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

Liu Yannian recalled that the chaos at the end of the Former Song Dynasty was indeed difficult to govern.

From Fan Zhongyan to Wang Anshi and then to Cai Jing, all of them governed chaos on the basis of chaos.

They were unable to eradicate the source of chaos, and were therefore destined to fail, while the Ming emperor overthrew everything and started afresh.

As he read, Liu Yannian frowned again.

Confucian scholars all say "follow the example of the former kings," but Xunzi said "follow the example of the later kings," which Liu Yannian believed was putting the cart before the horse.

The interpretation of "Following the King" as referring to King Wen and King Wu of Zhou is a far-fetched idea that emerged in the Qing Dynasty. Zhang Taiyan even believed that "King" referred to Confucius.

From Sima Qian until the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, "following the example of later kings" was understood as learning from modern monarchs.

What is there to learn from modern monarchs?

After looking at the annotations more closely, Liu Yannian began to nod in approval again.

Because he discovered that the annotations here, like those in the previous two paragraphs, were all handwritten by Zhao Yuan himself, and were directly marked with the prefix "The Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty said"!

Zhao Yuan's special annotation emphasizes that the original text of Xunzi is "examine" the way of later kings, not "follow" the way of later kings as Sima Qian said.

This passage can be understood as examining and exploring the gains and losses of monarchs throughout history, especially those of recent times, and then comparing them with the practices of ancient kings.

We should summarize and categorize what is right and wrong, promote the correct practices, and discard the wrong practices.

"Wonderful!"

Liu Yannian couldn't help but clap his hands in admiration: "Your Majesty is indeed a great Confucian scholar of our time. This interpretation is in line with the meaning of Mencius."

"It turns out that although Mencius and Xunzi expressed different ideas, they achieved the same goal through different means."

As darkness fell, Liu Yannian lit a lamp and continued his studies.

At first, he couldn't stand the idea that human nature is inherently evil and that rituals are hypocritical, but he found that apart from that, all the other principles in Xunzi made sense.

Moreover, it was very well said!

Damn it, how come I never noticed this before?

Is human nature truly inherently evil, and are rituals truly created by sages rather than innate?

A few days later, Liu Yannian, as the emperor's attendant, or rather, an imperial envoy, led several officials to Jiangxi to exterminate the clan.

Wei Liangchen has only been measuring the land for the past few months. Only after the land survey is completely completed will the clans be gradually relocated.

The migration date has to wait until after the autumn harvest, otherwise there will be disputes over the ownership of the grain in the fields.

Chapter 3604 Mindset Changes Quickly

Throughout the journey, Liu Yannian stayed in the cabin reading "Xunzi Zhengyi".

When your mindset changes, your thought patterns will also change.

He was about to go to Jiangxi to serve as a harsh official, so his academic thoughts had to be in line with this identity.

When the official ship arrived at the Yangtze River, Liu Yannian had already completed his ideological transformation and felt that everything Xunzi said made perfect sense.

Human nature is inherently evil, and etiquette is something that is created later to restrain human nature.

Otherwise, why would Confucius have said, "Restrain them with propriety"?

If human nature is inherently good and propriety originates from Heaven, then a gentleman can simply pursue his natural inclinations; Confucius would not have needed to use the word "compromise."

A binding agreement!

The main classic text studied by the Liu family of Qingjiang was the Spring and Autumn Annals, which did not conflict with the Xunzi.

Liu Yannian plans to become a great Confucian scholar who studies Xunzi.

This is a new track in Confucianism, which the emperor seems to like very much, and Liu Yannian believes that he can stand out.

Because most of the Confucian scholars of his rank were very dismissive of Xunzi.

As long as he comes out of seclusion to study and promote Xunzi, there will be no one of his caliber to compete with him.

If you do a good job of researching, you can win the emperor's favor!

