Chapter 282: The Great Controversy (1)

In the autumn of the eighteenth year of Huaxia, Zeng Hua, who had been wandering outside for more than four years, finally returned to China, but what was confronted was a political dispute, the biggest political dispute since Zeng Hua took power, and it could even be said to be a political crisis. And this political strife was caused by his second son, Zeng Min.

In the sixteenth year of China, when the Western Expeditionary Army led by Zeng Hua was fighting fiercely with the Beisizhi army on the Persian Plateau, Luoyang, thousands of miles away, quietly circulated a public opinion: Zeng Hua has been in charge of the world for a long time, and all the people in all directions have wholeheartedly supported him as the co-lord of the world, and the territory he has laid down is several times that of the former Qin, the former Han, and the former Jin. Moreover, Zeng Hua, as the "last prophet" of the Holy Religion, has long been the person to whom the mandate of heaven returns, so he must be called the Son of Heaven and govern the world with the will of Heaven.

In addition, a group of scholars put it on the bookshelf based on the "White Tiger Tongyi" compiled by the former Han Bangu, and held high the banner of this theological and ethical code that explained all the political systems and moral concepts of the previous society and became recognized by the mainstream scholars before. First declared, "Virtue is like heaven and earth called the emperor, the king born of benevolence and righteousness, the emperor's heavenly name, the king, and the name of the five elements." And with this as the standard, they have written to strongly ask Zeng Hua to be the emperor.

These scholars even carried forward the method of putting "White Tiger Tongyi" into the bookshelf without analogy, comparing the righteousness of monarchs and ministers, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives under the previous system with various natural phenomena such as heaven, earth and stars, yin and yang, and so on, in order to deify the previous order and hierarchy. They shouted, "The son obeys the father, the wife obeys the husband, and the minister obeys the king. The law and the earth are in order". "The king has all the people, what is the law? There are stars in the heavens." "The king is not called evil, the minister is not called good, the good is attributed to the king, and the evil is attributed to the minister." "The minister has the merit to the king, what is the law? The law returns to the moon and the sun. ”

They also took advantage of the situation to demand the restoration of the Three Programs and Six Disciplines, and demanded the re-establishment of the Three Programs of Monarchs and Ministers, Fathers and Sons, and Husbands and Wife; Fathers, brothers, clansmen, uncles, teachers, and friends have a six-discipline social system, this is because of the Three Outline Law, Heaven and Earth, and the Six Disciplines.

Later, these scholars began to criticize the existing social system and legal system, saying that these things have no father or king, and only seek profit, which is perverse against the will of God.

"White Tiger Tongyi" put on the bookshelf is the summary of the political doctrine of modern literature and classics, which puts Dong Zhongshu into the bookshelf in "Spring and Autumn Dew" to put a complete set of theology of "heaven and man induction" into "incisive" to the fullest, and then combines "vulgar classics" and the prevailing prophecy of the Han Dynasty, so that theology and scripture are theological, and finally become an important tool for modern literature and classics to suppress ancient scriptures.

Scripture has always been the only official school in the Han Dynasty, for the imperial court to enter the door to take Lu, its division of the current literature and scriptures popular prophecy of the Wei said, heaven and man, yin and yang, Fu Ying and other concepts of prosperity, dependent on politics, and increasingly absurd, abandoned by many people of insight; On the other hand, ancient scriptures focus on chapters and sentences, and are cumbersome and fragmented. Therefore, the mainstream thought of Wei and Jin students has been turned into metaphysics, and today's literature and classics only occupy a corner of the northern studies formed after the split between the north and the south of Confucianism.

The first to oppose the inclusion of "White Tiger Tongyi" on the bookshelf were a group of professors at the Holy Church Theological Seminary. The statement that "White Tiger Tongyi" was put on the bookshelf was simply heretical to the teachings of the Holy Religion, and it could not be more heretical. Although the Holy Church places Confucius, Mencius, and Lao Tzu as prophets in the sacred religious texts, the theological scholars of the Holy Religion believe that these three prophets only flattered God and the Holy Lord, and partially paraphrased the "holy will". It is not at all the "Su Wang" who is "made for the Han system" as the current literature and scriptures think.

