Han officials

Chapter 149 Everything Has a Reason [4K]

The impact of Zheng Xuan's entry into Liaodong was even more exaggerated than Wei Zhe had imagined.

After Lu Zhi oversaw the construction of the Liaoshan fortress, he also took the opportunity to visit the Liaodong County Academy while taking over the Yuyang Salt and Iron Industry. Although they were fellow students, they had not seen each other for decades. Now, meeting again in Liaodong, both the gray-haired Lu Zhi and Zheng Xuan were filled with emotion.

However, the two old men didn't know what was going on. They started arguing after just a few words of reminiscing about the past.

Although both of them belong to the school of ancient Chinese classics, their philosophies are still quite different.

But both Zheng Xuan and Lu Zhi are recognized as the masters of Confucianism in China.

Zheng Xuan may have a better academic reputation, but Lu Zhi was personally practicing the classics.

As a result, when the news of the two people's debate spread, it immediately caused a sensation.

……

Xiangping County, Lishiwu.

"What did you say?" The former Henei prefect Li Min looked surprised.

Li Xin thought his father was hard of hearing, so he approached and said loudly, "Father, Lord Lu and Lord Zheng are debating in the county school. If you don't go now, there will be no place!"

This loud roar made Li Min's ears buzz.

"Rebellious son, why are you shouting so loudly? I can hear you!"

After saying that, Li Min couldn't help but rub his ears, his face speechless.

But despite complaining, Li Min still took Sha Daer to the county school without saying a word.

At the same time, outside Xiangping City,
An elegant young man was stunned when he saw the crowd suddenly becoming restless at the city gate.

This person was Liu He, the son of Liu Yu, the governor of Youzhou.

After hearing that Zheng Xuan was teaching at Liaodong County School, Liu Yu immediately sent him over to study.

Liu Yu was worried about the turmoil in Qingzhou in the past, but now that he is in Liaodong, what does he have to worry about!
Right now, Liaodong is probably the safest place in the entire Youzhou.

Although Liu He was only of average appearance, he was a filial son and came without saying a word.

But looking at the scene in front of him, Liu He suddenly began to doubt his father's judgment.

This Liaodong... I'm afraid it's not as safe as my father thinks?
However, just as Liu He had this thought, he heard a group of merchants stopping and talking not far away.

"Duke Zheng and Duke Lu are debating on scriptures? Are you serious?" An old man in gorgeous clothes looked surprised.

"It's absolutely true. My son saw it with his own eyes." Another middle-aged man in brocade clothes said confidently.

Upon hearing this, the old man immediately ordered decisively: "Quick, get someone to prepare paper and pen. How can we miss this grand event!"

I have to say, old people are more experienced. This old man's brain works faster than that of young people.

After hearing what he said, the middle-aged man in brocade clothes immediately realized the business opportunity.

So the two of them stopped talking nonsense and immediately left with their servants.

Seeing this, Liu He on horseback shook his head with emotion.

"Sure enough! Father is still foresighted!"

After saying that, the senior "daddy's boy" Liu He hurriedly took his entourage and rushed towards the county school.

Compared with others, Wei Zhe, the governor of Liaodong, has the advantage of being close to the water and getting the moon first.

In fact, when Lu Zhi and Zheng Xuan were reminiscing about the past, he was discussing county school affairs with Bing Yuan in the backyard.

I was a little surprised when I learned that the two old men suddenly started arguing while chatting.

So when others were still rushing to join in the fun, Wei Zhe was already on the front line enjoying the show.

……

The reason why Lu Zhi and Zheng Xuan evolved from recounting the past to debating classics actually originated from Wei Zhe.

Because Wei Zhezhi edited the "Book of Rites", Zheng Xuan and Lu Zhi both donated their own set of annotations to the county school.

Although the Modern Text Confucianism does not recognize the existence of the "Three Rituals", most scholars in the world have already accepted it.

However, even within the school of ancient classics, there are different understandings of the "Book of Rites".

For example, there are many differences between Zheng Xuan's "Commentary on the Three Rituals" and Lu Zhi's "Explanation of the Three Rituals".

Zheng Xuan and Lu Zhi had a quarrel when they were discussing the sentence "I am already an orphan and have become powerful, so I will not give a posthumous title for my father."

This sentence comes from "Book of Rites - Qulixia", the original text is:
A gentleman does not change his name even when he is orphaned.

