I am not a deposed emperor of Han Dynasty

Chapter 480 I send four words to Confucian scholars. Even if Sage Confucius comes, he will have to be subdued!
  After a short moment, the old man finally remembered that the emperor's smile seemed a little crazy - every time the emperor smiled like this, his trick must have succeeded.

Wei Xian's heart skipped a beat, and he secretly screamed that something was wrong.

Falling into the pit dug by the emperor again!
  But he thought wrong. This time he did not fall into the pit dug by the emperor, but was used as a stepping stone by the emperor.

"I was in a hurry just now, and what I said is indeed a bit biased. Of course, Confucian students still need to read Confucian classics, otherwise how can they know what benevolence, justice, propriety, wisdom and trust are?"

"Now, I have four words for all the Confucian scholars in the world, and also for the Confucian scholars in the classroom. I hope you will all keep them in your hearts and read them out from time to time..."

Dozens of people in the hall immediately sat up straighter, and some even took out pens and paper to write it down. Even Kong Ba, who looked ashen-faced, couldn't help but feel solemn.

"I hope that from now on, Confucian scholars can follow these four sentences..." Liu He paused deliberately for a moment.

"Set up a heart for heaven and earth."

"Building lives for the living and the people."

"For the sake of the sage and continue to learn."

"Create peace for all generations!"

This is the "Four Sentences of Hengqu" written by Zhang Zai, a great scholar of later generations, and it is the highest requirement for Confucian students in ancient China. From ancient times to the present, very few people can achieve it.

Its conception and positioning can sweep away all the great treatises of ancient and modern Confucian scholars.

It sounded in the Shiqu Pavilion in advance today, and finally suppressed all the slander in the hearts of the "little people" and "gentlemen" in the room.

The Confucian scholars, who were originally "united but not united", could no longer resist and were defeated in front of the emperor.

Wang Shi, who had been watching, was amazed and very pleased. The emperor's talent and learning exceeded his imagination.

He felt that he was not the emperor's teacher, but the emperor was his teacher.

Finally, Wang Shi stood up, knelt down beside Wei Xian, and bowed to the emperor.

"Your Majesty's teachings, I will take them to heart. From today on, these words will be engraved in front of the Taixue gate and in front of the Xiangxue Jingshe in the world!" Wang Shi shouted with a trembling voice.

There was a noise, and Zhang Anshi, who was sitting by the door, stood up, followed closely by the ministers and courtiers behind him. They adjusted their robes and all bowed down.

"Your Majesty's teachings, I will take them to heart. From today on, these words will be engraved in front of each government office and recited repeatedly every day when I go to the government office." Zhang Anshi choked with tears.

Today, Zhang Anshi, Liu De, Bingji and others originally wanted to "sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight" and watch the emperor smash his head in front of the Confucian scholars and bleed.

On the one hand, although they also read Confucian classics, they have long been far away from the "Confucian community" and naturally will not help the Confucian scholars.

On the other hand, they also criticized the emperor's new policy, so they wanted Confucian scholars to slow down the emperor's progress.

But at this moment, they all felt a little ashamed and uneasy.

What the emperor said today was actually praising these courtiers who were proficient in practical matters - they were often criticized by Confucian scholars for not adhering to "Confucianism".

Scholars died for their confidants, how could they not be loyal to the emperor?
  In today's Shiqu Pavilion debate, they don't have much say, but at least they have to give the emperor some support and appease their guilt like they are now.

At this point, half of the people in Shiqu Pavilion had prostrated themselves on the ground.

Liu He's eyes came to Kong Ba - it's time for the Kong family to learn to bow to me.

Sure enough, after a moment of stalemate, Kong Ba reluctantly stood in the hall, his stiff knees still bent.

"What your Majesty said is a noble statement. From today on, this statement will be engraved in front of the Confucius Mansion and in the Confucius Forest. The disciples of the Confucius family will recite it day and night..."

As Kong Ba bowed down, no one dared to sit on the couch anymore. The remaining people got up one after another and rushed to prostrate themselves in the hall.

"Your Majesty's great talk, we will keep it in mind, read it silently day and night, and never forget it!" The Confucian scholars answered loudly, without any further noise.

