Chapter 1052 The Emperor is the Great Sage (First update, please subscribe)
"Actually, I think it would be fine if it was replaced with a statue of His Majesty..."
But his daughter-in-law's words stunned Emperor Zhu.
My statue?
Having said that, Emperor Zhu had never thought of erecting a statue for himself.
Why haven’t you thought about it?
Because traditionally speaking, China has no tradition or custom of erecting statues for emperors or generals.
This custom came from Europe.
But now Sun Wanyun's suggestion made Emperor Zhu a little moved.
Why is he Guanyin?
In addition to the fact that the current Ming Empire is in the south and according to Chinese tradition, this sea should be called the South China Sea, there is a deeper reason. In this era, from south to north and from east to west, the most worshipped deity in families is Guanyin.
Guanyin Bodhisattva, literally means "the Bodhisattva who observes (the voices of the people in the world)". When people encounter disasters, as long as they recite his name, he will go to save them, so he is called Guanyin.
This is also the reason why Emperor Zhu chose Guanyin Bodhisattva.
In fact, the original intention is very simple - it is nothing more than to tell everyone to observe the sufferings of the people of the world and listen to their voices.
Of course, this is just a nice idea.
But, in fact, this idea is not mature at all. It is just a sudden idea on the train.
Emperor Zhu had not even thought about the shape of the statue. He chose Guanyin simply because he was familiar with it.
But now Sun Wanyun's suggestion made his eyes light up.
"My statue?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, isn't there a statue in Havana erected by overseas Chinese to commemorate Your Majesty's visit? Since overseas Chinese can erect statues abroad, and this land was conquered by you, then of course they should also erect a statue of you."
Sun Wanyun looked at His Majesty with a smile and made another suggestion.
"My Great Ming does not need the protection of gods and bodhisattvas. If we have to ask for protection, then Your Majesty is the patron saint of my Great Ming! If we were to erect a statue here, would there be anything more suitable than a statue of Your Majesty? As long as they see the statue underground, they will know that this land was conquered by Your Majesty!"
Duke Qian De and the others who had followed along all looked at the future Crown Princess with a changed look after hearing her words.
Be good!
What is going on in the mind of this clever eldest daughter of the Sun family?
Such flattery... No wonder among so many daughters of new nobles, she was the only one who stood out and became the Crown Princess.
Apart from anything else, just this kind of clever and delicate mind is something other women can never match.
"Girl, what are you talking about? What's the point of erecting a statue or not? This is in accordance with the rules..."
When Sun Hu interrupted his daughter, he looked at His Majesty. His Majesty was looking out at the sea, thinking. Then he stopped talking.
What was Emperor Zhu thinking?
Nonsense, of course I was moved.
What if I open my arms here?
This, this... there's something going on!
It’s just that, it doesn’t seem to be in line with China’s traditional customs.
It’s a bit difficult!
But it’s really exciting... I have to say, this suggestion is really exciting!
However, spending your own money to build a statue for yourself... isn't that a bit too shameless?
Don't say this, it's really annoying...
…
In fact, the customs and habits of China were not completely transplanted to the Ming Dynasty. Some customs and habits would not only not be introduced to the Ming Dynasty, but would even be directly banned by the government.
For example, the guild hall was a group composed of fellow townsmen or colleagues in cities during the Ming and Qing dynasties in China. The most influential one was the hometown guild hall, which was also the root of the cliques and business gangs that gradually flourished after the Ming and Qing dynasties.
But in the Ming Dynasty, from the very beginning, a crackdown on "fellow countrymen" was adopted.
Why is this so?
It all comes down to one reason - overseas Chinese form gangs based on their hometown ties and are constantly fighting among themselves.
Millions of Chinese people from Southeast Asia started to go to Southeast Asia so early, but why did they end up in vain? They even made wedding dresses for Westerners in vain.
Not to mention Westerners, even before the Westerners arrived in Nanyang, the natives were able to take advantage of the Chinese.
Why do so many Chinese people, with all the advantages in manpower and financial resources, end up like this?
To put it bluntly, people from Cantonese, Meishan, Huizhou, and Chaoshan form gangs based on their hometown. They only care about hometown ties and don't care about their compatriots. It is not uncommon for them to collude with outsiders and suppress their compatriots.
As for those Westerners and the natives of Nanyang, all they needed was to divide and rule!
With this precedent, Emperor Zhu was wary of hometown gangs...
Therefore, when immigrants are introduced, they are forced to speak "Mandarin" and disrupt their usage. In a word, the purpose is to dilute the friendship between fellow townsmen and strengthen the feelings between compatriots.
Although the results were not great, at least in the Ming Dynasty, no village gangs have been formed until now. There is no room for guild halls to survive, and the government often directly bans them.
But there are exceptions to everything.
Nan Hua Association is an exception.
There are such guild halls in most of the big cities in the Ming Dynasty. They are called guild halls, but they are different from the traditional Chinese village guild halls. They are more like some clubs.
This place has a distinctive feature, it is the gathering place for South Chinese people.
