Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Zhu Youjian was extremely happy to receive the news that Liu Zongzhou recognized "To Jun Yao and Shun Shu".

Because this means that although Liu Zongzhou is poor and happy, he is not a rigid and stubborn person——

This person can be cooperated with and can be exploited by him.

Previously, Zhu Youjian only planned to use Liu Zongzhou's reputation to get him to endorse certain of his actions.

Now, he has considered whether he can cooperate with Liu Zongzhou and let him use Confucian knowledge to disguise his measures so that people of this era can accept them.

It can be said that Liu Zongzhou's value in his heart has been greatly improved. In Zhu Youjian's mind, he became a person who could discuss major policies.

The specific details will depend on Liu Zongzhou's performance and whether his lectures at the Sutra Banquet can meet Zhu Youjian's wishes.

In Beijing, many people also saw the newspapers, and found that the headlines of many newspapers were Liu Zongzhou's memorials. Even the other articles discuss the content of the memorial.

Such a thing had never been heard of before. Many civil servants admired the wide spread of Liu Zongzhou's memorials and said to others disdainfully:

"Pooh!"

"He's also said to be a scholar!"

"I didn't expect such a flattering person!"

Most of them expressed disdain for Liu Zongzhou's praise of the emperor as a credit to Yao and Shun.

As a public official, many people think that it is dereliction of duty to sing praises for the emperor instead of looking for his faults.

Others expressed disbelief and said:

"Is this article really written by Mr. Qishan?"

"According to the kind of person you are, this shouldn't be the case!"

The person who spoke before shook his head and sighed:
"You know people but not their hearts. Before this, could you believe that Mr. Yushan would suddenly change his attitude?"

"I thought Mr. Jishan had some integrity in redressing the injustice of his friends."

"I didn't expect it to be worse than Mr. Yushan. When I came to the capital, I went to the public to praise His Majesty."

Everyone was silent as he spoke, thinking of Qian Qianyi who had suddenly turned around.

Before this, no one would have thought that the next generation of leaders of the Donglin Party would be so spineless in the face of the emperor.

In this way, what Liu Zongzhou did seems to be explained clearly——

Maybe he saw Qian Qianyi's fate and directly expressed his loyalty to the emperor.

This statement was quite popular in Beijing and was widely circulated for a while. So much so that Qian Qianyi, who was ordered by the emperor to "close himself up and think about his mistakes", also learned about these rumors.

He did not believe this easily. Instead, he carefully read "To Jun Yao and Shun Shu" and thought about the reasons why it was spread by the emperor.

As a literary sect of the generation, Qian Qianyi was certainly inferior to Liu Zongzhou in knowledge and lacked core academic concepts. However, based on his knowledge and writing style, it can be clearly seen that this memorial is in the same vein as Liu Zongzhou’s previous opinions, and there are signs of being cropped——

The sentences in some places are not smooth and natural enough.

This made Qian Qianyi quickly realize that the original text of Liu Zongzhou's memorial was not like this. It was cut by the emperor and became a piece of praise.

However, from this memorial, we can still see Liu Zongzhou’s thoughts:
"Construct rituals and music, practice benevolence and righteousness, learn from Yao and Shun, and practice the ways of Yao and Shun."

"This is the noble and righteous way, the way for the sages to govern the country!"

"Your Majesty ordered people to spread this article to implement the principles contained in it."

This discovery made him sigh, and he couldn't help but sigh again and again.

These days, while he was writing articles in accordance with the emperor's requirements, he also thought about using these articles to influence the emperor and let him implement his own strategy of governing the country.

Unexpectedly, he discovered that Liu Zongzhou had already taken this path before he submitted his ideas for governing the country. Use this "To Jun Yao and Shun Shu" to gain the emperor's approval.

From then on, the emperor would use Liu Zongzhou's ideas as the guiding ideology for governing the country. Liu Zongzhou's knowledge will become a prominent school and rule the entire court.

Compared with this, what does a memorial cut into a hymn mean?

Those who criticized Liu Zongzhou might be reciting this article secretly, so as not to fail to answer when the emperor asked.

Therefore, listening to the servant parroting the words that were laughed at Liu Zongzhou from outside, Qian Qianyi shook his head and sighed:
"When a sergeant hears the truth, he will practice it diligently."

"When the sergeant hears the word, he will live or die."

"When a corporal hears the Tao, he laughs. Not laughing is not enough for the Tao."

"These people don't understand what the truth is!"

Every civil servant can tell you about etiquette, music, benevolence and righteousness. Everyone knows these principles of governing the country.

But it is not that easy for someone like Liu Zongzhou to be able to write in a clear and coherent manner and be adopted by the emperor.

Not to mention that Liu Zongzhou’s reputation accumulated over decades is enough to make people believe that he can practice these principles, which is even more valuable——

At least for Qian Qianyi, he didn't think he could win the trust of people in the world by writing such an article.

