Han officials

Chapter 130 The Sacred and Absurd Han Dynasty
Speaking of which, Bing Yuan came to find Wei Zhe this time because he really had no other choice.

Since Wang Fen's plan to depose and enthrone the emperor had not been exposed, Hua Xin and Tao Qiuhong had no choice but to stay.

Regardless of whether Wang Fen is dead or alive in the end, both of them have to wait until the case is settled before they can feel at ease.

But this gave Bing Yuan a headache.

You should know that Hua Xin was taught by the former Grand Marshal Chen Qiu, who was a standard Confucian scholar of ancient Chinese classics.

At the same time, Hua Xin also attended lectures under Ma Rong and was considered his disciple.

So even though Hua Xin was just over 30 years old, he was a junior fellow of Lu Zhi, Zheng Xuan and others.

Of course, Hua Xin and Bing Yuan were not unhappy about this. A gentleman should be harmonious but different!

But in this way, the balance of power between ancient and modern texts in the county school would be unbalanced.

Even though Bing Yuan was the chief academic officer of the county school, Hua Xin, Tao Qiuhong and Sun Yan were all followers of the ancient literature and classics school.

This does not include Guo Yuan, who occasionally comes to give lectures.

No matter how hard Ren Bingyuan taught, more and more scholars came to study under the influence of ancient Chinese classics.

Under such circumstances, Bing Yuan was under tremendous pressure!

He didn't expect that the ancient classics were so despicable. When he couldn't win the debate, he resorted to underhanded tactics.

So in front of Wei Zhe, Bing Yuan even said sadly: "My lord, the county school is in danger!"

After these words were spoken, Wei Zhe didn't know what to say for a moment.

To be honest, he thinks the current Liaodong County School is pretty good, with a simple academic atmosphere and diligent students.

In fact, he didn't need to cultivate any great scholars. He would be satisfied if he could train a large number of literate grassroots officials.

But Bing Yuan, the chief academic officer of the county school, did his job diligently, so Wei Zhe couldn't just ignore it.

Wei Zhe thought for a moment and said helplessly, "Genju, things have come to this point. There's nothing I can do! How about you invite a few fellow scholars to come and give lectures?"

I have to say that Wei Zhe is quite shrewd in his calculations. He still wants to take advantage of others even at this time.

After all, no matter which great scholar came to Liaodong County School to teach, he would be the one who benefited in the end.

However, as soon as Wei Zhe said this, Bing Yuan sighed repeatedly.

If he could be invited, would he still come to Wei Zhe to cry?
You should know that the official school recognized by the court today is still the Modern Text Confucianism.

Although the influence of ancient Chinese classics has been growing in the world in recent years and more and more scholars have studied it, the government has not recognized its status after all.

The fourteen doctors of the Five Classics in the Imperial College were still all from the school of Modern Text Confucianism, and each taught the classics according to his family's method.

For example, the "Li" is divided into two families: Dai De and Dai Sheng;
The Book of Songs was composed of three schools: Qi, Lu, and Han;
The Book of Documents is composed of three families: Ouyang, Great Xiahou, and Small Xiahou;
The Yijing is divided into four schools: Shi, Meng, Liangqiu, and Jing;
The "Spring and Autumn Annals" was written by Yan Pengzu and Yan Anle, both of which belong to the Gongyang Spring and Autumn Annals.

The key to the rise of the Runan Yuan family lies in Yuan Shao's grandfather, Yuan An. At that time, Yuan An's grandfather, Yuan Liang, was just a small county magistrate, and even his father's generation had no official positions.

However, Yuan An became a doctor of the Five Classics by studying the family heirloom "Meng's Yi", and was qualified to recommend his disciples to become officials. This is how the Yuan family of Runan rose to prominence.

Later, Yuan An himself became Minister of Works and Minister of Civil Affairs, and his sons Yuan Chang and Yuan Jing also served as Minister of Works. His grandson Yuan Tang also served as Minister of Works and Grand Marshal.

In this generation, Yuan Tang's sons Yuan Feng and Yuan Wei were also the Three Dukes.

This is how the sayings "three dukes in four generations" and "the second most popular surname in the world" came about.

