Chapter 356: Academy Discussion: Confucianism, yes, I am the one who said this

Chapter 356: Academy Discussion: Confucianism, yes, I am the one who said this

Chapter 356: Academy Discussion: Confucianism, yes, I am the one who said this (two in one)

If I recommend myself, how would you feel, Zhenbao...

On the pavilion, Zhao Duan complained silently in his heart, with a serious expression, without any hesitation: "Of course it's Master Dong!"

He sneered and looked down on him: "That Zhengyang, a mere country bumpkin, only dares to bark in the capital because of his little reputation..."

Xu Zhenguan glanced at him with her beautiful eyes and said, "Tell the truth."

"It's a bit tricky." Zhao Duan restrained his arrogant villain attitude and said seriously:
"Although I have never met that Zhengyang, Prince Mu must have had the confidence to send him to the capital with such generosity."

Xu Zhenguan sighed softly, holding the railing with both hands. Light blue veins appeared on the back of his delicate hands, and his face showed sorrow:

"If we are talking about orthodox knowledge, the Grand Master will naturally not be afraid of this person, but... Alas."

She understood that in order to maintain the legitimacy of the empress's accession to the throne, Grand Tutor Dong would inevitably uphold those hastily put together ideas based on quotations from classics.

How can it compete with Zhengyang, who has the support of orthodox learning and a solid theoretical foundation?
Even if you have the advantage of location and half the support of people, you have lost the right timing.

"If the Grand Tutor fails, the capital will be fine, after all, it is under my nose, and it won't cause much trouble. But I'm afraid that my reputation will be ruined again in the nine provinces and eighteen prefectures." Xu Zhenguan laughed at himself, as if he had anticipated this situation.

That's just right, you're notorious, and so am I... Let's call each other "the couple", the "villain couple" in TV dramas, it's pretty cool, right...

Zhao Duan's mind was full of mixed thoughts, and he could see that the empress had no confidence in the debate three days later.

What Xu Zhenguan is thinking about now is how to minimize the negative impact after losing the debate.

Zhao Duan thought for a moment and said:
"Your Majesty, the matter has not yet come to a conclusion, so we should boost morale. Maybe Zhengyang is afraid of death before the battle even begins, and he may admit defeat during the debate."

Expecting the other party to admit defeat on the spot?

Xu Zhenguan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He almost laughed at him. Naturally, he didn't believe it at all. He just thought he was trying to comfort himself. He smiled and said, "I hope so."

Although he said this, he didn't expect anything at all.

There is no hope that the lackeys around him can help in this matter.

Zhao Duan fired a bullet yesterday, but there has been no feedback yet, so naturally he won’t say anything.

The emperor and his minister listened quietly for a while, and only left quietly after Master Dong finished his lecture.

……

……

On the same morning, outside the inn where Zhengyang was staying.

Lu Cheng rushed over again and asked the other disciples, "Is the master up?"

The disciple hesitated and said:
"He hasn't come out yet. After you went back last night, I saw that the light in the master's room was still on. Maybe he is catching up on some sleep now?"

Lu Cheng's heart sank. He had a bad feeling for some reason and suddenly felt regretful.

When the academic discussion is approaching, if the teacher loses his mind or even falls ill, he will miss out on important things.

He hurried into the yard and knocked on the door.

"Knock, knock, knock...Sir? I'm Lu Cheng."

He knocked on the door a few times, attracting the attention of many fellow disciples.

Suddenly, the door opened inward and Lu Cheng was stunned.

Mr. Zhengyang was wearing a coat, his face was tired, his eyes were bloodshot, and he looked listless, yet seemed to be excited.

The beautiful beard under his chin was now frizzy and dull.

"Sir...you haven't slept all night?" Lu Cheng's heart trembled when he thought of this possibility.

Zhengyang frowned and did not answer. Instead, he glanced at the many eyes looking at him from afar, suddenly reached out, grabbed his arm, and pulled the disciple into the room.

Then he asked in a deep voice: "Where did those questions you asked last night come from?"

Lu Cheng stammered, "Junior Brother Song told me. He said he heard it from an acquaintance."

"Take me to find him!" Zhengyang made a prompt decision, turned around, put on his outer robe, took Lu Cheng, and left the inn through the back door in a carriage.

When they arrived, many disciples in the inn where Mr. Song was staying had already gone out again. After asking people, they learned that Mr. Song did not go out with them today.

