Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Zhu Ming took out a copy of "Tao Yongce" and gave it to the Wei brothers to study on their own. If they had any questions, they would go to the state government office for advice.

Wei Yingshi was more obedient and accepted it readily.

Wei Yingwu asked, "Is this book a new study?"

Ju Ming smiled slightly: "It's very new, newer than King Shu's knowledge. It's also very old, and it directly pursues the true meaning of Confucius and Mencius. Being proficient in this knowledge can help the country at the top and the people at the bottom."

The two brothers were quite surprised, asked a few more questions, and then left.

They returned to the house they had just rented and couldn't wait to read.

After reading a few articles, Wei Yingshi exclaimed: "This is truly a learning that can help the world and save the people!"

Wei Yingwu said: "It is of little benefit to scientific research."

"Brother, why did you say this?" Wei Yingshi immediately retorted, "Now that traitors are in power, what is the use of being an official through the imperial examination? My grandfather was recommended and refused to enter the court. We should cultivate ourselves and study, and wait until the time is right. Then go to the imperial examination and become an official. Although this book is not helpful for the imperial examination, it is good knowledge for life and work. In time, it will make the world famous."

Wei Yingwu curled his lips, too lazy to argue.

But Zhu Ming returned to the back house and told Zheng Yuanyi about the marriage.

Zheng Yuanyi had known that this day would come, but she still felt a little aggrieved. She forced a smile and said, "My husband is getting married this year, so it's time to marry his wife."

Zhu Ming held Zheng Yuanyi's hand. He wanted to explain a few words of comfort, but felt that it was too hypocritical, so he simply held her and stood up: "Come with me to the bedroom to drink."

"My husband, there is no need to feel guilty." Zheng Yuanyi said.

Ju Ming leaned close to her ear and whispered: "Besides drinking, there are other things you can do..."

Zheng Yuanyi's cheeks turned red after hearing this, and she looked around: "It's only afternoon, it's still daytime."

"Let's go drink." Ju Ming smiled.

Zheng Yuanyi ran after her husband, then turned back and called the maid: "Miaomiao, bring the wine in!"

…

There are elders in Zhu Ming's family, and Zhu Guoxiang still needs to come forward for the marriage, and the appointment will be official after the horoscopes are matched.

Before the letter was sent to Yangzhou, the new principal of Jinzhou State School arrived.

"Professor Chang Tong of Zhouxue, pays homage to the prefect!" A young man in his twenties bowed.

Ju Ming asked: "Are you a Jinshi?"

Chang Tong replied: "Second Class Jinshi."

"A second-level scholar can also be a professor?" Zhu Ming actually wanted to ask, are today's Jinshi scholars like this?

Chang Tong explained: "My father offended Cai Jing in his early years and was banned from the Yuanyou Party. Later, fortunately, the official showed mercy and was removed from the Yuanyou Party, but he was not reinstated. I got the second-level Jinshi in the lower examination. Originally, He was appointed as an official in charge of the register, but when he left the capital, he was suddenly changed to a professor."

This was his father, Chang Anmin, who offended Cai Jing too much and called Cai Jing a shameless person in person: "The trouble today is greater than that of a scholar who is shameless."

Before Cai Jing fully came to power, he had already demoted his father to collect liquor taxes. Later, he simply signed up for the party and stayed there until the end.

Ju Ming asked: "Which school do you study from?"

Chang Tong lowered his head and said, "New learning."

"As a Shu native, do you really know how to learn new knowledge?" Zhu Ming said with a smile, "I have new knowledge, would you like to discuss it together?"

Chang Tong raised his hand and said, "I am willing to listen to the prefect's teachings."

Ju Ming said: "The literary style of Jinzhou is poor, and there are not even a single Jinshi. I want to revitalize the cultural context of Jinzhou, so I will give lectures in person on holidays. Everyone, whether a student of Jinzhou or not, can come and listen to the lectures. What do you think?"

How dare Chang Tong refuse? He immediately said: "This is a great blessing for the scholars of Jinzhou."

