I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 243 Maybe You Have a Chance to Become a Confucian Sage
As Liu Che's edict was issued.

This incident basically came to a perfect end.

With the help of allicin, Liu Hong recovered very well after the operation. The horsehair was removed in about half a month, and he was full of life as usual, except for a small centipede scar on his stomach.

But it doesn't matter.

Even for the big men who pay more attention to their appearance, they only care about the parts that can be exposed. As long as there are no ugly scars on the face or disabilities in the limbs, no one will care.

Yishuo also received corresponding "punishment", which not only complied with public opinion but also eliminated the negative impact of this incident.

Although this result was quite different from Liu Ju's original idea that he did not want Yi Shuo to be punished and thus restrict the subsequent development of Chinese medicine, Liu Che's subsequent plan to open a "medical major" in the Imperial College and have the court provide convenience for medical research within the Imperial College had already solved this problem well.

Even Liu Ju himself had to admit it.

The way Liu Che, his cheap father, handled the situation was much more clever than his. This is the value of an emperor of all ages. Professional matters really need to be handled by professionals.

In addition, after this incident, the imperial doctors of the Imperial Medical Bureau have also recognized the necessity of surgical research.

Recently, someone even came to the Prince's Mansion in person to ask Liu Ju and Yi Shuo for advice on this issue, which is already a good start.

After all, these medical families who were able to become imperial physicians in the Imperial Medical Bureau were already the leading representatives of the Chinese medical profession.

Being able to gain their recognition is the most far-reaching promotion.

As for surgery, Liu Ju still felt that it was far from the right time, but as people delved deeper into surgical research, there would be more and more discoveries, and they would be far ahead of the world in the future...

but.

Not everyone in the Prince's Mansion returned to a peaceful and stable life after this incident.

For example, poor old Dong, Dong Zhongshu.

After Emperor Wu of Han issued an edict to open a "medical major" in the Imperial Academy and put the blame on Dong Zhongshu, Dong Zhongshu immediately became the target of criticism from a group of Confucian scholars. Not only did the reputation of "great Confucian scholar" that he had maintained for his entire life go down the drain, but he also was branded as a "traitorous Confucian scholar."

Dong Zhongshu once again fell into a situation where whenever he went out, Confucian scholars would splash dirty water on him and throw vegetable leaves at him.

"Ugh……"

Dong Zhongshu has been hiding in Bowang Garden all day recently. He always looks sad, and sighs are accompanied by his every move. He looks much older than before.

You have to know that he is already 67 years old, and I don’t know if his body can withstand it.

However, according to historical records, he lived a long life, reaching the age of 75, two years later than Wei Qing, who was still in his prime at the time.

But for Liu Ju.

He sincerely hoped that Old Dong could overcome all difficulties and handle this matter brilliantly. As long as the pilot of "medical profession" was successful, Liu Che could officially promote the "hundred schools of thought" with Han characteristics, and start telling the story of the Han Dynasty's far-leading lead.

So Liu Ju decided to give Dong Zhongshu some motivation to prevent him from being burdened too much, which would not only ruin his health but also mess things up.

"Mr. Dong, what happened? Was he cooked?"

Liu Ju approached Old Dong, who was daydreaming by the pond in the backyard, and showed a sly smile.

"Your Highness, why do you have to ask when you already know the answer?"

When Dong Zhongshu saw that it was Liu Ju, even though he didn't want to pay attention to him, he still stood up and bowed, and responded helplessly with a bitter face.

He felt that he was really old and confused.

Hadn't he been stimulated by Liu Ju's remarks on the emperor's way of employing people? Moreover, Liu Ju didn't say it to his face at that time, but he just heard it by accident. How could he be so impulsive as to submit a memorial to the emperor, suggesting that the emperor set up professional courses of other prestigious schools in the Imperial Academy?
And the emperor did not fully adopt his suggestions.

His suggestion in the memorial was to eliminate the contents in other popular schools of thought that were contrary to Confucianism, select those with practical uses, and include them in Confucianism, and then set up relevant professional courses, so as to further enhance the influence of Confucianism and change the current situation where Confucianism is completely useless.

What's the result now?
The emperor's edict did not mention anything about incorporating other popular schools of thought into Confucianism... This made him a complete Confucian traitor, and it would be strange if he did not cut himself off from Confucianism.

Liu Ju still laughed slyly when he heard this:

"In fact, in my opinion, Mr. Dong is so worried because he is too obsessed with it."

"Why did Your Highness say this?"

Dong Zhongshu asked in confusion.

"Since Mr. Dong is a great Confucian scholar, he must regard Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, as the saint and the Spring and Autumn Annals as the classic, right?"

Liu Ju did not answer but asked instead.

Dong Zhongshu was even more puzzled and just replied:

"It's natural."

"Then may I ask Mr. Dong, what does Confucius think of other schools of thought? Does he think that Confucianism should be the only one to be respected?" Liu Ju asked again.

"This..." Dong Zhongshu was stunned.

