Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

Nanjing, Xiaguan Pier.

Li Jinglong looked at the masts of square-bottomed sailboats crisscrossing the inland river in front of him and the porters busy on the dock. Although he had only been away for a few months, he couldn't help but sigh a lot in his heart.

Long time no see, I don’t know how Jiang Xinghuo is doing.

Although Imagawa Ryotoshi, Yukibu Sakura and others from the Japanese mission on board had only arrived in Nanjing for a short period of time, through the corner of the pier, they had already seen the prosperous side of the city, and they had been able to experience it personally. A unique atmosphere.

Xue Wuying stood on the boat and looked at the tall chimneys, densely packed houses in the distance on the shore and the rolling Zhongshan Mountain in the east. She couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "I never thought there could be such a prosperous place in the world!"

Li Jinglong had a reserved smile on his lips, but he secretly despised the Japanese barbarian princess.

But I don’t blame them. After all, compared with the Ming Dynasty, Japan is indeed in the sky and the earth.

But as time passed, Li Jinglong waited and waited until the ship was about to enter the dock through the narrow channel, but he never saw the team to greet him, and he couldn't help but feel suspicious in his heart.

Li Jinglong remembered it very clearly. Zhu Gaosui told him clearly that at the end of the class that Zhenyuan Marquis Gu Cheng came to listen to, Zhu Di said personally, "I will personally go to Nanjing Pier to welcome Duke Cao Guo who has returned with honors." Moreover, as long as he After successfully completing the mission to Japan, all the bad blood between Zhu Di and Zhu Di in the past will be wiped out.

"Did we go to the wrong pier?"

Li Jinglong saw that no one was greeting him on the pier, and a ridiculous idea flashed in his mind.

There are indeed several wharves in Nanjing, such as the Yanziji Wharf in the north that he just passed, but it has become a military wharf. In addition, there is also a small wharf in the south facing the river southwest of Yuhuatai, called Sanshanji Wharf.

But no matter what, it is impossible for Cao Guogong, the leader of hundreds of officials, to return to the country with great honors, and let him land at Sanshanji Pier, right?

But in front of me, there was no one to greet me at the Xiaguan Pier, but it was a bit strange.

"Ada, go and take someone to see what's going on."

Li Jinglong didn't want to embarrass himself in front of Imagawa Liaojun, so he calmed down and ordered Cao Ada calmly as if nothing happened.

Cao Ada took several servants and generals and put down the boat and went ashore.

Li Jinglong held on to the fence and waited for a moment before he saw Cao A running back panting with something like a newspaper.

Climbing onto the boat, Cao Ada didn't bother to wipe the sweat from his forehead and kept talking.

"Master, there is someone to greet you. Song Li, the right minister of the Ministry of Rites, is at the pier with some nobles to welcome today. Today is a big day. Your Majesty does have something to do, and many important ministers are present."

"Song Li?"

Li Jinglong frowned. His impression of this person was that he was a former member of the Ministry of Justice, a mid-level bureaucrat. How could he be promoted to the right minister of the Ministry of Etiquette after not seeing him for more than half a year?

It seems that the situation between North Korea and China has undergone considerable changes.

Imakawa Ryotoshi and others did not speak, but their curious and searching eyes were clearly revealed.

Obviously, they knew Li Jinglong's unique position in the court, and they also understood that it was unusual for no important person to greet him today.

"whats the matter?"

Cao Ada, who was already fat, experienced a trip to Japan, and became as fat as a hot air balloon. He had just finished speaking in one breath, and now he was too tired to say even a single word, so he could only hold up his hands. The "Ming Pao" in it was handed to Li Jinglong.

Li Jinglong grabbed the poorly printed newspaper, automatically skipped the Treasury bond sales, advertisements, novels and other sections, and read it at a glance.

"The head of Nankong's family was imprisoned in imperial prison by the royal guards. Three arenas were set up to challenge the great scholars in the academic circles. The civil servants in office were not allowed to rest. So, your majesty is the leader. Did you bring your close ministers and noble military ministers to watch?"

However, Jiang Xinghuo was not among the debaters, but Jiang Xinghuo had promised to pick him up.

