A son who doesn't resemble his father? Love you, old man, see you at Xuanwu Gate!

Chapter 166 Collapse of the Nation
"Beast!"

"You damn beast!"

In Nanyang County, Dong Zhongshu, the foremost Confucian scholar of the Gongyang School, launched into a tirade of profanities.

The news of the great pacification of Nanyue and the southwestern barbarians was delivered by the imperial court by express courier. Liu Ju, Gongsun Hong, Zhang Tang, as well as the officials, marquises, and members of the imperial family from both the central and foreign dynasties, all wanted the Emperor of Han to know this good news as soon as possible.

His Majesty has striven for half a lifetime to achieve martial prowess and virtue, yet the young ruler already possesses them.

Meanwhile, the Hundred Schools of Thought boarded a fast horse and informed Dong Zhongshu of the details of the new system for selecting officials.

When Dong Zhongshu saw the results of a system that incorporated the wisdom of various schools of thought, a system for selecting officials that completely abandoned Confucianism, he became anxious.

How could these beasts do such a thing?
King Wuqiu Shou remained silent from the side.

In recent years, Confucian officials such as those from the Gongyang and Guliang schools have used this kind of power to eliminate and suppress officials from other schools of thought. Now, these same methods are being used against Confucianism by other schools of thought, which is clearly unacceptable to the teacher.

Although Confucianism advocates that officials should speak out for the people, be honest and upright, be loyal to the country, and cultivate themselves and discipline themselves, and not judge their moral character based on the size of their official position, teachers and others have made becoming an official, especially a high-ranking one, their primary goal. The new system of the Hundred Schools of Thought is tantamount to cutting off the future of Confucianism and eliminating the possibility for Confucian scholars to enter officialdom.

Furthermore, considering that the late Prime Minister Gongsun Hong did not grant any hereditary positions to Confucian scholars in the system of hereditary official positions, perhaps this group of Confucian officials was the last group of Confucian officials in the world, or even the last group of Confucian scholars.

At the top of the hundred-foot pole, all is empty.

The teacher devoted his entire life to promoting Confucianism, only to have it all vanish in an instant. No one could bear such a blow.

Seeing Dong Zhongshu's eyes roll back and his body stiffen and lean backward, Wuqiu Shouwang quickly stepped forward to support him, "Teacher, calm down! Calm down!"

Fortunately, he had done a lot of farm work during this period, so Dong Zhongshu was in high spirits. Otherwise, he would have really been furious. It took him a while to calm down, and even the imperial physician who accompanied him came.

Lying on his back under the shade of a tree, large, silent tears rolled down his cheeks, but at that moment, he truly felt a sense of otherworldly existence.

Faced with the continuous purges and suppression of Confucianism, the other schools of thought no longer chose to tolerate it and were willing to destroy the Confucian way of entering officialdom even at the cost of mutual destruction.

Even without academic knowledge, the Mohists still possessed skillful hands and were adept at farming and warfare; the agriculturalists were unparalleled in farming; the novelists could run to teahouses and taverns to tell stories; the medicalists could cure diseases; the military strategists could expand and secure the country; and the Daoists and Legalists, needless to say, were the foundation of the state... thus, all schools of thought survived.

What about Confucianism?
Originally, there was the teaching of "no higher learning" that could fool the world, but the "twelve-character mantra" dealt a blow to the Confucianism lying in its coffin, completely killing it.

Dong Zhongshu, enraged, pointed to the sky and cursed, "You old thief!"

Wuqiu Shouwang knew that his teacher was scolding the old prime minister again.

He rose to the rank of one of the Three Dukes through the Gongyang School, but became the "gravedigger" of Confucianism. The loopholes in the new system of the Hundred Schools of Thought were actually plugged by the "Confucians" themselves, which is nothing short of a joke from the underworld.

He was also a Confucian official and was very clear about the decline of a certain school of thought. It started when the ruling monarch disliked it, and then the court officials would tacitly exclude people of this school of thought in order to curry favor. Later, when selecting new officials to enter the court, people of this school of thought would also be deliberately excluded.

