prosperous age

Chapter 1011 1102 Objection

Although officials of the School of Mind have emerged in large numbers in recent years, most officials in the court still believe in Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism and consider themselves to be followers of Neo-Confucianism.

So, logically speaking, the Neo-Confucian school should have dominated the Ming Dynasty court and had an overwhelming advantage over the School of Mind.

But the reality is very cruel. Not to mention other things, two of the three cabinet ministers now seem to have deep imprints of psychology.

As a disciple of Xu Jie, the Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng should consider his teacher's attitude.

In the fifth year of the Longqing reign, when Xue Xuan was enshrined in the imperial court, Xu Jie expressed his support for Wang Yangming to be enshrined in the imperial court as well.

Therefore, in the eyes of the ministers in the court, it should not be difficult to pass Zhang Juzheng's test.

  And what about the second assistant Wei Guangde?

He was from Jiujiang Wei, Jiangxi Province, and Jiujiang is right next to Mount Lushan. Wei Guangde also claimed that he had studied at Bailu Academy in his early years.

He didn't say what he learned, but everyone can imagine it.

Bailu Academy does not talk much about the principles of Neo-Confucianism, but is more of a place to talk about the philosophy of mind.

The two ministers whose words carry the most weight in the cabinet may both be inclined towards the School of Mind, which naturally makes the followers of Neo-Confucianism a little cautious, fearing that they might offend them and affect their future.

Therefore, although there was a lot of discussion outside the court, no one ever brought the matter to the surface.

Wei Guangde had no idea what Zhang Juzheng was thinking at the moment. He knew about the controversy outside regarding the issue of sacrifice, but he thought it had nothing to do with him, so he naturally would not intervene.

Relatively speaking, Wei Guangde was more practical. No matter whether it was Neo-Confucianism or the School of Mind, he would use it if it was beneficial to him and would not consider himself as anyone's disciple.

If we really count his teachers, he is actually a follower of Neo-Confucianism, and definitely not a follower of Mind-Study.

Zhang Juzheng was actually the same type of person as him, even including Xu Jie.

Although Xu Jie often regarded himself as a disciple of the School of Mind, he seldom said so in public. He was also a true egoist. If it benefited him, he would say that he also believed in the School of Mind, but he would never express this in other days.

At the very least, the current Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng understood this point, because although Xu Jie was inclined towards the School of Mind, he never taught him anything about it.

When the discussion was almost over, Lu Diaoyang stood up to say goodbye, saying with a smile: "It's almost time, I'll leave first today."

After saying that, Lu Diaoyang bowed to them and said goodbye.

Wei Guangde stood up, returned the greeting immediately, and then planned to say goodbye to Zhang Juzheng, but Zhang Juzheng, with a smile on his face, gently shook his head at him.

Although he didn't understand why, Wei Guangde still realized that Zhang Juzheng wanted him to stay again, so he didn't say goodbye, but watched Lu Diaoyang walk out of the duty room before sitting back in his seat.

"Shandai, you know about the controversy outside regarding the sacrifice, right?"

There was no one else in the room, so Zhang Juzheng spoke frankly.

"Know a thing or two."

Wei Guangde nodded slightly and answered.

"People outside say that you and I are both followers of the School of Mind, and we should support Mr. Yangming in being enshrined in the ancestral temple."

Zhang Juzheng spoke calmly.

After hearing this, Wei Guangde smiled faintly, but did not comment and just lowered his head.

Wang Yangming knew that he was highly regarded by later generations.

However, in this era, holding high the banner of Xinxue would involve huge risks.

There are the most scholars in the world who believe in Neo-Confucianism. If you hold high the banner of the School of Mind, you will most likely become the target of public criticism.

Even though the top officials of the Ming Dynasty court may be more or less inclined towards the School of Mind, it does not mean that they will publicly stand up to support the School of Mind.

This is also the reason why, although Xu Jie often stated in private that he was a follower of the School of Mind, he never said so in public.

What everyone heard was nothing more than a rumor in the market, and it could be said that it was a false rumor.

Wei Guangde knew clearly that he was certainly not a disciple of the School of Mind. To be honest, he was a materialist fighter before, but after traveling through time, his beliefs were somewhat not firm.

Moreover, with the progress of reform, Chinese people have more or less acquired the problem of commercialism, so it is actually difficult to say what the situation is with Wei Guangde now.

"I wonder what Shandai thinks about this?"

Seeing that Wei Guangde didn't speak, Zhang Juzheng simply asked directly.

"Did the cabinet discuss this matter in the fifth year of Longqing?"

Wei Guangde was silent for a moment before asking.

In the fifth year of the Longqing reign, the court not only sent Xue Xuan to the Confucius Temple, but also did one more thing, which was to overturn Wang Yangming's case. Emperor Longqing restored his title and hereditary title of Xinjian Earl, posthumously awarded him the title of Xinjian Marquis, and gave Wang Yangming the posthumous title of "Wencheng".

At this time, Wang Yangming had already passed away for decades.

In other words, during the Jiajing period, Wang Yangming was convicted after his death and the hereditary system of the newly created earldom was terminated, so he did not receive the treatment he deserved.

