prosperous age

Wei Guangde opposed the ban on academies and only wanted to retain official schools, which made Zhang Juzheng frown and fall into deep thought.

In fact, later generations have been arguing endlessly about Zhang Juzheng's reform measure of "revising the old rules and regulating education". Some people believe that the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, while others think it is a feudal dictatorship idea.

The ban on teaching in academies began during the Longqing period under the promotion of Gao Gong and others.

However, the memorial drafted by Zhang Juzheng this time pushed it to a higher position.

As for the matter of lectures, both in terms of content and participants, it can be said that there are good and bad people mixed together.

However, scholars and officials were keen on giving lectures, and various new theories emerged one after another. In terms of the teaching activities themselves and the mainstream of the content, it reflected the progress of society.

If we say that the ministers were afraid of public opinion and even went against the imperial edict and disregarded official laws, it further reflects the awakening of public thought and the strong power of public opinion. This is considered progress in the history of thought, social history, and political history, and has been widely recognized.

The truth cannot be understood unless it is discerned, and this has been supported by the vast majority of people in later generations.

But in the Ming Dynasty, as a feudal dynasty, there was naturally no need for any debate.

Strengthening autocratic control is what Zhang Juzheng needed to pursue during his administration.

Strengthening autocratic power, suppressing different opinions, and ensuring that orders are carried out, whether it is the emperor or the prime minister, the purpose and result are the same.

It was for this reason that Zhang Juzheng actually regarded private academies as a scourge in his heart, and a chasm that he needed to overcome in his administration.

He had received a lot of news. Many scholars who opposed the performance evaluation system and the land survey often gathered in the academy to discuss this matter.

It doesn't matter what they say, because they are surrounded by students who are going to school, and their thoughts will be influenced by what they see and hear.

When these students grow up and enter the court, we can have a rough guess about what they are thinking.

Zhang Juzheng wanted to avoid this from happening, so he not only banned lectures, but also banned academies.

Apart from anything else, there was already a struggle between Neo-Confucianism and the School of Mind in the Ming Dynasty's ideology. Especially after Wang Yangming passed away, this struggle became more and more intense.

The origin of the School of Mind is the Jiangxi academies, including the Bai Lu Dong Academy.

Jiangxi was already a place with a prosperous culture. The reason why the School of Mind was able to stand out from the encirclement of the School of Principle was that new talents continued to emerge in Jiangxi, the cradle of literati. Their thoughts were more or less inclined towards the School of Mind, and they became the mainstay of the School of Mind, thus accelerating the spread of the School of Mind.

"Shandai, have you studied at the White Deer Cave Academy?"

Thinking of this, Zhang Juzheng couldn't help but suspect that Wei Guangde was also a disciple of the School of Mind, although it seemed that he had never mentioned it before.

When Wei Guangde heard Zhang Juzheng ask this, he was stunned for a moment, then nodded, but soon shook his head again.

Wei Guangde nodded and shook his head, which made Zhang Juzheng dumbfounded. He didn't understand what he meant.

"After failing the provincial examination in my early years, I traveled all over Jiangxi. In the two years, I not only went to Bailudong Academy to read and study, but also went to Yuzhang Academy, Ehu Academy and Bailuzhou Academy."

Wei Guangde did not understand Zhang Juzheng's intention and smiled faintly, "It can't be considered as going to school, I just go there to read books and learn from the dean and professors in the academy.

Unlike his elder uncle who had two successful candidates in the imperial examinations as his teachers, Shandai only studied the Four Books and Five Classics with a master in his early years, but he was also only a successful candidate.

After I passed the exam in my college, the teacher said there was nothing left to teach me and asked me to go to Nanchang or other places to study and choose a good teacher."

Wei Guangde had never talked much about these things before. This was the first time someone asked about his early educational experiences.

Of course, there is nothing to hide. If you are determined to investigate, you can easily find out.

Upon hearing that Wei Guangde completed the imperial examination by attending classes at the academy, Zhang Juzheng felt somewhat sad.

He was luckier than Wei Guangde. He was well-known as a "child prodigy" in his early years and was appreciated by Li Shiao, the prefect of Jingzhou.

Everyone knows that Zhang Juzheng's other name is Zhang Baigui. It was given by Zhang Juzheng's great-grandfather because he dreamed of the moon falling into a water jar, and then a white turtle floated out of the water. So his great-grandfather gave him a nickname "Baigui" in the hope that he would bring honor to the family in the future.

"Baigui" naturally sounds better than "Baigui", and "gui" also means beautiful jade.

Therefore, Zhang Juzheng still used the name Zhang Baigui during the palace examination.

Li Shiao thought that "Bai Gui" was too sharp and not worthy of being in a refined place, so he suggested changing it, and thus the name Zhang Juzheng came into being.

Zhang Juzheng passed all the imperial examinations and made it straight to the provincial examination, where he failed like Wei Guangde.

However, on that occasion, Zhang Juzheng was lucky enough to meet Gu Lin, who was the governor of Huguang at the time.

