My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 375 Is this really the case?

In fact, as Confucianism has been passed down to the present time point, different opinions, or disagreements, have inevitably begun to arise within the school.

——The extreme conservatives represented by the Confucian scholars of Shandong believe that everything Confucius did and every word he said are golden rules that need to be strictly followed and imitated!

Confucian disciples must not only abide by and imitate, but also identify with and be proud of it from the bottom of their hearts.

Not only are Confucian scholars themselves not allowed to question, but when outsiders, that is, non-Confucianists, question all this, they must stand up to defend Confucius and restore the reputation of the sage.

As the saying goes: when things go to extremes, they must be reversed.

When anything is done to the extreme, it often becomes distorted by the word "extreme".

Therefore, the extreme conservatives represented by the Confucianists of Lu became increasingly powerful as the Qin Dynasty fell and the Han Dynasty rose. As their voice within Confucianism grew, "heresies" also began to emerge.

At the beginning, there was the "New Confucianism" represented by Shusun Tong, who advocated "changing with the times."

In the view of Confucian scholars like Shusun Tong, everything in the world is actually constantly changing.

Society is progressing, civilization is developing, and naturally, ideas should also keep pace with the times, rather than remain complacent.

Shusun Tong firmly maintained a critical attitude towards the extreme conservatism of the Lu Confucian school, and set an example for Confucian scholars all over the world, performing a good show of "how to develop a new Confucianism suitable for the Liu Han world".

It's a pity that Shusun Tong was a man of little influence and power.

When Shusun Tong was alive, he had the support of Emperor Taizu Gaohuangdi Liu Bang. The "New Confucianism" school represented by Shusun Tong once occupied an important position within Confucianism.

——Whoever gives you milk is your mother!
Emperor Liu Bang was so furious when he saw the Confucian scholars of Lu that he kicked them into a stinking ditch, urinated in their hats, and often made sarcastic remarks like "Gaoyang drunkard" to humiliate them.

Looking throughout the world, there was only an outlier like Shusun Tong who could serve the emperor as a Confucian scholar.

As the saying goes: Learn the arts of literature and martial arts, and serve the emperor.

For the sake of individuals, schools, and even the future of the country and nation, no matter how much the various Confucian schools despised Shusun Tong's unprincipled and unscrupulous academic reforms, they still, to varying degrees, gave a certain amount of support and respect to Shusun Tong, the only Confucian at the center of the Han Dynasty's power decision-making level.

However, after Shusun Tong died, the "New Confucianism" faction lost its leader and Emperor Taizu Gao as its backer. It even had an Emperor Xiaohui who seemed to be a good Confucian but actually had no power at all. The Confucianism, which had originally shown a trend of "moving towards New Confucianism", once again became a mess.

——The Confucian scholars of Lu are still the same as before, with their noses in the air and arrogance, waiting for the emperor to come and beg them to teach them "how to be a good emperor".

The various schools scattered in other places, such as Qi Confucianism, Chu Confucianism, Zhao Confucianism, etc., on the one hand, despised the arrogance of Lu Confucianism, and on the other hand, they could not come up with a decent core ideological program of their own.

This situation continued until the reign of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, when a turning point appeared with the emergence of an unprecedented genius.

——It was Jia Yi, Jia Changsha, who was appointed as a doctor from Zhang Cang, Marquis of Beiping, and became a rising star recognized by all Confucians!

Although the Confucian scholars of Lu still had an arrogant attitude of "waiting for Jia Sheng to come for advice", other factions and branches basically began to move towards the direction of "Spring and Autumn Confucianism" represented by Zhang Cang and Jia Yi from that time on.

The "Spring and Autumn Annals" is one of the rare works among Confucian classics that does not preach big principles or empty words, but only presents you with facts and evidence, uses history as a story, and teaches you philosophy through events.

Therefore, after decades of research on the Spring and Autumn Annals, the overall academic atmosphere of Confucianism has gradually shifted from its early excessive emphasis on rituals to a more realistic perspective.

There is nothing new under the sun!

Although the "Spring and Autumn Annals" is not enough to explain all the principles of the world, it provides a valuable realistic perspective for Confucian scholars who focus too much on theory and ignore reality.

Over time, the younger generation, especially young people of Yan Yi's generation, gradually discovered the problem.

——According to Confucius' teachings, what we Confucians advocate should be the Zhou Dynasty's "rule the country with rites";

Confucianism should have advocated the restoration of the well-field system and the feudal system, so that everything could return to the way it was eight hundred years ago when the Zhou emperor ruled China.

But it is obvious that the Zhou Dynasty has perished, and the dead are gone and there is no going back.

The emperor of the Liu family was not a fool. It was impossible for him to push the entire Chinese civilization back to the Zhou Dynasty just because of the persuasion of Confucianism.

In fact, let alone saying that ‘the Han emperor listened to the advice of Confucian scholars’;

In the past fifty years or so, there were only a handful of important officials in the court who were born into Confucianism, or even had some slight connection with Confucianism!