He was already an orphan and had become powerful, so he did not give his father a posthumous title.

In mourning, but not yet buried, read the funeral rites;
After the burial, the sacrificial rites are read;

After the funeral, the patient returns to normal and reads music.

Do not talk about music during mourning, do not mention ominous things during sacrifices, and do not mention women in public courts.

The general meaning is: after the death of his father, he became an orphan, and suddenly became rich and noble, but he did not choose a posthumous title for his deceased father, because doing so would seem to despise his father's poverty and make him unworthy of being the father of a noble man.

When mourning for one's parents, one should study funeral rites before burial; after burial, one should study sacrificial rites. Once the mourning period is over and normal life has returned, one can recite poetry. Do not discuss happy events during mourning, nor sad events during sacrificial rites. Do not discuss matters related to women in the office.

Originally, there was nothing wrong with the ancient classics' understanding of this passage in Quli.

But who can blame the frequent occurrence of small clans taking control of large clans in this dynasty?

As a result, the contradictory situation of the son being the emperor and the father being the minister occurred more than once.

If the ancient classics wanted to replace the modern classics as the official learning, they naturally had to provide explanations for all social phenomena.

Therefore, the behavioral logic given by Zheng Xuan for this special situation is:

A son serves his father without distinction.

It has to be said that Zheng Xuan is worthy of being recognized as the master of the world.

It can even be said that some of the deep-rooted ideas of the Han people in later generations were shaped by him.

What is immortality? Zheng Xuan actually achieved half of it.

However, a politician may be a thinker, but a thinker may not necessarily be a politician.

Compared with Lu Zhi, who had been up and down in the officialdom for decades, Zheng Xuan was still a bit idealistic.

For example, when the two were talking about some old things from their early years, Zheng Xuan's words made Lu Zhi unable to sit still.

Why? Because he thought that Empress Dowager Dou was rude and had brought disaster to the Han Dynasty for many years.

You have to know that Zheng Xuan and Lu Zhi were both over 60 years old. If you count the emperor who was deposed by the domineering general Liang Ji, they can even be said to have experienced six emperors.

Many young scholars were actually witnesses to the dramatic changes of previous dynasties that they read about in ancient books.

At that time, young scholars only read from historical records that after the death of Emperor Huan, Empress Dowager Dou appointed the wise minister Chen Fan to assist in the administration, executed the eunuchs Guan Ba and Su Kang who instigated the Party Persecution, appointed Li Ying, Du Mi and other party members who were persecuted, supported the Han Dynasty, and made "the world clear and bright, and the people and ghosts happy", so they thought she was a wise empress dowager.

But Zheng Xuan was already forty years old when Empress Dowager Dou was selected into the palace, and he knew very well that it was not that simple.

The reason why Empress Dowager Dou appointed Chen Fan to assist in the administration was that it was entirely at the suggestion of Grand Marshal Chen Fan that she was made the third empress by Emperor Huan, but she was rarely favored.

In other words, Empress Dowager Dou and Grand Marshal Chen Fan were political allies from the very beginning.

If not for this, Dou Miao, who had only been in the palace for two years, would not have been made empress dowager.

Moreover, Empress Dowager Dou was not a virtuous woman. Instead, she was jealous and cruel by nature. After Emperor Huan died, she killed his favorite concubine Tian Sheng and wanted to kill all the nobles who had been canonized by Emperor Huan. In the end, she gave up after the strong persuasion of the eunuchs Guan Ba and Su Kang.

This was also the reason why she later executed eunuchs Guan Ba, Su Kang and others.

Later, Empress Dowager Dou and her father, General Dou Wu, supported the young Liu Hong to the throne, and this is how the late emperor came into being.

In Zheng Xuan's opinion, if it were not for Dou's selfish motives, the Han Dynasty would never have been in such frequent turmoil.

Of course, Empress Dowager Dou's final fate was not good either.

Chen Fan launched a coup to kill the eunuchs, and committed suicide after his defeat. Dou Miao was also threatened by the eunuchs and the imperial seal was taken back, allowing Liu Hong to rule the country at the age of 13. Dou Miao was moved to Nangong Yuntai and imprisoned until his death.

