The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 197 Confucianism cannot be abolished

Confucian scholars were very smart and did not object to the titles of Huangdi, Laozi and Confucius.

There is really no way to object.

Huang Di is not worthy? They dare not say this.

I'm not worthy?

If Lao Tzu is not worthy of the title, what qualifications does Confucius have?

Laozi and Confucius are one body at this time.

Therefore, there is no way to object to this.

But it doesn’t matter, I directly oppose the establishment of the Sage Temple.

As long as the sage temple cannot be established, the title will naturally be meaningless.

Moreover, the Sage Temple poses a greater threat to Confucianism and will directly shake the status of the Confucian Temple.

What is the Confucian Temple?

It is not only a temple, but also a symbol of Confucian orthodoxy.

Now the imperial court wants to build another temple to override the Confucius Temple. This is to shake the status of Confucianism.

Confucian scholars are naturally unwilling.

They wrote letters one after another to stop it, and even some civil servants and Confucian scholars knelt down at the palace gate to petition.

Then the interesting thing happened. They didn't dare to express the reason for stopping it.

After all, the Sage Temple is dedicated to the ancestors of the Chinese people, and they don’t have the guts to say that this temple is not worthy of being higher than the Confucian Temple.

We can only use "unprecedented" as an excuse, fearing that it may shake the hearts of the people.

At this moment, Fang Xiaoru, who had been labeled a traitor to Confucianism, jumped out again.

He wrote several articles in succession in favor of the establishment of the Sage Temple.

One of the articles specifically tells how the Confucian Temple came to be.

Originally the family temple of Confucius, Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty offered sacrifices for the first time, starting the emperor's practice of worshiping Confucius in the temple.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty only respected Confucianism, and the status of the Confucius Temple was improved, and it slowly became a Confucian Temple.

Since the Confucian Temple was not born, but was erected by future generations.

Then why can’t we, as future generations, build sage temples to worship the Chinese sages?

As soon as this article came out, the entire Confucian community exploded.

I wish I could arrest Fang Xiaoru and cut him into pieces.

It's just that Fang Xiaoru has long since disappeared. They can't find anyone at all, so they can only write articles and denounce him.

Fang Xiaoru ignored them at all and continued to write his own article.

A few days later, I wrote another article.

This article directly tore off the fig leaf of Confucian scholars.

Daoming said that they opposed the establishment of the Sage Temple just for their own selfish interests and to maintain the status of the Confucian Temple.

To maintain the status of the Confucian Temple is to safeguard their own interests.

This group of rotten scholars have forgotten their Chinese ancestors for their own benefit.

To actually oppose the imperial court's worship of ancestors is simply to forget one's ancestors.

The Confucian scholars were furious. This traitor really deserves to die.

Originally this was nothing, but the two sides started to quarrel once or twice.

But when Zhu Yuanzhang used this article to question civil officials in the morning court whether this was really the case, the nature changed.

Although everyone knows that this time Fang Xiaoru is the emperor's mouthpiece, but so what?

There are only various explanations.

But no matter how they explained, they could not convince the emperor.

Then you can only use the last resort.

Kneel down at the entrance of the palace and force the palace.

However, the emperor they faced was Zhu Yuanzhang.

Directly order, write down all names, cancel all honors, and never hire.

A vacant official position?

Let the heroes come forward.

At this moment, Buddhism and Taoism gave Confucianism a fatal blow.

First, Longhushan publicly expressed its support for the imperial court to establish a sage temple.

Then Maoshan, Quanzhen, Wudang and other major Taoist sects also came forward to support.

Buddhism subsequently expressed its support.

At this time, Confucianism could not sit still at all.

Do Confucians monopolize the path to officialdom?

Now is the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Everything is lacking, except honors.

Among the military class who fought on the battlefield, few believed in Confucianism.

Does the emperor rely on Confucianism to govern the country?

This is not to be denied, but so what?

Don’t forget about the Tang Dynasty. Because the Li family recognized Lao Tzu as their ancestor, they respected Taoism.

Taoism thus became the most prominent school.

Buddhism, relying on its foundation among the people, is the second most prominent school.

Confucianism can only be ranked third.

The Tang Dynasty has been passed down differently for nearly three hundred years.

Later, Confucianism became the most prominent school again, relying on the support of the Song Dynasty royal family.

To put it bluntly, the emperor is the main factor in which school becomes the most prominent school.

Regardless of how powerful Confucianism is now, it only takes one word from the emperor to knock them to the ground.

The inheritance of Taoism has never been cut off.

Even though you are very honest now, it is because Confucianism is too strong.

As long as the emperor says something, they will immediately jump out.

At this time, the Confucian scholars finally realized one thing. The forced palace method worked well for the Song Dynasty emperor, but it is useless for the current emperor.

Once they realized this, they immediately changed their strategy.

Some people suggested that it would be enough to move all the ancestors to the Confucian Temple. Why build another temple?

