Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

There was an uproar in the capital that Kong Xilu had been arrested. Jiang Xinghuo tore off his mask of hypocrisy and imprisoned the saint in prison for inhuman torture, all just to silence Kong Xilu's mouth. , because he was afraid that he would not be Kong Xilu's opponent.

Only Kong Xilu knew that this was not true.

On the afternoon when Li Jinglong returned, in the crowded Nanjing city, everyone was waiting for a heroic figure to cross the three checkpoints of "king, righteousness, and ancient and modern" guarded by the three giants of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. Save this current saint from the dark prison.

Only Kong Xilu knew that he was unwilling to come out.

No one believed him, but it was true.

Because there were some problems that he couldn't figure out clearly, he couldn't leave this cage that he had drawn for himself.

All of this can be traced back to the moment when he and Jiang Xinghuo actually met.

——————

In the imperial prison, Kong Xilu sat quietly.

There was a square table in front of him, with a pot of tea, several books, pens, ink, paper and inkstones on the table.

This is not the treatment that an ordinary prisoner should receive.

However, he enjoyed this extraordinary treatment, just like he had enjoyed since he was born until he turned gray-haired.

He is the head of the family of Nan Kong's generation, a direct descendant of Confucius, and his bloodline is purer than that of the Northern Sect. Because his ancestors wanted to protect the tombs of their ancestors, they gave way to the immense wealth of "Yanshenggong" and at the same time, they also contributed to the prosperity of Nan Kong. It has won a world-renowned reputation.

All Confucian aspirations for beautiful morality, benevolence, righteousness, and propriety are reflected and enshrined in Nankong.

Kong Xilu likes to drink tea, especially West Lake Longjing. Jin Yiwei is very talkative and satisfies him.

Moreover, Kong Xilu likes to stay quietly, sitting like this, looking at the prisoners lying on the ground like maggots. Especially when the former Minister of Rites Li Zhigang opposite him and the former left deputy next to him are both Censor Huang Xin was also in this state.

Kong Xilu has not seen the outside world for a while, but he believes that maybe in the near future, he will be able to go out again and regain his freedom.

Because Kong Xilu believed that Jiang Xinghuo did not dare to risk the disapproval of the world and forcibly imprison him.

In the Ming Dynasty, which has a stable social order and based on Neo-Confucianism, tyrannical force is not omnipotent. His special identity and the public opinion that comes with it can become a tool that allows him to regain his freedom at any time, and even win. A tool for greater fame and even history.

When they saw the meal, the prisoners who were sleeping on the thatch all woke up.

Huang Xin's mood is still stable. As the first person to sacrifice himself, Huang Xin firmly believed in the ability and planning of the person behind him. When he saw Jiang Xinghuo making a low-level mistake with his own eyes, he used Jin Yiwei to lock up Kong Xilu with a lame excuse. After entering the imperial prison, Huang Xin's condition became even better. Not only did he start chatting with Kong Xilu and discussing Confucian classics, he even began to pace and exercise, as if he was going to spend a long time in the imperial prison.

"What is Mr. Huang looking at?"

Kong Xilu asked reservedly, looking at the documents in Huang Xin's hand that were of poor printing quality and that the paper was rather crude and yellowed.

Unlike other officials from the capital who were imprisoned here, Kong Xilu was originally from outside the country and had no connections or money. If the jailer didn't provide it to him, he couldn't buy it himself, so he just saw someone get two of them from the jailer. At that time, he became a little curious.

""Ming Pao"."

A newspaper may shock ordinary people, but it certainly cannot shock Kong Xilu.

He could tell just from the name that it should be something similar to the imperial court's "Di Bao".

Huang Xin glanced sideways at Li Zhigang and said pointedly:

"The President's Reform Affairs Office has a new thing today. It has set up a separate News Department below. I heard that Zhuo Jing proposed the Minister of Etiquette, and the position of the Vice President was vacant. Xie Jin also became the Vice President, specifically responsible for this "Ming Pao" Mr. Xie is very proud of his news affairs now. The re-edited "Records of Taizu" will be presented to the public in a few days, and the "Yongle Ceremony" is also a grand event that will be remembered in history."

Li Zhigang ignored him.

Obviously, compared with Huang Xin, Li Zhigang was not so happy.

