Chapter 278 I didn’t want to show off until Huai Qing came

Yunlu Academy.

Princess Huaiqing was sitting in Zhao Shou's room, and a guard was reporting on the recruitment of Li Changan.

"Your Highness, Zhang Shen and Yang Yan brought back a manuscript, and then Lord Wei and Dean Zhao went to Li Changan's house in person."

"Unless Li Changan knew about it, Lord Wei made him pass the qualification test for a night watchman. Now Li Changan has become a night watchman of the Golden Luo, but he doesn't have to work every day."

"President Zhao said that Duke Wei was not kind, so he invited Li Changan to the academy. He is on the way now, and Duke Wei is also accompanying him..."

After the guard finished speaking, he found that the princess did not pay attention to him, but was staring at the manuscript in her hand in a daze, obviously not hearing a word she said.

Princess Huaiqing had great ambitions and was naturally competitive. She was as good as others in studying and martial arts, and had attainments in military science and classics and history.

Looking at Li Changan's manuscript, Huaiqing felt for the first time that she was so much worse than her peers. Li Changan looked younger than her, so how could he write such profound theories?

No wonder Wei Yuan and Zhao Shou both had to take action personally. They couldn't sit still any longer.

After a long time, Huaiqing put down the manuscript, took a long breath, and fell into deep shock.

Dafeng actually produced such a genius!

Huai Qing sighed for a long time before he slowly said, "What did you just say... Say it again..."

A gust of wind blew through the woods outside the academy, and Zhao Shou, Li Changan and Wei Yuan came to a stone tablet.

Next to the stone tablet is a meditating bronze man, and the inscription on the tablet is the life story of a scholar named Qian Zhong, who was a great Confucian scholar active in the early days of the founding of Dafeng.

"…At the end of the Zhou Dynasty, war broke out all over the country, and the people were living in misery. The second-rank scholar Qian Zhong saw the people's miserable life, and with a heart full of resentment, he destroyed the national destiny of the Zhou Dynasty with his flesh and blood."

"After that, Dafeng was established, wars were quelled, and peace and prosperity reigned throughout the country..."

"What a pity. In the past two hundred years, Dafeng has only produced a third-grade scholar at the Liming realm. There are no more second-grade great scholar scholars."

Listening to Zhao Shou's introduction along the way, Li Changan and Wei Yuan arrived at the Yasheng Academy.

Zhao Shou said with a smile, "How long has it been since Duke Wei came to the academy?"

Wei Yuan thought to himself, I just came to see what Li Changan can do in Yunlu Academy. After all, Li Changan once said that a scholar is useless.

"I haven't been here for a long time. I came here mainly to discuss the Dao. I have no rivals now."

Zhao Shou was speechless. When it came to military strategy, Zhang Shen was indeed no match for Wei Yuan.

Dean Zhao made up his mind to let Li Changan also take up the position of the academy. Such a person might really help Confucianism break the current shackles.

In fact, Li Changan didn’t have any special ideas. He had many ways to show off his prowess in front of the people in the academy.

But, who am I showing off to in the academy? To Xu Xinnian? That’s so boring!
Inside the Yasheng Academy, two-meter-high red pillars support the main hall, and a statue of Yasheng, the founder of the academy, stands tall.

The second sage is wearing a green Confucian robe, with one hand behind his back and the other on his waist, looking into the distance, just like the statue in the night watchman's office.

Next to the Sub-Sage is a statue of a white deer. This white deer is not the Sub-Sage’s mount, but his wife.

Zhao Shou said, "The white deer listened to the classics under the saint's seat, and then transformed into a human form to accompany the sub-sage. The man and the demon lived together since childhood, and their feelings were deep, and they eventually became husband and wife."

"The love between humans and demons is not tolerated in the world, no matter then or now, but the saints said that love has no boundaries, as long as there is affection, humans and demons can stay together forever."

Li Changan had no right to say that the sub-sage had a heavy taste, because he himself had only slept with one woman in this world, and that woman was the soul of a fox demon.

"Ahem!" Wei Yuan suddenly asked, "Brother Li, how imposing is this sculpture?"

In the night watchman's office, Li Changan once said that scholars are completely useless.

"I saw the statue of the Second Sage in the Night Watchman's Office but didn't know who he was. Now I understand him very well. He is great and his love is boundless."

Zhao Shou laughed, "Brother Li is indeed a man of broad vision!"

Wei Yuan bared his teeth. Li Changan's statement changed from being completely useless to being great. He really said one thing to one person and another thing to another.

Li Changan glanced at Wei Yuan and said, "Lord Wei, I speak from the bottom of my heart."

On Zhao Shou's side, he started talking about the dispute over the national foundation, in order to make his position clear and win over Li Changan.

"When Renzong was in power, the position of crown prince had been vacant for more than ten years. The eldest son and another illegitimate prince were deeply loved by Renzong. The mother of the illegitimate prince was a very favored noblewoman, so Renzong wanted to make the illegitimate prince the crown prince."

