Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

On the bank of the Bian River, Zhang Genzhi, Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty, left Beijing for his official post. Two to three hundred officials and scholars saw him off. The willow trees on the embankment were almost stripped bare.

I was writing poetry and drinking again, and the boat had not set off until noon.

Zhang Gen wrote six poems in one breath. Except for the first two poems, which are considered excellent works, the remaining four poems can only be said to be average.

"Everyone should assist the officials and the prince with all their heart, so that our Ming Dynasty can reach a prosperous age. Say goodbye!" Zhang Gen bowed to everyone.

Zhai Ruwen led a group of officials in return and watched Zhang Gen and his wife board the ship.

The scholars standing on the periphery of the crowd were filled with emotion when they saw this scene. They felt that the previous dynasty perished due to party strife, but now that they saw the harmony among officials in the new dynasty, they all thought that a picture of a prosperous age was in front of them.

Yes, the Song Dynasty died due to party strife. This is the consensus of both the government and the public.

Although the emperor and the prince repeatedly emphasized that in addition to party strife, there were also factors such as the emperor's ignorance, corrupt officials, redundancy, and excessive mergers... But everyone still liked to criticize party strife.

In particular, many of the party's disciples have been re-employed as officials, and they hate party strife to their core.

In addition to party disputes, there are also eunuchs.

Just like Zhao Kuangyin used culture to control military force to prevent military rebels from rebelling, this is a summary of previous experiences and lessons. Officials of the Ming Dynasty and the New Dynasty demanded the suppression of eunuchs one after another, and advocated that officials should be harmonious and exercise restraint even if they disagreed with their governance ideas.

The official ship gradually moved away, and soon only a small black dot remained.

The bureaucrats finally turned around and returned to the city. They were in small groups, laughing and chatting. It seemed that everything in the government and the public was peaceful.

Huan Guo boarded Xiao Chu's carriage, opened the curtain and swept outside, laughing in a low voice: "After the publication of the "Da Ming Law", except for judicial officials, not many people read it seriously. The prince took advantage of the ban on gambling. , but it alerted them, and many bookstores in Tokyo have sold out the "Da Ming Law"."

"The prince is pushing them forward, but if they can't push them forward, they can only be beaten with a stick." Xiao Chu said.

Huan Guo gloated: "In the past few days, the thresholds of Kaifeng Fuyamen, Kaifeng County Yamen, and Xiangfu County Yamen have all been stepped on. Officials from the new dynasty who settled in Kaifeng, as well as wealthy families from the previous dynasty in Kaifeng, with a household registration of more than thirty or fifty people They are all busy dividing households and analyzing property to seek peace. Do these people not read history? Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty moved powerful people, and Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty suppressed prominent families. It was nothing more than the emperor taking over power and purging the local area. Not to mention the distant past, the former Song Dynasty was still dominated by The imperial court has come forward to split up the Chen family of Yimen."

Xiao Chu said: "It's not that they don't understand, but they think it has nothing to do with them. Prime Minister Zhang retreated bravely, so he must have seen some clues."

Both of them were deeply influenced by the Gongyang faction, and at the same time they adhered to utilitarianism. They supported the unlimited strengthening of imperial power. And on this basis, we will achieve the unification of systems, culture, and territory, and then expand our territory to the outside world to strengthen China.

Although there are many differences in specific theories, the two can definitely work together.

Family interests?

Haha, Xiao Chu lived for more than sixty years and indulged in traveling, teaching and studying, and now he doesn't even have a wife.

Although Huan Guo had a son, he was a first-ranked scholar and had been promoted to the prefect of Chengdu, but he resigned from office for more than ten years to devote himself to studying. How can the things he values ​​​​be that yellow and white?

Their ambition is to achieve meritorious service, morality, and reputation!

Today, when Hu Guo returned home after rest, his eldest son Hu Yin was in the study.

Hu Yin was actually Huan Guo's nephew. He was abandoned by his biological parents because of his poverty, and was brought back to be fed by Huan Guo's mother.

Historically, Huan Guo tried his best to help Qin Hui ascend to power, and was even known as the "leader of the Qin Party". Later, he found that he had been deceived by Qin Hui. On the one hand, he was impeached by Qin Hui's opponents, and on the other hand, he was disgusted by Qin Hui because of his main battle. Finally, he resigned from office and went to write a book to spread the anti-golden thoughts.

As the adopted son of Hu State, Hu Yin was always committed to overthrowing Qin Hui, and was dismissed from office until Qin Hui's death.

"What are you doing?" Huan Guo saw his son playing with the connected balls.

Hu Yin replied: "Pendulum experiment."

Huan Guo reminded: "It's okay to study hard, but don't be obsessed."

"Father is ridiculous, so he should be obsessed with reason." Hu Yin said.

If not influenced by time travellers, Hu Yin’s academic thoughts are as follows——

The universe is composed of Qi, which evolves into all things in the world, showing different attributes and containing changes and laws. People should explore and understand all things to learn their laws and principles.

Moreover, people explore the laws and principles of things in order to make better use of things.

Knowledge separated from things is empty knowledge, knowledge without action is confused knowledge. Only knowledge that can connect things and act on it after knowing it can be called true knowledge.

But how to explore the truth of all things?

Hu Yin said that you must first correct your mind, and then use your heart to observe, understand, and summarize the principles of all things.

In fact, he only lacked a methodology.

The physics brought by Zhu Guoxiang and Ju Ming just complemented Hu Yin's method of exploring all things.

Hu Yin likes this knowledge so much!

