Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

"Lu Qing!"

Cao Rui pointed at Lu Yu again and asked, "What do you think, Lord Lu?"

Lu Yu replied, "I think what Minister Xu and Minister Pei said are both correct. I second the proposal."

Lu Yu was always like this, and Cao Rui was no longer surprised.

"Wang Qing!" Cao Rui asked Wang Su again.

Wang Su, however, bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, please allow me to think about it."

Cao Rui was slightly surprised, but didn't say anything, just nodded in agreement.

After a while, Wang Su cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I think I know why Lord Dong and the general are like this."

"Why?" Cao Rui asked.

Wang Su replied with a firm tone: "It's because Mr. Dong and the general don't study the classics!"

When Wang Su said this, not only Cao Rui looked surprised, but even Xu Shu, Pei Qian and Lu Yu all showed strange expressions at the same time.

Who doesn't know that you, Wang Ziyong, are a great scholar of our time?

In the past two years, His Majesty has doted on you to the extreme. Even the annotations of the Five Classics used in Luozhong Imperial Academy were changed from Zheng Xuan's to Wang Su's. How can the discussion of classics lead to such a thing?
Wang Su, however, bowed his hands and said with a firm tone: "Your Majesty, the general was a general when he was young, and he is not good at literature. And Mr. Dong was selected as a filial and honest official because of his family background and virtue, and he is not good at classics. Therefore, I think this is the reason why the general and Mr. Dong did not study the classics!"

"What does studying classics have to do with military affairs?" Cao Rui frowned and asked. Wang Su's words were a bit absurd!
"Of course it is related." Wang Su replied: "According to the Book of Rites, 'If you improve yourself every day, you will improve yourself every day, and you will improve yourself every day', 'Therefore, a gentleman will do everything to the utmost'. According to the Analects, 'You will learn it silently and never get tired of learning', 'If you are not angry, you will not be enlightened; if you are not frustrated, you will not speak out. If you raise one corner without reflecting on the other three corners, you will not be able to learn again'."

"Mr. Dong and the general have not studied the classics, so they do not know the principle of daily improvement and learning new knowledge, and therefore they are not in line with your majesty's far-sightedness." Wang Su said, "That's it!"

After Wang Su finished speaking, Cao Rui kept silent.

The three attendants Xu, Pei and Lu also remained silent at the same time.

It's just that the reasons for their silence are different.

The ministers remained silent, but they felt that Wang Su was taking the issue too far and dragging military affairs into irrelevant Confucian classics.

Cao Rui remained silent, as he was shocked by Wang Su's words.

What is "every day is new" and "never tired of learning"? In the final analysis, it is not just about Cao Zhen and Dong Zhao's lack of understanding of the matter and their conservative approach to handling it. It is a problem of epistemology and methodology! It is a philosophical problem!

An important means of governing a country in later generations is to hold meetings. Small meetings are held for big things and large meetings are held for small things. Meetings are used to convey ideas and reach consensus... So many meetings and documents are held to unify everyone's minds!
Although it is a bit ridiculous to engage in these philosophical things nowadays, it is still extremely necessary to instill Cao Rui's own way of thinking into the minds of a group of high-ranking officials of the Wei Dynasty subtly in the name of Confucian classics!
After Cao Rui thought it through, he looked at Wang Su and said, "What Mr. Wang said is absolutely right. I have also discovered this point."

"In my opinion, not only the general and Mr. Dong did not study the classics, but even the Minister of Works, Minister Xin, and these Shangshu and Privy Councilors are not very familiar with the classics! Take the Minister of Works, for example. He once told me that when he was young, he only learned the general idea of ​​the classics and did not seek to understand them in depth. His goal has always been to govern the country and benefit the people. Now he is over fifty years old. How can he be familiar with the classics? Even if he knows a little, how can he use the subtle words and great principles of the saints to handle government affairs?"

"Since Wang Qing has raised this issue, is there a solution?"

"Yes!" Wang Su said firmly, "I ask that you open the imperial lecture!"

