Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

The works included are:

Commentaries on the Analects, Commentaries on the Book of Documents, Commentaries on the Book of Poetry, Commentaries on Rites, Commentaries on Rites, Commentaries on Politics, The Book of Weeping, Commentaries on the Tao Te Ching, Commentaries on the Yin Fu Jing, The Essence of the Eight Trigrams Diagram, The River Chart, The Emperor's Heart Mirror, The Precious Mirror of the Heart, The Theory of the Harmony of the Three Teachings, The Correct Theory of the Spring and Autumn Annals, The Theory of the Return to the Way in the Spring and Autumn Annals, The Theory of the Correct Names of Heaven and Earth, Commentaries on the Auspicious Symbols of the Book of Changes, The Book of Divine Enlightenment...

Zhao Yuan picked up "The Emperor's Heart" and opened it, surprisingly finding it quite interesting; it had a flavor that blended Confucianism and Legalism with elements from various other schools of thought.

Looking back at the commentary on the Analects, it is of a very high standard.

Looking at the commentary on the Book of Documents again, I'm shocked! Are the viewpoints really that radical?

Zhao Yuan even suspected that it was written by a time traveler.

Zhao Yuan didn't read it all; instead, he flipped through the pages randomly, reading whichever page he landed on.

It can be largely confirmed that Long Changqi was a truly great Confucian scholar who did not adhere to worldly traditions. His academic thought was very "modern" and highly compatible with Zhao Yuan's thinking.

Chapter 3600 Commentary on the Scriptures

His commentaries on scriptures, while sometimes unorthodox, are often quite reasonable.

Upon further examination of Long Changqi's works, such as "Commentary on the Yin Fu Jing," "The Essence of the Bagua Diagram," and "The He Tu," Zhao Yuan discovered that this man was also a mathematician.

Unfortunately, he has been dead for decades.

Unfortunately, in another time and space, all of Long Changqi's works were lost.

This old gentleman, despite making so many outrageous statements back then, was still able to win over many great scholars, which shows how high his academic level was.

Zhao Yuan picked up his brush and wrote a decree: "Release the ban on all books owned by Long Changqi. Summon Li Chun and Liu Yannian."

Lifting the ban is not an encouragement to spread the ideas, as some of them are too radical and do not conform to the political correctness of ancient dynasties.

Whether these disciplines can form a school of thought depends on the efforts of Long Changqi's disciples and grand-disciples.

The emperor rode out of the Donghua Gate and delivered imperial edicts to Li Chun and Liu Yannian, who were staying at the inn. The two men happily tidied their clothes and stepped out.

As for the books, they were transported to the Ministry of Rites.

The Ministry of Rites organized people to make copies, which were then stored in the Imperial Library.

Hu Anguo was completely bewildered when he received the assignment, and curiously picked up "The True Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals".

He himself is an expert on the Spring and Autumn Annals, so naturally he would read this book first.

As he read, Hu Anguo put down his book and exclaimed in amazement: "This person has many strange and unusual theories, yet every sentence is based on extensive sources, and those strange theories all have a basis... It's a pity that I have no chance to meet such an extraordinary person."

Hu Anguo did not continue reading, but instead turned back to the first page.

He read the book, reflected on it, and compared it with his own understanding of the Spring and Autumn Annals.

It was very inspiring, and Hu Anguo even considered rewriting his own "Spring and Autumn Annals".

Xie Liangzuo, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, opened the "Zhouyi Xiangfu Commentary" and couldn't put it down after reading just two pages.

This was originally Long Changqi's masterpiece in his later years.

how to say?

The level of Yi studies in Sichuan shocked the Cheng brothers, and Long Changqi was the leading figure in Yi studies in Sichuan.

Long Changqi's knowledge of the I Ching was unparalleled in the world.

The officials of the Ministry of Rites all stopped doing their work and picked up a copy of Long Changqi's posthumous works to read.

……

Liu Yannian went to the side hall to wait, and not long after, Li Chun also arrived.

