The Ming Dynasty: My sister, Empress Ma

The room fell silent.

Chen Ying showed no arrogance whatsoever, but simply bowed and said, "Please enlighten me, sir."

Ma Wenyuan remained calm, picked up the teacup on the table, took a small sip, and then slowly spoke.

"The Collected Annotations on the Four Books is the culmination of Zhu Xi's life's work and is naturally a benchmark for classical studies."

"But Zhu Xi himself often revised his own annotations in his later years, which shows that the learning of sages is alive, not dead."

Zhu Xi once said: "When I interpret a book, it is like catching a thief; I must chase him into his den before I can understand it."

He approached the interpretation of scriptures with the mindset of "catching a thief," constantly reminding himself that he might have overlooked something.

"Should we, the later generations, treat every word of Zhu Xi as an ironclad rule? Should we dare to do things that even Zhu Xi himself dared not do?"

Chen Ying's expression changed slightly, but she gritted her teeth and forced herself to answer.

"My lord, I do not regard Zhu Xi as an ironclad rule, but I am saying..."

Ma Wenyuan waved his hand, signaling him not to rush.

"You just questioned Fang..."

For a moment, Ma Wenyuan didn't know how to address him.

Saying "young friend" is a bit inappropriate, since he himself isn't that old.

He could only ask for the name, but he didn't know the person's name.

"I am Xiaoru below." Fortunately, the young man stood up on his own and said.

Ma Wenyuan was slightly startled, but continued speaking.

"You just asked Xiaoru whether Zhu Xi's commentary contained the phrase 'Ming Shan Fu Chu' in addition to the word 'Xiao'. You questioned him about whether he was taking things out of context."

"This question is logically correct."

Chen Ying breathed a sigh of relief and was about to speak when Ma Wenyuan spoke again.

Zhu Xi interpreted "learning" as "effectiveness," and while he supplemented it with "understanding goodness and returning to the original state," ultimately, "effectiveness" is the first step.

Xiaoru questioned, "If one blindly imitates others, where will one's own nature be?" This statement is not wrong.

Mencius said, "It is better to have no books than to believe everything in them," and Lu Xiangshan said, "The Six Classics interpret me, and I interpret the Six Classics." Both of these are reminders to scholars that imitation is only a means, and one's own character is the foundation.

Zhu Xi taught people to emulate those who were enlightened before them so that those who were enlightened later could eventually also "awaken," rather than imitating them forever.

"Fang Xiaoru's statement actually grasped an inherent tension in Zhu Xi's system, but he didn't express it fully, which gave you leverage."

Chen Ying opened her mouth, wanting to refute, but couldn't find the words for a moment.

Ma Wenyuan turned his head and looked at Fang Xiaoru, his gaze softening slightly.

"You are right to say 'to use one's own will to deduce one's intentions.' But his question is also correct."

"Intention" cannot be a selfish desire; it must be guided by the principles of sages and saints.

"When you read Zhu Xi's commentaries, you should first read them thoroughly and completely before you start to question them. It's not that you shouldn't question them, but that you should question them with evidence and reason."

Mencius said, "Those who interpret poetry should not let the words obscure the meaning." The reverse is also true: you cannot lose sight of the main idea of ​​the entire commentary because of a single sentence.

Fang Xiaoru's eyes reddened slightly. He stood up and bowed deeply: "Your teachings are correct. I did indeed overlook something just now. I only read the beginning of Zhu Xi's commentary and thought I had grasped the mistake."

"This is due to the student's lack of academic expertise; the student admits their mistake."

Looking at the young man in front of him who would occasionally become red-eyed, Ma Wenyuan found it hard to associate this man with the later scholar Fang, who would rather die than submit.

Ma Wenyuan smiled and reached out to help him up.

"Admitting mistakes is not shameful; what is shameful is refusing to admit mistakes. It's good that you have a questioning spirit at such a young age, but you still need to calm down and study more thoroughly."