Moreover, the theology of "White Tiger Tongyi" put into the bookshelf school can be regarded as stepping on the boundary, seriously encroaching on the territory of the holy religion, and many holy religious theologians who are very sensitive to this have spoken out one after another, and the nonsense that "White Tiger Tongyi" is put into the bookshelf school.

Over the years, the theological ideology of the Holy Religion has "integrated China and the West", and it is not only Chinese scholars who believe in it, but also many Persian, Roman, and Tianzhu scholars have thrown themselves into its arms, and many people have become theological scholars because of their firm beliefs. In addition, the Holy Sect has a number of far-reaching newspapers, so as soon as the fire was fired, he immediately put "White Tiger Tongyi" on the bookshelf and beat him dizzy.

"White Tiger Tongyi" was put on the bookshelf, and the school did not know which master was instructed by it, and in the face of the fierce criticism of the holy sect, it quickly resorted to very despicable and shameless tricks. With a turn of the pen, scholars of modern literature and classics soon "dragged the ancient literature and classics" and other schools of scripture into the water, and even Nanxue, which is a branch of Confucianism, was also involved. Later, Xinxue, metaphysics, Taoism, and Buddhism joined in one after another, only to see the saliva flying in the Huaxia Di newspaper, and the national and state studies were even more tongues and swords, and they were very happy to distinguish.

At the beginning, it was still an academic dispute, but behind these schools of thought there was a shadow of political factions, and later on the debate, they began to criticize each other's political ideas, because the "White Tiger Tongyi" itself pointed to a political idea when it was put on the bookshelf. So the contradictions and controversies between the old and new factions that have been disputed for decades have been ignited, they are the two largest political factions in China, the new school is a mixture of ancient literature and classics, Confucianism in the south and north, Legalism and Zeng Hua's new thoughts, and the main political power in China, the old school is composed of several schools such as metaphysics and modern literature and classics, they have no political advantages, and they are divided into several factions within themselves, but they have always been the mainstream ideas of the official school and the scholars of the dynasty, The power of civil society and academia should not be underestimated.

By the seventeenth year of the controversy, the controversy had almost gotten out of control, and not only the old school was divided into several factions, but even the new school was divided into radicals and moderates, with the radicals demanding that "backward scholarship" such as modern literature and classics be declared "heretical thoughts" and banned, while the moderates opposed this practice and adopted moderate means of reform.

In addition to this, theology calls for the establishment of theocracy and the prohibition of all pagan religious radicals; demanded that all the systems of the former Han Dynasty be restored, and Confucianism was the retro school of official learning; The "Xinxin" school, which requires Zhongshu and Menxia Province to be the highest authority of the state, and local semi-autonomy; Even a group of "enthusiastic students" proposed the abolition of all old ideas and systems, and the implementation of "democratic politics" represented by direct elections, and so on.

This dispute was bitter for Xie Shu, the state minister of Pingzhang, who was in charge of Shangshu Province, and Zeng Wei, who acted as the king. Xie Shu has been in charge of Pingzhang's state affairs for seven years, and according to the convention, after Zeng Hua's westward expedition is completed, he will hand over the seat to Cui Hong, the governor of the political affairs. Now that there is such a thing, how can Xie Shu explain to Zeng Hua?

And Zeng Wei is even more embarrassed, although he acts as the king, but after all, he has not succeeded to the throne, and now this incident has happened, what do people in the world think? There are already rumors that Zeng Wei is the mastermind behind this controversy and turmoil, in order to force the palace and seize power in the chaos when King Ming's western expedition is not in place. This is called Zeng Wei's inar.