When the master and the disciple pushed open the door of the inn, they saw Mr. Song bending over a table, flipping through books, and it seemed that he had not slept all night.

"Sir? Why are you here?" Mr. Song looked up, surprised.

Zhengyang didn't waste any words. He took a quick step forward, stared at him, and repeated the question.

Mr. Song was also stunned. He did not expect that Zhao Duan's few words would cause the teacher to come and ask questions in person. He said with some fear:
"Indeed, I learned about it from outsiders. The more I thought about it last night, the more confused I felt. So I looked through the classics..."

Zhengyang interrupted him rudely and asked:
"Who told you this? Where is that person? Can you invite me to meet him?"

Mr. Song opened his mouth and slowly uttered the name "Zhao Duan", and emphasized his identity and how they met yesterday.

Zhao Duan?
The famous favorite of the empress in the capital? The domineering and cruel court lackey? !

A... warrior?
Zhengyang and Lu Cheng were both stunned, with strong doubts.

After listening to Mr. Song's explanation, Zhao Du'an claimed that he had heard it from somewhere else. The two looked at each other and came up with a guess.

"Sir, could it be that Dong Xuan?"

Lu Cheng speculated:
"Dong Xuan came up with this statement to respond to the academic debate? Did Zhao Duan hear it? He is just a warrior, so it's not surprising that he didn't understand, so he asked Junior Brother Song?"

Halfway through his speech, he shook his head again, denying himself:

"No! I'm afraid it's not that simple. Although this person is not well-educated, he is said to be insidious and vicious. He wouldn't be so stupid as to deliberately find Junior Brother Song. I'm afraid he did it on purpose. Could it be that he deliberately passed on the message and used such mysterious and vague words to ruin our desire to learn? Sir, if that's the case, don't be fooled."

Zhengyang shook his head. The great southern scholar said firmly:
"A few words will not ruin my knowledge. Can you find a chance to meet him?"

For many disciples, the academic discussion three days later is the most important and must not be disturbed.

But for a scholar like Zhengyang who could potentially be canonized as a saint, what he really cared about was the doctrine itself.

"If it is really Dong Xuan who is delivering the message, I would like to find out for sure." The great scholar in the square hat said firmly.

Mr. Song took a deep breath and volunteered:

"Sir, you have a special status, so it's not easy to look for him. I'll go find him."

After saying this, the old scholar went out.

Seeing this, Lu Cheng sat in the room with his mentor and waited:
"I'll go get some breakfast."

When he came back from buying food nearby, the master and his disciple had just taken a few bites when they saw Mr. Song coming back.

"So fast? What did you forget?" Lu Cheng was curious.

Mr. Song shook his head with a complicated expression and said:
"After I left the inn and just walked down a street, I was stopped by an official under Zhao Duan. He told me that if we wanted to meet, we should go to Bailu Academy at 3 pm in the afternoon."

He was horrified and realized that they were being monitored by officials hiding in the dark.

And Zhao Duan deliberately stopped him yesterday, and it turned out that he had some plan.

"Bailu Academy? Isn't it abandoned? Sir, if this person set an ambush and wanted to harm you..." Lu Cheng's face changed slightly.

Zhengyang shook his head, his eyes clear and sharp, with the demeanor of a Confucian master, and said calmly:
"If the court wants to kill me, why would they go to such trouble? Just go there at 3 p.m."

……

……

Bailu Academy is an academy-style building with a sense of age in a corner of the capital.

In its heyday, it was the brightest among many academies, but later it gradually declined.

Later, because of a case decades ago, the dean of the academy was convicted and many students were implicated and imprisoned. This academy, which no longer had a great reputation, became deserted, and because of its special historical baggage, no one "took over" it for a long time.

It became one of the properties under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, and only civilians were arranged to clean and repair it, and few people came.

"Brother, what are you doing here?"

Zhao Pan jumped off the carriage. The girl, holding up her goose yellow skirt, looked curiously at the main entrance of the academy in front of her.

There is a plaque on the door pin of the front gate with four large characters "Dunhua Yucai" inscribed on it, but it is still mottled and falling off.

Over her goose yellow skirt, she wore a green jacket that wrapped around her slender neck, making her face look particularly round.

"Waiting for someone and picking some grapes."

Zhao Duan got out of the car, took out two bamboo baskets, handed one to her and said with a smile.

