Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

As the saying goes, "One vigorous effort will be exhausted again and again." When the initial high-octane momentum of the Imperial College students was forcibly cooled down twice, many people looked at the shadowy army in the distance, and their fear began to take over.

Under the dim moonlight, the cold blades and spear points reflected a terrifying cold light.

Let them once again recall the fear of being dominated by Zhu Yuanzhang during the Hongwu era.

Things like tonight would never have happened in the Hongwu Dynasty. In the past few years since Emperor Jianwen came to the throne, he had given preferential treatment to the gentry. It was really good from above and effective from below, so much so that the various prison regulations of the Imperial College were actually implemented. During the process, most of the strict regulations were in vain, which made them feel a little overwhelmed.

Now that some people had calmed down, they thought that if they had not been blocked by the Imperial Master, they would have rushed to the imperial city. Not only would they not have the chance to kowtow or cry, but their necks and heads would fall to the ground one after another.

However, if you think about it carefully, you will know that the national master's move is definitely not to protect them unconditionally, but to facilitate the smooth progress of the reform.

After all, these people are actually the reserve echelon of officials, but they are not officials. Both their thinking and interests can be reformed. In other words, for a long time to come, they will actually be the main force in the implementation of the reform and the country's main force. An important force that the division can strive for.

This is also the reason why Jiang Xinghuo has always refused to use weapons.

As long as an order is given, these elite soldiers will not stop after receiving the order, but with the knife, public opinion and people's hearts will be destroyed.

Reform is inherently difficult, and it is not impossible for these Imperial College students to fight for it. As long as there is a slight possibility of change, he will not do it.

But this is the idea of ​​​​smart people. At this time, most people are still trapped in ignorance. They are afraid of the soldiers on the road ahead, and feel that being easily persuaded to retreat is an anticlimax.

It's not that no one thinks that the National Master will lead them astray, but there is one problem that everyone thinks is impossible.

That is, why does this Imperial Master think that his problems alone can trouble thousands of students from the highest universities in the Ming Dynasty? And this question must not be irrelevant or irrelevant to what happened tonight.

The premise of the Imperial Preceptor stopping them from knocking on the que seemed to be unfounded at all.

Seeing the crowd becoming silent, Jiang Xinghuo asked his question.

"You all keep saying that I am a treacherous minister, and think that the reform was Wang Anshi's move that led to the decline of the Northern Song Dynasty. That's why you want to go to see Your Majesty, please kill me, and please stop the reform, right?"

Jiang Xinghuo personally told the reason for what happened today, but continued to talk to himself without waiting for anyone to respond.

"And the reason why people are so excited today is because of one word that is wrong."

Jiang Xinghuo's gaze passed through the crowd and looked at some of the flashing eyes. He knew in his heart that there must be someone behind this incident, otherwise he would not be able to incite such a large scale.

However, now is not the time to track down the instigators. The more important thing is to use the trump card in advance to quell tonight's unexpected disaster.

Misfortune lies on the back of good fortune, and misfortune lies upon it. If handled properly, perhaps tonight, the seeds of science and reform can be sown among these students.

And Jiang Xinghuo's "killing trump card" was the method of "borrowing chickens to hatch eggs" that he realized while studying Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism with Dao Yan at the foot of Jingting Mountain.

At first, Jiang Xinghuo planned to directly use science to fight Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, or use mind science to challenge the dominance of Neo-Confucianism, but now that he thought about it, he had a better way.

The Six Classics annotate me, so why am I not annotating the Six Classics?

"What I want to say is that rain has its natural laws. Of course there are natural laws in the world. Everything has its natural laws."

"Then I would like to ask, what is the principle of nature that Zhu Xi inherited from the Daonan lineage derived from the Erchengluo school?"

"If you can answer it, I will take you to knock on the que, and the army will not stop you."

"If you can't answer it, you might as well listen to my answer. If most people agree, please come back."

After listening to Jiang Xinghuo's question, the last trace of restlessness among the Imperial College students was extinguished.

Most people realize that this seems to be an ultimate moment destined to go down in history.

This will become the most famous debate in the Ming Dynasty.

In all the reforms of the past dynasties, thought came first.

If Jiang Xinghuo loses this debate, the momentum and theory of the reform will be in ruins.

And if it wins, then this is it.

Jiang Xinghuo, one person is worth a thousand!

A young man dressed as a Confucian scholar stood in the front rows and was surrounded by the prison students. He was the first to speak.

"Student Fan Weixing dared to talk about the principles of nature according to Zhu Xi's classics."

"Please tell me." Jiang Xinghuo signaled.

The young man named Fan Weixing looked at the dark crowd of heads around him and swallowed nervously. His voice was trembling, but he still spoke firmly.

"Zhu Zi once said that Tai Chi is the metaphysical way."

"Principle, the metaphysical one; Qi, the metaphysical one."

“Therefore, Zhu Xi’s ‘Tai Chi’ can be almost equated with ‘Li’.”

The supervisors around him were silent. Anyone with a little common sense knew that the concept of regulating qi was the fundamental meaning of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism. It had already been concluded and there was nothing to dispute.

