Rebirth of Wu Ba Spring and Autumn

Chapter 900

Whether it is a Confucian minister or a Legalist minister, the most fundamental starting point is to maintain Qingji's dominant position.

On the matter of destroying the township school, why is Deng Xi and Confucius completely different, and why are they in conflict?
Destroying the township school is only a matter of publicity.

There is only one deep meaning behind it——

Control the minds of the people!

In other words, unity of thought!

In the township school, even non-governmental scholars who went on study tours openly gathered to discuss politics and criticize Qingji's actions, which is really wrong.

It's fine in a short period of time, but in the long run, the direction of public opinion will become uncontrollable, Qingji will be vilified, and various laws and regulations of Wu will be discredited.

This is something Qingji never wants to see.

But Deng Xi advocated destroying township schools, strictly prohibiting private schools from being opened by the people, gathering people to discuss politics, and prohibiting the people who are officials, so that they can be content with their careers.

Such an approach would be too radical.

How is this different from "burning books and burying Confucianism" during Qin Shihuang's period?
Of course, Qin Shihuang may be a warlock who burned books.

However, in order to unify his thinking, Qin Shihuang did burn down the folk classics such as "Poems" and "Books", and hid them in the doctor's hall.

Scholars who want to learn can be officials as teachers!

"My lord, the scholars taught by the township school are not 'orthodox' after all."

Deng Xi said slowly: "Especially the scholars in the Central Plains are deeply influenced by the ancient etiquette culture. They don't learn from the present but learn from the past. The past is to harm the present. If they are not prohibited, the dominance will fall to the top. Otherwise, the great cause of the reunification of our country of Wu may be destroyed."

"Furthermore, like the "Book of Songs", there are poems praising the kings of the past dynasties. This makes scholars cherish their homeland and not think that they are from Wu, which may not be conducive to people's attachment!"

"Please think twice, Your Majesty!"

Hearing this, Kong Qiu immediately blew his beard and stared, pointed at Deng Xi and said, "Deng Xi, how dare you confuse the crowd in front of your majesty?"

"I, Confucius, teach without discrimination. I opened a private school in Lu State in my early years. I belong to a rural school. There are more than a few thousand disciples and grandchildren under my school?"

"Compared to the Jixia Academy, the township school is indeed not orthodox. However, in the whole world, ordinary scholars cannot easily be selected for the Jixia Academy!"

"If there weren't thousands of schools and private schools in the countryside, how could my Wu country have cultivated so many talents in the past 30 to [-] years?"

"If the township school is destroyed and the people who are wandering officials are banned, I am afraid that people's hearts will be disturbed, and our Great Wu will no longer be full of talents!"

Deng Xi said indifferently: "What Prime Minister You said, Da Miao."

"Destroy the township schools, and the people of the country take officials as teachers. Our country of Wu can open government schools in various places, just like the Jixia Academy, and recruit nobles and common people to study."

"Talents cultivated in this way will not disobey the king's wishes, let alone openly gather people to discuss politics and slander the king!"

"you!"

For a moment, Kong Qiu was speechless.

Because, with Wu's current national strength, it is indeed possible to carry out public education.

Open the wisdom of the people?

Qingji had considered this matter many years ago.

At that time, it was because Wu State wanted to vigorously develop its military power and restore people's livelihood, so it has been letting go in the cultural field.

Generally speaking, if Wu Guo wants to open up the wisdom of the people, there are advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage is that the country of Wu can be full of talents and culture.

The disadvantage is that once the scholars gain knowledge, they may have bad intentions...

Generally speaking, dynasties in the feudal era wanted to control the thoughts of the people of the country.

The lowest cost is to use the policy of obscuring the people.

Historically, when Qin Shihuang burned books and buried Confucianism, he announced that the world should learn from officials.

It does not mean that the officials should teach the common people how to read and write, but that in the future they will have disputes, and when the disputes cannot be resolved, when the public says the public is right and the woman says the woman is right, they will go to the parents and officials for comment, and what the officials say is the standard answer.

You must know that during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there were hundreds of schools of thought, including Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Mozi, who all recruited disciples and wrote books. Answer.

What they say is a family opinion, which belongs to "private learning", which is similar to street discussions, so Qin Shihuang's requirements are all subject to the government.

Of course, officials can't be arbitrary. Officials must act in accordance with national policies and regulations. Small officials listen to high officials, and high officials listen to the emperor. In the end, the emperor's words are the only truth in the world.

To put it bluntly, taking an official as a teacher is taking the emperor as a teacher!

The Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system, and it came down in one continuous line in terms of unifying thought.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty "removed a hundred schools of thought and commended the Six Classics", that is to say, later scholars all came to study the Six Classics of Poetry, Book, Ritual, Music, Book of Changes, and Spring and Autumn.

Because these six classics are all time-tested classics, all people in the country must be "obedient citizens" in recognition of the supremacy of imperial power.

Famous Confucian scholars in the Eastern Han Dynasty often have hundreds of thousands of scholars, and even tens of thousands of disciples. The students of private schools are far more than those of official schools.

Therefore, official school and private school lead to the same goal by different routes!
"Prince, what do you think about this?"

Qingji set his sights on Prince Heng who sat on the side of the majesty's platform and was listening to the government.

When Qingji was not in Xianyang, Prince Heng, as the crown prince, was in charge of supervising the country and regent.

On such a major matter, Qingji could not justify asking Prince Heng's opinion.

Prince Heng thought for a while, then said: "Reporting to my father, my son thinks that the mouth of the people is better than that of Fangchuan."

"In the past, during the period of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, the great river flooded. Father and son Gun and Yu were entrusted to Emperor Yao and Shun as Chongbo and Xiabo to control the water."

"Gun controlled the water by blocking it, but nothing happened for many years. Dayu controlled the water by dredging it, and finally succeeded, so it is better to block it than to dredge it."

"Now, the scholars of the township school are criticizing the state affairs and the father, and the ministers believe that destroying the township school and banning the eunuchs is not enough to curb such incidents, but it will make the people resentful and aggravate the people's bad impression of Wu. "

"For this reason, the father and the king should open up their voices and set up official schools among the people, so as to oppose the rural schools."

"Let the scholars learn the conduct of loyalty, filial piety, righteousness, loyalty to the emperor and patriotism!"

Hearing this, Confucius, Zeng Dian, Yan Hui, Zilu and other Confucian-born ministers immediately knelt down on the ground and expressed their deep agreement.

"What the prince said is very true! The minister seconded the proposal!"

"The minister waits for the second opinion!"

"..."

For Wu Guo, the establishment of a government school is a huge and risky investment.

The investment is large and the return is high.

However, it may plant the seeds of disaster for the future collapse of the "Wu Empire".

Of course, maybe they can also cultivate the kind of foolish and loyal people who will defend the country and the monarch to the death.

"This is a big matter, I have to think about it again."

In the end, Qingji still didn't make a decision immediately.

According to Deng Xi's proposition, using officials as teachers may lead to a shortage of talents in Wu in the future, but it can resolutely safeguard the fundamental interests of the Wu royal family and control thoughts.

According to Confucius' opinion, opening up the voices and allowing the township school to further "grow wildly" will definitely be detrimental to the unification of Wu's thinking, but it will make Wu's culture prosperous and talented.

(End of this chapter)