Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2144 The Split of the Academy, Cheng-Zhu Learning Enters Han China

On the 25th day of the 12th month of the third year of the Yuan Shi era, it snowed lightly.

The Imperial College was located in the southeast corner of Tianjing City, not far from the imperial palace, and its geographical location was excellent.

As one of the Five Imperial Colleges, this is the highest officially established institution of learning and educational administration.

Early this morning, officials, doctors, and even students from the Imperial College stood in unison at the main gate.

The purpose was to welcome the newly appointed Chancellor of the Imperial Academy.

At the same time, this person was also the former headmaster of Shangyin Academy, Cheng Zhu.

As for Gu Dingchen, the previous Chancellor of the Imperial Academy of the Han Dynasty, he was assigned to Qingbei Circuit as a Prefectural Assistant at this time.

Although both the Imperial Academy and the Hanlin Academy were national academies, if the Hanlin Academy was likened to a cadre school, then the Imperial Academy, one of the Five Academy, was the highest institution of learning and the educational base for the children of nobles and those who passed the imperial examinations.

Amidst the crowd, Oda Nobuhiro asked, somewhat puzzled, while grumbling, "Song-kun! Is this chief priest quite famous?"

"There must be at least a hundred students here!"

In this freezing weather, nobody wants to go out.

However, seeing hundreds of students come out to greet the newly appointed chief priest early in the morning, Oda Nobuhiro, though unwilling, was dragged out by Matsushita Hon.

Matsushita Kon was the Emperor's younger brother and a prince of the Sun Kingdom. Since he had spoken, how could Oda Nobuhiro, who was merely a minor nobleman, dare to disobey?
Currently, the Han Dynasty has two hundred students studying abroad, mostly led by Matsushita Kono. Or rather, as a prince, he naturally becomes the leader of these students.

"Mr. Cheng is one of the three chief scholars of Shangyin Academy, with students all over the world. Now that he has come here to serve as an official, which Confucian scholar in the world would not respectfully welcome him?" Song Hun explained patiently.

One of the three chief priests of Shangyin Academy, a great Confucian scholar, whose respected position in Confucianism is irrelevant regardless of the opinions of other Confucian scholars.

However, when this person arrives, all Confucian scholars must come out to greet him.

Among Confucianists, propriety is highly valued. When dealing with teachers and elders, one can refute them or disagree with them, but one must not disrespect them.

Whether you like it or not, all Confucianists have to come and greet you at this time, unless your status is even greater than theirs.

However, if someone truly possessed such great talent, it wouldn't be possible for them to be a student at the Imperial Academy and compete with the other person for the position of Chancellor of the Imperial Academy.

At the same time, Song Hun gave Oda Nobuhiro a brief introduction to Cheng-Zhu.

Oda Nobuhiro, that short guy, is usually very generous. Not only Oda Nobuhiro, but most of the Japanese exchange students are very generous. When they go out to have fun, seven out of ten times it is these Japanese exchange students who pay for it.

Even last year, the Imperial College's dormitory renovations were made possible thanks to the financial assistance from these international students.

For that reason alone, he wouldn't mind being a little more patient.

These international students from the Sun Country are all members of the Sun Country's aristocracy, from extremely wealthy and noble families. In other words, those who aren't from extremely wealthy and noble families wouldn't even be qualified to be international students!

All the dynasties, whether it was the Han Dynasty or the Qian Dynasty, established diplomatic relations with the Sun Kingdom. The Sun Kingdom sent a large number of envoys to the Han Dynasty, the Qian Dynasty, and students to study there.

Moreover, it must be said that while not all of these envoys to Han China, Qianlong, and students studying abroad were exceptional talents—after all, there are always a few bad apples—most of them were certainly capable.

Having finally established diplomatic relations with the Han and Qian dynasties, they had the opportunity to go there to study. Matsushita Ao personally oversaw the specifics of human studies, and the standards were extremely strict.

"I have heard that Mr. Cheng is a great scholar of Neo-Confucianism who advocates preserving heavenly principles and eliminating human desires, and respecting the hierarchical order between ruler and subject."

"Such a person is indeed a model for Confucian scholars throughout the land!"

