RNP Chapter 1130 Rebuilding Imperial College
Chapter 1130 Rebuilding Imperial College
Chapter 1130 Rebuilding Imperial College
A carriage slowly approached the gate of Zhang Mansion.
A sixty-year-old man slowly stepped down from the carriage with the help of two men.
This old man was Su Song, a direct scholar of Longtu Pavilion. He had just returned to Beijing after congratulating the Liao ruler on his birthday and reported to Zhang Yue.
The men on his left and right were his two sons, Su Jia and Su Ju, who were demoted along with the six direct lecturers and Zhang Yue because they opposed Wang Anshi's reforms in the Imperial College.
At that time, Su Song and three other officials were also demoted because they opposed Li Ding's appointment as a censor.
After Wang Anshi was dismissed from his post as prime minister, Su Song achieved considerable political success as the prefect of Hangzhou, and the emperor personally ordered Su Song to return to Beijing.
……
When Su Song arrived at Zhang Yue's house, he saw Zhang Yue meeting a guest. The visitor was the two famous Cheng brothers - Cheng Yi and Cheng Hao.
Su Song and Cheng Hao were familiar with each other. They were both good friends with Wang Anshi at first, but later they opposed Wang Anshi together.
He was not familiar with Cheng Yi, but he knew that he had a stubborn younger brother.
Seeing Su Song coming in, Zhang Yue smiled and nodded to Su Song, then turned his gaze to Cheng Yi, who was questioning Zhang Yue at the moment.
Su Song heard that Cheng Yi and Zhang Yue were classmates at the Imperial College, but later left due to a disagreement with Zhang Yue. Now, Cheng Yi and his brother Cheng Hao are teaching in Luoyang with the support of Wen Yanbo. The two brothers are very famous and have many disciples.
As for the two Cheng brothers, there were two people standing behind them who should be his disciples.
"For many years, I have pondered the Prime Minister's words, 'There is no good or evil in the body, but there are good and evil intentions in the actions', and I think this is a way to please others."
"This statement is derived from the Tao Te Ching's 'Nothingness is the beginning of heaven and earth; Something is the mother of all things', but it pales in comparison. Nothing in heaven and earth is more than 'principle'. When there were no fathers and sons in the world, there was the principle of filial piety. Therefore, the body with good and evil intentions is the correct body."
Zhang Yue just smiled.
He watched Cheng Yi arguing with Zhang Yue with great confidence, but the other party just smiled and said nothing the whole time.
Su Song thought to himself, Zhang Yue is now the prime minister, how can he debate with others as he did in the past? He might not be interested in anyone else except Wang Anshi.
Zhang Yue smiled and said, "Brother, you have been teaching in Luoyang for many years, and you are really good at ethics."
Cheng Yi said unhappily: "Prime Minister, I have lived in Luoyang for many years and have realized the principle of 'one principle and many differences', which can be the foundation of the world. This is the great righteousness of the world."
Su Song was moved when he heard this and asked, "I wonder what 'one principle, many differences' means?"
Cheng Hao said to Cheng Yi, "This is Su Longtu."
Upon hearing this, Cheng Yi stood up in awe and said, "So it's Su Longtu. The deeds of the Third Sheren back then were admired by the whole world."
Su Song smiled and said, "This matter is not worth mentioning. I have heard of Mr. Yichuan for a long time. Today I am finally fortunate enough to ask for your advice."
Cheng Yi said: "I don't deserve it. My knowledge is from Mr. Lianxi. As for the difference between the principle and the difference, it is indeed my own."
Cheng Hao said: "Hey, Huayan Sect has long had this idea."
Cheng Yi said: "Everything in the world has only one principle..."
Cheng Yi explained the reason in detail, and Su Song, who was standing beside him, listened attentively and thought to himself, no wonder Mr. Yichuan had such a great reputation in Luoyang, he really had extraordinary qualities.
Cheng Hao smiled at Zhang Yue and said, "Prime Minister, this is just my humble opinion. Please forgive me for making fun of you."
Zhang Yue knew that "one principle but different manifestations" was the most profound knowledge in Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism.
He said: "Mr. Yichuan's words are true. So I invited Mr. Yichuan to Beijing, intending to invite him to be a lecturer at the Imperial College and teach this subject in the Imperial College."
Zhang Yue said to the man standing behind Cheng Yi, "Is this Yang Zhongli?"