During the reign of Emperor Taizu, there was one ceremonial official: Shusun Tong, the Minister of Ceremonies;
During the reign of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, Jia Yi was one of them who was appointed as a doctor.
Although he studied the Spring and Autumn Annals, Zhang Cang, the Marquis of Beiping, also studied various schools of thought in the world.
Chao Cuo, who entered the officialdom under the guise of a Confucian scholar but soon showed his true colors and exposed his academic background of "Legalist", can be considered half a Confucian scholar.

Gone.

In total, the Han dynasty has been passed down for more than 50 years since its founding, including Taizu, Xiaohui, Qianshao, Houshao, Taizong, Xiaojing, and the current Liu Rong. The Han dynasty has been passed down for seven generations.
The number of Confucian disciples who appeared at the center of power in the Han court could be counted on one hand.

—— Shusun Tong was trusted by Emperor Taizu, but he was just a ritual official responsible for compiling rituals and sacrificial affairs;
Jia Yi and Jia Changsha were men of extraordinary talent, but not only did they end up dying in depression, they also left behind in the history books the lament of "It's a pity that the seat in front of me is empty in the middle of the night, and I don't care about the common people, but only about ghosts and gods."

——It is a pity that Emperor Wen summoned Jia Yi in the middle of the night and moved his knees close to Jia Yi to listen to his lecture, but he did not ask about the lives of the people, but about matters of ghosts and gods.

Does this poem refer to Emperor Wen of Han's feudal superstition and eternal stupidity?

It clearly means that Jia Yi was depressed and frustrated. He finally got the chance to meet the emperor, but had no chance to show his talents!
I had prepared a speech in my mind, intending to have a long talk with Emperor Taizong about the people's livelihood and the common people, but in the end, we spent most of the night talking about nothing but ghost stories...

Shusun Tong and Jia Yi are both considered good.

——The former, at least when the Han Dynasty was just beginning to rise, left a precious precedent for Confucianism that "Confucian scholars can enter officialdom", which was considered to be a way out for Confucian disciples.

It cannot be said that Jia Yi was not valued. At most, he was born at the wrong time or had bad luck.

If Liang Huai Wang Liu Yi had not accidentally fallen off his horse, causing Wang Taifu Jia Yi to be implicated for "inadequate care", Jia Yi would have occupied at least one biography of his own in the history of the Han Dynasty.

What is really infuriating are Zhang Cang and Chao Cuo!

The former is an academic master who studies Confucianism but does not only study Confucianism.

When people say he is a Confucian scholar, he does not refute it;

But when you ask them to help the Confucians, they just ignore you! Using the knowledge of the ancient sages as a stepping stone to advancement, but not caring about the friendship of fellow students, is really infuriating!
Not to mention Chao Cuo - the inventor of Confucianism and the first practitioner!
After the fall of Qin, the Legalist scholars were tarnished with moral stains by Qin. They knew they could not enter officialdom with the academic label of "Legalist". However, Chao Cuo put on a layer of Confucianism without any hesitation!
God knows how excited the Confucians were when they learned that there was a Confucian-born prince's housekeeper and tutor beside the crown prince. How many people rushed to tell others and celebrated with banquets.

When Chao Cuo took off his vest and revealed his true identity as a "Legalist", the Confucians were disappointed and angry, but at the same time they could do nothing about it...

As most people in later generations expected: the Confucianism of today is not the "Confucianism" of later times;
As a school of thought, Confucianism does not have the strict and compact organizational structure of Mohism.

The internal communication, or contacts and connections within Confucianism, are all based on the 'big brother' within the school, the Lu Confucianism, and the predecessors and descendants like Yan Yi as the bond, and are supplemented by other personal connections to bind them together.

However, after the two failed cases of Shusun Tong and Jia Yi, and the two traitors Zhang Cang and Chao Cuo, there was an increasing feeling within Confucianism that this could not go on any longer.

——Fifty years have passed since the founding of the Han Dynasty. The Huang-Lao school is on the decline. The Mohist school has long disappeared, and the Legalist school is obviously not up to the mark.

Under such circumstances - with such a golden opportunity, Confucianism could not even train a few high-ranking officials to enter the government, so how could it "restore its glory"?
Therefore, Yan Yicai was selected as an official at the age of just over 20, firing the first shot in the Confucian charge into officialdom, especially the central court.

In the eyes of Confucianists, Yan Yi almost shoulders all the hopes for the rise and fall of Confucianism in the next few decades!

Yan Yi was able to make a name for himself. In the following decades, when Confucian scholars entered officialdom, they were considered to have "people in the court" and had someone to rely on.

Confucianism can produce a high-ranking official in the court, and it can also more easily recruit high-quality students from the people to cultivate more elites, thus gradually expanding the school's influence in the power center of the court with Yan Yi as the center.

Again, the same thing;
Huang-Lao is on the decline, and the Legalists are powerless!

It is a great blessing to have such a godsend opportunity!
If we miss it, let alone whether there will be a next time - even if there is, it is still unknown what Confucianism will be like by then, and even whether there will still be the concept of "Confucianism" in this world and in China.

