The Ming Dynasty's Five Hundred Years

Chapter 15 Distinguishing Good from Evil on the Great Path

“The former magistrate, assistant magistrate, registrar, and clerk of Liuhe County, along with other officials, were sentenced to one year of exile and thirty strokes of the cane for judging cases based on Hu customs.”

“A group of officials in Jurong County were sentenced to one year of exile and thirty strokes of the cane for judging cases based on Hu customs.”

"Formerly Yingtian Prefecture..."

The case of Liu San Niangzi was specially arranged by Li Qi, while some cases are from a long time ago and are not so simple.

Of course, although it's slow, it's still making steady progress.

In the Ministry of Justice, verdicts in cases were constantly being overturned, and all the officials who had tried those cases were imprisoned for being influenced by barbarian customs.

The scholars trained by those clans naturally launched a verbal attack on Li Qi, and with the added fuel of Li Yuanming and others, the momentum was quite great.

The undercurrents in Beijing are growing stronger.

The matter became even more tense after many people learned that the Li family of Liuhe County was the clan of Li Yuanming.

Li Qi finished his roll call at the Ministry of Justice as usual and left the office. As he walked out of the yamen, many people bowed to him and said, "Take care, Master Li."

After spending several months together, Li Qi has successfully won over almost everyone.

Previously, the emperor had already circulated Li Qi's articles throughout the capital. Now that they were spending time together day and night, Li Qi could almost effortlessly quote Confucian classics and always had his own unique insights.

No matter how difficult the question, he could answer it readily, and he had been revered by everyone as a great Confucian scholar and sage.

While there has been an undercurrent of unrest among scholars in the south these days, there have also been quite a few who have spoken up for Li Qi.

Li Qi bid farewell to everyone and was about to board his carriage to leave when he suddenly heard a loud shout, "Li Qi!"

The crowd in front of the hall all looked toward the source of the voice, and saw hundreds of students dressed in the uniforms of the Imperial Academy coming in a row. The one who was calling out to Li Qi was the leader, his face full of righteous indignation.

The person is not good!
Chen Ying immediately stepped forward and shouted angrily, "This is a sacred place for the cabinet; how dare you make such a ruckus!"

"Li Qi, you have betrayed morality and ethics. Do you only know how to hide in the cabinet and dare not face the people of the world?"

"Li Qi, you have disrespected your ancestors and should atone with your death!"

"Li Qi, you defy the laws of Heaven, how dare you stand in the imperial court!"

The students from the north, who were about to leave, suddenly surrounded Li Qi behind them, and the two sides were locked in a standoff.

“You northerners are usually lazy and incompetent, failing the imperial examinations year after year. Instead of studying properly, you fawn over Li Qi, trying to curry favor with him. It’s ridiculous.”

"It is Gao Yang, the most eloquent person in the Imperial Academy, and a top student of Li Yuanming, Minister Li."

A group of people who didn't get along in the Imperial Academy met now, and it was as if they were enemies meeting.

Li Qi was not surprised at all by this sudden turn of events; he was prepared for it.

These students were all mobilized by Li Yuanming, which is truly a characteristic of the Ming Dynasty. Throughout history, strong political figures such as Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong have all experienced this.

The northern students surrounding him felt somewhat guilty.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the North had always been inferior to the South in the imperial examinations, a huge gap that made them unable to hold their heads high in the Imperial Academy.

Seeing that more and more people were gathering around, Li Qi had an idea. He stepped forward from behind and said, "Just now, I heard you all speaking so vehemently against me, as if I were an utterly wicked person. I believe that I follow the righteous path and abide by the teachings of the sages. Why are you all so hostile towards me? Could it be that there is a great villain behind my back who is slandering me?"

The student opposite, named Gao Yang, shouted angrily, "Practicing the righteous path? What righteous path do you practice? Is it the righteous path that rebels against the Heavenly Gang and destroys clans and sects?"

Chen Ying was about to speak again, but upon hearing the words "righteous path," he immediately stopped, realizing that this was a literary trap set by Li Qi.

Sure enough, Li Qi said loudly, "Confucius said to achieve benevolence, Mencius said to uphold righteousness, and the right path is naturally the path of benevolence and righteousness!"
To know benevolence and righteousness, to distinguish right from wrong, and to discern good from evil—this is the right path for the world!

The room fell silent for a moment. Although the teachings of Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi are prevalent today, the Four Books are actually the source of the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, and benevolence and righteousness have always been the core of Confucianism.

