The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Replacing Confucianism with power is extremely rare in China's two thousand years of feudal dynasties.

Confucianism has long been dominant in Chinese history, especially after the Han Dynasty when it became the official ideology.

However, in certain periods, such as when the Qin Dynasty promoted Legalism and when Zhang Juzheng of the Ming Dynasty implemented reforms, situations similar to "replacing Confucianism with power" would occur.

Zhang Juzheng's reforms emphasized the rule of law and efficiency, suppressed the traditional power of Confucianism, weakened the influence of Confucianism, and instead relied on Legalism or other schools of thought to govern the country.

In fact, Legalism emphasizes law and centralization, while Confucianism emphasizes morality and rituals. The conflict between the two has never stopped in history, but it was mostly accidental.

In Chinese history, there are actually three main typical events of "replacing Confucianism with power". The first is the dominance of Legalism in the Qin Dynasty, which burned books and buried scholars, and replaced Zhou rituals with laws and decrees, which became the early prototype of "replacing Confucianism with power".

After that came the period of Zhang Juzheng's reform, during which he banned academies, suppressed lectures on the School of Mind, implemented the performance evaluation system and other centralized measures to suppress criticism from scholars and officials. These were typical practical actions.

Finally, there is the Yongzheng period, which may never reappear. The Grand Council was established to undermine the cabinet, weaken the Confucian bureaucratic power and emphasize the absoluteness of imperial power.

Confucianism advocates "governing the country with virtue" and "co-governance between the ruler and his subjects", but Zhang Juzheng needed to implement policies quickly and believed that the advice and criticism from Confucian scholars hindered efficiency. The contradiction between the two was irreconcilable.

Although Wei Guangde has lived in this era for many years, his thoughts are still somewhat constrained by later generations. As for Confucianism, he generally views it as a bystander and has not personally experienced the importance of Confucianism in governing the country.

Wei Guangde couldn't feel it, and he had never seen the background information about Zhang Juzheng's educational reform before, so naturally he had no idea about it.

However, it was not until the evening in the study of the Wei Mansion that Wei Shiliang revealed the answer to Wei Guangde.

The theories of the various schools of thought are different. Wei Guangde had only read about them in history books before, but if he had only watched some film and television dramas about the so-called "Hundred Schools of Thought", he would have no idea that in addition to Confucianism and Legalism, there is also Mohism.

As for the other "schools" among the Hundred Schools of Thought, Wei Guangde in later generations could not clearly explain which others there were.

Even now, because Confucianism has been the only respected school of thought for thousands of years, there are not many books on other doctrines on the market.

Among the various schools of thought, the most widely spread are Confucianism, Legalism and Taoism. As for the Mohist school, Yin-Yang school, the School of Names, the Eclectic School, the Agricultural School, the Novelist School, the Diplomats, the Military Strategists, the Medical School, etc., they have long been unknown, and many have even been lost in the torrent of history.

At this time, because Wei Shiliang had joined the Ministry of Justice, he had some knowledge of these things and talked about them in front of everyone.

“The Pre-Qin dynasty ruled the country with the Legalists and set up harsh laws, but it fell in the second generation of Qin.

The Huang-Lao school of thought was adopted in the early Han Dynasty, which advocated governing by inaction, and was effective in restoring the economy.

But during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, centralization of power needed to be strengthened, and Huang-Lao thought may no longer be applicable.

At this time, a new idea was needed to consolidate the rule, and then Dong Zhongshu appeared.

He was a Confucian scholar and probably wished to elevate the status of Confucianism.

At the same time, his thoughts integrated the theories of yin and yang and the five elements, forming a set of theoretical systems suitable for centralization, such as "the interaction between heaven and man" and "the divine right of the emperor", which was very helpful for the emperor to strengthen his authority. "

If it were before the Zhengde period, Wei Shiliang would definitely not have said such words. In the eyes of Confucian scholars, Wei Shiliang's words were extremely treasonous.

After all, thousands of years of accumulation have long given Confucianists a feeling that Confucianism is the orthodoxy.

Although both Neo-Confucianism and the School of Mind were inherited from Confucianism and are branches of Confucianism, the emergence of the School of Mind caused scholars to have some doubts about the orthodoxy of Confucianism.

Especially the Ministry of Justice where Wei Shiliang worked, which was, after all, a legalist government office.

What the common people say, "If a prince breaks the law, he shall be punished the same as the common people," is actually not a Confucian saying, but was proposed by the Legalist Shang Yang.

“Furthermore, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, there was a need to unify the minds of the various vassal states and the external threat of the Xiongnu, and to strengthen the central authority.

Wei Shiliang opened his mouth and said slowly, "I heard that there was a fierce argument over this in the Metropolitan Procuratorate this afternoon, and this is actually the key point.