——————

At the same time, Bao Zhao showed the abandoned mansion he had just left.

Two teams of Jinyi guards appeared silently from the left and right corner. The ones in the front row slowly approached the gate holding shields and knives, while the ones in the back row raised military steel crossbows.

The sharp arrows shone with a terrifying cold light in the early morning sun. The crossbowmen of the Jinyiwei stared at the door in front of them. They were acting on orders and could kill anyone inside on the spot. .

"Commander, according to the information, the target is inside."

Cao Song came to Ji Gang's side and said in a very low voice.

Behind Cao Song, a man was held hostage with his mouth gagged. It was the same man who shouted "I am willing to go through fire and water with Bao Zhao" beside Bao Zhao just now.

Ji Gang nodded: "Have the teams behind and on the side of the house arrived?"

"Everyone is here."

Ji Gang waved his hand heavily, and Cao Song blew the whistle.

The royal guards in the front row opened the door before the smoke and dust cleared.

"First row, let go!"

Following Baihu's order, the crossbowmen of the first row of Jinyi guards fired the machine gun.

"Whizzing"

Dozens of sharp arrows flew towards the open space behind the gate like raindrops, but no screams were heard.

At almost the same time, several groups of guards from other directions either climbed over the wall or broke through the door and poured into the abandoned mansion.

Ji Gang missed it.

"what happened?"

Ji Gang, who expected to show off his achievements in front of Emperor Yongle after his victory, angrily grabbed the rebellious Jianwen remnant by the collar with one hand, and the Xiuchun knife in the other hand was already placed on the right artery of his neck.

The middle-aged scholar's hair stood on end. He didn't dare to struggle for fear of cutting his own blood vessels, and he didn't dare to remain silent. He could only cry out "woo woo" and look at Ji Gang with hopeful eyes.

Cao Song took off the ball of Songjiang cotton stuffed in his mouth. The man gasped and said quickly: "Commander Ji! Listen to me! Baotei was here just now! I will come to you as soon as I leave!" It’s just a matter of time to turn back! He hasn’t gone far, so keep searching! You’ll definitely find him!”

Ji Gang waved his hand.

Before the man was dragged down, he kept shouting: "Commander Ji, you trust me! You trust me!"

Probably because he was too noisy, Cao Song took two quick steps and stuffed the ball of Songjiang cotton back into his mouth.

"Commander."

At this moment, a small flag came out of the room with a solemn expression and an envelope in his hand.

It was clearly written on it - Commander Ji personally opened it.

Ji Gang just took the envelope, but felt it was inappropriate, so he took a few steps away and asked another subordinate to open it. Jin Yiwei opened the envelope carefully. The letter inside was not poisoned, but only contained a few short sentences.

"Not good! You fell into the trap of trying to lure the tiger away from the mountain!"

Looking at the last "Seal of Violence", Ji Gang's expression changed drastically.

"You have to go back quickly."

Cao Song took the letter and browsed it hastily. As a member of a family of spies, he made a judgment at the flash of lightning. He stopped Ji Gang: "Commander, it's too late to go to the prison to report the message."

"What should I do? The communication fireworks don't understand what they mean."

"Use Haidongqing! Didn't Jinyiwei get a new Haidongqing that was domesticated in Daning?"

Ji Gang slapped his forehead suddenly.

"Yes, yes, I would have forgotten about it if you didn't mention it."

Ji Gang called someone and hurriedly wrote a note.

Not long after, a Jin Yiwei from the Daning border army who followed the team and was responsible for falcon taming communications came here with a handsome Haidongqing. He stuffed Ji Gang's note and tied it to the falcon. On his legs, Hai Dongqing was informed of the direction of his trip’s destination in a special way of communication.

This method of communication can currently only land at a few key points in the city, but it cannot land everywhere in other places.

However, since Zhao Prison is an important location, it also has a trained landing place, so as long as Hai Dongqing arrives at Zhao Prison, the falcon trainers inside can quickly tell Emperor Yongle and others outside Zhao Prison.

Not far away, on the second floor of the teahouse, Bao Zhao, disguised in disguise, was drinking tea while leaning on the railing.

He looked at Hai Dongqing flying up into the sky with an incomprehensible expression.

