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As the smoke of war spread across the South China Sea, a war of words concerning the future governing policy of the Qin Empire also began.
This debate was so intense that even Qin Mu had never expected it.
In early spring in February, the willows inside and outside Nanjing city are covered with misty branches, purple swallows return early, and the east wind blows through the curtains. The drizzle has just stopped, and half of the city is covered with flowers. The prosperous scene everywhere makes tourists linger.
In Zhaohua Palace, peach blossoms reflected people's faces, green silk Buddhist windows, and fragrance filled the air;
Under the half-closed spring curtain, Gu Hanyan was wearing a white palace dress with scattered flowers, and her hair was decorated with golden hairpins. In her misty eyes, the rippling love was so soft.
Her beauty lies in the tenderness of the Jiangnan women. Being with her is like appreciating the green mountains and clear waters, apricot blossoms and spring rain in the Jiangnan area... ...
As she helped Qin Mu get dressed, she asked gently, "Your Majesty, today is the first time you are attending the imperial lecture. Is it appropriate for Your Majesty to wear casual clothes?"
Her voice was as soft as flowing water. After being watered last night, her already smooth and tender skin became even more hydrated and rosy, and her face had a lazy look of satisfaction.
This reminded Qin Mu of her extremely charming manner in bed last night. It felt like lying on the clear and soft water of Jiangnan, watching the river flowers blooming like fire, listening to the melodious singing of the oriole, looking for fragrant dew in the secluded path, tasting cherries on the Jade Mountain...
"It's okay. I'm dressed too formally, which will make everyone feel restrained and unable to relax during the debate." After Qin Mu said this, he couldn't help but hold her in his arms and kissed her for a long time.
A moan, soft and charming, the delicate body with jade-like bones and water-like skin twisted gently, the misty eyes slightly opened and closed, the spring scenery in the room made people intoxicated.
"Well... Your Majesty... It's getting late..."
Gu Hanyan was made of water, and under Qin Mu's long kiss, her whole body was like a spring of water flowing onto Qin Mu, so soft, as if she had no bones.
Qin Mu could hardly hold back from asking her to lie on the window porch where peach blossoms slanted across, to wander for a while on the soft spring waves, and then to listen to her sing a graceful morning song.
"Life is so short and bitter!"
Hearing Qin Mu's sigh, Gu Hanyan couldn't help but hug him tightly with soft panting and said, "I can't bear to leave Your Majesty, but Your Majesty is the ruler of a country, and the imperial lecture is a major event for the country. Your Majesty..."
"I see. By the way, how do you and Xu Ruoshi get along?"
Gu Hanyan was helping him tie the jade belt and was slightly startled when she heard the words, "Miss Xu is smart, beautiful, well-educated and well-mannered. I get along very well with her." Gu Hanyan of course knew what it meant that the emperor suddenly asked about a girl. She bit her cherry lips lightly, and dimples appeared on her cheeks, which was very charming.
Qin Mu seemed to be asking casually. He then washed up, had his meal, and then left the palace and headed for the West Garden by Mochou Lake.
The system of imperial lectures was established in the Song Dynasty and flourished in the Ming Dynasty. The emperors of the early Ming Dynasty were diligent in government and fond of learning. Although lectures were not institutionalized, they did not hinder the study of the classics. When Emperor Yingzong ascended the throne at a young age, the Three Yangs were in power. Feeling that they had the heavy responsibility of educating the young emperor, they petitioned to open the imperial lectures. The rituals of the imperial lectures were formulated, and lectures were held three times on the second, twelfth, and twenty-second days of each month.
The Imperial Lecture was a grand ceremony for the court. One meritorious official was in charge of the Imperial Lecture, and the cabinet scholars were either in charge or co-charged of the Imperial Lecture. The six ministers and other officials were on duty, and there were also people who displayed books, served as ceremonial attendants, provided services, and praised ceremonies.
The Jingyan was actually a session where learned ministers lectured on scriptures and history for the emperor. The ministers believed that the Jingyan session was a place to correct the ruler's mind and inspire his spirit, so they attached great importance to it. When the country was first established, they wrote to the emperor one after another to request the holding of the Jingyan.
As an emperor, Qin Mu also attached great importance to this. In addition to expressing his attitude, he also had deeper considerations and hoped to inject more meaning into the imperial lecture system.
In later times, all countries have various think tanks that provide advice and suggestions to decision-makers, make judgments and plans, and propose various designs;
Feedback information, tracking and investigating the implementation plan, and feeding back the operation results to decision makers to facilitate correction;
Conduct diagnosis, study the causes of problems based on the current situation, and find the key to solving the problems;
To predict the future, we use various methods from different angles and propose various forecasting plans for decision makers to choose from.
Qin Mu hoped to transform the imperial lecture system into a think tank, not only to discuss the Four Books and Five Classics, but also not to limit it to court ministers.