Unlike Oda Nobuhiro, Matsushita Kono was well aware of Cheng Zhu's great name. Cheng Zhu was a leader among the many Chinese students studying abroad. Matsushita Kono entrusted him with important responsibilities, and it was never just because he was a royal prince.

After all, there are quite a few royal princes in the Sun Kingdom.

Figures like Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi naturally attract the favor of the ruling class. Matsushita Konobu was a member of that ruling class.

Compared to others, they understand the significance of this person much better.

Confucianism is too vast; each of the seven great dynasties had a Confucian academy, not counting the smaller ones.

But precisely because it's so large, there's no unified command. Or, to be more precise, it's impossible to have such a unified command.

After all, even within the same dynasty, most people had never met such a person, let alone Confucian scholars from different dynasties. The distance alone made it impossible.

Those who could travel between multiple academies to seek knowledge were the most outstanding disciples of Confucianism. Ordinary Confucian scholars simply did not have this qualification.

After all, without the support of their teachers and academies, relying solely on themselves, given the distance between dynasties, it would be a problem whether they could even safely travel to academies in other dynasties, let alone study there. Even if they did manage to travel there, it would take several years just to get there.

Moreover, most scholars are people with many thoughts, but Gu Qingzhu could not lead all scholars.

This applies not only to Confucianism, but also to all the great thinkers of the Hundred Schools of Thought.

Although some of the various schools of thought in ancient China did have so-called leaders, these leaders did not have real power, and their words only had an effect on a small group of people.

Among these leaders, no matter how capable they are, they can at most control only one member of their own clan among the various schools of thought in a dynasty.

Or, like Taoism and Buddhism, they split into several parts due to their different philosophies.

Some of the various schools of thought, such as Confucianism, even abolished this leading authority altogether, forming a system mainly based on the seven major academies.

Within the Confucian school, in addition to the basic framework formed by the seven major academies, different schools of thought emerged due to their different doctrines.

It is perfectly normal for several schools of thought with different philosophies to emerge even within the same academy.

The largest group, which now dominates the mainstream of Confucianism, is naturally the Legalist-Confucian school represented by Gu Qingzhu.

This was a school of thought that influenced the two largest schools of thought among the Hundred Schools of Thought in ancient China. People like Guan Zhong and Gao Jiong were representative figures of the Legalist-Confucian school. However, the former was a Legalist-Confucian within the Legalist school, while the latter was a Legalist-Confucian within the Confucian school.

Therefore, Gu Qingzhu is now the most prestigious person in the world. Even Confucius, Mencius, and Xunzi, who are also Confucian scholars, as well as native figures like Fu Yue and Gu Wuming, cannot compare to him.

If he were to openly side with a certain faction like Zhunti, it's safe to say that faction would never lack talent in the future; talented people from all over the world would line up to join them.

Besides the Legalist and Confucian schools, there are other schools of thought such as Confucianism (emphasizing benevolence and propriety), Mencius (emphasizing the inherent goodness of human nature), Xunzi (emphasizing the inherent evil of human nature), the School of Mind, the School of Principle, and the School of Qi (vital energy)...

Even within the single school of Neo-Confucianism, there are more than a dozen sub-disciplines. The top Confucian scholars each had their own understanding and interpretation of Confucianism. Some of the most outstanding among them even created their own unique doctrines.

Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi were important figures in Neo-Confucianism, and the school of Neo-Confucianism in the Shangyin Academy was led by him.

The Legalist-Confucian school, represented by Gu Qingzhu, was very popular with the rulers because this school was indeed helpful in governing the country and had a large number of talented people in governance.

However, the Neo-Confucian school of thought was also welcomed by the rulers. The benefits this school provided to the rulers in maintaining their rule are self-evident.

In fact, a significant portion of this faction's interpretation of Confucianism was specifically designed to help rulers maintain their rule.

Meanwhile, Song Hun greeted Matsushita Hun, who had arrived at some unknown time, with great courtesy.

A prince of a country should naturally be given the respect he deserves.

"Mr. Song, given Mr. Cheng's status, there must be quite a few people accompanying him this time, right?" Matsushita guessed thoughtfully.

One of the three chief priests of the Imperial Academy, one of the seven great academies. In the imperial court, the chief priest of the Imperial Academy is an official position, and it is a fourth-rank official position.

Judging from his rank alone, he was definitely a high-ranking official in the imperial court.