Now that the incident had been going on for nearly thirty years, many things were no longer so taboo. So, in front of Lu Zhi, Zheng Xuan criticized him without hesitation: "I heard that when Empress Dowager Dou was regent, Dou Wu was the Minister of State. The daughter was the emperor, and the father was a minister. Even in the harem, fathers often bowed to their daughters. With such a reversal of social order, how could the rebellion not fail?"

It is said that the Han Dynasty was different from later dynasties. Starting from Empress Lü, it was actually a dual monarchy.

The emperor is the ruler, and the empress and the queen mother are also rulers in legal terms.

But even if the queen mother is the emperor, in Zheng Xuan's view, she cannot override the moral principles between father and son.

He believed that patriarchal authority should be equal to royal authority, if not more important.

In Zheng Xuan's view, the love between father and son and the righteousness between ruler and subject are equally important.

Even if Empress Dowager Dou were the emperor, she would still be like this.

It is okay for a father to bow to his daughter during a grand court meeting, but in private, the daughter should bow to her father.

However, when Zheng Xuan said this, Lu Zhi immediately became unhappy.

Even though they were brothers from the same school, he couldn't help but retort.

In the pavilion, Lu Zhi frowned and said seriously:

"The relationship between father and son is natural!"

"The relationship between ruler and subject is the highest honor among human nobles."

"The system of the ancient kings did not allow the nobility of human rank to be added to the dignity of the celestial family."

"The Classics say, 'Even the Son of Heaven must have a respecter.' This refers to having a father. Thus, although Yu Shun and the first emperor of Han were emperors and their fathers were ordinary men, the respect they showed to their fathers was no different from that of farmers. This is the example left by the ancient sages."

At this point, Lu Zhi said sharply:

"You said in the Commentary on the Three Rituals, 'A son serves his father, regardless of high or low.' And you also said, 'If a son does not confer a title on his father, it would be because he despises him.' Even if you dare not confer a title on him, let alone make him face south and receive the homage?"

Lu Zhi’s logic was very simple. In his opinion, even the emperor needed to respect his father, let alone the queen?

Emperor Gaozu of Han was already the emperor at that time, but he still knelt and kowtowed when meeting his father. Was Empress Dowager Dou more noble than Emperor Gaozu of Han?
So in Lu Zhi's view, Zheng Xuan's compromise was also a kind of rudeness.

A father is a father, and a son is a son. A father should not bow to his son in any public or private occasion!
The most interesting thing is that Lu Zhi used Zheng Xuan’s own "Commentary on the Three Rituals" to refute him.

Therefore, when Lu Zhi finished speaking, Zheng Xuan was speechless.

After a moment, Zheng Xuan finally smiled helplessly and said, "Come into my room and wield my spear to attack me?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Zhi immediately replied, "Give them a taste of their own medicine!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the two people who had been on edge just now looked at each other and burst into laughter at the same time.

Seeing this, Wei Zhe, who was listening happily in the corner, was suddenly confused.

Seeing this, Xi Zhicai immediately smiled and explained in a low voice, "Back then, the great scholar He Xiu wrote three great essays, 'Gongyang Mo Shou,' 'Zuo Shi Gao Huang,' and 'Gu Liang Fei Ji.' Lord Kang Cheng did not approve of them, so he wrote three essays, 'Fa Mo Shou,' 'Zhen Gao Huang,' and 'Qi Fei Ji,' criticizing them. He used He Xiu's own arguments to refute his conclusions!"

"So when He Xiu finished reading it, he sighed: 'Will Kang Cheng enter my room and take up my sword to attack me?'"

Hearing this, Wei Zhe burst out laughing.

It’s true, no wonder Zheng Xuan was so emotional, no wonder Lu Zhi answered like that!

If no one had pointed out these literary allusions, Wei Zhe really wouldn't have known what they were up to.

While Wei Zhe was chatting with Xi Zhicai in the courtyard, there was already an uproar outside the yard.

The students outside don’t have the advantage that Wei Zhe has, and they can just stay in the yard and eat melons.

They didn't dare to come in and could only lie on the wall cautiously, listening attentively to the debate between the two. From time to time, someone would record the words of the two and circulate them later.

Therefore, although Lu Zhi and Zheng Xuan spoke very quickly, the scholars outside had just finished reading the beginning.

However, the scholars outside were not surprised at all about the topic the two were talking about.

Not to mention Empress Dowager Dou, if the emperor did something wrong, he would often be ridiculed and criticized as rude by scholars.

