Jingming

Chapter 240 That's Zhang Decapitation
The Confucian family's understanding of the progress of the court's debate on the ceremony of offering sacrifices to Confucius was always delayed for a few days, and during these few days, under the joint attack of Zhang Fujing and Yang Tinghe, the two main debaters in the original great ceremony, they opposed the redesignation of Confucius. The people at the ceremony were overwhelmed.

The good news is that Zhang Fujing finally left Beijing.

The bad news is that many volumes of Wang Shouren's "Examination of Practice and Dialectics" were transcribed at an outrageous speed.

At the beginning, the emperor just asked the literate courtiers in the palace to change people to transcribe day and night, and after the transcribed five sets were handed over to Zhang Fujing, Yang Tinghe and others, they naturally found someone to transcribe more.

Zhu Houcong put forward the theory of the three principles of heaven, things, and people quite early, and it was still in the first year of Jiajing.

However, these cultural viewpoints were deliberated and discussed for a long time in the imperial study room and between the counselors in Lijing, and it was not officially known to the outside world until the end of the second year of Jiajing.

Until now, this is also the first book dedicated to discussing these scholarly viewpoints.

Yang Ting and their affairs were too complicated to complete the work.

Although Zhu Houcong can speak with his mouth, it is useless for him to easily quote scriptures and use the logic and words that everyone in today's knowledge is accustomed to express.

As for Ding You's Wang Shouren, it can be said that he has taken advantage of the right time, place and people.

The Confucian sacrificial ceremony is just an attitude and a debate in a symbolic sense. This practice and dialectics is a positive challenge to the current Confucianism and even Confucianism!
Yang Tinghe has already got a set and read the third volume.

"Father, take a break."

Among the four sons, Yang Shen is in Guangdong, Yang Dun is a censor who patrols the water, the third son Yang Huan has given up the exam and won the Yinzhong Shusheren, and the fourth son Yang Zhenzhongju has been eight years, and he still wants to try again. give it a try.

Seeing his son bring a cup of tea, Yang Tinghe put down the book first, and then asked him: "Where have you read?"

"My son has just read the beginning of the second volume. Wang Dutai dissects the principles of things and people, and it seems that he no longer insists on the previous theory that mind is nature."

Yang Tinghe nodded, and said melancholy: "Wang Bo'an's life has been full of ups and downs, and his determination is unmatched. After realizing the method of conscience, it is almost natural. It can make Wang Bo'an more knowledgeable and easier to learn and persevere. , this practical science is indeed infinitely mysterious..."

He bowed his head to Wang Shouren in terms of academic comprehension, and there was nothing he could do about it.

In the past, although the emperor sometimes had a lot of witty words that made him feel enlightened, they were still not as clear as Wang Shouren's, making it easier for him to understand.

The reason for this is very simple. Confucianism has its own "academic language" system.

Zhu Houcong’s language is always more esoteric or vulgar and superficial, which is actually not very friendly to academic leaders: it is not precise enough, and it is not enough to remind people of more predecessors’ remarks and think more.

But Wang Shouren is an expert.

To be able to call practical studies "learning", it must be systematically explained from the perspective of the world: what is the nature of the world, what is the law of world change, what is the relationship between human thinking and the existence of the world, how to understand the world and change the world How is the method.

In fact, from ancient times to the present, although the subject category of "philosophy" has not been clearly proposed, the relatively influential pre-Qin philosophers, including religion, can't avoid the elaboration of worldviews.

At this time, there is no clear and specific classification of learning.Among the many knowledges, only arithmetic, astronomy and calendar, medicine, etc. were independent from the integrated knowledge of ancient times.The research content of philosophy mainly revolves around ontology and cognition.

The difference between Neo-Confucianism and Psychology means that there are some differences in viewpoints in these aspects.

Now Wang Shouren has reached a higher level, no longer sticking to the framework of psychology or pure Neo-Confucianism.

This is certainly due to the fact that Wang Shouren's understanding is very comparable to others, but in Yang Tinghe's view, some of Zhu Houcong's "occasional gains" are too thought-provoking.

Thinking of this, he said to his fourth son: "Since you can win the exam, you don't need to study other knowledge in detail. Not only the father, but also all the counselors are deeply impressed by the exquisiteness of this practice and dialectics. I have had some conversations with you on weekdays, and now I have Wang Shouren's five volumes, so you can study with peace of mind, and don't have to be obsessed with the next year's exam. Three to five years later, the world will know where the way of learning is."