After being dismissed from office, Li Zhigang knew that he had completely become a pawn in the temple struggle. No one cared about him, and no one came to visit him. Fortunately, Li Zhigang had already entered the palace for the third time. He was familiar with the rules of the prison, and his family was rich. Of course, no one would make things difficult for him even if he was willing to spend money, and since his official position was high enough, the jailer did not dare to cause trouble, so his life was pretty good, but he was mentally depressed.

"Ming Pao" is a piece of copper paper. In order to reduce costs and entertain the people, don't count on printing quality. It focuses on high quality and low price.

Therefore, Li Zhigang also had one on hand to pass the time.

But unlike Li Zhigang, who was desperate and focused on the novel section to relieve his boredom in the first three chapters of "Journey to the West", Huang Xin read the news section.

"What's printed?"

Huang Xin flipped it over with a bang and showed it to Kong Xilu.

"My First Half of Life: From White Lotus Sect Saint to Female Cotton Mill Worker", this manuscript was sent by Ye Xiucai, a non-staff editor. The content briefly introduces Tang Yin's twists and turns in the first half of her life, including the death of her parents and the relationship with many women. The baby was forced to join the White Lotus Sect, and then suffered cruel treatment and training. In the end, she became a saint of the White Lotus Sect, and how she repented and embarked on a new path in life.

Seeing that Kong Xilu had read the entire manuscript, Huang Xin sighed: "What a pity."

"What's the pity?"

Kong Xilu frowned and retorted: "It's offensive! Women don't stay at home to care for their husbands and raise children, but go out in public and gather in groups to work. If everyone is like this, wouldn't the Three Cardinal Guidelines and Five Constant Rules be gone?!"

Although his tone is critical, in fact, except for moral gentlemen like Kong Xilu who have this view, this kind of cognitive bias does not actually exist for the general public.

This is very similar to "Why not eat minced meat?" When Jiang Xinghuo did the "Survey on Women's Textile Sideline Income in Jiangnan Households" before, he clearly came to the conclusion that the agricultural income of Jiangnan families is no longer enough to support high-income households. Expenses, in addition to losing official positions and repaying debts, have already fallen into the dilemma of having an empty house before the end of the year. The whole family relies on women's textile subsidies for food and clothing. Women's family status is even related to this. If the price of cotton and rice increases, , that is, "when a woman washes her hands and sits down, the man will also be in embarrassment."

The situation in Jiangnan is also reflected in other areas of South Zhili. People have a clear understanding of the fact that women's textiles subsidize household expenses and even become the main source of income for some families.

Moreover, Jiang Xinghuo did not invent the handicraft workshop. It had already flourished everywhere in the south of the Yangtze River during the Southern Song Dynasty hundreds of years ago.

Therefore, if a woman enters a cotton textile industry handicraft workshop where women and children work together, and can earn an income far beyond that of individual household textile labor, it is actually a very enviable thing for many poor families. .

Of course, the most critical point is that Jiang Xinghuo is different from other early factory owners. He made overall planning from the perspective of the entire Ming Dynasty. Pursuing profit is not his only purpose, so the cotton made in the handmade factory area he invested in established Textiles can only be dumped overseas, rather than impacting the fragile domestic cotton textile side industry.

This is equivalent to Jiang Xinghuo using the Ming Dynasty's national financial and administrative power as a backing to artificially create internal protection.

And this kind of internal protection will be gradually phased in and planned to be canceled when the industry continues to earn interest differentials, give back to the people through wages, foreign trade gradually develops, and national wealth gradually increases, so as to completely complete the internal and external protection of the Ming Dynasty. Completely market-oriented.

It can only be said that fortunately Ming Dynasty is the most powerful country in the world.

Otherwise, you will have to take another painful path.

So perhaps Kong Xilu feels that such a description does not conform to his moral values, but in the eyes of most readers of Ming Pao, this description is logical.

"Why don't you think about the fate of those girls in this story?"

Obviously, enemies are also different from enemies.

Unlike Kong Xilu, who pursues moral obsessiveness, Huang Xin is supported by his political ideals at the expense of himself. Huang Xin's political ideals are completely different from Jiang Xinghuo's in fundamentals and details, but on the surface they seem It is still somewhat similar, both are for the so-called "era of great governance", except that Huang Xin's "era of great governance" is for the gentry to govern the people to live and work in peace and contentment.