A group of people have changed around Bao Zhao, all of them are strong-looking warriors.

"There is indeed a traitor!"

The person next to him spoke with a Hebei accent and said through gritted teeth.

Bao Zhao played with the tea cup in his hand and smiled:

"A group of people who take things for granted. I have long expected them to be unreliable, so I just took advantage of them."

——————

On the stage.

Zhuo Jing, who was on the west side of the arena, looked at the rising sun hidden in the clouds and fell into a brief thought.

The sentence Wang Yuli chose for his first move, "The winner of the original righteousness will rule the world, and the one who conquers the righteous will bring troubled times" is very clever.

Obviously, after the other party came out, he had a basic understanding of the various current trends of thought and debate in the academic world.

Because this sentence does not come from Confucius and Mencius, but from Xunzi, and it has a bit of a meaning of "attacking the other's shield with his spear". Don't you, the great Confucians of the Reform School, advocate bringing Xunzi back to the Five Sages of Confucianism? Well, let me start by using Xunzi’s views on righteousness and benefit to refute you.

If I can refute it, you will feel very upset because you have denied Xunzi's views that you have artificially elevated. If you can't refute it, well, I will win directly.

In fact, this sentence is the core of Xunzi's view of justice and benefit, and it comes from "Xunzi·Da Lue".

The original text is:

"Righteousness and benefit are two things that people have. Although Yao and Shun could not eliminate the people's desire for benefit, they could make their desire for benefit not overpower their love of righteousness.

Although Jie and Zhou could not remove the people's love for righteousness, they could make their love for righteousness outweigh their desire for profit.

Therefore, those who conquer righteousness will rule the world, and those who defeat righteousness will lead to troubled times. If you attach great importance to righteousness, you will gain righteousness; if you attach great importance to benefit, you will gain righteousness. Therefore, the emperor does not talk about how much, the princes do not talk about interests, the officials do not talk about gains and losses, and the scholars do not talk about money. "

It means that righteousness and benefit are two inevitable aspects of human beings. Yao and Shun could not prevent the people from pursuing interests, but they could prevent the interests they pursued from defeating morality. The opposite was true for Jie and Zhou. Therefore, to say that "righteousness" can defeat "profit" is to govern the world. vice versa. Therefore, the emperor should not care about the amount of wealth, and the princes should not talk about interests.

Most of Xunzi's thoughts are in line with the reform, but if you pick out this sheet, it is Wang Yuli who is using Xunzi to slap the reformists in the face.

However, who is Zhuo Jing? As the most talented person in the Ming Dynasty, he can be said to have read all the classics and quickly figured out how to deal with it.

Aren't you taking Xunzi as an example? Okay, then I will directly talk about the "Five Sons of the Northern Song Dynasty".

Who wouldn't take a quote out of context and use a single quote from a sage that the other party favors to argue?

Zhuo Jing said calmly:

"Therefore, those who conquer the righteous will rule the world, and those who defeat the righteous will bring chaos. This statement has its own explanation. I don't need to explain it. The sages have already made a conclusion."

"Mr. Hengqu said that if it is beneficial to the people, it can be said to be beneficial. It is beneficial to the body and the country, but it is not beneficial. When talking about benefit, it is like saying that beauty is beautiful. It is difficult to describe benefit and cannot be generalized. Therefore, politicians care Satisfy the people so that nothing is lacking and nothing is desirable, and theft will cease."

This sentence comes from Zhang Zai, one of the "Five Sons of the Northern Song Dynasty", which means that benefit is benefit to the people, but it is not called benefit to the scholar-bureaucrats and the country, and cannot be confused. Therefore, as long as the people in power are appropriate, If the people's desires and interests are fully satisfied, there will be no social chaos.

To answer Wang Yuli's question, it is said that "the winner of righteousness will rule the world, and the one who conquers righteousness will bring chaos" is wrong. At the very least, it is too absolute. If the two are basically equal, there is no need for anyone to win. Who, then there will be no troubled times. And for the three groups of people, scholar-bureaucrats, and the country, it is also "profit", but it has different meanings.

