Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 28 The world is bustling with people, all for profit
Looking at the way of debating the scriptures that did not even give the opponent the right to refute, Lu Zhi would have wanted to clap his hands and laugh if the occasion had not been inappropriate.

Ma Riti on the side pushed Lu Zhi and thought to himself, you old man, please restrain yourself. After all, the current topic is about the disaster. What will happen if you, the Prince's tutor, really laugh?

But if he were to put himself in Lu Zhi's shoes, Ma Riti would ask himself if he could be even worse than Lu Zhi.

In life, it is enough to have one virtuous disciple.

Having a disciple as gifted as the prince is something that all Confucian scholars in the world dream of.

It was the first time he had seen this kind of debate method. It was really brilliant. It did not aim to refute the other party, but directly solved the problem from the source, without giving the other party a chance to speak.

The prince has all the "benevolence, righteousness, and morality". To refute the prince is to refute "benevolence, righteousness, and morality". He even wants to challenge the scholars who support the theories of Confucius, Laozi, and Xunzi. Even the two top aristocratic families of the Han Dynasty, the Yuan family of Runan and the Yang family of Hongnong, would not dare to participate in such a battle. Look, no one even dares to stand up and refute the prince.

It goes without saying that Confucius and Laozi were very popular during the Han Dynasty, but what was overlooked by later generations was the terrifying popularity of Xunzi during the Han Dynasty.

Xunzi's terrifying popularity was due to several of his outstanding disciples.

Xunzi had little to do with Han Fei, Li Si, and Zhang Cang, but his disciples who remained popular during the Han Dynasty were Fuqiubo and Mao Heng.

Fuqiubo's disciple Shen Peigong wrote "Lu Shi" and Mao Heng wrote "Mao Shi", which are representatives of the Modern Text Classics and the Ancient Text Classics respectively. Xunzi's disciples and their disciples were spread across the modern and ancient schools. Naturally, Xunzi's fame remained high during the Han Dynasty.

Later generations all knew that Mencius was the "Second Sage", but they did not know that it was a title bestowed upon him by the Yuan Dynasty, while Xunzi was already called the "Second Sage" as early as the Later Han Dynasty.

The theory of "correspondence between Heaven and Man" originated in the Western Han Dynasty, but during the Han Dynasty, the theory of "correspondence between Heaven and Man" was not widely recognized among scholars.

Especially after the Later Han Dynasty institutionalized the "exemption of three officials due to disasters and anomalies", the "theory of the correspondence between heaven and man" harmed the interests of scholars, and even the same modern literary school could not tolerate the "theory of the correspondence between heaven and man".

If there is only one thing that can unite the modern literature school and the ancient literature school to face the outside world, it must be to confront the supporters of the "theory of correspondence between heaven and man".

To put it bluntly, Liu Bian's debate skills were to put real interests on the table and use the huge network of relationships among the three officials, their subordinates, and their students and former officials to shut up most people.

Who doesn’t want to work until death on the three public officials?

As a scholar whose interests are tied together with those of Yang Ci, Yuan Wei and Zhang Ji, who would oppose it?
The Nine Ministers would not object either. Those who could become the Three Dukes basically did not have many years to live. If they could outlast these old men, they would be the ones to take the throne, and sooner or later they would be the beneficiaries.

The world is bustling with people, all seeking profit, and the purpose of debating scriptures is nothing more than to serve the interests of each party.

But this play cannot be a one-man show by Liu Bian alone. Liu Bian returned to his seat and turned his gaze to the three officials.

I admit that you are the moral role models of scholars all over the world, and I have also kept your positions as the Three Dukes. Why are you still pretending to be deaf and dumb and not expressing your views?
I treated you to two bowls of noodles and only charged you for one. How come you don’t even want to pay for one bowl?

"What the prince said is very true!"

Zhang Ji, who was one of the three highest officials but had the most unstable position, was the first to agree with the prince's point of view. He was a person who put profit above all else, otherwise he would not have risked the wrath of the world to get close to the eunuchs.

Furthermore, isn’t Zhang Ji’s notoriety in the scholar circle now that of another Gai Sheng?
The prince is in power. If he does not submit to the prince, it is uncertain whether he can keep his life and property in the future, let alone become one of the three highest officials.

