Chapter 272 0267 [Establishing the Way]

In fact, Li Daochong has long been numb. Last year, he listed Ju Ming's top ten crimes and even coerced and induced Golden State officials to jointly impeach him.

I thought it would definitely be effective, but after it was sent to Tokyo, Cai You blocked it.

Cai You also wrote back to arrange the task, asking Li Daochong not to be impatient and continue to collect evidence of Ju Ming's crime. When the time comes, he will definitely be able to defeat Ju Ming!

The problem is that Li Daochong never thought about knocking Ju Ming down. He just asked not to be an official in the same place as Ju Ming and that no one would hinder him from making money.

"If you have something to offer, why don't you say it as an offering..."

Li Daochong looked at what his confidants copied back, pondered for a moment, and wrote: "Ju Ming tampered with the meaning of the scriptures, and it is not a criticism of the emperor. This is a slander of the Hua Shi Gang."

The confidant only excerpted some key contents. Li Daochong read it carefully and nodded subconsciously.

He was also a Jinshi, and even his confidants had once won the imperial examination. They knew whether Ju Ming was right or not. While they admired his knowledge, it did not prevent them from going against Ju Ming.

Li Daochong suddenly asked his confidant: "Is there any "Invention of the Book of Rites" for sale in Jinzhou?"

The confidant shook his head: "No, even Tokyo is hard to see."

Of course, it is difficult to buy. Ju Ming still found it at a second-hand bookstall on Wenwan Street when he was visiting Shouguoji Temple in Tokyo.

The book had a small print run and was not reprinted for decades.

In fact, there is no need to deliberately read it. "The Invention of the Book of Rites" is indeed full of insights, but there are also many contents that are purely far-fetched by Wang Anshi - deliberately distorting the meaning of the scriptures for the sake of reform.

Wang Anshi made no secret of this, and directly stated it in "The Statement of Emperor Renzong": I respect the Zhou rites, not to restore the Zhou rites. Today's world is different from ancient times. What I mean by "law before the king" is to "law his will" and then "conform to his government", rather than directly "law his government".

Li Daochong wrote hundreds of words eloquently, called a personal attendant and said: "Send it to Tokyo and hand it over to the Sixth Prime Minister (Cai You)."

After writing the small report, Li Daochong went to drink and listen to music.

He is now lying down and raising a troupe at home, listening to music and drinking every day to pass the time.

What else can you do if you don’t lie flat?

Political struggles have always been ebb and flow. Ju Ming kept pressing forward step by step, but Li Daochong had no countermeasures. Everyone saw that he was a paper tiger, and even his subordinate officials in the court secretly expressed goodwill to Ju Ming.

The power has been almost seized, and Li Daochong can only dawdle, hoping that Cai You will launch an attack soon.

…

"Brother, will you gain anything from listening to the prefect's lecture today?" Wei Yingshi asked.

Wei Yingwu said: "It's a great harvest! It's just that... the writing of "The Great Learning" taught by the prefect seems to be different from the current version."

Wei Yingshi nodded: "Prefect Zhu changed the preface."

In fact, it was not Ju Ming who changed it, but brothers Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi.

And the content of the changes in the second process is different.

Cheng Hao expounded the three cardinal principles and immediately gave an explanation of the three cardinal principles. He then elaborated on the eight eyes and immediately gave an explanation of the eight eyes.

Cheng Yi directly listed the Three Cardinal Principles and the Eight Eyes, and then divided the Eight Eyes into two parts. The investigation of things and knowledge is one whole, and the remaining six eyes are another whole.

Scholars in the Song Dynasty expounded the meaning of Confucian classics as they pleased, directly changing the content of the classics according to their own understanding.

The "Great Learning" circulated in later generations adopted the version modified by Cheng Yi.

Ju Ming also used Cheng Yi's version because it was smoother to read and understand.

The Wei brothers studied the new school, and they had no contact with Luo school. In addition, a large number of Luo school books were burned, and the ban on learning in the north was enforced more strictly. Er Cheng's ideas spread more widely in the south of the Yangtze River.

