Han officials

Chapter 307 Lu Zhi's Question [4K]

"Mr. Yuanfang's crime is unforgivable!"

This was the first thing Lu Zhi said after seeing Wei Zhe.

Lu Zhi had little interaction with Chen Ji, but he greatly admired Chen Ji's father, Chen Shi.

In addition, Chen Ji himself was a great Confucian scholar, known for his virtue, and Lu Zhi really couldn't bear to see him in such a predicament.

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhe finally remembered Chen Ji.

With one big thing after another happening lately, he almost forgot about the old man.

Thinking of this, Wei Zhe immediately looked at Zhou Yu, who was standing to the side.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Yu immediately understood and quickly stepped forward to explain in a low voice.

It turns out that after Wei Zhe casually gave the order, things were actually arranged in Xuzhou.

You should know that the newly appointed governor of Xuzhou is Guan Xiu, who almost ruined the Three Han states to the point of extinction!

Without saying a word after taking office, this person erected a wooden sign around Chen Ji's residence, which stated the absurdity of Chen Ji's writings.

It's actually not difficult at all to do this.

After all, Chen Ji has written over 300,000 words and is known in the martial arts world as "Master Chen," so there is simply too much material to draw upon.

As the saying goes, "Too much talk leads to mistakes."

Even true sages are bound to be criticized if they say too much, let alone someone like Chen Ji who is neither a sage nor a saint.

Therefore, without even needing Wang Lang, the Prefect of Xuzhou, to intervene, Guan Xiu simply found a few old scholars from Xuzhou and completed the first step.

Of course, Chen Ji himself is quite capable, and he does have some knowledge of Confucian classics.

Therefore, the first wave of theoretical criticism launched by Guan Xiu was easily dismantled by Chen Ji.

But this is precisely where Guan Xiu's insidious nature lies.

Just as Chen Ji was basking in his pride at defeating the petty people who were trying to make things difficult, another round of debate began.

Ultimately, Guan Xiu only took half a month to spread the word about this public debate throughout Xuzhou.

When Wang Lang, the Prefect of Xuzhou, took action, this debate was not widely known in the Central Plains, but it had already been heard of among the literati.

The wooden plaques outside Chen Ji's house were added one after another, covered with the words of Wang Lang and Chen Ji. In order to better preserve them, Guan Xiu even built a place to shelter them from the wind and rain.

Over time, a "debate corridor" appeared outside Chen Ji's manor for visitors to admire.

With things having developed to this point, Chen Ji could no longer back down, even if he wanted to.

Even though Guan Xiu didn't send a single soldier to imprison him, Chen Ji was effectively under house arrest in the manor.

Especially when the students from the academies in Ye City also participated in this debate and refuted Chen Ji's remarks, things had long since gone beyond the original boundaries.

Anyone with common sense can see that this is Wei Gong deliberately targeting Chen Ji.

However, his methods were very clever; he did not threaten with swords, but instead attacked the mind directly.

When things developed to this point, the Confucian scholars who held similar views to Chen Ji finally couldn't sit still any longer.

The topic evolved from Chen Ji's initial rebuttal of Wei Jun's "competing with the people for profit" to "the struggle between righteousness and profit".

As the debate expanded, even Confucian scholars who had fled to Jingzhou to escape the chaos joined in. Song Zhong wrote a letter to Chen Ji to support him and satirized Wei Zhe for being greedy and profit-driven, calling him a Han official but a traitor to the Han!

Song Zhong was no ordinary scholar; his family lived in Zhangling, Nanyang, and he was a great Confucian scholar of his time.

After Liu Biao occupied Jingzhou, he appointed Song Zhong as an official in charge of five industries.

At that time, due to the chaos in the world, many scholars from Guanzhong and the two provinces of Yan and Yu went to Jingzhou to avoid the chaos. Therefore, Liu Biao established schools, sought out Confucian scholars, and put Song Zhong in charge of compiling the "Commentary on the Five Classics".

Simply put, Song Zhong was the opinion leader of the Confucian scholars in Jingzhou.

"The gentleman is like justice, the villain is like profit."

Song Zhong's criticism of Wei Zhe clearly stemmed from his self-proclaimed status as a gentleman, while he was calling Wei Zhe a villain.