The scale of Zheng Xuan and Lu Zhi today is really nothing.

However, the topic between the two attracted discussion from students and scholars outside.

You should know that in this dynasty, "imperial power" and "paternal power" have always been topics of debate among scholars.

The debate between the ruler and the father, like the debate between the Chinese and the barbarians, and the debate between righteousness and profit, has been discussed countless times.

Moreover, there has never been a consensus within the ancient classics on which is more important, "imperial power" or "paternal power".

The dispute has continued from the Wang Mang period to the present day, and has become increasingly intense.

A typical example is Xu Shen's "Five Classics Different Meanings" and "Baihutong" on the legitimacy of Wu Zixu's revenge. Xu Shen believed that Wu Zixu should not be avenged, while "Baihutong" believed that it was natural for a son to avenge his father.

It can be seen that at the purely philosophical level, whether to be a king or a father has always been a controversial point.

Now that Lu Zhi and Zheng Xuan had brought up the topic again, the people outside naturally couldn't help but express their opinions, and even peddlers and hawkers could say a few words about their views.

Especially now that Zheng Xuan seems to be at a disadvantage, it will further encourage those who believe that "loyalty between the ruler and the minister" is more important.

After all, every era has its own topics, just like during the Republic of China period, people from top to bottom liked to discuss various "isms". For the Han people today, the debate between the emperor and the father is also very important.

However, after Wei Zhe returned to the prefectural government, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that this debate was not simple.

You should know that the Eastern Han Dynasty was founded on "benevolence and filial piety".

Any hesitation on this issue undoubtedly shook the foundation of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

The so-called dispute over "benevolence and filial piety first" is actually a dispute between imperial power and patriarchal power.

To put it more bluntly, it is a game between imperial power and ministerial power.

Later, when Cao Pi was still the crown prince of Wei, he asked the hundreds of people present at a banquet: "If your ruler and father both have serious illnesses, and there is a pill that can save one person, should you save your ruler or your father?"

It is said that there were many different opinions at that time, some said it was the father, some said it was the king.

This is actually a test from the ruler to his subjects, to test their hearts.

However, during the Cao Wei period, the imperial power and the patriarchal power were still somewhat ambiguous.

But by the time of the Jin Dynasty, the only way left to rule the world was to use "filial piety"!
It’s not that the Sima family is embarrassed to talk about loyalty to the emperor, but that their royal power was originally obtained through compromise.

In this way, there would naturally be no dispute over "benevolence and filial piety first" among the gentry of the world.

The grace between father and son is more important than the righteousness between ruler and subject. This is the political correctness of the scholars in the Jin Dynasty!

The Jin Dynasty "established the country on filial piety", which actually meant that "father" was more important than "king".

Thinking of this, Wei Zhe's mind finally became clear.

Although he always despised Sima Jin in his heart, it was difficult for him to make a comprehensive summary of the reasons for their failure.

This made Wei Zhe, who wanted to avoid repeating the same mistake, feel very nervous.

But now he finally figured out the key point:
That is, during the Jin Dynasty, the imperial power of the Sima family was incomplete.

Rather than saying "the king and the horse share the world", it is better to say that the emperor and the aristocratic families share the world.

When Sima Zhao chose this path, the fate of the Jin Dynasty was doomed!

After all, the Sima family's imperial power had an unstable foundation, and was even tied to the aristocratic families from the very beginning.

Under such circumstances, no matter what reforms the Jin Dynasty’s rulers made, they would be fruitless!
Compromising with the aristocratic families is Sima Jin’s biggest problem!
From this perspective, there is actually no difference between Zhao Song and Sima Jin.

First of all, the means by which the Zhao and Sima families came to power were similar - usurping the throne.

Secondly, the middle periods of the two dynasties were similar.

The Sima Jin Dynasty had the Eastern and Western Jin Dynasties, and the Zhao Song Dynasty had the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties.

Even the endings of the two dynasties were very similar:
Sima Jin triggered the Five Barbarians' Invasion of China, while Zhao Song caused the sinking of China!

This is the end of the emperor and the scholar-officials sharing the world!
The fall of the previous car is a lesson for the following car!
Thinking of this, Wei Zhe's eyes were complicated.

"Establishing a republic at the end of the Han Dynasty? Which genius came up with this idea?"

(End of this chapter)