Chapter 894 0889 [Three People Debate in Front of the Emperor]
Liu Yannian came to the side hall to wait, and soon, Li Chun also came.
Then, another middle-aged scholar came, who was about thirty or forty years old.
Liu Yannian completely ignored Li Chun, but bowed to the middle-aged man: "I am Liu Yannian from Qingjiang, may I ask your name?"
The middle-aged scholar replied: "Ding Zhifu of Yongjia. I am honored."
"I have heard of you for a long time." Liu Yannian said politely.
The Yongjia School had not yet risen, and Liu Yannian had never heard of it.
And the Ding Zhifu in front of him was the son of Ding Changqi, the second ancestor of the Yongjia School.
The core ideas of the Yongjia School in the Southern Song Dynasty are as follows:
First, anti-Jin advocated war. Whether they were civil officials or martial arts soldiers, a large number of Yongjia School disciples personally participated in the war.
Second, attach importance to historiography. Advocate learning from history and summarizing the truth of the rise and fall of the country.
Third, attach importance to practical learning. Advocate learning for practical use, emphasize the role of industry and commerce, and promote industry, agriculture and commerce.
Liu Yannian asked, "Excuse me, do you follow Mencius or Xunzi?"
Ding Zhifu asked back, "Why can't both Mencius and Xunzi be respected?"
The two obviously couldn't urinate in the same pot. Liu Yannian said to follow, while Ding Zhifu said to respect.
They wanted to debate, but suddenly a large number of officials came.
Taking advantage of the three schools of scholars coming to Beijing, Zhu Ming wanted to hold a meeting of imperial lectures!
People came to the main hall one after another. Zhu Ming sat in the main seat, and the others sat in two rows.
After the worship, Zhu Ming asked, "Who is Liu Chang's nephew?"
Liu Yannian stepped out and bowed, "Your Majesty, I am Liu Yannian, and I pay my respects to your majesty!"
Liu Yannian was an official of the Ming Dynasty, but he resigned voluntarily, so he could barely call himself "minister" in front of the emperor.
Zhu Ming asked again: "Who is Long Changqi's disciple?"
Li Chun followed and said: "I, the humble Li Chun, pay my respects to Your Majesty!"
Zhu Ming asked again: "Who is the son of Ding Changqi?"
Ding Zhifu stepped out: "Your servant Ding Zhifu pays my respects to Your Majesty."
The "minister" of Ding Zhifu was a bit forced. He was an official in the former Song Dynasty, but he did not serve in the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Ming said: "Let's not argue about human nature today. Even if we argue until tomorrow morning, we still can't understand it at all, and we always make a fuss. Let's start with etiquette. All officials should not participate and listen to the three of them debate."
Liu Yannian argued about etiquette in Luoyang City, but now he wanted to argue about nature: "Etiquette comes from nature. If you don't argue about nature, you can't argue about etiquette."
Zhu Ming's eyes were half-closed, and his smile was very bright, as if he was in a good mood.
But those cabinet ministers knew that the emperor was angry.
The Yongjia School from Wenzhou was naturally opposed to the Qingjiang Liu family. The former promoted industry, agriculture and commerce, while the latter emphasized agriculture and suppressed commerce.
Ding Zhifu immediately retorted: "How can etiquette come from nature? Etiquette is used to curb nature!"
"Yes!" Li Chun echoed.
One is Ding Changqi's son, and the other is Long Changqi's disciple. The two joined forces to attack Liu Yannian.
Liu Yannian was no ordinary person either. He immediately retorted: "If etiquette comes from falsehood, then if there is no creation of etiquette, is there no filial piety in the world? If there is no creation of etiquette, is there no compassion in the world? Therefore, etiquette begins with heaven and is completed by man. This is the unity of heaven and man."
Respecting elders and caring for the younger generation are etiquette that exists naturally even if no one has agreed to it.
Therefore, etiquette comes from nature.
Ding Zhifu said: "People must gather together, and groups must fight. Fighting leads to chaos, chaos leads to separation, separation leads to weakness, and weakness cannot defeat things. People gather together with etiquette. Those without etiquette cannot survive."
This passage means: People are social animals and cannot survive alone. If there is a community, there must be moral rules, otherwise there will be chaos. A community without basic morality cannot survive at all and would have been eliminated by nature long ago.
The community perspective was one of Zhu Ming's motivations for promoting Xunzi to the classics, and it was also the reason why Xunzi was often used as a policy essay topic in the imperial examinations of the Song Dynasty.
Liu Yannian retorted: "The saints follow their nature and form rituals, and the wise men know rituals and seek nature. They are all internal!"
This means: the saints naturally gather the natural morality of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom to form rituals. The wise men first learn etiquette and morality before they can understand their nature. Whether saints or wise men, they all come from the natural goodness of their inner selves, rather than deriving their nature and etiquette from the outside.
Li Chun chuckled: "The saints follow their nature and form rituals, isn't that the theory of false rituals?"
"Nonsense." Liu Yannian was too lazy to refute because Li Chun was misinterpreting his meaning.
Liu Yannian bowed to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, Xunzi used law to incorporate rituals, and used law to disrupt rituals. The whole article is full of Shen Han's arguments. If it is promoted to classics, there may be danger of chaos in the world!" This is attacking Xunzi as a Legalist undercover in Confucianism... Ding Zhifu immediately refuted: "Law is established by the monarch, and ritual comes from the teacher. The monarch and the teacher work together to achieve perfection." Li Chun was more aggressive, pointing at Liu Yannian and questioning: "You are so bold, you actually think that there is a teacher but no monarch?" Liu Yannian was frightened and bowed to the emperor: "Your Majesty, I have no such intention. I just think that Xunzi is too biased towards law and neglects rituals and music." Liu Yannian knew very well that he could not win the argument today. Ding Zhifu and Li Chun sang the same tune, the former talked about reason, and the latter stabbed him, making him lose sight of the big picture. Li Chun did it on purpose, just to avenge his teacher. Liu Chang originally accused Long Changqi of a crime, which led to the prohibition of Long Changqi's academic work. Today, Li Chun is going to put a accusation on Liu Yannian.
