Thousand-year-old family: its rise began with Shang Yang’s reforms

Chapter 318 The Emperor
So, is reality more important or reputation more important?
This question is a very complicated one, but almost all the philosophers did not hesitate at all. They directly chose "practical". As for face? If the emperor wants face, then give him some face?

After all, I have gained all the benefits, so what's wrong with giving face to the emperor?
Who doesn’t want his or her theories to be learned by thousands of people?
Who doesn’t want their doctrine to be recognized by official orthodoxy and then listed as something that must be learned?

Sometimes, just when things are about to fade away, people always start to make the right choice.

This is people.

At the end of the first year of Taichu, the emperor began to gradually establish official schools. In addition to Chang'an City, official schools were also set up in many other places.

What was taught in official schools were all established by the imperial court and the emperor. Neither the local official schools nor the imperial court had any right to change them. It was precisely because of this that people all over the world began to conduct a thorough "Hundred Schools of Thought Study".

Because the establishment of the official school was very "strange", these rules were something they had never seen before.

If you want to enter the official school, you must take an examination.

What is the content of the assessment?

It is "Policy Theory".

This method seems very similar to the imperial examination system, but in fact it is not. It is more like an "entrance examination". But what is the difference between the "official schools" of the Han Dynasty and the universities of later generations?

If you can get into the official school of the Han Dynasty, you will be guaranteed a job.

Many students who graduated from official schools were able to directly enter the court as officials. This is the biggest difference between official schools and private schools.

For a period of time in the past, even during the reigns of Emperor Gaozu and even Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, the status of official schools was not so high. At that time, private schools were actually more prevalent.

why?
In fact, it was because there were too few official schools at that time.

The only official schools at that time were the "Imperial Academy" and the "Xianyang Academy", but how many people were there in the Han Dynasty at that time?

In the seventh year of Yuanshou, a simple census was conducted throughout the country.

During the Qin Dynasty, the population was more than 20 million.

After the war at the end of the Qin Dynasty, the population was reduced to more than 15 million, and countless people were displaced.

During the reign of Emperor Gao, the country initially became stable, but the population did not increase dramatically. Instead, it experienced a simple "recession."

It's simple, because people get older.

During the reign of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, the population began to surge, doubling from about 10 million to over 40 million. It was during this population boom that the Han Dynasty began to flourish.

When the reign of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing passed and the current emperor began, the population surged again, reaching more than 60 million.

On the one hand, this was because people had finally adapted to a peaceful and stable life during the reign of Emperor Wu, and on the other hand, peace had been going on for a long time, and the governance of Emperors Wen and Jing brought life back to the world.

More than 60 million people.

There are only two official schools.

So what should the rest of the people who wanted to study and learn to read do? They could only go to private schools. Since the Spring and Autumn Period, starting with Confucius, private schools began to flourish. The prosperity of private schools symbolized the decline of official schools.

But now, under the guidance of the current emperor, official schools are once again established.

Money was allocated from the inner treasury and the national treasury, and "taken" from wealthy merchants from all over the country to start building official schools. The emergence of these official schools once again dealt a heavy blow to "private schools".

After all, who would want to go to a private school when there are official schools to attend?
It would be an exception if the private school teacher was a particularly famous person.

For example, the private school of Chen family.

If one can get close to someone from the Chen family, then it doesn't matter if one doesn't go to this official school.

During this year, in addition to the establishment of official schools, the emperor also did another thing that made the "Kong family" somewhat uncomfortable. In fact, in addition to the Kong family, some other "Confucian" disciples were also very dissatisfied.

In other words, those who are dissatisfied are not the disciples of Confucianism, but the "representatives" of Confucianism.

Because the emperor promoted "Dong Zhongshu" to usurp the orthodox status of Confucianism, but what could the Kong family and the Meng family do? They had no way at all. They could not refuse the emperor, nor could they change his mind.

Because the status of Confucianism was not that high at that time.

When did the status of Confucianism begin to rise?
It was after Emperor Wu of Han.

It is precisely because Emperor Wu of Han abolished all schools of thought and promoted Confucianism alone that the status of Confucianism in later generations was so high. However, that was because of Dong Zhongshu's status and the absence of the Chen family in that era.

