"Religion? I am stupid, please enlighten me, Your Majesty!" Li Ruolian asked in confusion.
Chongzhen's mouth curled up slightly: "I mean to send the soap to the temple and let the monks help sell it."
Li Ruo Lian was even more confused: "Your Majesty, take the temples in the capital as an example. They do give pilgrims some incense, candles, Buddhist beads and other things, but they are not sold. After all, temples are not shops, but asking them to sell soap... is indeed a bit difficult!"
“No, no, no,” Chongzhen shook his head: “Of course you can’t sell things in temples, but you can sell things to temples.”
"Take soap as an example. If you sell it to the temple at the price of fifty taels a piece, the temple can give the soap to the pilgrims who burn incense. Of course, only pilgrims who donate enough money can get the soap."
"When monks introduce soap, they say it is a gift that purifies the body and cleanses the soul."
"In this way, my soaps are sold at high prices, and the temples also receive a large amount of money from offerings of soaps."
“Win-win situation!”
Li Ruolian was completely stunned.
Is this ok?
Of course.
Chongzhen was well aware of the superstitious mentality of the powerful and wealthy.
In fact, not only the powerful and wealthy are superstitious, but also the common people and even the emperor are superstitious.
What is superstition?
The superstition here does not mean blind belief and worship, but belief in gods and ghosts.
The reason for belief is simple: worship of unknown power.
In ancient times, the higher the official position, the more superstitious one was.
The most superstitious person is the emperor.
Even though Chongzhen, a time traveler who believed in science, was not superstitious, he had to pretend to be superstitious in front of others.
Otherwise it will affect governance.
In order to consolidate their power, ancient kings came up with the idea that the king's power was granted by God. The most obvious example is the inscription on the jade seal of the First Emperor: "Mandate from Heaven, May you live long and prosper forever."
In the Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu added the idea of the interaction between heaven and man to the theory of the divine right of kings.
The theory of the correspondence between heaven and man emphasizes that the emperor is chosen by heaven, and if the emperor makes a mistake, heaven will punish him. This theory perfectly explains the reasons for the rise and fall of a country and has been highly praised by emperors of all dynasties.
Can the people believe what the king said?
Of course I don’t believe it!
Therefore, Dong Zhongshu proposed to banish all schools of thought and respect Confucianism alone. Confucianism was highly valued and had to help the emperor explain the authenticity of the divine right of kings.
This forms a perfect closed loop.
Emperor: I, the Emperor, have my authority granted by God!
Ordinary people: Really?
Confucian: Really!
Emperor: Look, the Confucians are so knowledgeable, yet they believe it. Why don’t you, a bunch of illiterate people, believe it?
Confucian: The king’s power is granted by God and cannot be resisted!
Ordinary people: Okay, I believe it.
Why did ancient emperors resist science?
Because with the development of science, many phenomena that were previously unexplainable can be explained.
This was a fatal blow to the emperor whose power was granted by God!
Also, why didn’t Chongzhen ever establish new-style schools?
Because new-style schools would affect the interests of traditional Confucian scholars.
Once they turn against us, the theory of divine right of kings will no longer work.
The foundations of rule will be shaken.
By then, the internal troubles will not only be the bandits, but also the gentry and common people of the Ming Dynasty!
Chongzhen saw that Li Ruolian was a little dazed and asked, "Is there a problem?"
"No, no problem. It's just... I'm thinking about how to sell the soap to the temple. After all, we can't force sales."
Chongzhen said seriously: "You are not allowed to use the name of the Monks' Office to force the sale of soap to temples. This is a private matter and cannot involve the court."
Monks' Registrar's Office was the name of the government office.
In the 15th year of Hongwu, the Monks Registration Office was established and was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites, in charge of matters related to monks.
Li Ruo Lian's eyebrows were filled with worry, but he still said honestly: "I obey your order."
"By the way, how is the intelligence work of the Pacification Department going?"
"To reply to your majesty, the overall situation is not optimistic."
"When the Jiannu invaded the south, I had some of my soldiers disguised as civilians and deliberately abducted to Liaodong. My order to them was to stay alive and wait for the right opportunity. These people would be useful when we counterattack Liaodong."
"But before we actually use it, we have to rule out the possibility of their rebellion."
"The progress of Li Chuang's bandits is also very unfavorable, because they are always on the move, and even if there is news, it cannot be transmitted back in time. However, I have sent some people to Shaanxi and Shanxi, and they will regularly transmit news from the west to the court."
"The situation is similar over there."
"Huh? That's all?" Chongzhen raised his eyelids and looked at Li Ruolian.
Li Ruo Lian was a little flustered. He lowered his head and thought quickly to see if there was anything missing in what he had just said.
The more I think about it, the more panicked I become.
Because he didn't expect anything to be missing.
This is troublesome.
Just when Li Ruolian was panicking, Chongzhen calmly asked: "We need to plant spies inside the enemy and inside the Ming army."
"Yan Yingyuan of Xuanfu, Tang Tong of Juyongguan, Gao Di of Jizhou, Wu Sangui of Shanhaiguan, Liu Wenyao of the capital, as well as Huang Degong, Huang Fei, Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Chenggong, Yuan Jixian, Qin Liangyu..."
"The spies can be soldiers or generals. They are not needed to deliver messages on a daily basis, but only to deliver key messages at critical moments."
Li Ruolian was shocked when he heard this. The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was still so suspicious!
Chongzhen knew what Li Ruolian was thinking at the moment, and said with a smile: "It's not that I don't trust them, but I want to prevent them from being suspected without reason. If someone makes a false accusation, I will find out the truth as soon as possible."
"Thank you for your teachings, Your Majesty. I understand."
"Back off."
......
February 22, Anhai Town, Quanzhou Prefecture, Fujian.
Outside the gate of Anping Prefecture, there is a constant stream of traffic.
In the spring of the third year of Chongzhen, Zheng Zhilong planned to build the Zheng Mansion in Anhai Town. It took more than three years to complete. After completion, Zheng Zhilong named the Zheng Mansion Anping Prefecture.
The entire Anping Prefecture covers an area of 138 acres. It is large in scale and even more luxurious than the palaces of princes.
Two businessmen came to the gate of Anping Mansion with a visiting card and bowed deeply to the servants at the door: "Excuse me, is this the Zheng Mansion?"
The four servants at the door were sturdy and had sharp eyes, and it was obvious that they were from the military.
One of the servants touched the hilt of the knife with his right hand, frowned and asked, "Who are you? What's the matter?"
"We are merchants from Northern Zhili. My name is Dong Liao and his name is Dong Dong. We would like to meet with Mr. Zheng to discuss the trade of foreign goods."
The servant immediately said, "Our master has ordered that he is busy with military affairs recently and will not see anyone!"
The two merchants looked at each other, and one of them took out a cloth bag filled with silver from his bosom, handed it over along with the visiting card, and said, "Please help the doorman to inform him, this is a small gift from us."
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