In the final analysis, the reason why Huang Xin and other supporters of Emperor Jianwen did this was because they did not believe that Emperor Yongle, who usurped the throne and rebelled by force, would become a "virtuous emperor" in their minds, and could not be left to their mercy. Realize the gentry’s ideals of governing the country.

So their ideals are destined to conflict with reality.

Huang Xin continued to lament: "They should have lived happily under the protection of their parents, but they were controlled by the White Lotus Sect and had to bear the pain and fear of being wantonly abused. How tragic this is."

Kong Xilu snorted coldly and was silent for a moment before slowly saying: "They are asking for it themselves. Everyone is destined to die, so it is not a bad idea to die in a chaste manner!"

"Yeah?"

Huang Xin shook his head and said calmly: "Ants still live in vain, let alone humans?"

Kong Xilu wanted to refute the different concepts, but at this time the sound of gongs was heard.

"The matter has come to an end. There is no point in arguing. Let's eat first."

Unlike the others, the cell leader Lao Wang did not bring food to Kong Xilu. Instead, he led the jailer to pass him with a bucket and then left.

Soon after, Kong Xilu's cell door was pushed open, and two jailers filed in with dinner plates, put the dishes and rice on the table, and turned around to leave.

Looking at this scene, Li Zhigang quietly turned his head away.

Kong Xilu handed a plate of food to the railing and said to Huang Xin: "Confucius was as poor as between Chen and Cai. He didn't pour out the quinoa soup and didn't taste a grain for seven days. He didn't care about the source of food, just to maintain ties. Huang Fuxian , let’s have some.”

Huang Xin shook his head and did not give a reason for his refusal. Kong Xilu did not force it and put it back on the table.

"Zhu Zi's Notes on the Analects of Confucius says: The smell of beef, sheep and fish is cut into pieces as meat. Eating the essence can nourish people, but if the meat is coarse, it can harm people. If you don't get tired of it, saying that it is good does not necessarily mean that you want it to be like this. In my opinion, the laws of nature and human desires are nothing better than this."

Kong Xilu said with a smile, picked up the chopsticks and slowly picked up a piece of fish.

He is an extremely particular person, and his eating manners are very particular, just like his ancestor Confucius said: "When you are eating, you must change your food, and when you are living, you must move your seat; you will never tire of fine food, and you will never tire of fine cooking."

Kong Xilu picked up the fish bones with chopsticks and arranged them neatly. After carefully removing the remaining fish skin and unpleasant oil, he put the fish meat into his mouth and tasted it.

This way of eating was his own invention. He thought it was both elegant and etiquette, and it was simply wonderful.

At this moment, surrounded by Ji Gang who was reinstated as an official, Jiang Xinghuo came to the familiar prison.

"Is it delicious?" Ji Gang asked.

Kong Xilu said nothing and was speechless.

Jiang Xinghuo didn't push him, he just stood there waiting for the other party to finish eating.

Kong Xilu slowly wiped his mouth with a handkerchief. He was not so crazy that he turned a blind eye to Jiang Xinghuo and others. Instead, he put down the handkerchief and said calmly: "The sage's destiny cloud is for the middle-aged man. The wise man. , but the peace of righteousness can be obtained even if it is sought day by day, but to be content with righteousness without seeking, this is the thing of a happy person. As for hearing that there is a destiny but not being able to live in it, then it is a disaster. I don’t know whether the master is a master or a master. Middle man, or inferior man?"

This is Confucius' teaching on "knowing destiny".

Confucius's statement is mainly aimed at ordinary people, the so-called "middle people", because ordinary people will inevitably be confused when they experience death or loss. At this time, they need the theory of fate to explain it to make themselves feel at ease and wise. The middle-aged person does everything based on righteousness, is unmoved by gains and losses, and feels unsatisfied when no one is around; while the middle-aged person and below are unable to relax even if the truth of fate is told to them.

Kong Xilu, a great Confucian who was at the level of the strongest debater on scriptures, always spoke with wit and puns.

