jdhmnovel Chapter 156, "The Hongwu Grand Ceremony"?
Chapter 156, "The Hongwu Grand Ceremony"?
As Zhuge Liang once said in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms: "There is a distinction between Confucian scholars and petty men. A Confucian scholar who is a gentleman is loyal to his ruler and loves his country, upholds righteousness and abhors evil, and strives to benefit his contemporaries and leave a lasting name for posterity. As for a Confucian scholar who is a petty man, he only cares about trivial matters, specializing in calligraphy and painting, composing poems in his youth and studying classics until his old age; though he may have thousands of words on his pen, he has no real strategy in his heart."
People like Kong Xixue are not even worthy of being called Confucian scholars, let alone proper Confucian scholars.
If we must use the word "Confucian" to describe them, then we can only call them cynics—but this term not only tarnishes the reputation of Confucianism, but also insults dogs.
Magistrate Yang was always kind-hearted. He couldn't bear to see Kong Xixue and the others be cursed by everyone in the future, and he also couldn't bear to let Gouzi be implicated because of them.
Therefore, Magistrate Yang decided to take action again to save Kong Xixue and other "cynics" who had gone astray.
Yang Shaofeng said carefully, “Brother Wang, do you know that our Central Plains has been at war for thousands of years, and in fact, there has never been a year without war? The only difference is whether it is internal or external, and the only difference is whether the war is large or small.”
Wang Qiong nodded, and Yang Shaofeng continued, "Over the years of war, countless classics written by our ancestors in the Central Plains have been lost. Some were completely destroyed by the war, while others were lost by a few pages. We, the later generations, have no chance to see the writings of our ancestors."
Wang Qiong nodded again, and said with a sigh, "Brother Yang is absolutely right. Works such as 'Qing Nang Shu', 'Liu Tao', 'Huangdi Wai Jing', and 'Lu Ban Shu' have all been lost. It is a great pity that we, the younger generation, have no chance to see them."
Yang Shaofeng nodded and said, "Du Fanchuan said in 'The Rhapsody on the Epang Palace': 'The people of Qin had no time to mourn themselves, yet later generations mourned them; if later generations mourned them but did not learn from them, they would only cause later generations to mourn again.' If I do not learn from the lessons of the past and take action, wouldn't I be lamenting without learning from them, as Du Fanchuan said?"
Wang Qiong's heart skipped a beat, and he asked, "What does Brother Yang mean?"
Yang Shaofeng said, "Why don't you suggest to His Majesty that someone compile a comprehensive book that includes all the books from all schools of thought since the beginning of writing? And have people make many copies or print many copies to distribute to all provinces of our Great Ming. Then there will be no more worries about loss. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
Wang Qiong felt a surge of emotion and immediately stood up, bowing deeply to Yang Shaofeng: "Brother Yang's ingenious ideas will prevent future generations from lamenting the loss of the classics of our ancestors. Your merits are immeasurable. I admire you greatly."
Whether His Majesty the Emperor will agree to compile such a book is His Majesty's business, but I must propose it. Even if it is ultimately completed by those pedantic scholars like Kong Xixue, I, as the initiator, can still include it in the appendix.
This is what it truly means to be remembered in history!
Moreover, how could His Majesty the Emperor possibly refuse?
Since ancient times, civil administration, military achievements, and people's livelihood have been the three criteria for judging whether an emperor can be called a wise and virtuous ruler.
In terms of military prowess, the current emperor has driven out the Tartars and restored China; his military achievements are unmatched by any previous great ruler.
As for the people's livelihood, there are officials like Shan Chang Gong and Qing Tian in the court, and officials like Magistrate Yang in the local area serving His Majesty. How bad can the people's livelihood be?
Compared to military prowess and the well-being of the people, civil administration became a weakness. After all, a large number of poor and pedantic scholars were crying out to be loyal to the Hu Yuan dynasty. The court was so short of officials that even illiterate farmers could be recruited to serve as officials. Even if Magistrate Yang thought of compiling books such as the "Hongwu Zhengyun" and the "Hongwu Dictionary", the civil administration was still somewhat lacking.
If the encyclopedia that Magistrate Yang described could truly be compiled, the current emperor's civil administration would surpass that of all previous dynasties, making him unparalleled in the world!