"You spout words of benevolence and righteousness, but what you've done hardly deserves that title. The case of Liu San Niangzi..." Li Qi interrupted sharply, "What about the case of Liu San Niangzi?!"
Even Heaven cherishes life, yet the Li clan forces orphans and widows to live under the heavens. Is this benevolence?
Before Li Dezhu's body was even cold, his widow and young son abandoned him and even tried to seize his family property. Is this what clan loyalty is?

The Li clan is shameless and despicable, full of beasts and wolves, yet they dare to call themselves a family of scholars and poets; it is utterly laughable.

"You scholars, to stand here in the capital today, studying at the Imperial Academy, dressed in fine clothes, feasting on delicacies—did you also arrive here treading on the corpses and bones of widows like Liu San Niangzi and orphaned children like Li Hutou?"

His words fell silent, and no argument could be more scathing!
"You! You! You're spouting nonsense!"

Li Qi became even more stern and said, "I am slandering you!"
Those who still possess a shred of kindness will pity the widowed mother and her young child. Even ordinary people in the capital know the difference between good and evil. You, who have read some books, have read so much about human nature that you have become heartless and cruel. How can we trust such morally corrupt individuals to act with the compassion of parents during their term of office?

"The Prince Consort is right!"

"The Prince Consort is truly a just and upright official!"

"To bully orphans and widows is truly despicable!"

Along both sides of the streets and alleys, the sounds of cheering from Beijing residents who had come to join in the fun could be heard everywhere.

"puff!"

Li Qi shouted angrily, and seeing and hearing the pointing and whispering of the surrounding people, the student who was confronting Li Qi was so angry that he vomited blood.

This not only drew louder cheers from the surrounding crowd, but even the northern students around Li Qi cheered.

"Truly worthy of being Master Li!"

“Gao Yang, who used to be so arrogant and eloquent, has now suffered a complete defeat.”

"The difference in the level of reasoning is immediately apparent. This is the same principle that Master Li once said in his four teachings: 'If one has evil in one's heart, one will not understand reason.'"

Chen Ying witnessed the whole scene and knew that the two were not on the same level at all. This prince consort was exceptionally talented and could understand the principles of almost everything in the world. He was a genius of "investigating things to acquire knowledge".

If it weren't for his slightly higher status, he would have wanted to become Li Qi's disciple.

"I wonder what these four sentences mean?"

"In reply to the Vice Minister, this is Li Shizeng's discourse on good and evil, which is also the basis for judging the case."

The group looked at each other, then laughed in unison: "The mind in its original state is neither good nor evil; the movement of the mind can be either good or evil. Knowing good and evil is conscience; doing good and eliminating evil is the investigation of things."

It was as if he was deliberately addressing those unfriendly scholars from the south: "Master Li once said that the key to all matters of the world lies not in following the rules and laws, but in whether one can lead the people of the world to goodness, from a family or clan to a province or a country."

Chen Ying murmured: "The mind in its original state is neither good nor evil; the movement of the mind can be either good or evil. Knowing good and evil is conscience; doing good and eliminating evil is the investigation of things."

"This is refreshing and seems to make perfect sense; it would be a great pity if such wise words could not be known to the world!"

The ordinary people outside couldn't understand, but those inside were all scholars deeply versed in Neo-Confucianism. How could they not sense that their faces had turned deathly pale?

Gao Yang knew that today he had not only failed to embarrass Li Qi, but had instead made him famous, which made him even angrier. He spat out another mouthful of blood, his face pale. "Quickly, let's go. This is not something we can handle. Let's go find the teacher."

The group arrived in a haughty manner but left in a sorry state, becoming a laughing stock for a time.

Chen Ying stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Your Highness is a man of great talent. Your four lines are truly insightful and thought-provoking. I am far inferior to you. Today, you will once again become famous and be ranked among the great scholars of the world. The day will not be far off."

But the prince consort should be careful from now on; the hardships and dangers ahead are unpredictable.

At the end, Chen Ying's expression was somewhat meaningful, and Li Qi narrowed his eyes slightly, "Thank you, Vice Minister Chen. I am just afraid of things not going smoothly."

Your influence among the scholars and common people of the capital has increased again. Your personal reputation +1, current reputation 53.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Li Wenzheng asked, "With thousands of volumes of classics, each with its own distinct path, how can the true path be summed up in a single word?" Li Zi replied, "The world is like the wind and water; I follow the true path, my heart is as clear as a mirror, and the world follows me!" — *Li Zi's Sayings*

(End of this chapter)