Once the last fig leaf was torn away, many things were laid bare.

Indeed, compared to the original Han Dynasty, the Wei army under its rule was always more inclined to talk about profit.

For example, the prefects and magistrates appointed by Wei Zhe would first investigate the amount of tax revenue and then take measures to increase production after taking office.

When discussing water conservancy projects, it is always mentioned that this initiative will allow the people to harvest more grain or reduce the distance they have to travel to carry water for irrigation.

As for moral matters that used to educate the people to do good, there have been far fewer of them.

After all, whether the county magistrate personally preaches to the people or sends county officials to the countryside to preach to the people, it requires a lot of energy. It would be more practical to spend that time investigating the background of the local powerful families.

Therefore, some pedantic scholars even criticized the Wei army for implementing Qin laws, not Han policies.

It must be said that these old men aren't very capable of doing anything, but they are quite good at causing trouble.

However, even with the support of prominent scholars from other places, Chen Ji, as the person involved, was already overwhelmed.

He was not a Confucian genius, nor was his understanding of the classics of the sages particularly profound; otherwise, he would not have been known for his virtue.

As a result, the 300,000 words he wrote were directly criticized as utterly worthless by the students of the academy.

After all, the collapse of logic often has a chain reaction, not to mention that there are so many loopholes in his logic.

Moreover, these young scholars were not as polite as Wang Lang; their words were all incredibly cutting. It was said that Chen Ji was so angry about this that he vomited blood twice, which frightened Chen Qun so much that he had to resign from his post and return home to serve him.

It was precisely because he had heard about this that Lu Zhi couldn't help but offer his advice:
“Mr. Yuanfang has indeed made mistakes, but he has already paid the price. Why must you be so aggressive, General?”

"It's wise to be lenient when possible; why not stop here?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhe fell silent for a moment, then simply stated:
"Although this matter originated with this person, the focus is no longer on him."

"Whether Chen Yuanfang is alive or dead, this debate must continue."

"How can the principles of sages be allowed to be distorted by such people!"

Upon hearing this, the library fell into a deathly silence.

Cai Yong stroked his beard and sighed softly, Zheng Xuan shook his head and remained silent, only Lu Zhi stared intently at Wei Zhe with deep eyes.

A series of emotions, including shock, confusion, and disbelief, flashed quickly across his eyes.

A moment later, as crows cried softly from the eaves outside, Lu Zhi finally came to his senses, his heart churning with emotion.

At this moment, he finally understood that Wei Zhe was not targeting Chen Ji personally, but rather the current state of official schools.

To put it bluntly, he's eyeing the "right to interpret scriptures"!
Thinking of this, Lu Zhi suddenly remembered someone—Liu Xiu.

After all, Emperor Guangwu had done the same thing after establishing the country.

However, Emperor Guangwu integrated the apocryphal and prophetic theology with the contemporary New Text Confucianism, thus forming the apocryphal and prophetic Confucianism we know today.

From then on, the Five Classics, passed down by Confucian sages, were reinterpreted by Emperor Guangwu.

With this thought in mind, Lu Zhi finally asked the question that he had kept hidden in his heart all these days.

He looked at Wei Zhe with a serious expression and asked solemnly:

What does Your Majesty wish to do?

In fact, ever since the news of the shogunate's civil and military officials urging Wei Zhe to ascend the throne as "Duke of Wei" reached the academy, Lu Zhi had been wanting to ask about it.

Once upon a time, he thought Wei Zhe was a minister who would save the Han Dynasty.

However, as Wei Zhe's achievements grew and he occupied more and more counties, Lu Zhi began to fall silent.

Because Wei Zhe did a little too well, even excessively so.

He didn't know how the future emperor would handle such a minister, and he was even starting to wonder if a man of talent like Wei Zhe would bow down to the young emperor in Chang'an and return power to the Han dynasty.

When he learned that Wei Zhe had been promoted to "Duke of Wei", his anxiety finally subsided.

Pleading for Chen Ji was just an excuse; Lu Zhi ultimately wanted to ask Wei Zhe himself—what does Your Majesty intend to do?
Wei Zhe had anticipated this before his arrival.

However, he did not answer Lu Zhi's question directly at this moment, but slowly walked to the bookshelf and sat down.