The so-called "knowing fate" is not only the fate of the reform, but also the fate of Jiang Xinghuo, but it is not his. Obviously, he is extremely confident in his personal safety, and is not afraid of Jin Yiwei's knife killing him.

Facing Kong Xilu's temptation, Jiang Xinghuo just said calmly.

"There is a way to seek, and there is a way to get it."

It is also a pun. It is an irony of Mencius' "there is a way to seek, and there is a destiny to get". It means that the reform I seek has blocked my destiny. Whether I can succeed depends on whether I am moral, which highlights Jiang Xinghuo's consistent ideological theme. ; At the same time, this sentence is also a response to Kong Xilu's previous righteous sentence in the Imperial College: "If the world has Tao, you will die for Tao; if there is no Tao, you will die for yourself."

After seeing the opponent's level, Kong Xilu's expression became slightly awe-inspiring, and finally changed from a little contempt to a little attention.

When masters compete with each other, it stands to reason that they should hit it as far as they can.

But Kong Xilu only thought that this was the beginning, and Jiang Xinghuo was an interesting opponent.

He continued to speak reluctantly: "Er Cheng Ji" has a canon. In the Southern Song Dynasty, You Dingfu suddenly returned to Cai from Taixue. He crossed Fugou to see Mr. Yichuan. Mr. Yichuan asked: Why did you return when you have a trial period? Dingfu He said: A certain person studied in Li Taixue, so there were many people who took the exam, but there were really few rural candidates. Yichuan laughed at it, and asked Dingfu to ask. Yichuan said: This is an unknown school, doesn't it have meaning and destiny? Dingfu returned to Taixue, that's right He ascended the throne every year."

After that, keep silent.

Huang Xin and Li Zhigang watched the confrontation between the two with interest.

In their view, this is an extremely rare and rare debate.

A great Confucian of Kong Xilu's level would never do anything ordinary. It was almost impossible to ask him to come out to debate scriptures or even find someone who could be his opponent.

If nothing else, even though Kong Xilu behaves arrogantly and behaves like a gentleman, his intellectual level can surpass Zhang Yuchu, the Taoist Longhushan Celestial Master during the Hongwu period, and even suppressed Zhang Yuchu's psychology. Shadow. Zhang Yuchu is the most talented person in Longhu Mountain in the past hundred years, and is known as the "Taoist Master". This shows that Kong Xilu has a profound foundation in Confucianism.

If it were a metaphor in martial arts novels, it would be that a peerless genius was born into a world-class martial arts family. He has been taught by top masters since he was a child. Any annotated book in the family would make people scratch their heads when placed outside. martial arts secrets.

This kind of person has been invincible in the world for decades and has been winning all his life. It would be abnormal if he didn't have a bit of conceited temper when he met him.

Normally speaking, even a wise man like the old monk would not be able to defeat Kong Xilu without outside intervention.

Unfortunately, the person standing in front of Kong Xilu was Jiang Xinghuo, who had traveled back to this point in time after learning countless new versions of martial arts secrets from later generations.

It is an out-and-out BUG level existence.

Cheng Yi's little story may seem to ordinary scholars like Ji Gang who don't ask for deep explanations when reading, but it is nothing more than an allusion cited by Kong Xilu.

However, if it is really about talking about things, it is equivalent to the college entrance examination essay where you cannot understand the example questions, cannot summarize the central theme, and are completely off topic. What you say is just to make people laugh.

Kong Xilu looked at Jiang Xinghuo with great interest. To be honest, Jiang Xinghuo changed Mencius's "There is a way to seek, and there is a destiny to get" to answer his first question. In his eyes, Jiang Xinghuo was already considered a rare young man. So talented.

But that's about it.

For the second allusion, Kong Xilu didn't think Jiang Xinghuo could come up with any clever answer. If it wasn't clever enough, he would have already lost according to the rules of the debate.

As for understanding the questions, this is a philosopher's game. The level of intelligence and knowledge reserves are not at the same level, and you can't even get in half a sentence.

On the surface, Cheng Yi's allusion is a story about a young man "listening to advice." Ji Gang interpreted it as Kong Xilu mocking Jiang Xinghuo and asking him to listen to the old man's words.

But in fact this is not the case. Debating scriptures is not a village quarrel, and success is definitely not a matter of words.

