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Yuelu Mountain has been a famous cultural mountain since ancient times. Before the Western Jin Dynasty, it was a place where Taoist priests carried out activities, and there were buildings such as Wanshou Palace and Chongzhen Temple.
In the ninth year of Kaibao in the Northern Song Dynasty (AD 976), Zhu Dong, the governor of Tanzhou, officially established Yuelu Academy on the site where the monks originally ran the school, near Baohuang Cave at the foot of Yuelu Mountain.
During the Dazhong Xiangfu period of the Northern Song Dynasty, Yuelu Academy entered its heyday in the Northern Song Dynasty. In the eighth year of Dazhong Xiangfu (AD 1015), Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty personally summoned Zhou Shi, the chief of the mountain, and highly praised Zhou Shi's establishment of a school. He personally wrote the plaque "Yuelu Academy".
Under the leadership of Zhou Shi, Yuelu Academy's number of students and the scale of the academy have greatly increased, and it has become one of the four major academies in the world.
At the turn of the Song Dynasty, Yuelu Academy was looted by war. In the first year of Qiandao (1165), Hunan's pacification envoy Liu Gong from Zhitanzhou rebuilt Yuelu Academy. He also hired the famous Neo-Confucian scholar Zhang Shi, Bishop Yuelu, which further strengthened the educational and academic status of Yuelu Academy in the Southern Song Dynasty.
During his tenure as Bishop Zhang Shi, he took the guiding ideology of opposing the imperial examination and cultivating talents to preach and benefit the people, and cultivated a group of outstanding students with worldly talents such as Wu Lie, Zhao Fang, You Jiuyan, Chen Qi, etc. .
In the third year of Qian Dao's reign (1167 AD), Zhu Xi came to visit and discuss studies with Zhang Shi, and held the famous "Zhu Zhang Lecture" in history. There was an endless stream of people coming to listen to the lecture. People at the time described it as "there were so many people riding horses that the water in the drinking pool immediately ran dry."
In the early Yuan Dynasty, the academy was burned down by the Mongolian soldiers because the teachers and students of the academy swore to resist foreign rule. However, it was rebuilt in less than ten years.
In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang pursued the policy of "governing the country with education first and education based on schools." Emphasis is placed on the revival of local official schools, but not on advocating academies education. Academies across the country were in decline, and Yuelu Academy remained silent for more than a hundred years.
During the Chenghua period, the academy began to gradually recover. In the seventh year of Xuande's reign, private funds were raised to promote the earliest restoration of Yuelu Academy.
In the fifth year of Chenghua, Qian Peng, the prefect of Changsha, revived the academy again, but it was abandoned soon after. In the seventh year of Hongzhi, Chen Gang, the general judge of Changsha Prefecture, finally restored Yuelu Academy to its original appearance.
Since Xuande, it has been repaired and expanded many times by local officials Chen Gang, Yang Maoyuan, Wang Tao, Wu Shizhong, etc., and the main buildings of Yuelu Academy were concentrated on the central axis for the first time. The main axis extends forward to the west bank of the Xiangjiang River and back to the top of Yuelu Mountain. It is equipped with pavilions and archways, and a Confucian temple is built on one side of the axis, forming a magnificent landscape of pavilions and pavilions facing each other, and mountains and rivers blending together in the history of the academy. The academy's three major functions of teaching, collecting books, and offering sacrifices have been comprehensively restored and developed, establishing the basic pattern of the existing architecture.
In the second year of Zhengde's reign, Wang Shouren, the great master of Yangming's Xinxue, came to Yuelu to give lectures. The lectures given by Wang Shouren and his disciples at Yuelu Academy were another important school activity of Yuelu Academy after the Huxiang School in the Southern Song Dynasty, which led to another academic prosperity period of Yuelu Academy.
It wasn't until Zhang Xianzhong's troops attacked Changsha in August this year that the army led by Yin Xianmin surrendered. However, the teachers and students of the academy were unwilling to join the thieves and rose up to resist, causing the academy to be almost destroyed.
It was a pity that such an academy, which had been passed down through the ages, was destroyed, but for Qin Mu, this was a rare opportunity.
As the saying goes, it takes ten years to grow trees and a hundred years to cultivate people. Cultivating talents is a long process, and talents are often the key factor that determines the rise of a country or a nation. The sooner talent training starts, the better.
The emerging Manchu Qing Dynasty is not comparable to the decadent Mongolian Yuan Dynasty. Even if he can successfully control the southern half of the Yangtze River, he may still have a long and difficult confrontation with the Manchus.
The Manchu Qing, who occupied the north, had geographical advantages, so they could only use people and people to fight against them, and once they entered a stalemate stage. It will definitely need a steady stream of talents to enrich it, and it will be one step ahead of the Qing Dynasty in terms of people's livelihood, science and technology, etc.
Looking at the entire Ming Dynasty, it cannot be said that there is no talent, but Qin Mu does not want to use such talents. I don’t even dare to use it. Think of the Donglin Party that dominates Jiangnan.
Qin Mu couldn't find a spokesperson in Nanjing. Why? It's not because almost all the famous people in Jiangnan are inextricably related to the Donglin Party.