What Wei Guangde asked, of course, was what the court said at the time. At that time, he was not in the court, but was in mourning in his hometown.

"At the beginning, the main thing was that the Imperial Censor reported that Xue Xuan should be sent to Confucius Temple for worship, and then someone mentioned the issue of Wang Yangming.

You may also guess that Gao Suqing strongly supported Xue Xuan's enshrinement, but for Wang Yangming,

At this point, Zhang Juzheng paused for a moment before continuing, "At first, his attitude was unclear, but after the news spread across the court and the public, everyone started to discuss the issue, and finally some retired officials also submitted petitions.

In the end, Wang Yangming only overturned the verdict and was not enshrined in the Confucius Temple."

"Because of Lord Xu?"

Wei Guangde asked tentatively.

Zhang Juzheng lowered his head without comment. It was obvious that Wei Guangde had guessed the truth of the matter.

Because Xu Jie submitted a memorial requesting that Wang Yangming be enshrined in the Confucius Temple, this obviously touched Gao Gong's sore spot, and then Wang Yangming was sacrificed.

However, Wei Guangde also guessed that it was probably as compensation, so he posthumously awarded his title from Xinjian Earl to Xinjian Marquis.

Well, it seems that posthumous gifts to the dead are just that.

Although Wang Yangming was deified in later generations, he actually had a rough life when he was alive.

The controversy surrounding Wang Yangming was heated even when he was still alive.

After all, the School of Mind he founded had such a great influence that in a short period of time it developed into a school that could compete with Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, which made the old scholars of Neo-Confucianism very dissatisfied and regarded it as a scourge.

Just after his death, the emperor's close minister Gui E reported to Emperor Jiajing, enumerating Wang Yangming's "crimes" and directly convicting Wang Shouren of deserting his post without permission.

In fact, Wang Shouren did leave Guangdong without waiting for the emperor's order. At that time, he was the Left Censor-in-Chief, Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi and Governor-General of Guangxi to quell the rebellion in Guangxi.

After the rebellion was quelled, Wang Shouren's lung disease worsened, so he wrote a petition to the court asking for retirement and return home. He recommended Lin Fu, the governor of Xunyang, to replace him, but he returned without waiting for the court's approval.

In November of the seventh year of the Jiajing reign, he died of illness on a boat at Qinglong Port in Dayu County, Nan'an Prefecture, Jiangxi Province. He died on the journey before he could return to his hometown.

Gui E's impeachment was somewhat inhumane.

However, it was during the Great Rite Debate, and the disciples of the School of Mind could only join forces with the disciples of the School of Principle to attack and impeach him, and finally forced him to be removed from office.

Another major charge in Gui E's impeachment memorial was that he had deviated from Zhu Xi's theory of "investigating things to acquire knowledge" and had his own way of thinking. Gui E regarded Yangming's philosophy of mind as a "heresy" and proposed to ban it in order to correct people's minds.

The emperor hated the existence of such people the most. This touched the sore spot of Emperor Jiajing. After a brief court discussion, he immediately issued an edict that Wang Yangming's descendants were not allowed to continue to inherit the title of earl, and they also did not receive the posthumous title that an old minister should have received after his death.

Although it was not directly stated that Wang Yangming was guilty, the fact that he was not rewarded after suppressing the rebellion speaks volumes.

Not only did he not get any credit, he was also punished.

In fact, the young and frivolous Emperor Jiajing did not know much about Wang Yangming. He only knew about Wang Yangming from the people around him.

However, at this time, no one around him, whether they were from the Great Ceremony Debate faction, seemed to have said a fair word for Wang Yangming. Some even slandered him in private for fear of being recalled by the emperor.

Yang Tinghe, who was hostile to the School of Mind, obstructed Emperor Jiajing from recalling Wang Yangming.

And his successor may have similar ideas or concerns.

After all, a person who is not envied is a mediocre person.

Among the successor prime ministers was Yang Yiqing, who should have had a good relationship with the Wang family and should have spoken for him.

However, in the dispute over the Great Ceremony, Wang Yangming remained neutral and did not express his stance, which resulted in him offending both factions.

The worst person should be Emperor Jiajing. Because of his neutral attitude, some people thought he was leaning towards the opposition, so it is entirely possible that they held a grudge against him.

This is why after Wang Yangming put down the rebellion, the court not only did not release him, but instead convicted him after a court discussion.

From this we can see that although maintaining neutrality seems safe, most of the time it will offend everyone, which is really not advisable.

"What do you mean, uncle?"

Seeing Zhang Juzheng lowering his head, Wei Guangde had no choice but to ask.

"Haha, Shandai should understand the study of the mind. I wonder what his attitude towards the study of the mind is?"

Zhang Juzheng looked up and asked with a wry smile.

Neither of them was willing to express their opinion first, and they were both testing each other.

In fact, Wei Guangde had nothing to worry about in this duty room, but he was really curious about what Zhang Juzheng was thinking.

"I have read a lot of articles on psychology, which are very inspiring for people and things to do."

Wei Guangde said calmly.

"That's it?"

Zhang Juzheng was still a little unconvinced and continued to ask.