They also thought that it was Ju Ming who changed the order of writing in "The Great Learning".

Wei Yingshi said: "After the changes, the text is smoother and the reasoning is clearer, just as it should be."

Wei Yingwu said: "The way of the university, the Three Cardinal Guidelines and the Eight Eyes, are the criteria for scholars. This can even be written in the imperial examination."

The more the brothers discussed, the more excited they became, but they also felt that there were many things they didn't understand, so they went to consult Ju Ming together.

The two met Zeng Xiaoduan and several other scholars in the state government office.

Ever since Ju Ming reversed his case and avenged his case, Zeng Xiaoduan became a die-hard fan. He was very obedient to the prefect's orders.

Everyone met and bowed to each other.

They were quickly brought in together and all bowed towards Ju Ming.

Zeng Xiaoduan said: "We have benefited a lot from the prefect's lecture today, but there are still many things we don't understand about it."

Ju Ming took out a manuscript and said, "You can take it and copy it into a book."

Zeng Xiaoduan held it in both hands and took a closer look, only to see six characters: "The Great Learning Chapters and Sentences".

Ju Ming directly copied Zhu Xi's "Annotations on University Chapters and Sentences", but made changes in subtle ways.

Zhu Xi said that people in the world are born to understand the principles of all things, but they are contaminated by turbidity and deceived. He who is not deceived is a saint. Mortals are bound to be deceived, so they must continue to learn, re-understand the truth, and eventually become closer to the saints.

Ju Ming did not want to do this. When explaining "The Great Learning", he said that people are born into the world like a blank sheet of paper. Affected by the environment in which they grow up, some learn well and some learn badly. A gentleman is a gentleman who understands principles through study and practice, and can achieve perfection.

The explanation of studying things to achieve knowledge has not changed, because Zhu Xi’s explanation is very clear: there is no limit to the extremes of physics, and there is no limit to what I know in my heart.

But Zhu Xi did not talk about how to study things to achieve knowledge. That is to say, this set of philosophical thoughts only has epistemology and no methodology, which caused Wang Yangming to grid bamboos to the point of coma.

Ju Ming completed the methodology, namely "Tao Yong", and took the opportunity to promote "Tao Yong Ce".

This is his purpose!

In addition, all "Cheng Zi said" in Zhu Xi's book were deleted by Ju Ming. It was not that he wanted to usurp Cheng Yi's academic achievements, but that Luo Xue was banned by the imperial court. He could not say that Cheng Yi said these things, otherwise he would be banned by the imperial court in a matter of seconds.

The ten biographies of "The Great Learning", with its in-depth and extended explanations, were nothing short of an academic bomb in the late Northern Song Dynasty.

In particular, it summarizes the Three Cardinal Guidelines and Eight Objectives and gives a detailed understanding, which can directly help scholars find the direction of life. This is similar to Hengqu's Four Sentences.

The three principles are clear virtue, closeness to the people, and ultimate goodness.

The eight eyes are used to investigate things, achieve knowledge, sincerity, upright mind, self-cultivation, order the family, govern the country, and bring peace to the world.

There are not many words in the full text, so you can read it quickly.

After Zeng Xiaoduan read the whole article, he returned to Sanzang Bamu again. His body was trembling slightly, and he suddenly had the feeling of "I will die if I hear the Tao in the morning."

The scholars surrounded Zeng Xiaoduan and put their heads together to read.

That kind of ideological impact is indescribable.

Especially those who did not treat "Xiao Dai Li Ji", they were even more shocked.

Let's put it this way, Zhu Xi's "Annotations on University Chapters and Sentences" is not only the programmatic guiding ideology of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, but also the propaganda advertisement of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, which can easily attract people to join the group.

Zhang Zai said: Establish a mind for the heaven and earth, establish a destiny for the livelihood of the people, carry on the unique knowledge for the saints, and create peace for all generations.

These four sentences make people excited, but they are just slogans. They only give the goal of striving and do not guide the readers on how to implement it.

The Three Outlines and Eight Objectives are the guidelines for implementation, and the process is step-by-step.

