Song Gexing

Chapter 172 Angry at Ouyang Xiu
In March, a memorial from Ouyang Xiu came into Zhao Fang's eyes, impeaching Long Changqi and punishing him. He frowned when he saw it, and immediately called Ouyang Xiu to ask him face to face.

"Ouyang Qing has made no comment on the matter of impeachment, but is the crime excessive? Can a nearly 90-year-old man who has written books and essays be worthy of the metaphor of Shaozhengmao?"

Ouyang Xiu held his head high and said without any hesitation: "This official criticizes the Duke of Zhou, how can he not be worthy of it? The teachings of Confucius and Sheng were passed down from the Duke of Zhou. He praised the Duke of Zhou as a treacherous and evil man who deserves to be punished!"

Zhao Fang said displeasedly: "It is our national policy in the Song Dynasty to speak innocently. The Duke of Zhou happened 2000 years apart. Do people today really understand the truth? Why can't we have different opinions?"

"Your Highness is ridiculous! Since Dong Zhongshu, hundreds of schools of thought have turned to Confucianism. Anyone who criticizes Duke Zhou must be someone with ulterior motives. Why did Confucius kill Shaozhengmao? Isn't it because his words and deeds are enough to disturb the simplicity of the people?"

Ouyang Xiucai refused to admit defeat and loudly refuted Zhao Fang.

Zhao Fang became angry and pointed at him and said: "Ouyang Qing keeps talking about the teachings of Confucius and Saints, but does he really act in accordance with the Confucian principles of loyalty and forgiveness? If I read it correctly, you are Confucian as the outside and Legal as the inside. Bar?"

Ouyang Xiu hesitated when he asked this question, and was right.

Don't think that Legalism has long since died out. In fact, after the deposed hundreds of schools of thought, Legalism merged into Confucianism, and it has continued to do so for a long time, often occupying a dominant position.

The so-called Song Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism, also known as Neo-Confucianism, are actually the most mixed with Legalist thoughts, among which the representative figures are Ouyang Xiu and Wang Anshi.

The reason why Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was regarded as Zhengshuo by the Ming and Qing Dynasties is precisely because the Legalist views in it are conducive to controlling the people. Don't think that Legalism is just about harsh punishments, it is just a means.

The real core of Legalism is the idea of ​​imprisoning the people so that they dare not resist the rulers. This is most obvious in the book Han Feizi.

Who is Long Changqi? He is a scholar in the field. He likes to study ancient books and annotate and explain his own opinions all his life. This is purely academic and not directed at anyone.

Wen Yanbo admired him, Fan Zhongyan admired him, and a large number of Confucian students followed him. He wrote more than 100 million words of articles, and was awarded the fifth-rank official position by Zhao Zhen last year.

Of course, he was not asked to become an official. How could an old man who was nearly ninety years old be an official? This was an affirmation of his life's writings.

However, after his work was made public, many ministers were impeached this year. Ouyang Xiu's impeachment was the most severe this time. He was directly accused of heresy, and he was asked to be prosecuted by the court. It was also a capital crime.

Zhao Fang originally chose not to see the other memorials when he saw them. He didn't want to pay attention to this kind of thing at all, but today's crime was so big that he couldn't even ignore it.

"As His Highness said, I believe that regardless of whether it is Confucianism or Legalism, as long as it has a negative impact on the direction of people's hearts, it should be banned."

Ouyang Xiu still refused to admit defeat. Zhao Fang smiled and said, "So, do you think Ying Zheng was right to burn books and seduce Confucians?"

"When did I say this? Your Highness is taking it out of context!"

Ouyang Xiu was anxious. Qin Shihuang in this era was synonymous with the bad guy. How dare he be given this reputation.

Even though he supports many theories of Legalism, he is a disciple of Confucianism after all. It is okay to use Legalism to govern the country, but it is absolutely impossible to accept Legalism.

