My father is Jiajing

Chapter 288: All the poor people in the world are happy with the great protection

At this moment, Zhao Zhenji and Li Chunfang no longer had any complacency in their hearts. They were both convinced by Zhu Zaigui's words.

Li Chunfang, who had not spoken for a long time, looked at Zhu Zaigui with bright eyes and asked, "Your Majesty, how will we find the contemporary literature of our Ming Dynasty?"

Zhu Zaigui chuckled, "That depends on whether you two have the ability to identify pearls."

After saying this with a smile, Zhu Zaigui asked again: "What are your views on the development of literature since ancient times?"

After hearing Zhu Zaigui's question, Zhao Zhenji and Li Chunfang thought for a while. They certainly had opinions, but after listening to Zhu Zaigui's previous words, they also felt that their previous views might be a bit narrow and could not provide high-level guidance.

So naturally, the two of them would not express their original opinions anymore, but instead looked directly at Zhu Zaigui, wanting to hear new opinions and ideas from him.

"Your Majesty, our previous views were too conservative and it was difficult to expand our horizons. Please enlighten us, Your Majesty."

Zhao Zhenji and Li Chunfang finally became humble and began to take the issues raised by Zhu Zaigui seriously.

At the same time, the two of them were full of expectations for the newly rebuilt Hongwenguan. They felt as if they were only a thin layer of window paper away from a completely new cultural era. And the person who could break this layer of window paper for them was the fifteen-year-old Prince Yu!
At this time, looking at the humble look of Zhao Zhenji and Li Chunfang, Zhu Zaigui felt secretly very happy. This was much better than the feeling of using his status to suppress others just now.

Zhu Zaigui said modestly: "These thoughts of mine are just my personal opinion, you two just listen to them."

When Zhao Zhenji and Li Chunfang heard this, they immediately leaned forward and pretended to listen.

Zhu Zaigui cleared his throat and began to speak: "Since I was enlightened, I have read books from the simplest to the most complex, starting with the simplest Thousand Character Classic. Later, I learned the teachings of ancient sages from the tutors and lecturers sent by Your Majesty."

"After that, I continued to study on my own, from the Hundred Schools of Thought in the pre-Qin period to the collections of modern literature. In the past two years, I have also been reading the Yongle Encyclopedia. It can be said that I have read thousands of volumes."

"But when I was reading these books, I couldn't help but think about a question: Why are the teachings of the saints so obscure? Why are the writings of later generations so plain and easy to understand, even if they are based on the writings of their predecessors?"

"Later, through constant reading and thinking, I discovered a pattern: the compatibility of literature is constantly decreasing!"

"Highbrow writings are always difficult to understand, while folk songs are easy to understand. For example, the Book of Songs, which is regarded as one of the Confucian classics, would probably be just widely circulated folk songs if it were in the Zhou Dynasty before Confucius."

"But as these classic poems and lyrics became popular, they were collected by the Zhou Dynasty's poetry collectors and gradually became works handed down from generation to generation. Even after being edited and selected by Confucius, there were still many easy-to-understand national styles included. This shows that the development of literature is a process of downward development."

"However, as the trend of development became increasingly exaggerated, some people who had only learned the essence and superficial knowledge of the ancients began to follow the path of philology and imitation, thinking that writing articles in a similar way to the ancients was the right way."

"Little do you know that this path is nothing more than a dead end of mediocrity in my opinion. As the saying goes, those who learn from me live, and those who imitate me die. If future generations can learn the essence of the ancient saints, then they can naturally follow the footsteps of the ancients and embark on the road of sainthood." "But if future generations, when learning from the ancients, only emphasize the ancient methods and ancient flavors, and believe that the ancient methods cannot be changed and the ancient ways cannot be altered, in fact, this is already inferior."

When Zhu Zaigui said this, Zhao Zhenji and Li Chunfang's eyes were immediately filled with shock, especially the sentence "Those who learn from me will live, those who imitate me will die", which made them feel like they were hearing the morning bell at dusk, which was simply deafening.

They never expected that Prince Yu had reached such a high level of study at such a young age. He was truly a naturally intelligent person. Isn't it a great fortune to be able to work under such a smart person?
At this moment, the two of them couldn't help but get excited about the arrangements that Emperor Jiajing had made for them.

Originally, the two of them thought that they came to Prince Yu's side to serve as backup for him until the right time.

But now, after this acquaintance, the two finally realized Prince Yu's ambitions. If he has the possibility to inherit the throne in the future, what a blessing it will be for the Ming Dynasty.

Zhao Zhenji and Li Chunfang stood up and bowed excitedly: "Your Majesty's words are deafening, and we two envoys feel enlightened. We two are willing to serve you and help you develop the literary style of the Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Zaigui chuckled and said, "Then I will not be hypocritical and will accept the promise from both of you."

"I will not say these empty words now. From now on, one of you will be the editor-in-chief of Hongwenguan and the other will be the editor-in-chief of Daming Bookstore."

"The Hongwenguan is responsible for compiling the imperial court's official canons and collecting and reviewing literature from all over the world. From now on, any collection of articles in the Ming Dynasty that is to be printed and published must be reviewed and approved by the Hongwenguan before it can be photocopied and published."

"The Hongwenguan will also collate and proofread the ancient books and modern works that have been published, and then publish them by the Daming Book Bureau to show that they are authentic! From now on, all booksellers in the world must have the Hongwenguan's authorization before they can accept the books of the world for printing and sale. Otherwise, all books and collections will be treated as private editions."

"Of course, you cannot abuse your authority and restrict others from publishing personal collections of essays and stories. Because what you need to do is to guide and review the progress and development of articles in the world, not to restrict the rights of others with subjective opinions."

"At the same time, all books and collections that have been approved, after obtaining the Hongwenguan publishing number, whether they are photocopied and sold by Daming Bookstore or other booksellers, must pay the person the exclusive profit of the book and collection to encourage him to benefit from it and to cultivate his health and morality."

"After all, while writers are shining for their ideals, they also need to eat. We at Hongwenguan can't guarantee anything else, but we still have to fulfill this obligation.

“We cannot allow those who have worked hard to write good books and articles, and spread good culture, to go hungry.”

"This is not in line with my original intention, nor is it in line with the concept of the saintly world of great harmony. After all, I don't want the tragedy of Du Shisheng to happen again in my dynasty. I want to give these talented people who are not good at the imperial examinations a dignified and respectable future, so that they can all have their own room in the mansion of Daming, and let them smile happily."

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(End of this chapter)