When the performance evaluation system was introduced, the public thought that this policy was "replacing moral conduct with achievements", which violated Mencius's idea that "the people are more important than the ruler". The School of Mind called it "destroying the orthodoxy with political tricks".

Jiang Zhi interrupted at this time and said, "I heard in the afternoon that the Six Departments followed the Prime Minister's wishes and issued an edict to all provinces, asking the governors of all places to immediately investigate all the academies under their jurisdiction and reiterate the prohibition of lectures and other matters. The Ministry of Works thought that the Six Departments had already submitted to the Prime Minister's authority."

"Yes, so everyone is looking at the Censorate. Now the only one who dares to fire at the Prime Minister is the Censorate."

In fact, the court officials of the Ming Dynasty were accustomed to changing their attitudes according to the situation, and those who fired the first shot were usually the censors, after all, they had the right to "report things based on rumors."

Only when the censors take action will officials from other government offices follow suit and submit memorials.

After all, with someone supporting him in front of him, who would be willing to take the official hat on his head lightly?

After listening to their speeches, Wei Guangde realized the real intention of Zhang Juzheng in launching this reform, but what Wei Guangde was most concerned about now was the reaction of the court officials.

At this moment, his eyes fell on Tan Lun.

Although he had spent much longer in the court than Tan Lun, Tan Lun was his predecessor in terms of time in the official career and might be better than him in analyzing human nature.

So Wei Guangde said to Tan Lun, "Brother Zili, do you think today's incident will cause a huge uproar in the court?"

Even though there were no memorials submitted in the afternoon, Wei Guangde believed that if someone chose to submit a memorial, it would have to ferment overnight.

Not only do they need to contact more like-minded people, but they also need to repeatedly consider and revise their own draft memorials.

That is to say, if someone submits a petition, it will definitely be tomorrow.

When Wei Guangde asked about this, Tan Lun rubbed his swollen forehead and said, "I have thought about this before, and there will definitely be many people in the court who will submit memorials to oppose it.

This can be seen from today's Censorate, where they failed to come to a conclusion in the end.

Moreover, although the dispute was held behind closed doors in the Censorate, many people would certainly contact their fellow townsmen and friends to discuss the matter together.

However, I believe that since the Prime Minister has already pushed this matter forward, he will definitely not give up easily and will definitely insist on sticking to his own opinion.

The most crucial point is that, although most of the officials in the capital come from Jiangnan, there are also many officials from the north.

The Prime Minister's move this time is clearly aimed at the School of Mind."

When Tan Lun said this, he couldn't help but look around at everyone.

It is hard to say who among Wei Guangde's group is a follower of the School of Mind.

Because among them, it seems that none of them has ever said that they are followers of the School of Mind.

However, Tan Lun knew very well that in Jiangxi, there was no scholar who had not read the works of psychology.

Seeing his gaze sweeping over, Wei Guangde and the others naturally knew what he meant and shook their heads slightly.

Seeing the opinions expressed by several people, Tan Lun smiled and said, "This is easy to understand. Shandai had only viewed this issue from the perspective of Jiangxi scholars before.

In Jiangxi, apart from the four major academies, there are also numerous other academies.

For example, Nanchang, Ji'an and other places, why is Jiangxi's cultural heritage so prosperous? It's because of this.

You and I think that if academies were banned, the scholars would probably make a fuss, and the world would be in turmoil.

But apart from the two capitals and our Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces, how many followers of this school of mind are there?

Compared with the Neo-Confucianism which has been passed down for hundreds of years, the School of Mind is always superior.

Zhang Jiangling was afraid that even if he was sure of this, the followers of the School of Mind in the court would strongly oppose it.

As for Neo-Confucianism, they no longer need academies to fight back against their opponents. If the imperial court really closes academies, the way for the spread of Neo-Confucianism will be cut off, which may not be a bad thing. "

"Brother Zili, do you mean that most officials in the court will support the Prime Minister's decision?"

Wei Shiliang asked with a frown.

For today's meeting, Wei Guangde only brought along Tan Lun, Jiang Zhi and Wei Shiliang.

Originally, Lao Kan could have come, but he was still in his hometown in Jiangxi.

After completing his mission in Zhejiang, he requested a six-month leave on the grounds of poor health and went home to visit his family.

The views put forward by Tan Lun gave Wei Guangde a feeling of enlightenment.

That's right. From his own perspective, he believes that most educated people would and should oppose it.

After all, closing the college is equivalent to cutting off students' path to advancement.

But he forgot that those who were most affected by the new policy were not the Neo-Confucianists who made up the majority of the court. In fact, he was targeting those of the School of Mind who spread the School of Mind everywhere.

During their lectures, they not only promoted the views of the School of Mind, but also praised and criticized current politics, and especially criticized Zhang Juzheng.

Of course, there are many retired or dismissed officials involved.