Here we need to mention the background of the times when Zhang Zai said this. After all, philosophical concepts advance with the development of the times. If we don’t mention the specific background of the times, just take what people from the Northern Song Dynasty said and people from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. To make a comparison is equivalent to trying to find a sword, which is meaningless.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, while the commodity economy developed rapidly, the three-redundancy problem became more and more serious. Social problems and external pressure caused our iron-blooded Song Dynasty to urgently need large sums of money to support millions of Xiang troops and officials who were basically useless, and An increasing amount of yearly coins was paid to each neighboring country.

To put it simply, the pressure to make money is too great, so we need to revise the traditional orthodox theory first. After all, if everyone talks about justice every day and does not talk about benefits, is ashamed to make money, and is immoral to make money, then how will we live? Justice cannot be spent as money.

So the "dispute between righteousness and benefit" began in the Northern Song Dynasty. As the head of Guan Xue, Zhang Zai sided with the side of supporting money, which is why he said what he just said.

Back to the topic, Zhuo Jing responded to Wang Yuli with the words of "Five Sons of the Northern Song Dynasty". From the title to the idea, it can be said to be impeccable.

And although Neo-Confucianism usually advocates that "the ancients are better than the modern ones," Xunzi, an ancient man who taught Han Fei and Li Si as disciples, is obviously a bit special in the Confucian system. Therefore, Wang Yuli cannot say that Xunzi is better than the founder of Neo-Confucianism. Zhang Zai, one of the most famous people and a descendant of Confucius and Mencius, is more right. Otherwise, if Ming Pao quoted it out of context, it would be the headline on the front page tomorrow.

——"Mr. Shi Dao, the leader of Jinhua School, believes that Xunzi is far superior to Confucius and Mencius."

Listening to the cheers from the audience, Wang Yuli's expression remained unchanged after hearing this, and a smile appeared on his old face.

He didn't expect to directly kill a scholar of Zhuo Jing's level with the move he just made. It would actually be strange if Zhuo Jing hesitated and couldn't answer, or didn't have a relatively perfect solution.

After all, the concept of justice and benefit is the core proposition of Confucianism, which has been debated by various schools for thousands of years. To use an exaggerated metaphor, if the answers of the pros and cons of the debaters were written down on paper, they would probably be more complicated than Ehuli. All the water sinks.

He waited quietly for Zhuo Jing's turn to start.

Zhuo Jing looked at Wang Yuli who was kneeling in front of him and spoke softly.

"Can profit be described? He said: People can't live without profit, so why can't they be described?"

Can you express your desire? Said: Desire is the feeling of human beings, why should it be indescribable?

To speak without courtesy is to be greedy and immoral, which is a sin; to say that one cannot speak without being greedy or immoral is against human feelings.

Mencius said, "Why bother calling it benefit?" It's exciting. How can there be benevolence and righteousness that is not beneficial?

Fortunately, I was promoted by Emperor Taizu Gao and entered the temple for fifteen years.

Emperor Taizu Gao once said to me: If there is insufficient food and an unstable mind, even if there are etiquette and justice, the people cannot learn from them.

Today, the voices of sorrow and sighing in the countryside are still lingering, and the people are often in danger of cold and hunger. Could it be that Emperor Taizu Gao did not show benevolence and righteousness to the world? "

Zhuo Jing’s counterattack was to say that profit and desire are normal things that should be discussed. If we only talk about profit and desire without regulating it with etiquette, it is actually against human nature. Therefore, Mencius’s saying “Why should we call it profit” is excessive.

The second half uses personal experience as an example. Lao Zhu once said to Zhuo Jing, "If the common people have nothing to eat, even if they are polite and righteous, they will be in vain and they will not be educated."

Well, it can be seen that this sentence can indeed be said by Lao Zhu. After all, he has personal experience. His whole family was basically starved to death, and he almost starved to death. When starving to death, etiquette and justice are indeed There is no way to make a living, so Lao Zhu sees this very clearly in his simple philosophy of governing the country, and repeatedly mentions it to his close ministers, which is really a good intention.

Then Zhuo Jing asked again, now the people often suffer from cold and hunger, and their sighs never stop. Is it because Lao Zhu did not show kindness to the world?

