The Ming Dynasty's Five Hundred Years

Chapter 206 Stripping Away the Daoist Tradition
Zhu Di rose from the throne, and the atmosphere in the hall became even more solemn. He walked down step by step with his hands behind his back. At this moment, the civil and military officials in the Fengtian Hall stood silently with their heads bowed. In the center of the hall, Li Xianmu and a group of ministers who were presenting memorials made way for the emperor.

He didn't speak, but walked past the assembled officials to the threshold of the Fengtian Hall. The eight eunuchs guarding the gate were already kneeling before the door, and the eyes of the assembled officials all followed the emperor.

Zhu Di looked out from the door at the soaring eaves in the distance. The glazed tiles on the eaves were tinged with gold. A gentle breeze caressed his face, playing with the hair at his temples and rustling the hem of his clothes.

In the seventeenth year of the Yongle reign, in the height of summer, even though it was in the north, the winds that swept in should have been hot.

But regardless of whether they were emperors, military generals, civil officials, or eunuchs, they all felt a chilling coldness from the bottom of their hearts. Only Li Xianmu remained calm on the surface, and only the Xinxue Party members did not feel the chill, but were excited and thrilled.

If they weren't at a grand court assembly, they would have applauded and cheered.

Congratulations to Li Xianmu!
What does it mean to silence all sounds with a single word? I had never seen it before, but today I have witnessed it firsthand. It was truly a gentle breeze blowing in all directions.

Li Xianmu leisurely tidied his appearance, glancing at the emperor's back. He, and everyone else, knew that the emperor was hesitating and contemplating something.

What Li Xianmu said about the Duke Yansheng touched the depths of the emperor's soul, making him begin to reflect on whether his current extreme veneration of the Duke Yansheng was right or wrong.

No, to be more precise, the emperor already knew something was wrong, but he was caught in a dilemma.

If the system of the Duke of Yansheng is abolished, the court's national policy of respecting Confucianism and Confucius will inevitably be shaken. There is no need to wait until the dynasty is about to perish to see the shaken; the world will be in turmoil now. Even Li Xianmu himself would oppose it, because Li Xianmu was also a Confucian scholar.

However, Zhu Di was deeply dissatisfied with continuing the old system, since he knew there were serious problems, yet still implemented it, which would only make him a laughing stock.

None of the ministers in the hall dared to speak at this moment, because Li Xianmu's words of veiled criticism had blocked all their escape routes.

They certainly couldn't attack the Duke Yansheng system so openly as Li Xianmu did, or even cause such a major political incident.

However, they also cannot continue to uphold the system of the Duke Yansheng; otherwise, the two sentences Li Xianmu just said—

"In your hearts, the Confucian tradition is more important than my Great Ming Dynasty."

"If the Confucian tradition is placed on the Duke Yansheng, and all the scholars in the world follow him, then if respecting Confucianism is the orthodoxy, just like the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, then when the Duke Yansheng surrenders, all the scholars in the world will surrender as well, wouldn't they then have no psychological pressure?"

These two extremely damaging statements will become their label. No matter what they think, although they do indeed believe that the orthodox tradition is far more important than the Ming Dynasty, such things can be thought but not spoken.
This is a serious issue of political stance!
Only a madman like Li Xianmu would expose such a shameful thing.

Or……

Those people looked at Li Xianmu with complicated expressions. Li Xianmu had been known as a genius since childhood. He was a super genius who became the top scholar at the age of twelve and surpassed scholars from three hundred prefectures. How could he not know what to say and what not to say? He did it on purpose.

It is likely that in Li Xianmu's heart, the Confucian tradition was far inferior to that of the Ming Dynasty, and his loyalty to the Ming Dynasty was truly as clear as heaven and earth and as worthy of witness.

A truly sincere person is invincible!

"Duke Yansheng..."

The emperor, who had been standing with his hands behind his back in front of the palace gate, finally spoke. The palace fell into complete silence instantly, so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Zhu Di's voice was deep and had a hint of rustiness like iron.

"Confucius's merits and virtues surpass those of all ancient times, which is why all dynasties revered him, including the Ming Dynasty." With just this one sentence, Zhu Di eased the heavy atmosphere in the court by three points, setting the tone with his first words.

At least the emperor was not so irrational as to break with the Confucian school because of the matter of the Duke of Yansheng, and everything was still under control.

Li Xianmu also agreed with the tone set by the emperor. If the emperor really wanted to break with the Confucian school, he would have to try to persuade him.

Having made his decision, Zhu Di felt much more relaxed. He turned to look at the assembled officials in the hall, his face solemn. "But what Li Xianmu said just now has alarmed me."

Duke Yansheng, Kong Gongjian, had neither virtue nor merit, but because he was a direct descendant of the sage, he received a thousand-year-old favor. He should have demonstrated the teachings of Confucius, been known for his loyalty and sincerity, practiced the great path of benevolence and righteousness, and not tarnished the sage's reputation.

"Since receiving his title, Kong Gongjian has done nothing good but only acts of tyranny, causing the people of Qufu to dare not speak out but only dare to be angry. He has lost the hope of the people of the world, and instead of repenting, he relies on his status as a descendant of the emperor to act arrogantly and domineeringly. When Qufu fell, he did not think of repaying the emperor's kindness, but instead surrendered to the enemy, which is despised by the world. I deeply hate him."

Every word the emperor uttered reached the ears of the assembled officials in the hall, and it became the final judgment on the matter of the Duke Yansheng.

"Zheng Huan!"