Liu He stared at the people who were bowing down, feeling a little tired and dizzy in a daze.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they fought, there was already a flash of swords and a river of blood.

But it is all worth it. From today on, the atmosphere of Confucianism will be revived: Confucian scholars who only know how to read scriptures in monasteries will no longer be popular in the future.

"I will also engrave these four sentences on the north tower of Weiyang Palace to encourage the world!"

"Your Majesty is so wise, it is indeed a great blessing for this great man." The ministers bowed down again.

"All your gentlemen, please come and discuss with me the application of Confucian classics."

"promise!"

Everyone has to admit that in this round of confrontation, the emperor won
  Yan Pengzu suddenly took the initiative to attack the emperor for his own future.

He did not get any benefits, but gave Liu He the opportunity to teach the entire scholar community a lesson.

With the dual support of Zhang Zai and Zhuge Liang, Liu He successfully made a good start for the "bible debate".

This was also an unexpected surprise and saved a lot of things in the subsequent process.

Confucian scholars accepted the imperial examination system, the academic system and the view that "hundred schools of thought merged to form a single Confucianism", so they could no longer oppose the publication of the popular version of the Confucian classics.

At this time, the atmosphere in Shiqu Pavilion was very high. Most people were excited by the "Four Sentences of Shiqu" and wanted to do something good for the people of the world immediately.

If at this time, someone stands up, with the purpose of "competing for the right to interpret scriptures", and creates extraneous problems, asking the imperial examination and the Xiang school system to separate the subjects of each scripture and examine each scripture separately.

Then the eating scenes would be too ugly. I am afraid that even if Kong Ba and Wei Xian come out to stand out, others will stare at them.

On the one hand, there is the ambition to create peace for all generations, on the other hand, each family and faction is trying to protect themselves, making judgments.

Therefore, when Liu He raised the first issue of "whether a popular version of the Confucian Classics should be published," there was silence in the hall, and no one stood up to argue or object.

Wei Xian looked down at the plan and wrote on it with a pen. He didn't know if he was writing "Four Sentences of Hengqu" - now it should be called "Four Sentences of Shiqu".

Kong Ba once again began to close his eyes and rest his mind. Suddenly, he didn't know if he was really asleep.

Of course he wouldn't fall asleep. He felt aggrieved and angry. That thief Yan Pengzu had messed up the plan.

Kong Ba originally wanted to ask Kong Anguo to persuade the emperor on this first issue, but now there is no chance.

Not to mention Kong Anguo, even if Confucius came to the hall, it would be difficult to resolve the current situation.

We can only lower our heads, admit this loss, and then make plans.

……

Liu He doesn't care about these little things. The most important thing is that he can finally get things done.

"Come here, bring me the ballot box!" Liu He clapped his hands and said.

"No!" came a reply from outside the hall.

Soon after, four Changyi Langs carried a heavy wooden box into the Shiqu Pavilion. The shape of this wooden box is unique. I have never seen anything like this in the Han Dynasty.

With its appearance, everyone's attention was diverted, and the originally stagnant air in the hall finally relaxed a lot.

This wooden box is only one foot high and half a foot thick. It is made of fine nanmu and painted vermilion red.

On the front, there are two seal characters "ballot box" engraved in official script, and on the back, there is a black dragon pattern formed into a circle.

There is an opening at the top of the ballot box, and the door on the side is firmly locked with a large lock.

At first glance, the ballot box looks like a small prison, exuding a majestic aura.

The red dragon pattern on a black background or the black dragon pattern on a red background appears very frequently nowadays - it has almost become a symbol of imperial power and the emperor.

The moment the heavy ballot box landed, there was a muffled sound that made everyone tremble.

Is this the ballot box? Another new thing!

"Fan Ke, give the Confucian Students Group the invoice!" Liu He said with a wave of his hand, and sat back on the couch.

"No!" Fan Ke took out a small lacquer box from under his desk and hurried to the hall.

After opening the lacquer box, inside were square pieces of paper cut into palm-sized squares and neatly stacked.

Under the curious eyes of everyone, Fan Ke handed out the tickets to every Confucian scholar.

These tickets are naturally made of paper, but they are a little different from ordinary rice paper - much whiter, much crisper, and much thicker.

Not like rice paper, but more like birch bark.