“Song Zhongyan said that my actions of competing with the people for profit are those of a petty person.”

"What is your opinion on this, Lord Lu?"

The debate between righteousness and profit is a very ancient topic of debate in Confucianism... no, it is a very ancient topic of debate in China.

Confucius said, "Wealth and honor obtained unjustly are to me like floating clouds."

Mencius went so far as to set righteousness and profit against each other, telling King Hui of Liang directly, "Why must Your Majesty speak of profit? There is only benevolence and righteousness!"

Xunzi advocated reconciling righteousness and profit, proposing that "those who prioritize righteousness over profit will be honored, while those who prioritize profit over righteousness will be disgraced." Dong Zhongshu went even further than Mencius, directly opposing righteousness and profit completely.

"Uphold righteousness without seeking personal gain, and understand the principles without calculating the rewards!"

For example, the great Confucian scholars of the Song Zhong and Chen Ji school adhered to the views of Dong Zhongshu.

In their view, a gentleman should not speak of profit; to speak of profit is unrighteous!
In this way, it would be unjust for the government to compete with the people for profit.

It was precisely through this extreme logic that they labeled Wei Zhe as "unjust."

Lu Zhi didn't know why Wei Zhe suddenly brought this up, but his level of understanding was different from that of pedantic scholars like Song Zhong.

Having almost achieved the dual roles of "general and prime minister," Lu Zhi naturally understood the hardships of life.

After a moment's hesitation, he said with a firm look in his eyes:

"If one desires justice, then one seeks profit; if one does not seek profit, then it is permissible to be unjust?"

"This shows that righteousness lies within profit. If you do righteous things, you will naturally reap the benefits!"

From this perspective, Lu Zhi did not agree with Mencius and Dong Zhongshu's view of "the opposition between righteousness and profit".

However, Wei Zhe smiled and shook his head upon hearing this:

"Things in this world are never that simple. Why would Lord Lu try to fool me?"

"Many have profited unjustly! If righteousness is intertwined with profit, where is justice?"

In Wei Zhe's view, although Lu Zhi's ideas were more objective than those of Song Zhong and others, they were only slightly better.

The idea of ​​"the opposition between righteousness and profit" is too absolute and extreme, while the idea of ​​"the unity of righteousness and profit" is also too idealistic.

Lu Zhi fell silent in response to Wei Zhe's incisive observation.

He knew, of course, that things in this world weren't always so ideal.

Throughout history, countless examples exist of righteous people dying unjustly, while the unrighteous enjoy numerous descendants and generations of wealth and honor.

But apart from this explanation, Lu Zhi really didn't know how to distinguish between righteousness and profit.

Seeing that Wei Zhe was calm and composed, the old man simply threw the topic back:
"In that case, what are your thoughts, General?"

“Righteousness is the way to establish oneself; profit is the means to sustain life.” Wei Zhe was not surprised by this, and calmly replied, “Without righteousness, profit loses its proper place; without profit, righteousness has nothing to rely on. The affairs of the world are not just about righteousness and profit, but righteousness and profit are always intertwined.”

Simply put, righteousness and profit need to be dialectically unified.

That's the question Wei Zhe wanted to ask.

What is righteousness?
What is profit?
Who exactly is competing with the people for profit?

Lu Zhi was one of the most intelligent people in the world, and he immediately understood Wei Zhe's meaning.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Xuan was also momentarily dazed and couldn't help but murmur:

"Righteousness is the way to establish oneself; profit is the means to sustain life... So what exactly is righteousness?"

Cai Yong... well, Cai Yong wasn't as stubborn as the other two.

Rather than calling him a pure Confucian scholar, it would be more accurate to call him a historian.

In fact, the old man was taking notes while Lu Zhigang was asking Wei Zhe his questions.

For a moment, the library seemed to exist in ancient times.

Sages and rulers discuss the Way, while historians stand by, recording the truth with their pens.

Seeing this scene, Zhou Yu felt his heart surge with emotion, as if he were in the ancient history of the Spring and Autumn Period.

At the same time, upon hearing Zheng Xuan's words, Wei Zhe replied without hesitation:

"The key to the state of the world being in such a state of ruin lies here."

"For hundreds of years, scholars have only known the debate between righteousness and profit, but have never clearly understood what righteousness and profit are!"