Zhu Di called out the name of the Minister of Rites, and Zheng Huan replied loudly, "Your subject is here."

"Duke Yansheng Kong Gongjian was demoted to a commoner, but his title was passed down according to custom. The Ministry of Rites should issue an article to me about Kong Gongjian so that the world would know about his corruption."

Everyone was shocked. In the past, the court had always covered up the Duke Yansheng's illegal acts. For example, in the case of the mutual accusations among the Confucian disciples, the court protected the Duke Yansheng's status without saying a word and punished the magistrate of Qufu County.

But now the emperor has not only severely punished Kong Gongjian, but also wants to make it public. This will inevitably severely damage the prestige of the Duke Yansheng! This is not only a blow to the face of the Duke Yansheng, but also to the face of scholars. It is conceivable that His Majesty the emperor is truly filled with boundless anger and fear this time.

He began to have doubts!

A faint smile, even a hint of pride, filled Li Xianmu's eyes. He gripped the tablet tightly. So what if it was the Duke Yansheng system, which had been passed down for hundreds of years? I still managed to dig up its foundation. With today's move, the Duke Yansheng system was no longer as stable as Mount Tai, but rather teetering on the brink of collapse.

This is just the beginning.

Li Xianmu recalled what he had seen when he entered the Confucian Temple. The title of Duke Yansheng was not something he was born with; before the Song Dynasty, he did not have the status he has now.

If something can be lifted up step by step, it can also be thrown down step by step.

Moreover, if Confucius could attain the position of the Supreme Sage, why couldn't his father? Li Xianmu felt that his father was far more capable than Confucius.

My Li family is certainly capable of taking its place!
No one knew or dared to imagine Li Xianmu's ambitions. The emperor's negative evaluation of Duke Yansheng Kong Gongjian clearly demonstrated the emperor's attitude at that moment.

Even if the title of Duke Yansheng is retained, it will no longer be as revered as before. The Confucian tradition will be stripped away from the Duke Yansheng, which naturally makes most Confucian scholars extremely unhappy.

Although Zhu Di had the idea of ​​separating himself from the orthodox tradition, he did not know how to do it.

Not to mention him, no one knew what to do. The scholars who had looked grim earlier gradually softened their expressions after thinking about this.

The traditional way of life exists in people's hearts, and it has always been so. It cannot be changed just because you are dissatisfied. The right thing to do is whether it can be accepted by people's hearts. The fact that this traditional way of life can penetrate people's hearts today naturally has its reasons.

Li Xianmu, what do you have to change?
Even if you gain the upper hand for a time, what then? One day, things will be set right. One day, you will die, and the emperor and crown prince who protect you will also die. But the Confucian school will last forever!
Liu Guan, the Left Censor-in-Chief, knew that his future was over and the best outcome would be demotion. His eyes were filled with resentment towards Li Xianmu. He hated Li Xianmu's youth and success, hated Li Xianmu's covetousness for the position of Left Censor-in-Chief, hated Li Xianmu's disregard for him, and hated Li Xianmu for exposing all his shameful deeds in public.

Seeing that Li Xianmu also had things he couldn't do, he felt extremely pleased, even a little smug.

Zhu Di frowned deeply, feeling somewhat unwilling. Was it enough to merely deal with Kong Gongjian and slightly change the position of Duke Yansheng?
He looked around at the assembled officials in the hall, and then thought of the countless Confucian scholars throughout the land.

The title of Duke Yansheng is merely a public figurehead; rather, the two are intertwined and mutually influential.

Just as Li Xianmu just said.

The example set by the Duke of Yansheng was to kneel down and surrender. Under the influence of this trend, apart from a few people like Wen Tianxiang, most Confucian scholars did not think that surrendering was a big deal.

"The first priority for a well-governed empire is to cultivate a positive social atmosphere." Zhu Di pondered. "I believe that your loyalty to our Great Ming Dynasty is beyond question. However, Li Xianmu's words also have some merit. If we allow this poison to spread, it will inevitably bring disaster to the world. I wonder if there is any good plan to eliminate the adverse effects of this matter."

Zhu Di was trying to save face, and he was genuinely seeking advice, even looking directly at Li Xianmu.

He asked solemnly, "Xianmu, you were the one who brought this up. Do you have any good ideas?"

The implication is that if there is no one who can replace the Duke Yansheng, then this matter can only end here.

Destruction without construction is unacceptable; it will plunge the world into chaos.

The courtiers in the hall also understood the meaning behind the emperor's words, and they all turned their gazes to Li Xianmu with a look of inquiry in their eyes.

Now that things have come to this point, who can't see that Li Xianmu had long been dissatisfied with the Duke of Yansheng, rather than this being a spur-of-the-moment decision in Shandong?

However, many people think it's perfectly normal for Li Xianmu to be dissatisfied.

Li Xianmu was quite tolerant most of the time, as can be seen from his handling of the sorcery case in Jiangnan. He could tolerate some minor illegal acts.

But there are two things he absolutely cannot tolerate.

The first matter concerned his father and the entire Confucian school. Back in Jiangnan, what truly angered him was the incident of Jiangnan scholars crying at the temple, which Li Xianmu considered an act of defiling the sacred site.

The second issue is loyalty to the Ming Dynasty. He has stated publicly to officials at all levels on more than one occasion that loyalty to the Ming Dynasty should be the top priority.

The Duke Yansheng violated both of these rules!

It's no wonder Li Xianmu criticized him, as he not only brought shame to Confucianism but was also disloyal to the Ming Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)