Immediately afterward, a middle-aged scholar arrived, who looked to be about thirty or forty years old.

Liu Yannian completely ignored Li Chun, but bowed to the middle-aged man: "I am Liu Yannian from Qingjiang. May I ask your honorable name?"

The middle-aged scholar returned the greeting, saying, "Ding Zhifu of Yongjia. Greetings."

"I've heard so much about you," Liu Yannian said politely.

The Yongjia School had not yet risen to prominence, and Liu Yannian had never even heard of it.

The man before them, Ding Zhifu, was the son of Ding Changqi, the second patriarch of the Yongjia School.

The core ideas of the Yongjia School during the Southern Song Dynasty are as follows:

First, the main objective was to resist the Jin invaders.

Whether serving as civil officials or joining the army, many disciples of the Yongjia School personally participated in the wars.

Second, we attach importance to history.

They advocate learning from history and summarizing the principles of national rise and fall.

Third, we must emphasize practical learning.

They advocated applying what they learned, emphasized the role of industry and commerce, and promoted the simultaneous development of industry, agriculture, and commerce.

Liu Yannian inquired, "May I ask whether you follow Meng or Xun?"

Ding Zhifu countered, "Why can't we respect Mencius and Xunzi equally?"

The two were clearly not on the same page; Liu Yannian said "zun" as in "obey," while Ding Zhifu said "zun" as in "respect."

They wanted to debate, but suddenly a large number of officials arrived.

Taking advantage of the arrival of scholars from the three schools in the capital, Zhao Yuan is going to convene a grand lecture on the classics!

People arrived at the main hall one after another. Zhao Yuan sat in the main seat, while the others sat in two rows.

After the prayer, Zhao Yuan asked, "Which one of you is Liu Chang's nephew?"

Liu Yannian stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your subject Liu Yannian greets Your Majesty!"

Liu Yannian held a high-ranking official position in the Ming Dynasty, but he voluntarily resigned. He could barely refer to himself as "your subject" in front of the emperor.

Zhao Yuan then asked, "Who is a disciple of Long Changqi?"

Li Chun stepped forward and said, "This humble commoner, Li Chun, pays his respects to Your Majesty!"

Zhao Yuan asked again, "Who is Ding Changqi's son?"

Ding Zhifu stepped forward and said, "Your subject Ding Zhifu greets Your Majesty."

The title of "minister" for Ding Zhifu is a bit of a stretch. He held an official position in the former Song Dynasty, but did not serve in the Ming Dynasty.

Zhao Yuan said, "Let's not argue about whether human nature is good or evil today."

"Even if we argue until tomorrow morning, we still won't be able to figure it out, and they'll just keep arguing and making things up."

"Let's start with etiquette. The officials should not participate; let's listen to their debate."

Liu Yannian debated propriety in Luoyang, but now he had to debate human nature: "Propriety originates from human nature. If one does not understand human nature, one cannot understand propriety."

Zhao Yuan's eyes were half-closed, and his smile was very bright; he seemed to be in a very good mood.

But the cabinet ministers knew that the emperor was angry.

The Yongjia School of thought, originating from Wenzhou, was naturally opposed to the Liu family of Qingjiang.

The former promotes industry, agriculture, and commerce in tandem, while the latter emphasizes agriculture and suppresses commerce.

Ding Zhifu immediately retorted: "How could propriety originate from sex?"

"Rituals are used to suppress one's natural instincts!"

“Indeed!” Li Chun echoed.

One was Ding Changqi's son, and the other was Long Changqi's grand-disciple; the two of them joined forces to attack Liu Yannian.

Chapter 3601 Debating Scripture

Liu Yannian was no ordinary man either, and immediately retorted: "If you say that rites are fabricated, then if rites were not created, would there be no filial piety and brotherly love in the world?"

"If there were no creation rites, would there be no compassion in the world?"

"Therefore, rites begin with Heaven and are perfected by man; this is the unity of Heaven and man."