"If one knows neither oneself nor others, how can one rectify the hearts of the people and educate them to do good?"

Upon hearing Wei Zhe's words, Zheng Xuan, though his hair was gray and he was very old, bowed respectfully to him and asked for guidance, "Please enlighten me, General!"

Speaking of which, Wei Zhe could be considered half a disciple of Zheng Xuan, but the old man didn't feel ashamed at all.

On the contrary, at this moment, Zheng Xuan's face only showed a thirst for knowledge.

Seeing this, Wei Zhe did not flinch, but accepted the bow properly before resounding:

"The world is in a state of confusion regarding righteousness and profit, and black and white are indistinguishable. It is now imperative to clarify the distinction between righteousness and profit."

Zheng Xuan then asked, "How do we distinguish between them?"

Wei Zhe decisively said, "Naturally, public interest should determine public justice, and private interest should determine private justice!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yu nodded repeatedly.

Indeed, it is precisely because of the blurring of public and private interests that people like Song Zhong have allowed their personal gain to undermine public justice.

If Wei Zhe's views on "righteousness and profit" were to prevail, then those who would be unjust, seeking only profit and competing with the people for profit, would be people like Song Zhong and Chen Ji.

Upon realizing this, Zhou Yu suddenly understood.

So this is why Duke Wei was unwilling to let Chen Ji go.

This isn't punishing Chen Ji at all; it's clearly about redefining right and wrong and winning people's hearts!
What Zhou Yu could understand, Zheng Xuan could naturally understand as well.

After savoring it a few times, the old man couldn't help but clap his hands in praise:

"Wonderful! The age-old struggle between righteousness and profit can now come to an end!"

Cai Yong, who was recording in the corner, was also extremely excited at this moment, and his brush was writing on the silk so fast it was almost flying.

He was already skilled in the "flying white" style of calligraphy, and felt that his calligraphy today was the best he had ever done.

He even felt that after today, his flying white calligraphy might reach a new level.

Compared to the two, Lu Zhi's reaction was much more subdued.

Although he admired Wei Zhe's insights, the knot in his heart remained untied.

Wei Zhe understood this as well, so he turned to look at Lu Zhi and said:
"Lord Lu asked me what I wanted to do, and today I will tell you."

Wei Zhe suddenly stood up, pointed to the bright, clear sky outside, and resolutely said:
"Now that I have taken this position, I must fight for justice for all people and strive for a better life for millions of ordinary citizens!"

Although Wei Zhe loved wealth and honor, he never forgot his original aspirations.

The purpose of establishing military farms was for this purpose, and the purpose of surveying and cultivating land was for this purpose.

The establishment of academies and the widespread dissemination of education were also for this purpose.

Looking into Lu Zhi's sharp, hawk-like eyes, he felt no guilt whatsoever!
Upon hearing this, Lu Zhi's pupils dilated slightly, unsure of what to say.

Wei Zhe didn't let him off the hook, but instead stepped forward and said firmly:

"If the country were without me, who do you think could take on this responsibility, Lord Lu?"

"Would the emperor be suitable?"

Would Liu Biao be suitable?

"Is it alright for you?"

Wei Zhe had never been so self-righteous at this moment.

After all, history has already proven that Cao Cao was powerless without him.

Then came the transformation of the aristocratic class into powerful clans, and the common people into mere animals.
At this moment, not only Lu Zhi, but even Zheng Xuan couldn't help but shake his head repeatedly.

Judging from the circumstances of these Han emperors, it would be good enough if they could just be stable rulers who maintained the status quo.

As for the major issue that Wei Zhe mentioned, if it were brought up in the imperial court, it would most likely be dropped without any resolution.

Even if powerful ministers hold power, they will not put their heart into such matters; this has been proven throughout history.

Thinking of this, Zheng Xuan couldn't help but sigh softly.

Wei Zhe's strategy could indeed save the world, and could even be considered a strategy to strengthen the country.

Unfortunately, this strategy could only be implemented by him; it would probably be useless if anyone else were to do it, not even the emperor.

Zheng Xuan glanced at Lu Zhi's dejected expression and finally asked the troubling question on behalf of his old friend:

"While public justice is important,... are we to abandon the fundamental principles of the relationship between ruler and subject?"

(End of this chapter)