In terms of their roles, the students here were either children of noble families or future candidates for scientific research, all destined to become officials. The potential network of connections was, of course, terrifying.

The teacher-student relationship is an insurmountable obstacle in the complex web of court politics.

In folk traditions, especially among Confucian scholars, the title of "Jijiu" represents the headmaster of an academy.

In other words, Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi were actually one of the three principals of Shangyin Academy, one of the seven major Confucian academies. Moreover, this principal led the entire Neo-Confucian school of thought within Shangyin Academy.

This school of thought's ideas were very beneficial to the court in maintaining its rule, and its members were also very keen to engage in officialdom.

When Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi returned to the Han dynasty, their followers flocked to them.

Matsushita was very envious of this; why didn't they have such a good thing in their Japan?

"That's right, I heard there are nearly a thousand people!"

It wasn't something that needed to be hidden, so Song Hun spoke about it very frankly.

Although Shangyin Academy is nominally the Confucian academy in Da Cang, it is not strictly within the original territory of Da Cang. Instead, it is located on an island on a large river between Shanyin, Shanyang, and the four minor dynasties.

Song Hun's father, Song Jing, was the Prefect of Shenglan Road, and his father was one of the people who received these people along the way.

"A thousand people?"

Clearly, many people were taken aback by this number!
Especially Matsushita Jun, who was not only a foreign student but also a prince of the Republic of Japan. Having been exposed to politics since childhood, he instinctively thought about things from a political perspective.

It's important to understand that the Imperial Academy currently has fewer than two thousand members. If all these people were to join the Imperial Academy, it would significantly impact the existing system within the academy.

After all, wherever there are people, there is a world of its own.

The same applies within the Imperial College.

These thousand people were all part of the same group. And although they were newcomers, the official they were serving was the next highest-ranking official in the Imperial Academy.

In contrast, the Imperial College today has different circles of people studying different disciplines such as Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, law, mathematics, and engineering.

This is clearly a powerful dragon crossing the river. In the future, the Imperial Academy will probably be the only one in power, right?
"These matters are for those in higher positions to decide; it's none of our business to worry about them."

The other student was clearly not as pessimistic as the others.

In fact, apart from a few students from high-ranking families, the vast majority of the students present were unaware that Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi's return to the Han Dynasty brought much more than just a thousand students.

His departure also signifies the split within the Shangyin Academy.

The Han dynasty invited Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi to come to Han territory by appointing Cheng Yi as the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy.

In fact, it was an attempt to integrate Shangyin Academy, one of the seven major Confucian academies, into the Imperial College, and to integrate private schools into official schools.

To put it bluntly, the seven major Confucian academies, or the countless smaller academies below them, were all originally established by one or a few great Confucian scholars.

For example, Wang Zhi's ancestors were among the founders of the Dawu Academy.

The Sage's Lecture Hall of the Great Qian Dynasty was originally a place where the descendants of the Confucian sage taught students.

The Xiaoshengxianzhuang of the Great Wei Dynasty was founded by the Xun, Guo, and Chen families.

However, as its influence grew, more and more Confucian scholars joined in, more shareholders were introduced, and more students were attracted, which led to its current scale.

However, it is still a private school in essence.

The best and fastest way for Wang Yu to vigorously develop official schools is to exploit the already established private schools.

Wang Yu wanted to swallow these private schools and bleed them dry, so naturally the original shareholders of these private schools were unhappy.

Cheng Zhu's departure, especially with such a large group of people, signifies a complete break with the Shangyin Academy.

Of course, Cheng Zhu's ability to pull so many people out of the Shangyin Academy was only partly due to his reputation and influence among the students.

If ordinary people at the bottom of society raise their voices, they might be able to fool a large number of people.

However, these scholars are not as easily fooled as the common people at the bottom of society; they are all very cunning.

Even with Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi's high reputation and their status as teachers, it would be normal for them to be able to pull away a group of people, but it would be impossible for them to pull away so many people.

Nearly a thousand people were willing to join him in Han territory, and ultimately, most of them were originally Han Chinese.

Or rather, their home was within the Great Han territory.

Sixty percent of the students at Shangyin Academy come from Da Cang, and the Great Han Dynasty rose from the foundation of Da Cang. Therefore, most of the students are now naturally subjects of the Great Han Dynasty.