King of Han Dynasty of Ming Dynasty

"Your Highness, Prince Han."

"This, this, this"

"What on earth happened?"

"But what's wrong with the Yongle Encyclopedia that I am responsible for compiling? Or is there something wrong with it?"

"Please inform Your Highness the Crown Prince and Prince Han, and I will change it immediately."

Thinking of this, Chen Ji's already anxious mood became even more anxious and uneasy at this moment. At the same time, he kept thinking about the content he had compiled in recent times and the content he had summarized in the past, wondering if there was anything wrong or wrong in it.

It is no wonder that Chen Ji thought so much about this matter. It was the words of Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi that made people think more and think twice, because he had been in charge of this matter since the first year of Yongle, and he had hardly paid much attention to other matters.

In addition, Zhu Gaochi also bluntly mentioned the word "knowledge". Doesn't this correspond exactly to the Yongle Encyclopedia that he was compiling?
If it is really the Yongle Encyclopedia compiled by him, and there are really some problems with the content, or if there are some inappropriate documents or texts contained in it, then this matter will be really serious.

If you are not careful, it is very likely that you will lose the lives of your entire family.

So, for such a thing, let alone Chen Ji, if this happened to anyone, they would probably think too much and feel worried.

But after thinking about it, Chen Ji could not figure out what went wrong in the compilation of the Yongle Encyclopedia, or what was wrong with the matter. You have to know that he did almost everything himself, and even if there were others who assisted him, they had to go through his eyes. Only after he agreed and felt there was no problem would he include it in the Yongle Encyclopedia.

So under normal circumstances, it is almost impossible for anything bad to happen. All recorded documents and texts have sources and can be verified.

Then, Chen Ji raised his head carefully, his face no longer had the calmness and composure from before, instead it was filled with panic and uneasiness, with a hint of fear in his eyes. He looked at the Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi who was very close to him, and then looked at the King of Han Zhu Gaoxu who was sitting beside him and had never said a word from beginning to end.

See this situation.

How could Zhu Gaochi not guess the expression on Chen Ji's face and what the old man was thinking about? He waved his hands repeatedly, chuckled, and said:
"Mr. Chen"

"Be patient, be patient, this matter is not what you think."

"It's not that there's a problem with the content of the Yongle Encyclopedia. The matter we came to discuss with you today has nothing to do with the compilation of the Yongle Encyclopedia."

"It's not what you think. I came here to investigate your crimes."

"You, old man, just put your heart at ease."

"but."

Having said this, Zhu Gaochi paused, but his words did not change from what he had said before, and he continued:

"There is nothing wrong with what we said just now."

"I came here today because I really need the 'knowledge and learning' in Lord Chen's mind, and I came here for this purpose."

As he said this, the smile on Zhu Gaochi's face suddenly faded. He slowly stood up from his chair, bowed slightly and gave Chen Ji a student salute. His attitude was extremely respectful and sincere.

Chen Ji was knowledgeable and had a good memory since childhood, and he could recite what he read after reading it once.

He was well-versed in the classics and history of hundreds of schools of thought, and was known as a "walking bookcase".

In the 18th year of Hongwu, he worshipped the great scholar Xie Yingfang from the same hometown as his teacher. His father had ordered him to go to Qiantang and Kuaiji to do business and purchase goods, but he actually used half of the money from the large amount of goods he brought to buy books.

In the first year of the Yongle reign, Zhu Di ordered him to compile the "Complete Collection of Literature" (also known as the "Yongle Encyclopedia"), and he was appointed as the chief president as a commoner.

Chen Ji and the supervisor Yao Guangxiao set rules and precedents to classify and examine the books in the secret library, so that thousands of scholars could organize them in an orderly manner. Whenever anyone had questions during the work, he responded and analyzed them one by one.

From the first year of the Yongle reign to the present, only three or four years have passed, and the Yongle Encyclopedia has been compiled, more than half of which has been completed as required.

This shows how strong his abilities are and how much knowledge his mind contains and how profound it is.

