Song Gexing

Chapter 247 Debate

Zhang Zai didn't know about Zhao Fang's Xiao Jiujiu, but what he said was indeed reasonable, so he agreed to come down and serve as an observer in Shaanxi.

A few days later, at the insistence of the courtiers, Zhang Zai did not go to his post. Instead, he decided to lecture at Taixue for three months before taking his post.

Everyone was happy at this, and Zhang Zai was granted the title of Uncle Yun. This was his original title in history, and Zhao Fang gave it to him in advance.

It just so happened that he took up his post three months late, and there was time to build an inspection envoy's office in Hengqu Town.

The Observation Envoy has only been taking up his duties in the past two years. There was no Observation Envoy in Shaanxi to begin with. The previous Observation Envoy still used the same yamen as the Chief Envoy, which was the original Administration and Appeasement Division yamen.

The Guanzhong area was severely devastated in the Tang Dynasty. The Anshi Rebellion occurred once, and then the late Tang and Five Dynasties made it even more empty and the people's livelihood was in ruins.

Thirty years before the founding of the Song Dynasty, the farmland around Chang'an City, the largest city in Shaanxi, and the entire Jingzhao Prefecture, had only 30 hectares of farmland irrigated, which was three times less than in the Tang Dynasty.

The population of Chang'an City was less than [-], and the real number was only nine out of ten. During the reign of Emperor Taizong, successive conquests began, most of which took place in Shaanxi. After a full hundred years, Shaanxi recovered less than half of its former appearance.

The population statistics during the Yuanfeng period of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty showed that there were more than 200 million households, or a population of just over 1000 million. This was the result of the good governance of the Renzong Dynasty and the peace talks with Xixia.

Zhao Fang has now destroyed Xixia, but within a few years, Shaanxi has not yet returned to its original prosperity, but this is his next strategic goal.

Revitalizing Shaanxi's economy has been proposed in the court and passed because the Silk Road in the Western Regions will be reopened and the Song Dynasty will build a transfer station in Chang'an.

Since the envoys from the Seljuk Empire came, the two sides have negotiated a cooperation project. Liu Changzuodao has not returned yet, and he is currently in Dunhuang.

This famous general of the Northern Song Dynasty, now the governor of the pro-army army, showed his talent in the battle to exterminate Xia. Even Di Qing was so impressed that he thought he could take over his side.

While Li Xian was based in Guazhou, the original Xiping Military Division of Xixia supported the defense of Shazhou and Dunhuang, while keeping an eye on the Yellow-headed Uighurs on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Although all the Uighur tribes were surrendered to the Song Dynasty, they were not merged into the Song Dynasty after all. In addition, the Hexi Uighurs in Xixia were somewhat unwilling to give up their tribal way of life, so that generation was not very stable.

Moreover, there is also the Gaochang Uighur, the largest group of Uighurs in the Western Regions. This Uighur Khanate has a complete ruling system. Who knows whether there will be a rebellion later.

The Gaochang Uighurs also surrendered to the Song Dynasty and had been isolated from Xixia for many years. This time the Western Regions were opened up and they also came for pilgrimage.

Zhao Fang did not ask them to merge with the Song Dynasty. It was too early to restore the territory of the Tang Dynasty. He just discussed with them to protect the smoothness of the Silk Road.

As for the future, it will definitely be included in the territory of the Song Dynasty. Zhao Fang will never allow the homeland of the Han and Tang Dynasties to become independent small countries, otherwise it will become an area where foreign forces instigate rebellion in the future.

Zhang Zai's lectures were a great success. More than two months later, all the great Confucian scholars in the Song Dynasty arrived in Bianjing, and a debate conference was about to begin.

This is a good habit of Song Confucianism. When any great Confucian has his own new opinions, he will be refuted by the Confucian scholars all over the world. Only if he can refute everyone in the refutation can this theory be tenable.

Zhao Fang also walked out of the palace today to attend this speculation meeting in person. Civil servants also did not miss this opportunity, putting down their government affairs one by one and running to join in the fun.

Confucianism in the Northern Song Dynasty focused on the internal sage and despised the external kings. This started from Zhou Dunyi and inherited the fusion of Confucianism in the late Tang Dynasty. Supplemented by the theories of Taoism and Buddhism, there was a trend of thinking not to seek outside.The original Zhang Zai also adhered to this concept, but obviously, he has changed a lot now, and the book "Zheng Meng" is also somewhat different from the historical one.

This is the influence of Zhao Fang's thoughts on him. Although Zhao Fang has made little academic achievements, don't forget his photographic memory since he was a child.

He was familiar with almost all the Confucian works he could find, coupled with his knowledge and understanding of later generations. Although he did not agree with the later Neo-Confucianism, he had to say that he was influenced by it.

In addition, the most respected person in the 21st century is Wang Yangming. Even though he has not studied the theory of mind science, he still knows what it is about in general.

Wang Yangming inherited Lu Jiuyuan's system, while Confucianism in the Southern Song Dynasty pursued foreign kings. This was due to the spiritual impact of the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty on the scholar-bureaucrats.

Both brothers Lu Jiuyuan and Zhu Xi talked a lot about the way of foreign kings, in order to avenge the powerful country and fight back to the north.

Zhang Zai was influenced by Zhao Fang, and naturally he also talked about the way of the outer king, but he was from the Northern Song Dynasty after all, and he still valued the inner saint more than the outer king.

In terms of speculation today, what he is most refuted is the art of foreign kingship. He believes that Confucianism should focus on correcting one's mind and self-cultivation, and forgive others with a heart that forgives oneself. The road to kingship should put benevolence and righteousness first.

However, the way of the foreign king is suspected of being overbearing, which is different from the king's way of seeking benevolence, and should not be promoted.

Debates arose for a while. Zhang Zai took the northwest as an example, starting from the benevolence and forgiveness of Xixia in the founding of the Song Dynasty, and refuted the original benevolence and righteousness of the foreign kings as pedantic.

The real king of the outside world should be a combination of king and hegemony, reasoning with people who understand reason, and only being domineering with people who are unreasonable.

Zhao Fang shouted in support from the audience, but at this moment, people don't care that you are the emperor. The scholar-bureaucrats in the Song Dynasty were like this. Lectures are just lectures. No one cares about your status.

He was immediately refuted by several great scholars, who almost pointed at him and scolded him.

He didn't take it seriously and understood that this was a normal academic exchange. The emperor was just a member of the audience. He could participate in debates with different opinions and could not use his power to suppress others, so that he could be respected by others.

But he is not a vegetarian. He has worked hard on Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism since he was a child, but he just does not have the qualifications to become a master.

But that doesn't mean he doesn't have the ability to refute. He argued point by point, citing scriptures and citing evidence from history books. The venue was extremely lively.

He himself did not expect that today's debate would not only secure Zhang Zai's position as master, but also let the world see how knowledgeable the current emperor was.

Of course, Zhang Zai won today not only because his theory was solid enough, but also because there were many people supporting him, and they were all Confucian masters.

Wang Anshi, whose Neo-Confucian theory was originally based on practical application of the world, naturally supported Zhang Zai's way of foreign kings.

The other is Cheng Hao. Cheng Hao is different from his brother Cheng Yi. Comparing the two Chengs does not mean that they have exactly the same views.

As mentioned above, later generations believe that Lu Jiuyuan's psychology is most likely because he inherited the academic lineage of Cheng Hao, which is very different from Cheng Yi who was inherited by Zhu Xi.

　I will take a day off tomorrow and will continue to update the day after tomorrow.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)