The Ming Dynasty's Five Hundred Years

Chapter 177 Conflict with the Ministry of Rites
Chen Ying's son, Chen Qi, returned two days after Chen Ying's death. Li Mao and his men had already prepared the mourning hall. He mourned the deceased and sent out the obituaries one by one. Unlike Li, the Chen family had many members. After the coffin was laid to rest in the capital, he was to escort it back to his hometown.

Before leaving, Li Xianmu met with him. By then, the news that Li Xianmu had been appointed as the Vice Minister of Rites by the emperor had spread far and wide. Chen Qi was somewhat reserved. Li Xianmu did not say much, only that he would go to the princess’s residence to find Chen Qi after he returned to the capital.

This put Chen Qi at ease, knowing that his father must have said something to Li Xianmu before his death. With his father gone, he no longer had this towering tree to protect him, and now his father had found an even younger towering tree. Thinking of this, the grief that had just settled in Chen Qi's heart grew even stronger.

The imperial court suspended court for a day in memory of Chen Ying, posthumously granting him the title of Minister of Rites, and settled his affairs after death. Chen Qi escorted the coffin back to his hometown, and Li Mao and his wife accompanied him.

The white banners were removed, leaving an empty mansion.

The sun shines brightly and slowly.

The capital remains unchanged.

……

Ministry of Rites.

Since being appointed as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites by the emperor, this was the first time Li Xianmu had entered the government office to handle affairs. As soon as he entered the office, many people were running around for him, a scene that greatly displeased Hu Ying, the Minister of Rites.

However, he couldn't lash out, and he was still somewhat intimidated by Li Xianmu. The memory of being almost driven to the brink of death by Li Xianmu still lingered in his mind.

Moreover, Li Xianmu also held the position of Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, which had gradually evolved into an institution for communication between the court officials and the outside world.

Because nowadays, the emperor basically only consults a few people in the cabinet when he asks questions about state affairs, and he only discusses important national matters with the cabinet ministers in the initial stages. Only after there is some progress will he summon the ministers of the six ministries in the outer court.

In the government and among the public, some people have begun to refer to the cabinet as "junior assistant ministers," indicating that the cabinet's power is gradually increasing.

Even he had to be cautious when facing Li Xianmu, who had combined the two into one.

As was customary, Li Xianmu went to pay his respects, cupping his hands in a respectful bow and smiling, saying, "This humble official, Li Xianmu, pays his respects to Minister Hu. I am new to the Ministry of Rites, and I hope that Minister Hu will take good care of me in the future."

He smiled broadly, as if none of the unpleasantness between the two of them had ever happened, which surprised Hu Ying.

After a moment, he slowly said, "Minister Li is young and promising, which makes this old man look old and decrepit. Today, I will take advantage of my age and act like an old man. Some people in the Ministry of Rites are eager to scheme and do not put their minds on the right path. Minister Li, do not be misled by them, lest you fail His Majesty's expectations."

Li Xianmu felt a chill in his heart. He had clearly seen the officials trying to curry favor with him, so he was dissatisfied and decided to make a few remarks here.

"Thank you for reminding me, Minister Hu." Li Xianmu was still smiling, but the smile on his lips had faded a bit. "In a place as dignified as the Ministry of Rites, there are people so eager to scheme and plot. I wonder why this wasn't discovered during last year's capital inspection."

That's quite a sharp remark.

The Capital Inspection Committee assessed the performance of officials in the capital in fulfilling their duties. Those who performed well were promoted, while those who performed poorly were dismissed. Held every six years, the committee almost always caused widespread anxiety. In the late Ming Dynasty, this system was completely transformed into a tool for suppressing dissent.

Often, officials conducting inspections in the capital are unwilling to truly make things difficult for their colleagues. After all, if you are in charge of an inspection today, you may be the one being inspected tomorrow. It is not uncommon for officials to protect each other, so they always have to save face.

Li Xianmu's words were a direct attack on Hu Ying's face. Since you say that there are people in the Ministry of Rites who are eager to curry favor, why didn't you say that during the Beijing inspection last year? Why are you saying this now? Do you think that I, Li Xianmu, am incapable of being cultivated?
"you……"

Hu Ying regretted her words as soon as they left her mouth, and as expected, Li Xianmu cut her off, leaving her speechless.

"It's getting late, so I'll take my leave now."

Li Xianmu was also quite dissatisfied. Back then, because of the Southern Zhili matter, Hu Ying tried to trick him, but he tricked him back. He didn't care about the matter, but he didn't expect Hu Ying to still hold it against him.

Today we were originally prepared to let bygones be bygones, but I didn't expect Hu Ying to be so clueless. She's really clueless. There's no need to give her any more face if she can't see the situation clearly.

Thinking this, he went back to his room and then summoned his subordinates. Although he was parachuted into the Ministry of Rites, he was not without a foundation. Moreover, Li Xianmu looked around at everyone in the room. In the Ming Dynasty, there was no shortage of people who wanted to advance.

"Gentlemen, I am new here today. The affairs of the Ministry of Rites are numerous and complex. In the future, I will need your efforts to complete the various tasks assigned by the court. Is that not so?"

“What Vice Minister Li says makes sense. We have been in the Ministry of Rites for a long time and are quite familiar with the affairs of the ministry. We will certainly be able to assist you, Vice Minister.”

Everyone in the room looked excited, staring at Li Xianmu as if he were some rare and valuable commodity.

