I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 542 The Emperor’s Question
Under the expectant gazes of the emperor and the ministers, Liu Yisui sighed slightly in his heart. He had made up his mind that even if the emperor was displeased, he would never let the emperor behave like this.

"Your Majesty, it is a bit hasty to let Neo-Confucianism and Xinxue debate. I think it is not necessary. As Sun Shangshu said, our dynasty regards Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism as orthodox, so we only need to respect Neo-Confucianism. Isn't it natural to let Neo-Confucianism debate with Xinxue? If the status reduction is implemented rashly, people will be upset and nonsense will spread.

Even though the study of mind has its advantages, its study was popular during the Longwan period and has long since declined, and its study has become more and more empty and tends to be empty talk.Once the debate starts, I am afraid that the trend of empty talk will become even worse.Therefore, I beg your Majesty to think twice. "

After Liu Yishen finished speaking, he knelt on the ground and said no more words.Although his words were sincere, his reluctance was revealed throughout.

Zhu Youxiao had no expression on his face when he heard this. He had already been mentally prepared and would not be surprised no matter what Liu Yishen said.

But when he looked at Liu Yishen, he felt just a little disappointed.

He originally thought that although Liu Yishen also respected Neo-Confucianism, he would take active actions when faced with the dilemma of Confucianism and work with him to change the situation.

But now it seems that he thought wrongly.

"Ye Aiqing, what about you? You also hold the same view as Liu Aiqing."

Zhu Youxiao did not respond to Liu Yishen, but turned to look at Ye Xianggao.

Ye Xianggao was still feeling uneasy. After hearing Liu Yishen's answer, he knew that his opportunity had come.

Since Liu Yishen wants to be Yang Tinghe, he will go against the emperor.Then you can be Zhang Cong. As long as you support the emperor's proposal, you can definitely take advantage of the situation to overthrow Liu Yishen and ascend to the position of chief assistant that you long for.

But he naturally knew the consequences of doing so.

The Donglin Party will split, the dispute between Neo-Confucianism and Xinxue may intensify, and he himself will be impeached by the officials just like Zhang Cong.

Thinking of this, Ye Xianggao Tian and others were intertwined, and it was difficult to make a decision for a while.

"Mr. Ye Ge, what is your Majesty asking you?"

Wang Boyu, who was waiting next to Zhu Youxiao, saw Ye Xianggao thinking and not saying anything. He couldn't help but coughed a few times to remind him.

As soon as Ye Xianggao was reminded, he immediately calmed down.He quickly handed over:
"I have lost my temper. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

"It's okay. Just now Liu Aiqing felt that the debate should be postponed, so I would like to ask Ye Aiqing, what do you think?"

Looking at the emperor's expectant eyes, Ye Xianggao was no longer as entangled as before, but looked serious and determined.

"Your Majesty, the dispute between the two schools of thought began at the Ehu meeting between Zhu Xi and Lu Jiuyuan, and has flourished since then. The two schools of thought have been turbulent and have reached the point of being incompatible. They cannot be resolved without debate, and they cannot unify the hearts of the people without debate. It is impossible to unify the theory without debate. Therefore, I think this method is very good."

When Zhu Youxiao heard what Ye Xianggao said, a happy smile finally appeared on his face, while Liu Yishen's face was expressionless, as if he had already known that Ye Xianggao would do this.

"Ye Xianggao, is this worthy of Zhu Zi? Is it worthy of the court?"

When Sun Shenxing saw this, he immediately scolded Ye Xianggao, and other doctors from the Imperial College also objected. ,

However, Ye Xianggao had already prepared for this and didn't care at all about Sun Shenxing's words.

"Your Majesty, I also agree with this matter. Mr. Ye Ge is right. The two schools of thought are arguing endlessly. Without debate, they cannot resolve and unify the hearts of the people."

Xu Guangqi was also overjoyed when he saw this. Regardless of Sun Shenxing's objections, he immediately supported Ye Xianggao.

The situation is now clear.

With the support of Ye Xianggao and others, the opposition of Sun Shenxing and others was of no use in Zhu Youxiao's view.

No matter if he objects, he just wants to muddy the water. The muddier it is, the more effective he, the emperor, as the final arbiter will be.

"That's it, it's settled. Mr. Ye Ge will be responsible for this matter, and you two, Sun Aiqing, the Minister of Rites, and Xu Aiqing, the Minister of Industry, will assist you. Liu Aiqing, Li Aiqing, you two, as the Imperial Academy's wine and wine supervisors, will be responsible for the specific implementation. "

Although he was dissatisfied with Sun Shenxing and others, he still stuffed it in. After all, it was a debate between Neo-Confucianism and Psychology, so there must be people who study Psychology and Neo-Confucianism.

Now that Ye Xianggao has made up his mind, he has no worries anymore.

"I obey the order, but I still need to ask for instructions on something else. Please give me your Majesty's instructions."

"I love you, but it's okay to say."

"Your Majesty, at the Baihuguan meeting, Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty sent Wei Yingcheng, a man of five senses, to attend. He followed Emperor Zhang's will to ask questions, and the Confucian scholars debated them. Finally, Chun Yugong, the servant, answered on behalf of the Confucian scholars, and Emperor Zhang personally made the decision. Your Majesty, since We should take the Shiquge Conference and the Baihuguan Conference as a lesson, then whether we should still adopt this form."

When Zhu Youxiao heard these words, he immediately started to think about it.

