Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 275: Remaking Ritual and Music
In the house that Liu Zongzhou was just given.

Liu Ruoyu, who welcomed them into Beijing yesterday, came here early in the morning to convey the emperor's reply to Liu Zongzhou's memorial:
"Your Majesty said that Mr. Liu already knows his thoughts."

"Sir said that he wanted to 'make rituals and music to transform the world', and His Majesty highly approved of it."

"There will be a sutra banquet tomorrow, sir, please explain the chapter on rituals and luck in the Book of Rites."

After Liu Zongzhou heard this, he was so excited that he was confused for a moment.

To be honest, although he wrote that memorial with great care, he also had great expectations in his heart. But he never expected that the emperor would do what he said, follow the ways of Yao and Shun, and become the king of Yao and Shun——

There have been few such monarchs throughout history, and he didn't think he could meet one.

The reason why I handed over the memorial was just a little persistence in my heart and a hope in case something happened.

Unexpectedly, this rare possibility would actually happen to him. The emperor accepted his advice in full and asked him to formulate rituals and music to educate the world.

How could he not be excited and happy about this?

You know, sages like Zhu Xi and Wang Yangming never met an emperor who allowed them to develop to their full potential. How can I be so virtuous as to get such an opportunity?

Thinking again of Fang Xiaoru, Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng and others, who were valued by Lord Jianwen and changed the etiquette system, but in the end they died and their families were wiped out. Now there are still descendants who are suffering. He was a little scared in his heart, wondering if his ending would be like this?
But thinking of his own ideas and the example of Dong Zhongshu assisting Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and successfully changing the Han Dynasty system, Liu Zongzhou gained confidence again. Thinking that as long as you follow the way of Yao and Shun, you will definitely not fail——

Even if he failed, he would have no regrets.

Therefore, he straightened his clothes, bowed solemnly in the direction of the palace, and said:

"Your Majesty is willing to use your ministers, and they will do their best."

"I will assist your majesty to become the king of Yao and Shun, and reinvent rituals and music to educate the world."

Then he turned to Liu Ruoyu and said:
"Your Majesty asked me to teach you about the Book of Rites. Do you have any other instructions?"

Liu Ruoyu thought that he had read several books and had great respect for great scholars like Liu Zongzhou. Hearing this, he immediately replied:

"His Majesty said that Mr. Liu should know what to say and there is no need to give additional instructions."

After Liu Zongzhou heard this, he thought about the content of the Rites and Luck Chapter, and suddenly felt that he understood the emperor's thoughts, and nodded slowly.

It is a good thing for an emperor to have ideas. An emperor without independent opinions who implements reforms is likely to become Lord Jianwen.

Therefore, he immediately went to prepare lessons and explain them at tomorrow's sutra banquet.

But at this time, Liu Ruoyu suddenly had a smile on his face, took a stack of newspapers from the accompanying young eunuch, handed it to Liu Zongzhou and said:

"Mr. Liu, this is an excerpt from "To Jun Yao and Shun" that His Majesty ordered. Please take a look at it."

"If you feel something is wrong, please give me some advice, sir."

Liu Zongzhou was confused and didn't know what kind of medicine Liu Ruoyu was selling in the gourd. After taking a look at the newspaper, I found that the memorial I wrote had been published in the Di newspaper.

The printing of this Di newspaper is quite exquisite, and the size is also different from the previous one. I can publish a memorial of more than 2,000 words in one page.

Some people even thoughtfully added punctuation marks to the memorial and divided it into paragraphs. It can be easier for people to read.

After roughly reading the first few games, Liu Zongzhou didn't notice anything wrong. But when I looked at the back, I felt like there were some omissions. The content published in Di Bao was much less than that of his own memorial:
"How could you make such a mistake?" 』

"Could it be that what Di Bao published was about memorials?" 』

Doubts arose in his heart, and Liu Zongzhou suddenly thought of the excerpts Liu Ruoyu said before. This made him read the "To Jun Yao and Shun Shu" in the Di newspaper carefully.

After reading it, he found that this article and the title "To Jun Yao and Shun" were very appropriate. It basically praises the emperor and hopes that the emperor can do better, practice the ways of Yao and Shun, and become the king of Yao and Shun.

This made him feel a little confused for a moment, and he felt that these familiar words seemed strange:
"Did I write this?" 』

"Is this my memorial?" 』

He suspected that he had misremembered the contents of the memorial and missed some of the complete manuscript. When Liu Zongzhou was going to get the manuscript for comparison, he saw Liu Ruoyu with a smile on his face and asked him:

"Mr. Liu, was this memorial written by you?"

"His Majesty highly praised it and said that it was an outline for remaking rituals and music, and that all officials and citizens should learn from it."

"Now this article has been published in all newspapers."

"The newspapers published in the capital today have it on the front page!"

Only then did Liu Zongzhou remember that besides Di Bao, there were other newspapers. He opened them one by one uneasily. First, I saw the familiar "Beijing News". The headline on the front page was still "To Jun Yao and Shun Shu".