There are many people in Nanhua, but not every Nanhua person can enter here. There are identity restrictions for entering the Nanhua Association, and often only successful people can enter here. To some extent, this is an elite club.
But one thing is certain: the first generation of Nan Hua immigrants could enter any Nan Hua Association.
Although his clothes looked no different from those of an ordinary old man, when Li Fugui got out of the ordinary 10-year-old Qianlima car, the waiter still hurried over and respectfully invited him into the club.
In the Ming Dynasty, immigrants were always extremely special, and in the Nanhua Guild Hall, they were always the most distinguished guests here.
"I have a guest coming over in a minute."
"Okay, sir, please come in. The room has been arranged for you."
The waiter walking in front half bowed and led the way, up the elevator, to the door of the private room, knocked gently, opened the door, and closed the door again, without saying a word during the whole process.
“Interesting…”
When the door closed, Li Fugui muttered to himself.
The reporter who he met by chance on the "Antiliède" last year visited him again a while ago and gave him a book.
To be precise, it is the first draft of a novel.
The book has about 200,000 words, which is not too many, but not too few either. What attracted Li Fugui was not the words but the stories in them.
What is the story?
They are all stories about your majesty. But those stories...
Soon there was a knock on the door. After the door opened, Xu Haiyang walked into the room and bowed respectfully.
"Mr. Li, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."
Who would have thought that the old man I met by chance last year turned out to be His Majesty's old butler.
Xu Haiyang certainly did not miss such an opportunity. In order to write the novel, he not only interviewed Li Fugui, but also interviewed many first-generation immigrants through him.
I came here today as promised.
"sit."
Li Fugui pointed to the seat opposite him without saying a word.
There were already a few simple dishes on the table, but Li Fugui did not invite him to pick up his chopsticks, nor did he offer him a drink. After he sat down, he got straight to the point and asked.
"Writer Xu, let's talk about your book!"
"Mr. Li, I know you must have a lot of questions."
"really."
Nodding, Li Fugui stared at him and said.
"You are a second-generation immigrant from Nanhua, and you were brought back from Hangzhou by Mr. Li. You should know what will happen if you can't give me a satisfactory answer."
There are some special existences everywhere, and Li Fugui is one of them. He only needs one phone call to make the guy in front of him disappear from this world forever.
"I know."
Xu Haiyang's heart trembled slightly. In fact, when he wrote that book, he knew what the result would be.
What about Lubyanka, Special High Technology Department...those are not just legends!
"Tell me, how did you know about your Majesty's childhood?"
Why did Li Fugui ask this?
Of course, it was because the book recorded many things about His Majesty's childhood, such as auspicious signs appeared when he was born and auspicious lights flashed in the Mausoleum of Emperor Xiaoling. All the people in the Qing Dynasty were shocked when they heard it.
He even arranged for His Majesty's hometown to be set up - Wuchang.
Why Wuchang?
After the Taiping Army occupied Wuchang, they wiped out hundreds of thousands of people in Wuchang. Among the immigrants of that generation, there were several people from Wuchang.
Your Majesty, who was only a teenager at the time, was lucky to escape.
One thing is for sure – this is all made up.
Faced with such a fabricated book, Li Fugui's mood can be imagined, but he did not get angry. Instead, he personally entertained him at the Nanhua Guild Hall and waited for his explanation.
"I don't know!"
Xu Haiyang shook his head and said.
“You don’t need to know!”
"oh?"
Li Fugui raised his eyebrows slightly, stared at Xu Haiyang, waiting for his explanation.
"But I know that His Majesty the Emperor should be great and holy. This is what all Ming people hope for. What Ming needs is not only a hero, but a "saint" who can rival all the so-called "holy ancestors and benevolent monarchs" in Chinese history."
Taking a deep breath, Xu Haiyang said.
“That’s why I wrote in the book, ‘What shines above the extravagant policies of Qin Shi Huang, Han Gaozu and Tang Taizong is the policy of Emperor Shengde that will benefit the world for generations to come!’ The one who created such a prosperous era—Emperor Shengde is not only a hero, but also a myth. He is not only the father of the new Ming Dynasty, but also the synonym of savior and patron saint. He should be respected by everyone! Not respected, but revered, just like us Chinese people respect Confucius. In China, all people respect Confucius as a saint, and in our Ming Dynasty, His Majesty Emperor Shengde is the saint of the world, so…”
Facing Li Fugui, Xu Haiyang directly explained why he wrote those stories.
"When I wrote this book, I was not writing about your Majesty's affairs, but about the saints of this world - the affairs of saints!"
Looking at Xu Haiyang who said these words with righteous words, Li Fugui was stunned. This was why he was waiting here for his explanation, because the book described a saint who had performed miracles since the day he was born and was morally perfect.
"Then you know that writing a biography for the emperor is extremely disrespectful!"
"No!"
Xu Haiyang shook his head and said.
"I am not writing a biography for the present emperor, but a record of the deeds of the present saint! I firmly believe that after this book is published, it will be welcomed by the people. Your Majesty is the saint of our Great Ming!"
(End of this chapter)
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