"Deposing the eldest son and enthroning the youngest son is the cause of chaos! The entire court was against this, and Renzong issued edicts many times, but they were all rejected by the cabinet. The people who took the lead at that time were all from Yunlu Academy."

"This dispute over the foundation of the country lasted for six years. No one was willing to admit defeat. The cabinet's prime minister changed four times, and the officials in the court changed several times. Until a scholar from Yunlu Academy took over the position of prime minister, he joined Renzong's army, solved the matter for Renzong, and took the blame."

"Yunlu Academy was therefore disliked by Emperor Renzong, who believed that Yunlu Academy was not conducive to the rule of imperial power, so Cheng Hui established the Imperial Academy to train talents by the court itself."

“The decline of Confucianism began at that time.”

Li Changan pointed to a stone tablet and said, "Is this the calligraphy of Cheng Yasheng?"

He died for his countrymanship and his name will be remembered forever - Cheng Hui.

Zhao Shou sighed and said, "That's right. From what I've seen of Brother Li's writings, although they also assist the emperor, they are unique and do not cater to the emperor at all."

Li Changan thought to himself, that depends on who wrote it.

Zhuge Wuhou was a powerful official in both of his lives. In his first life, Liu Adou was a hands-off boss, while in his second life, Li Changan dared to let go. Zhuge Wuhou certainly did not have to cater to the emperor.

"The emperor has the world in his heart and is not selfish, so he naturally does not need Confucianism to cater to him. If Confucianists cater to the emperor, then the backbone of Confucianism will be broken."

Li Changan's simple words made Zhao Shouda agree, "No wonder Brother Li was able to break through the gentleman realm at such a young age, he is indeed very knowledgeable!"

Wei Yuan scratched his ears. He had been scolded by these Confucian scholars many times over the years. He had expected Li Changan to say something like this. After all, Li Changan was a person who disrespected the imperial power in his heart.

Zhao Shou continued, "Cheng Hui devoted himself to studying the classics for thirteen years and created a system that is better than the original, that is, to preserve the principles of heaven and eliminate human desires."

"He believes that everything in the world must follow reason. Reason is the essence of the world and is the most correct thing. Only when everything follows reason can it flourish..."

Li Changan interrupted directly, "Everything should be viewed dialectically. Nothing is always right. This theory is fundamentally wrong."

"Dialectics..." Zhao Shou and Wei Yuan fell silent.

Zhao Shou suddenly said to the students outside the door, "Go, call the four great scholars and outstanding students from the academy over!"

Dean Zhao had a hunch that Li Changan's views might shock the world, and the great scholars and students in the academy might be deeply inspired and put forward views that could counter Cheng Hui's.

The idea of ​​preserving the principles of heaven and eliminating human desires proposed by the mortal enemy, the Imperial College, had suppressed Yunlu Academy for two hundred years. But now, the word "dialectic" alone gave Zhao Shou hope.

While everyone was still together, Zhao Shou continued, "Cheng Hui annotated the sage's classics and established a set of effective rules. If scholars follow this set of rules, they will never make mistakes, and it is in accordance with the laws of heaven and earth."

"This set of rules elevates loyalty, filial piety, chastity and righteousness to the level of heavenly principles. If the ruler wants his subjects to die, they must die; if the father wants his son to die, the son must die. One must sacrifice one's life for justice and die to preserve one's chastity."

Li Changan knew that once this theory came out, the backbone of Confucianism would be completely broken.

"Alas... I have spent more than ten years studying and trying to refute this statement and create a more correct philosophy, but I still can't find the way..."

Then, Zhao Shou began to tell Li Changan about his experiences over the years. It was obvious that he hoped Li Changan could join his camp.

At the same time, more and more students gathered outside the hall, and four great scholars entered the hall one after another.

These people listened to Zhao Shou's story respectfully. There are not many opportunities to listen to Dean Zhao's lectures, so this opportunity is very rare.

Huaiqing, who was waiting in Zhao Shou's room, heard the noise in the academy and asked, "What happened outside?"

The guard replied, "President Zhao is giving a sermon in the main hall. It is said that he has told Li Changan all his experiences over the years..."

Huaiqing hurriedly said, "Go to the back of the hall. I want to listen too!"

There are not many opportunities to listen to great scholars preach, and Huaiqing certainly would not miss this opportunity.

Zhao Shou spoke with great enthusiasm, and everyone was fascinated by his speech. Li Changan could not help but admire the patience and attitude of these great scholars towards studying.

However, it is better to have no books than to believe in them blindly. Cheng Hui spent his whole life studying classics and gained the idea. While Zhao Shou continued to search in the classics, the possibility of him surpassing Cheng Hui was basically slim.

"This blank stone tablet has been lying here for more than a decade, but I have been unable to write anything!"

Zhao Shou pointed at a blank stone tablet and sighed softly.

When Li Changan was about to listen and leave, he suddenly felt Huaiqing's aura appear in the back hall of the hall.

The step that had just been raised was suddenly put down again.

