I am not a deposed emperor of Han Dynasty

Xia Housheng did not expect that the emperor would be on his side in the end, and his resentment against the emperor was much less.

After he bowed politely to the emperor again, he finally stood up somewhat unsteadily.

After standing up, he coughed heavily several times before looking at the Confucian scholars who just bit him.

"You must think that what I just said is crazy, but I would like to ask you to ask yourselves why you think I am crazy."

"I'm afraid the key is not that I am arrogant, but that you all regard Confucianism as the private property of each family, and you only treasure it for yourself."

"You gentlemen, you were barking like a bereaved dog just now. It's just because you're afraid that old age will take away your opportunity to be promoted to official school."

"As a Confucian scholar, when I heard someone offered the Thirteen Classics, I didn't first think about meeting the virtuous and thinking about them, but immediately clung to and tore at them..."

"Treating various Confucian classics as one's own private property is no different from those robbers and thieves in the wilderness. They are not even as spiritual as the apes in Emei Mountain in central Sichuan."

Liu He had learned Xia Housheng's skill in talking.

After listening to his "wild talk" today, Liu He felt very relieved.

Xiahou Sheng even dared to scold Emperor Shizongwu. How dare he scold you Confucian scholars?
  Under his "high remarks", the other Confucian scholars could not hold their heads up at all.

Today, he was first scolded by the emperor as a villain, and now he was scolded as a robber and thief by Xia Housheng. Naturally, his heart was full of frustration and his soul was hurt.

"Xiahou Gong, please hurry up and get to the point. Don't ramble at this moment." Liu Hexin said with a smile and a cold face.

"Your Majesty, I'll forgive you. I'll get to the point right away." Xia Housheng was relieved and felt much better.

"There are fourteen volumes of the 'Thirteen Classics' presented by the old man, which are..." Xia Housheng continued talking, his voice echoing in the hall.

After talking about the specific titles of the "Thirteen Classics", Xia Housheng introduced the contents of each classic and stated the reasons why he recommended it as an official study.

The reason is very simple. There is one and only one: the "Thirteen Classics" are higher than the Confucian classics of other schools.

Xia Housheng talked for more than half an hour with some procrastination, and finally gave a general outline of what should be foreshadowed.

Kong Ba listened very seriously. Xia Housheng expanded the official school to thirteen volumes, which seemed to be a good thing.

Although I have never heard of the "Book of Rites" among them, judging from the content, they are closely connected with Confucianism.

It seems that Xia Housheng extracted and compiled the "New Sutra" from other sutras.

Looking at this alone, what Xia Housheng did was indeed a good deed, and the criticism against him just now was a bit excessive.

However, it is still a bit of a dream to imagine that one person and one family can monopolize the official position of the "Thirteen Classics".

For some reason, Kong Ba felt that the scene in front of him was a little blurry, as if it was covered by a shadow, but he couldn't tell what the shadow was.

There is no need to hesitate any longer. The "Shang Shu Biography of Kong" must be included in the popular version of the Confucian Classics. The rest will be discussed later!

Kong Ba looked outside the door again. When he found the hooded figure who was a head taller than the others, he felt much more at ease.

"Xiahou Gong, did you comment on the Thirteen Classics you presented to me by yourself?" Liu He asked.

"It was compiled and edited by Lao Chen and Wang Shi, the imperial scholar."

When Xia Housheng mentioned Wang Shi, others suddenly realized that it was these two people who made it up together, which seemed more reasonable.

"Who made that annotation? Was it you and Wang Fu?"

Editing and editing is physical work, and clear exegesis is the key to reading the Bible - only when the Bible is interpreted well can the Bible be truly good!

"I am not the one who made the comment." Xia Housheng's words aroused some discussion. Is it possible that there are others involved?
  "who?"

"This person is a reclusive scholar named Chu Ji."

Chuji?

All the Confucian scholars immediately searched for this name in their minds, trying to find some clues and clues.

But they tried their best and couldn't come up with anyone named "Chuji".

Except for Wang Shi and Xia Housheng, the other Confucian scholars looked at each other in confusion, seeming to be asking each other who "Chu Ji" was.

But unfortunately, no one in the hall, from old to young, could tell who this Chu Ji was, let alone his name.

The expressions of the Confucian scholars became a little strange.

If it is said that the "Thirteen Classics" were annotated by Wang Shi and Xia Housheng with painstaking efforts, then it is somewhat credible.

Now that a Confucian scholar whose name I had never heard of suddenly appeared, the matter became even more bizarre.

Either Xia Housheng and the others made it up randomly, or the "Thirteen Classics" are nothing more than that.

Kong Ba, Wei Xian and others were in sync with each other and showed an incomprehensible smile.

If some common man in the mountains casually annotated the Confucian classics, wouldn't it be "unsightly to look at"?

They couldn't figure out why Xia Housheng and the others would do such a self-destructive thing.

However, there was also a small commotion near the door that Kong Ba and Wei Xian didn't notice.

Gong Sui, Wang Ji and Zhang Anshi are the people who know Chu Ji's true identity.

As soon as he heard the word "Chu Ji", he immediately seemed to be frightened.

Their faces were pale and their eyes were wide-eyed, as if they had seen ghosts in broad daylight. And there seemed to be sharp wooden nails growing out of the couch under their buttocks, making them restless.

They had something to say, but they didn't dare to say it. They could only watch the scene here on pins and needles.

"Xiahou Gong, who is this Chu Ji? I have never heard of him?" Wei Xian deliberately provoked.