The other party bowed and said, "My junior Yang Shi greets the Prime Minister."
Zhang Yue smiled and said, "I heard that when you first met Mr. Yichuan, he was sitting with his eyes closed. You were standing outside the door waiting for him. When Mr. Yichuan woke up, the snow was already a foot deep."
Yang Shi admitted silently.
This Yang Shi is the founder of Fujian School in later generations, and the most famous story about him is the story of standing in the snow outside Cheng Men.
Zhang Yue said, "I heard that among the disciples of Mr. Cheng, you are the most learned. I would like to invite you to the Imperial College as a teacher."
Everyone knew that after the Yu Fan case at the Imperial College, not only was Vice-Minister Yuan Jiang dismissed, but also lecturers such as Shen Jichang were suspended.
The matter of the imperial examination was originally under the jurisdiction of Yuan Jiang, but now Zhang Yue has taken over the task.
After being dismissed from his post as judge of the Imperial College by Wang Anshi, Zhang Yue once again took charge of the Imperial College.
The Imperial College today is different from the Imperial College of the past. There are 100 students in the upper dormitories, 300 students in the inner dormitories, and 2,000 students in the outer dormitories.
According to the spirit of Wang Anshi's reform, Taixue was the place where the trends of the literati were guided, political opinions were located, and the official ideology was shaped.
As one of the bigwigs of the New Party, Yuan Jiang followed Wang Anshi's new learning closely in the management of the Imperial College.
Most of the school officials in the Imperial College were members of the New Party. After the Yu Fan case, dozens of school officials in the Imperial College were dismissed and many students were punished.
Zhang Yue decided to reshape the atmosphere of the Imperial Academy, so he wrote a letter inviting the two Cheng brothers to come to Bian Jing from Luoyang.
When Cheng Yi heard Zhang Yue asking him to speak frankly, he asked, "Who is the judge?"
Zhang Yue smiled and said, "I was planning to ask Su Longtu to be the judge in front of me, and I happened to run into him today."
When Su Song heard that Zhang Yue wanted to ask him to be the judge of the Imperial College, although he was mentally prepared, he was still a little surprised.
He was also the one who fell down from the Imperial Academy.
Zhang Yue said, "The Imperial College has always been guided by Duke Shu's 'New Learning'. I wonder what Su Longtu thinks of this?"
In front of the two Cheng brothers, Su Song said: "Although I do not agree with the new learning, I do not oppose it either."
Zhang Yue smiled slightly and said, "In that case, Su Longtu can take up the position."
The two Chengs and Su Song had both opposed Wang Anshi. They thought that Zhang Yue summoned them back to the Imperial College in order to overthrow the "New Learning".
Su Song asked, "I don't know why?"
Zhang Yue said: "Su Longtu is well versed in the nine schools of classics and history, the theories of hundreds of schools, as well as algorithms, geography, mountain classics, herbal medicine, exegesis, and musical scales. In my eyes, he is the perfect candidate for the prison."
To be honest, Su Song was not the most suitable candidate in Zhang Yue's mind, but he was a person recognized by both the emperor and himself.
In addition, Su Song, like Shen Kuo, was a rare scholar-official in the Northern Song Dynasty who was proficient in "miscellaneous studies".
Cheng Hao said: "As far as I know, the Prime Minister ordered Su Ziyou to re-annotate the Doctrine of the Mean and Mencius. Will the Imperial Academy use these two books as the classics in the future?"
Zhang Yue shook his head and said, "In recent years, the Imperial Academy has only argued about the meaning of the classics, not the scholarship. This is too far from my original intention. I want to get back to the basics, stop discussing these things, and let scholars return to their duties."
Su Song said: "Prime Minister, in fact, I think that 'The Great Learning has the way to enlighten virtue, and the Doctrine of the Mean has the art of fulfilling one's nature'. Both of these books can be discussed."
Zhang Yue nodded and said to Cheng Hao, "Mr. Mingdao, can you come out of seclusion and be the head of the Taichang Liyuan to help me?"
Cheng Hao hesitated for a moment and then said, "I am honored that the Prime Minister values me. I will do my best."
Everyone in the room could see that, in fact, neither Su Song nor the two Cheng brothers were Zhang Yue’s confidants, but they were both world-famous scholars.