"Poverty leads to happiness, poverty leads to happiness..."

“It’s easy to say, but so difficult to do!”

Qian Qianyi said somewhat dejectedly, knowing that he could not become Liu Zongzhou.

He could never bear those miserable days.

Qian Qianyi became famous at a young age and was a leader in the literary world. He liked to socialize and entertain people, and he often used his position to help those who asked for help.

Even the setback this time had something to do with these things. The emperor even warned him to restrain himself in the future. It is best to declare your property and take the initiative to hand over your illegal income.

How can he compare with Liu Zongzhou and convince the world that he can practice the principles of sages?
That's why Qian Qianyi felt powerless because he couldn't compete with Liu Zongzhou for such a status.

"never mind!"

"I'd better continue to be the leader of the literary world!"

"If I don't have this identity, I will have no status with His Majesty."

After being depressed, Qian Qianyi cheered up and started writing articles again.

He knew that the reason why he could stay in the capital now was because he could write well and influence a large number of scholars.

That's why the emperor kept him and asked him to write articles supporting the policy.

If he couldn't even do this well, he would probably be given up by the emperor.

It can be said that under the competition from Liu Zongzhou, Qian Qianyi wrote articles more seriously. The sentences inside also unconsciously move closer to "To the King Yao and Shun", linking the emperor's previous policies with the ways of Yao and Shun.

Not only him, but Yuan Keli, who had in-depth exchanges with the emperor on the principles of governing the country, also saw the emperor's intentions.

This made him very happy and felt that it was right for him to write a private letter urging Liu Zongzhou to enter the court. With the help of wise men like Liu Zongzhou, the emperor will be closer to becoming a wise king like Yao and Shun.

Especially when he knew that the emperor was going to hold a sutra feast tomorrow and let Liu Zongzhou explain the "Book of Rites", he felt even more relieved and happy about this event. Because the scripture feast conflicts with the time of the examination. If there is a sutra banquet tomorrow, the officials responsible for the examination will not be able to attend. Among them are not only the bachelors, but also many officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Hanlin Academy. These are the main force and indispensable people in the sutra feast.

Therefore, the emperor had previously intended to temporarily appoint an official for the Sutra Feast, but postponed the Sutra Feast ceremony to be held later.

Many courtiers agreed with this approach because they knew how to do it.

Only Yuan Keli and a few others were worried that the emperor would not pay attention to this ceremony if he postponed the sutra feast, so they insisted on holding the sutra feast as scheduled. Taking advantage of the emperor's respect for conventions, the spring lecture of the Sutra Feast was scheduled to start on February 12th and end on May 2nd, and be held on every second day of every month.

The emperor now asked Liu Zongzhou to give a lecture tomorrow. He obviously adopted this opinion and attached great importance to the Sutra Banquet.

The only regret for him is that as the deputy examiner of the general examination, he will not be able to participate in tomorrow's scripture feast. I wonder what Liu Zongzhou would say at that time.

Huang Liji, the chief minister of the cabinet, also understood this after learning that the emperor asked Liu Zongzhou to explain the "Book of Rites".

Although they were both officials at the Jingjing Banquet, Huang Liji understood that his position was obtained entirely by virtue of his status, and it was completely different from Liu Zongzhou, who was a Jingjing Banquet Officer who was obtained by virtue of his knowledge——

To put it simply, Liu Zongzhou was the imperial master recognized by the emperor. As the official of the Sutra Feast, he only presided over the Sutra Feast Ceremony.

Strictly speaking, in this matter, the emperor broke the practice of appointing ministers and cabinet bachelors as the officials of the banquet. But this is not a serious official position, it is just a part-time job giving lectures to the emperor, and the rules are not so strict.

In addition, Liu Zongzhou had an extraordinary reputation and was recognized by the world as a great Confucian. Therefore, his appointment as the official of the Zhijing Banquet was approved by the ministers.

Now, when the emperor held the sutra banquet for the first time, he asked Liu Zongzhou to give a lecture. Undoubtedly, it was to clarify the identity of the emperor's master and help Liu Zongzhou establish his authority.

Huang Liji, the chief minister of the cabinet with low prestige, could only do other things and deal with matters other than lecturing.

Zhang Weixian, an honorable minister, could only use his hands to show off at the sutra banquet tomorrow.

In this way, on February 12, Zhu Youjian's first feast ceremony after ascending to the throne came as scheduled.

As a major ceremony of the imperial court, the Sutra Banquet was held with great solemnity. The emperor, cabinet bachelors, Jiuqing, Hanlin, Taixue, Kedao, Jinyiwei, etc. all attended, and almost all the important officials in the court were here.

Because the examination was being held, many officials from the Ministry of Rites were unable to attend the Sutra Banquet. But the other officials still held the ceremony quite grandly. The emperor also added some distinguished relatives to serve as a facade during the sutra banquet ceremony.

