Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 18: Prince Taifu Lu Zhi, the dispute between modern and ancient texts!

After seeing Liu Hong off, Liu Bian did not sit down immediately.

Of course, it was impossible for him to sit on Liu Hong's throne.

The Prince Regent has his own position, and there is a seat belonging to him on the east side of the dragon throne.

Liu Bian bowed to the officials and said, "I am young and of limited virtue, and I still need the assistance of the officials. Thank you for your hard work."

Faced with Liu Bian's politeness, although all the officials said "I dare not", they could not hide the smiles on their faces. It was obvious that they were very pleased. There were even several old officials with white hair and beards who burst into tears on the spot.

Alas, people, after enduring Liu Hong's absurdity for so many years, suddenly had a prince who was so polite and close to scholars. They couldn't help but feel that good times had come. Even though Liu Bian's way of coming to power was a little "rebellious", they didn't care.

"I intend to select a tutor for the Crown Prince to answer my questions and solve my problems..."

When Liu Bian just said the first half of the sentence, the eyes of all the officials lit up.

The Prince's Tutor is responsible for teaching and assisting the Prince. Although he has no real power, as long as Liu Bian ascends the throne in the future, he will inevitably be given the title of "Emperor's Teacher" and at least a position as one of the Three Dukes will be unavoidable.

For a moment, everyone who was somewhat famous was hoping to be noticed by Liu Bian, but Yuan Wei felt something was strange.

Logically speaking, the Prince's Tutor should be appointed by the Emperor, or he should seek talents from the officials. How come the initiative is in the hands of the Prince?
Of course, this was also because Yuan Wei knew that it was impossible for him to serve as the Prince's Tutor, so he had such a clear awareness.

After all, the Si Tu has the responsibility of education, and being the Prince's Tutor is somewhat overlapping, and it is not in the interests of the Yuan family.

For the Yuan family, Liu Bian's rise to power was the price of an alliance with He Jin, but it did not mean that they would wholeheartedly support Liu Bian, nor would they really form a close teacher-student relationship with Liu Bian.

"I have heard that Minister Lu once studied under the Earl of Fufeng, and is well versed in ancient and modern learning. He enjoys studying the subject without strictly observing the classics. I wonder if Minister Lu would be willing to take the trouble to study?"

The Marquis of Fufeng refers to the great Confucian scholar Ma Rong, who was posthumously awarded the title of Marquis of Fufeng. Therefore, many people call Ma Rong "Marquis of Fufeng".

As a disciple of Ma Rong and a fellow student of the great Confucian scholar Zheng Xuan, Lu Zhi was qualified for the position of Prince Taifu in terms of both knowledge and reputation.

However, Yuan Wei frowned and looked at Lu Zhi with some disgust.

As scholars, they all opposed eunuchs interfering in politics, but there were also conflicts of interest among scholars.

For example, the dispute between ancient and modern schools!

When the First Emperor burned books, many Confucian classics written in the languages ​​of the Six Kingdoms were burned. Confucian scholars had no choice but to memorize those classics and prepare to pass them down orally. However, they did not expect that the First Emperor would pass away so soon, and Hu Hai, the second-generation ancestor, actually destroyed the seventh kingdom that even Ying Zheng could not destroy!

When Liu Bang unified the country, Confucian scholars recorded the classics on bamboo slips by recitation, bringing Confucianism back to the stage of history.

These classics are called Modern Text Classics, and the knowledge they left behind is also called Modern Text Literature.

But during the reign of Emperor Xiaojing, Liu De, the Prince of Hejian, said that during the period of Emperor Qin Shihuang's book burning, many Confucian scholars in the society risked their lives to bury some ancient scriptures. So he spent a lot of money to collect ancient scriptures from the people. In addition, during the reign of Emperor Xiaowu, Liu Yu, the Prince of Lu Gong, said that he had discovered ancient scriptures from the walls of Confucius' former residence. The kings then presented them to the court one after another and hid them in the secret palace.

These classics are called ancient text classics, and this school of thought is also called ancient text classics studies.

Because these classics were written in the scripts of the other six kingdoms during the Warring States Period, there was a heroic legend that Confucian scholars would rather die than hand over the classics for the sake of cultural heritage.

However, during the years from the Former Han Dynasty to the Later Han Dynasty, since most of the ancient classics were hidden in secret archives, and the Modern Literature School became the official orthodox school, the number of Confucian scholars in the Ancient Literature School was not too large.

It was not until Wang Mang launched the Retro Movement that the Ancient Literature School suddenly flourished and openly questioned the orthodoxy of the Modern Text Classics, believing that the Modern Text Classics were nothing but pseudo-classics of unknown origin and that the Ancient Text Classics were the orthodox Confucianism.

Later, Emperor Guangwu established the "Zuo Zhuan" of the Ancient Literature School as an official school, but the White Tiger Temple Conference during the reign of Emperor Zhang of Han abolished the official status of "Zuo Zhuan". Therefore, the Ancient Literature School, which had lost its official status, simply recruited disciples from the people to consolidate its inheritance, taking the middle and lower-level route, and gradually prospered. In contrast, the Modern Literature School was self-centered and its status began to become shaky.

