"This Huang Ming Zuxun is just our Record of Ancestral Instructions, is it not?"
Zhu Yuanzhang's mind turned swiftly. Almost at a glance he grasped the connection, and thus the Son of Heaven of the Great Ming spoke with firm assurance:
"How can my Ancestral Instructions be called useless?"
"They are upright teachings. Future generations may still take them as a mirror."
Seeing her husband's proud expression, Empress Ma merely smiled and shook her head.
In truth, neither she nor the princes believed that the Record of Ancestral Instructions would achieve the precise effect the Emperor hoped for. Yet when faced with her husband's insistence, such objections were destined to accomplish nothing.
Useless though they might think it, he would inevitably mind those doubts a little. Just as, during court sessions, he sometimes suppressed certain frustrations for the sake of propriety and later came to the inner palace to speak of them with her, so too these disagreeable opinions were pressed down into his heart.
At present, however, Zhu Yuanzhang could not help but feel pleased, much like his sons in childhood striving to prove themselves correct.
"Very well, very well. In the future, I shall not utter a single word against the Great Ming's treasured instructions."
Hearing the Empress's promise, mingled with laughter, Zhu Yuanzhang's pride eased somewhat. He cleared his throat lightly.
"It need not be said so absolutely. I also know that listening to many brings clarity, while trusting one side alone leads to darkness. You are my female Zhuge. Naturally, you may still speak."
"As for Biao'er and the rest of you…"
The princes glanced at one another. Then they heard their father's calm instruction:
"You are to read the treasured instructions more and discuss them less. If there is something you do not understand, come and ask me."
"They contain all my experience in dealing with the world. To uphold their principles and guard their reasoning is a fortune future generations will find hard to obtain."
The princes obediently lowered their heads and accepted the command. Yet Zhu Biao privately thought that later generations, when citing these ancestral instructions, would likely treat them as historical material rather than regard them as wholly correct.
Moreover, it had already been mentioned that the phrase "The Yuan lost the realm through leniency" appeared only in the seventh year of Hongwu's Record of Ancestral Instructions. The implication was that later editions existed, and that this sentence did not remain in them. The meaning concealed within that fact was worth pondering.
But his father was clearly in high spirits. Zhu Biao had no intention of courting misfortune and instead changed the subject.
"The later generations say that to govern the state is to govern officials. I find this similar to Father's own principles of administration."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. Gazing at the shifting light upon the screen, he spoke slowly.
"The one who destroyed the Yuan was the righteous army. Later generations call it a peasant uprising. In the end, it was the common people."
"Whether officialdom is clear or corrupt concerns the livelihood of the people."
"If the realm is peaceful, if clothing and food are sufficient and the granaries full, who would join a righteous army and gamble their life? How then would the Great Ming's rivers and mountains be unstable?"
"The people's heart is the heart of All Under Heaven. It is the Mandate of Heaven. And it is the Mandate that I bear."
He spoke slowly, pausing at intervals as though reflecting. Zhu Biao agreed with much of it, yet could not help but wonder:
If the Great Ming were ever to fall, would it be because it had lost this people's support?
Beside him, Zhu Di also raised his head in thought before suddenly asking,
"Father, none of these words are in the Record of Ancestral Instructions. Did you just think of them now?"
The Son of Heaven of Great Ming suppressed the impulse stirring in his right hand and replied irritably,
"What is the hurry? Tomorrow the Record of Ancestral Instructions will contain them."
"When the time comes, I shall examine your lessons first, Fourth."
Zhu Di's face immediately paled.
"Father, the defense of Beiping is urgent. I must accompany the Grand General northward. I fear that…"
But this reasoning received only a light dismissal from the Hongwu Emperor.
"Without you alone, Beiping will not cause Great Ming to lose the state. Remain first in Yingtian Prefecture and pass a reunion year. Other matters may be considered later."
The implication was clear. Even during the New Year, there would still be lessons.
The Fourth Prince of Great Ming felt despair.
...
"Yuan's leniency resembles that of Liu Jiyu."
Pang Tong could not help but comment.
"He treated the great clans with leniency, thereby allowing disorder among the common people. Thus did Xuande gather the hearts of Yizhou's people with ease."
Hearing this, Guan Yu rarely offered his own reflection.
"At that time, while I was in Jingzhou, I read my elder brother's letter saying the Military Adviser intended to govern Yizhou with severe laws. I believed then he meant severity toward the people. Only later did I understand it was directed specifically at the great clans."
"Long parted from the light screen, now observing Yuan's fall, I see that the Military Adviser's severity toward the great clans was no different from leniency toward the people. Severity and leniency balanced brought order. Merchants in Jingzhou all spoke of Yizhou's good governance. Truly, I wish…"
Before he could finish, the impetuous Zhang Fei interrupted:
"Now that Cao Cao has been captured and the realm nears settlement, when the fighting pauses, why not have the two elder brothers and the advisers travel to Chengdu?"
"I will lead the horses and pole the boat, so that Second Brother and Adviser Xu may take in all the fine sights of Bashu."
It was, admittedly, a tempting suggestion. In the end, Liu Bei only smiled and sighed.
"The realm is nearing settlement, yet not settled. Precisely for that reason we cannot slacken. Let us wait two more years."
Guan Yu stroked his beard, indulged in the thought for a moment, then sighed.
"With affairs great and small in Jing and Yu as they are, do you think either Yuanzhi or I can stand aside? And you, Yide?"
The topic returned to the present. Zhuge Liang shook his feather fan and smiled.
"In governance there is nothing beyond sentiment and law."
"To show sentiment to the great clans is to show thin sentiment to the people. Better to strictly restrain unlawful conduct. That is the method of showing leniency to the people."
"Balancing severity and leniency means applying harsh law to officials, thereby granting breadth to the people, and thus aiding the world."
Watching Liu Bei and his subordinates conversing with laughter, Cao Cao unconsciously looked toward his own civil and military officers.
Xiahou Dun was full of indignation. Dong Zhao still showed unwillingness. Liu Ye's expression twisted. Xun Yu stood with hands folded, face expressionless, posture immaculate.
Xun You was also looking at him. When their gazes met, both read the bitterness in the other's eyes.
---
[Lightscreen]
[For Huaxia, Qin laid the foundation. Han united the people. Tang reached great heights. Song adorned culture with elegance.
As for Ming, it gathered up the mass of earth that had been hacked apart by northern tribes for centuries and kneaded it together again, mingled with their blood.
Without this dynasty, perhaps today we would view Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang as Turks view Byzantium, or as Russia now regards Kievan Rus.
The decline of the Han might then have been counted from the An Lushan Rebellion onward. In foreign histories there might be only a passing sigh:
"This great nation that once created brilliance was ultimately buried beneath the sea at Yashan together with its civilization under Mongol assault, as Constantinople fell to the Turks."
By that time, the achievements of Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang would lie yellowing in some corner, gradually fading, until a gust of western wind scattered them like an unmourned handful of loess. History would turn a page, shake itself, and that covered handful of earth would remain fixed there forever.
For this regime, Yuan was too benighted. Song too partial. Tang too distant in time. The political, economic, and military structures inherited from the ancestors had reached a point where change was unavoidable, yet there was no complete experience to draw upon.
Meanwhile, the former Song had fallen twice. North and south were both lost. Rivers became natural moats dividing the land. The wreckage left by the forebears fell upon this regime's shoulders.
In its bosom it held a history long yellowed but once resplendent. Before its eyes lay thorned brambles hidden in darkness.
This regime, its body still marked by glaring wounds, stepped barefoot into that darkness.]