Upon arriving in Nanchang, Liu Yannian hosted a banquet for several old friends. As soon as the wine was poured, he exclaimed, "I misunderstood Xunzi in the past. Xunzi was a true sage."

"His Majesty personally annotated Xunzi, and after studying it for many days, I have finally grasped its essence. It contains the profound principles of heaven and earth and the way to govern a country!"

The old friends were stunned when they heard this, all with expressions of disbelief.

A friend said, "I heard that you were ordered by His Majesty to return to Jiangxi to oversee the relocation of your clan?"

"Indeed,"

Liu Yannian said,

“There are many illegal activities among the various ethnic groups, which is why the court has decided to relocate them.”

"This aligns with Xunzi's principle of 'examining the later kings.' It's not about imitating the later kings, but about examining them."

"The trial is to examine and investigate the merits and demerits of emperors throughout history. This practice of relocating clans has existed since ancient times, and it has been done since the Han Dynasty..."

Next, Liu Yannian talked at length about "the trial of the King," making his old friends' faces turn as black as charcoal.

"boom!"

A friend slammed down his wine glass and shouted angrily, "You shameless, treacherous scoundrel! Today I'm severing all ties with you! Bring me a knife!"

A servant brought him a knife, and the man cut his robe and left.

The other friends also shook their heads and sighed, and left the table one after another.

Liu Yannian shouted, "You are ignorant of Xunzi's great principles. I will explain them to you in detail another day."

Receiving the arduous task of dismantling and relocating his clan completely destroyed Liu Yannian's public image; this guy is now somewhat mentally unstable.

Perhaps he did it on purpose.

Liu Yannian then went to see Wei Liangchen, who was measuring the fields: "Governor Wei, I pay my respects in person."

"I wonder if Governor Wei has ever read Xunzi?"

Wei Liangchen was completely bewildered: "I've read it."

Liu Yannian said, "I have recently read the official commentary on Xunzi and gained some insights. I would like to discuss this with Governor Wei."

Wei Liangchen said, "Isn't Liu's teaching always criticizing Xunzi?"

“That’s because my Qingjiang Liu family has always misunderstood Xunzi,” Liu Yannian sighed.

Wei Liangchen thought to himself: Has His Majesty driven this man crazy?

.....

When Liu Yannian returned to Jiangxi, the war in which the four countries besieged Annam had already ended.

The first to send troops were Champa and Zhenla, two countries that had been fighting each other to the death, but had joined forces to attack Annam two years earlier.

At first, they won victory after victory, but the conflicts intensified because of these victories.

After all, they are sworn enemies. They can join forces when they have a common enemy, but they will inevitably turn against each other after winning a battle and seizing the spoils.

Then, they were utterly defeated by Annan!

They probably haven't recovered from their heavy losses yet, as Champa only sent 10,000 troops this time, and Zhenla only sent 8,000.

The former began fighting on the border between the two countries in early November of last year (lunar calendar). The latter did not arrive at the battlefield until late November.

Instead of directly engaging in war with Annam, the Golden Tooth Kingdom attacked Annam's northwestern vassal tribes—which were located in what is now Laos.

Yang Zaixing set out with his troops in the ninth month of the lunar calendar, and by the time he arrived in Menzhou, it was already the middle of the tenth month of the lunar calendar.

The temperature was around 20 degrees Celsius, and the weather was extremely cool.

He commanded a newly formed field army of 6000 men, a Guangxi garrison of 3000 men, 5000 Guangxi soldiers, and 25000 laborers from various ethnic groups to transport grain.

Menzhou was located near Zhennanguan in later times, and both the Ming Dynasty and Annam built fortified towns and villages there.

The fortified villages on the Annam side are in even more treacherous terrain!

Before Yang Zaixing's troops even arrived, Annam had already received the news, since traveling through the mountains was too slow.

"The attack on the stronghold will begin tomorrow!"

"General, an envoy from Annam requests an audience."

"Bring him here."