"Brother Uncle, do you think that because I went to the White Deer Cave Academy in my early years, I must be a disciple of the School of Mind? Haha, my teacher is a true disciple of the School of Principle. How can I betray my master?"

Wei Guangde shook his head and smiled, "But in my heart, there is actually no gap between Neo-Confucianism and Psychology. I just want to do things with a clear conscience.

For matters that should be handled by science, science should naturally be the first choice. As for matters that are inconvenient to be handled by science, if psychology can be used, then psychology should be used.

Hehe, Shandai doesn’t think it’s necessary to distinguish between learning this and learning that, as long as it’s useful.”

"Haha. Shandai has really achieved the goal of being impartial and a gentleman at the right time."

When Zhang Juzheng heard Wei Guangde's words, he laughed out loud and said.

"The Doctrine of the Mean, haha, who knows what the Great Sage originally meant by the Doctrine of the Mean? It's just everyone's own judgment.

Shandai is more inclined to interpret it as "yong wei yong", which means to remember the use of moderation."

Wei Guangde continued with a smile.

Since Wei Guangde had already made it clear that he was not a follower of the School of Mind, it was now Zhang Juzheng's turn.

"Ah, Shandai, you and I sometimes have similar ideas. In fact, my teacher thinks the same way.

Both the School of Mind and the School of Principle have their own strengths and weaknesses. The correct approach is to learn from each other’s strengths and make up for each other’s weaknesses. There is no need to dwell on the differences between the two.”

Zhang Juzheng sighed and said.

"So what does uncle mean?"

Wei Guangde thought he had guessed Zhang Juzheng's attitude. It was Gao Gong who opposed sending Wang Yangming to the Confucius Temple. So now Zhang Juzheng should oppose Gao Gong's decision and support sending Wang Yangming to the Confucius Temple for worship.

However, when Wei Guangde heard Zhang Juzheng's explanation, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly that Zhang Juzheng was indeed a very shrewd man.

"I plan to secretly spread the news and oppose this matter."

Zhang Juzheng directly told Wei Guangde his thoughts. He did not support sending Wang Yangming to be worshipped in the Confucius Temple.

Wei Guangde narrowed his eyes slightly when he heard this, but he still stared at Zhang Juzheng.

The reason why Zhang Juzheng did this is really strange.

After looking at Wei Guangde, Zhang Juzheng explained: "The reason why I oppose it is that the people of the School of Mind are too fond of giving lectures everywhere in order to spread this school of thought, and they also recruit many disciples and call on their followers to advocate harmony with each other.

If things continue like this, it will create a lot of momentum, but it will be disadvantageous to the court."

Wei Guangde did not respond, of course he knew what was going on.

Zhang Juzheng said that the followers of the School of Mind spread the School of Mind everywhere, which was already considered polite. During their lectures, they praised the School of Mind and belittled the School of Principle, and at the same time they inevitably praised and criticized current politics.

When the reigns of Emperors Longqing and Wanli began, these lecturers launched a massive attack on the imperial court, believing that Zhang Juzheng had teamed up with the inner court to force Gao Gong away, and that it was a palace coup without the smoke of gunpowder.

It is strange that Zhang Juzheng could have a good face towards the followers of the School of Mind.

And now, when Zhang Juzheng was in power, those people, in order to package themselves, could not help but belittle him in addition to giving lectures.

It would be fine if their words had substance, but from what Zhang Juzheng learned, most of them were empty words. They had no understanding of the situation at all and just kept pointing out his "faults", which made Zhang Juzheng very uncomfortable.

Now they want to raise their own status by having Wang Yangming enter the Confucius Temple. How could Zhang Juzheng agree to that?

In fact, the Ming government has always opposed scholars from forming associations and speaking out. There were strict regulations in the early Ming Dynasty, but they were relaxed later, but the rules did not change.

  Generally speaking, when politics is clear, student opinion is relatively quiet and the mood is relatively mild;

When powerful officials are in power, villains are rampant, people are fickle, the political situation is turbulent, and the world is in chaos, the students' public opinion will suddenly rise and become extremely active.

Even though the imperial court strictly prohibited it, students still broke the school rules, stood up, discussed the current situation, and expressed their opinions passionately. This was particularly prominent in the late Ming Dynasty.

When scholars formed associations and organizations, they became the scholar circle that could not be controlled by political power.

They organized activities to actually pay attention to the court's movements and even vent their political dissatisfaction, becoming the backbone of the force opposing the court's decisions.

In view of the fact that the literati in the late Ming Dynasty were too arrogant, the rulers of the Qing court learned a lesson and strictly prohibited the scholar-officials from forming associations, free lectures, and the establishment of private academies.

After hearing Zhang Juzheng's reasons for his opposition, Wei Guangde only thought for a moment and came to the same attitude as him.

Perhaps, if Wang Yangming had not been sent to the Confucius Temple for worship in the middle of the Wanli period, folk associations would not have been so unscrupulous, and even the Donglin Party might not have been formed.

You should know that the Donglin Party actually took academies as its roots, and used lectures to attract the attention of scholars and gain their support.