I think this is the real reason why Jin Zhong did not hesitate at all and directly recommended Chen Ji for the position when he said that he needed talents in this area.

With the existence of this old guy, what kind of textbooks can be poorly compiled, and what kind of knowledge points can be incompletely summarized?
If he did not have this ability, how could Zhu Di let Chen Ji, a commoner, serve as the chief person in charge of the Yongle Encyclopedia and let him take charge of the compilation of the Yongle Encyclopedia.

It is for this reason.

The real reason why Zhu Gaoxu directly asked Xie Jin to coordinate the storytellers and did not let him participate was...

Because Chen Ji's knowledge points alone were enough to complete the compilation of new textbooks, and the so-called follow-up involvement of Yang Shiqi was just to help Chen Ji.

As for the overall planning
This is none other than Chen Ji.

It is undeniable that Xie Jin and Yang Shiqi were both very capable and knowledgeable people, but if they were really compared with Chen Ji, the saying really came true: How can a grain of rice dare to compete with the sun and the moon?
Get a definite answer.

Chen Ji was slightly stunned. Although the answer from Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi at this moment made him more confused, for him, as long as there was no problem with the Yongle Encyclopedia in his hands and it was not related to the Yongle Encyclopedia, it was as good as the sound of nature to him. His heart, which had been lifted up in a daze just now, finally landed safely at this moment, and the solemn and frightened expression on his face also eased a lot.

After that, after pondering for a moment, Chen Ji gathered his thoughts, with a faint smile on his face, and asked:

"Please forgive my ignorance on this matter."

"Your Highness, please let me know."

"As long as I can do it and contribute to the Ming Dynasty, I will never refuse."

This is said.

Zhu Gaochi nodded in great satisfaction with his answer, then calmed himself down, sorted out his thoughts, took a few deep breaths to calm his emotions, and decided not to hide it anymore. He planned to tell the whole story and stop playing dumb. His expression suddenly became extremely solemn, and his words became low and serious. He said:
"Mr. Chen"

"In addition to the six ministries, I intend to establish a new ministry dedicated to the education of our Ming Dynasty, in charge of the Ming Dynasty's education and students, and to build schools all over the country to open the minds of the people of the world and provide the common people and poor students with a relatively fair and just environment to learn knowledge and serve the court."

"Break the monopoly of the gentry and the aristocracy over knowledge and officials, and let the people of the world no longer be fooled and enslaved."

"To truly build a prosperous era that is unique to the Ming Dynasty and surpasses all previous dynasties, a prosperous era in the true sense."

"The teachings here will no longer be based on Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism as the mainstream doctrine, but will be a collection of the strengths of hundreds of schools of thought, encompassing the entire world, and a doctrine that can make the entire world better and is truly useful to the people of the world."

"It includes a series of disciplines such as systematic medicine, agriculture, engineering, law, mathematics, military affairs, etc."

"If this matter can really be implemented smoothly and normally, it won't be long before our Ming Dynasty will see a great era of a hundred schools of thought contending, academic knowledge flowing like a forest, and talents emerging in large numbers."

"As for me, in the entire Ming Dynasty today, when it comes to people who have made profound studies on these subjects, Lord Chen is the best and no one dares to be second. So I would like to ask Lord Chen to come out and help me and the King of Han to create a prosperous era together."

"Let us create a different world and a different era." "Let us, together, create a different achievement in the entire history."

The words are generous and passionate.

However, after Zhu Gaochi finished speaking, there was no applause or encouraging response in the entire study. Instead, the entire room fell into an eerie silence.

Chen Ji, who had guaranteed that he would never refuse to serve the court, really wanted to slap himself in the face at this moment. At the same time, for some reason, a chill rose up from his forehead.

Zhu Gaochi's passionate words almost frightened Chen Ji to death.

Have no idea!

If anyone were to deal with this situation, who would not be afraid, who would be able to remain calm and composed, who would be able to deal with it calmly?

What about a hundred schools of thought contending, talented people everywhere, a different era, a different flourishing age!!
Hongyuan is big enough! !

