The Ming Dynasty's Five Hundred Years

Chapter 185 Times have changed
Inside the Hall of Literary Glory, Emperor Zhu Di and the ministers of various ministries were all stunned. Today was the annual financial meeting of the Great Ming Dynasty. For them to be disturbed under such circumstances, something truly serious must have happened in Jiangnan.

Before the emperor could speak, Hong Bao rushed out, lifted the curtain, and shouted at the kneeling eunuch, "What has happened in Jiangnan that you dare to disturb His Majesty and the nobles at this time?"

That's what they say, but Hong Bao had already roughly guessed what had gone wrong, because the Eastern Depot was currently focused on only one thing: the matter of the School of Mind and the School of Principle.

"Hong Bao, let him in."

Zhu Di's voice was somewhat low, and the atmosphere in the hall also became somber. The high-ranking officials looked at each other and remained silent.

Hong Bao led the eunuch in. Everyone saw that he was about thirty years old. Unlike the usual effeminate eunuchs, he was quite burly, with a dark face and no beard. After entering the hall, he knelt down and kowtowed. Then he said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, I am the manager of the Eastern Depot. I was ordered by the Grand Eunuch to monitor Jiangnan. News just came from Jiangnan."

In Zhejiang Province in the Jiangnan region, a large-scale conflict broke out after the debate banquet. Some scholars died in the conflict. When the news came, the conflict was so intense that even the government could not control it. Some of my Eastern Depot agents were also beaten to death for trying to stop the scholars.

Since these scholars did not attack the government, but only engaged in verbal abuse and physical altercations, the Zhejiang Provincial Commander could not send troops without cause.

The Zhejiang Provincial Treasurer, the Zhejiang Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, and the Zhejiang Provincial Education Commissioner were in control of the situation, but with the imperial decree in place, they could only maintain a temporary respite.

The Hall of Literary Glory fell silent for a moment, as if the air itself had frozen. Zhu Di was completely stunned, the six ministers were also speechless, and even the eunuch Hong Bao felt a chill run down his spine.

This has really blown up.

Historically, the death of any scholar was never a trivial matter.

These people are incredibly cunning with their pens; who knows how they'll fabricate stories and spread rumors to tarnish the court's image? Thinking of this, Hong Bao couldn't help but look at the emperor, wondering what His Majesty would do.

The six ministers then turned their attention to Zheng Huan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Li Xianmu, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites and Grand Secretary of the Hall of Literary Glory, since it was these two who had orchestrated this incident.

Zhu Di also turned his gaze over, his expression hostile.

Before the emperor could ask any questions, Li Xianmu said sternly, "Your Majesty, your humble servant and Minister Zheng clearly stated that a gentleman uses words, not fists, and that they should reason with each other and convince others with truth. But now these scholars are knowingly violating this rule, clearly showing that they do not respect the court."

This calamity will surely shake the world. If it is not severely punished, where will the court's prestige be?

Your humble servant believes that we should make an example of them, stripping all scholars of their official titles and even prosecuting them for disrespecting the court!

Zheng Huan also said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, I second that opinion. These scholars are simply presumptuous to call themselves disciples of the sages. They are just a bunch of unruly people and should be severely punished."

What do you all think?

After Zheng Huan finished speaking, he asked several other ministers. The others cursed Zheng Huan for implicating them, but they had no choice but to answer. However, they mostly gave vague answers and did not provide clear answers.

Li Xianmu and Zheng Huan's words made Zhu Di feel dizzy. They sounded reasonable, especially coming from Li Xianmu and Zheng Huan.

Even Zhu Di could guess why Li Xianmu and Zheng Huan would say such things, because they were the ones who proposed the debate banquet, and now that such a major incident had occurred, both of them were to blame.

All responsibility must be absolved.

Moreover, Li Xianmu and Zheng Huan had indeed expressed disclaimers beforehand, so it would be inappropriate to pin the blame on them. Zhu Di felt truly caught in a dilemma and hesitated, saying, "Xianmu's method is definitely not going to work. Things have already escalated to this point, and we absolutely cannot add fuel to the fire."

Think about it again.

The others didn't want to get involved and remained silent, so Zhu Di could only turn his attention back to Li Xianmu.

Li Xianmu frowned slightly and said, "If Your Majesty feels that what happened just now was adding fuel to the fire, then you can only verbally condemn it and then deal with the matter calmly."

Nowadays, scholars of the School of Mind and the School of Principle are so embroiled in conflict that they can only be blamed equally on each side.

Your humble servant hereby requests that the debate banquet be suspended, because it is difficult to determine the superiority of Neo-Confucianism and the School of Mind in a short time. Both originate from the Confucian school and are the teachings of the sages. Such a debate will only damage harmony and make the world a laughing stock.

The imperial court intervened personally, issuing verbal reprimands but refraining from imposing any substantial punishment; this should be enough to quell the current situation.

Compared to the previous method of directly demolishing the house, this suggestion of simply breaking the windows was much to Zhu Di's liking.

"This method works."

Zhu Di rubbed his head, feeling a bit annoyed and embarrassed. Someone had previously submitted a memorial saying that some young scholars were impetuous and might resort to violence if they lost a debate. He had thought he had everything under control, but he never expected to be proven wrong today.

Such a major event would surely shake the Ming Dynasty soon, and it needed to be dealt with as soon as possible. Zhu Di immediately made some arrangements.

But the high spirits they had just been in vanished. Fortunately, the finance meeting was already more than halfway over, so it was quickly concluded, and everyone left the Huagai Hall.

Zheng Huan walked up to Li Xianmu and looked at him with a probing gaze. Although he had no direct evidence, his intuition from spending time with Li Xianmu these past few days told him that Li Xianmu was definitely involved in this matter.

Looking at the continuous palaces, the towering vermilion walls, and the cold wind blowing, Li Xianmu said softly, "Zicong, we can begin to promote the inclusion of the philosophy of mind in textbooks."

Zheng Huan was taken aback, then realized that the events in Jiangnan had made His Majesty consider ending the debate between the School of Mind and the School of Principle.

After this incident, the School of Mind and the School of Principle appeared to have reached a stalemate, but for the School of Principle, not achieving a decisive victory was a defeat.

The School of Mind will seize this opportunity to become one of the official ideologies of the Ming Dynasty!

As Li Xianmu made rapid progress in politics, the School of Mind, like a tiger with wings, was bound to soar to the highest heavens, and no one could stop its rise.

The era in which Neo-Confucianism monopolized the intellectual sphere of the Ming Dynasty is over!

Times have changed!
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, the "Qiantang Massacre" broke out in Zhejiang. This was a bloody incident caused by a fierce academic dispute. The reasons for its sudden outbreak are widely debated and have been buried in the dustbin of history.

Mainstream academic view holds that the Yongle era witnessed dramatic changes in the intellectual sphere, prompting the conservative faction of Neo-Confucianism, unwilling to lose power, to perpetrate this bloodshed. However, the ultimate result was that Neo-Confucianism became increasingly disliked by the rulers, while the School of Mind rose to the highest echelons of the imperial examinations! — *Cultural History*

(End of this chapter)