The Theory of Things in Power in the Great Song Dynasty

In the fifth year of Shaoxi's reign, the rainy season in the Southern Song Dynasty was long and depressing. The emperor passed away, and the emperor claimed to be ill. Above the court, Zhu Xi's disciples knelt in the muddy water, shouting "natural principles" and "human relations" at the top of their lungs. They think that as long as they cry loud enough, they can cry back to a clear world. In the corner, Shi Miyuan, the living man, watched with cold eyes. There was an oilcloth under his knees, and he had a calculator hidden in his sleeves. In his eyes, the Southern Song Dynasty, which was about to collapse, was nothing more than a rotten account book. "The sage teaches you to examine things, and what you examine is the morality in your heart. When I examine things, I examine the rights and interests of the world." Facing the moral net woven by Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism, Shi Miyuan picked up the "Yongjia School of Merit" that was despised by the world. He wanted to use businessmen's abacus to break the backbones of Confucian scholars, and use cold silver to recast the Song Dynasty's military front. Later history books commented on him: He was a powerful traitor who had been the independent Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty for twenty-six years, the mastermind behind the deposed king, and a monster who ran the country like a shop. But in those darkest years, he was the only person who could figure out the remaining years of the Song Dynasty's national destiny. "Don't talk to me about the teachings of saints and sages. Everything in this world has a price."