Seeing Wang Qiong's excited expression, Yang Shaofeng quickly stood up and reached out to support him, saying, "Brother Wang, what are you doing? I was just offering some ideas, how can I accept such a great gift from you?"
Wang Qiong straightened up and said through gritted teeth, "Brother Yang, please rest assured. If this encyclopedia can be compiled, Kong Xixue and his ilk will have no time to have any other ideas!"
Yang Shaofeng chuckled and said, "Brother Wang, you've misunderstood!"
Upon hearing Yang Shaofeng's words, Wang Qiong was stunned and asked blankly, "Is it wrong?"
Yang Shaofeng hummed in agreement and said, "Kong Xixue is already compiling the 'Hongwu Great Dictionary.' If he succeeds, His Majesty will confer upon him the title of Duke Yansheng. This is an inevitable trend that cannot be changed by human effort. However..."
As the saying goes, the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun were under the control of the Hu people for four hundred years, and then went through the machinations of Hu Yuansi and others. Today, the Han people in the north do not regard the Han people in the south as their own people, and the Han people in the south do not regard the Han people in the north as their own people either.
If Zhu Chongba wanted to win back the hearts of the people in the north, he first had to win back the literati who controlled the mouthpiece of the nation, and Kong Xixue was the banner that Emperor Zhu Chongba wanted to raise for the scholars in the north.
This is why, despite Emperor Zhu Chongba's disdain for the Northern lineage and even saying to Kong Kejian, "I will not trouble you with an official position," he ultimately did not allow the Southern lineage to inherit the title of Duke Yansheng. Instead, he continued to bestow the title of Duke Yansheng upon Kong Kejian's son, Kong Xixue.
Magistrate Yang smiled and said, "The number of the Great Expansion is fifty, and its use is forty-nine. In the end, there is still a sliver of a chance that the Southern School can turn the tables and defeat the Northern School."
Wang Qiong's eyes lit up, and he looked intently at Yang Shaofeng, saying, "Brother Yang, do you mean to have the people of the Southern School compile this encyclopedia?"
Yang Shaofeng nodded and said, "Kong Xixue is too busy compiling books such as the Hongwu Great Dictionary to take care of anything else, so this encyclopedia can only be entrusted to the Southern School. Since this encyclopedia is all-encompassing and all-inclusive, books such as the Hongwu Great Dictionary and the Hongwu Zhengyun should also be included in it."
Wang Qiong immediately gave Yang Shaofeng a thumbs up: "Brilliant, Brother Yang is truly brilliant. In this way, the Southern School's reputation will surpass that of the Northern School, and it will be only natural for His Majesty to confer the title of Duke Yansheng upon the Southern School. In particular, as Brother Yang just mentioned, this encyclopedia should be copied and printed in many places and distributed to various provinces. Scholars in the Yan and Yun regions will also benefit from it and naturally will have nothing to say about it."
After a slight pause, Wang Qiong asked again, "In your opinion, Brother Yang, what would be a good name for this encyclopedia?"
Yang Shaofeng smiled and said, "A comprehensive encyclopedia like this would require the combined efforts of scholars from all over the world to compile. How could we possibly name it? Perhaps we should let His Majesty worry about it."
If Lao Deng wants to call it "Hongwu Grand Canon", then this book will be called "Hongwu Grand Canon" from now on. If Lao Deng insists on calling this book "Wenxian Dacheng", then so be it.
For Magistrate Yang, whether or not the Yongle Encyclopedia existed was important, but whether or not it was called the Yongle Encyclopedia was completely irrelevant.
As for the future civil administration of Zhu Laosi, this cheap brother-in-law... let's talk about that later; we'll find a solution eventually.
Just as Magistrate Yang was lost in thought, Wang Qiong stood up and said, "Brother Yang, those two doctors will arrive in Ningyang County along with the medicinal herbs. It should be within the next few days. Also, regarding the Four Pillars Register you requested, I will return to the capital to get you a few copies and have them delivered to Ningyang County by express courier. Farewell."
This time, Yang Shaofeng did not stop Wang Qiong. Instead, he smiled, cupped his hands in greeting to Wang Qiong, and said, "Brother Wang, please."