"At this time, a scholar from Yunlu Academy took over the position of Prime Minister of the Cabinet. He did not continue to adhere to the ideals of his predecessors and resolutely threw himself under Renzong's command. He withstood the abuse and resolved the matter for Renzong. The noisy struggle for the foundation of the nation finally came to an end.
"Because of this, Yunlu Academy was loathed by Renzong. He realized that the existence of Yunlu Academy was not conducive to the rule of imperial power. At this time, Cheng Hui proposed the establishment of the Imperial College for the court to nurture its own talents.
"And the decline of the Confucian school began."
This was the origin of the struggle between Yunlu Academy and the Imperial College over the orthodoxy of Confucianism.
The Imperial College was a national university, and Yunlu Academy was a private school. How could a private school beat a national school … Xu Qi'an suddenly realized.
Xu Xinnian finished speaking with a tone of examination. "Big Brother, what do you think … Yes, I'm referring to the struggle for the foundation of the nation. It has nothing to do with academics."
Do you think a bumpkin like Big Brother can't answer when it comes to academics? Xu Qi'an ridiculed in his heart and laughed. "On the surface, it's a struggle for the foundation of the nation, but in reality, it's a struggle for power.
"If a scholar wants to achieve his ambitions, he must hold great power, and the amount of power in a country is fixed. When you hold more power, others will lose it. The highest realm of the struggle is to overthrow the emperor and become a crownless emperor. "
Xu Xinnian was casually testing the school, but his expression changed when he heard this.
Xu Qi'an glanced at him. "What, am I wrong?"
Very right, but these words can't be spoken carelessly … Xu Xinnian took a deep breath. "Continue."
Xu Qi'an nodded. "No matter how powerful the Confucian school's Dragonslayer Art is, imperial power is still stronger. Learn the arts and the martial arts, and be sent to the imperial family. This sentence explains everything. Since ancient times, whether greedy or virtuous, as long as one is a powerful official, there will be no good end. "
Controlling the court was only temporary. In the end, it will be settled because officials will always be officials. In his previous life, when Xu Qi'an read history, there were too many crownless emperors. Which one had a good end?
Cao Aman didn't count, but the collapse of imperial power during the chaotic era of war was another matter.
Xu Xinnian asked anxiously, "Is there any way to break it?"
What his big brother had told him, the academy would not teach him.
"No solution!" Xu Qi'an shook his head and sighed. "The imperial court is like a battlefield. The party fights for a moment, but the whole family dies in the crematorium."
His words were strange, but there seemed to be a thousand years of literature brewing in his eyes. Looking at those eyes, Xu Xinnian was stunned.
"But Big Brother has another idea." Xu Qi 'an changed the topic.
"Big Brother, please speak."
"The deeds of Great Scholar Qian are a living example. When you can affect the destiny of a country, you will go from a scholar who is attached to the imperial power to an expert who can stand on equal footing with the imperial power."
Xu Xinnian's eyes brightened. As soon as a look of joy appeared on his face, he heard Xu Qi 'an say leisurely, "Erlang is smart and worth teaching."
"…" Only then did Xu Erlang realize that he was the one who was testing him …
Xu Qi 'an did not continue to speak. He was thinking about a question in his mind. Although the future of Yunlu Academy was cut off in the officialdom, it was still the holy land of the Confucian cultivation system.
It was only the career that was cut off.
Although Xu Xinnian did not say whether it was the career of the Academy or the whole Confucian system that had begun to weaken, Xu Qi 'an thought it was the latter.
Because he combined what Xu Erlang said at the waterfall: For two hundred years, the highest level of the Confucian system was only the third level.
Was it because after the third level, the Confucian system had to enter the court as an official? Or was it related to something like the destiny of the Confucian school?
"Then what does this stele mean? Why is it standing here? "He asked.
Xu Xinnian stared at the words on the stele with a complicated look in his eyes. He sighed and said, "This is the follow-up, or part of the fight for the orthodoxy of the Confucian school.
After he established the Imperial College, he knew that if he wanted to surpass the Yunlu Academy, he had to have his own education system. Otherwise, the students of the Imperial College would still be the students of the Yunlu Academy.
"So he concentrated on studying the classics of the sages, re-annotated them, and integrated them into his own thoughts. After thirteen years, he finally created an education system that surpassed the master. "
"Uphold justice and destroy human desire?" Xu Qi 'an was moved.
Xu Erlang nodded. With the conversation just now, he began to be willing to discuss academic issues with his rough cousin.
He said, "Cheng Yasheng believes that everything in the world follows a certain law, which is called 'reason'. Reason is the most essential thing in the world and also the most correct.
"Everything depends on reason to flourish. But people will lose themselves and reason in the intertwining of everything in the world. "
"Because of that, you want to uphold justice and destroy human desire?" Xu Qi 'an asked.
Upholding justice and destroying human desire was the outline of the Imperial College's school of thought. Xu Qi 'an was waiting for Xu Xinnian's explanation as to how to operate it.
Xu Xinnian continued, "Cheng Yasheng compiled a set of rules for the sages. If a scholar follows this set of rules, he will not make a mistake. It is correct and in line with the laws of heaven and earth.
"This set of rules elevates loyalty, filial piety, chastity, and righteousness to the height of heavenly reason."
Xu Xinnian sneered, "If the monarch wants the minister to die, the minister has no choice but to die; if the father wants the son to die, the son has no choice but to die; for the sake of righteousness, one has to sacrifice one's life; for the sake of chastity, one has to die."
Xu Qi 'an listened in silence and suddenly asked, "Then what does Cijiu think? Is this right or wrong?"