When Ju Ming led troops to besiege Tokyo, Hu Yin worked as a school clerk in the Song Dynasty court. He also served as a professor at Luoyang Prefecture. He was ordered to search for banned books in the school, but he confiscated the students' "Tao Yongce" and secretly studied it himself.

Hu Yin has almost finished learning the knowledge given by the emperor and the prince, and he has to study the next things by himself.

After the pendulum experiment was completed, Hu Yin wrote out the experimental records and ran to his adoptive father and said, "Father, my son plans to resign and return to his hometown."

Huan Guo was shocked and said: "The new dynasty has just been established. This is the spring of the third year of Hongwu. It is the time for men to make contributions. How can you think of resigning at such a young age?"

Hu Yin said: "My child has learned all the knowledge of officials and princes, and most of it has been verified. If I stay in Tokyo, I can't learn anything new. My child plans to return to his hometown in Fujian to do knowledge and experiments while doing research." Teach this knowledge to the scholars in your hometown."

"Chen Yuan is giving lectures there, it's not your turn yet." Huan Guo said.

Hu Yin added: "That boy asked to be sent to be a professor of official education. He can go to Huainan or Zhejiang. When the knowledge is spread, please transfer him to other places."

Huan Guo asked: "Has it been decided?"

Hu Yin said: "My son's ambition is not to be an official."

Huan Guo sighed: "That's fine. Spreading new knowledge to His Majesty and the Crown Prince will definitely win the favor of the royal family. From now on, you will become a great scholar."

"Being able to explore the principles of all things in this life is enough. Whether you can become a great Confucian is another matter." Hu Yin said.

A few days later, Zhu Guoxiang received a strange memorial.

Hu Yin, who was a minor official in the Ministry of Household Affairs, requested to be sent out to be a professor of official studies in the state government. He also requested to be transferred every three years to any state capital. He would go to spread physics all over the country.

Zhu Guoxiang immediately sent someone to summon him, and also called his son.

While waiting, father and son chatted.

Zhu Guoxiang asked: "Is this Hu Yin famous in history?"

Ju Ming said: "The three brothers of the Hu family are all great Confucians, and Hu Yin is the eldest. The most famous is the third brother Hu Hong, the founder of the Huxiang School. Wang Fuzhi in the late Ming Dynasty inherited the Taoism of the Huxiang School. This school, in Politically, he advocated the Northern Expedition against the Jin Dynasty and promoted the theory of Great Revenge. He called for reforming the system and reducing the people's burden. Academically, he advocated a righteous mind and a pragmatic style of applying what he learned. He also advocated that the laws of nature and human desires should coexist in the same body. Yes, they explain human desires from the perspective of human nature."

Ju Ming laughed as he spoke: "Their slogan is 'Unity of Body and Function', which is actually the same thing as my 'Tao-Yong Theory'."

Zhu Guoxiang lamented: "The thoughts of ancient Confucian scholars are still in full bloom. They are not as pedantic as I thought before. Could it be that after the Ming Dynasty, they were bound by Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism?"

Ju Ming said: "Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism is just a tool of the rulers. Even Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism itself has been misinterpreted and tampered with. It is related to the specific social environment. The early Ming Dynasty suffered from troubled times, economic decline, sparse population, and the extensive rule of the Yuan Dynasty. Let morals collapse and people's hearts become difficult to unite. At this time, we must unify our thinking and strengthen control."

“By the time the development reached Hongzhi, Zhengde, and Jiajing, the social economy had been restored and productivity had also been greatly improved. The new social structure and economic environment must pursue ideological progress in order to achieve a fit between ideology and morality and the current society. So in the Ming Dynasty In the middle period, all kinds of ideas began to appear again.”

"The Confucian innovations in the Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty actually followed this path. When the economy was prosperous and society developed, they sought innovation and change because new classes emerged. When they encountered foreign enemies and social decline, they tended to be pragmatic. The Qing Dynasty belonged to The exception was that the imperial court was too strict and could not suppress social trends until the end of the Qing Dynasty."

When the father and son chat alone, they have a habit of keeping other people away.

The eunuchs, maids and court servants gradually developed the habit of walking dozens of steps away whenever the emperor and the prince met.

The accompanying eunuch suddenly stood at the door of the palace, and Zhu Guoxiang said: "Everyone, come in."

The eunuch and the living man entered one after another, and then brought Hu Yin in.

Hu Yin bowed solemnly: "Your Majesty Hu Yin, I would like to pay my respects to the officials and the prince!"

Zhu Guoxiang smiled and said, "Sit down."

Zhu Ming asked: "Why is it that you are not a good official in the capital, but you want to be a professor at the state government school?"

Hu Yin replied: "Although books on physics, mathematics, and astronomy have been published all over the country, they are currently only available in provincial capitals and some wealthy state capitals. There is also an extreme lack of teachers, so students can only buy books and study on their own. I wish that Go to a remote state capital and change places every three years to spread the teachings of physics as quickly as possible."

"Great kindness!" Zhu Ming praised.

Hu Yin added: "In the next imperial examination, I think the physics, mathematics, and astronomy questions should not be too difficult. Just test some superficial questions, otherwise a large number of students will not be able to adapt. If you want all the candidates in the country to be proficient in this subject, at least It takes more than twenty years, and the questions in previous imperial examinations can become more difficult year by year."

Zhu Guoxiang was particularly fond of this young man: "I will give you a three-level official upgrade. You can choose a remote state capital yourself."

Since Hu Yin chose to be a principal across the country, Zhu Guoxiang was not stingy and directly promoted him and increased his salary.