Then he left the coachman Xiao Wang waiting outside and took the girl into the academy.

Inside the academy, there are towering ancient trees, stone bridges, black tiles and white walls, stone tablets and couplets... one can vaguely see the prosperous cultural heritage of the past.

"Are there grapes here?" Zhao Pan blinked and didn't ask who he was waiting for.

At noon, Zhao Duan had lunch at home, and then said he was going out for a while. Since he was not going to the yamen in the afternoon, Zhao Pan wanted to go out with him to get some fresh air, so he simply took him along.

Zhao Duan smiled and said:
"Yes, there is a whole vineyard here. They are all very old vines. The grapes are sweetest after being hit by frost. They have a unique taste and are cold and delicious."

As he spoke, he and his sister followed the road signs and arrived at a vineyard. However, it was obvious that the grapes had been picked many times. He was not the only nobleman who knew that the grapes here were good.

The two of them didn't care, instead they felt happy about finding a bargain and treasure.

The most satisfying thing was to find a bunch of purple grapes hidden under the grape leaves. The two of them picked and ate them while chatting about the history of this place.

"Brother, the person you want to meet is also a scholar, and he is very old, right?" Zhao Pan guessed with bright eyes, carrying a small basket.

Zhao Duan smiled and said, "Why do you say that?"

Zhao Pan said as a matter of course: "There is nothing special about this place. It only has history. Maybe only scholars care about it."

Zhao Duan smiled and said, "I guess so."

He chose this place because it was remote. He didn't know the chances of success this time and didn't want to make too much of a fuss. Moreover, if he chose a densely populated area, Zhengyang might not be willing to come.

Secondly, it was indeed to draw on the allusion, but it was not an allusion from this world, but an allusion from his world, the famous "Meeting at Ehu Lake" in history.

It is also the most famous debate between Neo-Confucianism and Mind-Study.

At that time, on one side was the saint Zhu Xi, who had not yet been canonized but was already famous, and on the other side were the brothers Lu Jiuyuan and Lu Jiuling.

Needless to say, the former is the founder of Lu-Wang School of Mind, and Wang Yangming is a great scholar of all ages who is ranked behind him.

In his previous life, Zhao Duan studied history hard to please his superiors, so he naturally could not avoid such well-known debates and had some understanding of the conflict between the two schools of thought.

The topic at that time was very similar to the topic of the debate three days later. Both were about what it means to be a gentleman, a sage, and the methods and knowledge of learning truth.

There is no difference between rationalism and psychology in their ultimate goals or general directions. The only difference lies in the angles and methods of approach.

The Doctrine of the Mean records:
"Great is the way of the sage! How vast! It gives rise to all things and reaches as high as the sky. Therefore, a gentleman respects virtue and morality and studies the way of learning. He seeks to be broad-minded and thorough in the details. He is extremely wise and follows the doctrine of the mean. He reviews the old in order to learn the new, and is honest and respectful to propriety." This is what the ancient sages talked about.

Among them, a gentleman's "respect for virtue and morality" and "learning according to the way" correspond to the School of Mind and the School of Principle respectively.

Zhu Xi advocated "learning by following the way", believing that people should study things to acquire knowledge. People should read more, observe more, study and summarize the principles of all things, summarize the essence from them, and then apply it to people. When people understand the principles, they will understand how to be a human being, and thus become gentlemen and admire sages.

Lu Jiuyuan advocated "respecting virtue and morality" and opposed reading widely. He believed that one should "put people first" and constantly cultivate the body and mind. One should first learn to be a good person and understand the principles of being a good person before doing things. This way one will be successful in everything and eventually become a sage.

Later, Wang Yangming inherited Lu Jiuyuan's theory and took it a step further, making it mature.

It requires the cultivation of moral integrity, believing that good and evil, natural law and human desires, and one's original heart and nature are all clearly understood. As long as one holds on to the golden mean in one's heart, one can become a saint.

Always reflect on yourself, correct your daily behavior, cultivate your spirit, gather your righteousness, think about and practice in daily life, and integrate knowledge and action...

In Zhao Duan’s opinion, it is difficult to say which of the two theories is “right” and which is “wrong”.

In other words, respecting morality and pursuing knowledge require both. Whether to start from the heart first or from the behavior first is just a difference in perspective.

If we take the actual situation into consideration, he would even prefer Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism.