After all, everyone has their own purpose.

The officials who were retired or dismissed were naturally dissatisfied with Zhang Juzheng, and the followers of the School of Mind's criticism of Zhang Juzheng just suited their wishes.

They are willing to stand up for these people and provide funding.

As for whether psychology or rationale is better, in fact, for those who have served as officials, the answer is already in their hearts.

"Brother Zili, I understand what you mean.

It might make a fuss for two days, but it won’t cause any major trouble.”

Wei Guangde smiled bitterly.

Tan Lun just nodded slightly, but his face still looked serious.

As for Jiang Zhi and Wei Shiliang, they also figured it out.

Like Wei Guangde, their thoughts did not extend beyond Jiangxi, and they still considered scholars around the world from the perspective of Jiangxi scholars.

If we say that the ratio of Xinxue and Lixue among scholars in the world today is 2:8, then in Jiangxi, the ratio is almost 4:6. Many Jiangxi students regard Xinxue as the words of the saints and worship them.

Wang Mingyang's influence on Jiangxi was so great that it is impossible for later generations to imagine.

The reason why Tan Lun was able to think of these things was that after he entered officialdom, he served as an official in Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and other places. In these places, the School of Mind was also very popular, but not as strong as in Jiangxi.

Thus, he was able to think about problems from the perspective of a Neo-Confucianist and directly separate officials instead of treating them as a whole group of scholars.

“However, since the Prime Minister caused this incident, he will probably be criticized in the future.

After his downfall, Neo-Confucianism would not remember his kindness, but would only use it to belittle him.

I can only say that Zhang Jiangling is truly extraordinary and can do things that others cannot.”

Tan Lun then said another sentence.

"In fact, my uncle is still devoted to the country."

Wei Guangde also made excuses for Zhang Juzheng at this time.

"Yes, it is indisputable that the performance evaluation system is beneficial to the court. Those who oppose it are just clowns who think that others don't know their true faces.

It's a pity that after achieving fame and success, people change and become materialistic."

Tan Lun shook his head and said very disappointedly.

Suddenly, Wei Guangde felt as if this was an opportunity. Previously it was just a private promise between him and Zhang Juzheng, but it seemed that he could try to talk about it now.

After all, given his position, he should have had a more intense reaction to Zhang Juzheng's new policy.

“Gentlemen, I have always admired Zhang Jiangling for his loan skills. Just as Brother Zili said, he can do what others cannot.

And strictly speaking, he did this without any selfish motives.

If in the future, the whole court is really against Zhang, Shandai will speak a fair word for him, and I hope you can help me too."

Wei Guangde could already see that when Zhang Juzheng was finished, he would be surrounded by enemies all over the world, and his situation might even be worse than Yan Song's.

“Good loan.”

Upon hearing this, Tan Lun frowned and looked at him, seeming to want to say something but stopping himself.

"Brother Uncle is doing this for the Ming Dynasty, and he has no selfish motives."

Wei Guangde just repeated his previous attitude, and Tan Lun, Jiang Zhi and others understood that no matter whether what Zhang Juzheng did was right or wrong, he just insisted that what Zhang Juzheng did was beneficial to the court.

However, Wei Guangde obviously did not realize that the person who truly influenced the final punishment of the Zhang family was not the prime minister of the dynasty, but the emperor sitting on the throne.

"We'll talk about this later. Let's talk about the present first."

Tan Lun sighed, not wanting to continue discussing this matter with Wei Guangde, and continued: "Most of my Jiangxi officials will oppose this matter. They didn't express their views today, and it was because I passed a note before that they temporarily avoided it.

But I’m afraid this isn’t a long-term solution.”

“Tell them that this is the intention of the inner court, which is conducive to maintaining the stability of the imperial power.

As for them, the local authorities will find a way to deal with them."

Wei Guangde spoke up.

This was said in order to reassure the fellow countrymen in the capital and prevent them from getting involved.

If the matter gets out of hand, someone might be pulled out to establish authority.

The land measurement in Fujian is in full swing and it will soon be rolled out across the country.

According to Zhang Juzheng's previous statement, the survey would start from the capital and proceed from north to south.

The royal family and nobles are put first. If anyone dares to oppose, these people will be dealt with first.

But while we are dealing with them, if any civil servants stand out to oppose, they will also be dealt with.

The purpose of banning academies was to prevent students from gathering and causing trouble, and to force them to study in official schools or at home.

Students in official schools were supervised by local education commissioners. If they disobeyed the orders, their academic titles would be revoked. This punishment was quite devastating.

"What about the real place?"

Tan Lun asked with a frown.

"He must have had a plan in mind long ago, and he would definitely ban the academy that focuses on the study of the mind.

As for Jiangxi, let them close for a few years and wait and see."

Wei Guangde said. (End of this chapter)