Using Lao Zhu as a shield both inside and outside the words can be said to be similar to Tie Xuan using Lao Zhu's tablet to prevent Zhu Di from attacking the city in Jinan, and this is indeed Lao Zhu's consistent philosophy of governing the country.

As soon as these words came out, Wang Yuli's face suddenly darkened, and he secretly thought to himself that you are such a shameless villain, I don't think you are a gentleman in vain.

How to refute this? Do you mean to say that Lao Zhu is wrong? Don't want your life?

It doesn't matter if Zhu Di himself said that Lao Zhu was wrong, but if you, an outsider, dare to say that in front of Zhu Di, I think you think your family's genealogy is too thick.

Wang Yuli fell into a long exam.

Upstairs, Zhu Di smiled kindly after listening to the words relayed layer by layer.

Zhu Di asked Zhu Gaochi behind him: "Do you think Zhuo Shangshu can win?"

"Hard to say."

Zhu Gaochi said honestly:

"The Confucianism on Righteousness and Benefit, beginning with Dong Zhongshu, has emphasized that 'righteousness should be maintained without benefit, and the right path should be understood without considering merit.' From the Western Han Dynasty to the Northern Song Dynasty, the mainstream definition has always been to 'emphasize justice over profit,' rather than Absolutely ignore 'profit', or 'righteousness' and 'profit' are in opposition. If Wang Yuli takes what he said before, avoids entanglement, and traces the source, there is a chance to get it back. In this way, the two rounds of temptation are over. Well, Wang Yuli is very likely to make a killing move, and if Zhuo Shangshu cannot catch it, he may lose."

In the traditional Confucian view of righteousness and benefit, which is the main view of Han Confucianism, from "Salt and Iron Theory" (the "Salt and Iron Conference" was held in the sixth year of Emperor Zhao of the Western Han Dynasty, with virtuous literature as one side, and the imperial censor Sang Hongyang For the other side, after the great debate on issues such as salt and iron monopoly, liquor monopoly and equalization of losses), it is "justice and benefit", but "emphasis on justice over profit".

In other words, Han Confucianism not only recognizes the rationality of people's pursuit of interests, but at the same time advocates that people's behavior of pursuing interests should be evaluated through moral standards, and requires Confucian scholars to "be ashamed of talking about profit." Han Confucianism is still relatively pragmatic, not Stop people from making money, but don't give high praise to people who make money.

Zhu Di frowned slightly and asked: "Then you mean that after the Northern Song Dynasty, 'righteousness' and 'benefit' were opposed to each other?"

"yes."

"Why?"

"Ah this."

What else could it be because of?

Of course, it was because after Wanyan established the Yannan Crossing, he abandoned his father and brother, unjustly killed Yue Fei on "unfounded" charges, and signed the "Shaoxing Peace Agreement". The Song and Jin Dynasties were bounded by the middle flow of the Huaihe River to the east and Dashan Pass to the west. From then on, "south follows south, north follows north".

In this way, the three-redundancy problem of the iron-blooded Song Dynasty was miraculously solved, and the financial situation of the Southern Song Dynasty, which was relatively peaceful, was extremely prosperous, and the Neo-Confucians of the Southern Song Dynasty did not need to face the pressure of making money, so they could naturally stand on their own feet again. They point fingers at "profit" from the moral high ground, and even completely oppose "righteousness" and "profit", "natural principles" and "human desires".

As for the Han people in Yanyun, Lianghe, Guanshan, Zhongyuan, Shandong, Huaibei and other places, they all say "south from south, north from north", what does that have to do with us?

You, Chen Liang, want to advocate the study of meritorious service and regain the Central Plains, then I will definitely refute you and refute you.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the "Chen Tongfu" in Xin Qiji's famous poem "Broken Zhenzi: Compose a Poetry for Chen Tongfu" is Chen Liang, the representative of the study of meritorious service, that is, the study of practicality.

The horse is moving so fast, the bow is like a thunderbolt, and the strings are frightening. I want to go there in my dream.

Therefore, the changes in the ideological context of "the concept of justice and benefit" from the Han and Tang Dynasties to the Northern Song Dynasty to the Southern Song Dynasty are already clear at a glance.