"Jingyan?" Pei Qian asked in confusion. "Yes, it is Jingyan." Wang Su bowed to Cao Rui and said, "Your Majesty, during the Ganlu years of Emperor Xuan of the Western Han Dynasty, he summoned Confucian scholars to lecture on the Five Classics in Shiqu. Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty also listened to Confucian scholars lecture on the classics many times. Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty also summoned great Confucian scholars to debate the subtleties of ancient and modern texts at the White Tiger Temple in Luoyang and selected the essence."

"Since Your Majesty also intends to let the ministers learn the classics, I think it would be better for Your Majesty to set up a lecture in the palace and select people who are proficient in the Five Classics and history books to give lectures every three days. Your Majesty and all the ministers can enter the palace to listen to the lectures."

Wang Su added, "I think this is a very good idea. It can help Your Majesty to be familiar with historical events and classics, and it can help the ministers learn new things, understand the emperor's will, and thus abide by the rules of ministers. When the princes grow older, they can also be allowed to attend the lectures and gradually become familiar with government affairs!"

"What you said is very good!" Cao Rui stood up and patted Wang Su's shoulder with a little emotion: "What you said really touched my heart. Learning without getting tired, teaching without getting tired, isn't that what people like Wang Qing are like?"

"I dare not compare myself to Confucius." Wang Su bowed.

Cao Rui was stunned at first, and then he thought of the full text of this sentence, which is from the Analects of Confucius: "The Master said: "If you can learn silently, never get tired of learning, and never get tired of teaching others, what does it have to do with me?"

What does it have to do with me? This is what Confucius said about himself. No wonder Wang Su said so.

Cao Rui smiled and said, "Even if you can't compare to Confucius, I think Wang Qing can still compare to Dong Zhongshu and Zheng Xuan."

"My Lords," Cao Rui looked around, "What do you think of what Lord Wang just said about the Imperial Lecture?"

"I dare not speak rashly." Lu Yu said, "But I think studying the classics is not a bad thing."

Xu Shu nodded and said, "Minister Wang is indeed a great scholar of the time. He is always able to offer advice and suggestions on classics and institutions. I admire him."

Pei Qian smiled and said, "Minister Wang's words also impressed me. I would like to ask your Majesty for an order. When Minister Wang gives lectures in the future, please allow me to sit in and listen. I will be very grateful. When I was young, I studied the classics in Hedong and Henei. Although I also studied the knowledge of great Confucian scholars, I have never met a teacher as profound as Minister Wang."

"I agree." Cao Rui looked at Wang Su with a smile, "I don't know if Wang Qing is willing or not."

Wang Su bowed and replied, "Your Majesty has just told me that you should never tire of teaching others. How could I be unwilling to do so?"

Everyone laughed.

Cao Rui smiled and said, "Then let's hold the first lecture in Shouchun Palace. Just as Wang Qing said, it will be held every three days. As long as there is no urgent military or national affairs, I think the cabinet ministers, the three privy councilors, the six ministers, as well as the officials of the imperial court and the imperial guards, should all be included. If it is held in Luozhong, the three dukes, nine ministers and all the titled generals in Luoyang should all come to the palace to listen to the lecture!"

"Then let's schedule the first lecture for February 1st. As for the first three lectures, the great scholar Wang Qing will give the lecture. After the three lectures, I will see if I should invite other great scholars to give lectures."

"We, your Majesty, will follow your Majesty's will." The four attendants bowed in greeting.

……

On the twenty-fifth day of the first lunar month, the fleet sailed down the Yangtze River and arrived at the dock east of Jianye City. There were about two to three hundred ships, including tower ships, warships, fighting ships, and various ships transporting supplies.

The fleet came from Wuchang upstream, not just a dispatch of navy, but represented the relocation of the capital of Wu State.

That's right, at almost the same time as Wei, Wu also moved its capital from Wuchang, which was originally located in the middle of the Yangtze River and at the junction of the Han River, to Jianye in the east.

When Sun Quan's exaggerated and gorgeous giant ship stopped at the dock, Yangzhou officials from Yangzhou Mu Lu Dai on down all turned their attention to the wooden ladder of the ship, eagerly waiting. (End of this chapter)