Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 24 The king and his ministers trust and understand each other!
"Master Lu, help me!"

Lu Zhi looked at Liu Bian who bowed deeply to him, and felt relieved but also a little headache.

He could finally see what kind of person His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was.

He is treacherous and overbearing. He says nice things when asking for help from others, but he will never change his mind easily because of what others say.

According to a commissar surnamed Zhao, this person has a dog face.

When Lu Zhi mentioned the issue of completely lifting the ban on political parties, Liu Bian tried to refuse in every possible way. But when Liu Bian asked him for help, he couldn't help but seem a little... flattering?
Yang Ci's private evaluation of the prince's horoscope had already spread, and even Lu Zhi, a scholar from a hostile school, had to admire Yang Ci's ability to judge people.

However, the prince was still willing to get close to the scholars, so it was not difficult to ask him to help smooth the relationship with the scholars in Yingchuan.

Xun Shuang, who was known as "the eight dragons of the Xun family, and the unparalleled Ciming", was also a good friend of his. This Ciming Gong, who studied "Fei's Book of Changes" and "Zuo's Spring and Autumn Annals" and strongly advocated "The Book of Zhou", was the leader of the ancient literature school, and could even be said to be the leader of the scholars all over the world. He was given the title of "great scholar" by the scholars.

"I will not hide this from Master Lu. I intend to support the study of ancient Chinese classics."

It was fine to chat and laugh when entering the door, but when talking about serious matters, Liu Bian resumed his status as the crown prince and brought out the word "Gu" again.

When he entered the door, he was asking for help from his teacher, and now he was making a request to the ancient literature school.

If you want to get promoted and become an official scholar of the Han Dynasty, you must provide support for me.

"Your Highness, the ancient classics have already published the 'Zhouguanli'."

Lu Zhi also changed his identity from the prince's tutor to a master of ancient Chinese classics, and negotiated with the prince in front of him.

"Master Lu, I can support the ancient literature school and establish it as an official school at the right time, while also preserving the modern literature school's niche. By then, the Book of Rites will be revised."

Hearing this, Lu Zhi couldn't help but sigh.

Liu Bian’s meaning is very clear, you ancient literature school didn’t give enough!
I can support you to become an official school, and I can also help the Modern Literature School to suppress you so that you will never be able to become an official school. The Modern Literature School will surely be happy to modify those contents in the "Yili" that are unfavorable to the emperor.

Lu Zhi knew that what the prince said was right. Compared with the entire school being kicked out of the official status and falling into the abyss, the mere modification of the content of the classics was not worth mentioning at all.

As for face?

No one is naive enough to think that this is just a simple academic dispute, right?
If the Ancient Literature School had become the official school, then the gentry of the Modern Literature School, such as the Runan Yuan family and the Hongnong Yang family, who were the leaders of the Modern Literature School, would have declined in an instant and become the fat meat on the chopping board of the Ancient Literature School gentry, being eaten up bit by bit. In the end, the Modern Literature School gentry would inevitably end up with their families destroyed.

Although according to the rules among the gentry, they would leave a bloodline to each other, and then rely on the inheritance of knowledge, it might not be impossible for them to rise again after a few generations.

But if the official school becomes the ancient literature school, how can the modern literature school gentry rise again?

Should he abandon his family tradition or sink into the society?
Anyway, as a scholar of the ancient literature school, Lu Zhi knew very well that if they were in the other place, they would definitely agree to the prince's conditions, even if the price was to change the meaning of the classics.

After a long while, Lu Zhi slowly said, "What does Your Highness want?"

"Duke Ciming entered the government as the Crown Prince's Junior Tutor."

Lu Zhi was stunned, and the word "impossible" was about to come out of his mouth subconsciously.

Xun Shuang relied on the reputation he had built up by refusing to be recruited by the three dukes and nine ministers for most of his life, which enabled him to become the leader of scholars today.

The scholars of the Later Han Dynasty were proud of refusing to be officials and being hermits. Even if they wanted to be an official, they had to decline three times. If they accepted it directly, they would be despised and criticized.

In addition, there are all kinds of inexplicable rules, such as the younger brother cannot become an official before the older brother. Yuan Wei once joked with his wife on his wedding night about his father-in-law Ma Rong, saying, "The younger brother was promoted before the older brother, and the world laughed at him."

Even the famous scholar Feng Guan from Runan, because his brother did not become an official, pretended to have a stroke after receiving the conscription order, leaving him speechless. He even forced himself not to say anything when his house was on fire, and just slowly walked out of the house to avoid the fire.

