Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 894 0889 [Three people debate in front of the emperor]

Liu Yannian came to the side hall to wait, and not long after, Li Chun also came.

Immediately afterwards, another middle-aged scholar came, about thirty or forty years old.

Liu Yannian completely ignored Li Chun, but bowed to the middle-aged man: "Liu Yannian, I am in Qingjiang, may I ask your surname?"

The middle-aged scholar replied: "Yongjia Ding Zhifu. That's polite."

"I've admired you for a long time, I've admired you for a long time." Liu Yannian said politely.

The Yongjia School had not yet emerged, and Liu Yannian had never heard of it.

The Ding Zhifu in front of him was the son of Ding Changqi, the second founder of Yongjia School.

The core ideas of the Yongjia School in the Southern Song Dynasty are as follows:

First, the main battle against gold. Whether they were serving as civil servants or practicing martial arts and joining the army, a large number of Yongjia School disciples personally participated in the war.

Taking advantage of the three sects of scholars coming to Beijing, Ju Ming is going to hold a sutra banquet conference!

Zhu Ming asked again: "Who is the disciple of Long Changqi?"

Ding Zhifu asked: "Why can't Meng and Xun be respected together?"

Ju Ming asked again: "Who is Ding Changqi's son?"

Third, pay attention to practical learning. It advocated the application of knowledge, emphasized the role of industry and commerce, and advocated the simultaneous development of industry, agriculture, and commerce.

Ding Zhifu came out and said, "Your Majesty, Ding Zhifu, pays homage to your Majesty."

They still wanted to debate, but suddenly a large number of officials came.

Second, attach importance to history. It advocates taking history as a mirror and summarizing the reasons for the rise and fall of a country.

Li Chun followed him out of the queue: "Li Chun, a humble citizen, pays homage to Your Majesty!"

The two of them obviously couldn't urinate into the same pot. Liu Yannian said "obey" and "obey", while Ding Zhifu said "respect".

Ju Ming's eyes were half-closed, his smile was bright, and he seemed to be in a good mood.

Liu Yannian had an official status in the Ming Dynasty, but he just resigned on his own initiative. He could barely call himself a "minister" in front of the emperor.

Ding Zhifu, the "minister", was a bit reluctant. He had an official position in the former Song Dynasty, but he did not serve in the Ming Dynasty.

After the service, Ju Ming asked: "Who is Liu Chang's nephew?"

Liu Yannian came out and bowed: "Your Majesty, Liu Yannian, pays homage to you!"

People came to the main hall one after another. Zhu Ming took the main seat, and the others sat down in two rows.

Ju Ming said: "There is no need to debate whether nature is good or evil today. Even if we make the distinction tomorrow morning, we will not be able to understand it at all, and we will always be messy. Let's start with etiquette. The officials should not participate and listen to the debate between the three of them."

Liu Yannian inquired: "Excuse me, do you follow Meng or Xun?"

Liu Yannian was discussing etiquette in Luoyang City, but now he had to distinguish nature: "Ritual comes from nature. If you don't understand nature, you can't understand etiquette."

But those cabinet ministers knew that the emperor was angry.

The Yongjia school from Wenzhou was naturally opposed to the Liu family of Qingjiang. The former promotes both industry, agriculture and commerce, while the latter emphasizes agriculture and suppresses commerce.

Ding Zhifu immediately retorted: "How can etiquette come from nature? etiquette is used to curb nature!"

"Of course!" Li Chun agreed.

One was Ding Changqi's son, and the other was Long Changqi's disciple. Together, they attacked Liu Yannian.

Liu Yannian was no ordinary person. He immediately retorted: "If etiquette is false, then if etiquette were not created, wouldn't there be filial piety and brotherhood in the world? If etiquette were not created, wouldn't there be compassion in the world? Therefore, etiquette began in heaven. "

Respecting elders and caring for younger ones are natural etiquettes even without any agreement from anyone.

Therefore, etiquette comes from nature.