Zhao Fang smiled, waved his hands and said, "Let's not talk about this anymore, it's boring, but I still feel that the crime is too heavy. The sage teaches future generations to be virtuous and careful in punishment. You should change the crime."

He was planning to ease the conflict. He did not want an old man to be severely punished, nor did he want to embarrass Ouyang Xiu. After all, Neo-Confucianism was actually prevalent in the Song Dynasty, and Ouyang Xiu was not the only one.When Ouyang Xiu returned, Zhao Fang felt satisfied that he had defeated the old man and that this matter could be over. At worst, the court would only issue a reprimand order.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he left, another memorial came in. Before he could review it, the Political Affairs Hall handed it over to Zhao Zhen.

This time the person who submitted the letter was not Lao Ouyang, but Liu Chang, who knew the imperial edict. By the time Zhao Fang learned the news, the edict of accountability had been issued.

Zhao Fang stamped his feet angrily. These people had gone too far. He immediately wrote a letter in person impeaching these people for exceeding their authority and disrupting the program. They should be severely punished to set the record straight.

This caused a stir. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince personally impeached court officials. This was a rare event. It involved a large number of people and the words were fierce, which frightened people.

Zhao Zhen had no choice but to hold an impromptu court meeting to discuss the matter. Zhao Fang, who came in with his head held high, sat down with a serious face.

Zhao Zhen, who came slowly, asked helplessly: "Prince, let me tell you first, why are so many courtiers impeached? Have you not neglected the government during this time?"

Zhao Fang raised his eyes to look at his honest father, and sighed with hatred: "Father, do you really not know or are you just pretending to be confused? The new policy that was just promulgated, what are the rules behind the reorganization of the censorship, what are the rules that the ministers had originally But you promised well, and then you completely forgot about it in less than two months?"

Everyone was shocked. Even Bao Zheng didn't realize that he had been infringed.

The New Deal stipulates that from now on, the Admonition Yuan will be responsible for admonishing the emperor, and the Yu Shi will be responsible for supervising all officials. According to regulations, only the Yu Shi Tai can do the impeachment of ministers in the court.

As for local officials, since the Yushitai is not powerful enough, local officials can impeach their colleagues, but the six ministries of the imperial court prohibit impeachment and can go about their own work.

If everyone has the right to impeach, then why do we need the Yushitai? Moreover, if all officials go to impeach others, they will not be able to do their own work.

For people like Long Changqi who were not officials originally, if they commit crimes after being rewarded as officials, they can be impeached by Yushitai or by officials from his hometown, and they will be treated in the same way as officials who became official officials.

But who are the people who submitted the letter this time? There are a few censors in the Yushitai, a few admonishers in the Jianyuan, and the rest are officials from the six ministries. Isn't this a mess?

Zhao Fang originally ignored it because he knew that the New Deal had just been implemented and everyone had not adapted yet. After Bao Zheng and others reacted, they would adjust.

But this time I was so angry that I went shirtless in person to reveal this bad habit and shocked everyone.

Lao Bao, who had come to his senses, looked back majestically at his censors, and immediately cupped his hands and said: "The minister is subordinating to His Highness the Crown Prince, the six ministries of the Second Mansion have their own duties and quit, so what is the reason to rob me of the power of the censors! Please! Your Majesty will punish you severely to serve as a warning to others!"

When he came forward, other people in Yushitai were also filled with indignation. Damn it, you are taking our rights. Have you done your job well in such a leisurely time?

Ouyang Xiu secretly wiped his sweat. Fortunately, he was called by the prince, who took back the impeachment memorial and wrote another one without submitting it.

But Liu Chang was miserable. You knew how to make imperial edicts, but your job was to write edicts for the emperor to join in the fun. The officials who looked at each other were in trouble now.

When the New Deal was first implemented, everyone agreed. Now we cannot say that the New Deal is inappropriate. Even if it is not appropriate, we still have to find an excuse to abolish it.

(End of this chapter)