There are also commentator articles recalling the instructions given to the current emperor when Emperor Tianqi passed the throne. To believe that the emperor could be considered by a great Confucian scholar like Liu Zongzhou as "having the qualities to serve Yao and Shun" is to practice the saying "my brother should be the king of Yao and Shun". The whole world will welcome another wise king.

Looking at other newspapers, such as "Jingcheng News" and "Jingcheng Literary News", the front pages are all about this, and they are even more flattering, praising the achievements of the current emperor.

Even when he looked through other pages, they all had the same content. It can be said that all newspapers today have only one theme, and that is to praise the current emperor for practicing the ways of Yao and Shun and for becoming the king of Yao and Shun.

With the endorsement of Liu Zongzhou, a great scholar who is famous all over the world, many people who read the newspaper must believe it.

Liu Zongzhou now understood that he did not submit the wrong memorial, but that the emperor deliberately deleted his memorial and cut it into this appearance.

This made him extremely angry, feeling that the emperor was manipulating power and was not the work of Yao and Shun.

For a moment, he felt a little disheartened, feeling that he had put all his passion in the wrong way and believed that the emperor really wanted to become the king of Yao and Shun.

Fortunately, at this time, Liu Ruoyu followed the emperor's instructions and said something:
"Sir, do you know why Hanwu's restructuring succeeded but Jianwen's restructuring failed?"

Liu Zongzhou's attention was attracted, and he had some thoughts in his mind but did not answer them. Seeing this, Liu Ruoyu said:

"This is because Lord Jianwen's strength and power are far inferior to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty!"

"The Duke of Zhou established rituals and music based on the power he established during the Eastern Expedition."

"So His Majesty does not agree with Sir's views on Liao affairs."

"In order to avoid differences that would affect the re-production of rituals and music, when His Majesty published the memorial, he ordered some contents to be deleted, so as not to cause useless controversy after publication."

"Your Majesty said that your master's ability is in learning and you should not worry about military finance and other trivial matters."

"Sir, you should learn from the lessons learned by Fang Xiaoru and others in the past when they interfered randomly!"

Liu Zongzhou was silent when he heard this, and also thought about this matter. As a Zhejiang native, it is impossible for him not to know Fang Xiaoru, and he even admired him very much. He compiled Fang Xiaoru's "Zhengxuelu" and wrote several articles.

Even though he regretted what happened to Fang Xiaoru and others, he had to admit that these people had big military problems. Otherwise, one vassal king would not be allowed to conquer the world in a few years.

Therefore, after hearing Liu Ruoyu's words, he accepted this statement. I think that as a person who has never been on the battlefield and has not experienced much practical experience, my military and financial abilities cannot be trusted by others.

The emperor has this attitude, let alone others. If his views were published, they would likely trigger a counterattack from relevant parties. Not only will it not have much effect, it will also distract from the theme of practicing the ways of Yao and Shun.

Therefore, those contents should be deleted, and they should not affect the plan of remaking rituals and music.

Moreover, Liu Ruoyu followed the emperor's instructions and said to him:
"Sir, he must have written many articles over the years." "Your Majesty intends to compile your articles into a collection."

"Your Majesty will not change the contents of this collection at all."

"Sir, if you want to publish the full text of the memorial, you can put it in the anthology."

This promise made Liu Zongzhou finally sigh, cup his hands in the direction of the palace and said:
"Your Majesty has great foresight, and I, Liu Zongzhou, have learned from it."

“I just hope that next time I do this, I’ll let you know in advance.”

"We can't let the newspaper catch me off guard like this time."

There was still some dissatisfaction in my heart, but I decided to accept it.

After all, for him, recreating rituals and music for the Ming Dynasty was the most important thing. Other details can be given up for the time being.

In his heart, he believed that as long as he could educate people well, military and financial problems could be easily solved.

After finally explaining the matter clearly, Liu Ruoyu wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with a smile:
"Sir, please submit your article as soon as possible."

"Your Majesty intends to select some content and publish it as soon as possible."

"Don't worry, I will definitely let your husband read this anthology before it is released."

"If you think it is inappropriate, sir, you can delete it yourself."

Liu Zongzhou was relieved and agreed to release the anthology. After this incident, he was already a little afraid of the so-called selection. If the emperor wanted to change the original meaning of the article through deletions, he would definitely not agree and would not allow the anthology to be released.

Fortunately, the final draft of the anthology rested with him, so Liu Zongzhou nodded and said:
"Your Majesty is so kind to me, and I deeply appreciate it."

"It's just the cost of printing the book..."

Somewhat unspeakable.

After all, his poverty was well known to everyone. Even if he served as the censor of Qiandu, his salary could not support the cost of self-publishing. And let him be like those officials who went on a business trip to Jianyang, taking advantage of his position to force the bookshop to serve as corvee to print books, but he was unwilling to do it.

So this matter made him a little embarrassed.

Liu Ruoyu had some understanding of the changes in the publishing industry, and hurriedly said:

"Don't worry, Mr. Liu, you won't worry about this matter."

"His Majesty ordered people to formulate a copyright law some time ago, which stipulates that all copyright owners can make profits legally."