"As for the argument just now..."

He turned to the crowd,

"The disputes among scholars are about reason, not winning or losing. Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the moon is shining brightly. Let's stop our verbal sparring and enjoy the moon together. Xiaoru, come, sit down next to me. I have something I'd like to say to you privately."

Chen Ying sat down awkwardly, picked up her wine glass and took a big gulp, then fell silent.

Fang Xiaoru sat down next to Ma Wenyuan as instructed, a warm feeling welling up in his heart.

Ma Wenyuan was actually just curious about Fang Xiaoru.

He wanted to start a conversation, but he didn't know what to talk about.

His mouth opened and closed, but in the end, all he could say was...

How old are you this year?

"Just fourteen," Fang Xiaoru replied, standing up.

He believed that, regardless of the other party's scarlet robe or his words, he should treat him with courtesy.

"No need for formalities, just chat casually."

Ma Wenyuan raised his hand and pressed down.

Zhu Di also looked Fang Xiaoru up and down from the side.

"That's right, that's right, my uncle is a very nice person, you don't need to be so reserved!"

Fang Xiaoru sat down only after hearing this.

Ma Wenyuan suddenly turned around and looked at Zhu Di.

His gaze shifted back and forth between the two.

It feels a bit strange to have these two sitting at the same table.

One was the executor of the extermination of ten clans, and the other was the victim of the extermination of ten clans.

After chatting for a while, Ma Wenyuan got a general idea of ​​Fang Xiaoru's current situation.

He is from Zhejiang Province, fourteen years old this year, and came to Yingtian Prefecture to accompany his father to perform his duties.

He wanted to become a disciple of a great Confucian scholar and study the classics.

After hearing this, Ma Wenyuan pondered for a moment.

Fang Xiaoru began to have different thoughts, even though he did not recognize the important person in front of him.

But judging from what the other person just said, it's not hard to tell that he is also a very knowledgeable person.

If I could become his disciple, it wouldn't be a bad idea...

Even if he couldn't become the disciple of this person, Fang Xiaoru felt that if he could get in touch with this benefactor, he might be able to become the disciple of a true Confucian scholar.

Unexpectedly, Ma Wenyuan's next words were...

"I've started a school; would you be interested in coming?"

This surprised Fang Xiaoru. Running a school?

He had no interest in going to such a private school; his family wasn't an ordinary one.

Why bother going to a private school?

"It's right at the foot of Jilong Mountain."

These words were spoken.

Fang Xiaoru immediately bowed again and said, "This student pays respects to the Imperial Brother-in-law."

Everyone knows that the school being built at the foot of Jilong Mountain is the one that the emperor's brother-in-law wanted to establish.

The moment the words "the emperor's brother-in-law" were uttered.

The entire teahouse was thrown into turmoil.

The students who had just been whispering immediately stood up and bowed.

"The student pays respects to the Emperor's brother-in-law."

The sounds rose and fell.

Everyone bowed deeply.

At the same time, these people all had expressions of surprise on their faces.

Clearly, they hadn't expected the emperor's brother-in-law to condescend to come here.

"Hello everyone."

Ma Wenyuan smiled and then asked, "Do any of you have any thoughts on my school building?"

No one answered.

Even Fang Xiaoru remained silent.

Clearly, none of these people wanted to go to a private school, not even the private school of the emperor's brother-in-law.

The reason is simple: you can't learn anything at a private school, and it's impossible to get connected with the emperor's brother-in-law.

Going there would only be a waste of time, and would only earn you a bad reputation among scholars for being a sycophant to the powerful.

Ma Wenyuan didn't seem to mind, and simply waved his hand with a smile, "If you're unwilling, then forget it."

Then, Ma Wenyuan got up and led the two children out of the teahouse.

But they hadn't even reached the door yet.

Fang Xiaoru gritted his teeth, bowed, and said, "This student is willing to go."