After sitting down on the throne of Wenhua Hall, Zhu Youjian saw the officials of Honglu Temple leading these officials to perform five bows and three kowtows before Danbi, and he said:

"Today's sutra feast, I am the student, and you are the teachers."

"There is no need to do five prostrations and three kowtows, just bow."

The ministers were a little surprised, and some wanted to insist on bowing down, saying "the etiquette cannot be abolished", but Liu Zongzhou took the lead and said:

"Thank you for your grace!"

You should bow first to complete the etiquette the emperor said.

When other courtiers saw this, they also bowed and saluted——

After all, there is nothing wrong with most people, and no one likes to kowtow and kneel down.

Standing in front of the lecture, when Liu Zongzhou was about to start explaining, Zhu Youjian clapped his hands again and said:

"Sir is a teacher, so you must not be disrespectful."

"Come here, serve tea to Mr. Liu."

He asked his brother-in-law Gong Yonggu to serve tea to Liu Zongzhou on his behalf.

This ceremony once again amazed the officials and realized that the emperor really regarded Liu Zongzhou as his teacher. So much so that even the ritual of worshiping a master and serving tea was held in front of the ministers.

Liu Zongzhou was even more excited. He took a sip of tea and began to explain the "Book of Rites".

What Zhu Youjian asked Liu Zongzhou to explain was the Rites and Luck chapter of the "Book of Rites", mainly the parts at the beginning about Datong and Xiaokang.

However, when Liu Zongzhou was teaching, he paid more attention to the theme of "ritual luck" and explained this chapter based on the operation and changes of etiquette.

In his opinion, the emperor asked him to talk about rituals and luck in order to prepare for the reconstruction of rituals and music. This chapter illustrates that rituals and music are changing. It is never fixed and can only abide by ancient rituals——

Previously, he was the first to agree with the emperor's change of kowtow to bow, and this was also the reason.

Zhu Youjian listened to this with some interest. What he is most familiar with about rituals is the part about Datong. Now after listening to Liu Zongzhou's explanation, I realize that those are not the most important aspects of etiquette, but the most important part of etiquette, which is the operation and change of etiquette. Once you understand these, you will know how to practice etiquette:
"Ritual must be based on heaven, move from place to place, follow the order of things, change and follow the time, and cooperate with the division of art. The people who live in it are also called nourishing, and they are carried out through goods, power, courtesy, food, crown, and funeral. , Sheyu, Zhaopin."

"Although etiquette did not exist before the king, it can be traced back to righteousness. Righteousness is divided into arts and benevolence."

"The former kings were able to practice etiquette to achieve righteousness, and practice faith to achieve obedience. This is the reality of obedience."

After finishing the explanation of Rites and Luck, Zhu Youjian said thoughtfully:

"Sir, what you mean is that etiquette originates from heaven and earth, and saints formulate etiquette systems based on the nature of heaven and earth."

"And when necessary, they can rise up and formulate etiquette systems that did not exist before based on personnel."

"So rituals can change, so this article is called "Rituals"."

Liu Zongzhou was extremely happy and said:

"exactly!"

"The gift of the third generation is different from now."

"The etiquette of the Han and Tang Dynasties was also different from today."

"Rituals are subject to change, so the sages wrote "Rituals"."

This statement solves the fundamental problem of remaking rituals and music.

If someone says that etiquette is immutable and that etiquette and music cannot be recreated, you can just ignore the chapter on etiquette and luck and say that he does not understand etiquette at all.

It can be said that today's lecture is Liu Zongzhou's declaration to reinvent rituals and music. No one can say that the Ming Dynasty’s rituals and music cannot be changed.

Zhu Youjian was also extremely happy and believed that it was right to ask Liu Zongzhou to give lectures. This article by Liyun solved a big problem in my own restructuring.

In the future, any changes you make to the legal system can be placed in the remake of rituals and music in the name of changing etiquette.

With Liu Zongzhou's endorsement, anyone who dares to question must refute him first——

With Liu Zongzhou's knowledge, there is no such person in the world.

So he immediately said to the living official:
"Write down all Mr. Liu's lectures. I want everyone in the world to know this truth."

"The full text will be published in the Di Di newspaper tomorrow."

The ministers listened in surprise and realized once again that the emperor valued Liu Zongzhou, so much so that he frequently published newspapers to promote Liu Zongzhou's memorials and knowledge.

After Zhu Youjian ordered him to go down, he did not forget his purpose. He regarded this sutra feast as a retreat to discuss the principles of governing the country with his ministers.

This time, the theme he wanted the ministers to discuss was the beginning of the rituals, the part about great harmony and well-off society.

So he said to the ministers:

"Please try to explain what Confucius said about Datong and Xiaokang!" (End of Chapter)