"Haha, Zihou, if you are short of money, you can tell us. We are colleagues, and we will definitely help you if we can. Why do you have to get involved in the smell of money and make people laugh at you?"
Zhu Ping'an had just entered Wuyi Hall when a middle-aged official, who he had rarely dealt with, came up to him enthusiastically, patted him on the shoulder, chuckled, and said to Zhu Ping'an with a smile on his face.
Seemingly enthusiastic and kind.
Yes, the only word we can use is “seemingly”.
The acting is not up to par and he was not serious throughout the whole process.
By the way, can't you hide the contempt on your face? And the laughter you just made was too mocking...
At this moment and in this situation, I don’t know whether I should say “mmp” or not.
Zhu Pingan looked up at the man, curled his lips, and said something in his heart, but smiled slightly, "Thank you for your concern, sir. I wonder if you are talking about the Zhu's fast food?"
"Yes, that's exactly it." The middle-aged official nodded.
"I don't think it's a big deal." Zhu Ping'an shrugged nonchalantly, looking calm, "There are top talents in every profession."
"Nothing? Zihou, don't you know the difference between righteousness and profit?" Upon hearing this, the middle-aged official could not help shaking his head and laughing, as if he had heard a huge joke.
Zhu Ping'an certainly knows the difference between righteousness and profit.
The distinction between righteousness and profit is a basic argument in Confucianism, which is about whether people should pursue righteousness or profit.
Confucius's saying "The gentleman is concerned with righteousness, the villain is concerned with profit" laid the basic tone of the argument; Mencius's "If you put profit before righteousness, you will never be satisfied with anything you do not take" further elaborated on the theory of righteousness; Xunzi's "To pursue profit, to fight for goods and money, and to be profit-minded is the courage of merchants and thieves" completely drove the businessmen into the ground.
The above are the mainstream ideology of Confucianism, which emphasizes righteousness and despises commerce, that is, "the so-called end is industry and commerce."
"The gentleman is concerned with righteousness while the villain is concerned with profit. Therefore, among the four classes of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, merchants are at the end." The middle-aged official spoke eloquently.
"No. In ancient times, there were four classes of people: scholars, farmers, craftsmen, and merchants. Scholars who are diligent in their studies can obtain titles and salaries; farmers who are diligent in their fields can gather crops; craftsmen who are diligent in their skills can exchange them for food and clothing; merchants who are diligent in trade can accumulate wealth. These four are the basic occupations of the people. Since the beginning of human history, no one has been able to change them, regardless of their status." Zhu Ping'an shook his head slightly and put forward a point of view that was different from the mainstream concept of this era.
This is the difference between the times.
Although the status of merchants in the Ming Dynasty was much better, it was still not comparable to the modern times. They would never have thought that a merchant would be called "Dad" by the whole nation a few hundred years later, and they would never have thought of the financial group politics of Western powers a few hundred years later... ...
"How ridiculous! How can we not distinguish between the noble and the humble? Xunzi once said: Fighting for money and wealth for the sake of profit is the courage of merchants and thieves."
Another official stood up to refute Zhu Ping'an with an expression that said, "Young man, your ideas are very dangerous."
"That's right, Zihou. Merchants are profit-oriented and have no moral principles, and are despised by people. The "Book of Rites: Royal Regulations" says: "Businessmen and industrialists 'are not ranked with scholars when they leave their hometowns', which is a clear proof of this." Immediately afterwards, an official echoed this.
These officials have deep-rooted ideas of great literati, and their minds are filled with the idea that everything else is inferior except for reading.
Of course, the reason why so many officials stood up to ridicule Zhu Ping'an was also because of their stance.
Zhu Ping'an was the person who uncovered the Taicang case.
The Taicang case implicated many people, and many officials were fined and their salaries were reduced. Dozens of officials in Yan's party were fined, and many people in Li Mo's party were also fined. Many people present were fined, or their relatives and friends were fined a lot of money.
If it weren't for Zhu Ping'an, this unlucky person, I wouldn't have been fined... This is the voice of many officials who were fined.
It can be said that Zhu Ping'an offended almost half of the officialdom by himself.
Of course, when they heard that Zhu Ping'an was also fined, many officials felt relieved. They thought he deserved it and deserved it. Later, when they heard that Zhu Ping'an was fined and forced to go into business, they felt even more relieved.
When he learned that Zhu Ping'an was doing business in the smelly pig offal, he couldn't help but laugh at him.
The top scholar is the best among the scholars. He is the first to cross the single-plank bridge of the imperial examination among thousands of troops. It is like a carp leaping over the dragon gate, but after leaping over the dragon gate, you end up throwing pigs into the water.
Isn’t this a joke!
"No, we cannot generalize. Merchants and scholars have different skills but the same heart. Therefore, a good merchant is in the field of money and goods and cultivates noble conduct. Therefore, although he makes a profit, he is not corrupt."
Zhu Ping'an bowed and replied calmly.
Although the methods of making a living of businessmen and scholars are different, their hearts are the same. People who are good at doing business, although they are sailing in the sea of commerce, their moral cultivation is still noble, just like the lotus that grows out of the mud without being stained. Although businessmen seek profits, they can still be noble.
"Confucius said: A gentleman is concerned with righteousness, while a mean man is concerned with profit; Mencius said: If one puts profit before righteousness, he will not be satisfied with anything he does not take; Xunzi said: If one fights for profit and fights for goods and wealth, and only sees profit, he is the courage of a merchant or thief. Zihou, who said that the four classes of people are not divided into noble and humble?"
Another official stood up and joined the ranks of those refuting Zhu Ping'an, saying bluntly that what Zhu Ping'an said was unreasonable and unfounded and was just personal quibbling.
"What Mr. Yangming said." Zhu Ping'an replied.
"Mr. Yangming?" Everyone was stunned.
Wang Yangming can be said to be a legend in the Ming Dynasty, with a legendary life, legendary abilities, and an influence that is no less than that of Zhu Xi.
"Yes. I believe you all know Mr. Yangming's academic purpose of 'investigating things to attain conscience'. The so-called 'investigating things to attain conscience' means that everyone has conscience in their hearts, that is, no matter what you do, no matter whether you are a scholar or a farmer or a businessman, you have conscience in your heart, and you can attain conscience through investigating things. That is why Mr. Yangming said 'the streets are full of saints', and he also emphasized that merchants can also be saints and virtuous people. He said 'even if they do business all day long, it does not prevent them from being saints and virtuous people'. Since scholars, farmers, merchants and workers can all be saints, how can there be a distinction between high and low."
Zhu Ping'an glanced around at everyone and calmly brought out Wang Yangming's theory of investigating things to attain conscience.
There is still some effect in using a big banner to cover up one's own shortcomings.
After Zhu Ping'an brought up Wang Yangming's "Investigating Things to Awaken the Conscience", everyone was unable to figure out how to refute Zhu Ping'an in a short period of time.
By the time they figured out how to refute Zhu Ping'an, they found that Zhu Ping'an had already left.
All they saw was Zhu Ping'an's back. When Zhu Ping'an's back disappeared around the corner, everyone couldn't help but murmur in mockery.
"Humph, this is nonsense, and you misinterpret Mr. Yangming's original intention."
"that is."
"You're advocating equality between scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, but you're just a pig's offal, and even businessmen would despise you."
"Haha, I think he has become stupid from studying. Why would he do business if he wanted to? Why would he do the pig offal business? Who would eat such a cheap thing as pig offal? You'll see, he will cry when Zhuji opens his shop."
"Hahaha, I'm afraid it will close soon after opening..."
"Hahaha, that makes sense."