It was not until the reign of Emperor Huan and Liu Hong that the struggle between the two sides reached its peak.

The vested interests of the Modern Literature School include the Yuan family of Runan, and the "Mengshi Yi" family study of the Yuan family of Runan is one of the classics of the Modern Literature School.

But Lu Zhi learned the "Fei Shi Yi" and "Zuo Zhuan" from Ma Rong, and was a true scholar of ancient literature!
The Crown Prince's Grand Tutor would greatly influence the Crown Prince's political and Confucian leanings. If Lu Zhi were to instigate the Crown Prince to establish the ancient literature school as an official institution...

Thinking of this, Yuan Wei felt he had to step forward and recommend a scholar from the Modern Literature School to serve as the Prince's Grand Tutor, but for a moment, he couldn't think of anyone suitable to teach the Crown Prince. In recent years, although the Modern Literature School was the official school, its talent had gradually dwindled, and the Factional Persecution had also exiled a large number of Modern Literature scholars. Instead, the Classical Literature School, which took a middle- and lower-level approach, gradually gained ground in both the government and the people.

For example, Lu Zhi in front of him, as well as Cai Yong, Fu Qian, Ma Riti, and Zheng Xuan. The latter were all dealt with by him through the Party Ban, but he did not expect that Zheng Xuan, a traitor who betrayed the Modern Literature School, could give him so much trouble at home. His knowledge even developed to the level of founding a school, which was called "Zhengxue"!
He Xiu, the most outstanding scholar of the Modern Literature School, passed away last year. The only suitable candidate at the moment is his relative Yang Ci, who will be the prince's tutor and teach him the "Ouyang Shangshu".

But before Yuan Wei could jump out to object, he saw that this bastard Lu Zhi did not refuse and agreed directly!

He refused three times!
What about etiquette!
The rituals are ruined and the music is ruined!
Lu Zigan, you, a bastard with thick eyebrows and big eyes, are so cunning!

Yuan Wei didn't show it on his face, but he was cursing in his heart.

Liu Bian was also stunned. He obviously didn't expect Lu Zhi to be so excited that he didn't refuse three times. He was a little unable to react for a while.

"Well, since Minister Lu doesn't think I'm stupid, then I will take Minister Lu as my teacher from now on."

"Taifu, please accept my respect!"

Lu Zhi was slightly startled. The title of Crown Prince...

There is only a difference of two words between Taifu and Taizi Taifu, but there is a world of difference between them.

When the prime minister was not appointed for a time, the Taifu was the nominal head of the civil servants!

Since the restoration of Emperor Guangwu, the Later Han Dynasty did not appoint a prime minister. Usually, the Taifu and the Recorder of the Secretariat were in charge of the government, becoming a prime minister in name only.

Although the Taifu’s duties also include teaching the crown prince, the scope of his teaching covers the entire country, naturally including the emperor. He is the real "imperial teacher" and can even be given the title of "national teacher"!
There is also Liu Bian's self-proclaimed name.

"Gua Ren" is usually the self-proclaimed title of the emperor, but according to etiquette, princes can also call themselves "Gua Ren", but in order to avoid suspicion, they usually call themselves "Gua Ren".

Isn’t the prince inferior to the princes?
The prince is naturally more noble than the princes!

If the prince usually referred to himself as "I", perhaps it would not be a big deal and would not cause people to think too much.

But first he misnamed Lu Zhi's new position, then he referred to himself as "the widower"...

Is the prince promising the ancient literature school a future official academic status?
Ma Ritian, who had just been transferred from the position of Shesheng Cavalry Captain to the position of Guanglu Dafu, secretly kicked his good friend Lu Zhi. Lu Zhi naturally understood what he meant.

However, he had already been rude by not declining the offer three times, and it was a bit shameless to acknowledge these two titles.

Ma Riti was almost going crazy with anxiety, and it was self-evident what the prince's goodwill meant.

This is a golden opportunity for the Ancient Literature School to defeat the Modern Literature School and occupy the position of official learning!
He almost wanted to respond on behalf of Lu Zhi.

But Lu Zhi was not a man who cared too much about face. He had a scale in his heart. Sometimes he would do something even if it was not beneficial to the ancient literature school but was beneficial to the country.

This is a true gentleman, a gentleman whose mind and actions are in harmony.

Therefore, even many Confucian scholars of the hostile modern literature school truly admired Lu Zhi. Zheng Xuan was influenced by his good friend Lu Zhi. He went from being curious about how the ancient literature school could educate such a Confucian scholar to gradually becoming Lu Zhi's junior fellow student.

However, a gentleman can be deceived by tricks.

Fu Qian, a doctor from the ancient literature school, suddenly had an idea. Looking at Liu Bian bowing down, he came up with a method that forced Lu Zhi to agree.

"Zi Gan, is it proper etiquette to let the Crown Prince bow like this?"

Lu Zhi looked at Liu Bian who still maintained his posture, opened his mouth to say something, but in the end it turned into a sigh and he returned a salute.

"I will devote all my knowledge to repay the Crown Prince's kindness."

(End of this chapter)