He stipulated that all scholars with foresight and knowledge would have the opportunity to participate in the imperial lectures. The scope of lectures and discussions was also further expanded. All major national policies and strategies for governing the country, no matter where they came from, could be presented to the emperor at the imperial lectures and be subject to questioning and refutation from others.
In short, Qin Mu hopes to gradually establish some semi-official or even non-official think tanks in Qin through the guidance of the Imperial Lectures.
Aren't today's scholars bored to death and fond of criticizing government affairs
Well, if you have the ability, you can set up a think tank to track, investigate and study the implementation of the court's various policies, find the crux of the solution to the problem, and come up with real data and practical solutions.
You don't need to brag in front of the girls on the Qinhuai River. If you have the ability, come to the imperial lecture on the second, twelfth and twenty-second day of every month and give a lecture to the emperor. If the information you feedback and the predicted plans are really good, the emperor will adopt them.
This is much more practical than bragging to the girls in the brothel on the Qinhuai River, not to mention how much more glorious it is.
It is not difficult to avoid the old mistake of scholars to make exaggerated and nonsense statements. All you need to do is stick to "real data". Your arguments in the imperial lectures must be supported by real data, and you must be responsible for the data you provide.
For example, if you want to prove that a policy is bad, you must go to various states and counties to conduct field investigations to see the consequences of the policy and obtain various real data to support your argument.
As long as we firmly grasp the "real data", we can avoid things like the Donglin Party's nonsense but useless things.
If you want to have real data, you must conduct an on-site investigation. Otherwise, once it is proven that your data is fabricated, not only will you be disqualified from attending the imperial lecture, but you will also be severely condemned and made infamous.
If it causes wrong decisions by higher-level officials or other serious consequences, one may even be held criminally liable.
If this matter can be guided successfully, it can avoid the recurrence of the Ming Dynasty's empty talk that harmed the country. Scholars will become more pragmatic, and more people will become people with real talents and knowledge.
Qin Mu also knew that it was not easy to achieve this goal, and it would take more than a day or two to form many first-class think tanks in Daqin.
But he will try his best to guide through the system of imperial lectures. This matter can be said to be related to the academic attitude of scholars all over the world and the rise and fall of the Qin Dynasty.
Therefore, Qin Mu's emphasis on the imperial lectures exceeded the ministers' imagination.
He chose the West Garden by the Mochou Lake as the venue for the imperial lecture. In addition to the ministers in the court, he also invited the leading figures of various schools.
For example, Xie Jinglun, the second-generation disciple of Li Zhi who proposed the theory of childlike innocence that "wearing clothes and eating are the principles of human ethics and physics", as well as representatives of the Jiangzuo School, Zhejiang Middle School, Taizhou School, the theory of original color, and the theory of nature and spirit were all invited to the scene.
In addition, there were many people like Huang Daozhou, Liu Zongzhou, Zhu Shunshui, Huang Zongxi, Fu Qingzhu, Luo Wanzao, Gu Yanwu, etc. Even Wang Fuzhi who was far away in Guangxi was invited back by Qin Mu. The scene was very grand.
Qin Mu's imperial carriage left the Sanshan Gate and arrived at the West Garden.
In February, pavilions and towers are hidden among the rocks, pines, bamboos, flowers and trees by the Mochou Lake, creating a pleasant scene of "If you want to compare her with Xi Shi and Mochou, it's hard to judge right and wrong by the smoke and waves. But you feel that the West Lake loses one step, with the river sails flying beyond the clouds."
The civil and military officials and scholars from various schools who were fortunate enough to attend the Imperial Lecture were all dressed in tall hats and wide belts, and were brightly dressed. Seeing that the emperor attached so much importance to the Imperial Lecture, they were all delighted and ready to use what they had learned to explain the classics and guide the emperor in governing the country.
However, no one, including Qin Mu, expected that the first imperial lecture of the Qin Dynasty would trigger an unprecedentedly fierce debate. The impact of this debate was so great that it was even dubbed the "Longwu, Confucian, Legalist and Taoist Debate" by scholars of later generations.
Governing the country with Confucianism, governing the country with law, or governing by inaction, these issues involve the most core ideas of governing a country, and they collided fiercely in this imperial lecture.
Its intensity even overshadowed the massive naval battle currently taking place in the South China Sea...
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ps: Dear brothers, what do you think of Confucianism, Legalism, Taoism and other schools? Please go to the book review area to express your opinions, and you can also provide me with some references. This is a big proposition. The various Chinese schools of thought are broad and profound. Haoyuan admits that his knowledge is limited. Please provide in-depth insights.
Finally, I would like to ask for your monthly votes. Looking at the current situation, I’m about to be kicked off the list. I would like to ask for your support through monthly votes!
.(To be continued..)
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