This is by no means alarmist!

During the Warring States Period just a hundred years ago, the entire Chinese civilization and intellectual world was basically divided up by two competing schools of thought!
——All the learning in the world is from Yang Jimo!
The Yang here refers to Yang Zhu;

Mo, naturally, refers to the Mohist school.

At that time, among every hundred literati and scholars in the world, there were forty-eight or nine disciples of Yang Zhu and the same number of disciples of Mohism.

The remaining thirty or two places were competed for by the remaining schools of thought, such as Confucianism, Legalism, Agriculture, Novelism, Huang-Lao, Yin-Yang, and others, which were still very young at that time.

Looking at the present, only a hundred years have passed, where is Yang Zhu?

Where is Mohism?

The answer is: Yang Zhu's school of thought, which advocated the extremely selfish and self-centered idea of ​​"Yang Zhu is only for himself and is not burdened by material things", quickly disappeared in the long river of history and was listed as a "forbidden school" recognized by the entire Chinese civilization.

It is rumored that after Xiang Yu burned down the Qin Xianyang Palace, Prime Minister Xiao found a fragment of Yang Zhu's book in the ruins of Shiqu Pavilion.
It is said that this fragment of the scroll eventually fell into the hands of Emperor Taizu Liu Bang, who secretly regarded it as a guide for the emperor passed down by the Liu family.

Judging from the performance of Liu Bang and subsequent emperors of the Liu family, this statement may not be groundless.

If this statement is true, then it is obvious that, except Emperor Xiaohui, every Han emperor had a deep understanding of the remaining scroll of "Yang Zhu".

——Including Emperor Taizu Liu Bang;
Including Empress Dowager Lü;
Even the former Emperor Shao, Liu Gong, who was full of vigor and vitality and shouted "I am not yet strong, but when I grow strong I will change" at the age of seven, may have admired the extreme egoism advocated in the remaining scroll of "Yang Zhu".

Just from the fact that no emperor of the Liu family has ever revealed, or even dared to reveal the existence of that fragment, it is not difficult to see how the mainstream public opinion of Chinese civilization feels about Yang Zhu's philosophy.

——That’s not something people should learn!

——The whole article is full of beastly talk!
On the contrary, Mohism, which advocates extreme altruism, also could not avoid the fate of being eliminated by the times.

Although it was not as completely cut off as Yang Zhu's, and was even listed as a "forbidden subject" under the unspoken rules, it was not far from being lost.

The rise and fall of Yang Zhu and Mohism undoubtedly gave Confucianism a lot to think about.

Among the conclusions finally reached, the most striking one is that as long as a doctrine loses the support of those in power, especially the emperor, its decline and disappearance will only take a moment!

Yang Zhu was selfish, and the emperor was worried that "while Yang Zhu was still alive, the people's morals would not be preserved", so Yang Zhu disappeared;

The Mohists were altruistic, and the emperors were worried that their overly advanced ideas would shake the foundation of the feudal monarchy, so the Mohists quickly disappeared from the world.

In order to avoid such consequences and not follow the footsteps of Yang Zhu, Mozi, and most of the other schools of thought that have been lost or are on the verge of being lost, Confucianism must ensure that its ideas are supported by the highest authority in China: the Emperor.

However, this is an extremely difficult ultimate goal.

In order to achieve this goal, even if we don't have to say that "everyone in the court is a Confucianist", we must ensure that the Confucian camp can gain a firm foothold and not be squeezed out by other camps and unable to survive.

Only when there is a sufficient accumulation of numbers and a sufficient weight of discourse power will Confucianism be able to get one or two opportunities to achieve a deep binding between Confucianism and the Chinese imperial power - at least a deep dependence.

The initiator of this action was Yan Yi.

As the first chess piece in this epic mission, Yan Yi certainly understood that the biggest contradiction between the overall environment of the Han Dynasty and Confucianism today lies in the "butt".

The Liu family has always placed its support on the lower classes and small farmers since the time of Emperor Taizu Liu Bang.
Since the day this doctrine was born, Confucianism has been on the side of landlords, powerful people, and wealthy scholars.

Hearing Liu Rong talking about businessmen, or rich people in a broad sense, that is, those who are not powerful but noble, Yan Yi instinctively felt ashamed.

But in his second reaction, Yan Yi was thinking about how to balance the fatal contradiction and disagreement between the Liu family and Confucianism, and tie the two to the same warship.

——Salt and iron monopoly?
——Is that really the case?
Yan Yi didn't think Liu Rong could do it.

At least the interests of those "farming families" should not be harmed in this way.

But the cleverness of Yan Yi lies in the fact that even with this cognition, Yan Yi can still break out of the limitations of his thinking and direct his attention to a broader perspective.

Regardless of whether Liu Rong can accomplish it or not, or whether he should do it;
What would happen if it were done?

Who would think this should be done?
What benefits can this incident bring to Liu Rong and the Han family?
And what can Yan Yi do in this situation...

(End of this chapter)