Ding Zhifu said: "People must group together, and groups must fight. Struggle leads to chaos, chaos leads to separation, and separation leads to weakness. Weakness cannot overcome things. People are united by courtesy. Those who are rude cannot survive."

This passage means: Human beings are social animals and cannot survive alone. When there is a community, there must be moral rules, otherwise it will fall into chaos. A community without basic morality cannot survive at all and has long been eliminated by nature.

The community perspective was also one of the motivations for Ju Ming to promote "Xunzi" into the classics. It was also the reason why "Xunzi" was often used as a policy topic in the imperial examinations in the Song Dynasty.

Liu Yannian retorted: "The sage follows the etiquette according to his nature, and the sage knows the etiquette and pursues the nature. It's all internal!"

This means that the sage’s natural virtues such as benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, wisdom, etc. naturally come together to form rituals. A wise man must first learn etiquette and morality before he can understand his nature. Regardless of whether they are saints or wise men, they are all derived from the natural goodness they possess within, rather than deriving their nature and etiquette from the outside.

Li Chun chuckled and said, "Isn't it the theory of hypocritical etiquette when a saint follows his will?"

"Nonsense." Liu Yannian didn't even bother to refute because Li Chun was misinterpreting his meaning.

Liu Yannian cupped his hands and said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, "Xunzi" supports the law and incorporates the rituals, but uses the law to disrupt the rituals. The entire text is based on the theory of Han. If it is promoted to the classics, there may be a danger of causing disaster to the world!"

This is attacking Xunzi as an undercover agent of Legalism hiding in Confucianism...

Ding Zhifu immediately retorted: "The law is established by the king, etiquette comes from the teacher, and the king and teacher practice together to achieve perfection."

Li Chun became even more aggressive. He pointed at Liu Yannian and asked: "You are so bold, do you even think that you can have a teacher without a master?"

Liu Yannian was frightened and quickly bowed to the emperor: "Your Majesty, I have no such intention. I just feel that Xunzi is too biased towards the law and neglects the rituals and music."

Liu Yannian knew very well that he could not win today.

Ding Zhifu and Li Chun were in harmony, the former was reasonable, and the latter was stabbing, making him care about one thing and not the other.

Li Chun did it on purpose, just to avenge his master's sect. Liu Chang initially blamed Long Changqi, which led to Long Changqi's scholarship being banned.

Today, Li Chun will blame Liu Yannian.

Use his way to repay his body!
"Okay, no need to argue anymore."

Ju Ming finally came forward and concluded: "When formulating the Ming Code, one of the principles was to put people first. When I founded the Ming Dynasty, I also put people first. When I upgraded Xunzi to the classics, I also valued its people-centeredness."

"Whether it's an official or a scholar. In the future, when studying "Xunzi", we should start from the 'person' of this book."

"The loyalty of civil and military officials to the king, in Xunzi's view, is not loyalty to the king himself, but loyalty to the king's way. If the king has no way, then Confucius can leave the state of Lu, and I can also raise an army to overthrow the Song Dynasty."

"What is Xunzi's way of kings? The way of kings is the way of groups. Man can be the spirit of all things because he can form a group and restrain himself with etiquette and law to form a joint force. How to be a wise king? It is to provide food and clothing for the people, Let the people live and work in peace and contentment, and let the talents be put to good use.”

"Xunzi's way of a king and his ministers is actually a contract, and both parties must abide by the contract."

"Today, I have always abided by the contract, but corrupt officials have not kept their contract, and powerful gentry have not kept their contract!"

"Should the big families in Jiangxi be punished?"

The officials quickly shouted: "Your Majesty is wise!"

Zhu Ming looked at Liu Yannian: "The wealthy families in Jiangxi have hidden their land and evaded taxes. They have violated the agreement. Should they be punished?"

Liu Yannian wanted to speak for the big families in Jiangxi, but his words became euphemistic: "It should be rectified. But the demolished people moved too much..."

