I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 541 Zhu Youxiao’s plan
Hearing what Liu Yishen said, Ye Xianggao behind him immediately understood what he meant and quickly said:

"I'm so stupid, I respectfully request His Majesty's Holy Judgment!"

During the debate just now, Sun Shenxing and others were so angry that they knelt down and asked the emperor to stand up for Cheng Zhu Neo-Confucianism and reprimanded Xu Guangqi and others.

But Liu Yishen and Ye Xianggao were indifferent to this, and did not care at all that Sun Shenxing and others waved the flag for "Neo-Confucianism" and went through life and death.

Instead, he stood aside and quietly watched Sun Shenxing and others perform as if they were watching a play.

The reason for this is that although they are all believers in Neo-Confucianism, they hold such high positions because they can judge the situation and figure out the holy will, when they can do something and when not.

At first, Sun Shenxing asked the emperor about the teaching standards. When the emperor asked Liu Zongzhou and others to introduce Neo-Confucianism and Xinxue.They were not aware of the emperor's intentions, so they said a few good words for Neo-Confucianism and refuted Xinxue.

But in the end, the more they listened, the more strange they became, until they saw the emperor learn more about the school of mind learning in detail, and specifically asked about the Taizhou school.

Even though they didn't like Xinxue, they still vaguely felt the emperor's attitude.

Later, they saw the debate between Xu Guangqi and Sun Shenxing. The emperor deliberately favored Xu Guangqi, which made them understand the emperor's favor for Xinxue and felt that he was definitely making big moves.So they all cooperated, wanting to see what the emperor had in mind.

Zhu Youxiao nodded with satisfaction when he saw Liu Yishen and Ye Xianggao cooperating so well.Then he looked around at the crowd and said loudly:
"My dear friends, Neo-Confucianism and Xinxue have been arguing endlessly, and my heart aches. The current situation is turbulent, and I hope that all of you can work together instead of impeaching and criticizing each other for this.

But I also understand that our dynasty regards the Neo-Confucianism of Cheng and Zhu as the orthodoxy, and Zhu Xi’s "Collected Commentary on Chapters and Sentences of the Four Books" as the criterion for scientific examination.Therefore, the status of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism cannot be taken lightly.But now that the situation has changed, there are many followers of Xinxue among the people, and even hundreds of officials in the court have followers. Even I cannot ignore it.

Moreover, such academic disputes often involve far-reaching implications, and I feel sad every time I think of them.And I have always known that it is better to block than to open up, and to guard against the people's mouth is worse than to guard against the river.If we wholeheartedly defend Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism and categorically prohibit the study of minds, it will definitely cause a great stir among the people and even the court, and may even lead to criticism from the court and chaos in the government.Therefore, I thought about it and came up with a solution. I wonder if all of you, dear friends, would listen to me. "

Zhu Youxiao paused when he said this, looking at the ministers in front of him, waiting for their responses.

When Sun Shenxing and Liu Zongzhou saw what the emperor said, they felt very anxious.The emperor had just made a long speech, and his words contained words of support for Xin Xue.

The truth is obviously so simple. Neo-Confucianism is originally Confucian orthodoxy, so in the future, when giving lectures at the Imperial College, we can only invite Neo-Confucian masters to give lectures.And when this suggestion was put forward, no one would object, but the emperor did not, and insisted on rectifying it.

Thinking of this, the two looked at each other and immediately stood up to object.But before they could talk, Ye Xianggao took the lead to stand up and express his position.

"Your Majesty has made a holy judgment, and I would like to hear the details."

When Liu Yishen saw this, he quickly agreed, and even more so when Xu Guangqi, Li Zhizao and others saw this.When Zhu Youxiao saw this, he ignored the anxious Sun Shenxing and others and said:

"Okay! I remember that during the Han Dynasty, ancient classics and modern classics fought with each other, and each denounced the other as pseudo-study and fake books. Therefore, in order to calm the dispute, Emperor Xuan of the Western Han Dynasty summoned all the Confucian scholars to Shiqu Pavilion to unify the doctrines.

Later, Emperor Zhang of the Eastern Han Dynasty followed this example and summoned doctors, doctors, Yilang, Langguan and other students to hold a meeting at Baihu Temple. He asked all students to debate the scriptures, discuss the similarities and differences of the Five Classics, and the authenticity of the old and new scriptures to show orthodoxy. Finally, by Ban Gu was ordered to summarize the contents of the meeting and write "Baihu Tongyi" in four volumes to unify his theory.

As the saying goes, remembering the past is the teacher of the future.Isn’t the dispute between modern and ancient literature between the two Han Dynasties just like today’s dispute between Neo-Confucianism and Xinxue?That being the case, why not take the Shiquge Conference and the Baihuguan Conference as a lesson and convene the great scholars of imperial theory and psychology to give lectures and debates in the Piyong Hall of the Imperial Academy.What do you guys think? "

As soon as these words came out, everyone was shocked and speechless.

They originally thought that the emperor might be reconciled, or that he might improve his moral skills.

But I never expected that they would come up with the idea of ​​imitating the Shiquge Conference and the Baihuguan Conference of the Han Dynasty, allowing Neo-Confucianism and Xinxue to debate each other's scriptures.

Knowing that these two meetings were more than [-] years ago, they suddenly found it difficult to understand why the emperor would use such an old method.

Sun Shenxing, the Minister of Rites, was the first to react. Now he finally knew the emperor's intentions, and secretly said that he had really been deceived by the emperor.

Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was originally the orthodoxy of the Ming Dynasty. No matter how popular the mind science was among the people, in his opinion, it just couldn't make it onto the stage.And as long as the court does not relent and does not recognize Xinxue, Xinxue will always be popular among the people.

