I am not a deposed emperor of Han Dynasty

"Lao Wei Ge just said categorically that among the officials, craftsmen, farmers, and legal officials, there are no talented people... This seems a bit arbitrary."

"I think that the fortune tellers are Confucian students, the craftsmen are Confucian students, the farmers are Confucian students, and the businessmen are Confucian students, so naturally this legal official can be a Confucian scholar."

"Since Confucianism can help people's hearts and educate people with etiquette, it should not avoid the world, nor should it exclude the three religions and nine streams..."

"Rather, we should turn everyone in the world into Confucian scholars and incorporate all the learning from hundreds of schools of thought into Confucianism."

Speaking of this, Liu He paused for a moment and let several courtiers present chew on these words before he continued to talk about the key points.

"In the past, Dong Zi put forward the idea of ​​'deposing hundreds of schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone'. It was inspiring and enlightening, but the reverberation is still there, allowing the Han Dynasty to unify."

"But looking at it again today, I think Dong Zi's remarks are a bit narrow-minded, and the learning of hundreds of schools of thought still has its merits..."

At this time, everyone's eyes were focused on the emperor. No one expected that the emperor would denounce Dong Zi's remarks. Is there anything shocking about it?

Even Wei Xian, who had been impressed by the emperor's talent and learning, became a little angry again, and his face that had finally turned pale began to turn red again.

In anger, he had some fear. He was afraid that the emperor would blurt out the violent remarks that "no longer only respect Confucianism."

If such a thing really happened, Wei Xian was prepared to remonstrate to death - he would be killed on the spot in this palace!
However, Tiantian did not give him a chance to die as a martyr. What the emperor said next surprised and delighted Wei Xian.

"So I think that 'Abolition of hundreds of schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone' should be changed to 'Convergence of hundreds of schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone'!"

These eight words contained a subtle meaning, and as soon as they were spoken, all the courtiers in the palace were refreshed.

The emperor does not want to abolish the hundreds of schools, but to incorporate the hundreds of schools into Confucianism and make the hundreds of schools a branch of Confucianism!

If we say "Depose hundreds of schools of thought and respect only Confucianism", it will solve the current and future issues.

Then "the convergence of hundreds of schools of thought and the sole sect of Confucianism" can jointly solve the problems of the past.

The concept of "destroying all schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone" was put forward only a few decades ago. This has rapidly improved the status of Confucianism in the court and among the people, but the hundreds of schools of thought have declined day by day.

As a later person, Liu He naturally knew that in the original timeline, Confucianism eventually occupied a solid position at all levels of society and was almost unshakable.

But for people who grew up today, they cannot see this - they cannot imagine that Confucianism will later become a behemoth that transcends monarchy.

Because in the previous hundreds of years, what they saw was just hundreds of schools of thought taking turns on the stage - there was nothing outstanding about Confucianism.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, a hundred schools of thought contended. During the Qin Dynasty, Legalism was in power. A hundred years before the Han Dynasty, Huang Lao Taoism was the dominant one. Only in these decades did Confucianism dominate.

Calculated in this way, the time that Confucianism took the dominant position turned out to be the shortest.

This is also the reason why Wei Xian stood up and risked his life to remonstrate.

The great Confucians in the world were also worried that another edict from the emperor would take away the respected status of Confucianism.

After all, the Legalists, Taoists, Yin-Yang Schools, and Military Schools are still very strong, and the other schools still have more or less supporters.

Even in the most declining Mohist family, doesn't there still be a remnant of knights? Aren't they still regarded as ancestors by humble and ordinary craftsmen?
The emperor now proposes that "one hundred schools of thought merge into one, and Confucianism alone" naturally means that he wants to absorb the essence of all schools of thought into Confucianism and use Confucianism to interpret and divide the schools of thought.

Compared with "deposing hundreds of schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone", this new measure is softer but more powerful. It can gradually digest other schools of thought quietly.

Since you want to swallow up other families, you should accommodate the supporters of other families and become more enlightened.

Therefore, it is necessary to integrate people like legal officials and accountants into Confucian scholars instead of excluding them.

In fact, this was not Liu He's initiative. In the next 2000 years, Confucianism also absorbed some ideas from hundreds of schools of thought, forming metaphysics, psychology, Neo-Confucianism, and even New Confucianism.

And now, haven't Confucians also integrated the Yin-Yang theory of yin-yang catastrophe into the Confucian classics?

However, Liu He felt that the process should be faster, and the content and gist of the inclusion should be more pragmatic.

In addition, there is another layer of meaning that cannot be said. Looking at it conversely, if Confucianism has become like this, can it still be called Confucianism? This is also the process of dissolving Confucianism.

On the other side, Wei Xian also thought clearly about the joints, and even more clearly saw the emperor's big game.

He suddenly felt that his resistance just now was a bit ridiculous: it seemed that he was short-sighted, but the emperor was not so crazy.

No wonder the emperor just mentioned that when the imperial examination was held, candidates in each subject were required to take an additional exam on Ming Jing based on Confucianism.

It turns out that everyone is forced to study Confucianism.

