Carefree Prince In Tang Dynasty

Looking at Li Shimin's expression, Li Xin knew that his goal had been achieved, and the effect seemed to be better than expected. He put the paper back in his hand and said: "Your Majesty has also seen that the talent in poetry and writing does not represent everything. No matter how good this Dong Daren's poems are, even if they are a hundred times better than mine, at least you can check the accounts In this matter, it is impossible to compare with me who has mastered the double-entry bookkeeping method and Dashi characters. This is the power of professionalism."

He said seriously: "My Tang Dynasty has a vast territory, and there are countless government affairs that occur every day, and the fields involved are diverse and innumerable. How can we only use officials who can write beautiful articles? Of course, we should appoint officials with different fields. Talents with professional knowledge go to work in the corresponding fields, so that people can make the best use of their talents, and they will naturally be more handy in handling government affairs, which can better promote the prosperity of my Tang Dynasty, isn't it?"

These words are all words from the heart.

As a patriotic young man from later generations, what makes Li Xin feel the most painful whenever he thinks about it is that since Dong Zhongshu proposed to "dispose of all schools of thought and respect Confucianism alone", Confucianism, a thing that people love and hate, has really taken over. The position of China's mainstream thought has lasted for thousands of years.

It cannot be denied that the reason why China was able to become the most powerful country in the world in its long history was due to Confucianism. But the various humiliations that China suffered in modern history were not the evil results of Confucianism?

Confucianism is certainly its saving grace. At least it's well-intentioned. Starting from the theory of good nature, the naive Mr. Kong tried to use the relationship between people as a thread to weave an unbreakable net, so as to build a stable society that will never be easy.

In a way, it did serve its original purpose. China's long feudal history is proof. No wonder the historical materialist Hegel once said that China has no history. In his view, only the trajectory of forward development is history, and China has been standing still for thousands of years, so it is not history.

Of course, this kind of statement is biased, after all, Hegel could not avoid making the mistake of generalizing. But this point of view can explain a problem to a certain extent: Confucianism has accomplished the task of stabilizing society very well, but at the same time it has greatly imprisoned the development of society.

This is the most important point that Confucius missed - stability is not always good, things are moving forward.

During the renaissance, industrial revolution, and scientific revolution in the West, a group of people in China who were the smartest and had the most time and ability to learn were shaking their heads and reading "Zi Yue" and "Shi Yun"! God, what kind of tragedy is this? Could it be that when the strong ships and powerful bombardments open the country, can the old master Confucian jump out of the coffin to protect China?

The answer is obvious. The humiliating modern history and the almost devastated land of China silently gave an answer that was so clear that it was impossible to refute.

Confucianism is too exclusive. In a land where Confucianism thrives, neither science nor the future can be bred.

Although Li Xin has no big ambitions and has never thought of doing anything earth-shattering, but at this point, if he can, he is willing to do his best to try to inject new strength into this ancient and powerful empire. Perhaps with his meager strength alone, it is not enough to establish the huge system called "science", but at least, he may be able to leave a seed.

Who knows what will become of this seed in the future?

Of course, this matter must be done step by step, gradually. Trying to fight against the entire Confucian world and the process of history with one's own strength will inevitably end up being crushed by the wheels of history. Li Xin knew this very well.

Therefore, he didn't mention science at all at the moment. He just wanted to leave a small thought in Li Shimin's heart first: Confucianism is not omnipotent.

Don't underestimate this sentence. Perhaps, this is the most important fulcrum for leveraging the Confucian world in the future!

Li Shimin obviously did not fully agree with Li Xin's words. He shook his head and said to Li Dao: "You, you, it's a bit too crazy to dare to underestimate the world's Confucian scholars after mastering a little trick."

Hearing this, Li Xin simply bowed his head and admitted defeat, "Your Majesty has taught you the right thing."

He knew that human cognition has historical limitations. It is impossible for Li Shimin to really change his trust in Confucianism when he said such a casual thing to Li Shimin. All in all, take his time, he still has a lot of time to show the power of technology. Maybe one day, Li Shimin's mind will change. But that day is clearly not today.

Li Shimin knew that Li Xin was not convinced, but after all, he had just watched Li Xin's near-perfect performance in auditing the accounts, so he didn't want to teach him a lesson, so he shook his head helplessly. His eyes fell on the paper full of characters in front of Li Xin, and he asked, "Is this so-called double-entry bookkeeping and Dashi characters difficult to learn?"

Li Xin raised the corners of his lips and smiled, "It's not difficult. Those who are smart can learn it in three to five days, and those who are stupid can learn it in ten and a half months."

Li Shimin nodded when he heard the words, and said, "Well, tomorrow I will send two officials from the household department to learn this double-entry bookkeeping and Dashi characters from you. You must teach it carefully, and you must teach it!"

Li Xin said with a smile: "That's natural. Of course, I will do what your majesty told you. But there is one thing that I must make clear to your majesty first."

"Tell me." Li Shimin said.

"Although double-entry bookkeeping and Dashi writing are convenient and not easy to be faked, they are not omnipotent. I know that His Majesty wants to promote it throughout the country to clean up our Tang's finances and officials. In a short time, this may It will tie the hands of corrupt officials, but after a long time, there will naturally be smart people who will understand the principles and methods of this account, and at that time, there will still be people who embezzle finances." Li Xin said honestly.

I won’t mention Dashi text. Double-entry bookkeeping is not a panacea, otherwise there will not be so many people who take advantage of loopholes and embezzle public funds in future generations.

Li Shimin nodded, and said, "Of course I know the reason why the Tao is one foot tall and the devil is one foot high. But even if the new accounting method can only reduce corrupt officials a little, the savings across the country may be hundreds of thousands of dollars." A huge sum of money, even millions of dollars! This is no small sum."

Li Xin said with a smile: "Your Majesty is as good as you know. In addition, I have one more request, that is, I hope that Your Majesty can send as many young officials as possible to learn from me."