"Mr. Liu's articles will receive royalties when published in newspapers."

"After Mr. Liu's books are noticed by the publishing house, he can get a share of the royalties."

“Only books that are not picked up by publishers need to be published at their own expense.”

He mentioned the matter of Mingzhi Newspaper Park again and said:

"His Majesty built a newspaper park next to the pasture of Mingzhifang. He also built a Mingzhi Printing Workshop and a Mingzhi Publishing House to publish books at the same time."

"Mr.'s anthology and collection of essays have been spotted by Mingzhi Publishing House, which will publish them and get a share of the royalties in the future."

After explaining the issues of royalties, copyrights, and royalties, Liu Zongzhou felt dizzy and did not understand these new things for a while.

I just know one thing, that is, his books and articles do not cost money to publish, but can actually make profits.

This did not make him happy. Instead, he was a little wary and asked:
"Is everyone like this, or is it just me?"

"Is there any bookseller who bribes in this way?"

Liu Ruoyu couldn't answer this, so he could only say:
"Sir, you are the censor of the Imperial Procuratorate, so I can only rely on you to supervise this matter."

"Author fees and royalties will definitely be implemented to respect people's hard work in the creative process and allow them to gain benefits."

"How to prevent booksellers from using this method to pay bribes? Sir, please think of ways to limit it."

Liu Zongzhou nodded slowly, feeling that this was a big issue. As the censor of Qiandu, he wanted to establish a system in advance on this matter so as to prevent the slightest change.

After Liu Ruoyu took care of all these things, he left Liu Zongzhou's residence on the pretext of going back to resume his duties.

After exiting the gate, he suddenly let out a sigh of relief, knowing that he had accomplished everything the emperor had told him. Liu Zongzhou acknowledged "To Jun Yao and Shun Shu" and would not make a fuss over this matter.

While this made him happy, he also remembered a saying, that is, "a gentleman can be bullied." Liu Zongzhou, a gentleman, was fooled by him.

If it were any other person, he would not be so talkative and admit that article in order not to be known as flattering the emperor.

Even Liu Zongzhou's disciple Huang Zongxi felt that his teacher was a bit pedantic after Liu Ruoyu left. We should not accept "To Jun Yao and Shun" just because of those words:
"This article contains mostly flattering words, and all suggestions and accusations have been deleted."

“When it gets to other officials, how do they view the teacher?”

"Teacher, how should I continue to be the censor of Qiandu?"

The officials of the Ming Dynasty took pride in criticizing the emperor. If the emperor becomes angry and gives the imperial staff, it will be an even greater honor for them. Some officials even made bacon from the rotten meat that fell when they were beaten by the imperial staff, and passed it down as a family inheritance.

Under such a trend, Liu Zongzhou, as the censor of Qiandu, published such an article to flatter the emperor. What would other censors think of him if they knew about it? What prestige does he, the censor of Qiandu, still have in the Metropolitan Procuratorate?
Therefore, Huang Zongxi believes that this article should not be acknowledged and the original text should be circulated.

After Liu Zongzhou heard this, he sighed deeply and said:
"This is how it is between monarchs and ministers. This is why I want to recreate rituals and music!"

"The Master said: Lord, minister, minister; father, father, son, son."

"The king fulfills his duty as a king, and his ministers fulfill his duty as a minister; the father fulfills his duty as a father, and the son fulfills his duty as a son. This is the correct truth!"

"Why do you, a minister, just want to find fault with the emperor?"

"People can not escape from doing wrong?"

"The emperor is a king, but he is also a human being."

"Officials all over the world are trying to find fault with the emperor. What should the emperor do?"

Sighing and shaking his head, Huang Zongxi thought about this issue carefully.

I found "Book of Rites" by myself and thought about tomorrow's lecture.

　Liu Zongzhou's "The Analects of Confucius" Yan Yuan No. 12:

　　Duke Jinggong of Qi asked Confucius about government affairs, and Confucius replied: "Master, minister, minister; father, father, son, son." The Duke said: "It's good to be honest. The king is not the king, the minister is not the minister, the father is not the father, the son is not the son. Even though there is millet, how can I eat it?"
　　The government has an outline, and so do the king, his ministers, his father and his son! The king fulfills his duty as a king, and his ministers fulfill his duty as a minister; the father fulfills his duty as a father, and his son fulfills his duty as a son. There is nothing left in politics! Although the benevolence of the ruler makes the ministers loyal, and the kindness of the father makes the son filial, so it is said: The court should be rectified with a righteous mind, the hundreds of officials should be rectified by rectifying the court, and the people should be rectified by rectifying the hundreds of officials. No one, far or near, dares to be inconsistent with the righteous, and there is no evil spirit to treacherously In the meantime, this is the theory of "righteousness".

　　"The king, the king, the minister, the father, the son, the son" implies infinite truth, and this is where the Nine Classics come out.

　　"History of the Ming Dynasty·Biography of Zhao Yongxian": Shurui, with the same stick as Zhongxing, was removed. Yongxian's body is so fat that his flesh is like the palm of his hand, and his wife is fat and hides it.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)