But now the situation is very different. The emperor actually wants to let Neo-Confucianism and Xinxue debate the classics.

Doesn’t this instantly elevate the status of the study of mind to the same status as Neo-Confucianism?Regardless of whether Xinxue successfully debates scriptures or not, as long as there is the behavior of debating scriptures, the status of Xinxue will be greatly improved, at least the imperial court will recognize it.

When he saw this, he no longer cared about anything else. He immediately knelt down to Zhu Youxiao and said sternly:

"Your Majesty, this is a ridiculous order! Please take back your order. Xin Xue can only talk about one's mind with one's hands in peacetime, just like the metaphysics of Wei and Jin Dynasties. I really can't figure out what use it is to make Your Majesty so lenient."

""Sun Aiqing, what you said is serious.Don’t I know the shortcomings of mind learning?But now people all over the world love mind scholars, even if it is true that they only talk about mind nature and ignore the facts as you said.I have to pay attention to it, otherwise the thinking of the people in the world will be chaotic. Seeing that Sun Shenxing was so stubborn, Zhu Youxiao immediately reprimanded him. Now it is no longer a question of whether Sun Shenxing likes it or not, but a question of promoting scripture debate.

Compared with the excitement of Sun Shenxing and others, Liu Yishui and Ye Xianggao seemed extremely calm, and they were silent, thinking about something indifferently.

When the emperor proposed to follow the example of the Shiquge Conference and the Baihuguan Conference, they were thinking that there were so many conferences on Confucian debate in history, why did the emperor mention these two alone.

They were all smart people, and it didn't take long for them to figure out that the two meetings had one important thing in common: that was, the emperor had full control over both meetings and had his own ideas throughout them.

In the third year of Ganlu in the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty wanted to further unify Confucianism and strengthen ideological rule.

So Xiao Wangzhi and other 23 scholars from the Five Classics were summoned to discuss the similarities and differences of the "Five Classics" in Shiqu Pavilion in the north of Weiyang Palace in Chang'an.In the end, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty personally made the decision.The memorials of Shi Qu's lectures were collected and compiled into the book "Shi Qu's Discussions".Also known as "Shiqu Lun".

A very important result of this meeting was that "The Chun Qiu Gu Liang Zhuan" was determined to be the official biography of the Spring and Autumn Period. From then on, the "Chun Qiu Gu Liang Zhuan" became popular.

The reason for this is that Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty once clearly expressed his interest in the study of "Guliang" and specifically said "Yixing's "Guliang Chunqiu"".

The same is true for the White Tiger Viewing Conference.

After Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, came to the throne, he formally established the prophecy theory as the official ruling ideology.

Later, in order to consolidate the dominance of Confucianism and further combine Confucianism with the study of prophecy, in the fourth year of Emperor Zhang's reign in the Han Dynasty, famous Confucian scholars from all over the country were gathered at Baihu Temple in Luoyang to discuss the similarities and differences of the Five Classics. This was the famous White Tiger Temple Conference in history.

However, this meeting was presided over by Emperor Zhang himself.

Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty personally selected representatives to ask questions, and then Confucian scholars from various schools discussed them. After reaching a consensus, the attendant Chun Yugong answered the question. After that, Emperor Zhang personally decided whether he was satisfied with the answer.

Only items that Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty was satisfied with could be finally approved and recorded in the "White Tiger Tongyi" after the meeting, which served as the study guideline for Confucian scholars in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Thinking of this, the two of them suddenly broke into a cold sweat and were frightened.

They never imagined that the emperor's ultimate intention was to learn from Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty, and intervene in Neo-Confucianism and the principles of psychology by convening a meeting of Confucian scholars to debate.

This made them feel ridiculous and didn't know what to do. How could the emperor have such an idea?

The atmosphere in Piyong was extremely solemn. Zhu Youxiao looked around at everyone. After Sun Shenxing was refuted by Zhu Youxiao, he knelt down and couldn't bear it regardless of Zhu Youxiao's objection.Liu Yishen, Ye Xianggao and others were also silent and did not dare to express their opinions.

Zhu Youxiao looked at Liu Yishen and Ye Xianggao.

If he wants to promote the debate between Neo-Confucianism and Xinxue, and then intervene in the Confucian classics and meanings, he will definitely not be able to do it without the support of the cabinet's bachelors.

Among the three people in the cabinet, Sun Chengzong was in charge of military secrets in the Military Aircraft Department, and was gradually separated from the affairs of the cabinet.

Among the two people in the cabinet, Liu Yishen and Ye Xianggao are both allies and political enemies.

Especially Ye Xianggao, who had long coveted the position of chief minister of the cabinet, but after being beaten by himself, he temporarily suppressed this idea.But Zhu Youxiao believed that Ye Xianggao would never be willing to be inferior to others. As long as he gave him a chance, he would definitely seize it.

Therefore, during this inspection of the Imperial College, among the three people in the cabinet, he specially asked these two to follow him, and it would depend on what they choose.

Liu Yishen and Ye Xianggao were also very entangled in their hearts.

Both of them couldn't help but think of the great ceremony event of Sejong Dynasty. The scene at that time was so similar to now.

The same young emperor has the same demands that are difficult for the ministers to accept, but of the two of them, Yang Tinghe can choose to oppose, or Zhang Cong can choose to support them.

"Liu Aiqing, Ye Aiqing, what do you two think of the real proposal?"

They saw the emperor looking at them intently and casting inquiring glances.Everyone else also looked at the two of them, wanting to know the cabinet's opinion.

　The plot of reforming Confucianism will end tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)