Although Gu Lin stopped him from getting five in a row and deliberately dropped him from the list of provincial examinations, he also hoped to hone Zhang Juzheng more and make him a great man.

Afterwards, he took off his rhinoceros belt and gave it to Ju Zheng, telling him that he hoped Ju Zheng would set high ambitions and be like Yi Yin or Yan Yuan, instead of just being a young scholar who became famous.

Because of this sentence, Zhang Juzheng's name came from this.

"Shu" and "Shu" are homophones, just like "gui" and "gui". Zhang Juzheng was the third child in the family, and "Shu" also means three.

"Shu" is a commonly used character in Chinese and was first seen in bronze inscriptions of the Western Zhou Dynasty. Its original meaning is to pick up, and it is also the same as "shu", referring to legumes.

Later, it was used as a pseudonym for the uncle in boshu, that is, the father's younger brother, the husband's younger brother, and the third one in the ranking of brothers, younger than bo and zhong.

With Li Shiao and Gu Lin guiding his writing, Zhang Juzheng was naturally much better than Wei Guangde.

"The Jiangxi Academy focuses on the study of the mind. Is Shandai also a disciple of the Academy?"

Zhang Juzheng nodded slightly and continued to ask.

"The School of Mind and the School of Principle actually have the same goal, but they are just different understandings of the same thing."

Wei Guangde frowned slightly when he heard this. He was not a follower of the School of Mind, but he was not a follower of the School of Principle either. He was a pragmatist, a person who would forget his principles when he saw profit. The only thing that made him better than others was that he had the insights of later generations and knew what was important.

In this respect, he is actually similar to Zhang Juzheng.

It is said that Xu Jie is a follower of the School of Mind, but in fact it is just a rumor in the countryside. Although Xu Jie participated in many gatherings organized by the School of Mind, he never said that he was a follower of the School of Mind.

The actual situation is that the study of psychology was developing very rapidly at that time, which led many students to study it.

In order to gain reputation among the literati, Xu Jie ran there eagerly to make his presence felt.

As a politician, how could he have obvious bias? He will use things that can bring benefits, and will naturally not consider things that do not bring benefits.

Zhang Juzheng was actually similar and inherited all of Xu Jie's skills.

"Different understandings, that's a good point."

Zhang Juzheng nodded slightly. This actually touched his heart.

Zhang Juzheng studied Neo-Confucianism in his early years, but he had a lot of contact with the followers of the School of Mind, so he had his own judgment.

In his opinion, those who claim to be disciples of Wang Yangming's School of Mind are nothing but opportunists who are swindling and deceiving. Few of them have understood Wang Yangming's School of Mind at all.

Wang Yangming's philosophy of mind is not a discipline, but an attitude towards dealing with things. When encountering things, one should study things to gain knowledge, that is, rely on practice and self-reflection, that is, "unity of knowledge and action."

Although Zhang Juzheng considered himself not a follower of the School of Mind, his political choice was "unity of knowledge and action", which meant knowing what was right and then firmly persisting in doing it.

Zhang Juzheng could have just lived in comfort and enjoyed himself. After all, he had already sat on the throne of Prime Minister, and there was no need for him to take the risk of further promotion.

However, Zhang Juzheng knew that the various problems facing the Ming Dynasty urgently needed solutions, otherwise there would be endless harm, so he did it without hesitation.

"As for whether I am a student of Xinxue, haha

My teacher is an orthodox Neo-Confucianist. When I wanted to travel, he strongly opposed my going to the White Deer Cave Academy. "

Wei Guangde laughed cheerfully and said, "But I still went because I was really curious about the study of the mind, but the teacher never taught anything about it."

"hehe."

Zhang Juzheng smiled when he heard this. Wei Guangde's meaning was very clear. He was not a follower of the School of Mind. He just went to the academy to read the works of the School of Mind out of curiosity. Otherwise, he would not have said that.

"Then Shandai should know that the Taizhou School, the mainstream of the School of Mind, is very active in academies all over the country, and they often gather to criticize government affairs."

What Zhang Juzheng said was half true and half false.

The Taizhou School is indeed the most active school of Xinxue today, but criticizing the government is not the main purpose of their gatherings; it is only discussed occasionally.

In fact, more importantly, we are discussing and promoting the philosophy of mind.

As for those who criticized the imperial court, they were mainly gatherings of officials who had lost power. They did not curse the imperial court and criticize Zhang Juzheng behind closed doors at home, but did so in public.

All I can say is that the atmosphere of speech in the Ming Dynasty was actually very relaxed, and there was truly "freedom of speech."

By using the School of Mind as a target, Zhang Juzheng was actually just using it as a means of political struggle to win over some groups and attack others. He suppressed the School of Mind that used academies to broadcast its ideas and win the support of the followers of the School of Principle.

After all, Neo-Confucianism was deeply rooted and did not need to be widely spread through academies.

Among the scholars of this era, more than half were Neo-Confucianists, and the rest were Neo-Confucianists. The reason why Neo-Confucianists seemed to be more powerful and even had the potential to surpass Neo-Confucianism was because Neo-Confucianists were accustomed to gathering together to give lectures, which made quite a noise and gave those political opportunists a new idea.