Xu Xinnian was stunned. He looked at his cousin blankly and opened his mouth to speak, but a mysterious power blocked his throat, making him unable to speak.
Xu Qi 'an understood that this power was called "Thought Shackle".
"That's why there's this tablet?" Xu Qi 'an turned his gaze back to the inscription on the tablet.
"Yes." Xu Erlang nodded, "The battle between Yunlu Academy and the Imperial College is a battle of academics, a battle of ideals. However, this tablet has stood in the Secondary Saint Academy for two hundred years and it has never fallen. As long as it doesn't fall, Yunlu Academy will not be able to defeat the Imperial College.
"The dean has been sitting in the academy for more than ten years, studying intensively, trying to refute the things recorded on the tablet, trying to create a more mature and correct set of ideals, but he failed."
"Because it represents truth, represents correctness," Xu Qi 'an said.
"Yes." Xu Xinnian sighed, "It's not only the dean, in fact, generations of great scholars and teachers of the academy have been competing with this tablet, but no one has succeeded. How can an ordinary person refute the thoughts of a sage? "
"Then the blank tablet on the side …" Xu Qi 'an had a guess in his heart.
"The dean put it there, but for more than ten years, he has never written on it." Xu Xinnian pointed to the table next to the blank tablet and said,
"Later, there were scholars and great scholars who tried to inscribe on the stone tablet to compete with Cheng Yasheng's inscription, but it would be erased the next day. However, the pen and inkstone on the table were left. Perhaps the dean also had a trace of expectation.
"Because of this, whenever the scholars suddenly have a whim and feel that they are outstanding, they will come here to inscribe. Unfortunately, the person the dean was looking forward to never appeared.
"I used to think that I could also inscribe on the stone tablet …" At this point, Xu Xinnian did not continue. Obviously, he did not intend to tell his cousin about his youthful frivolity, lest he died in society again.
"To be righteous, to repay the king's kindness, to be remembered for generations …" Xu Qi 'an faced the tablet and was silent for a moment, then said in a deep voice,
"To say goodbye to the past, big brother asks you, which is more important, the king or the people of the world?"
Xu Xinnian did not hesitate, "Of course, the people of the world."
Xu Qi 'an asked again, "Then why do you study?"
Xu Xinnian subconsciously said, "To be loyal to the king and to serve the country …"
After saying that, he was stunned.
Xu Qi 'an did not care and continued to ask, "Is leaving a name in history really the lifelong pursuit of a scholar?"
Xu Xinnian did not answer, his silence said everything.
What the two great scholars of Yunlu Academy did in order to freeload for poetry also said everything.
Xu Qi 'an sighed faintly.
If the king wants the minister to die, the minister has to die. Why?
If the father wants the son to die, the son has to die. Why?
Can't this shitty society have more human rights? Xu Qi 'an smiled and said, "I am not a scholar, but I also want to write something. To say goodbye to the past, help me grind."
Xu Xinnian frowned.
Xu Qi 'an said, "Anyway, the brush and ink are here. Isn't it for people to write? If big brother does not write well, someone will naturally erase it tomorrow."
Xu Xinnian listened and went to grind the ink. After a while, he stood in front of the tablet with the brush and asked, "Big brother, what do you want to write?"
"This time, I want to write it myself." Xu Qi 'an snatched the brush and stared at the blank stone tablet.
Suddenly, the face of the stall owner who ate breakfast this morning appeared in his mind. He was obviously in pain, but he did not dare to ask for money. He was as pitiful as a dog.
The problem of the petty officials in the Daibun Dynasty had been accumulated for a long time. The hall was full of beasts who claimed to be loyal to the king and love their country, but they never cast a look of pity on the people at the bottom.
He thought of Zhou Li's arrogant and despotic attitude when he rode on a horse on the street. He thought of the records of the unscrupulous officials in the capital.
The existence of extraordinary martial arts made the shortcomings of the feudal dynasty more vivid. It also made the people at the bottom not even have the courage to lift their poles to resist.
In his previous life, he had at least heard of a few vigorous peasant uprisings. But in this world, the peasant uprisings did not even have the chance to take shape before they were quickly extinguished.
Xu Qi 'an took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. He picked up the brush and wrote:
"To establish a heart for heaven and earth, to establish a life for the people, to inherit the lost knowledge of the saints, to establish peace for all ages!"
When he finished writing, Xu Qi 'an felt refreshed. He exhaled the gloomy air in his chest and threw the brush away. He said loudly, "Farewell to the old, this is what a scholar should do."
Boom!
In Xu Ci 'an's mind, it was as if a bolt of lightning had struck, splitting open his chaotic spiritual consciousness and breaking the shackles of his soul.
He stared blankly at his cousin. He did not know if it was an illusion, but Xu Erlang seemed to have seen a thick purple aura flash past the top of his cousin's head.
Crack!
A cracking sound suddenly came from the stone tablet at the side. A huge crack that ran from top to bottom appeared.
The two brothers were shocked. Before they could react, the entire secondary saint academy shook. Ashes fell from the dome and the candlesticks toppled.
A gust of clear air rushed out from the secondary saint sculpture and broke through the white clouds at the top of the mountain. The phenomenon could be seen from dozens of miles away.
Xu Qi 'an was dumbfounded. His expression was extremely ugly. "What's going on? I … I think I've stirred up trouble. "
"Stirred up trouble? What trouble?" Xu Xinnian was agitated. He said loudly, "What does this have to do with us? We've never been to the secondary saint academy before."
After he finished speaking, he dashed out of the door with his head in his hands and escaped.
"Scholar, wait for me." Xu Qi 'an broke into a run and chased after him. He thought to himself,' At critical moments, scholars are still the most adaptable. '
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