"I will tell you the truth, I have never seen who Chu Ji is." Xia Housheng told the truth.

"Might Xiahou Gong want to say that the 'Thirteen Classics' were entrusted to you by Chu Ji, a great scholar, in a dream?" Cai Qianqiu also boldly joked.

"That's not true. This 'Thirteen Classics' was given to me by the prince. He said that he would let me see Chu Ru today." Xia Housheng looked at Wang Shi and said.

As a result, everyone's eyes immediately turned to Wang Shi, and they all seemed to be asking Wang Shi who this "Chu Ji" was.

Wang Shi was not in a hurry. He smoothed his beard calmly before speaking slowly.

"Don't be anxious, gentlemen. After the debate, I will naturally ask you to wait until you see Chu Ji. Otherwise, you should debate the scriptures first..."

"If the 'Thirteen Classics' that Chu Ji annotated are unsightly, there would be no need for him to show up in Shiqu Pavilion..."

"But if these 'Thirteen Classics' are worthy of praise, you gentlemen should not say anything against your conscience and bring disgrace to the reputation of Confucian scholars in the world."

What Wang Shi said was reasonable and well-founded, so everyone's attention returned to Xia Housheng.

"Your Majesty, I would like to ask you to present the Thirteen Classics to your Majesty and the princes." Xiahou Sheng saluted.

"Prelude!"

"promise!"

Xia Housheng and Wang Shi stood up and walked out of the main hall together. Not long after, they brought a few disciples and moved the entire "Thirteen Classics" into the hall.

The "Thirteen Classics" were placed on the ground and bound into nearly a hundred volumes, all using the latest thread binding method - this was a new system stipulated by the emperor.

Neat footers and margins, crisp spine and back, flat cover and bottom pages, jade-white binding, clear and beautiful official script titles...

All these elements combine to make the "Thirteen Classics" exude a breathtaking power.

No matter what the content of the book is, at least the appearance is more in line with the supreme status of the "Confucian Classics".

The "Thirteen Classics" are bound so neatly and beautifully, there is only one possibility - it was printed by Gong Guan's printing workshop.

Did this matter have the emperor's approval?

The Confucian scholars were even more confused, but they seemed to have seen some clues, but they did not dare to follow the clues and guess further.

More than a hundred volumes of the "Thirteen Classics" were piled on the ground, like a hill, giving it an aura of majesty.

The handwritten volumes of "The Biography of the Master Kong" presented by Kong Bajin next to it pale in comparison.

A group of Confucian scholars immediately got ready to take action and wanted to see the true words of the "Thirteen Classics".

Especially Yan Pengzu and Cai Qianqiu, they were curious and unconvinced when they heard that the "Thirteen Classics" also included "Gongyang Zhuan" and "Gu Liang Zhuan".

They are direct disciples of these two sects. Are these "Gongyang Zhuan" and "Gu Liang Zhuan" annotated by Chu Ji more exquisite than their annotations?
  "Your Majesty, you can compare scriptures now," Wang Shi reminded.

"Well, in that case, let's compare the "Shang Shu" first. Starting from me, we will circulate the two scriptures one by one. After half an hour, we will vote."

Liu He worked vigorously and resolutely, and he decided on the merits of a project in half an hour. It seemed a bit hasty, but it was also reasonable.

After all, the Confucian scholars present were very familiar with the original text of the scriptures, and they could tell which one was better and which one was worse at a glance.

However, except for Chu Ji, no one has prepared classics such as "Mencius" today, so how should they be compared?

Although everyone still had questions in their minds, their attention was quickly attracted by the "Shang Shu Chu Family Biography" in the hands of the emperor.

The emperor turned over it casually, then handed it to Fan Ke, and then passed it to Kong Ba's hands.

The stern-faced Kong Ba looked at the words "Shang Shu", "written by Zhong Ni", "Chu Ji's Commentary" and "edited by Wang Shi and Xia Housheng" on the cover with mixed emotions.

Finally, after a moment of silence, he began to read the "Shang Shu Biography of the Chu Family" with some disdain in front of everyone.

After just reading for a moment, the sweat on Kong Ba's forehead started to flow down.

Those present were all great Confucians, and Kong Ba was even more proficient in the classics of "Shang Shu".

It is no exaggeration to say that Kong Ba lived in the world for more than fifty years, and he spent more than half of his time getting along with "Shang Shu" day and night.

Whether it was the original text of "Shang Shu" passed down by Fu Sheng, or "Shang Shu" with Ouyang's annotations, or even the annotations of small sects, Kong Ba knew them all.

But at this moment, the "Biography of the Chu Family" spread out in front of Kong Ba's eyes was a version he had never seen before.

Although the number of chapters is smaller than that of "Shangshu Kong's Biography", the annotations are more comprehensive, accurate and innovative.

The annotations in the original sentences not only combine the strengths of hundreds of schools of thought, but also have many new elucidations and extensions, which is indeed refreshing.

Even Kong Ba was amazed when he saw it.

This Chu Ji is not only knowledgeable and knowledgeable, having read the annotations of various schools and able to learn from others' strengths; he also has profound insights into Confucianism and is proficient in exegesis.

And this was just the beginning. The more Kong Ba looked down, the more things were wrong, and the sweat on his forehead kept pouring out.

He seemed to be holding a stove in his arms and drinking hot soup during the great heat - his whole body was burning hot and red from the inside out. (End of chapter)