For a woman like Huaiqing, the shock she received would never be too much, not enough.

There are not many opportunities to meet Huaiqing, so Li Changan changed his mind and decided that it was time to give this woman some excitement.

"President Zhao, what do you think is the reason why so many students spend their entire lives studying?"

“Books contain a golden house, a beautiful woman, and a thousand bushels of grain?

Learn literary and martial arts well and live in an imperial family?
Is being loyal to the emperor and serving the country or leaving a name in history really the lifelong pursuit of scholars?

Should scholars have the common people in their hearts? Should they have higher ideals and aspirations? "

"There is nothing wrong with the moral principles between ruler and subject, and father and son, but is this really what scholars should pursue throughout their lives?"

"President Zhao, have you ever thought that scholars should establish virtues, make achievements, and make words, and really stand proud between heaven and earth, and their words and deeds will be immortal for all eternity?"

"Cultivate oneself, regulate one's family, govern the country, and bring peace to the world! The saints have long said this. Ethics, loyalty, filial piety, chastity, and righteousness are just the way to cultivate oneself and regulate one's family. How can we regulate the country and bring peace to the world!"

Li Changan's words caused the hall to fall into silence, and the great scholars and students all seemed to be in a daze.

This is simply a soul-searching question!
To preserve the principles of heaven and eliminate human desires is a castration of the Confucian doctrine and a degradation of the ideals of scholars. Li Changan has only proposed some higher goals.

Whether it is making achievements and speaking out, or governing the country and pacifying the world, it is an existence that transcends ethical principles.

Zhao Shou's breathing unconsciously became rapid, because he had thought of these words over the years, but he was just one step away from uttering them.

He now understood where Wei Yuan's excitement came from when he saw Li Changan's Art of War. This resonance was simply unstoppable!
"Yes, there is nothing wrong with ethics, but they are definitely not the highest principles between heaven and earth!"

Li Changan said firmly, "But now it has become the supreme truth and a shackle tied to people like you!"

shackles!

Li Changan once again shocked everyone with his words, making the students of Yunlu Academy feel cold on their backs and uneasy in their hearts.

Yes, to downgrade the ideal of a saint and then bind it on scholars is nothing more than a shackle that restricts their hands and feet.

Huaiqing, who was in the back hall of the main hall, felt his knuckles turn white as he gripped the armrest of his chair, and his breathing became rapid.

She had been studying since childhood and was a person with a big picture. She had always been dissatisfied with the ideas advocated by Renzong and the fact that emperors of all dynasties had relied on civil servants from the Imperial College for many years.

Especially now under the rule of Emperor Yuan Jing, there are endless factional struggles in the court. Who would think about these things? What is the purpose of studying?
As a member of the royal family, are you afraid that scholars will break the shackles?
The emperors before Dafeng were not afraid, so why should Dafeng be afraid!
Because the emperor is selfish! Only when he is selfish will he restrict the scholars.

Renzong has selfish motives, does my father have...

Thinking of this, Huaiqing also felt his hands and feet go cold. His father indulged in party struggles, indulged in immortality, and the emperor sought immortality. Isn't this the greatest selfishness?

At this time, Zhao Shou handed the pen next to the blank stone tablet to Li Changan.

When Li Changan said this, he finally realized why copycats of all generations had to write the Four Sentences of Hengqu.

Because those four sentences are the most thought-provoking, and can best ignite the ideal spark in the deepest part of the scholars' hearts. Only these four sentences can re-establish the pursuit and hope of Confucianism, completely tear apart the shackles of preserving the principles of heaven and eliminating human desires, and then trample them underfoot!

Unlike Xu Qian'an, Li Chang'an does not need to hide when writing it out; he can now write it out openly.

Most of the ministers in the court were graduates of the Imperial Academy. They broke the principle of preserving the laws of nature and eliminating human desires, and thus became enemies of the entire civil service group.

Even the Emperor of Dafeng did not have the confidence to be an enemy of the civil service group.

But Li Changan was confident, because he had been an emperor for two lifetimes, and in this life he would be the man behind the empress. How could he be afraid of a few ugly ministers and civil servants?

"Establish a heart for heaven and earth, establish a destiny for the living and the people, carry forward the unique teachings of the past saints, and create peace for all generations!"

Zhao Shou read out every word Li Changan wrote. With every word he read out, his body gradually began to tremble violently and his voice could no longer calm down.

The great scholars and students standing in the courtyard felt as if their hearts were hit by a thousand-pound hammer. They couldn't breathe for a long time. The shackles deep in their souls seemed to be completely broken with a clang.

Princess Huaiqing in the back hall couldn't help but stand up, frowning tightly. Dafeng needed this kind of breath right now!
"Card wipe!"

Cheng Hui's stone tablet collapsed instantly, and a huge crack appeared from top to bottom!

The entire academy began to shake violently, dust fell from the roof, and candlesticks fell over.

A clear aura rushed out from the statue of the sub-sage and could be seen within a hundred miles!
(End of this chapter)