "You get paid based on how much work you do. That's fair, right? I don't advocate a spirit of dedication. What I advocate is more work, more pay, less work, less pay, and no work, no pay. If you want to get something for nothing, just lie at home and wait for money to come in, sorry, that won't work with me!"
"Minister, the salaries of court officials are all fixed. How can you cut them like this?"
The man was stunned.
Zhao Jun frowned and said, "Why, you want to get something for nothing? Why don't you go out and look in the mirror and see if your face is worth all that money just sitting there doing nothing every day."
"Naturally, natural disasters and anomalies are everywhere in the world. Isn't this a warning from Heaven? We, the ministers, fear Heaven and dare not respond to the law!"
Someone else came out to talk about natural disasters.
Zhao Jun was amused and said, "You're using natural disasters as an excuse, right? I was going to say that the frequent natural disasters are all caused by you guys talking nonsense and disrupting the government. Ultimately, you just want the right to explain, and then use this matter to achieve your own goals."
After finishing speaking, Zhao Jun looked at Zhao Zhen and said, "Your Majesty, I would like to ask why it is raining."
"It's caused by condensation of water vapor."
Zhao Zhen didn't watch the popular science video in vain, and answered immediately.
"What's with the drought?"
Zhao Jun glanced at Lü Yijian and said, "Lü Yijian, Lord Lü Xu? How about you explain it?"
Lü Yijian's face was already quite sad. He looked at Zhao Jun and said, "Hanlong."
"We'll discuss your son's matter at the Constitutional Council meeting later."
Zhao Jun said decisively, "I just want to ask you now, do you know what drought is?"
Lu Yijian opened his mouth, but finally said helplessly, "Our country is located in the Northern Hemisphere. During the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the sun shines directly over the Tropic of Cancer, causing the temperature to rise, evaporating water vapor, reducing rainfall, and causing drought."
"very good."
Zhao Jun turned his head and looked at the ministers. "If you're stupid, you should read more. Floods and droughts are natural phenomena, the product of the flow of all things. Those who don't understand regard them as punishment from heaven. That's pure foolishness!"
In an instant, all the officials below were stunned and speechless.
This is something beyond their understanding.
In fact, the ancients also explored astronomy and geography, but this was not the mainstream cognition.
At least in the eyes of most people, there are gods above us. This world exists of supernatural forces, including the heavens that govern the operation of the heavens and the various immortals and Buddhas that preside over the human world.
At the same time, if a disaster occurred, it was a punishment from heaven on earth, and officials often used this incident to advise the emperor.
For example, in Wang Anshi's reforms and Zhang Juzheng's reforms, the three weapons of the opposition were: first, the ancestral laws; second, personal attacks and slander against those who presided over the new policies; and third, the disasters were caused by the reforms angering the gods and punishment from heaven.
Now Zhao Jun directly denied that the disaster was sent by God and mocked the officials for being uneducated.
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