The mainstream of the Han and Tang Dynasties is that "righteousness and benefit both exist, and justice is valued over benefit." In the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhang Zai advocated that "profit refers to benefit, and beauty is beauty, and cannot be generalized." There is also Ercheng who advocated that "harmony with righteousness can benefit things." "; in the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi advocated extremely radically: "A gentleman only sees righteousness, and a villain only sees gain."

All these changes in philosophical thoughts are caused by different backgrounds of the times and are inseparable from the economic conditions of the times.

In fact, when the change in the "view of justice and benefit" is closely integrated with the economic conditions of the times, isn't it already an answer?

When Zhu Gaochi explained clearly to Zhu Di, Wang Yuli finally ended his thinking.

A drop of sweat slipped from his forehead and fell on the mat and spread out. Wang Yuli's face was already slightly red, and his age spots looked extremely dazzling. It was obvious that the thinking just now consumed a lot of his brain power.

In fact, debating scriptures is very similar to Go. In a game played by national players, it is no lie that one careless move will result in the whole game being lost. However, elderly people like Wang Yuli and Zhuo Jing are still sitting on their knees debating scriptures. Being in the spotlight of thousands of people is a double physical and psychological test.

However, Zhuo Jing's advantage is that he is younger than Wang Yuli and has better physical fitness.

Wang Yuli is over eighty, and his "talent" is over sixty.

Wang Yuli spoke slowly, his voice already a little hoarse: "Er Cheng has said that if you go out of righteousness, you will gain profit, and if you go out of righteousness, you will gain righteousness. The only thing in the world is justice and benefit. Although Taizu Emperor Gao's virtue is praised everywhere, all the innocent people in the world will feel it. Their kindness and virtue, when combined with righteousness, can benefit things. How can it be that it is unsuitable and can benefit things? Everyone knows that seeking benefits and avoiding harms, and saints do not care about benefits and harms. What should be done and what should not be done with righteousness is destiny. Among them."

The previous meaning is very simple and does not need to be translated. Only the last sentence of Wang Yuli is quoted from Article 26 of "Zhu Zi's Recent Thoughts, Volume 7". The original text is: "Mencius argued about the distinction between Shun and Zhi, only in Between righteousness and benefit. Between words, it is said that they are not far apart, and there is no dispute at all. Righteousness and benefit are just public and private. When righteousness comes out, it is said to be beneficial. Only those who care about it are for profit. If there is no benefit or harm, why bother? It is common in the world to be interested in harm. Everyone knows that one seeks advantage and avoids harm (same as above)."

What should be noted here is that the words of the sages quoted by the great Confucian scholars in debating the classics are by no means casually quoted. It does not mean that they can just use any words that they think are suitable for the situation. Instead, they should give a decent answer and have a deeper meaning as a way to dig out the opponent. If the opponent is not good enough to escape the trap and cannot avoid it in time when answering, then the trap will immediately become a killer move in the next round.

The reason why Wang Yuli quoted Zhu Xi's words was because Zhu Xi quoted Mencius's words about "the distinction between Shun and Zhi". Why Mencius' words are important will be explained later. First, let's talk about the main meaning of Zhu Xi's words, that is, Zhu Xi Focusing on "Jian", Zhu Xi believed that this "Jian" showed that Shun and Zhi were not far apart.

This means that Mencius did not distinguish very far between righteousness and benefit. Generally speaking, the judgment of righteousness and benefit can only show that they both exist in the human heart at the same time. Therefore, it is said that the normal conditions of the world are common people's. Universal standards, but the sage never cares about the interests and harms, that is, he does not care about righteousness and benefit.

In other words, Zhu Xi's explanation was cleverly used to circumvent Zhuo Jing's use of Lao Zhu as a shield.

So at the end of the translation, Wang Yuli wanted to say that a saint like Emperor Taizu Gao of the Ming Dynasty only decided on "what to do or not to do" in everything, and never thought about "profit". Therefore, although Emperor Taizu Gao said "profit" ", but this "profit" cannot actually be narrowly understood as benefit, but as an emperor, he has to treat it as such, so he said it.

The auditorium on the other side.

"So that's what it meant."

After Cao Duan's explanation, the Jiangnan scholars who had been defeated at his hands suddenly realized, and then became even more ashamed.