Liu Ju then laughed and said, "Of course I have no opinion, and I definitely would not propose to promote Confucianism alone, because when Confucius was alive, there was no situation of a hundred schools of thought contending with each other."

"What exactly does your highness want to say?"

Dong Zhongshu felt that he had been fooled again and didn't want to pay any more attention to Liu Ju.

But Liu Ju's expression suddenly became serious again, and he said solemnly:
"I think the Confucianism of Confucius' time is what Confucianism should be like."

"Confucius taught 3,000 students in his lifetime and advocated education for all. After him, his students spread all over the country and taught students. More and more people in all walks of life became literate, more and more people had ideas, and more and more inventions and creations were produced. This led to the subsequent flourishing of a hundred schools of thought. The productivity also underwent a qualitative change during that period, and countries became increasingly powerful."

"After Confucius, Mozi abandoned Confucianism and founded Mohism from scratch, which became a prominent school of thought alongside Confucianism."

"Wu Qi gave up being a scholar and joined the army, and he is as famous as Sun Wu."

"Brothers Chen Xiang and Chen Xin gave up their studies to become farmers, and their names are recorded in history."

"There are countless similar examples. Even during the period of the Hundred Schools of Thought, many founders and important figures of various schools of thought came from Confucianism or were related to Confucianism. At least the process of learning to read and open up wisdom was due to Confucianism. Therefore, to some extent, the Hundred Schools of Thought can even be called the Hundred Confucian Confucianism."

“And in my opinion, that was Confucianism’s most glorious moment.”

“I wonder how Mr. Dong thinks that Confucianism has such a glorious moment, but there is a powerful regime and a tyrannical emperor who only respects Confucianism like now?”

"..."

When Dong Zhongshu heard Liu Ju's question, he moved his lips.

But in the end he could not utter a single word. He, who usually spoke eloquently during debates, was stumped by Liu Ju's question again.

Dong Zhongshu's silence had given Liu Ju the answer he wanted, so he smiled and continued:
"It seems that Mr. Dong also knows that Confucius only served as an official in Lu for a short period of time in his life and was never valued. Mencius spent his entire life lobbying the princes and visited Qi, Liang, Song, Teng, and Lu, but was never used."

"Before Mr. Dong, and before my father, there had never been any regime or emperor who exclusively respected Confucianism."

“Therefore, the reason why Confucianism has been able to survive and even flourish despite repeated persecutions in history is definitely not because of the mandatory Confucianism.”

"There is only one reason why Confucianism can truly flourish: it teaches everyone and enlightens the people."

"But now Mr. Dong has walked into a dead end. In fact, because of Mr. Dong's previous initiatives, he has even brought the entire Confucianism into a dead end."

"Today, the great Confucian scholars and scholars in the world are no longer thinking about teaching everyone, nor about enlightening the people, but about how to completely deny other schools of thought, how to fool and weaken the people, so as to ensure the monopoly of Confucianism, so as to gain more political capital and seek more benefits for themselves."

“Such Confucianism has put the cart before the horse.”

"Mr. Dong, I can tell you responsibly that keeping the people ignorant and weak is not a long-term solution."

"One day in the future, when the system changes and someone starts to replace Confucianism and promote education for all, when the people are enlightened again, such Confucianism will surely be regarded as dregs and something filthy to be despised by others. That will be the time when Confucianism will never be able to recover."

"And you, Mr. Dong, will eventually be regarded as a sinner in history, nailed to the pillar of shame forever, and despised and cursed by people!"

Liu Ju's words were by no means alarmist; he was simply describing an objective fact.

Indeed, since Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty established Confucianism as the only doctrine, it has accompanied almost the entire feudal dynasty of the Celestial Empire and has been the only prominent school of thought in the past two thousand years.

But when the Qing Dynasty fell, education began to become popular, especially after the new China implemented compulsory education.

Confucianism immediately came under a lot of criticism.

In the minds of many people in later generations, whether good or bad, useful or useless, all were classified as feudal dregs.

It wasn't even just Dong Zhongshu who was nailed to the pillar of shame.

Many people have no good feelings towards Confucius and Mencius, and regard Confucianism as the root of the servility of the people of the Celestial Empire. They deny everything related to Confucianism.

"..."

After hearing these words, Dong Zhongshu stood there in a daze, looking at Liu Ju with complicated eyes.

He is thinking.

Although it is not easy to turn around from a dead end at his age, Liu Ju's unconventional yet to-the-point words still made him realize something he had never wanted to realize before.

My head feels a little itchy.

It feels like I'm growing a new brain...

"Think about it carefully, Mr. Dong."

Liu Ju did not expect to be possessed by the soul of Dong Zhongshu all at once, so he just patted his shoulder and said with a smile,
"It is not too late to lead Confucianism out of this dead end. The establishment of a 'medical major' in the Imperial College should be regarded as the first brave step."

"You may be criticized for a while, but if you can change the future of Confucianism, it will be cut off from the world."

"Even if your crime is committed today, your merit will last for generations to come... maybe you will have a chance to become a Confucian sage."

(End of this chapter)