Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 259: The Controversy between Neo-Confucianism and Psychology
Zhang Cai had already retired, and the new Minister of Personnel Zhang Cong had never expected that the first decree he received would be to send Guo Nan away. He could not help but sigh:
"Guo Nan studied under the great scholar Gu Lin and believed that Neo-Confucianism was the orthodoxy. Now that the court wants to encourage Wang Shouren, the founder of the School of Mind, he will naturally regard it as a major obstacle and refute it."

"Then according to the Grand Chancellor, do you want to protect Guo Nan and ask to see His Majesty to plead for Guo Nan?"

Shao Rui, Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel's Selection Department, asked.

"I believe that governing a country should be based on the study of the mind and the study of sages. Wang Shouren's study of the mind will only confuse people's hearts and is not conducive to governing the world. However, Your Majesty has your reasons for encouraging Wang Shouren. Your Majesty is not promoting the study of the mind and abandoning the study of the mind. You are just encouraging scholars to study hard. It's just 10,000 taels of silver. We can't ask Your Majesty to lock up all the ministers of the study of the mind. Guo Nan wants to stop the study of the mind, like blocking the river. This will only cause the court to be in danger of party disputes. Follow Your Majesty's order and send Guo Nan away!"

Zhang Cong then said, "Since he is a minister of Neo-Confucianism, he should not go to the south. There are many Neo-Confucianists in the south. In order to avoid more intense disputes between Neo-Confucianists and Neo-Confucianists, transfer him to the north."

"Then transfer him to Shandong Provincial Administration Office as a councilor?" Shao Rui asked.

"It seems that you sympathize with him. Well, sending a seventh-rank official from Beijing to a fourth-rank official is not considered a disgrace to him!"

Zhang Cong nodded and said, "Let Wang Shouren's disciple Yin Tianxu take up the post of Academic Affairs Minister!"

After Zhu Houzhao received the reply from the Ministry of Personnel, he just smiled faintly, thinking that Zhang Cong, the official of the Ministry of Personnel, was actually quite sympathetic to Guo Nan. It seemed that Zhang Cong was also a supporter of Neo-Confucianism.

"Okay! I don't have the heart to care about his dispute between Neo-Confucianism and Mind-learning," Zhu Houzhao said and couldn't help but let out a long sigh. He didn't expect that a good thing like setting up awards and giving out silver would be delayed for so long. It had to dismiss a Du Shizhong and reappoint a new one before it could be passed. At this rate, when would the Ming Dynasty be able to fully move towards industrial civilization?

After Yin Tianxu took office as the Minister of Academic Affairs, he quickly passed a resolution to award Wang Shouren the winner of the National Studies Award.

However, after receiving the imperial edict from the Ministry of Personnel to send him away, Guo Nan did not leave the capital immediately. From the moment he learned that the new academic director was Yin Tianxu, he knew that it was a fact that Wang Shouren, the founder of the School of Mind, had won the National Studies Award.

So, Guo Nan came to Dengwen Drum.

Guo Nan struck the drum to report his actions, knelt on the ground, and shouted: "I, Guo Nan, request to see Your Majesty! The Learning of the Heart cannot be used, it cannot be used!"

According to the rules, there was a special official in charge of the Dengwen Drum, and Chen Boliang, the official in charge of the Dengwen Drum, was also a Neo-Confucianist, known as one of the "Ten Talents". When he saw Guo Nan asking for an audience with the emperor because he did not want the court to support the School of Mind, he did not stop him, but directly said to the Jinyiwei who were in charge of the Dengwen Drum: "Everyone, Lord Guo is a loyal and upright minister, please treat him well!"

The Jinyiwei naturally did not ask so many questions. Since Guo Nan dared to beat the drum to report the incident, he would naturally be taken away first.

Zhu Houzhao had not expected Guo Nan to be so persistent. Seeing that it had begun to rain heavily outside, he had no choice but to summon Guo Nan and ask, "What hatred do you have for the School of Mind that would make you so determined to fight against it at the risk of your life?"

"Your Majesty! Xinxue is a study of selfish desires, which may cause chaos in the world! As a minister, you should regard the world as public, but if you use Xinxue, then you will regard the world as your own. I ask Your Majesty not to promote Xinxue, otherwise it will cause chaos in the world! Your Majesty should not only not reward Wang Shouren, but also dismiss him from his post and make him completely destroy his words!"