The two words "Yes" and "No" were printed on top and bottom of the ticket, but other than that, there were no other insignias.

"Since you all have no more objections to the publication of the popular version of the scriptures, let's enter the voting process."

“Those who agree with the publication of the Common Version of the Sutra circle ‘Yes’, and those who oppose the publication of the Common Version of the Sutra circle ‘No’!”

"In order to facilitate inspection and prevent anyone from confusing the public, everyone's name needs to be written on the back of the ticket."

This was a little trick by Liu He. Instead of using the fairer secret ballot, he chose a registered vote.

In this way, we can once again prevent Confucian scholars from being obedient.

If Liu He was a subordinate, he would definitely curse in his heart for this move, but if Liu He was a superior, his stance would naturally be different.

As for the Confucian scholars in the hall, they naturally wouldn't care about it - the emperor was extremely open-minded if he was willing to make a decision in this way.

"My dear friends, don't worry. No one will be convicted of debating scriptures. Just vote with confidence." Liu He gave his assurance gently.

"No!" Confucian scholars in the hall responded one after another.

Voting is, after all, a new thing. Although the case has been prepared, people don't know how to start.

In the end, Liu He picked up the pen, circled the word "yes" on his ticket, showed it to everyone, and ordered Fan Ke to put it into the ballot box for him.

The crisp new paper fell from the voting slot, and there was a crisp sound. The whole process seemed very simple and clear at a glance.

"My dear friends, please vote." Liu He asked again.

"promise!"

Finally, the Confucian scholars picked up their pens one after another. After hesitating for a moment, they began to circle the tickets.

Many people want to spy on others, but they don't dare to blatantly do so, so their sneaky expressions are particularly funny.

Wei Xian and Kong Ba, who were sitting next to each other, looked at each other, and then looked at Wang Shi and Hou Cang who were sitting opposite - they had already made their decision.

It was inconvenient for the two to talk or discuss, so they just sighed in unison, nodded first, and then shook their heads.

After everyone put down their pens, they finally started writing.

"Okay, starting with Mr. Kong, come up and vote." Liu He said.

"No!" Kong Ba responded together with everyone.

The Confucian scholars came forward one by one and put their votes into the ballot box.

Everything was in order, and after half a quarter of an hour, everyone had finished voting.

"Okay, Fan Ke will count the votes, Zhang Anshi will sing the votes, and Kong Gong, Wei Gong and Wang Fu will come to supervise the voting."

After Liu He named these people, he explained how to count the votes, how to sing the votes, and how to supervise the votes.

Then a wooden board painted black was carried up and placed at the door of the palace - everyone could see it.

"Let's get started!" After Liu He said this, Fan Ke took out the key, opened the ballot box, and poured out all the votes.

After a moment of fussing, everyone, old and young, took their seats and performed their duties, and the counting of votes began.

In the original world line, voting was an extremely common thing, always happening in different places.

This extremely simple form is the basic form for people to exercise their power, and it is also a symbol of people learning to cooperate.

Even the naive schoolchildren of seven or eight years old use this extremely simple method to choose the "leader" in the school.

But now, when Liu He moved the vote to the Han Dynasty two thousand years ago, it took on an inexplicable sense of sanctity and solemnity.

Or maybe it should have a sense of sanctity and solemnity in itself, but it has just been forgotten by future generations.

The expressions of Kong Ba and others also became very solemn, and they looked serious as if they were doing something important. Even when passing the votes, they had to raise their hands to the level of their eyebrows.

It looked like a grand sacrifice in a trance.

When Zhang Anshi was singing the votes, he deliberately lengthened his voice to imitate the weird accent that Taichang used when reciting the speech at the Spring Festival.

For some reason, Liu He suddenly wanted to laugh. He didn't know whether this simple vote was given a layer of mystery, whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

Or should we ask them to bathe and fast before voting every time in the future?
  But soon, Liu He's thoughts were brought back to the present by the word "yes" and the word "no" under the word "accurate" on the blackboard.

The number of votes was not large, so even if Zhang Anshi prolonged his voice, it would not take long.

After only half a stick of incense, the results are almost out.

Looking at the straight white characters, Liu He smiled.

This result was somewhat beyond his expectation.

(End of this chapter)