Wei Guangde fell silent at this time. He vaguely guessed Zhang Juzheng's purpose and believed that the academy must be banned.

Yes, Zhang Juzheng was very disgusted with the model of gathering and giving lectures, and believed it was a good way to mislead people.

The imperial court prohibited lectures, but if there were no strict restrictions on private academies, what would happen if these people suddenly became professors in the academies?

They could lecture a lot in the academy classroom and instill their own ideas into the students, but they still could not achieve the effect that Zhang Juzheng wanted.

Scholars can go to official schools run by the government in various places to study, so why do they have to go to academies?

"Brother, the academy has a great influence on the people. You should think twice."

Wei Guangde did not respond to Zhang Juzheng's words, but reminded him sincerely.

The academy is an ancient educational institution in China. It first appeared during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, at the Lizheng Academy in Ziwei City, Luoyang, the eastern capital.

Although the name of academy appeared in the Tang Dynasty, the academies in the Tang Dynasty were similar to the later halls of learning, not educational institutions.

Academies, which served as a base for private lectures, appeared in the Five Dynasties and Northern Song Dynasty. In order to revive Confucian culture, the intellectual class represented by Neo-Confucianists consciously established academies.

In the Ming Dynasty, academies were divided into government-run and private academies. The principals of government-run academies were appointed by local officials, while private academies hired their own principals. The academies had to report to the government office for record, and the number of students was not fixed.

The academy mainly focuses on free study, supplemented by group lectures. The president or famous teachers give lectures on scriptures, literature, and poetry at irregular intervals.

To maintain the academy, wealthy businessmen and scholars usually raised funds themselves, built school buildings in secluded places in the mountains or forests, or set up school land and collected rent to cover the expenses.

This allowed academies to develop freely without being restricted by government control. Therefore, since the Song Dynasty, academies have become places where ideas collided.

In its early years, the development of Neo-Confucianism was promoted through academies and gradually became the mainstream.

The current development of Neo-Confucianism is also following the old path of its early years and spreading through academies.

Therefore, academies have a high status among Chinese scholars. It can be said that once Zhang Juzheng's memorial was released, it was bound to be criticized by the world.

Not only will the followers of the School of Mind oppose it, but the School of Principle may not necessarily follow his wishes and choose to stand on his side and join forces to suppress it.

“What I hate is the purple that takes away the red, the weeds that disturb the seedlings, the Zheng music that disturbs the elegance, and the falsehood that disturbs learning.

If the academies cannot be eradicated, the thoughts of scholars will be confused, and a big chaos will arise sooner or later.

The reason why the Taizhou School of Mind was targeted was because their ideas were too radical, they criticized Neo-Confucianism, attacked corruption, and damaged the reputation of the court.

Zhang Juzheng continued.

Unconsciously, Wei Guangde's hands trembled slightly, and there was only one thought in his mind, "He Xinyin's pill".

Yes, Zhang Juzheng repeatedly mentioned the Taizhou School, which was actually a hint to Wei Guangde.

He Xinyin, the current leader of the Taizhou School, fiercely criticized authoritarianism and put forward the shocking view that "having no father and no king is not the same as killing father or king."

Wei Guangde and He Xinyin were not actually very familiar with each other, except that when Wei Guangde was in mourning for his father, He Xinyin came to Pengze to see him.

However, He Xinyin's ideas were too radical and did not conform to the mainstream values ​​of that era, so Wei Guangde took the initiative to distance himself from him after meeting him twice.

Wei Guangde was not sure whether Zhang Juzheng was trying to make a deal with He Xinyin's life to make him agree to close the academy.

Yes, He Xinyin’s proposition is actually a way to death.

Among the five relationships, what he valued most was not the relationship between the ruler and the subject, nor the relationship between parents and brothers, but friends. This shows his originality. He was neither in line with the traditional Confucian ethics nor in line with the social outlook of the Han and Legalists.

But the idea that "having no father and no king is not patricide or regicide" was enough for the court to severely punish him. In the era of imperial power and professionalism, it was simply treason and anti-Heavenly Gang.

Well, just because He Xinyin is from Jiangxi, and is a fellow villager of Wei Guangde, when someone was about to make an example of him, as a fellow villager, he naturally had to lend a hand, just like before.

Wei Guangde would come to the rescue not for personal gain, of course, but simply for the support of Jiangxi scholars and for his reputation.

"Brother Uncle, do you really have to be so ruthless?"

Wei Guangde's tone suddenly became stern and he questioned.

Wei Guangde could feel that Zhang Juzheng seemed determined to become a model clerk, and this person was He Xinyin, the leader of the Taizhou School.

This person has been too active in recent times, and some of his views have even touched upon imperial power.

"That's just everyone's opinion. Even his students may not all agree with what he says."

Wei Guangde continued.

"Shandai, what I am doing now cannot allow any other noise from below."

Zhang Juzheng had really made up his mind. On the way back, he had already thought about this issue seriously. (End of this chapter)