At this time, a scholar named Li Guan published an article on the bookshelf of "Minbao" and put it on the bookshelf. In the article, Li Guan unceremoniously pointed out that the three outlines of monarchs and ministers, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives are a great historical retrogression under the banner of etiquette and religion, and are banditry acts that rob other people's property and despise other people's lives, and the essence of the three outlines is actually the relationship between slave owners and slaves. The minister is the subordinate of the king, the son is the subordinate of the father, and the woman is the subordinate of the husband, and the king, the father, and the husband can regard the property of the minister, the son, and the husband as their own property without any taboo, and even regard themselves as their own property, and can plunder it as their own at any time under any pretext. But they are doing things to cover up the banditry for a few people, with only one purpose, to turn the Chinese people into a group of ignorant sheep and sell them to their masters, and they don't care who these masters are, even if they dare to sell them!

Li Guan put "White Tiger Tongyi" on the bookshelf and scolded the school and then said that the Holy Lord Yellow Emperor treats his people equally, and all living beings are equal. Jun is the representative of a country, and the essence of loyalty is to be loyal to the country; Father and son, the most important thing is the inheritance of family affection and blood, and it is definitely not who occupies whom; Husband and wife, the most important support to help each other for the rest of their lives, continue to have children, and it is definitely not who is respectful or inferior.

Li Guan then reviewed the history of the two Han Dynasty to the former Jin Dynasty, and pointed out why there was a change of dynasties and frequent external troubles, this is because one family represents the whole country, and when the dynasty is destroyed, it is said to be the destruction of the country, which has nothing to do with the people of the world, so there is a saying that the deer will win the championship. Now the king of Ming thinks about the world, not for his own interests, and reprimands the world for the world, so the people of the world should serve the country and the king.

This article is the dividing point of the whole dispute, which was a scuffle before, but then it is clearly divided, and the contradictions of the dispute are concentrated on "restoring the ancient system" and "continuing the new system". The contradictions were clear, but the conflict intensified, and the "old and new" factions escalated the academic and political struggle to a military struggle, and the two sides soon sparked in the argument, and the adherents of both sides began to shed blood.

But this series of disputes and conflicts suddenly stopped with Zeng Hua's return to Chang'an. Zeng Hua's prestige and power are unparalleled in Huaxia, no matter which faction is old or new, no matter how much advantage he has in disputes and conflicts, as long as Zeng Hua stretches out a little finger, you will never recover.

Zeng Hua received a report on the way back to China, but he surprisingly did not react and returned to Chang'an in silence.

"This dispute came so suddenly, and yet so violently, it was not easy." Zeng Hua glanced at Zeng Wei, Xie Shu, Liu Gu, Cui Hong and others who were sitting around him, and spoke.

"What does Your Majesty mean?" The one who spoke was Liu Gu, who was also a fellow military officer. Liu Gubeifu has always been in charge of the military, and now he is in charge of the Privy Council, which has nothing to do with the previous controversy, plus he is the son of Zeng Hua's mentor Liu Yi, Zeng Hua has always regarded him as a brother and his own family, so in the absence of Wang Meng and other elders and Gan Rui and other righteous brothers present, he is the most suitable person to answer at this time.

"Some people want to muddy the waters so that they can fish in troubled waters for profit." Zeng Hua said lightly. Everyone's faces couldn't help but show a solemn look, and they didn't dare to open their mouths to answer, even Liu Gu couldn't speak.

Zeng Hua sighed softly in his heart, he didn't expect this kind of thing to happen, and the description of the fiery scene in the report almost reminded Zeng Hua of the "French Revolution". Now that China does have the soil for a "bourgeois revolution", it is also the moment to break with the old ideas and the old system, but what Zeng Hua did not expect was the reason for this incident. While Zeng Hua established a complete set of perfect political systems, he naturally did not forget to set up intelligence and secret supervision organs as his eyes and ears.

The Ministry of Justice of Shangshu Province has an internal affairs bureau and the Ministry of Rites has a general administration bureau, both of which are intelligence agencies that secretly investigate local civil and administrative affairs, and some information can also be obtained through the procuratorate and the audit bureau.

