The Ming Dynasty's Five Hundred Years

Chapter 180 The Flames of War Rekindled!

Imperial Palace Road.

The palace walls stood tall and imposing in vermilion, with imperial guards occasionally flashing across them. Li Xianmu and Yang Rong walked briskly side by side along the palace path, Yang Rong's face showing a solemn expression, while Li Xianmu remained expressionless.

"Are we really going to take action against Hu Ying?"

Yang Rong said in a deep voice, "After news of your heated debate in the street spread, Hu Ying did not seem too alarmed. I'm afraid she has a backup plan."

Li Xianmu calmly replied, "Guiding the scholars was merely a delaying tactic on his part. The news that has been coming back from all over the Ming Dynasty these past few days must have given him great confidence."

"what do you mean?"

“When my father was alive, there was already a psychological conflict. At that time, the School of Mind was just emerging, and my father was sweeping through the students without touching the most fundamental interests, so it was temporarily suppressed.”

Li Xianmu recounted to Yang Rong a secret unknown to anyone at the time: "There were two reasons why my father did not directly launch the most brutal academic battle."

First, he planned to use the guise of Neo-Confucianism to develop the philosophy of mind under the identity of a Confucian sage, just like the debate between the Old Text and New Text schools in the Han Dynasty. The Old Text school strongly defeated the other schools, but in the end, it was completely defeated in the debate between the Old Text and New Text schools.

Secondly, they hoped to use this opportunity to ease tensions, first securing a place in the Temple of Literature. Neo-Confucianism has Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi as its two sages; if the School of Mind does not have a place in the Temple of Literature, it will inevitably be difficult to compete in the future.

Both of these laid the foundation for the philosophy of mind.

Yang Rong was shocked and stunned, not expecting there to be so much scheming involved. But when he came to his senses, he found it quite reasonable. Otherwise, the School of Mind would not have developed to its current state, and Li Xianmu would not have been able to escape from the students so easily.

"Since Lord Li Zhongwen has made such meticulous arrangements, why have you, Mingda, stirred up the current chaos?"

"Because the situation has changed again, in the past few years, the School of Mind has mainly attracted two types of people: one is people who originally strongly identified with the School of Mind and rejected the School of Principle; the other is those who have passed the imperial examination and no longer need to study the Four Books and Five Classics, and hope to get closer to me politically, so they consciously move closer to the School of Mind."

Yang Rong nodded slightly. He belonged to the second type. He gradually aligned himself with Li Xianmu politically and naturally accepted the philosophy of mind. Since the Jinshi degree holders had already passed the imperial examinations, they no longer needed to study Zhu Xi's Four Books and Five Classics and had the freedom to interpret the Six Classics themselves.

Li Xianmu said in a deep voice, "But the number of Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) is still too small."

Those scholars and gentry who embraced the School of Mind and rejected the School of Principle gradually reached the age for the imperial examinations. If no channels for advancement could be opened for them, they would have no choice but to leave the camp of the School of Mind in order to pursue their careers.

Moreover, if the School of Mind could not become part of the official standards of the Ming Dynasty's imperial examinations, it would suffer the same fate as the other schools of thought: a doctrine that cannot be used to obtain official positions is destined to be abandoned!
Therefore, it's not that I want to change my father's arrangements, but rather that the situation has come to this point, and the general trend is pushing me forward.

Even if...

"To be an enemy of the world!"

The voice echoed softly through the palace corridor. Yang Rong looked up at the sky separated by the palace walls, where a sharp and imposing aura emanated from the small space. A surge of pride slowly rose within him. "Let's do it! He's just the Minister of Rites!"

“Yesterday I sent my elder brother to Southern Zhili. I heard that Hu Ying’s son had committed many illegal acts when he was in Nanjing. He didn’t even bring him with him when he became an official in the capital. He was probably worried that he would cause trouble in the capital.”

Chen Wenzhong had told me some things about Hu Ying, and now it comes in handy. Let's see what face he has left when his misbehavior in raising his son is exposed to the world.”

Chen Wenzhong Gong was Chen Ying. After Hu Ying attacked Li Xianmu, Chen Ying consciously paid attention to this matter and indeed managed to catch some clues.

Now Li Xianmu asked his elder brother Li Fang to go to Southern Zhili to collect witnesses and physical evidence.

“Southern Zhili…” Yang Rong pondered.

Li Xianmu waved his hand confidently and said, "Since I became the governor of Jiangnan, the situation in Southern Zhili has changed drastically. I have quite a few capable people there, so Zirong need not worry."

After the two men showed their identification badges, the eunuch opened the gate at the end of the palace gate, and suddenly the room opened up. They entered through the Wenhua Gate and headed straight for the Huagai Hall.

Upon entering the hall, before even seeing the emperor, a hearty laugh could be heard. "You've only been in the Ministry of Rites for less than half a month, yet you've already given me such a big 'surprise.' You truly live up to your reputation, Li Xianmu."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Xianmu saw Emperor Zhu Di standing in the hall, smiling at him, with one hand on his jade belt and the other holding a memorial.

“This is what I should do,” Li Xianmu said, readily accepting the credit.

Yang Rong was stunned when he heard this, and looked at Li Xianmu in disbelief. Brother, you didn't say you wanted to do this.

Zhu Di was so angry that he laughed and threw the memorial in his hand at him. "Minister of Rites Hu Ying impeached you for trying to destroy the teachings of the sages and for disrespecting them. Those memorials are all impeaching you. You've really gotten yourself into big trouble this time."

The memorial flew in, and Li Xianmu caught it with lightning speed. Upon opening it, he saw that it was indeed Hu Ying's impeachment. The content accused him of disrespecting the sages and the classics, and of trying to disrupt the national examination system for his own selfish interests. It was written in the tone of a conservative Confucian scholar, making it seem as if the Ming Dynasty was about to perish and the Confucian tradition was about to be destroyed.