Anyone with eyes could see that Hu Ying was nothing but a skeleton in a tomb, while Li Xianmu had a bright future ahead of him. Even Chen Ying, on his deathbed, hoped that Li Xianmu would take care of Chen Qi in the future, let alone these people.

But Li Xianmu doesn't accept just anyone.

He looked around and then spoke loudly again: "His Majesty's promotion of me to Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites is a great honor. I am determined to make some contributions."

I do not wish to follow the old ways.

Upon hearing these last four words, everyone immediately understood that Li Xianmu was referring to Hu Ying, the Minister of Rites. It seemed that the scene between the two earlier was not harmonious. "When my late father reformed the imperial examination system, he established the current system of provincial quotas. I did not wish for such a major change, but only to make slight modifications to the existing content."

Everyone in the room was startled when they heard about the provincial quotas, thinking that Li Xianmu was really going to propose such a major reform, which would be a big deal. They only relaxed a little after hearing the rest.

As for Li Xianmu's plan to reform the imperial examination system, many people had already guessed it when rumors of his promotion to Vice Minister of Rites first surfaced, since everyone knew that his father was Li Zhongwen.

Now that the son has taken up the position of Vice Minister of Rites, there is no reason not to promote the philosophy of mind. It should be known that the philosophy of mind in the world is no longer as weak as it was a few years ago.

It is gradually becoming a prominent field of study, especially among the people in the northern provinces.

If Li Xianmu were to make drastic changes rashly, he would naturally face numerous obstacles. However, if he were to make slight modifications, he would naturally have people supporting him.

The so-called addition of content to the philosophy of mind actually meant replacing Zhu Xi with Li Qi.

This brings us to the fact that the imperial examinations had standard answers, which were the words of the sage Zhu Xi. These answers could not be altered; you had to write exactly what the sage said.

The Four Books and Five Classics served as the standard textbooks for the imperial examinations. Their standard lay in the fact that every sentence Zhu Xi annotated was a truth as sacred as the Bible. One Confucian scholar commented, "From now on, there is no need to annotate the classics of the sages. Zhu Xi has already pointed out the great path to heaven. Later generations of students only need to memorize it."

These words are reminiscent of the classic quote, "The edifice of physics is basically complete, with only two dark clouds floating in the sky. Future physicists only need to patch it up." In the century that followed, these two dark clouds smashed the supposedly perfect edifice of physics to pieces.

Li Qi, who came from a later generation, also felt that this perfect Neo-Confucianism was utterly rotten. So, he took advantage of the skin of Neo-Confucianism to smash it to pieces. Zhu Xi constructed Neo-Confucianism using the annotations of countless predecessors, while Li Xianmu took it even easier and directly used Zhu Xi's annotations to start revising it.

This is why, although Neo-Confucianism and the School of Mind have many similarities, they seem to be incompatible, because although they may share similarities on the surface, their underlying principles are different!
Li Xianmu stopped them from guessing and said directly, "There are many students in the world who study the Mind School nowadays..."

I intend to send officials to various provinces so that candidates in those provinces can have more options this year.

Not only can Zhu Xi's teachings be openly accepted and accepted, but so can the philosophy of mind.

Gone?

The crowd looked at Li Xianmu with some confusion. Although we all know you want to promote the philosophy of mind, can't you find a reason?

"Minister, what should we do if there is widespread opposition from the court and the public?"

"Yes, Your Excellency. After all, Zhu Xi's teachings have been practiced throughout the world for over a hundred years. Would it be inappropriate to hastily change them to the School of Mind?"

The crowd offered suggestions to Li Xianmu, hoping he could take a roundabout approach and use some indirect methods to silence public criticism.

However, Li Xianmu's ideas differed from others. He believed that some things should be approached indirectly, such as political struggles, where a head-on confrontation would not achieve the desired outcome.

But this isn't a political struggle; it's about promoting scholarship!

Where throughout history has there ever been a case of using such underhanded methods to promote academic research?
Which one of them didn't take down everyone else through head-on confrontation?

"The court's inclusion of Li Zhongwen in the Confucian Temple is tantamount to acknowledging his saintly status. I have never heard of any wrongdoing in promoting the teachings of a sage!"

Li Xianmu said with conviction, "If anyone is dissatisfied, let them submit a petition. We'll see who is dissatisfied with the court's policies."

As the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Li Xianmu had the authority to oversee the provincial examinations and education in various provinces. For example, his senior fellow student, Wang Gen, was currently under his leadership.

This identity was even more intimidating to those students from Shilin University.

The county magistrate is not as good as taking charge now.

Using his position as Vice Minister of Rites to reform the imperial examination system would be the most legitimate and justifiable way to do so, and would absolutely prevent most people from saying anything.

The only obstacle was the Minister of Rites, who was the only one who could stop Li Xianmu's reforms. This was also why Li Xianmu had just tried to ease tensions with Hu Ying, but unexpectedly Hu Ying didn't take the bait, so he couldn't be blamed.

If Hu Ying dares to join forces with those students to oppose him on this matter, he will have no choice but to send Hu Ying away as well.

Inside the study, Hu Ying was still recalling her conversation with Li Xianmu.

Sometimes people know what is right, but they just can't do it. Hu Yingming told himself that there was no need to continue fighting against Li Xianmu, but he just couldn't do it. Every time he saw Li Xianmu, he would think of the scene where his son was almost killed, and the hatred in his heart would not dissipate.

"You mean Li Xianmu wants to promote the School of Mind as soon as he takes office, and even plans to promote it in the official provincial examinations?"

(End of this chapter)