After Zhang Ji's statement, officials of the Sikong Mansion and Zhang Ji's disciples and former officials also echoed his opinion.

Yang Ci and Yuan Wei exchanged a glance and nodded, no longer hesitating. "Your Highness is absolutely right!"

Are you kidding? You took the prince's benefits but did nothing. With the temperament of this "tyrannical" prince, do you think that this "conspirator like Emperor Xiaowen" will one day make you understand what "the value of a jailer" means?
"What the prince said is very true!"

As the three ministers expressed their opinions, the nine ministers followed suit, and the other two thousand stone officials also echoed them. The "Theory of Correspondence between Heaven and Man" respected by Emperor Xiaowu was actually kicked off the platform by Liu Bian.

Naturally, Liu Bian didn't need to worry about the specific disaster relief matters after that. If he had to worry about everything, what was the point of the civil and military officials?
After the court was dismissed, the Secretariat went to discuss with the Minister of Agriculture Cao Song and the Minister of the Imperial Household Tian Fen to come up with a specific disaster relief plan.

As the court meeting was dissolved, all officials also dispersed.

The three ministers and officials from the Secretariat put on their shoes and prepared to go straight to the Secretariat to discuss disaster relief matters. At this time, a middle-aged man dressed in the clothes of a eunuch came straight to Lu Zhi.

"Minister Lu, His Highness invites you."

Lu Zhi looked back. Although he always hated eunuchs, he still smiled and showed some respect to the newcomer, and nodded to indicate that he understood.

Few of the other officials showed any contempt or malice towards this eunuch, because he was a rare virtuous eunuch among the eunuchs - Lu Qiang!
Lü Qiang, whose courtesy name was Han Sheng, was a humble and law-abiding man. The emperor granted him the title of Duke of Duxiang, but Lü Qiang firmly declined the offer. He also spoke out about the Party Imprisonment Incident and wrote a letter to the emperor to persuade Liu Hong to appoint loyal and good officials, reduce taxes, encourage agriculture and sericulture, and open up channels for communication. Even the scholars could not lie and regard Lü Qiang as an evil eunuch.

Of course, the attitude of most scholars towards Lu Qiang was at most not disgusted, and there were very few scholars like Lu Zhi who responded with a smile.

"Since the Crown Prince has summoned you, Zigan should go first and then come to the Secretariat later."

Liu Tao looked at Lu Zhi with a hint of envy and even jealousy in his eyes. Although he was a member of the Modern Literature School, he was a relative of the Han royal family. Why did the prince keep Lu Zhi as the Shangshu instead of him as the Shangshu Ling?
"So the plant will go."

Lu Zhi nodded, bowed to the three ministers and his colleagues in the Secretariat, and then went to the side hall under the guidance of Lu Qiang.

Looking at Lu Zhi's back, although Liu Bian was not yet the emperor, four big words could not help but emerge in the minds of all officials as they watched him leave.

Jane is in the emperor's heart!
When Lu Zhi reached the side hall, Liu Bian was already kneeling on a bamboo mat, supporting his head with his left hand on the armrest, looking lazy.

"Master Lu, please sit down. Don't bow. Let's have a cup of tea first."

Liu Bian, who had almost turned the grand court meeting into a one-man show in the Jiade Hall today, could not help but feel exhausted at this moment. Lu Zhi did not accuse Liu Bian of frivolous behavior. He stubbornly bowed and bowed before sitting down.

Paying respect to the prince was out of the etiquette between the monarch and his subjects, and not correcting the prince was out of the love a teacher has for his student.

When he was studying at the Imperial College, he had debated with others on classics and gained great fame in the academy. However, whenever the excitement of the debate subsided, he would feel mentally exhausted. The prince was so young, and today's court meeting must have exhausted his energy.

Moreover, the fact that the prince was so casual when interacting with him actually showed that the prince truly cared about his teacher, and that he was not just pretending to respect him out of the so-called teacher-student relationship, but was close to him from the heart.

Thinking of this, Lu Zhi's gaze towards the prince became more gentle.

Unexpectedly, Lu Zhi would one day become a fortunate minister.

(End of this chapter)