But it is not important.

What’s important is that there is no superiority or inferiority between the two theories, they can be compared with each other, and that is enough.

"Zhengyang and Dong Xuan, as well as the entire Dayu Confucianism, are still similar to Neo-Confucianism. However, because this doctrine has lasted too long, it is too tightly bound to etiquette and the words of saints, and it places too much emphasis on the principles in books, which is not conducive to the empress's enthronement... Therefore, Dong Xuan has been trying to find a few words from the teachings of saints to justify the empress's name in the past two years..."

"But Dong Xuan's path is still based on Neo-Confucianism, which makes him seem to be distorting the orthodox learning. It is difficult for him to defeat Zhengyang... Therefore, the only way to get out of this unfavorable situation is to find another way, abandon Neo-Confucianism, and study it with determination..."

"Moreover, if we look at the ascension of the empress from the perspective of psychology, we can discard the words of saints, dogmas and rules in books, and instead ask ourselves. In this way, we can get rid of the logical rhetoric of many scholars today..."

"It doesn't matter if we can't win the battle. As long as we have a new set of arguments that can challenge the rules of etiquette and dogma, it will be a great victory."

Zhao Duan was picking grapes while daydreaming, sorting out the whole logic in his mind.

He invited Zhengyang to meet him and have a debate with him first, in order to test whether this theory was feasible, in order to avoid mistakes when it was brought up during the formal discussion.

It was also considered that if Zhengyang could be defeated in advance and forced to retreat, it would undoubtedly be better for the empress.

"Brother?" Zhao Pan couldn't help but call out softly, saying, "The basket is full."

"Ah, really?"

Zhao Duan came back to his senses, smiled, looked at the sky, and took out a strip of metal stick with a scale from his arms. The stick was engraved with time scales. It was a special item produced by the Tianshi Mansion that could determine the time.

It's called "Time Ruler".

"Is it already 3 p.m." Zhao Duan frowned slightly, then picked up the basket and said:

"Go home first."

Zhao Pan was stunned for a moment and said, "It's just 3 p.m., can't you wait a while?"

In this era, there were no clocks, and the time ruler in Zhao Duan's hand was very expensive and produced in limited quantities, so most people could not afford it.

Therefore, it is easy for the agreed time to deviate and being late is normal.

"No more waiting." Zhao Duan said calmly:
“I hate people who are not punctual.”

……

“Gee…Gee…Gee…”

When Lu Cheng drove the carriage to Bailu Academy, he looked a little anxious.

When they came out, in order to avoid the sight of outsiders and keep a low profile, the group chose a remote route. Judging from the weather, they were a little late.

"Sir, here we are."

The carriage curtain was lifted, and Mr. Zhengyang stepped down, followed by Mr. Song and two other young and strong students.

Zhengyang raised his head and glanced at the fading gold plaque of the academy, his eyes filled with emotion.

He once studied here and revisited the place today.

However, when the group knocked on the door, they heard the household guarding the academy say:
"That gentleman has already left and said that you are late. If you want to meet him, come here on time at 5 pm tomorrow."

After saying this, the household closed the door. They didn't even know these scholars and were very disrespectful to them.

"This...this...it's only a quarter of an hour late, how can you leave?" Mr. Song was indignant.

Lu Cheng advised again:
"Sir, I'm afraid this guy is deliberately teasing us. Why don't we just forget it? It's more important to debate with Dong Xuan."

Zhengyang was silent for a moment, then turned around, returned to the carriage, and said:
"Come back tomorrow."

……

The day passed in a flash, and it was the second to last day of the academic discussion in Plum Garden.

Because Dong Xuan was lecturing at the Imperial College, more and more people in the city were paying attention to and discussing him, but fewer and fewer people came to visit Zhengyang.

Because everyone thought that Mr. Zhengyang would stay at home and prepare for battle.

However, no one expected that Zhengyang would once again lead a few disciples and quietly leave the inn.

This time, he set out at noon, and when he arrived at Bailu Academy, Zhao Duan had not arrived yet.

He arrived half an hour early, left his young disciples outside to guard the carriage, and entered the academy together with Lu Cheng and Mr. Song.

"Just wait here."

The householder guarding the academy took them to a courtyard and left.

This was the former lecture hall of Bailu Academy. Although it is relatively clean now, the house is old and dilapidated.