Once you let the Donglin Party gang into your own power. Then there is no need to talk about fighting against the Manchus, just follow them and become slaves.
People from the Donglin Party could not be used, and talents who were not from the Donglin Party had become rare animals. Qin Mu had no choice but to cultivate them himself, apart from finding a needle in a haystack.
Another important reason why Qin Mu fell in love with Yuelu Academy was that in the second year of Zhengde, Wang Shouren, a great master of mind science, came to Yuelu to give lectures. Wang Shouren and his disciples founded the school of mind learning at Yuelu Academy.
Although Xinxue still belongs to the category of idealism, it advocates the investigation of things to know everything and the unity of knowledge and action. Qin Mu believes that this point alone is much more useful than Zhu Cheng's Neo-Confucianism advocating "preserving the principles of nature, destroying human desires, and integrating nature and man."
Wang Shouren's philosophy of mind does not advocate empty talk, but advocates introspection, practice, and the unity of knowledge and action. From practice, we are looking for the inner principles and laws of things. After understanding the principles, we must "unify knowledge and action."
In the Ming Dynasty when Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was rampant, Xinxue was undoubtedly a school that Qin Mu was more acceptable to. As long as some Western academic concepts were introduced and combined with Xinxue, it would be easier to cultivate the talents he needed.
Sima An mentioned the problem of talents in his letter and suggested that Qin Mu rebuild Yuelu Academy. Qin Mu followed his advice and went to Yuelu Mountain with his people the next day.
The military must step up its training, and personnel training must start as soon as possible. It must be done with both hands, and both hands must be strong.
By the Xiaoxiang River, Wu Daoxing, the former headmaster of Yuelu Academy, was dressed in white and stood beside Zhu Zhangdu with several professors, waiting for Qin Mu's arrival.
Wu Daoxing, courtesy name Jianke, nicknamed Qishan, was born in Changsha. He is eighty-four years old and already has to walk with a cane. When Zhang Xianzhong occupied Changsha, he fled into the Yuelu Mountains and once planned to go on a hunger strike and die.
Fortunately, not long after, Qin Mu came back and restored the rule of the "Ming Dynasty", and he did not die.
"The Governor is here at Yuelu Academy. I have been paying homage to you for a long time." Wu Daoxing spoke very calmly. He stood by the ferry and cupped his hands. He didn't even bother to bend his body. It was clear from a glance that he was full of pride.
Qin Mu laughed and said: "Shan Zhang Wu is too polite. I heard that the autumn light on Yuelu Mountain is perfect, so I came with my family to enjoy it. I don't dare to accept it personally."
Qin Mu's words stunned Wu Daoxing and several professors at the academy. Traveling to the mountains with their families? Didn’t he say that the academy would be rebuilt
Wu Daoxing stroked his gray beard and replied in a neither humble nor arrogant tone: "I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint the governor. Most of the academy was destroyed by thieves. What's left is a ruined wall. It's really not much of a sight. If the governor wants to When traveling to the mountains, I’m afraid I’ll be disappointed.”
"Wu Shanzhang's words are wrong! As the saying goes, Yuelu Academy has been destroyed more than once." Qin Mu's smile did not diminish and he said unhurriedly, "Since ancient times, scholars have liked to pay homage to historical sites and reflect on the past and present on the ruins. The feeling of ups and downs. Even if a thousand-year-old academy like Yuelu Academy is in ruins, how can it cover up the fragrance of calligraphy and ink that has been passed down for thousands of years? To be honest, I like ruins, and what I came to see is the ruins. Hahaha... ... ."
These words made Wu Daoxing snort. Qin Mu was the governor of southern Ganxi. He did not go back to southern Ganxi, but was dictating things in Huguang. This in itself made Wu Daoxing uncomfortable. If he listened to his words again, how could he respond? Can bear it.
A professor next to him quietly tugged at the corner of his clothes, but Wu Daoxing still ignored it, holding his head proudly and not looking at Qin Mu.
Qin Muhun didn't care and said with a smile: "Chief Wu Shan is already old. It may not be easy to go up the mountain again. Why don't we stay at the bottom of the mountain. I will go up the mountain with others to have a look. I won't bother Chang Shan."
"Although I am old, my bones are still strong. Since I am the head of the mountain, I naturally have to take good care of every plant and tree in this academy. The governor comes from southern Gansu, and it is rare for me to have the opportunity to go up the mountain. How can I not stay with you?"
No matter how stupid you are, you can smell the smell of gunpowder at this time. Most people probably didn't expect that the smell of gunpowder would be so strong when Qin Mu met Wu Daoxing. Due to lack of mental preparation, they didn't know what to say.
Qin Mu laughed again and said very cheerfully: "Elder Wu Shan is getting stronger, which is gratifying. Since Elder Wu Shan insists, it will be a big help to Elder Wu Shan."
At this time, Qin Mu's entourage carried several bamboo chariots, which were surrounded by gauze curtains. Yang Zhi, Yun Qiaoer, and Dong Xiaowan each took one.
Respecting the elderly and caring for the young is a traditional virtue of the Chinese nation. Qin Mu was not stingy and gave Wu Daoxing a ticket. As a result, he flicked his sleeves and walked up the mountain first.
.(To be continued...)
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