Xun Shuang, on the other hand, had cultivated his reputation as a leader among scholars, directly opening up opportunities for the entire Yingchuan Xun clan in the court and the local areas. If Xun Shuang, now nearly sixty years old, had accepted Liu Bian's invitation, he would have been ridiculed by scholars, who would have mocked him for "losing his integrity in his later years." "I have heard that Lord Ciming has a young daughter who is intelligent and talented," Liu Bian said, stopping short.

Lu Zhi's body trembled slightly, and he looked at Liu Bian with wide eyes.

During the Han Dynasty, the family backgrounds of relatives by marriage were generally not high.

If he were not of humble origin, who would become the emperor's sword to check and balance the scholars?
On the other hand, we are also wary of another female leader interfering in politics.

With the daughter of a scholar as his in-law, isn't the prince worried about the power of his in-laws?
Lu Zhi's expression was unusually serious, and his voice became somewhat low: "Your Highness, please be cautious!"

He is the leader of the ancient literature school, but he is also a minister of the Han Dynasty and the teacher of the prince. He can fight for the interests of the ancient literature school, but he cannot accept the price of turmoil in the country.

Lu Zhi was worried that although the prince was a wise and benevolent ruler, unlike the emperor, he was still young and could easily go astray, making decisions that would be like drinking poison to quench his thirst.

"Master Lu is truly a gentleman!"

Seeing that Lu Zhi's worry was evident in his words, Liu Bian couldn't help but express his admiration for Lu Zhi's character.

If someone else from the ancient literature school had come, they would probably have agreed on Xun Shuang's behalf long ago. They wouldn't have cared about the power of the foreign relatives, as long as the Lu family in Zhuo County prospered.

"Master Lu, even if the relatives are of humble origin, can we really prevent them from interfering in politics?"

Liu Bian actually didn't know whether his choice was right or wrong, but he knew that even if the relatives of the Han Dynasty were of humble origins, it was difficult to avoid them trying to interfere in politics or even try to seize power and usurp the throne.

In fact, in the feudal dynasty era, because of the status of the empress dowager and the queen as "kings", they could not avoid interfering in politics no matter what, and it all depended on the age and means of the emperor who ascended the throne.

Moreover, since Liu Bian dared to propose marriage to the Xun family of Yingchuan, he naturally had preventive measures in place.

"If I ascend the throne, the history books should record 'The Emperor's edict forbids women from interfering in government affairs, orders ministers not to report to the Empress Dowager and Empress, and prohibits the Empress' family from assisting in government affairs or receiving titles arbitrarily. This edict will be passed down to future generations, and those who violate it will be punished.' Is that okay, Master Lu?"

Lu Zhi did not reply immediately, but took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.

"If so, the Han Dynasty is fortunate, and the Crown Prince is virtuous!"

"But there is one thing I don't understand."

"If Lord Ciming knew of the Crown Prince's plan, the generous gift Your Highness promised to Lord Ciming would be worthless. Isn't Your Highness worried?"

Lu Zhi stroked his beard and looked at Liu Bian with a smile, and Liu Bian also looked at him with a smile.

The two of them said nothing, just looked at each other and smiled.

But gradually, Lu Zhi's laughter became louder and louder, and a few tears came out of the corners of his eyes.

He laughed at himself for wasting half his life, and laughed even more at himself for meeting a wise king who believed in and understood him at such an old age.

I only hope that God will give me twenty more years, so that I, Lu Zigan, can see the prosperous and wise ruler in twenty years!

-

PS: "The emperor issued an edict prohibiting women from interfering in government affairs, ordering ministers not to report to the empress dowager and the empress, and that the empress's family members were not allowed to assist in government affairs or receive titles indiscriminately. This edict will be passed down to future generations, and those who violate it will be punished."

Some people simply understand this as a suppression of empress dowagers and the complete elimination of empress dowagers, which is wrong.

"Not allowed to assist in government affairs" refers to the position of ministers entrusted with the care of the young emperor, who assist the young monarch. "Accepting titles indiscriminately" focuses on "accepting titles indiscriminately", which is similar to how He Jin was suddenly promoted from a wealthy family to the governor of Henan with a salary of 2,000 stones, and then promoted to the general without any merit. It also refers to the arbitrary conferring of titles on relatives by marriage, rather than not conferring them. It does not mean that relatives by marriage are completely abandoned, but it means that relatives by marriage are prevented from being suddenly promoted to high positions and that mediocre relatives by marriage will not be reused.

(End of this chapter)