"But some also say that Your Majesty is extremely wise and has brought peace to the world, truly restoring democracy to the Ming Dynasty."
"Judging from his words and actions, there are many things Your Majesty does that I don't understand. For example, when cleaning up the court, many officials were purged, including some who were well-known and highly praised. However, the people Your Majesty employed were not incompetent."
"I've never dealt with Xu Guangqi, so I don't know what kind of person he is. But I'm familiar with Sun Chengzong and Yuan Keli. They're both capable officials."
"In addition to these officials, the newly introduced secret report system in the court has also been criticized by many people. They say it is a policy of forcing officials to harm them and has sparked a trend of officials falsely accusing each other."
"In addition, Your Majesty's promotion of Feng Congwu and others and his promotion of Xunzi's teachings have also been met with considerable criticism. This shows how serious Your Majesty's thoughts are and how unimaginable his actions are."
After hearing what Zhao Yan said, Li An smiled and said, "If outsiders heard this, you would probably be imprisoned by the Jinyiwei."
Zhao Yan glanced at Li An and said, "It is not the duty of a subject to criticize the emperor. If I am punished by His Majesty for this, there is nothing to say. However, I still want to hear your opinion."
"It's actually very simple. I believe Your Majesty is a wise ruler with great ambitions." Li An said with a smile, "But to what extent he can achieve that remains to be seen."
"Why do you say that?" Zhao Yan asked hesitantly.
"Your Excellency often reads history books. Think about Emperor Wu of Han." Li An said with a smile, "Emperor Wu ascended the throne at a young age, facing internal and external troubles. At court, the Huang-Lao school of thought controlled the government."
"Emperor Wu of Han abandoned Huang-Lao and respected Confucianism; he combined the King and the Hegemon, and gave importance to the Legalists. This deterred scoundrels and consolidated national strength internally; externally, it united the people and encouraged them to strive for excellence. Only then was Emperor Wu of Han able to quell the Xiongnu and build a powerful Han Dynasty."
"Your Majesty clearly believes that the Ming Dynasty's decline is related to the reverence for Mencius's teachings over the years. Your Majesty clearly prefers Xunzi's teachings to Mencius's. Your Majesty says so, and he also does so."
"In the Henan case, Your Majesty severely punished Prince Fu. Apart from not abolishing Prince Fu's title, all his royal privileges were completely taken away. From this incident, I can see Your Majesty's great courage and determination."
"A few days ago, there was a lot of commotion about the taxes paid on the estates of the nobles and relatives of the nobility. Some people said that Your Majesty was motivated by money, but I don't think so. While money is one aspect, Your Majesty is more concerned with reclaiming the privileges granted to the nobles and relatives of the nobility."
"So it is conceivable that this time when Your Majesty comes to Shandong, he will probably deal with the King of Lu. Even those people in Qufu will probably suffer the same fate. If you don't believe me, wait and see."
After hearing this, Zhao Yan said in disbelief: "It can't be that serious, right?"
"That's right," Li An said confidently, "Your Majesty praises Xunzi, and Mencius is no longer in your eyes. How much do you think Your Majesty values Confucius?"
Although Li An's words were arrogant, Zhao Yan didn't care. The two had been together for many years, and he knew some of Li An's thoughts and was used to him talking like this.
If it weren't for this personality and this bad mouth, Ang Lee wouldn't have chosen the path of officialdom.
"I also found out one thing." Li An said mysteriously.
"Tell me about it." Zhao Yan saw that Li An was pretending to be mysterious, and knew that this matter must be very important, otherwise Li An would not beat around the bush with him.
"I heard that Zhao Kui and others are planning to put all the blame on Prince Lu's Mansion and Qufu." Li An said with a smile.
After hearing this, Zhao Yan hesitated and said, "Isn't that just shooting oneself in the foot?"
"That's right," Li An said with a smile. "These people want to use the Prince of Lu's Palace and Qufu to threaten Your Majesty, hoping that Your Majesty will go easy on them and not pursue their crimes too seriously. But I think they're being self-defeating. If they do this, I'm afraid they'll play into Your Majesty's hands."
"They're essentially betting on whether Your Majesty has the guts to take action against the Prince of Lu's Palace and Qufu. In their opinion, Your Majesty doesn't have the guts. After all, the status of the Prince of Lu's Palace and Qufu is there. If Your Majesty really took action, the consequences would be enormous. But in my opinion, they all underestimated Your Majesty."
"Then what should we do?" Zhao Yan said hesitantly, "I'm the Governor of Shandong. I'm afraid this matter will also implicate me. Maybe Zhao Kui and others are already thinking about how to blame me."
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