Yang Zhen asked in shock: "Three to five years?"

What kind of knowledge is not accepted by more people after a generation or even several generations of debate in the minds of scholars all over the world?

Is it because His Majesty is behind this practice?What can be learned must be able to withstand debate after all.

Yang Tinghe waved his hand: "Go back and continue reading, and rest after reading the third volume for my father."

In fact, the most intriguing thing is the proposition of the theory of things.The principle of all things is the knowledge that is the easiest to see, touch, and prove.All these knowledges have also been included in the new development of Confucianism, and the verifiability and feasibility of knowledge are no longer just rhetorical speculation.

Furthermore, if the set of things His Majesty said is so easy to find the mistakes and omissions, with the skills of Yang Ting and these people, how can they be so enthusiastic?

Today's people are better than the ancients... In the future, I'm afraid there is no need to call it a Confucian temple. How about calling it a Confucian temple?

Then, besides the first hall of Dacheng Wenxuan and his disciples, why can't there be another hall of Neo Confucianism and another hall of practical studies?
Your Majesty said that everything is developing!
Yang Tinghe thought about his identity as the "leader of the new party" and carefully read Wang Shouren's achievements.

He also hopes that he can be inspired and write a book.

By the time the new law was implemented nationwide in the fifth year of Jiajing, he would be nearly seventy years old, so he should have retired bravely.

His achievements, Yang Tinghe, are not lacking; but in the process of this new school's "enthronement", he still lacks a lot!

In the capital, scholars and officials had a hot topic of discussion that they had to participate in and must participate in.

The emperor only beat Li Guan because he ridiculed him for being suspicious of Confucius, who had been dead for many years.

Now Wang Shouren's book is only passed on by word of mouth, and many people are not qualified to read the specific text.

But that word has already spread.

There is no learning that is immutable for generations, and there is no law that remains unchanged forever.

To seek knowledge is to do, and to do is to know.Knowing that there is truth and falsehood, doing it will make it clear.True knowledge sometimes changes, and it can be changed by practice.Only when you know what you do and when you do it, is it true knowledge for a while.

"Doesn't this mean that when I study hard in the cold window, it may be true knowledge for a while? In this way, what's the use of learning the classics of the sages?"

In the Imperial College, the supervisors are the most uneasy.

Next year's provincial examination and the next year's general examination, how will they, who have read sage books for many years, deal with it?
Kong Zhewen and the descendants of many sages have become the main objects of many people's "enthusiastic debate".

He was also really outraged.

This is just in the Imperial College, so it's okay to express a little opinion, right?
"All dynasties have followed the learning of sages and sages. Even if there are troubled times, there are many times of governance and prosperity! From this point of view, this is not the fault of sages and sages' learning, but that the people in power failed to understand their meaning and use their methods!"

Kong Zhewen's words aroused applause, although these words were a bit dangerous.

After saying these words, Kong Zhewen's heart beat a little faster.

It is only necessary to say by name that the rulers and ministers who are in power now do not abide by the old law and will lead to troubled times.

"There is also Huangming University!" said a supervisor, "Do you still remember His Majesty's favor to Zhang Fujing? Suoyin's son is going to enter Huangming University! Will the Imperial College cease to exist in the future?"

This sentence can resonate with most of the Imperial College students.

Since the Sui Dynasty, Guozijian has been the highest official school in the country.During the Hongwu period, the status of Guozijian was extremely high. There was a grand occasion that more than half of the imperial examination high school students came from Guozijian.During the Yongle period, there were nearly [-] students in Nanjing Guozijian, which was an unprecedented event.

However, since the precedent of "students with a nanometer or more of a hundred stones entering the Imperial Academy" was set, the influence of the Imperial Academy has indeed been decreasing.

Today, the Guozijian is even more mixed with good and bad.There are not only those who failed in the general examination, but also those who were selected by the Hanlin Academy and sent in according to their merits, as well as Gongjian and Yisheng.

This tribute prison is divided into Sui Gong, Xuan Gong, En Gong, and Pay Gong.The year-old tribute and the selection of tribute are generally at a certain level, but the supervisors who come in from Enyin and pay tribute, and the foreign students from local officials and even foreign countries are basically just mixed up here.