Respecting elders and caring for younger generations are natural etiquette, even without any formal agreement.

Therefore, etiquette arises from human nature.

Ding Zhifu said, "Humans must form groups, groups must contend, contention leads to chaos, chaos leads to separation, separation leads to weakness, and weakness cannot overcome things."

"People are gathered together by etiquette; those who lack etiquette cannot survive."

This passage means that humans are social animals and cannot survive alone.

With communities come moral rules, otherwise chaos will ensue.

Communities without basic morality cannot survive and would have been eliminated by nature long ago.

Community perspectives were one of the driving forces behind Zhao Yuan's elevation of Xunzi to the status of a classic text, and also the reason why Xunzi was frequently used as an essay topic in the Song Dynasty's imperial examinations.

Liu Yannian retorted, "Sages follow their nature to achieve propriety, while virtuous people understand propriety and seek their true nature. Both are internal matters!"

This means that sages naturally gather together the innate virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom to form the rites.

Wise people must first learn etiquette and morality before they can understand their true nature.

Whether a saint or a sage, their virtue stems from their innate goodness, not from external traits or etiquette.

Li Chun chuckled: "The idea that sages act according to their nature and establish rituals is precisely the argument that rituals are hypocritical."

"Nonsense." Liu Yannian didn't even bother to refute, because Li Chun was misinterpreting his meaning.

Liu Yannian bowed to the emperor and said, “Your Majesty, Xunzi’s use of law to incorporate rituals has led to the chaos of rituals. The entire book is a collection of arguments from Shen Buhai and Han Fei.”

"If we elevate it to the status of a classic text, it may bring chaos and disorder to the world!"

This is an attack on Xunzi, claiming he was a Legalist spy infiltrated within the Confucian school...

Ding Zhifu immediately retorted: "The law is established by the ruler, and the rites originate from the teacher. The ruler and the teacher go hand in hand to achieve perfection."

Li Chun was even more aggressive, pointing at Liu Yannian and accusing him of "how dare you! You actually think of having a teacher but no ruler?"

Liu Yannian was startled and quickly bowed to the emperor, saying, "Your Majesty, I had no such intention."

"I just feel that Xunzi was too biased towards laws and regulations, and neglected rites and music."

Liu Yannian knew very well that he couldn't win the argument today.

Ding Zhifu and Li Chun worked in tandem, the former reasoning with him and the latter stabbing him in the back, leaving him caught between two equally difficult situations.

Li Chun did it on purpose; he was just seeking revenge for his sect's wrongdoing.

Liu Chang's labeling of Long Changqi led to the suppression of Long Changqi's academic work.

Today, Li Chun is going to label Liu Yannian.

Use their methods against them!

"Alright, no need to argue anymore."

Zhao Yuan finally stepped in to resolve the matter: "When the Great Ming Code was drafted, one of the principles was to put people first."

"Our Great Ming Dynasty was founded on the principle of putting people first."

“I elevated Xunzi to the classics because I also value its human-centered approach.”

"Whether they are officials or scholars."

"Future research on Xunzi should begin with the 'people' in this book."

According to Xunzi, the loyalty of civil and military officials to the emperor was not to the emperor himself, but to the way of the emperor.

“If the ruler is not virtuous, then Confucius could leave the State of Lu, and I could have raised an army to overthrow the State of Song.”

"What is Xunzi's Way of the Ruler? The Way of the Ruler is the Way of the People."

"Humans are the most intelligent of all beings because they can form groups and use etiquette and laws to bind themselves together and create a united force."

"How does one become a wise ruler? It is by ensuring that the people have enough to eat and wear, that they can live and work in peace and contentment, and that talented people can make good use of their abilities."

"Xunzi's concept of the relationship between ruler and subject is essentially a contract, in which both parties must abide by the contract."

“Nowadays, I always abide by the contract, but corrupt officials and powerful gentry do not!”

"Should the powerful clans of Jiangxi be regulated?"