Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 889 0884 ["Xunzi" ascension to the classics]

Are you going to take the imperial examination?
The scholars who originally wanted to speak out to refute their views suddenly shut up.

Zhang Liangyou quickly asked: "Does "On History" only contain policy topics?"

Wei Liangchen explained: "For "Historical Theory", the policy topic is not tested in the current examination. You only need to study it thoroughly. However, after becoming a Jinshi and before being awarded a real official, you must take the official examination in the Ministry of Personnel. "Historical Theory" is a must-test for the National Examination!"

When the scholars heard this, they quickly remembered it in their hearts.

Today's Ming Dynasty Jinshi are divided into first-class, second-class and third-class scholars.

After first-class and second-class internships at the central government, they can be directly awarded official positions.

The top three Jinshi, who accounted for 70% of the total admissions, had to take a civil service examination before being awarded an official position, and were assigned specific positions based on their test results.

Therefore, the scope of questions in the examination is also very important.

Subjects such as astronomy, geography, physics, agriculture, water conservancy, disaster relief, law, etc. will soon be canceled from the imperial examination and will all be transferred to the civil service examination.

Another disciple of the Hong family shouted: "Xunzi's two theories of evil nature and hypocritical etiquette have already blasphemed Confucius and Mencius. How can "Xunzi" be promoted to the classics? This is a great scandal in the world. There must be evil spirits in the court to deceive the holy king!"

Don't completely deny Sima Guang's knowledge just because of what he did.

It doesn't matter if it causes confusion in public opinion. The court has been quarreling for several years, and the people are expected to quarrel for several more years.

Then the examination content cannot include too many "miscellaneous studies", otherwise it will be a disaster for poor scholars, and the children of rich families will inevitably monopolize the imperial examinations by relying on "miscellaneous studies".

Zhang Zai even said that etiquette does not need to come from humans, as the etiquette of heaven and earth exists naturally.

In history, a large number of civil servants who promoted Yue Fei or had close friendships with Yue Fei were Sima Guang's disciples.

As for the scholars of the Hong family in front of us, the reason why they are now opposed to the upgrading of "Xunzi" is because they all belong to the "Xunzi depreciation school"!
The attitude towards Xunzi in the Northern Song Dynasty was very complicated.

Xunzi was criticized not only for his theory of evil nature but also for his theory of hypocrisy.

"The next imperial examination will be reformed. "The Great Learning", "The Analects of Confucius", "Mencius" and "The Doctrine of the Mean" are the four books, which together with "Mathematics" are required subjects."

The whole place was silent and stunned.

For poor scholars, mathematics is easier to master than physics, chemistry, astronomy, and geography. The following subjects require sufficient financial support from the family.

Wang Anshi supports the upgrading of Mencius and is a "respecting Mencius school".

It's not illegal.

Huang Tingjian was Sima Guang's second disciple, and his hostile attitude toward Xunzi was even more intense than Sima Guang's. It is believed that Xunzi deliberately violated Mencius and was a wild man without orthodox inheritance.

Sima Guang and Er Cheng had a very good relationship, and their schools were close relatives. But the nonsense is that Er Cheng belongs to the "Mencius Respecting Faction" and chose to side with Wang Anshi.

In order to make the scholars in front of him more active in helping him acquire land, Wei Liangchen continued to reveal more information:

Suddenly, a disciple of the Hong family asked: "Xunzi still has a theory of false etiquette. Doesn't it mean that etiquette is not considered?"

This information will be announced nationwide next spring, but Wei Liangchen only said it two or three months in advance.

This situation is normal. "Mencius" used to be a book by various scholars, but it also caused great commotion during the Northern Song Dynasty. It even became an accelerant for party disputes.

Mainstream Confucianism believes that etiquette comes from nature and arises naturally.

Sima Guang opposed the upgrading of Mencius and was a "suspecting Mencius".

Some people regard Xunzi as a sage.

Wei Liangchen said: "The promotion of Xunzi was proposed by His Majesty."

But one must be retained to promote the development of natural sciences, so mathematics has become a reserved item.