It can be said that the prosperity of the Yuan family of Runan started with a "Doctor of Five Classics".

Therefore, only when the great scholars of ancient Chinese classics can be listed among the "Fourteen Doctors" can they be truly recognized.

But then again, the popularity of Modern Text Confucianism in the government meant that Bing Yuan was unavailable. The qualified Modern Text scholars were all very busy, and it would be useless for someone without the necessary skills to come.

For a moment, Bing Yuan didn't know whether he should be happy or sad.

Seeing him so troubled, Wei Zhe stroked his beard and pondered for a moment, then suddenly an idea came to his mind.

"Genju, I have an idea!"

To prevent this incident from affecting Bing Yuan's teaching efficiency, Wei Zhe smiled and said, "Since people can't come, it doesn't matter if the classics come! If the Modern Text Classics in the library are as vast as the sea, how can students not be affected?"

When these words were spoken, Bing was overjoyed at first, but then he immediately frowned.

"The scriptures are now more valuable than pearls and jade. How could the library possibly have such a large collection of books?"

After all, there is a saying nowadays that "a basket full of gold is not as good as teaching a child a classic."

Not to mention the classics of Modern Confucianism, which are even more difficult to deal with.

But Wei Zhe laughed heartily upon hearing this and said confidently: "Don't worry, I have my own way!"

After saying this, Wei Zhe kept the secret for a while. After sending Bing Yuan away, Wei Zhe immediately wrote a letter to Yuan Jun.

If it were when he had just traveled through time, this would probably be harder than climbing to the sky for Wei Zhe.

But as Yuan Jun continued to pass on many secrets of Luoyang back to Liaodong, Wei Zhe had become disenchanted with Confucian classics.

How to say it, although nowadays both high-ranking officials and ordinary people attach great importance to classics.

However, in real life, people's attitude towards classics is very careless.

For example, the Xiping Stone Classics, which caused a sensation in Luoyang and shocked the world a few years ago and even caused traffic jams in Luoyang, had a very ridiculous reason for its birth!

Why do you say that?
Because before the Xiping Stone Classics, the official scripture standard of the Han Dynasty was actually the "Lan Tai Lacquer Book".

The so-called Lanting Lacquer Book was actually created in the fourth year of Yongchu (110 AD) by Ma Rong, Liu Zhen and others when they were proofreading in the Dongguan. At that time, the court had a standard textbook for various scriptures, which was written in lacquer and stored in the Lanting, so it was called the "Lanting Lacquer Book".

In this way, "Lan Tai Lacquer Book" became the basis for judging right and wrong.

At that time, Confucian scholars took the doctoral examination, and those who ranked top could become officials.

However, the scriptures in their hands sometimes contained errors in the text. In order to make it easier to take the exam, some people often bribed the officials in charge of lacquer books in the Lanting Palace to secretly change the text of the lacquer books to match their own copies.

In the end, it was revised so many times that scholars could no longer distinguish the authenticity.

For this reason, Cai Yong petitioned for the correction of the texts of the Six Classics on the grounds that "the classics were written long ago by the saints, the texts contain many errors, and the vulgar scholars have made far-fetched interpretations, which may mislead future generations."

To be honest, Wei Zhe initially thought that Yuan Jun was just hearing it from others.

It was not until later when Yuan Jun saw the specific files in past memorials that Wei Zhe realized that this was a true story.

This made Wei Zhe stunned for a while.

After all...is this too ridiculous?
What’s the difference between this and students cheating in a political exam or asking someone to amend the Constitution?
You should know that the "Lan Tai Lacquer Book" can be hidden in the imperial palace, and the East Palace is guarded by layers of guards.

Wei Zhe really didn't know what to say when he saw that things were being changed so often in such a situation.

It is precisely because of this that Wei Zhe dared to make a promise to Bing Yuan.

He didn't ask for the most profound classics and scriptures he could buy, as long as they were there, he wouldn't mind.

As for whether the eunuchs and clerks in charge of the Eastern Palace were willing to sell, Wei Zhe was not worried at all.

After all, they even dared to secretly change the original meaning of the scriptures, so what else would they not dare to do?
But just as he was about to start writing, Wei Zhe suddenly froze in his tracks...

(End of this chapter)