My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 434: Still~Okay
Liu Rong's original plan was to meet with these nearly thirty outstanding talents who were about to be on the "A list" of the imperial examination one by one, and to test their qualities by asking them questions and making strategic plans.

——Even if there is no need to take the postgraduate entrance examination, Liu Rong has to reward these outstanding people in this way.

Because being the prelude to the throne is an honor in itself, and it is something that is out of reach.

But I don't know whether Gongsun Hong's questions were too "brilliant" or the top candidates in this imperial examination were just average.
Or maybe Liu Rong just has high expectations for these historical figures?

In the subsequent sessions of presentation and questioning, Liu Rong hardly had that enlightening feeling.

——Zheng Dangshi, an old acquaintance of Liu Rong, used to be a young man with his head full of chivalry.

After being gradually marginalized in the fierce competition in the Crown Prince's Palace, Zheng Dangshi now has an obvious sense of awkwardness as he deliberately hides and covers up his gangster spirit.

Liu Rong was a little disappointed.

——Ni Kuan, the contemporary inheritor of "The Book of Documents", the last disciple of the great scholar Ouyang Hebo, and can be considered as half-nephew of the late Imperial Censor Chao Cuo.

When it comes to his comprehension and insights into the Book of Documents, Ni Kuang has nothing to say about it. It is no exaggeration to say that he is a genius.

But after all, you are still young;

Moreover, Ni Kuan's family background also limited his horizons to a certain extent.

This inevitably gave Liu Rong a sense of "unpolished jade".

But this is not Ni Kuan’s fault.

Like the historical "pigherd prime minister" Gongsun Hong, the Confucian scholar Ni Kuan also came from a poor background.

When he was young, Ni Kuan's family was poor and he could not afford to go to school, so he helped in the kitchen of the only academy in Qiancheng County in order to seek opportunities to study.

In order to make a living, Ni Kuan often worked as a temporary worker in rich families.

When working on the fields for the rich, Ni Kuan would hang the few scriptures and book fragments he had on the end of a hoe on his shoulder that was longer than himself.

When others were working, Ni Kuan did not slack off. When others were taking a break, Ni Kuan would squeeze out the break time to read.

That was also the first time that Ni Kuan became famous in the county.

——The story of carrying the scriptures while hoeing is still told in most parts of Kanto today, and serves as positive material for teachers to admonish their children and nephews to "study hard".

Carrying scriptures while hoeing is the Han Dynasty version of drilling a hole through the wall to steal light.

After becoming famous because of these four words, Ni Kuan was appreciated by Ouyang Hebo, the only true disciple of Fu Sheng in Jinan, who randomly accepted him as his disciple.

This study started more than ten years ago and continues until today.

It can be said that Ni Kuan's complete life experience from birth to now is: he was born in a poor peasant family, left his family at an early age to help in the kitchen of the academy, and "carried the scriptures while hoeing" when working outside, thus successfully becoming a disciple of Ouyang Hebo and studying "Shangshu".

It took Ni Kuan more than ten years to study the Book of Shang.

During the past ten years of his youth, Ni Kuan had been concentrating on his studies beside Ouyang Hebo, without any distractions;

I have neither experienced the dangers of the world nor the warmth and coldness of human nature.

This is like a naive person who went to a closed school since elementary school and only returned to society after graduating from Peking University or Tsinghua University.

You say he is not good enough?

He graduated from Peking University and Tsinghua University with excellent grades;

Do you think he is okay?
He can't even buy groceries or wait for the bus...

In daily life, this may be a bit exaggerated.

But when Liu Rong summoned him and asked him questions, this statement was not an exaggeration at all.

——Today, in response to the questions asked to these thirty or so people, Liu Rong prepared tailor-made questions for almost everyone.

The question Liu Rong prepared for Ni Kuan was: What are the advantages and disadvantages of the mausoleum town system?

Obviously, the focus of Liu Rong's question is to directly hit the basic base of Confucianism into which Ni Kuan was born: the landlord and powerful group.

Liu Rong wanted to use this question to see Ni Kuan's attitude towards the powerful;

This can also be used to judge whether Ni Kuan, the Confucian scholar, is a boastful Lu Confucian, or a great sage like Zhang Cang, Marquis of Beiping, and Jia Yi and Jia Changsha, who, although born in a Confucian school, have the talent to govern the country.

The answer that Ni Kuan finally gave confirmed Liu Rong's final conclusion: Ni Kuan is undoubtedly a rough diamond.

But it's not finished yet.

It’s just a piece of extremely good, extremely high-quality raw material, high-grade stuff;

But it is just 'raw material', not finished product.

Ni Kuan's reply was several thousand words long.

To sum it up, it's just a few words.

——The system of mausoleum towns was essentially intended to reduce the administrative pressure on the Guandong counties and states, and to force those difficult-to-deal-with "pan-aristocratic" groups to move to the foot of the imperial city for better centralized management and rule.