Fundamentally, the core of this story reflects the Confucian analysis of ‘ambition’, ‘qi’ and ‘gong’.

You Dingfu's "Zhi" means that there are many people taking the imperial examination (i.e. Imperial College), but there are few local places in Caizhou, so it is easier to take the provincial examination, which is a rational judgment.

What I want to say here is that in primitive Confucianism, which was also the era of Confucius and Mencius, "Zhi" and "Qi" were integrated. However, in the era of the Five Scholars of the Northern Song Dynasty, "Zhi" and "Qi" were separated. In the conceptual category, 'qi' constitutes the metaphysical component of human beings, which is more connected with the body, sensibility, and desire; 'chi' constitutes the metaphysical component of human beings and is a product of reason.

Does it look familiar? The issues that philosophers from ancient and modern times at home and abroad have thought about are basically the same. In Western philosophy, "Zhi" and "Qi" have become the id and self.

Whether it is rationality or sensibility, whether it is "Zhi" or "Qi", they are two sides of a human being. When Western philosophy has the id and the self, it will inevitably derive the superego. The same thing is true in Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism. Things, that is the 'Tao', and if people want to improve their minds, stay away from the constraints of 'ambition' and 'qi' on people, and pursue the 'Tao', then they can obtain spiritual detachment in a similar way to [Dimension Ascension]. It must go through 'gong', which is the "Gongfu Theory" of Neo-Confucianism.

As for what the "Gongfu Theory" of Neo-Confucianism is, Jiang Xinghuo has already talked about it in class in the Shanghai County Yamen in the part of "Jiyi" and "Jing".

The so-called "is there no righteousness and destiny" in Cheng Yi's story means that You Dingfu no longer focused on reading books about sages, but on doing everything possible to succeed in the imperial examination. If a person cares too much about the results of the examination, he will unknowingly... Fall into the trap of wealth and stay away from the path of studying and becoming a sage.

Therefore, only after understanding all the prerequisites of Neo-Confucianism can we understand how clever Kong Xilu's allusions are.

Still a pun.

First, the "fate" in this allusion is fundamentally a continuation of the first question, which is Er Cheng's core idea "The Theory of Destiny"; second, it is derived from Er Cheng's "The Theory of Zhi Qi", which Kong Xi Lu wants to tell Jiang Xinghuo that the ideal of reform you pursue and the way you imprison me for acting against your will are, from a higher perspective, nothing more than the entanglement between ambition and anger. And all of this, None of them are worth 'fate'. What you ask for is not in line with Tao at all, and the effort you use is wrong. Naturally, what you get is the wrong result. It's just that you don't know it yet. When you get everything, you will see On the day of failure, when you think back to what I told you today, you will naturally understand what it means to be a mountain higher than another.

A touch of superiority and an underlying sense of contempt are just mixed in this simple story.

"Do you still want to eat?"

Jiang Xinghuo suddenly pointed at the hard peach on Kong Xilu's table.

Kong Xilu was startled, but he realized that Jiang Xinghuo had a deeper meaning and took the initiative to hand over the hard peach.

Huang Xin and Li Zhigang were also watching curiously, how Jiang Xinghuo was going to solve the problem with Tao Zi.

This is an extremely difficult philosophy to break. Even if it is extended to the analysis of "Zhi", "Qi" and "Gong", any Neo-Confucian scholar in the early Ming Dynasty would be able to study it for a lifetime.

Jiang Xinghuo said nothing and took a bite of a hard peach.

The bright red flesh of the fruit began to chew in his mouth, and the juice overflowed, filling his mouth with a sweet taste.

"Of course Yi Chuan has something to say: Scholars are overcome by Qi and conquered by practice, and they can only blame their will. If the will is established, there will be nowhere and no work. How can poverty and hardship be between Fu Yi Di?"

This sentence is also Cheng Yi's classic argument, which is closely related to the previous story of Kong Xilu.

The meaning here is that although Cheng Yi means that as long as you have a "will", that is, to seek the "Tao" from a rational perspective, what is missing is just time. As for the specific state of people, poverty, hardship, barbarism, etc. unimportant.

In other words, the rational 'self' that adapts to reality uses the correct method to seek the moralized self, that is, the 'superego'. As long as you follow this correct path, you will have the right direction to reach the 'superego' .