Although Emperor Zhang's method was good, it was too cumbersome.So he thought for a while and then said: "Let's do this. The debate between Neo-Confucianism and Psychology can be held in several times. Each time I will choose one or two issues as the topic of the debate. Later, Neo-Confucianism and Psychology scholars will follow the instructions given by me. The issues will be debated, and the results will be announced later. The first debate will be scheduled for May [-]st."

"The ministers obey the order."

After Zhu Youxiao finished speaking, he thought for a while, then continued after a while:

"As for the topic of the first issue, I had some ideas before. Since you are all here, I might as well talk to you."

"But your Majesty, please tell me that I will keep it in mind as a guide for the first debate."

"Debate is meant to rectify the source and promote good and suppress evil. Just now, my dear friend criticized the current psychology, saying that it is just talking about the nature of mind without having anything to do. On weekdays, it only closes the book and ignores it, and the talk has no roots. The same is true for writing articles and debating. Being separated from the literature and interpreting the scriptures at will according to their own likes and dislikes has led to the current academic scholars to indulge in speculations on doctrines, sit and talk about Taoism, and be indifferent to the governance of world affairs.

I also know that this is a major shortcoming of Xinxue, and it is also a reflection of many people in the private sector and even in the court.They can only sit and talk about Taoism, they are too busy with things, and they are indifferent to the real affairs of governing the world and governing the people.

I feel sad every time I think about this, so I want to let the Xinxue and Neo-Confucian scholars debate how to eradicate the shortcomings of empty talk that harms the country.So I have already thought about the first topic of the first debate. Why is it called "Education for the World" and how to achieve "Efficiency for the World"? "

Practical to the world?

When everyone heard what the emperor said, they suddenly looked puzzled and thought carefully in their hearts.

They are all people who have read poetry and books, and they know the origin of this word as soon as they hear it.

The word "managing the world" most comes from "Zhuangzi: Equality of Things": "Managing the world in the Spring and Autumn Period is the ambition of the ancestors, and the sages discussed it without arguing." It means to govern the world.

The word "Zhiyong" comes from "Zhouyi": "The essence is absorbed in the spirit, so that it can be used." It means to make the best use of it.

It's just that they have said these two words separately, but they have never heard of them together.

Zhu Youxiao looked at their confused expressions and suddenly wanted to laugh in his heart.They must have never heard of this term, because it was proposed by Gu Yanwu, Huang Zongxi, Wang Fuzhi and others, the three great scholars in the late Ming Dynasty.

The reason why they put forward this sentence is that after summing up the lessons of the demise of the Ming Dynasty, they criticized the end of Neo-Confucianism and Xinxue.

In order to eliminate the shortcomings of empty mental learning, they believed that empty talk should not be allowed, and advocated vigorously promoting doing practical things and applying it to the world.

The most critical thing is that they emphasized the need to combine academic research with the needs of real politics and social practice, advocating that attention should be paid to real social issues such as the national economy and people's livelihood, and to practical and specific political and social governance practices.

Therefore, they turned against the imaginary and put the truth into practice, advocating the true knowledge of practical application and the new style of study of "taking reality as the basis".

He advocated the affairs of the world and helped the current difficulties, and opposed being divorced from social reality; he had the courage to do things rather than empty talk, and put forward the idea of ​​"working for the people every day of survival".At the same time, we are also committed to innovation and will never follow the ancients; we seek truth from facts and focus on investigation and research.

Their research scope involves almost all aspects of social issues, including politics, economy, military, country, ethnicity, law, borders, geography, human relations, customs, natural sciences, etc.

It can be said that "anything that concerns the people's livelihood and the country's fate must be traced back to its roots and discussed why."

They even think that any content in the Six Classics that cannot improve people's lives or govern the country can be ignored. If you want to learn it, learn what is useful.

And you must not only learn, but also do it down-to-earth, and put your knowledge and ambitions into action.

This is the idea of ​​"practical learning" that advocates advocating reality over virtuality and applying practical knowledge to the world.

And this is the theory that Zhu Youxiao really wants to promote!

However, Zhu Youxiao would naturally not say how to change it specifically. Instead, he needed them to debate and figure it out carefully. When the results of the debate are known, they would make their own final decision.

After the first topic was decided, Zhu Youxiao immediately started talking about the second debate topic, regardless of whether Ye Xianggao and the others could understand it.

"As for this second debate topic, it actually stems from a doubt of mine. During the Sutra Banquet last year, I heard Teacher Sun mention the phrase "investigating things to achieve knowledge." This phrase originally came from "The Great Learning".

"Great Learning" says: "To predict what you know, and to know things, you need to study things. After studying things, you will know them. After knowing them, you will be sincere. After your thoughts are sincere, your mind will be upright. If your mind is upright, you will cultivate your body. If you cultivate your body, your family will be in order. If your family is in order, the country will be governed. The country will be governed. Then the world will be peaceful.

It can be seen from this that studying things to achieve knowledge is the foundation for the Qi family to govern the country and bring peace to the world.However, Zhu Zi and Wang Yangming have different interpretations of the term "investigating things to achieve knowledge", so I am deeply confused.

So I wanted to take the topic of studying things to achieve knowledge.Debate what it is to investigate things to achieve knowledge, how to do it well, what exactly the objects are, and how to achieve knowledge after completing the investigation of things. "

Compared with the first question, everyone present is very familiar with the second question.

After all, the term "investigating things to achieve knowledge" has long appeared in Confucian theory and is an important concept. As long as you study the Four Books and Five Classics, everyone will know and understand this term.

(End of this chapter)