"Okay, you also think it should be rectified," Zhu Ming interrupted Liu Yannian, "Mr. Liu is a great scholar, so he must understand these principles. Let's do this. I will recruit Mr. Liu as a traveler and go to Jiangxi to lead the dismantling of the clan. Governor Wei Liangchen will assist You dismantle the clan.”

Liu Yannian was stunned and then stood there blankly, not knowing whether to accept the order or refuse.

It was said that he was asked to preside over the demolition of the clan in Jiangxi, but Wei Liangchen was asked to assist. In fact, Liu Yannian was left to take the blame, and the actual power was still in the hands of Wei Liangchen.

Moreover, the official position given was not big, just a small emperor's job.

But this position was special, as it meant that the emperor was out on business.

The emperor also offered him an official position at the Sutra Festival. If Liu Yannian refused, it would be a slap in the emperor's face. He would never want to be an official again in his life! Even the Liu family's children will be affected when they become officials, and most of them will be moved around and unable to be promoted normally.

Liu Yannian would not get much benefit from accepting this official position, but his reputation would be completely ruined in Jiangxi.

After all, Wei Liangchen was the "Governor of Qingtian", and the dismantling of the clan was just incidental.

But Liu Yannian was the "imperial envoy who demolished the tribes", and he was responsible for all the infamy of the tribes being demolished and relocated.

Ju Ming smiled and said: "Is your official position too small? Are you afraid that you will not be able to intimidate the big families in Jiangxi? Then restore your official status in the former Song Dynasty, but your official position will still be that of a pedestrian."

High grade but low position.

Liu Yannian began to weigh the gains and losses. This might be his only chance.

Damn it!
For the sake of the Liu family in Qingjiang, and for my own future, I don’t care whether those wealthy families in Jiangxi live or die!

Liu Yannian did not bow, but knelt down directly: "I obey your order."

The officials present showed disdain. At this moment, in their eyes, Liu Yannian turned into a clown.

This guy sold off all the wealthy families in Jiangxi for the sake of his own future!
Although Liu Chang was very domineering back then, his character was worthy of respect because Liu Chang was always consistent.

Liu Chang not only attacked Long Changqi, he also attacked the powerful indiscriminately.

Because he felt that the treatment of a certain official was too harsh, Liu Chang repeatedly defended and begged for mercy, even if he offended the prime minister and was demoted and sent away.

The prime minister led hundreds of officials to give Song Renzong a title, but Liu Chang said that the title in a calamity year was a false name. He sent four consecutive e-mails to advise Song Renzong, which made Song Renzong extremely annoyed. Liu Chang had done this kind of thing to offend the emperor and prime minister more than once.

When he was sent out to be a local official, Liu Chang also asked for orders for the people, cracking down on powerful people, suppressing mergers, redressing unjust cases, relieving victims, and developing agriculture...

Such people are the same on the outside.

Although he has the domineering style of a scholar, he can still be regarded as a true great scholar.

As Liu Chang's nephew, Liu Yannian is completely embarrassing his elders!

Faced with the contemptuous gazes of the crowd, Liu Yannian also felt embarrassed. He lowered his head and looked at the floor, as if he wanted to find a crack to crawl into.

Ju Ming continued: "Ding Zhifu, Li Chun."

"Here!" The two stepped forward.

Ju Ming said: "You each return to your hometown and serve as professors of government studies."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" The two of them were overjoyed.

Ju Ming upgraded "Xunzi" to the classics for three purposes.

First, promote the idea of ​​putting people first and seeking truth from facts.

Second, find more rationality for his own rebellion against the Song Dynasty.

Third, to develop natural science and gain more Confucian rationality.

The above three points can all be found in Xunzi.

As for Long Changqi's knowledge, Ju Ming planned to let it develop naturally.

As for the Yongjia School in Wenzhou, the court would deliberately support it. After all, this school advocated applying knowledge and encouraging industry and commerce.

(End of this chapter)