But don’t be fooled by the nice words that sound very exciting and make people feel extremely passionate. However, Chen Ji is naturally not a fool, let alone a stupid person. How big is the danger behind this damn thing?

That would really kill people, and it would not just be one or two people who would die. It would potentially result in the deaths of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people.

To put it nicely, it is Hongyuan. To put it bluntly, this matter is no different from a soul-devouring abyss.

Don’t say anything else.

The one who brought Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism down from the altar.

OMG!

That is the Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism that has lasted for more than a thousand years! !

It has become a trend and has taken root in the hearts of many people. Moreover, these people are not weaklings. They are either students or officials serving in the court, or gentry and nobles who dominate one side.

Such a huge interest group.

If you attempt to disturb the foundation on which these individuals depend for survival, one can imagine what those individuals will do.

If one is not careful, it will cause unrest in the world and may even destroy the foundation of the court. Even more seriously, it may lead to the overthrow of the dynasty and chaos in the world.

Thinking of this, Chen Ji's expression turned pale without him noticing. He raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat on his forehead, took a few deep breaths to calm the many chaotic thoughts in his mind, forced himself to calm down, then calmed down, simply sorted out his thoughts, and said:

"Your Highness, Madam."

"Do you know what you were saying? Do you know what you were saying?"

"Are you sure you didn't say it wrong, or are you sure I didn't hear it wrong?"

Zhu Gaochi heard this and shook his head solemnly. He replied in a deep and sincere voice, "I am very sure of what I said just now. I can tell you 100% that there is nothing wrong with your ears and you did not mishear anything. That is what I meant and thought. I have also made up my mind to do what I said."

boom.
This statement came out.

Shocked, Chen Ji stood up from his chair, his face even paler than before, cold sweat dripping down his cheeks, and he said anxiously in a trembling voice:
"Madam. Your Highness the Crown Prince."

"That's Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism!"

“It’s not something that can be moved just by saying so.”

"Even Emperor Taizu, who had such a strong character and such a strong ability to control the court, had no other way to deal with the huge interest group of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism except to stop the war by killing them, to scare them, and to make them understand the rules."

"In the end, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism became the mainstream doctrine."

"Recognize the status of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, use it as the first choice for the imperial examination, and use it as the criterion for selecting talents!!"

"Your Highness the Crown Prince."

"You may know the dangers of this action?"

"If we dig up other people's roots, they will certainly fight back and dig up our roots. This will definitely not make things easy for the court. This move is likely to bring an unprecedented crisis to the entire Ming Dynasty and cause unrest in the world."

"Your Highness, you really need to think twice about this."

Facing Chen Ji's series of questions, Zhu Gaochi smiled and did not interrupt, because he knew that what Chen Ji said made sense, and he also knew that what Chen Ji said was for his own good, for the good of the entire Ming court, and for the good of the people of the world.

While speaking, Chen Ji paced back and forth in the room, and it was obvious that his mind was completely confused at this moment.

Just like this, after a long while, Chen Ji calmed down his thoughts as much as possible, looked at the crown prince Zhu Gaochi seriously, and asked anxiously:
"Your Highness the Crown Prince."

"Why, why on earth, why do you have to do this?"

"Why must we take this path? Why must we touch this interest group?!"

"Aren't you afraid that if this action fails, it will threaten your current position as crown prince?"

"Have you really never thought about the consequences?"

"Is that a result you can really bear?"

"Confused!!"

“This is really confusing!!”

"How can you do this? How can you do such a thing? Your Highness, you really need to think twice about this!!"

"Don't make mistakes, don't ignore the consequences!!"

As he spoke, Chen Ji knelt down with a solemn expression.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaochi could no longer sit still, and quickly stood up from his chair. He used his chubby hands to pull up Chen Ji, who was about to kneel down, and said anxiously:
"hey hey"

"Chen Aiqing, get up, get up."

"Don't be anxious, don't be anxious, just listen to me first, just listen to me first, okay?" (End of this chapter)