On the way back, Zeng Hua issued an order to secretly investigate the root cause of this matter. With the full cooperation of several major intelligence agencies, coupled with the help of the Privy Council's Military Intelligence Department, it took more than half a year to investigate the ins and outs of the incident very clearly. And Xie Shu, Liu Gu, and Cui Hong, the three people who were in the key positions, later knew the details of this matter, but this was too deeply involved, and the three of them did not dare to deal with it without authorization, so they had to leave it to Zeng Hua to decide.

Zeng Hua knew that this was the result of his "indulgence". Although he single-handedly established the Holy Religion and established a whole new political system and ideology, he did not "cut the roots" of other "heretical" ideas and forces, and even connived at it later. The convergence of different ideas can easily collide with "sparks", and people with ulterior motives are fueling the flames, which will naturally lead to today's results.

"Wei'er, tell me why these people from the old school suddenly couldn't hold back and jumped out?" Zeng Hua suddenly turned to Zeng Wei and asked.

It is already a well-known fact that Zeng Wei is the crown prince, and Zeng Hua is also preparing for his ascension. Xie Shu, the current state minister of Pingzhang, is Zeng Wei's "mentor" working in Shangshu Province, and Cui Hong, the next state minister of Pingzhang and the current governor of the political council, is his brother-in-law. But it is precisely because of Zeng Wei's identity that although he does not dare to act rashly in this dispute, he knows that this pool of water is very deep.

Seeing that his father suddenly asked himself, Zeng Wei hesitated for a moment before replying: "The child is dull and doesn't know the mystery. ”

"It's not that you don't know, you're just hard to say." Zeng Hua replied with a smile, "These old-school people have been hinted by some people that I want to become the Son of Heaven." What I did before was just to win people's hearts, but now that the big picture has been decided, I want to be the real lord of the world. Hearing these rumors, these people will naturally clamoring to go up in order to support the merit, they used to be the best at this business, but now they are just returning to their old business. ”

"I didn't expect this Yin Shen to support the main heart to this point." Zeng Hua's last sentence hit Zeng Wei's heart hard. Yin Shen is Zeng Min's confidant and strategist, this is a well-known thing, since he manipulated this matter, in order to naturally let Zeng Min take the position. Zeng Wei has been reluctant to directly intervene in the investigation of this matter because of his sensitive identity, so he only vaguely knows the details of this matter, and now he is naturally a little shocked when he hears his father's words.

"Wei'er, as you know, this incident has something to do with the fact that I have been indulging various schools of thought before. How can you improve after quelling the incident? Zeng Hua suddenly asked again.

Zeng Wei thought for a while, considered the words and said, "Father, I think this matter is still a good thing in a certain way. When I was studying Chinese culture, my professor once told me that the truth is indiscerning. Although this controversy caused undesirable turmoil, it made the students and people of the world realize the true intention of the father to establish this system of government and thought, and also understood the disadvantages and sinister intentions of the old system of government and thought. If we blindly suppress it, on the contrary, we will give the old heresy an opportunity to take advantage of, and perhaps our suppression can make the situation calm for a while, but one day it will erupt, and then it may be a stormy sea. ”

Seeing that Zeng Hua's face was still good, Zeng Wei spoke more fluently: "Only through arguing with other political ideas can we know where our current political system is good and where it is not." It's like a woodpecker pecking at a tree, we can clearly know where there are insects in the trunk, and if it weren't for its pecking, maybe the core of the tree would be rotten and we wouldn't know. ”

"I'm glad you think so." Zeng Hua smiled and nodded. At the beginning, Zeng Hua took a fancy to Zeng Wei from so many sons, because he liked to think since he was a child, had his own judgment, and did not reject other ideas and opinions that were different from his own. In addition, he has been guiding and cultivating him, so Zeng Wei has such words today that Zeng Hua is completely relieved.

"Father, this is what you have taught me since I was a child." Zeng Wei bowed his head and replied, he now naturally understood the education that his father had taught him since he was a child.

"I hope you can teach your son the same in the future."

"Yes, father."

"Alright, it's time to put this matter to rest. I have to come forward and put something to rest. Zeng Hua finally said.