Officials in the Song Dynasty had a three-day holiday every month.

There are seven days off for New Year's Day, Winter Solstice and Cold Food Festival. Two of the days are the pilgrimage holidays, that is, there is no need to go to court. The remaining five days are for off-duty work, that is, there is no need to work. It only lasted five days.

There is a three-day holiday on Holy Day (the birthday of the emperor and the Queen Mother), Shangyuan and Zhongyuan. Among them, two days are for the morning holiday and one day is off for work. In fact, only one day is off.

The other summer solstice, twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month, Chunshe and Qiushe are said to be holidays, but they are all court holidays. There is no need to meet the emperor, you have to work when you need to.

After Song Zhenzong, emperors liked to create festivals.

For example, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty held the Kaiji Festival in the spring, which was the day when various civil projects broke ground. Tianying Festival was also created, which is a day for communication and induction of gods. Anyway, it is very consistent with Song Huizong's character, and these festivals are really holidays.

Ju Ming planned to use the holidays to give lectures to the scholars in person and spread the Taoist theory. To put it bluntly, he would brainwash the scholars.

Nowadays, when students from state schools take part in the imperial examination, no one interferes.

Even imperial students could take part in the imperial examination. The premise is that you have to go home and pass the imperial examination, and during the imperial examination period, if you delay the imperial examination, you will bear the consequences.

After a few days, it’s time to take a break.

Ju Ming had posted a notice in advance, and nearly three hundred people gathered at Zhouxue. In addition to official students, there were also private scholars and even officials who came to listen.

Zhang Gen came to the scene in person, and Li Daochong sent his personal followers to find out.

There is a big banyan tree in Zhouxue with lush branches and leaves, which can provide shade.

Ju Ming stood under the tree, with everyone surrounding him.

Brainwashing also requires techniques. Direct preaching using arguments is not enough. Asking everyone to learn mathematics and physics at the beginning is even more nonsense.

Ju Ming held high the banner of Wang Anshi as soon as he came up: "King Shu's new learning is excellent. I have been reading "Book of Rites" recently, and if I have some insights, I will discuss it with you."

What kind of book is "The Invention of the Book of Rites"?

Not to mention that Jinzhou scholars have never heard of it, even many officials do not know it.

Chang Tong, the principal of the prefecture school, hurriedly asked: "Does King Shu really have a book called "The Invention of the Book of Rites"?"

"Yes," Zhu Ming said with a smile, "Zhang Tuanlian must have seen it."

Zhang Gen replied: "I have seen some, and they are quite... extreme."

Wang Anshi's new textbooks are the first to recommend "Zi Shuo" and "The New Meaning of the Three Classics".

As for his "Invention of the Book of Rites", even Cai Jing did not dare to promote it because it was not conducive to the king's governance. This book was only circulated in a small area and has been lost in later generations, leaving only a few fragments.

Zhu Ming immediately asked: "For those who are official but have no salary, if the king has a gift, it is said to be an offering; if an envoy is given, he is called a widower. If he disobeys and the king dies, it cannot be regarded as submission. How to interpret this sentence? Is there any rule in "Book of Rites"? Scholars try to solve it?"

A scholar stood up and said:

"As a minister, even if he does not receive a salary, he should still present treasures to the king."

"If you go on a mission to another country, you should be like a minister with a salary and call the emperor 'little emperor'."

"If the ruler makes mistakes in his administration and fails to accept repeated advice, he can resign politely. Even if a minister with a salary goes to an enemy country, he should mourn for the old master. A minister without a salary should not mourn for the old master if he goes to an enemy country. This is for he has been favored less favorably.”

Ju Ming looked around and asked, "Do you think so?"

"Of course." Everyone nodded.

Zhu Ming again cited Wang Anshi: "The "Invention of the Book of Rites" written by King Shu is not explained in this way."

Zhang Gen immediately raised his forehead. His father-in-law was a key member of the reform sect and he had read "The Invention of the Book of Rites".

Wang Anshi’s explanation of this paragraph is very vigorous!