Guo Nan shouted hurriedly.

Zhu Houzhao admitted that as a science student, he did not understand the philosophy of Xinxue very well, but he knew that Xinxue was promoted in the Jiajing Dynasty, and it also led to the opening of the Longqing Gate. Of course, Zhang Juzheng was against Xinxue, and Zhu Houzhao knew this, but in any case, at least the Donglin Party believed in Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism instead of Xinxue. Therefore, Zhu Houzhao would not believe that Xinxue would lead to chaos in the world. He could guess that Guo Nan was defending Xinxue in order to maintain his own position in Neo-Confucianism.

Zhu Houzhao felt that no matter whether it was the School of Mind or the School of Principle, a radical person like Guo Nan could not be appointed to the central government, otherwise the dispute between the schools would only turn into a dispute between the parties. Therefore, he did not hesitate to rebuke him directly: "You keep saying that the School of Mind will bring chaos to the world. Let me ask you, what evidence do you have to prove that the School of Mind will bring chaos to the world? Li Shishi is a Neo-Confucianist, and Liu Yangzheng is a Neo-Confucianist. Aren't they traitors who are trying to bring chaos to the world!"

Guo Nan was unable to refute for the moment. He could not argue that the two civil servants who followed Prince Ning in rebellion were not ministers of Neo-Confucianism.

"I don't have the heart to discuss psychology and rationalism with you. If you are interested, go to the newspaper to argue with them. But now I ask you, will you obey the imperial edict and go to Shandong to serve as an official or not?" Zhu Houzhao asked.

"I dare not disobey your order. I am only advising Your Majesty not to follow the orthodox doctrine with your heart!" Guo Nan cried.

"Come here, drag him away. There is no need to let him go to Shandong. Send an order to the Ministry of Personnel to demote him to the position of Haicheng Teacher and let him go to Nanyang to spread his Neo-Confucianism!"

Zhu Houzhao then said to Guo Nan: "Since you want me to take Neo-Confucianism as the orthodoxy, then you go to Southeast Asia and make the countries in Southeast Asia take Neo-Confucianism as the orthodoxy! When the people in Southeast Asia all uphold the principles of heaven and eliminate human desires, I will let you return home!"

Zhu Houzhao was really annoyed and directly had Guo Nan dragged out.

Guo Nan had no choice but to accept the arrangement to serve as a teacher in Haicheng, the Ming Dynasty's colony in Malacca.

After receiving Zhu Houzhao's order, Zhang Cong shook his head helplessly: "This Guo Nan is really stubborn and weird. He forced Your Majesty to make a promise. Everyone knows that Your Majesty wants to revise the Spring and Autumn Annals and promote the learning of hundreds of schools of thought, but he insisted on doing so. Now, he can only wander in a foreign land!"

Guo Nan himself was not so depressed. When his good friend Shao Rui said the same thing to him as Zhang Cong did, he just said: "Thunder, lightning, rain and dew are all grace from the emperor. Since your majesty wants me to go to Southeast Asia to spread Neo-Confucianism, then I, Guo, will accept this order and let the people of the world understand that Neo-Confucianism is the foundation for maintaining the stability of the country!"

Guo Nan was demoted to Haicheng, and the resolution that Wang Shouren would be the winner of the first highest award in Chinese studies was officially issued. As expected, the resolution caused an uproar in the court, and even the entire literati community began to discuss it.

The dispute between Neo-Confucianism and the School of Mind had already been fierce among the people. Now the court wanted to reward Wang Shouren, the founder of the School of Mind, and the civil servants who came from the School of Neo-Confucianism naturally could not tolerate it.

The Minister of Rites Ouyang Dan and the Right Vice Minister of War Xia Yan both believed that this move was tantamount to representing the court's support for the spread of the School of Mind.

Therefore, the two of them quickly found the cabinet minister Kang Hai, and Ouyang Dan said first: "Lord, why did you let Wang Shouren get this honor!"

Kang Hai had not expected that his recommendation for Wang Shouren to receive the award would cause such a sensation, so he only asked, "Then according to you, who should be awarded the award?"

"I don't think that the minister is wrong to grant the title to Wang Shouren. It's just that I think the study of the Ming Dynasty should be based on the study of principles and the study of sages. The study of the mind is not enough!" Xia Yan took over the conversation at this time.

(End of this chapter)