The intention is good.

However, in this process, the specific operating model went wrong due to the deliberate distortion by a few corrupt officials and even the Legalist cruel officials.

As a result, the local tyrants who were originally supposed to be relocated to Guanzhong to live in another place were robbed and exploited by local officials in the name of forced migration.

Therefore, in Ni Kuan’s opinion, the system of mausoleum towns had good intentions in the first place;
The local tyrants who are relocated should also be relocated.

However, there was a problem with the operating model, which resulted in the interests of local tyrants being damaged during the migration process and local corrupt officials being enriched.

At this point, we can actually see that the questions Liu Rong prepared are really very precise and targeted.

——Confucian scholars came from the Han Dynasty, and there has always been only one question that they need to consider and discuss: Is their butt crooked?
As for whether one has the ability or knowledge, that is secondary.

Anyway, the Five Classics of Confucianism will not teach you how to be an official, how to collect taxes, or how to get along with colleagues and superiors.

To learn how to be an official, one must first become an official, and then one can learn it little by little through practice.

The system of mausoleum towns is almost the most suitable standard proposition for judging whether Confucian scholars are crooked or not and whether their world outlook, values ​​and outlook are correct or not, without a doubt.

This is because the fundamental purpose of the mausoleum town system is to crack down on local tyrants, slow down and curb land annexation, and eliminate the soil for the birth of aristocratic families from the source.

Local tyrants are the natural behind-the-scenes financiers and base of Confucianism, and Confucianism is the most steadfast political spokesperson for the landlords and tyrants.

This means that the four words "the system of mausoleums and towns" can always reveal the level of Confucianism of a Confucian scholar.

For example, among the various schools of Confucianism, the most "Confucian" is the most crooked Lu Confucianism;

Their opinion on the system of mausoleum towns is: this is tyranny!

They don't care at all about the powerful and influential people being too powerful to be eliminated or the local officials being unable to govern, nor do they care about land annexation or whether the lower-class people still have room to survive.

They only care about their financial backers: whether the local tyrants are doing well.

If the powerful live well, it naturally means that a wise ruler is in power, the country is peaceful, and a prosperous era is approaching.

If the powerful do not live well, then there must be a tyrant in power, and the people will be resentful and the country will be in ruins. They criticize and oppose any policy or behavior that infringes on the interests of the powerful.
They support any measures that benefit the powerful and are even willing to provide spontaneous assistance.

Therefore, whether it was Emperor Taizu Gao, Emperor Xiaohui, or the later Empress Dowager Lu, Emperor Taizong, or the former Emperor Xiaojing and the current Liu Rong.

To be precise, any Han emperor with a sound mind would not have a good face towards the Confucian scholars of Lu.

——It is not difficult to find this out from the wording and description of "Lu Confucian scholars".

If the Five Classics of Confucianism: Book of Songs, Book of History, Book of Rites, Book of Changes, and Spring and Autumn Annals are used as the standard to distinguish the various schools of Confucianism, then the Confucians of Lu roughly refer to those conservatives and diehards who studied Book of Rites and Guliang Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals and who firmly stood up for the powerful and the aristocrats.

They even advocated the restoration of the well-field system and slavery!

All we can say is that these people are so conservative that they even look down on other schools of thought within Confucianism.

Well-field system?
Slavery?
Are you kidding...

In stark contrast to the Lu Confucians who completely denied the system of mausoleum towns, there was the most radical hawkish faction within Confucianism, the Gongyang School.

This school of thought also studied the "Spring and Autumn Annals", but its "Spring and Autumn Gongyang Zhuan" was completely opposite to Guliang's, and even diametrically opposed, and was also called the Gongyang Spring and Autumn Annals.

If the scholars of this school were asked to answer this question about the system of mausoleum towns, the final answer would most likely make Liu Rong smile.

They would say: The system of mausoleum towns is correct, it is obvious at a glance!
Those powerful people who are rich but unkind deserve to be forced to relocate!

What kind of local officials are squeezing the marrow out of people? Failure to get rid of these scums is already a serious dereliction of duty for these officials!
All I can say is that the radical and hawkish style is overwhelming and has a very positive flavor.

And this - the "total opposition" of Lu Confucianism and the "total support" of Gongyang Confucianism - are obviously two completely opposite extremes.

The vast majority of Confucian scholars, especially young ones, are actually within these two ranges.

Some are more opposed and tend to favor Lu Confucianism, while others are more supportive and tend to favor Gongyang.

However, in any case, there are very few Confucian scholars who are as completely opposed to the mausoleum town system as the Confucian scholars of Lu, to the point of violating the most basic political correctness of the Han Dynasty.
Nor would he fully support it like Gongyang, to the point of completely betraying the basic foundation of Confucianism, which is commonly understood as: the butt determines the head.