There were towering ancient trees overhead, but now most of them have withered, and the ground was covered with leaves that had not yet been swept away.

Zhengyang sat down at the stone table. In front of him was a plate of grapes placed by the villagers. He closed his eyes and waited for a while before he heard the sound of carriages and horses outside.

Then, a young man in gorgeous clothes came floating over.

Next to him was a beautiful girl wearing a yellow skirt and green jacket.

"Sir Zhao," Mr. Song spoke first, indirectly explaining the other party's identity to his mentor and several fellow disciples.

Lu Cheng was surprised that the empress's rumored lover was indeed a very good-looking man.

Mr. Zhengyang, wearing a square hat, a Confucian robe and a cloak, stood up, with his hands behind his back, and looked directly at Zhao Yanwang, the king feared by everyone in the capital, without any panic or fear.

The autumn wind blew past, and the beautiful beard fluttered, which made Zhao Duan's eyes light up and he exclaimed:
"Are you Mr. Zhengyang, the famous man in the Great Yu Dynasty who has been guarding tombs in Yunfu for ten years?"

Zhengyang? The person that Big Brother wants to meet is the great scholar who has recently caused a sensation in the city?

Zhao Pan was greatly surprised, and looked at the man curiously with his dark eyes, which were like purple grapes hit by autumn frost.

"It is me," Mr. Zhengyang nodded, his expression subtle:

"I have heard of the reputation of Envoy Zhao for a long time, but I didn't expect that he would invite me here through the mouth of a student like me. What's the matter?"

Zhao Duan smiled in surprise:

"What you said is not right, old man. Didn't you take the initiative to find me?"

Zhengyang said calmly:

"What I'm looking for is someone who says that the heart is the truth and that knowledge and action are one."

Zhao Duan sat leisurely on the stone bench opposite the stone table, while Zhao Pan stood behind him curiously.

For a moment, the withered fallen leaves on the ground rolled and tumbled in the late autumn wind. In this quiet academy, the Zhao brothers and sisters and the Zhengyang master and apprentice, separated by a stone table, actually had a sense of confrontation.

Zhao Duan smiled and said seriously:
"That's right, I was the one who said that."

Is that you?
As soon as the words came out, Lu Cheng and Mr. Song were both stunned, the former frowned and the latter had a blank expression.

Of course, the two of them didn't believe that the man who could say such words that made their mentor come to look for him twice could be such a warrior.

Even if he was a legendary warrior who was knowledgeable in poetry and political affairs.

But scholarship is ultimately a field that is very different from the first two.

Mr. Zhengyang's serious face showed a reserved expression as he said:

"Lord Zhao, I came here with sincerity, hoping to discuss something with the scholar who said that the heart is the truth."

Zhao Duan still smiled and said, "Old gentleman, do you think I'm joking?"

"Is not it?"

"Of course not."

Mr. Zhengyang frowned slightly. Even with his knowledge and cultivation, he was unhappy at this moment, and his expression became a little colder:
"So, that set of rhetoric was made by you? Has the envoy also studied the knowledge of the saints?"

Zhao Duan smiled and said, "I know a little bit, and I do think about it sometimes, but I rarely discuss it with anyone."

Mr. Zhengyang snorted, with a hint of annoyance, and said simply:

"Well, I won't ask you where you heard that from. Whether it was Dong Xuan who said that or it was really what you thought, since you said it was, I want to ask you, why did you say this to my disciple?
The heart is the reason, the conscience leads to the unity of knowledge and action. How can this be explained? Do you have different opinions on my Zhengyang School and the knowledge of ancient and modern saints? "

He did not dwell on who the original author was. In his opinion, these words were most likely spoken by Dong Xuan through Zhao Duan's mouth.

What he cared about was only the teachings of the famous Confucian scholar behind Zhao Duan.

"Insights? I do have some."

Zhao Duan smiled and said:

"I have been reading recently and have some insights, so I wrote a short poem."

He recalled briefly and calmly said:

Children know how to love and grow up to know how to respect. Saints from ancient times to today share this feeling.

Generally, a house is built on a foundation, but I have never heard of a hill being built without a site.

The sentimental notes are passed on and the subtle details are turned over and over.

Cherish your friends and remember that the greatest happiness is in the present.

The poem is finished!

The wind stops!

Mr. Zhengyang's expression suddenly changed.

(End of this chapter)