So this person was laughed at by everyone.

How dare you put the Suiren clan, the Youchao clan, the Shennong clan, the Yellow Emperor and other Chinese ancestors in the Confucius Temple?

Then the Confucian scholars thought of another way. Who can enter the Sage Temple to enjoy sacrifices? This is a question worth thinking about.

We need to discuss it carefully and wait until it’s settled.

Everyone understood their intention, which was to delay indefinitely.

But Zhu Yuanzhang had already thought of a way: "Build the Sage Temple first, and invite the uncontroversial sages to accept sacrifices."

"If it's controversial, let's discuss it slowly."

This time, the Confucian scholars were completely speechless.

After a farce, the Sage Temple was officially established.

But the Confucian scholars still did not give up, and they were prepared to resist silently.

Zhu Yuanzhang originally ordered that the sacrifices to Confucius should be stopped in Qufu.

The Confucian scholars simply ignored it. Wasn't this order also abolished?

Mencius was also removed from the Confucius Temple, but because of the disregard of the Confucian scholars, he was invited back.

This time they were going to adopt the same approach and ignore it.

If you want to build a temple, just build it. There is nothing we can do about the sacrifices held by the imperial court.

But other than that, we just pretend there is no temple.

No sacrifice, no publicity.

See what you can do.

Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to have guessed their thoughts and made another decree:

Every Taoist temple in the world must build a sage hall if conditions permit.

Even if you don't have the conditions, you should also build a sage hall and invite the sages' tablets to be worshiped there.

This was not the end, and all the vassal states were ordered to build sage temples to conduct national sacrifices.

They were also allowed to invite their ancestors to the Sage Temple to offer sacrifices.

But this must be done with the permission of the Ming Dynasty.

For example, Goryeo, after obtaining the consent of the Ming Dynasty, could place Jizi in the sage temple of its own country.

In other vassal states, you can do the same if you recognize any sage as your ancestor.

Zhu Yuanzhang even hinted that if your performance satisfies Ming Dynasty, you will have the opportunity to place your ancestors in Ming Dynasty's sage temple.

At this time, because of "A Brief History of China", the vassal states that highly recognized the concept of China were ecstatic. They all said, "Sage Temple, right? We will build it right away."

At this time, the Confucian scholars were completely dumbfounded.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang did not irritate the Confucians too much. After all, they were still needed to govern the country.

In the sage temple, the status of the three saints is the most respected and ranks first.

The three sages are naturally Huangdi, Laozi and Confucius.

Huang Di ranked first, Laozi second, and Confucius last.

Confucianism has no choice but to accept this setting.

Taoism is naturally the most supportive of this. In fact, this is also the reason why they support the Sage Temple.

Do you really think that we Taoists will be trampled under your feet by your Confucians?

During the Song Dynasty, we dared to stand up and fight for the right to speak, let alone now.

By building a sage temple, we can use this to impact the status of Confucianism.

Especially in the Sage Temple, Laozi was placed above Confucius, which made them even happier.

Seeing that Confucianism was suppressed and the Sage Temple came true, Zhu Xiongying was very excited, but he pretended to be dismissive and said:

"Isn't this the case with Confucianism? They fell before we even exerted our strength."

Chen Jingke laughed dumbly and said, "That's because they are facing Emperor Hongwu. If it were you, things wouldn't be so easy to handle."

Zhu Xiongying was very unconvinced.

Lao Zhu felt refreshed by this flattery. He is indeed our good son-in-law.

This is not Chen Jingke's fault. As the founding monarch, Zhu Yuanzhang naturally has the power to reshuffle the cards.

Coupled with the evil reputation of peeling daylilies, it is enough to deter Confucian scholars from messing around.

If it had been any other emperor, the imperial city gates would have been full of opposing Confucian scholars, and most of the court would have been paralyzed.

It even happened that the emperor fell into the water.

After joking, Chen Jingke said seriously: "You seem to dislike Confucianism?"

Zhu Xiongying was stunned for a moment and said, "Is there a problem? Don't you and Grandpa Huang dislike seeing them too?"

Zhu Yuanzhang also realized the problem and his expression became serious.

Chen Jingke shook his head and said, "No, Your Majesty and I do not dislike seeing Confucianism."

Zhu Xiongying asked doubtfully: "Then why do you want to attack Confucianism?"

Chen Jingke replied: "Suppressing Confucianism is different from not treating Confucianism."

"Confucianism has its advantages, especially in the construction of etiquette and law. It has the advantage of overpowering hundreds of other schools of thought."

"If the Ming Dynasty wanted long-term peace and stability, it was also inseparable from Confucianism."

Zhu Yuanzhang also nodded and said: "What Jing Ke said is true. The Ming Dynasty cannot be separated from Confucianism. You must keep this in mind."