"If it weren't for your explanation, I might not be able to understand the profound meaning of Mr. Shidao's words."

Another scholar sighed: "That's natural, that is, Mr. Shidao is always calm. Zhuo Shangshu's question is too dangerous and a bit of a villain. After all, His Majesty is watching from the side. If he is slightly careless, , unable to perfectly circumvent Taizu Emperor Gao and give a reasonable explanation, I am afraid that the Jinhua School will be turned into powder when His Majesty is angry."

"Mr. Shidao's agility is not limited to this."

Gao Xun, who was also resting in the auditorium below, said calmly.

"Is there any other meaning?" Even Mr. Xu was a little surprised this time, because he only thought of Cao Duan's dimension just now, and did not realize that there was a deeper meaning in it. Mr. Xu looked at Cao Duan without any surprise. The look on his face made some strange emotions arise in his heart.

Is Cao Duan pretending to understand because he doesn't understand, or has he seen through it a long time ago and is just willing to explain the meaning appropriately so as not to appear too good and attract more jealousy?

"certainly."

Gao Xunzhi has enough seniority and high status that he doesn't care about these pretense.

He explained calmly: "The difference between Shun and Zhi mentioned by Mencius has an allusion that I think you all have heard. That is, Mencius said that people who rise up when they hear a rooster and work tirelessly to do good deeds are people like Shun; "Those who are constantly seeking profit are the thieves and thieves. Therefore, Mencius said that the two are only between righteousness and gain."

This is not an uncommon allusion. Of course, those who are here to study Confucianism have heard it, so they seem a little confused.

"what do you mean?"

"This is what Mencius said." Gao Xunzhi seemed to have said nonsense.

"So what?"

Seeing that everyone was really stupid, Cao Duan explained in a low voice: "Tao Tong."

When Cao Duan spoke, some smart people began to understand.

Orthodoxy!

This means that the improvement of Mencius’s status was not done by Song Confucians, but by Han Yu in the mid-Tang Dynasty who launched the “Ancient Prose Movement” in order to restore orthodoxy, pay attention to the book "Mencius", and advocated improving Mencius’ status.

Han Yu proposed Confucian orthodoxy for the first time. The original text was too long. To put it simply, the order is "Yao-Shun-Yu-Tang-Wen-Wu-Gong Zhou-Confucius-Mencius". After Mencius's death, the orthodoxy was lost.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, the Qingli New Deal was different from the Xining Reform. Although the Qingli New Deal was shorter, Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu were of a high standard. They began to sharply elevate the status of Mencius to unify the chaotic ideological trend before the birth of Neo-Confucianism at that time.

Neo-Confucianism inherited Han Yu's "Mencius' Theory of Tradition", and Wang Anshi even improved Mencius' political status and personally promoted Mencius into the ranks worthy of enjoying the Confucius Temple.

Therefore, the hole Wang Yuli dug for Zhuo Jing was to wait for Zhuo Jing to follow his words and refute Mencius's statement, thereby throwing out the theory of orthodoxy to suppress others, and at the same time using Wang Anshi's reform as a metaphor for the Yongle New Deal hosted by Jiang Xinghuo today. , the subsequent killing move must be hidden in it.

Of course, it would be difficult for Gao Xunzhi and Cao Duan to guess what Wang Yuli's ultimate move was.

But there is no doubt that in the first debate competition, after a long period of mutual testing and competition, it will soon be time to decide the winner.

At this moment, as Hai Dongqing landed on the horizon, several Jinyi guards galloped out of the prison, then abandoned their horses in a panic. After the notification, they went directly to the building to see Zhu Di.

"Your Majesty is not well!"

Jin Yiwei Baihu, who came to report, held up the note in his hand. He was almost soaked with sweat and blurred. When he went upstairs to see Zhu Di, his lips were trembling violently.

"What's going on? What's the decency of being so flustered?!"

Zhu Gaosui scolded.

The smile on Jinyiwei Baihu's face was uglier than crying. Just as he was about to speak, Zhu Gaosui signaled him to be silent. Before he could explain why, the note in his hand was snatched away by Zhu Gaosui.

Zhu Gaosui glanced at it quickly, and his expression suddenly changed.