Of course, what Fan Weixing said here is "almost", which means that although "Tai Chi" and "Li" are basically the same, there are still some subtle differences. "Li" is the fundamental way of everything in the world, while "Tai Chi" is the specific The Tao is the so-called "reasons are divided into different parts". It is also the basic viewpoint of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism.

The principle of one principle is different, which means that there is a principle in heaven and earth, and this principle can be reflected in all things, that is, there is a principle of its own in every thing, and this principle is called "Tai Chi" by Zhu Xi.

Zhu Xi first discussed this idea from the perspective of "Tai Chi".

"Zhu Ziyun said: From its origin to its end, it is the reality of one principle, and all things are divided into bodies. Therefore, all things have a Taiji, and all things have their own talents and feelings, and each has a Taiji."

Fan Weixing pointed to the bright moonlight in the sky and said.

"For example, the moon is only one in the sky, but if it is scattered in the rivers and lakes, it can be seen everywhere. It cannot be said that the moon has been divided."

When Jiang Xinghuo heard this, he nodded slightly.

This is a very clever metaphor. What it means is that "Tai Chi" is like the moonlight in the sky. It is scattered in the rivers, lakes and seas of the world, on everything and everyone. Everyone has a "Tai Chi", but what can you say? Is 'Tai Chi' separated?

At this point, Fan Weixing, who was elected, knew that his ability was no longer suitable to continue participating in the debate, otherwise he would make mistakes if he talked too much, so he gently handed over his hand and returned to the queue.

Next, Professor Wang appeared.

Professor Wang, whose real name is Wang Yunsheng, is a doctor from the Guozijian Jiexintang. He has a deep study of classics and meanings. Now he has just been sent to a local government as a professor (academic official position). Before he could leave, he was involved in today's... Disaster.

After being recommended by the students, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and debate the scriptures as a representative.

However, what makes Professor Wang relieved is that this is actually a very mature proposition composition. The framework and template are all fixed. The predecessors have accumulated a lot. He does not need to do anything special. He only needs to follow the script.

However, Professor Wang's knowledge of the classic meanings and allusions is superior to Fan Weixing's.

Professor Wang cleared his throat and said.

"Zhu Xi borrowed the phrase 'Wuji and Tai Chi' from Zhou Dunyi's "Tai Chi Illustrations" and regarded Tai Chi as the ultimate principle, or it can also be called the ultimate principle, which is the ultimate meaning of everything."

"From this perspective, the principles of nature derived from studying things to achieve knowledge are Tai Chi."

First, he accepted Fan Weixing's views, and then Professor Wang explained the natural principles of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism in more depth.

"But after all, the laws of heaven are not something that can be seen or touched, so the laws of nature are one, but they need to be differentiated."

"What is distinction?"

"Zhu Ziyun said: When discussing the principles of all things, the principles are the same but the qi are different; when looking at the differences of all things, the qi are still similar but the principles are absolutely different. Those with different qi will be inconsistent; those with different principles will be incomplete. Or different.”

That is to say, Zhu Xi said that all things have the same principle fundamentally. This is because the purity and turbidity of the qi that all things are endowed with are different, and the principle is reflected in all things to different degrees. Therefore, all things have the same principle. There are different reasons.

"In other words, Tai Chi is the law of heaven, but due to the difference between law and qi, there are clean air and turbid air between heaven and earth. Different qi also constitute different Tai Chi."

Jiang Xinghuo nodded.

"Any more?"

Just when Professor Wang was thinking about what to add, Zong Chaoyi, who was lurking in the crowd, saw the look in Chu Daheng's hand as he handed it to him, and said suddenly.

"A gentleman is born with positive yang energy, and a villain is born with yin evil energy!"

“A gentleman’s actions always speak louder than his words, and a villain’s words speak louder than his deeds. Therefore, when the world is in order, there will be many honest and sincere scholars, and when the world is in chaos, there will be many talented people.”

After snorting twice, Zong Chaoyi said sarcastically: "Sincerity rarely achieves success, and fate rarely fails, many countries will be prosperous if they fail. Many countries will be destroyed if they fail. I don't know why the national master was born?"

As soon as this statement came out, there was no lack of laughter and ridicule.

These few sentences come from Shao Yong, one of the five sons of the Northern Song Dynasty. Shao Yong studied Yili, Confucianism and Taoism. He devoted his life to unifying heaven and man, thus trying to combine the humanism of Confucianism with Taoism. It is also one of the root theories that explains the principles of regulating Qi.

As for Zong Chaoyi's ingenious continuation, as soon as Professor Wang mentioned that the different pure and turbid qi between heaven and earth constitute different Tai Chi, he mocked Jiang Xinghuo by saying that a gentleman is composed of yang righteous qi and a villain is composed of yin and evil qi.

Not only that, but he also said that the villain talked a lot but did little, thereby mocking Jiang Xinghuo for talking to them without doing anything about the reform.

So, don’t Zong Chaoyi, Chu Daheng and others know the importance of public opinion in reform? Of course they know! Know better than anyone else! Otherwise there wouldn’t be anything like today!

But at this moment, they could use these words to sway Jiang Xinghuo.