Even Emperor Wu of Han could not refuse to deny Confucius when Confucianism gradually filled the court.

Because no matter who you are, you cannot deny Confucius when Confucianism is the only doctrine in power, because Confucius is the founder of Confucianism. Even if you don't want to respect him, you cannot deny him. Denying him is equivalent to denying the entire Confucianism.

It's different now.

First, the emperor did not exclusively promote Confucianism; second, with the existence of Dong Zhongshu and Chen, Confucius’ influence was not as great as before.

Even if Dong Zhongshu could directly say that he was a self-taught Confucian, there would not be any Confucian "leader" who would point fingers at Dong Zhongshu or even make it difficult for him to get by.

Because the Kong family itself cannot protect itself.

Dong Zhongshu's struggle for the orthodox status of Confucianism was very smooth, even so smooth that Dong Zhongshu himself was a little uncomfortable. He wondered if he had grabbed this "orthodox status" too easily, and whether this was a trap set by the Confucius family.

He even went to the Weiyang Palace to find the emperor and asked him to send an embroidered robe envoy to investigate the matter.

Then he even found Chen and asked Chen's people to help and protect him.

But in the end, the answer that the embroidered robe envoy gave to Dong Zhongshu made Dong Zhongshu himself a little unbelievable. Why didn't the Kong family target Dong Zhongshu or even set a trap for him?
The answer is simple.

Because Kong no longer has this ability. When Kong's student Jia Yi was still alive, he still had some face in front of King Liang. But now King Liang has been dead for many years. What face can Jia Yi still have?
What face can the Kong family still have?
Because the Kong family supported King Liang, the previous emperor began to target Confucianism and the Kong family after he ascended the throne. Although the current emperor did not deliberately target Confucianism and the Kong family after he ascended the throne, he did not give the Kong family and Confucianism any privileges either.

Therefore, Kong became even more depressed.

Therefore, the Kong family is even more incompetent.

So, Dong Zhongshu looked at his hands with a bewildered look on his face. Did his unconventional ways really become the orthodox Confucianism and the representative of Confucianism?
Has he become a representative who can stand alongside the other philosophers of that time?
Dong Zhongshu stood in the yard with a bewildered look on his face. He turned around and murmured to himself in a low voice: "Am I really worthy of it?" Standing not far behind him, Chen Qiu, Chen Pi, and even the usually indifferent Chen Wushi all had a slight smile on their faces. They looked at each other, but didn't say anything.

People from the Chen family will not take advantage of others' misfortunes, but they don't mind watching other people's fun.

Perhaps it is because watching the fun is something that is ingrained in human genes.

The winter of the first year of Taichu arrived quickly. A lot of things happened during this year, and even some huge changes took place in the court of the Han Dynasty. Some of these huge changes even affected the situation in the world.

At the end of winter that year, the Kong family hung up white silk, and it was said that the head of the Kong family had passed away.

It seemed that because of the emperor's support, Dong Zhongshu received a lot of disciples in just half a year, and some of these disciples even left the Kong family. This made the old patriarch of the Kong family even more angry.

Then one day, he became so angry that he fell ill and did not survive the winter.

And since this incident, or since the death of the head of the Kong family, Dong Zhongshu's "Confucianism" and the "Confucianism" of Confucius and Mencius have become mortal enemies. They have been fighting constantly for the next thousands of years, constantly competing for the orthodox status of Confucianism.

Sometimes the Kong family won, and sometimes the Dong family won.

In this era of Chen's interference, Dong Zhongshu's end was not very miserable. Instead, he thrived in Confucianism and did not resign from his official position. He even served as "Jingzhao Yi" for a short period of time.

However, government affairs and managing a city were not Dong Zhongshu's strong points, so later he resigned from his post and devoted himself to being a doctor of classics in the Palace of Doctors.

This decision also paved the way for the Dong family to become the most powerful family among the second-tier families in the Han Dynasty hundreds of years later.

As for the first queue?

There are always only two people in the first queue.

Or rather, not two.

is one, and another type.