Zhang Yue said: "Since the Confucian scholars of the Han Dynasty, the theories of life and death and metaphysics have all been advocated by Buddhism and Taoism. If this continues, Confucianism will be in danger of extinction. If this continues for a long time, the literati will not know the fundamental principles of national justice and will fall into the empty theories of metaphysics like the literati of the Wei and Jin Dynasties."
"The learning of Mr. Yichuan, Mr. Mingdao, and Mr. Hengqu will have a vital impact on the survival of Confucianism and the world."
Zhang Zai's Qi theory and Cheng Er's Neo-Confucianism were inherited from Zhou Dunyi and Han Yu, and then from the Si Meng School, and then developed by Zhu Xi. Of course, Neo-Confucianism has many problems in the eyes of later generations, but it did meet the needs of the times at that time.
The most important issue of Neo-Confucianism is to solve the problem that the current scholars and officials are trapped in the empty theories of Buddhism and Taoism.
To spread the benevolent government and universal values of Confucianism to the world.
Laozi is an applied philosopher. He is very opposed to the promotion of universal values. In the Tao Te Ching, he believes that if everyone in the world knows that beauty is beauty, then it is evil. If everyone knows that goodness is goodness, then it is not good.
This is a deviation from values.
When the government forcibly promotes this set of values, it will run in the opposite direction.
For example, in the Han Dynasty, "the father of a selected filial and honest person should live separately."
Therefore, Lao Tzu proposed not to promote the values of benevolence, righteousness, and morality in the world. Although it seems to be contrary to Confucianism in every aspect, it does contain profound practical knowledge.
However, despite these drawbacks, Zhang Yue, who became prime minister, realized that it was indeed necessary to promote universal values.
There's nothing we can do about it.
The country is so big, the population under its rule is so large, but the per capita resources are so tight.
If there is no promotion of universal values, once conflicts among various values arise, it will easily lead to division and war.
Therefore, the two great Confucian masters, Cheng Yi and Cheng Hao, absorbed the elements of Buddhist studies on nature and life and founded Neo-Confucianism, thus setting standards for scholars to cultivate themselves, manage their families, govern the country and bring peace to the world, and completed a perfect theoretical system with perfect logic from the inside out and self-consistent.
Yangming’s theory is good, but is the mind the same as the reason?
Can the truth in everyone's heart become the common truth of the world?
Therefore, Zhang Yue invited the two Cheng brothers to come to Beijing to promote Neo-Confucianism.
Although his views conflicted with those of Neo-Confucianism in many aspects, and were even no less than those of Wang Anshi's New Learning, they both advocated the Xi-Meng School after all.
It is the Confucian tradition passed down from Zisi and Mencius.
He had differences with Cheng Yi, but he and Cheng Hao always admired each other.
Zhang Yue said to Er Cheng, "I heard that one day someone invited Mr. Yichuan and Mr. Mingdao to a banquet. There was a singing girl at the table. Mr. Yichuan left in a huff, but Mr. Mingdao had a great time."
Cheng Hao laughed and said, "Yes, the next day my brother came to question me, 'Yesterday there was a prostitute in the room, but I didn't have a prostitute in my mind; today there is no prostitute in the room, but you have a prostitute in your mind'."
Everyone laughed when they heard this.
Unexpectedly, the two Chengs also had differences on the same issue.
Su Song asked Zhang Yue, "Which gentleman does the Prime Minister have his eye on?"
Zhang Yue said: "I prefer Mr. Ming Dao."
Everyone laughed when they heard this.
No wonder that among the two Chengs, Zhang Yue was closer to Cheng Hao, but would quarrel with Cheng Yi as soon as they met.
Therefore, Cheng Hao was promoted to a high position and was promoted to the position of Director of the Taichang Rites Institute.
Zhang Yue said to everyone: "If there is really a great truth in the world, when it comes to practice, we must proceed from the reality! We must not follow the routine, which goes against human nature and embarrasses friends."
Cheng Hao smiled, but Cheng Yi argued, "The righteousness is the original, and not a single mistake can be made."
“Don’t do evil, no matter how small it is…”
Zhang Yue did not argue with Cheng Yi, but smiled and said: "Today, I am in high spirits and have prepared a banquet for you all to drink together."
Everyone responded in unison with great joy.
Ps: I don’t know when the second update will be released. It may be very late, or it may be released tomorrow morning.
Don't wait.