Wei Liangchen said: "The Rites is a classic of selection and governance, and does not conflict with Xunzi. If there is any conflict with the pseudo-ritual theory in the four books, we will not examine the meaning of the scriptures again."

Some people put Mencius and Xunzi side by side.

Only mathematics is left, which is still a required test in the imperial examination.

A scholar asked: "Xunzi said that human nature is inherently evil. How should those who take Xunzi as the original scripture answer Mencius' theory that human nature is good?"

These Hong family disciples in front of me are all Sima Guang's disciples.

Wei Liangchen said with a smile: "If you have a master of Xunzi, you will study hard. If you use this as the basis of the imperial examination, you have a great chance of passing the Jinshi examination."

When Leitang Academy was most prosperous, it was precisely because Huang Tingjian was teaching.

Of course, you can’t give up completely.

Wang Anshi, Sima Guang, Er Cheng, Zhang Zai... all tended to deny Xunzi.

Ju Ming plans to compile a popular science book to introduce various basic natural knowledge. Let the readers in their teens also know that the earth revolves around the sun, and also understand the principles of friction and leverage.

Some people completely deny Xunzi.

Some people acknowledge Xunzi's orthodoxy, but deny some of Xunzi's teachings.

"The "Poetry", "Book", "Li", "Yi", "Spring and Autumn", and "Xunzi" are the six classics. You can choose one of them as the original classic to participate in the imperial examination."

Wei Liangchen said: "If one's nature is good and his nature is evil, the relevant scriptures and meanings will not be examined again."

As soon as this statement came out, the situation exploded instantly.

This approach was not a compromise between Ju Ming and traditional Confucian scholars, but an attempt to take care of the vast number of poor scholars.

Educational resources in ancient times were inherently unbalanced, and the education penetration rate at this time was far lower than that of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Xunzi only recognized that heaven and earth are the objects of imitation by saints in making rituals. "Rituals are born from the hypocrisy of saints." There can be no independent existence and separation of the rituals of heaven and earth from human affairs.

And this is precisely the motivation for Ju Ming to upgrade "Xunzi" into classics.

"Xunzi: Theory of Heaven" says: Heaven's behavior is constant, and it does not exist for Yao, nor does it perish for Jie.

The laws of nature are there. If you use them well, you will be lucky; if you use them poorly, you will be unlucky. Solar eclipses and meteors are just changes in the heaven and earth, and they will appear when enlightened rulers and tyrants rule. Why does it rain when you pray for rain? Because it will rain if you don’t pray for rain. All things are just a part of the laws of nature, and one thing is only a part of all things.

Don't generalize.

I only see softness and contraction, not aggressive expansion. Mozi only saw the benefits of equality and equality, but failed to see the role of class differences.

Ju Ming likes these very much.

But the entire "Xunzi" must be re-annotated because it also contains flaws and negative content.

……

Wei Liangchen revealed information about the reform of the imperial examination and elaborated on the "On History" that might be tested. As expected, these scholars were more willing to follow him to become a landowner.

After all, it was only young people who were enthusiastic before, and Zhang Tian might have backed down when encountering obstacles.

Now it is profitable, allowing them to persist.

After registering with the governor, there was a possibility of obtaining important secret information, so many scholars were determined to follow Wei Liangchen.

Even the scholars of the Hong family, although dissatisfied with the promotion of Xunzi, were willing to follow Wei Liangchen.

When Wei Liangchen returned to Nanchang with many scholars, Li Bing was immediately dumbfounded.

Wei Liangchen called Zhang Liangyou over and said, "Take some scholars and go to Nanchang Mansion to study and spread what I have said."

Zhang Liangyou understood immediately and took his classmates to the school.

Not only did he reveal information about the reform of the imperial examination, but he also told an elaborate story about how Wei Liangchen overcame the Chen, Hu, and Hong tribes.

There are also children of small clans and merchants among Nanchang government schools.

They were worried about getting ahead, but when they were deceived by Zhang Liangyou and others, they excitedly ran to Wei Liangchen to sign up.

