Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

The officials immediately cried out, "Your Majesty is wise!"

Zhao Yuan looked at Liu Yannian: "The powerful clans of Jiangxi are hiding their land and evading taxes. They have broken their promises. Shouldn't they be punished?"

Liu Yannian wanted to speak up for the powerful clans of Jiangxi, but his words trailed off: "They should be rectified. But dismantling clans and relocating them is excessive..."

"Okay, you also think it needs to be rectified,"

Zhao Yuan interrupted Liu Yannian.

“Mr. Liu is a great Confucian scholar, he must understand these principles.”

"Alright then, I will appoint Mr. Liu as a messenger."

"Go to Jiangxi to lead the dismantling of clans, and Governor-General Wei Liangchen will assist you in doing so."

Liu Yannian was dumbfounded, then stood there in a daze, unsure whether to accept the order or refuse.

He was supposed to be in charge of dismantling clans in Jiangxi, but Wei Liangchen was also asked to assist him.

In reality, Liu Yannian was made to take the blame, while the actual power remained in Wei Liangchen's hands.

Moreover, the official position he was given was not high; he was merely a minor imperial attendant.

However, this position was special because it represented the emperor when he went out on official business.

The emperor was bestowing official titles upon Liu Yannian at the imperial lecture. If Liu Yannian refused, it would be tantamount to slapping the emperor in the face, and he would never be able to hold an official position again in his life!

Even the Liu family's descendants were affected in their official careers, often being unable to advance normally as they moved from place to place.

Chapter 3602 Plundering the Power

If Liu Yannian accepts this official position, he will not gain any benefits; on the contrary, his reputation will be completely ruined in Jiangxi.

After all, Wei Liangchen was the "Governor-General of Qingtian," and dismantling clans was just a side effect.

Liu Yannian, however, was the "Imperial Envoy for Dismantling Clans," and he had to bear the brunt of the infamy of dismantling and relocating clans.

Zhao Yuan smiled and said, "Is it because your official rank is too low, and you're afraid you can't intimidate the powerful clans of Jiangxi?"

"Then restore your official rank from the former Song Dynasty, but your official title will remain that of a court attendant."

High rank, low job.

Liu Yannian began to weigh the gains and losses; this might be his only chance.

Damn it, let's do it!

For the sake of the Liu family of Qingjiang, and for my own future, I don't care about the fate of those powerful families in Jiangxi!

Liu Yannian did not bow, but knelt down directly: "Your subject obeys the decree."

The officials present looked on with disdain. At this moment, in their eyes, Liu Yannian had become a complete clown.

This guy sold off his entire Jiangxi family business for his own future!

Although Liu Chang was very domineering back then, his character is worthy of respect because he remained consistent throughout his life.

Liu Chang not only attacked Long Changqi, but he also launched indiscriminate attacks on powerful and influential figures.

Because he felt that a certain official had been punished too harshly, Liu Chang repeatedly pleaded for leniency, even at the cost of offending the prime minister and being demoted and exiled.

The prime minister led the officials to offer Emperor Renzong of Song an honorific title, but Liu Chang argued that bestowing such a title during a year of famine would be meaningless. He submitted four memorials in succession to remonstrate with Emperor Renzong, much to Emperor Renzong's annoyance.

Liu Chang had offended the emperor and the prime minister more than once.

Even after being transferred to a local post, Liu Chang still advocated for the people, cracking down on powerful clans, curbing land annexation, redressing wrongful convictions, providing relief to disaster victims, and developing agriculture...

Such a person is consistent inside and out.

Despite his domineering style as an academic clique, he could be considered a true Confucian scholar.

Liu Yannian, as Liu Chang's nephew, is completely disgracing his elder!

Faced with the disdainful looks of the crowd, Liu Yannian felt extremely ashamed.

He looked down at the floor, as if he wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Zhao Yuan continued, "Ding Zhifu and Li Chun."

"Here!" The two stepped forward.

Zhao Yuan said, "You will all return to your hometowns and serve as professors at the prefectural schools."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" The two were overjoyed.

Zhao Yuan elevated Xunzi to the status of a classic text for three reasons.

First, we should promote the people-centered and pragmatic approach.

Second, to find more justification for his uprising against the Song Dynasty.

Third, in order to develop natural sciences and gain more legitimacy from Confucianism.

All three points mentioned above can be found in the Xunzi.

As for Long Changqi's scholarship, Zhao Yuan intended to let it develop naturally.

The Yongjia School of Wenzhou, however, was deliberately supported by the imperial court, as this school advocated applying knowledge to practical use and encouraged industry and commerce.

The West has a social contract theory, and Xunzi also had a contract theory.

He categorized everything that the nation, society, and individuals need to follow—including systems, etiquette, morality, laws, and customs—into "names."

A name is not imposed; it must be established by convention.

To put it simply, all legal and moral systems need to be recognized by the general public.

It's equivalent to entering into a social contract!

When everyone abides by the contract, society can develop in a stable manner.

Once the social contract is established, power should be used to govern the people, while positive energy should be used to guide them.

Command the people with orders, educate them with words, and punish them with criminal law.