It is also for this reason that when the Han Dynasty appoints officials of Confucian origin, it has to judge whether this person is more inclined to Lu Confucianism or Gongyang Confucianism.

If he prefers Gongyang, there is no doubt about it. The negative impact brought to this person by his Confucian origin will naturally be minimized.

If you are partial to Lu Ru or Gu Liang, then you should think carefully: Is this person worth saving and spending time and energy to bring back to the right path?

In the past few decades, almost every Confucian scholar who was "biased towards Lu Confucianism and Gu Liang Confucianism" and loved the powerful more than his country was blocked from the core of political power in the Han Dynasty.

Every "Gongyang Pian" who loved his country more than his own doctrine almost became a figure who was famous in history.

It’s just that the former are like a swarm of carp crossing the river - there are too many of them, while the latter are like a rare bird - there are too few of them.

To the extent that people mistakenly believe that over the past few decades, Confucianism has been excluded from the list of "doctrines that can be accepted" by the Han Dynasty.

However, the fact is that the Han Dynasty did not completely reject scholars of Confucian origin.

If not, how would Shusun Tong explain it?

How does Jia Changsha explain it?

How do we explain Chao Cuo, a Confucian scholar with a Confucian appearance and a legalist heart, Dou Ying, a great Confucian scholar who was a relative of the emperor, and Gongsun Hong and Ni Kuan who came to the court to take the exam?

It's just that there are too few people who "meet the requirements", so they are ignored, which makes everyone have the illusion that "there are no Confucian officials in the Han Dynasty".

Take today’s Ni Kuan as an example.

——If one can say that "the system of mausoleums and towns is correct", then he is qualified and can be judged as "not a Lu Confucian" or "not Guliang";

It's just the following sentence: During the migration process, let the powerful be bullied by local corrupt officials~
How to say it;

You can't say that her butt is crooked, she's just a little naive.

In Liu Rong's opinion, the "powerful man" in Ni Kuan's cognition may still be as described by his fellow brothers and uncles: working hard to pass on the family tradition, being friendly to neighbors, and helping the poor and the weak.

Such people were exploited by corrupt officials during the process of forced relocation, which was certainly worthy of Ni Kuan and Liu Rong's "complaint".

But does such a person - such a kind and powerful person - exist?

Liu Rong’s answer is: One hundred and twenty percent, it is impossible!
The truth is simple: Kindness cannot command the army, and righteousness cannot command the wealth.

In this era, a kind person, let alone becoming rich and powerful,

Even if you sell the eggs laid by your hens at home, you may not be able to sell them at the market price.

So to put it bluntly, in this era, except for those who are born nobles, for other "ordinary people", being rich and being virtuous are two specific conditions that are almost impossible to exist at the same time.

—A wealthy merchant must be treacherous;

——The powerful will be cruel;

This is the norm in this era.

That is why Liu Rong said: Ni Kuan is too young, his horizons are not broad enough, and he does not understand the dangers of the world;
Instead of saying: Ni Kuan has a crooked butt, and he supports the powerful, he is purely a Lu Confucian...

Overall, Liu Rong was quite satisfied with Ni Kuan.

Just cultivate it slowly.

In the officialdom - especially in Chang'an, Liu Rong believed that Ni Kuan's speed of 'growing up' would exceed everyone's imagination.

Especially Ni Kuan, who had lived a spotless and 'clean' life in the past, fell into the big dye vat of the Chang'an court, which was darker than a crow;

Liu Rong believed that Ni Kuan would not let him down.

There is actually not much more to say further down.

——The cruel official Wang Wenshu was indeed very cruel;
If he read the Legalist classics for a few years, he would definitely become a devil who could stop children from crying at night.

——Zhufu Yan, the only one among the diplomats, indeed fits the stereotype of diplomats in the world: he is extremely narrow-minded and holds grudges extremely.

Liu Rong had no intention of training such a person in other directions - just let him do the original job passed down from the ancestors of the strategists: diplomacy.

For example, receiving the Hun envoys.
Or maybe he could go on a diplomatic mission to Nanyue to build relationships with the Queen Mother of Nanyue...

Cough, cough cough...

There is also Han Yan, the illegitimate grandson of Marquis Gonggao and the "favored concubine" of Emperor Wu of Han in history.

But it was somewhat beyond Liu Rong's expectations.

What favorite concubine?
He is clearly a young man with a vigorous figure, tall stature and handsome appearance!

Without even comparing it to the original historical timeline, Liu Rong could tell at a glance: this guy is definitely a potential general!
He is still the kind of general who is handsome and not rough at all!!!

All I can say is that the pen in Sima Qian's hand definitely has some meaning.

Who made it possible for Sima Qian's "lifeline" to be cut off by Emperor Wu of Han?
It is just a vague and indirect description, rather than a direct sentence like "on a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, the emperor had a good time with Han Yan";
Taishigong's temper can be regarded as an epic soft persimmon...

(End of this chapter)