“Your Majesty, this is not an attack on a minister.” Li Xianmu calmly held the memorial in his hand and replied composedly, “This is an attack on the great principles of my late father, and even an attempt to deny his holy position.”

Entering the Temple of Literature and the Temple of Martial Arts is not a guarantee of safety. Since those selected are chosen for political reasons, they can also be expelled for the same reasons. These conservatives are not stupid.

Over the years, other schools of thought have challenged the status of Neo-Confucianism, but they have all failed in the end. Although the School of Mind is more refined, social sciences, as a humanities discipline, are never judged solely on who is more refined.

In terms of both numbers and influence, the School of Mind was far inferior to the School of Neo-Confucianism, which had been developing for over a hundred years. Even including those enlightened Neo-Confucian scholars who advocated coexistence, it was still not as powerful as the conservatives.

But the study of mind is special.

Because the true reliance of the School of Mind is not the knowledge itself, but Li Qi, who resides in the Confucian Temple.

This sacred position bestowed upon the philosophy of mind the aura of a sage.

This fundamentally changed the nature of the philosophy of mind.

Li Xianmu was able to scare away the students of the Imperial Academy with a single word on the Vermilion Bird Avenue because he relied on the reputation of the sage's teachings, which prevented the students from daring to offend him.

If Li Qi's status as a sage is questioned and he loses his sagehood, then the School of Mind will instantly suffer a huge blow.

It's unlikely that the situation will collapse completely, since Li Xianmu is still in power. However, it's highly probable that the government will have to wait until Li Xianmu truly commands respect before using his strong political power to forcefully push this matter forward.

Doing so would be a poor choice.

Zhu Di also put away his smile, revealing nothing of his thoughts. "I know, but you have to solve the trouble you've caused yourself. As for matters concerning the Emperor, I can't interfere and can't offer you any help. Do you understand?"

Yang Rong was incredibly intelligent, and he immediately realized that the emperor was on their side, but due to his status, he had to maintain an impartial attitude.

Otherwise, if the emperor intervened and took sides, the situation would be completely different.

But the emperor's words were biased; otherwise, with so many people impeaching Li Xianmu, how could Li Xianmu have withstood the pressure? Someone else might have been demoted directly.

"The truth cannot be clarified without debate. Whether the School of Mind has defiled the sacred path cannot be judged by their words alone." Li Xianmu remained calm. When he decided to promote the School of Mind, he already had a complete set of countermeasures in mind.

"Confucian scholars in the Han Dynasty served as generals and prime ministers, and constructed the idea of ​​a unified world, which prevented the Han Dynasty from falling apart like the Qin Dynasty."

The Confucian scholars of the Song Dynasty… What does Your Majesty think of Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism?

"This..." Zhu Di felt a little confused. I am not a Confucian scholar. Although I read some books in the past, I did not study them in depth. Why are you asking me about these academic matters?

After a moment's thought, he said, as the world had praised, "Since all those Confucian scholars of the past bowed down to Zhu Xi's teachings, there must be something to it."

Li Xianmu clasped his hands together, looked up at the high ceiling of the Huagai Hall, and saw countless intricate patterns blooming before his eyes.

He said softly, "Yes, after the collapse of the Tang Dynasty, Confucian scholars in the Song Dynasty created various schools of thought. After three hundred years of struggle, Neo-Confucianism finally emerged."

How could it be completely useless?

Li Xianmu was clearly praising Neo-Confucianism, but Zhu Di felt that he had not fully expressed his meaning and that there was a deep contempt in his words. That feeling flashed by, and Zhu Di even thought it was just an illusion. Then he heard Li Xianmu say again in a low voice: "It is just that I often think that the Han Confucian scholars at least preserved the Han Dynasty's rule for four hundred years."

But Neo-Confucianism could neither preserve the remaining half of the Song Dynasty's territory, nor could it save the nation from the centuries of devastation caused by the barbarian invasions.

Zhu Di's expression changed slightly, and Yang Rong was also dumbfounded. Li Xianmu withdrew his gaze from above and returned it to the emperor. He was calm and composed, without criticism or vehementness, and simply said, "What use was it in the Song Dynasty and the Mongol Yuan Dynasty?"

silence.

A deep silence fell over the Hall of Literary Glory.

Don't say that the rise and fall of dynasties has nothing to do with Confucian scholars. Ever since Emperor Wu of Han dismissed all other schools of thought and exclusively honored Confucianism, Confucian scholars have become the ruling class of each dynasty. How could the rise and fall of dynasties have nothing to do with Confucian scholars?

"The late emperor revered Neo-Confucianism, hoping to ensure the Ming Dynasty's eternal prosperity. However, I am quite puzzled. Since the birth of Neo-Confucianism, it has never been proven that it can ensure the dynasty's eternal prosperity. Where does that arrogant, heavenly philosophy, which considers itself the ultimate truth, come from?"

Disdain!

Supreme contempt!
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

In the tenth year of the Yongle reign, Li Xianmu, a representative figure of the Neo-Confucian school of thought in the Ming Dynasty, used his advantageous position as Vice Minister of Rites, which controlled the imperial examinations and education, to attempt to make Neo-Confucianism one of the official textbooks for the examinations. Due to political conflict with Hu Ying, one of the leaders of the conservative faction, this reform quickly spiraled out of control, evolving into an attack on the Neo-Confucian monopoly on the examination textbooks. This quickly swept through the provinces of the Ming Dynasty, becoming one of the most intense struggles of the Yongle era! — *Cultural History*

(End of this chapter)