Then Wei Liangchen dispatched officials and asked each of them to take a group of students to various prefectures and counties in Jiangxi to clear land.

Wei Liangchen personally led the team and fought directly to Fuzhou Mansion.

There are descendants of famous officials such as Yan Shu and Wang Anshi there!

Continuing to the southeast, there are Zeng Gong and Zeng Bu families. The Zeng family alone had seven famous ministers in succession.

Continuing to the southwest, there are the descendants of Ouyang Xiu's family.

There are too many wealthy families in Jiangxi. How do you ask local officials to divide their families into acres?

The head of the Wang clan of this generation is Wang Hua, the grandson of Wang Anshang, the third brother of Wang Anshi.

Wang Hua and his clansmen greeted him at the pier. After the two parties greeted him, Wei Liangchen asked, "Are the descendants of Duke Wang Jing here?"

A young man stood up and said: "Wang Jue, who was born late, pays homage to Governor Wei."

This is Wang Anshi's second great-grandson, and there is another great-grandson who is already an official.

Wei Liangchen did not talk about business, but asked: "How is learning?"

Wang Jue replied: "I was born late and passed the national examination, but failed in the national examination in Beijing. I am currently studying hard at home."

Wei Liangchen encouraged him: "The great-grandson of Wang Jinggong, as long as he keeps working hard, he will definitely be able to reach high school one day."

"Thank you Governor for your encouragement." Wang Jue bowed.

Wei Liangchen said: "Your Majesty admires Wang Jinggong very much, and asked me to come to Fuzhou to express condolences to the Wang family. Your Majesty said that when Wang Jingong carried out his reform, he overcame many obstacles in the north and had to pay taxes on every square field. It is a pity that he has not done his full work. The treacherous minister is too As a result, there have been no square fields in the south.”

Suddenly, Wei Liangchen said loudly: "Your Majesty told me that when I come to Jiangxi this time, I must inherit the legacy of Wang Jinggong. The great things that Wang Jinggong failed to accomplish must be completed in Jiangxi no matter what. After the Jiangxi stalls are settled, Your Majesty went to the Confucian Temple in person to inform Wang Jinggong of the good news!"

When these words were spoken, the Wang clan members were directly put on the fire.

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to do.

The emperor is still waiting to pay homage to Wang Anshi in the Confucian Temple. If the Wang family prevents Tan Ding from entering the family, then all the unfaithfulness and unfilial piety will be taken into account.

The family's reputation has been ruined, how can they survive in the future?
Wang Jue took the lead in bowing: "I will live up to my ancestors' ambitions when I am born later, and personally guide the officials to manage the land of the Wang family!"

Historically, this Wang Jue participated in the Northern Expedition and died.

The patriarch, Wang Hua, had no choice but to express his attitude: "The Wang family will definitely cooperate with Zhang Tian to live up to the reputation of our ancestors."

Wei Liangchen asked again: "Why didn't the Yan family come to greet you?"

Wang Hua replied: "His home is further away, maybe he is still on his way here."

While he was talking, several boats were approaching from afar.

Yan Zhun, the head of the Yan clan, was helped off the boat.

After greeting each other, Wei Liangchen said: "Wang has agreed to cooperate with Zhang Tian. I wonder what Yan's intention is?"

Yan Zhun looked at Wang Hua subconsciously.

Wang Hua stared ahead without saying a word.

Wang Jue said: "If the great-grandfather of the younger generation is still alive, he will definitely be willing to share the family."

Yan Zhun understood instantly. The Wang family was burdened by their reputation and encountered the presence of the governor, so they had to fully cooperate with the court.

Looking at the troops and scholars brought by Wei Liangchen, Yan Zhun had to relent: "The Yan family will not lag behind others."

"Very good. Each of your two families has a hundred literate people. Come with me to check out the Zeng family's land." Wei Liangchen said with a smile and continued to play the trick of pulling people into trouble.

These wealthy families in Jiangxi were almost ruined by Wei Liangchen.

(End of this chapter)