"In my opinion, everything is messed up now that it is a new law! Ladies and gentlemen, since His Majesty ordered the Ministry of Rites to discuss the Master's Sacrifice Ceremony, and we will recite the classics of sages and sages every day in prison, why don't we write to His Majesty together to express our opinions?"

"What you get is right! Respect the teacher and respect the way, and you are about to start from your own generation!"

Kong Zhewen watched with trepidation that they wanted to take the lead in signing the signature, and was about to recommend another prisoner with better academic performance to take the lead, but he saw Siye of the Imperial College bringing a lot of pages with him.

"According to the decree, the daily writing class of the supervising students is changed to copying the "Examination of Practice and Dialectics" for the reading of all officials before publication! Each person does not stick to 250 and six characters per day, and hand in it once a day. Kai has style, which is suitable for calligraphy. Learning calligraphy and composition are both exempted this month."

"..."

It is true that the supervising students are often assigned some repetitive work that requires a large number of literate personnel, but this time they are actually asked to copy this book, and many people immediately objected like frying pans.

Si Ye of the Imperial College just said coldly: "This month's quiz, this matter will be included in the exam class. Those who fail to complete it will be inferior."

The Guozijian holds [-] large and small exams a year, which are divided into upper, middle and lower according to the results, and each has points.In the six-class and three-level examinations, those who have scored eight points in the past can be upgraded or graduated to be awarded officials, which is a bit like the university credit system of later generations.

Now since we have to link the small copying with the exam?The supervising students do have 250 six-character homework every day, and they need to write six essays every month.

Without any explanation, the Guozijian sent each student a separate sheet of paper.

Everyone has only one page, and they are treated equally, from the prison to the barbarian, everyone has to copy it.

It seemed that each person only copied the contents of one page repeatedly.After being collected, I am afraid that it will be bound into another volume.

In this case, can you get several volumes every day?

Being regarded as hard labor copying books is the second best thing. The key is what is this copying?A new book other than the Confucian classics, originally written by a heretic and ignorant person!
I came to Guozijian to study classics and seek a background. Many people in Guozijian complained.

Naturally, the pages handed out were also circulated.

Some people just read some "broken chapters" first, and then refuted angrily.

For those who are not making trouble, after this day, more words and phrases about this book spread out of the Imperial College.

After Wang Zuo compiled today's report, he sent someone to report to Huang Jin.

After Zhang Jin went to Nanzhili to be a guard eunuch, Zhang Zuo, who was promoted to be the chief inspector of ceremonies, could no longer directly admiral Jinyiwei.

Huang Jin's power has grown a bit.

After he asked Zhu Houcong for instructions, Wang Zuo was ordered to enter the palace and arrive at the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

It was already night, and he stood there and reported earnestly: "Since the opening of the wall at Xiyuan and the reconstruction of Huangming University, the supervisors have talked a lot. Shen Wenzhou, Zhang Weina's aide, had a lot of contacts with Kong Zhewen, the supervisor of Kong Jiagong. I have been paying attention to the exchanges. Your Majesty, today I ordered the supervisor to transcribe the book, and after nightfall, there will be a lot of discussions in the wine shops and brothels in the city. I am afraid that someone will join forces to cause trouble, do you have any preparations?"

"Let's talk about it when there's a commotion." Zhu Houcong only looked at the other news in the report. Wang Zuo didn't write about this matter alone, "Wang Rumei hosted a banquet, Tang Gao, Wang Qin..."

Wang Rumei, who lost his mind that day, was not punished. Now that he has stood up, he has become a core figure in opposing the resetting of the Confucius ceremony.

Zhu Houcong looked up at him after reading the news: "No one is going to the fourth grade or above?"

Wang Zuo shook his head.

Wang Rumei is from the seventh rank of etiquette, Wang Qin, the head of the military department, is the sixth rank, and Tang Gao, the number one scholar in the ninth year of Zhengde, is currently a bachelor of the fifth rank in the Imperial Academy.In addition, besides one of the fourth rank, Youqian Du Yushi of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and two of the fifth rank's six doctors, most of them were Beijing officials of the sixth and seventh ranks.

Above the fourth grade, that is the figure of the level of the servant of the sixth department, which is very close to the counselor.

