Last night, Zhang Yuan took several young men to the Yihong Courtyard outside Donghua Gate for a good time until dawn. He had just closed the door when there was a knock on the door.

The knocking was so violent that if you didn't open the door, you would have thought a group of bandits had come to rob you in the dark.

Drunk and somewhat out of it, Zhang Yuan's arrogant and self-indulgent personality, ingrained since childhood, immediately made him irritable.

"Damn it! Who is it! Daring to knock on the gate of my Zhang residence!" Zhang Yuan roared. "Guards! Whoever it is, take them out and beat them up first!"

Several servants grabbed their weapons and were about to leave when the door opened. One of the servants was kicked in and crashed into Zhang Yuan, causing him to groan and fall to the ground, where he began to scream in pain.

"Damn it!" Zhang Yuan roared, scrambling to his feet to deliver his message.

He Liming walked up in a few steps and slapped Zhang Yuan across the face, making him stagger back two steps with a loud crack.

"I am He Liming, the commander of the Imperial City Guard. Who the hell did you just curse?!"

Upon hearing who this person was, Zhang Yuan was immediately startled.

He Liming was a celebrity in Tokyo, nicknamed "White Impermanence". Why did he have such a nickname?

It means that those he took away basically all went to meet the King of Hell.

Imagine this: in the dead of night, the White Impermanence suddenly appears at your house. How would you feel?

Zhang Yuan sobered up completely. The back pain she had felt earlier from excessive exercise in bed was now gone.

Behind He Liming were eight Imperial City Guards, each over eight feet tall, dressed in dark brocade robes embroidered with tiger patterns, exuding an imposing aura. They carried four-foot-long straight crescent-shaped daggers at their waists, their faces stern and cold, radiating a chilling murderous intent.

"He... He Shangguan, what brings you here? Please... please come inside, it's snowing heavily..."

"No need, we are here on orders to arrest them!"

Zhang Yuan's legs went weak with fear: "Arrest someone? Who does Officer He want to arrest?"

"Of course we're arresting you! And your father, Zhang Zhongcheng!"

"Why is this, Lord He? I have always been upright and honest, with clean hands and a pure heart..."

"Save those words for the Censorate!" He Liming said coldly. "Men, tie Zhang Yuan up!"

"Sir He, I'm innocent! I'm innocent!" Zhang Yuan was so frightened that his face turned pale, and he quickly turned around and tried to run inside.

However, his body felt weak and limp after taking the medicine and doing his bed exercises, as if he were standing on something.

He was pulled over by a guard from the Imperial City Guard with one hand, like a little chick being pinched.

"Sir He! I am innocent! I am innocent!"

By this time, the people inside the house had already been alerted.

The lights in the main hall were immediately turned on, and the servants of the Zhang family ran out in an orderly fashion. A middle-aged man came out, looking like he had just woken up and was still sleepy.

As soon as Zhang Hong arrived, Zhang Yuan cried out as if grasping at a straw: "Father, please save your child!"

"Sir He, what brings you here so late at night?"

Although Zhang Hong, the Palace Attendant, was a fifth-rank official, one rank higher than He Liming, who was a sixth-rank official, everyone knew that He Liming was the emperor's personal guard. Even Zhang Hong, who was also a close minister of the emperor, had to respectfully address He Liming as his superior.

He Liming said, "Minister Zhang, you've come at the perfect time. It saves us the trouble of going in to arrest them. Come with me to the Censorate!"

Zhang Hong was slightly taken aback. The Censorate was a place where one could enter but never leave, and all civil officials were terrified of it.

Why would the Imperial City Guard come knocking on our door in the dead of night?

This rebellious son must have caused trouble outside!

Zhang Hong was about to speak when He Liming interrupted him: "Minister Zhang, please do not speak further!"

Zhang Hong's face turned ashen. He said, "I must now enter the palace to meet the Emperor!"

"We have come here on the orders of the Emperor!"

Zhang Hong shuddered.

The snow fell heavier and heavier. At the end of the second year of the Jingkang era, the academic turmoil caused by this seemingly minor dispute over a library was brewing in the snowy night.

How proud were the scholars of the Song Dynasty?

The emperor has already sent over 100,000 Confucian scholars to the southwest and Longyou Protectorate to put their talents to good use.

However, when the emperor actually began to promote the new learning, he still encountered unprecedented resistance.

Take the seemingly trivial incident at the academy that Zhao Ding encountered. It appeared to be just a case of officials' sons bullying ordinary people, but behind it all lay the highest institution of learning in the Song Dynasty: the Imperial Academy!

In Liu Yanzong's words: "The young people around Zhang Yuan that night were all students of the Imperial Academy. This was actually a conflict within the academic community."

The new learning encompasses the learning of a hundred schools of thought. The official gazette of the Song Dynasty also clearly stated the policy of the new learning: scholars should not be distinguished by wealth or social status, and the academies should promote the learning of the sages of the past throughout the world.

As for who the sages were, it's no longer just Confucius and Mencius.

In the Hall of Heroes, the portraits of the philosophers of the Spring and Autumn Period are displayed side by side.

Even Mozi and Lu Ban have their own stone statues and memorial tablets.

This is to show the world that the learning of the Song Dynasty is not limited to Confucianism, and that the current emperor wants to promote the learning of all schools of thought.

But this really hurts some people's pride!

Originally, the phenomenon of poor people not being able to study was not serious in the Song Dynasty, and many prime ministers came from poor families.

But other doctrines from the new school, such as the study of engineering, also gained acceptance.

This time, everyone was indignant.

The students of the Imperial Academy were known for their fiery tempers, and these young people, full of hormones, often gossiped and criticized the matter behind their backs.

These words naturally reached Zhao Huan's ears.

Zhao Huan could understand the thoughts of these young people; who hasn't been young?

What is the most prominent characteristic of youth?

It's not about being hot-blooded; the biggest characteristic of youth is narrow-mindedness, short-sightedness, lack of experience in the world, ignorance of the outside world, and only seeing what's in front of you.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!