Jiang Xinghuo seemed to be really thirsty and ate a peach, chewing it while saying.

"However, it is said in "The Doctrine of the Mean" that a gentleman behaves according to his position and does not want to be outside of it. When he is rich and noble, he behaves like a rich man; when he is poor and lowly, he behaves like a poor man; when he is a barbarian, he behaves like a barbarian; when he is in trouble, he behaves in the face of adversity. If you don't ask for others, you will have no resentment. If you are above, you won't complain about heaven, and when you are below, you won't blame others. Therefore, a gentleman lives in easy places to wait for his fate, and a villain takes risks for a little luck."

Huang Xin was slightly startled, as if he thought of what Jiang Xinghuo was going to say next.

The sentence just now, "What is the difference between poverty and hardship and Fu Yi Di" has already led to the original text of "The Doctrine of the Mean". Tracing back to the source, this is a flawless answer.

Jiang Xinghuo held the half-eaten hard peach in his hand and looked at Kong Xilu calmly.

"Kong Xilu asked me, 'Is there no righteousness and fate?' What is 'righteousness'? What is 'fate'?"

Without waiting for Kong Xilu's reply, Jiang Xinghuo changed his calm tone and said with a look of disdain:

"I tell you clearly today that I want to use my own power to change China's destiny against heaven. Where I am is the place of 'righteousness'!"

"What I do, I don't blame Heaven, nor do I blame others below. But I bear all the blessings and misfortunes on my shoulders. According to your Confucianism, isn't this 'a gentleman lives in Yi to wait for his destiny'?"

Seeing Jiang Xinghuo's attitude, Kong Xilu sneered: "Arrogant kid."

Jiang Xinghuo didn't take it seriously.

"As for ambition."

"I take reform to strengthen the country and enrich the people as my 'ambition', and save the common people in the world as my 'qi'. What I seek is to strengthen the country and enrich the people. How much do you know?"

"When Confucius discussed politics, he always said that enough food is enough to make an army; Shun ordered the twelve pastors to say: Food is only the right time; when the government of Zhou Dynasty was in charge of government, it was to defeat the troops and soldiers. Why not want the country to be rich and strong?"

"It's you, the corrupt scholars of later generations, who are ignorant of academic knowledge, plagiarize benevolence and righteousness, and call it the 'king way'; when it comes to wealth and power, you just talk about 'tyranny', and don't know the difference between king and hegemony!"

"Between righteousness and profit, there is no trace of the heart. Xibi will be benevolent and righteous as the king, and the wealthy and powerful will be the tyrant? How stupid!"

Kong Xilu waited patiently for Jiang Xinghuo to finish speaking before speaking.

"If you can't win the argument, you can just draw the sword, why bother to act in front of me? Don't you even understand the rules?"

"Ha." Kong Xilu said with a smile: "I tell you, even if there is one day in this world, you can do everything you said, it will be nothing more than a mirror in the mirror."

"As for you who want to oppose Neo-Confucianism and establish a new study."

"How do you think Ye Shi, Chen Liang, and Lu Jiuyuan lost?"

"I have seen much deeper than you. You have no idea how the imperial power was constructed, and it is even less possible for you to understand how important Neo-Confucianism is to the country and the common people."

"First of all, what I just said was not an answer, I just wanted to scold you."

"Second, your thinking is wrong. You only know that 'Zhi' and 'Qi' need to use 'Gong' to find the ultimate 'Tao', or 'Principle'. You are just following the old path of the second journey."

"Ke Liqi Debate, how do you think Er Cheng got into it?" Jiang Xinghuo said calmly.

Kong Xilu was slightly stunned.

"Do you think that the things you have learned by chewing on old papers for decades can stop my new learning from being as blazing as the sun in the sky? It is nothing more than summer morning dew, annihilated in the blink of an eye."

PS (this paragraph does not count): Some concepts of Chinese philosophy and Western philosophy are not easy to sort out, for fear of making people laugh, and the materials used have to be read through the works of the Four Books and Five Classics and the Five Scholars of the Northern Song Dynasty. This part is a little laggy, and every I will try my best to write as much as I can, but I don’t want to have logical flaws or choose materials that don’t suit the situation, so I’ll forgive you for being a little less generous.