In the past, supporters of other factions wanted to become officials but could not, so they simply stopped becoming officials.

Now that supporters of other factions have become officials, they will also learn Confucianism appropriately.

The emperor's long-term plan is such a blessing for the world and Confucianism.

Although he recognized the emperor a lot more in his heart, Wei Xian still kept a straight face and kept a serious expression.

"Mr. Wei Ge, do you have any questions?" Liu He asked. "Your Majesty is in a commanding position, and the veterans cannot catch up with him. The veterans of the imperial examination system and the Xiangxue system think there are merits."

"And 'hundreds of schools of thought merge into one, and Confucianism alone' is even more far-sighted. Your Majesty is proficient in Confucianism and is a great Confucian of our time."

"I just offended Tian Yan, please forgive me!" After Wei Xian finished speaking, he finally bent his straight waist and knelt on the ground to salute and apologize to the emperor.

Liu He finally forced Wei Xian to admit defeat and bow his head, but he did not feel any happiness - Wei Xian still had something to say.

Wei Xian greatly appreciated "the convergence of hundreds of schools of thought and the unique Confucianism", but he still had reservations about the Xiang academic system and the imperial examination system.

If we say "the imperial examination system and the academic system have merits," does that mean there are also disadvantages?
This old thief is really hateful and difficult to deal with.

Liu He thought for a while in silence, and soon understood where the problem was - the problem with the Tongbian Sutra!

"There is no need to apologize to Mr. Wei Ge. I have already said that no one is guilty here today." Liu He said calmly, pretending to be afraid.

"Your Majesty has a far-sighted vision, and I am sincerely convinced. However, I have one more thing to do about the imperial examination system and the education system. I would like to ask your Majesty to think twice."

"What's the matter?" Liu He said indifferently.

"I hope your majesty will take back the edict regarding the ruling on the universal version of the scriptures." Wei Xian bowed again and said.

A few months ago, when Liu He first tried out the imperial examination system in Chang'an City, he issued an edict to adjudicate the standard version of the scriptures.

When Liu He proposed this proposal, it caused an uproar among the scholars - many Confucian scholars strongly opposed it.

If it hadn't been for that, Liu He had used Xia Housheng's "defamation of Emperor Xiaowu" to seize a group of virtuous literature in the court.

I'm afraid the Confucian scholars will make a fuss.

It seems that this is the last obstacle to the implementation of the imperial examination system and the school system.

Those who opposed this matter were not ordinary Confucian scholars, but famous Confucians, even giant Confucians.

The main reason why the great scholars in the world did not want the emperor to decide the universal version of the scriptures was because they were worried about losing the right to interpret the scriptures.

In today's Han Dynasty, although those who are appointed as doctorates are called official schools, the spread of private schools is still very strong.

It can even be said that private school is better than official school - private school spread widely enough that the imperial court had to establish it as official school.

Moreover, these schools that were established as official schools actually only had a certain symbolic significance, but they would not have any actual impact on the government.

However, if the emperor issued a standard version of the classics, then things would completely change - the status of the official school would rapidly increase and it would begin to influence the government more directly.

County schools, county schools and Taixue taught the popular version of the classics; the imperial examination system also taught the popular version of the classics.

In this case, how can the Confucian scholars in the world learn the teachings of various private schools?

Not to mention that Confucian students in Xiang School can receive several bushels of corn a month, which is also very tempting.

With the support of measures such as the Xiangxue system, the imperial examination system, and the millet system, the Tongbian Jingshu would become an official school in the true sense.

It is estimated that it won't be long before, except for the few official schools that have been designated as the popular version of the scriptures, the other sects will gradually disappear into the wilderness.

And once the various schools and sects of private private schools disappeared, how could those schools that were established as official schools still be able to compete with the emperor?

When the cunning rabbit dies, the lackeys cook it; when the sparrows and birds are gone, the good bow is hidden.

Without the private schools that need to be encircled and balanced, the various schools and factions established as official schools will also lose their use value.

By then, wouldn't Confucianism and Confucianism be left to the emperor's fiddling and use?

What's the difference between that and an internal official?

Therefore, Wei Xian opposed "the common version of the classics". In fact, what he opposed was "the use of the common version of the classics as the standard for selecting scholars for the imperial examination."

You can take exams, and you can add knowledge from hundreds of schools of thought, but you can't just take one Confucian classics. Confucianism must let a hundred flowers bloom, and all schools and schools must share the right to interpret scriptures!

As long as the emperor does not have the popular scriptures in his hands, it is impossible for him to control Confucianism and Confucian scholars!
From Wei Xian's perspective, he is very proficient in the "Five Classics" and studied under the great Confucian Jiang Gong, who was the great Confucian who wrote "Lu Shi".

And "Lu Shi" has now been established as an official school. Therefore, the "Lu Shi" that Wei Xian studied is very likely to be ruled as a popular scripture.

However, for the long-term interests of Confucianism, Wei Xian still wanted to obstruct the emperor.

Wei Xian's firm opposition naturally made Liu He very unhappy!

He did not immediately respond to the other party's request, but allowed him to kneel on the ground. (End of chapter)