What Ju Ming needed to do was to bring in private goods, throw "Tao Yong Lun" into the Study of Wu Zhi Zhi, and turn mathematics, physics, agriculture and other miscellaneous knowledge into knowledge that scholars should and must master.

Even if you don’t study miscellaneous subjects in depth, you should understand the methods and connect theory with practice.

Wei Yingshi said with emotion: "Han Chuang has been studying hard for more than ten years, and I am confused and ignorant about the words of the saints. Today I know what the Tao is!"

…

Fujian Road, Nanjianzhou, Shaxian County.

At the foothills of Fenggang Mountain, Chen Yuan has been teaching in a cottage for more than a year.

At first there was no name, but gradually it was called Fenggang Academy.

Ju Ming's "The Comprehensive Meanings of University Chapters and Sentences" was commissioned to be mailed by a courier in early spring, and it was not until midsummer that it was delivered to Shaxian County.

Fortunately, Chen Yuan is very famous, because there is no free shipping in the countryside, so this thing can only be sent to the county government. The Shaxian County Supervisor specially dispatched an official to deliver the package to Fenggang Academy.

More than twenty young scholars were listening to Chen Yuan's lectures.

The yamen servant rushed in recklessly: "Mr. Chen, I have something to send!"

The scholars were interrupted from teaching, and their expressions were not very good, complaining that the government officials should not have barged in at this time.

Chen Yuan opened it and took a look, and he was immediately delighted. He went back to his room to get some money and gave it to the yamen servant: "Excuse me, please come and run."

After receiving the reward, the yamen servant felt particularly happy. He nodded and bowed and said, "It's okay. I'll give Mr. Chen something. We're very happy."

After sending the government officials away, Chen Yuan began to read the manuscript.

His feelings were different. He had studied Luo School seriously and knew that Ju Ming quoted a lot of Cheng Yi's thoughts.

However, there are so many works written by Er Cheng that it is difficult for ordinary disciples to comprehend them all, let alone summarize them and elaborate on them.

"Three cardinal principles and eight eyes, investigation of things leads to knowledge, Tao and function complement each other..."

Chen Yuan straightened his clothes, stood up straight, pointed to the northwest, and said to his students: "In the land of Jinzhou, someone has established a road!"

Zhang Zhiyuan, a scholar from Shaxian County, asked: "Excuse me, sir, who established the Tao? What Tao was established?"

"In the fifth year of Zhenghe's reign, I visited Zhu Ming, Zhu Chenggong," Chen Yuan said. "Although this person claims to be my disciple, I am also a teacher and friend. He established the path of Confucianism with Er Cheng's words, supplemented by the theory of Taoism. . Once this Tao is revealed, it can be passed on to all generations and become the teaching of the world!"

The students were shocked and inexplicable. This was too big a statement.

Chen Yuan handed over the manuscript: "Please circulate it."

There were more than twenty students, but the scholars could not spread the word, so someone recited it from the manuscript.

I read it once, but I still didn’t fully understand it, so I read it a second time.

After several times, the students finally understood that Chen Yuan was not lying.

There were people in the Tang and Song Dynasties who praised "The Great Learning", but it was not systematic. Zhu Ming plagiarized Zhu Xi's academic work, so that "The Great Learning" had scriptures, biographies and annotations, so that it could be written as a separate book.

This commentary was born out of nowhere and will inevitably spread rapidly. As long as the court does not forcefully interfere, it will definitely spread more and more widely. The Three Cardinal Guidelines and Eight Eyes will become the principles of life and work for all scholars.

It is so provocative and such a summation of the understanding of what the saint said!

From now on, scholars should be virtuous, be close to the people, and strive for perfection.

From now on, scholars should study things to gain knowledge, be sincere and correct their minds, cultivate themselves, manage their families, govern their country and bring peace to the world.

It sets a set of standards for scholars and plans life goals for scholars. Everyone can become a gentleman as long as they follow it.

The person who wrote this commentary will be regarded as a sage by later generations of Confucian scholars.