The Ming Dynasty's Five Hundred Years

Chapter 222 Criticism
The sounds of these arguments reached Li Xianmu's ears, but were immediately filtered out.

He held the tablet, his eyes slightly narrowed, and thus nothing in the world could enter his ears.

He didn't care about the arguments among his court officials. He wasn't so domineering as to insist that everyone in the Confucian Temple be chosen according to his will.

Many people are in a state where they are neither here nor there. As long as he controls the general principles, the specific candidates will naturally fall within his control. This is the benefit of creating rules.

Those invited to the palace to observe were amazed to discover that officials in the court could argue just like that, revealing each other's shortcomings, and in some ways, they were no different from shrewish women cursing in the streets.

Zhu Di, sitting at the head of the table, was overjoyed. He thought it was good that they argued, because in the end, he would have to make the decision. This made him feel great, just like when the late emperor established the Temple of Emperors of Past Dynasties. He could see which of the ancient virtuous rulers could be enshrined and which could be expelled, all within his grasp.

The list of seventy-two people was finalized relatively quickly. Many of them were selected by Zhu Di from the memorials submitted to the emperor, and even those who objected were quickly rejected by the majority.

After all, many of them are not controversial, such as Xunzi, and Confucius' disciples who were once listed among the Four Sages. Even if they cannot be included in the Ten Philosophers, it is reasonable for them to be included in the Seventy-Two simply because they are the authors of "The Great Learning" and "The Doctrine of the Mean". Another example is Lu Zhi, who was known as one of the Three Heroes of the Late Han Dynasty. He was a great Confucian scholar of his time, who had the merit of suppressing the Yellow Turban Rebellion, resolutely fought against the eunuchs, and later opposed Dong Zhuo.

The most brilliant scene in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, where Yuan Shao points his sword at Dong Zhuo and says "My sword has never been unsharp," is a highlight. Whether Yuan Shao actually did it or not is unknown, but Lu Zhi did indeed oppose Dong Zhuo's decision to install Liu Xie as emperor and depose Liu Bian in court.

From any perspective, Lu's involvement in the seventy-two cases is indisputable.

If Lu Zhi's academic influence had not been limited to his time and not passed down to later generations, and if he had not ultimately accepted Yuan Shao's appointment, and if he had died because of his opposition to Dong Zhuo, he would even have been qualified to be among the Ten Sages and fulfill the three immortalities of a saint.

Amidst these arguments, some remained silent, such as Li Xianmu, Zheng Huan, the Minister of Rites, and the group of renowned scholars and censors who had debated with Li Xianmu in court.

Among the crowd behind the court officials, many people were quietly watching Li Xianmu, waiting for the most intense dispute of the day.

The struggle between the School of Mind and the School of Principle was no longer hidden beneath the surface; even the common people knew that the two sides were at odds, comparable to the debate between ancient and modern Confucian classics in the Han Dynasty. They were bound to fight to the death to determine who was superior. Especially in recent years, thanks to the emperor's patronage and Li Xianmu's advancement in official rank, the School of Mind has developed rapidly, and the School of Principle, sensing the danger, has become increasingly fierce in its resistance.

Now that Li Zhongwen is to be included among the Ten Philosophers of the Confucian Temple, if Zhu Xi of Neo-Confucianism is not selected, wouldn't that mean that Neo-Confucianism is weaker than the School of Mind? It would even mean that they would have to compete for a higher ranking.

Everyone knows that things will not end well today; a fierce battle is inevitable.

As the seventy-two sages gradually came to a conclusion, the atmosphere in front of the Fengtian Hall did not ease at all. More and more people, even the court officials, began to focus their attention on Li Xianmu and others. Li Xianmu, Zheng Huan and others also straightened up, and an indescribable seriousness returned to their bodies.

coming!

It feels like a storm is brewing!
The list of the Ten Sages has never been limited to ten people. For example, there were twelve people in the former Confucian Temple who were listed among the Ten Sages. When Li Xianmu set the criteria for being included in the Ten Sages, it was destined that it would be difficult to fill the list with ten people.

The war began with an imperial censor who, during a discussion of the Seventy-Two Sages, proposed including Zhu Xi among the seventy-two, for the following reason—

"Although Zhu Xi founded Neo-Confucianism and made great contributions to the establishment of his school of thought, he never entered the central government of the Song Dynasty. He lacked too much in terms of practical achievements, and his character was not without fault. According to the standards of the previous sages, it is appropriate for him to be listed as a sage."

This statement immediately stirred up a hornet's nest, and countless people looked at Li Xianmu, with most assuming that it was Li Xianmu who had instigated it.

Li Xianmu's expression remained unchanged, and he showed no intention of explaining. Not to mention the Hanlin scholars, even several people in the cabinet frowned slightly.

This brings us to an old saying: "No party outside the party, imperial mentality; no factions within the party, all sorts of strange things."

This also applies to Li Xianmu. His core group was naturally the Xinxue Party, but the Xinxue Party was not a monolithic entity. It mainly consisted of two major camps. The first was the orthodox Xinxue Party, led by Wang Gen, which was the orthodox master-disciple lineage passed down from Li Qi.

The second group consisted of powerful officials who joined later, such as Zheng Huan and Yang Rong. Among them were the deceased Chen Ying and Xie Jin, who was far away in Jiaozhi.

There are naturally further subdivisions within this. For example, within the orthodox school of mind, there are figures like Yu Qian and Wang Su, who represent the very essence of orthodoxy, as well as a group of scholars and officials developed by Wang Gen in Zhejiang.