"Father."

Zhu Gaosui whispered a few words into Zhu Di's ear. Zhu Gaoxu vaguely heard "gunpowder", but Zhu Di's expression was extremely calm.

To Zhu Gaosui's expectation, Zhu Di just put his hands on his hips and smiled contemptuously.

"Are you easily fooled by Bao Zhao's tricks? He has been in the Zhending camp for four years and has been against us for four years. How many times have he used the same tricks?"

"Send people to search. How many days in advance have Jin Yiwei inspected and sealed off this building and the surrounding buildings? There are also several large jars underground to eavesdrop day and night. Even if there is gunpowder, how could it be under our feet?"

Zhu Di finally concluded: "This must be Tiaohuli."

Before he finished speaking, a loud "bang!" sound suddenly came from a bungalow in the distance.

Immediately afterwards, countless bricks and stones splashed out, and a plume of black smoke rose. It did not cause any damage, but it caused a huge chaos.

Zhuo Jing's meditation was interrupted. He knew that Wang Yuli had some ulterior motive in handing over the initiative to him. He wanted to defend instead of attack, and he had absolute confidence to defend the turn he gave him and win with one blow. .So Zhuo Jing was extra careful and kept thinking, and had vaguely guessed several possible options for Wang Yuli.

But now the surrounding audience was shocked by the explosion in the distance, and there was serious chaos at the scene. Zhuo Jing had to interrupt his thinking. He did not run away. In this situation, Zhuo Jing still remained awake, or in other words, so There was no need to run in the crowded crowd, and it was useless to run. My old arms and legs would easily be trampled to death if I ran away. It was safe on the high platform.

Wang Yuli, who was opposite him, seemed to be facing the collapse of the mountain without changing his expression. He didn't panic at all. Instead, he nodded to him with a smile.

"Father, are you okay?"

Upstairs, Zhu Gaoxu held the beams with one hand and firmly protected Zhu Di with the other in a gesture that seemed extremely exaggerated to others. The beams of the house were in his hands like the railings of a bus.

"fine."

Zhu Di patted the dust on his face and remained calm.

He has been surrounded by bullets and arrows all his life, so this little movement is nothing.

Zhu Gaosui pulled up his eldest brother, who was so frightened by the explosion that he sat on his buttocks, and asked anxiously: "Father, it may not be safe here. Do you want to go back to the palace first?"

The ministers and nobles behind him also cast glances with similar meanings.

"idiot!"

Zhu Di kicked him, and Zhu Gaosui dodged as nimbly as a monkey. Zhu Di's foot stopped in front of the big boy's belly.

Zhu Di said angrily: "This is the chaos Bao Zhao deliberately created!"

"This building and the surrounding buildings are all the property of Jin Yiwei. Does Bao Zhao have the ability to sneak in and bury thousands or tens of thousands of kilograms of gunpowder? Do you think Jin Yiwei is blind?"

"That"

Zhu Gaosui quickly reacted and asked uncertainly: "Did Bao Zhao's real killing move be buried on our way back to the palace? Is he trying to force us to return to the palace?"

"certainly."

Zhu Di snorted coldly and quickly issued an order.

"1. Send the intact motorcade back to the palace immediately."

"Two, let the debate continue and calm the people's emotions."

"Third, third brother, you wear my clothes and sit in my place, so that people outside the window can see you."

"Four, the second brother led the team to pull a net around the convoy, preparing to capture the rebels."

——————

Inside the teahouse.

The subordinate reported: "Bao Gong, the puppet emperor's luan has moved, and although the person in the window is wearing a dragon robe, he must not be the puppet emperor. There are brothers with sharp eyes who have seen the puppet emperor confirmed it."

Bao Zhao smiled and just shook his head.

"You don't know Zhu Di, he must still be in the teahouse."

"Isn't that the brother who set up the ambush?!"

The men looked at each other.

Bao Zhao put down his tea cup and his expression turned cold.

“Those who achieve great things must make choices.”

After that, he kicked away the box at his feet.

There were dozens of sets of Jinyiwei's Feiyu uniforms, embroidered spring knives, and even rattan cards and steel crossbows piled inside.

This is Bao Zhao's killer move.