Zhu Houcong laughed: the future still matters.Now that the flow of counselors is so fast, there will be more high-ranking officials vacant in the world, and there are only a few small shrimps left who are still fighting in tandem.

After reading the report, Zhu Houcong handed it to Huang Jin to keep it, then looked at Wang Zuo again: "You want to see me, it's not just for the supervisor's sake, right? Just tell me."

Wang Zuo bowed: "Huguang reported that the king of Liao is seriously ill."

Zhu Houcong's eyes narrowed: "What's going on?"

"...excessive lewdness." Wang Zuo added, "The impeachment of the Jingzhou government and the Huguang censor probably shocked the Liao king a lot. In short, the people in the Yiwei Department reported that the Liao king did indeed The illness is not serious. Some clan members of the Liao clan are also planning to sue His Majesty for the incompetence of the Liao King and the domineering Princess Liao, and ask His Majesty to appoint another Liao King as the master of the Liao Fan."

"Why did you mention Princess Liao?"

"Before the king of Liao took the funeral, most of the affairs of the Liao clan were handled by the concubine Mao of the Liao clan. After the concubine of the Liao clan, he just wanted to bribe his family members in the Liao clan, begging for favors or taking revenge on his behalf. The concubine of Liao... really She has a virtuous name, but the Liao clan has a lot of relatives, and the Liao princess inevitably has a lot of admonitions."

Zhu Houcong calculated the time.

It will only take a month for the King of Liao to formally seize the throne, right?Breaking down your body so quickly?

Although it was his own fault, it would be another big event if the emperor changed the king of Liao Fan or simply got rid of Liao Fan after he was impeached for harming the people of Liao Fan during this period.

The other vassals would not feel that the Liao vassal or the Liao king deserved it from the standpoint of the common people, but would only think that the emperor was really harsh on the vassal king's family.

Wang Zuo waited for the emperor's decision.

As for the matter of Liao Fan, it has already been dealt with before, and the decree is already on the way: Zhu Houcong gave admonishment, rejected those beggars, ordered the king of Liao to return the bribes he had received, and fined a large sum of money to the victimized people.

The main conflict in Jingzhou Mansion is not how stupid Liao King Zhu Zhige is now, but that the officials of Jingzhou Mansion are making trouble.

Zhu Houcong punished the Liao Fan, and the Jingzhou government should stop.

But now that Zhu Zhige is seriously ill, if Huguang was "scared to death" by two vassal kings in a short period of time, then it might really be a bit lively.

Zhu Houcong pondered for a moment and said: "Go to Jingzhou Mansion quickly, and express my condolences to King Liao, so that Jing'an Houyan will invite a famous doctor to treat him."

It's summer, and there are often heavy rains.

In the capital, the supervisors were worried about the future, and many thoughtful Beijing officials felt that this was a good opportunity to use Confucius' status to arouse many scholars in the world to strengthen their momentum.

Zhang Fujing was on his way to Shandong, and the eunuchs and Jin Yiwei who went to Huguang to condolences to the Liao King had already set off.

Wang Shouren had just arrived in Nanchang Mansion, Jiangxi Xunshui Yushi, Yu Chengye, the son-in-law of Zhu Houcong's sister, and Jiangxi officials went out of the city to greet him.

The person sent by Beijing to tell him the latest situation was also waiting there, and brought him a piece of news that would surely shake Jiangxi up and down.

Zhang Fu Jingzuo please redefine the sacrificial ceremony of Confucius.

Wang Shouren was stunned: Your Majesty didn't play so big just after I sent those volumes of books into the capital, did he?
The worship of Kong Yi has not been limited to the capital so far, but has swept over half of Ming Dynasty.

The changes in the Fifth Army Battalion and Sichuan, in the name of treason, have wiped out many high-ranking officials who were really hardcore old parties.

Now, the governors of the provinces dare not take it lightly.

The official officials and local gentry scattered all over the country have vital interests, and they all know what kind of impact it will bring if they make a move on Confucius' status.

In Jinan Prefecture, Shandong Province, Gao Zhong, the new eunuch of the town, received a "mianmian" from Qufu.

He opened the food box and looked at the sumptuous "big meal" in it.

"...That's Zhang 'Decapitation'..."

(End of this chapter)