Before the two armies even clashed, the Annamese envoy had already arrived, or rather, had been waiting for a long time.

The envoy's name was Zhang Xianlu. He bowed to Yang Zaixing and said, "Zhang Xianlu, the envoy from our humble country, pays his respects to the Supreme General of the Great Ming Dynasty!"

Yang Zaixing said, "Speak quickly if you have something to say, then I'll hit you."

Zhang Xianlu said, "As the saying goes, an army has a just cause. I wonder why the Ming Dynasty has sent troops this time?"

Yang Zaixing said, "You painted scales on a rhinoceros and presented it as a unicorn as tribute, which constitutes the crime of deceiving the emperor!"

Chapter 3605 You Need an Excuse to Hit Me

“This was true for all of the Song dynasty,” Zhang Xianlu said.

Yang Zaixing questioned, "The former Song dynasty was full of incompetent rulers who were deceived by you."

"Do you also consider the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to be a tyrant?"

Zhang Xianlu quickly explained, "That's not the case. Our country is simply following old precedents."

"After the envoy returned home, my lord was extremely remorseful and will send another envoy to Luoyang next year to apologize. I implore the general to withdraw his troops!"

Yang Zaixing sneered: "Withdrawal is fine. Annam must return the two prefectures, two villages, six counties, and eight passes, as well as the tens of thousands of people and their descendants who were abducted back then."

"This……"

Zhang Xianlu tried to stall for time, hoping that things would be easier once the weather got hot: "These things are all negotiable."

"This humble servant is unable to make the decision. I will immediately return to the country to report and request that the general postpone the attack on the camp."

"Go back and discuss it," Yang Zaixing said, deciding to strike first and talk things out later.

Zhang Xianlu left overnight and rushed back to Thang Long (Hanoi) under the cover of darkness.

The following day, Yang Zaixing began his attack on the stronghold.

Liu Chun, the Annamese general, was not very afraid. He had a thousand soldiers guarding the pass and several thousand Annamese barbarian soldiers.

The fortress is strategically located and should be able to hold out. We can hold out until the weather gets warmer, at which point the Ming Dynasty will definitely choose to withdraw its troops.

He told the barbarian chieftains who were helping to guard the pass, "The enemy is not numerous. As long as we work together, we can definitely hold out until the weather gets hot."

"His Majesty has already said that whichever unit makes the greatest contribution will be married off to a princess in a political alliance."

"Once the enemy has completely withdrawn, we will then raid the Ming Dynasty to plunder its wealth and women!"

These words greatly excited the generals of the various barbarian tribes.

Various ethnic tribes live in the mountainous areas of northern and northwestern Annam.

When the Ly Dynasty of Vietnam invaded the borders of the Northern Song Dynasty, it first forged marriage alliances with tribal chiefs, sending princesses or noblewomen to them in exchange for benefits.

"Then, we ordered the various barbarian tribes to repeatedly harass the Northern Song Dynasty, plunder people and supplies and then run away, so that the Song army could not find the enemy when they came to chase them."

"If the Song army pursues too far, they will be ambushed by the barbarian soldiers."

After the war between the two countries, Annam's military spending led to financial collapse, and it gradually began to focus on domestic development.

It has been a long time since a princess was married off, and it has been a long time since the barbarian tribes were allowed to raid northwards.

Hearing that they would be doing their old job again, the barbarian chieftains cheered and each led their troops to defend the fortress.

There are three Annamese fortresses here, including the locations of Zhennanguan and Longmenguan in later generations, all of which are now under Annamese control.

The Ming army controlled the Guanqian Pass further north.

Instead of building a fortified village at Zhennanguan, Annam constructed a mountain stronghold on Hengpo Ridge to its north.

"You take your men and guard the west side!" Yang Zaixing said.

"Yes, sir!" Li Herong clasped his hands in a fist and bow.

The deputy general to Yang Zaixing was Li Herong, a general under Zhong Xiang.