THE UTOPIAN LEADER
"You are wrong... this is precisely an excellent activity that makes my life meaningful... as well as prevents me from falling under suspicious of the central government."
Zhu Yi was staring at Zhu Su, straightly into his widened, shocked eyes because of the unexpected answer his younger brother would give.
"Yes. I enjoy doing this activity so much, killing two birds with one stone. Not only you are powerful to do whatever you want, you are also free from terrible suspicions." Zhu Yi smiled.
"Look at yourself, Brother. You are very kind to people, you reduce taxes, promote health and medical science, give a contribution to agriculture, but what does the government retribute to you? Fu Huang exiled you, our dear nephew exiled you. So by doing such goodness, you are instead bothered by the government. "
"W... what do you mean?!"
"Let me tell you, Brother. The government won't care about us who do whatever we want to people, in fact, the government considers you who are liked by the people as a scourge. They think that you are gathering support from the public to fight against them. And about me, who do such activity, the government will be unafraid of me and ignore me, and never keeps an eye at me again. As you can see, even though the local government and officials always report me, the Yongle Emperor doesn't pay attention to them, right?"
"How do you say that I'm wrong? I rely on the principles of Laozi, Confucius, and Mencius, while you are against the teachings of those Shengren * !..."
"Ah... they just give utopian teachings! The reality is different from their delusional philosophy! After all, do the people know how to reciprocate? They will worship us as they adore the Shengren? Not necessarily! The people we help won't certainly help us, because they are all looking for their own safety. They just take your help, but when you were imprisoned, they didn't help you, right? Then it's better to be like me. Although they hate me, in the end, they still obey my orders. Just look at the occurrence earlier. Even though it was you who released them, but the one they thanked was me! Because I am the Fan Wang here. They only respect those who have power, not those who do good. So why we still do good if it ends up in irony? That's why I have made up this decision, to live this way. Delightful!"
Zhu Su was speechless. Before he thought that his youngest brother was no more than a mess, but it turned out that he could make the argument that had such a deep meaning. Not only Zhu Yi answered Zhu Su's confusion over Yingtian's ignorant attitude, he also told him that, the reality is not as beautiful as our dream. The reality is not as utopian as philosophy and virtue. Reality is cruel. Even Laozi was actually aware of the cruelty of reality, in Dao De Jing he said that "Heaven and Earth are heartless, treats everything on the earth like slaves."
He tried his best to be a good person. When he was a child, his father used to tell him that when the emperor was young, food was scarce and he must live such miserable life, so his father always advised him to understand the needy. His father's advice made him touched, he always kept it at his heart. As it was right now, he was touched as he found too many people got suffered from the flood, so he reduced taxes, helped increasing their standard of living, even coordinated the Team of Wellbeing to work hard to help them...
"And, I heard that Kaifeng people fight against you, right?"
Zhu Yi stared deeply into Zhu Su's eyes.
"You are kind to the people, but the people are against you, right? I do these things, are the people against me? Haha! My dear Brother, I feel sorry for you. So I tell you, don't be so kind. Remember, we are not gods, we are leaders! The leader is destined not to be so compassionate. Look, is there a compassionate leader who can manage to last on the throne? Only the cruel leaders who can fight until the end. The people are xiaoren, we can't give kindness to xiaoren. Give them an inch and they will take a mile. Xiaoren can only be managed by cruelty and oppression!..."
"Enough! Stop that!"
Zhu Su's frustrated scream was so blaring that Zhu Yi fell silent for a moment. But his face grew brighter, adorning with a wide, triumphant smile.
"Think of it, my dear Brother. To avoid the ruler's suspicion, gentlemen must play dumb or pretend to be ill-mannered. You are a smart man, if you pretend to be an idiot, you will look more suspicious. Well, just become like me. I guarantee you, you will live a safe life, and have a lot of fun..."
"But, I am not interested in such a way of living."
Zhu Su had his focus been completely back as he said so.
"Yes. It's not the kind of life I want. We are indeed not gods, but we are humans, who do not live just to eat or sleep or moreover have sex parties. We also have to work, dedicate ourselves to society. We can rest, and we must work. We must follow this Rule of Nature, Yi. Even the animals live the way according to the rules of each species. If I follow your lifestyle, I will surely die young."
Zhu Su was staring at Zhu Yi's face closely, even without blinking.
"Eh... what's wrong with my face, Brother..." Zhu Yi was uneasy.
"You have so many crow's feet and those wrinkles are so ragged. Your eyes are wet as if they have been filled with tears. Your eye bags are black and your face looks lethargic like someone who has fallen ill... Tsk tsk tsk! How awful you are! Your liver * should be enough to store your blood but you waste all of its energy just to satisfy your sexual desire... Yi... Yi!" Looking depressed, Zhu Su supported his forehead. "I can't tell this... but Fu Huang will definitely be very sad..."
"What actually do you mean, Bro?! You make me headache!"
"The energy of your liver and kidney * has been drained out... Yi... you will... will..."
"Will what, Bro?!"
"... die."
...
* Shengren = literally translated as Hallow. The single most important concept in Chinese tradition.
* One of the liver's functions in Chinese Medicine is to store blood.
* One of the kidney's functions in Chinese Medicine is related to reproduction.