Zhu Xiongying was even more confused and said: "Then why do you still suppress Confucianism?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded to Chen Jingke and motioned for him to explain.

How to deal with Confucianism, he also fell into a misunderstanding at first.

It was through Chen Jingke's explanation that I finally understood the truth.

Only then did this action against Confucianism take place.

Let Chen Jingke explain it more clearly.

Chen Jingke did not refuse and said: "The suppression of Confucianism is out of political necessity. We should not let the Confucian family dominate, otherwise they will in turn negate the imperial power."

"I have told you many times about the situation in the Song Dynasty. In the beginning, the Song Dynasty chose Confucianism."

"But later on, the Confucians kidnapped the Song family..."

"Only under Confucian rules, the Song Dynasty royal family is a royal family."

“If you oppose Confucian rules, you will be counterattacked by Confucianism.”

"This is a profound lesson that Ming Dynasty must learn."

"Otherwise, there is no guarantee that the emperor will be easily dissolved in water."

Zhu Xiongying said in disbelief: "They dare, they are just a group of Confucian scholars..."

Chen Jingke said: "Why don't they dare? The eunuchs in the Tang Dynasty could depose and establish the emperor."

"The Confucian scholars of the Song Dynasty dared to kidnap the imperial power..."

"If the Confucian scholars of the Ming Dynasty were really allowed to completely control the country, why wouldn't they dare to depose the emperor?"

Zhu Xiongying was still a little unconvinced.

Zhu Yuanzhang added: "Do you still remember our order that 'the sacrifices to Confucius should stop at Qufu' and the removal of Mencius from the Confucius Temple?"

"Why did it fail later?"

"We did something wrong by moving Mencius out of the Confucius Temple. The Confucian scholars objected but I didn't say anything."

"What's wrong with offering sacrifices to Confucius only in Qufu?"

"We just wanted to restrict the status of the Confucian family a little, but we suffered the backlash of the Confucian family."

"If the action were bigger, I'm afraid the backlash would be even greater."

"We are still the founders of the Ming Dynasty, and this is still the case."

"I'm afraid it will be even harder for you, the successors, to suppress them."

Living examples are more convincing than any words.

Zhu Xiongying finally realized the seriousness of the problem and his expression became solemn:

"I understand, names and tools cannot be fake."

"We want to use Confucianism, but we can't praise them too highly, right?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said happily: "Yes, that's it. If you can understand this, grandpa will be relieved."

Chen Jingke also breathed a sigh of relief and further explained:

"There is another benefit to admiring Taoism."

"Taoism is the master of hundreds of schools of thought. Its higher status will also help the emergence of new ideas."

"Furthermore, Taoism emphasizes governing by inaction. Even if it becomes the most prominent school, it will not crowd out Confucianism and prevent the Ming Dynasty from falling into school disputes."

"This has been verified by history, so there is no need to worry about any problems."

Everything he did was actually to suppress Confucianism, not to eliminate Confucianism.

It must be admitted that Confucianism does have its advantages in constructing etiquette and law.

The moral system he established deeply affects every Chinese person.

Especially the current Ming Dynasty is inseparable from Confucianism.

Therefore, it is unrealistic to eliminate him.

But Confucianism can be used, but it cannot be praised too highly.

Everyone has seen the virtues of Confucianism in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, Chen Jingke has been explaining this to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Especially after the Sage Temple plan was proposed, he would analyze the dangers of a single family to Zhu Yuanzhang from time to time.

There is no doubt about Lao Zhu's political quality, and he quickly figured out the reason.

Exclusive respect for Confucianism can indeed bring stability, but after exclusive respect, Confucianism will become the biggest factor of instability.

When Zhu Yuanzhang made up his mind to do something, it was difficult for him to fail.

Why did Taoist sects such as Longhushan, Maoshan, and Wudang come together to support it?

Of course it's not a coincidence.

After deciding to build a sage temple, Zhu Yuanzhang privately contacted the major Taoist sects.

There is no need to make any promises, just one sentence, Laozi of Shengxian Temple ranks second, and is awarded the title of Holy Master.

Taoism, which has always shown itself to be indifferent to the world, showed its fangs.

At the critical moment, Confucianism was given a fatal blow.

As for Buddhism, Zhu Yuanzhang ignored them and did not need to pay attention to them.

As Taoism's biggest opponents, they must act in line with Taoism.

If they choose to stand aside this time, Buddhism will never be able to raise its head in the future Ming Dynasty.

As for standing with Confucianism?

Forget it, they don't want records like "Hongwu destroyed Buddhism" to appear in the history books.

In the end, as Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Jingke expected, the stance of Buddhism and Taoism completely overwhelmed Confucianism.

But this is not the end, but the beginning of the dispute.

Whether it is the Ming Dynasty, Confucianism, Taoism or Buddhism, they must re-find their position in this unprecedented change.

Until the situation is re-balanced.

During this period, various struggles were inevitable.

(End of this chapter)