Give him a taste of his own medicine!
"Okay, no need to argue anymore."
Ju Ming finally came forward and concluded: "When formulating the Ming Code, one of the principles was to put people first. When I founded the Ming Dynasty, I also put people first. When I upgraded Xunzi to the classics, I also valued its people-centeredness."
"Whether it's an official or a scholar. In the future, when studying "Xunzi", we should start from the 'people' of this book."
"The loyalty of civil and military officials to the king, in Xunzi's view, is not loyalty to the king himself, but loyalty to the king's way. If the king has no way, then Confucius can leave the state of Lu, and I can also raise an army to overthrow the Song Dynasty."
"What is Xunzi's way of kings? The way of kings is the way of groups. Man can be the spirit of all things because he can form a group and restrain himself with etiquette and law to form a joint force. How to be a wise king? It is to provide food and clothing for the people, Let the people live and work in peace and contentment, and let the talents be put to good use.”
"Xunzi's way of a king and his ministers is actually a contract, and both parties must abide by the contract."
"Nowadays, I have always abided by the contract, but corrupt officials have not kept their contract, and powerful gentry have not kept their contract!"
"Should the big families in Jiangxi be punished?"
The officials quickly shouted: "Your Majesty is wise!"
Zhu Ming looked at Liu Yannian: "The wealthy families in Jiangxi have hidden their land and evaded taxes. They have violated the agreement. Should they be punished?"
Liu Yannian wanted to speak for the big families in Jiangxi, but his words became euphemistic: "It should be rectified. But the demolished people moved too much..."
"Okay, you also think it should be rectified," Zhu Ming interrupted Liu Yannian, "Mr. Liu is a great scholar, so he must understand these principles. Let's do this. I will recruit Mr. Liu as a traveler and go to Jiangxi to lead the dismantling of the clan. Governor Wei Liangchen will assist You dismantle the clan.”
Liu Yannian was stunned and then stood there blankly, not knowing whether to accept the order or refuse.
It was said that he was asked to preside over the demolition of the clan in Jiangxi, but Wei Liangchen was asked to assist. In fact, Liu Yannian was left to take the blame, and the actual power was still in the hands of Wei Liangchen.
Moreover, the official position given was not big, just a small emperor's job.
However, this position was special, as it meant that the emperor was out on business.
The emperor also offered him an official position at the Sutra Banquet. If Liu Yannian refused, it would be a slap in the emperor's face. He would never be able to become an official again in his life! Even the Liu family's children will be affected when they become officials, and most of them will be moved around and unable to be promoted normally.
Liu Yannian would not get much benefit from accepting this official position, but his reputation would be completely ruined in Jiangxi.
After all, Wei Liangchen was the "Governor of Qingtian", and the dismantling of the clan was just incidental.
But Liu Yannian was the "imperial envoy who demolished the tribes", and he was responsible for all the infamy of the tribes being demolished and relocated.
Ju Ming smiled and said: "Is the official position too small? Are you afraid that you will not be able to intimidate the big families in Jiangxi? Then restore your official status in the former Song Dynasty, but your official position will still be that of a pedestrian."
High grade but low position.
Liu Yannian began to weigh the gains and losses. This might be his only chance.
Damn it!
For the sake of the Liu family in Qingjiang, and for my own future, I don’t care whether those wealthy families in Jiangxi live or die!
Liu Yannian did not bow, but knelt down directly: "I obey your order."
The officials present showed disdain. At this moment, in their eyes, Liu Yannian turned into a clown.
This guy sold off all the wealthy families in Jiangxi for the sake of his own future!
Although Liu Chang was very domineering back then, his character was worthy of respect because Liu Chang was always consistent.
Liu Chang not only attacked Long Changqi, he also attacked the powerful indiscriminately.
Because he felt that the treatment of a certain official was too severe, Liu Chang repeatedly defended and begged for mercy, even if he offended the prime minister and was demoted and sent away.
The prime minister led hundreds of officials to give Song Renzong a title, but Liu Chang said that the title in a calamity year was a false name. He sent four consecutive e-mails to advise Song Renzong, which made Song Renzong extremely annoyed. Liu Chang had done this kind of thing to offend the emperor and prime minister more than once.
When he was sent out to be a local official, Liu Chang also asked for orders for the people, cracking down on powerful people, suppressing mergers, redressing unjust cases, relieving victims, and developing agriculture...
Such people are the same on the outside.
Although he has the domineering style of a scholar, he can still be regarded as a true great scholar.
As Liu Chang's nephew, Liu Yannian is completely embarrassing his elders!
Facing the disdainful looks of everyone, Liu Yannian also felt ashamed. He lowered his head and stared at the floor, as if trying to find a crack in the ground to crawl through.
Ju Ming continued: "Ding Zhifu, Li Chun."
"Here!" The two stepped forward.
Ju Ming said: "You each return to your hometown and serve as professors of government studies."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" The two of them were overjoyed.
Ju Ming upgraded "Xunzi" to the classics for three purposes.
First, promote the idea of putting people first and seeking truth from facts.
Second, find more rationality for his own rebellion against the Song Dynasty.
Third, to develop natural science and gain more Confucian rationality.
The above three points can all be found in Xunzi.
As for Long Changqi's knowledge, Ju Ming planned to let it develop naturally.
As for the Yongjia School in Wenzhou, the court would deliberately support it. After all, this school advocated applying knowledge and encouraging industry and commerce.