In the curious eyes of everyone, Ju Ming said: "King Shu wrote in black and white that Kong Yingda misinterpreted it. The king has a gift, which cannot be interpreted as a gift to the king. The gift given by the minister to the king is called 'Xian', which is what it should be." Why do you still ask if you have a salary?"

The scholars and officials were confused, but subconsciously nodded in approval.

Especially for those who wrote the "Book of Rites", according to the mainstream annotations, this passage is very contradictory and cannot be read at all. But they usually study and dare not ask too much about this, because after digging into the details, they come to extremely terrifying conclusions.

However, Ju Ming came up with a terrible conclusion: "This sentence should be interpreted like this..."

"For a person who has become an official but does not have a salary, when the king gives something to him, he should not say 'gift', but 'offer'. The person who offers something is originally a fat dog used for sacrifice. "The Analects" Zheng notes: "Xian is a virtuous person" Also. Offer it to those who can train sages."

"The original meaning of this sentence is that the king and his subjects should respect each other. The king should not be condescending to his subjects before they receive the salary from the king. Even giving gifts cannot be said to be rewards, but should be called gifts to express the king's respect for his subjects. Genuine respect.”

"After this explanation, the remaining sentences make sense. When a subject without salary is ordered to go on a mission to a foreign country, he must call the monarch a 'little monarch' to distinguish him from the subjects who have salary. When a monarch dies, there is no salary. Your subjects do not have to mourn for your king."

After these remarks were thrown out, everyone was horrified.

Apart from being horrified, he was also thoughtful.

Because this interpretation of the "Book of Rites" makes logical sense, but the mainstream interpretation is evasive.

This also involves whether Huashi Gang's officials and the people have the obligation to "donate".

According to the mainstream interpretation, subjects should present gifts to the king, and there is theoretical support for presenting flowers and stones.

However, Zhu Ming explained that the "Book of Rites" does not stipulate relevant obligations as to whether subjects should contribute to the king. You can offer it or not. It goes against the law to forcefully ask for Hua Shi Gang.

All the scholars looked at each other. They were inclined to Ju Ming's statement, but they would not dare to write it like this in the imperial examination.

Zhu Ming asked Zhang Gen: "Does Zhang Tuanlian think so?"

"Of course." Zhang Gen hated Hua Shigang very much, so of course he had to support this statement.

The confidants sent by Li Daochong secretly took note of Ju Ming's remarks.

Zhu Ming used Wang Anshi's signature and talked some more truth, and finally came to the topic: "Although I have not just read Confucian classics, I have some experience. I think that after students are enlightened, they should first read "Xiao Dai Li Ji" "University", "University" can be its own article."

"The way of a university lies in being virtuous, being close to the people, and striving for perfection."

"A great scholar is a master of learning. A man of enlightened virtue has many principles and can handle everything. A man who is close to the people can learn from the new people. When he understands the truth, he can learn from the old and adopt the new, and his virtues, talents and learning will improve accordingly. If you keep improving, you will be able to stop at it. Kindness. This is the program of the University and the program of life and work."

"...If you want to be sincere in your intention, you must first seek knowledge. To achieve knowledge is to investigate things... I have also understood the method of investigating things. I will talk about it in detail when I talk about "Tao Yongce" in the future."

"We, the scholars, should take the Tao of the University as our foundation. That is, studying things to gain knowledge, being sincere and upright, cultivating ourselves, managing our families, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world!"

The confidant sent by Li Daochong once again wrote down Ju Ming's remarks.

Previously it was endorsed by Wang Anshi, but this statement belongs to Luo Xue, who was the first to write "The Great Learning" into a separate chapter. This has violated the Huizong Dynasty's academic ban!

Luo Xue did not spread to Jinzhou, especially after Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty banned it. Even the Jinzhou scholars who came to Beijing to take the exam had little understanding of Er Cheng's knowledge.

At this time, hearing Zhu Ming say "cultivate oneself, harmonize one's family, govern the country and bring peace to the world", the scholars all felt excited, as if they had suddenly found the direction of life.