Zheng Huan, Yang Rong, and others each had different demands and were not always working together.

For example, Zheng Huan was a member of the Emperor's faction, while Yang Rong was a member of the Crown Prince's faction, and Li Xianmu was a member of both. However, among those who belonged to the Crown Prince's faction, such as Jian Yi, the Minister of Personnel, he was not a member of the Neo-Confucianism faction. These people had complex identities and different interests. Sometimes they were allies, sometimes enemies, and they would switch sides due to different events.

The current power of the Neo-Confucianism faction is not strong enough. If Neo-Confucianism replaces the dominant position of the School of Mind in the future, it will fall apart instantly, and political forces based on regional distinctions will re-form. This is all inevitable.

Balancing these people and political forces is no easy task for Li Xianmu. For example, Jian Yi, the Minister of Personnel who once stood by him when facing the Prince of Han, has suddenly lost his temper. With a cold gaze sweeping over him, Li Xianmu returns a sharp look.

But there was no fighting spirit in his eyes. Jian Yi was slightly taken aback when he saw this, and then slowly put away the coldness in his eyes. He looked thoughtfully at the censor who had spoken, the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief, a fourth-rank official.

“The Heavenly Official,” someone whispered, “Chen Xing, the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief. I’ve never heard of him having any connection with the School of Mind before.”

Upon hearing this, Jian Yi immediately understood something, frowned, and said in a low voice, "It might be a feigned retreat, done on purpose."

He didn't say what he was going to say next, but he was quite bold.

If this statement were made, people would certainly think that it was at Li Xianmu's behest, and it could be said that he was trying to pin the blame on Li Xianmu.

Most people wouldn't dare to do that.

After all, Li Xianmu is the Right Censor-in-Chief. With the position of Left Censor-in-Chief vacant, he is the head of the Censorate. And now, your subordinate is taking advantage of this to attack him.

Li Xianmu showed no particular expression on his face, but glanced at Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Revenue, out of the corner of his eye, wondering to himself if it was Xia Yuanji who had instigated this.
After all, apart from him, probably only Xia Yuanji knows that Li Xianmu will not be appointed as the Left Censor-in-Chief, but will be promoted to Minister of Revenue.

But Li Xianmu quickly shook his head. Xia Yuanji was a man who did not follow the party, a capable and efficient official who governed the country. This could not have been done by Xia Yuanji.

His gaze fell on the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief, and he happened to see Chen Xing looking over as well, his eyes filled with flattery. He was taken aback for a moment, and then frowned slightly.

He had a bad feeling that Chen Xing didn't think this was a pledge of loyalty, a way to curry favor with the future Left Censor-in-Chief.

Li Xianmu now understood what it meant for a villain's elaborate schemes to be no match for a fool's quick wit.

However, Li Xianmu had intended to stop him anyway, since by the previous standards, Zhu Xi was indeed somewhat unqualified. Although Chen Xing, the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief, deliberately belittled Zhu Xi in order to curry favor with the Neo-Confucianists, what he said was still fair. At least it was true that Zhu Xi had never entered the central government in his entire life.

He never had a profound impact on the Song Dynasty. The rise and fall of the Song Dynasty had nothing to do with him. He had no specific achievements to speak of, except for his outstanding contributions to Confucianism.

Before Li Xianmu could think about it any further, someone stepped forward to refute Chen Xing's words. The person who jumped out was one of the scholars of the Hanlin Academy. He said something that was a fatal blow: "Imperial Censor Chen, have you forgotten everything you learned, read, and remembered when you were a student, when you entered school, and when you took the imperial examinations?"

The commentaries on the Four Books are like heavenly principles; Neo-Confucianism and Taoism have illuminated the path for scholars throughout the world. Now, Zhu Xi's teachings are required for the imperial examinations, and you dare to say that Zhu Xi cannot be included among the Ten Sages? How absurd! If I were you, I would immediately commit suicide here to atone for my sins!

"But that's all in the past." Chen Xing retorted, not to be outdone. Now that he had started, he couldn't stop. He countered, "Li Zhongwen founded the School of Mind. Compared to it, Neo-Confucianism is like a firefly compared to the moon, or a grain of rice shining brightly. If Zhu Xi is still listed among the Ten Philosophers, then Li Zhongwen should be included among the Four Sages, and be worshipped alongside Confucius along with Mencius!"

The atmosphere in front of the Fengtian Hall froze for a moment, then became as heated as fire. Behind the court officials, countless people craned their necks to look in this direction. The debate between the two schools of psychology that they had been looking forward to had finally begun again.

"The School of Neo-Confucianism is no weaker than the School of Mind!"

"The philosophy of mind is nothing but a false statement borrowed from Zen Buddhism. The so-called method of directly leading to sainthood is all deception."

"To abandon the study of principles in favor of the study of mind is truly absurd."

"While Li Zhongwen certainly had achievements and his virtues were evident in his actions, he was far inferior to Zhu Xi in terms of Confucian scholarship."

One by one, Hanlin scholars stepped forward and began to criticize the School of Mind, essentially aiming to critique Li Qi's status and place him after Zhu Xi.

Because they all knew that Li Qi was certain to be among the Ten Sages, and the best way for Zhu Xi to have no controversy was to surpass Li Qi.

This method of one person supporting another has existed since ancient times, and the most famous examples are Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, and Xiang Yu, the hegemon of Western Chu.

The stronger Xiang Yu was, the stronger Liu Bang appeared to be.

The same is true today!
(End of this chapter)