People have always been foolish and profit-driven. When a certain kind of knowledge can no longer bring power, money, wine, and women, that kind of knowledge will no longer be sought after, and its decline will inevitably occur.

When Confucianism lost its scholar-officials and intellectuals, and declined for many years, Confucianism perished. The teacher's imagination that Confucianism would eventually triumph over the emperor may never come true. The knowledge that has been passed down for more than four hundred years will only be occasionally reminisced about by later generations.

King Qiu Shou looked sad.

"Zigan, have we lost?"

"Teacher, we have lost."

"No, we have not lost."

Dong Zhongshu struggled to his feet, "If His Majesty returns to power, if the Emperor dies young, if the Han Dynasty falls..."

Wuqiu Shouwang felt his scalp tingle and growled, "Teacher, watch your words!"

A system has a long inertia; a new system will gradually change people's minds and bodies, but this takes time.

In China, there is a saying that "a new emperor brings a new court" and "when the emperor dies, the government ends." If Your Majesty can gain the upper hand in the struggle between the emperor and his son, return to the loyal Chang'an, and regain control of the imperial power, you will naturally be able to change the new system for selecting officials and allow Confucian scholars to regain their dominant position in officialdom.

But how could they possibly turn defeat into victory?
From Weiyang Palace to Changle Palace, from the inner court to the outer court, from the General's headquarters and the General's headquarters to the Northern and Southern Armies, from the Prime Minister's office and the Imperial Library to the local counties, they are all the Emperor's people. How can Your Majesty turn the tide?

The death of the ruler is the end of his rule. It would be better to be more explicit. The ruler died young. Whether Your Majesty returns power or a new ruler ascends the throne, Confucianism can still use its doctrines of maintaining imperial rule to sway those on the throne. But the ruler's health is not weak.

Although the current political and military power is highly concentrated in the hands of the emperor, the emperor is not someone who does everything personally. He only makes decisions on key matters, and most of the political affairs are entrusted to the Prime Minister's Office, the Imperial Archives, and the Nine Ministers' Offices. What the emperor did was to set up an independent Imperial Censorate to supervise the government. In the two dynasties, the officials of the court regarded political affairs as their political achievements, and the Imperial Censorate regarded the dukes, marquises, and members of the imperial family as their political achievements.

Moreover, the position of Imperial Censor was hereditary, and the "Zhanze" system was implemented. If a person died, his son could inherit his father's position and rank as Imperial Censor, but at a lower level.

This is more secure than the titles of princes and marquises.

Without huge profits, who would give up a golden opportunity to betray themselves?
I've heard that the Lord often practices martial arts, not to fight on the battlefield, but for good health and longevity. I can only hope that the Lord will die young, unless there is an accident or external force.

As for the final "collapse of the state," that was a means of overturning the table, ending the rule of a single clan, and taking advantage of the chaos in the world, the Confucian school rose to prominence, just like the collapse of the Qin Dynasty.

However, while the Qin Dynasty had its First Emperor who levied exorbitant taxes and the nobles of the six states who caused trouble, the Han Dynasty did not... There were indeed signs of national collapse when Your Majesty was in power, but when the new emperor took over, these signs were reversed, and the people gradually settled down and lived in peace.

The gradual cessation of banditry in Nanyang Prefecture was not solely due to the cruel methods employed by the two notorious bandits Bai Zheng and Mei Mian, and the Commandant Wang Wenshu; it was largely thanks to the imperial court's decree to lift the land ban.

Wuqiu Shouwang personally witnessed the bandits bringing their wives and children down the mountain. Under the arrangement of the government, they were registered as households and helped the people reclaim wasteland.

A vibrant and thriving scene.

How could a country like this perish?
A ruler whose civil and military achievements surpass those of his father and grandfather, and who rivals his great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather, has always been an insurmountable obstacle for Confucianism.

"No country lasts forever, and no ruler is immortal. There are three things we must do!"

(End of this chapter)