If anyone breaks their promise, it must be stopped and corrected; even a monarch cannot break their promise.

Otherwise, this contract will gradually become invalid, and the country and society will fall into chaos.

Trust leads to hegemony!

If a country gains the trust of its people domestically and other countries internationally, it can become wealthy, powerful, and even a hegemon.

This is also adhering to the contract.

A nation that only knows how to gain the trust of other countries but loses the trust of its own people is destined to fail in its pursuit of hegemony.

If a country loses the trust of both its own people and other nations, it will be doomed sooner or later.

The advanced version is: Righteousness establishes kingship!

This advanced version shows that Xunzi and the Legalists are fundamentally different.

He said that the state should formulate rites and laws based on righteousness and justice.

If laws and rituals that violate morality and human nature are established, even if they can make the country rich and powerful in the short term, they will inevitably not last long.

It's essentially a discussion about the legitimacy and adaptability of the social contract.

If the current social contract loses its legitimacy and adaptability,

This would lead to a situation where "if a king rises, there will be those who follow the old name and those who create a new one."

Xunzi's words were very advantageous to Zhao Yuan.

That is, when a previous monarch dies because he broke his promise, a new wise monarch will establish a new country.

This new ruler will inevitably follow some of the old systems, while also establishing a new system to get the country and society running again.

It's equivalent to the new ruler re-signing a contract with the people.

Xunzi also emphasized that one should "follow the laws of the former kings" and "follow the laws of the later kings."

That is, to follow the basic moral code of the ancient sage kings and then learn from the successful experiences of later monarchs.

Don't blindly imitate the ancient times; instead, develop a set of rules that are suitable for the present era as times change!

Moreover, Xunzi also advocated: combining benevolent rule with hegemonic rule, combining righteousness with profit, and combining ritual with law.

Zhao Yuan loved these things.

.......

Chapter 3603 Xunzi's Popularity

Liu Yannian left the palace with his back as straight as possible. While he was filled with despair, he also felt a vague sense of ambition.

He understood perfectly well that if he handled the matter of dismantling the clan well, the emperor might actually promote him.

The next day, Liu Yannian went to a bookstore, intending to buy a copy of "Xunzi" to study carefully.

He had read Xunzi before, but only superficially.

Because his uncle disliked Xunzi very much, Liu Yannian also had a preconceived notion that Xunzi was a person who used legalism to disrupt Confucianism.

"Don't push, don't push, everyone line up!"

Liu Yannian was dumbfounded when he arrived at the bookstore; there were so many readers crowded there.

Are the scholars of Luoyang really that studious?

Liu Yannian walked over out of curiosity and saw that everyone was buying "Xunzi Zhengyi".

The Ministry of Rites printed 3,000 copies, which were distributed to official schools across the country and also sold or given away to booksellers in various regions.

Since these were textbooks for the imperial examinations, booksellers were naturally very enthusiastic.

They didn't even bother with movable type printing, since there weren't many words in the document anyway, and they could just use woodblock printing to print and sell it repeatedly.

For booksellers, woodblock printing is more cost-effective than movable type for any book related to the imperial examinations.

The scholars, having acquired the new books, happily departed together.

Liu Yannian felt it was a bit outrageous; how could so many people like Xunzi?

But then I thought, I'm here to buy Xunzi too.

He turned his head to look at the majestic imperial city in the distance.

Alas, imperial power!

Xunzi has never been popular, and few people have written commentaries on him.

Currently, there is only one book, "Xunzi Commentary," which was reorganized and annotated by Yang Liang of the Tang Dynasty based on Liu Xiang's work.

This book is riddled with errors; not only is the meaning of the articles unclear, but even the annotations of the words are full of problems.

For example, "He was not good at swimming, yet he could cross rivers."

The word “绝” here should be interpreted as “crossing”, as clearly stated in the Shuowen Jiezi (a dictionary of Chinese characters).

However, Yang Jing did not study it carefully and directly annotated it as "passing" in the context of crossing a river.

There are several similar errors in "Exhortation to Learning" alone.

Zhao Yuan ordered the Ministry of Rites to re-annotate the work and title it "Xunzi Zhengyi".

The court scholars annotated it, and Zhao Yuan personally made corrections.

In some places, interpreting the classics with one's own understanding perfectly embodies the meaning of "interpreting the classics through one's own lens."

Holding the newly published "Xunzi Zhengyi" in his hands, Liu Yannian began to read it carefully in the inn.

Liu Yannian quite liked the first chapter, "Exhortation to Learning".

After carefully reading the second chapter, "Cultivating Oneself," Liu Yannian found that every sentence made sense. How come he hadn't noticed it before?

In the third chapter, "Not Compromising," Liu Yannian suddenly sat up straight; he saw something different.

Xunzi said: "A wise ruler governs a state that is orderly, not a state that is chaotic, because a chaotic state has already violated propriety and righteousness."

"So, if the country is in chaos, shouldn't we just leave it be put in a good position?"

The answer was: Do not govern on the basis of chaos, but directly eradicate the source of chaos and restore the country to a state of propriety and order.