The first group of Han Dynasty families include the "Chen Family of Guandu" and the "relatives of the current emperor".

Why do we emphasize the word "present"?

Because as soon as a new emperor comes, the previous emperor's relatives will quickly fall into the second queue, and then become the third queue. If they meet a good next generation, they may be able to struggle in the second or third queue for a while.

There is only one person who can stay in the first queue, and that is the Guandu Chen family.

This has even become an "unspoken rule".

After the death of the current head of the Kong family, the Kong family, contrary to their usual practice, began to enter a "dormant" period. They did not mind being looked down upon, but simply closed the Qufu Kong family and began to truly study the "classics" behind closed doors.

It was not just Confucius' Confucianism or Mencius' Confucianism. They also began to study Dong Zhongshu's Confucianism, and even began to study Chen's "melting a hundred schools of thought" and political science.

They learned everything, integrated it all into their own classics, and then enriched Confucius' thoughts.

Even the descendants of Confucius began to study hard, they wanted to bring honor to their ancestors.

When the emperor learned of this news, he did not attack or oppose the Kong family. Instead, he praised and appreciated the Kong family. The emperor was well versed in the art of checks and balances.

There will definitely not be another Chen family.

Therefore, the Kong family cannot fall, because the emperor needs the Kong family to restrain Dong Zhongshu, and even needs the Kong family to restrain the Chen family. Although the Kong family cannot defeat the Chen family, they can still barely resist one or two moves, right?

After all, Confucianism and Confucius are like the indestructible cockroaches.

The arrival of the second year of Taichu further intensified the tense atmosphere. Of course, feelings of sadness also gradually invaded the Han Dynasty.

First of all, the first thing to do at the beginning of the new year.

Zhang Qian, who was on a diplomatic mission to the Western Regions, had lost contact. For some reason, no new news had been received for more than two months. This was abnormal and should not have happened.

The emperor even nervously asked Chen Pi several times whether there would be any problems.

Chen Pi solved the problem with his professional knowledge, and then Chen secretly dispatched people from the Black Ice Platform and the Iron Eagle Guards to secretly search for Zhang Qian's whereabouts. At the same time, the emperor also dispatched the Embroidered Robe Messenger.

The second thing that happened at the beginning of the year was an even sadder thing.

Grand Commandant Zhou Yafu passed away.

He survived that difficult winter, but he could not survive this spring. When the spring was in full bloom and all things were reviving, he slowly fell asleep.

When Zhou Yafu died, the emperor began to talk about his contributions and cried loudly in front of his grave, as if a close friend of his had died.

If an uninformed person saw this, they would never guess that this crying emperor had been fighting with the person in the coffin for power for almost his entire life, and finally drove the person in the coffin out of the center of power.

Of course, even if someone noticed it, no one would dare to tell it.

After all, this is the emperor, the most cunning emperor.

The third event of the new year was much calmer. That was that Crown Prince Liu Ju was able to start studying, and this time Emperor Liu Che did not choose to let the crown prince take one of the Chen family as his teacher, because Chen Wushi was already busy enough.

As for the other members of the Chen family, except Chen Pi, Chen Qiu, and Chen Qulu, who else is qualified to teach the prince?
Gone.

But Chen Qiu and Chen Pi were too old, and they did not have the energy to teach a naughty child.

The emperor was also worried that the crown prince would break the bones of these two old guys.

As for Chen Qulu?
The emperor became even more worried that Chen Qulu would make the prince even more naughty.
After all, Chen Qulu himself is a representative of naughtiness. Does the prince still need to lead the army? Of course the prince doesn't need to lead the army! So what's the point of learning from a reckless man!

Liu Che himself was very serious about his first child, so he carefully selected several teachers to teach the prince and let the prince attend official schools.

The official school became even more famous because of this.

After all, the emperor sent his own children to study there. Could it be that your child is more noble than the prince?
Are you going to die?
The second year of Taichu passed even faster, as if everything was accelerated.

Chen Ye in the sky has been watching this scene and observing the waves of the long river of time above his head. He really wants to know how the story will develop next?
(End of this chapter)