"Just tell me briefly."

Xiao Ran thought about it and realized that he didn't understand this thing, but it was introduced in the textbook.

“This appeared during the Song Dynasty.”

"Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism takes 'principle' as its core concept, believing that 'principle' is the origin and ruler of all things in the universe."

"It emphasizes the understanding and realization of 'principle' through the method of investigating things and seeking knowledge. In terms of moral cultivation, it advocates 'preserving the principles of heaven and eliminating human desires' to achieve moral perfection. In social governance, it emphasizes the use of Confucian ethical and moral norms to maintain social order. It had a profound impact on the politics, culture, and thought of late feudal Chinese society."

"It's almost like setting rules for people. These rules are deeply rooted in people's hearts and have influenced people for thousands of years."

After Xiao Ran said this, Li Shimin, Empress Zhangsun and others almost understood.

"This kind of rule should be beneficial to maintaining rule! Otherwise, it wouldn't be passed down so long."

Li Shimin also guessed it.

"Of course, the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues are meant to maintain social stability. They're not about suppressing people by force, but about restricting their thoughts."

"This has its advantages, but also its disadvantages." Li Shimin thought thoughtfully.

"Well, no dynasty since the Tang Dynasty has been as confident, open and inclusive. These factors also have an impact."

"I don't know much about Neo-Confucianism, but the School of Mind seems quite good and very interesting."

"Would my uncle be interested in letting others know?"

Li Shimin shook his head and said, "Let it be! I don't really like Neo-Confucianism, probably because I didn't like the Song Dynasty anymore."

"This is a response to the needs of the times. I won't force it. Let it take its course!"

"I remember that there was a long period of time between the Song and Ming dynasties. Why did the School of Mind also emerge after the emergence of Neo-Confucianism?"

"This...maybe it's because...I don't know."

"Xiao Ran, do you think the School of Mind could develop in the Tang Dynasty?" Li Shimin asked Xiao Ran.

"This kind of thinking is often more threatening than riots, so I have to be on guard against it." Li Shimin felt that both Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism and the School of Mind were relatively dangerous.

"Uncle, don't worry, it will not develop in the Tang Dynasty." Xiao Ran also has his own opinion.

"Tell me about it."

"Although Confucianism was still one of the official orthodox ideologies in the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism and Taoism flourished more in the field of ideology and culture, and had a greater influence, right?"

Li Shimin nodded and believed it.

"Confucianism in the Tang Dynasty focused more on the annotation and compilation of classics and the maintenance of ritual systems. Scholars' research focus was not on in-depth exploration of philosophical issues such as the mind and nature."

"The development of the School of Mind requires the exploration and in-depth reflection of the theories of mind and nature in Confucian classics. I feel that the environment for the development of Confucianism in the Tang Dynasty did not have such conditions."

"The School of Mind can be traced back to Mencius in the pre-Qin period. However, from Mencius to the Tang Dynasty, through the Qin and Han dynasties, the Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties, the development of thought and culture during this period was more diverse and complex, and the inheritance of the School of Mind was interrupted."

"Although Mencius's discussion of the mind had a certain influence, it did not form a continuous and systematic development thread before the Tang Dynasty, and it is difficult for it to suddenly emerge and develop into an independent school of thought in the Tang Dynasty."

Li Shimin nodded, thinking it made sense.

This way I can rest assured that if a small number of people like it, then so be it.

Li Shimin did not like Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, but he could not deny that its "rules" were beneficial to his rule.

Judging from Li Shimin's governing philosophy and personality traits, he attached importance to civil and military affairs, recruited talents widely, and adopted enlightened policies.

Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism emphasized "preserving the principles of heaven and eliminating human desires" and focused on the absolutism of moral norms and order, which was different from the more open and enterprising atmosphere of Li Shimin's time.

Li Shimin paid more attention to practical political governance and national construction, and had no special interest in Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, an ideological system that highly emphasized moral norms and cultivation of the mind.

What Li Shimin was worried about was being used by people with ulterior motives and affecting the rule of the Tang Dynasty.

"Okay, go on!"

"The Tang Dynasty was an era of openness, tolerance, and diversity, and the mainstream social values ​​placed greater emphasis on external achievements, accomplishments, and material comforts."

"People sought to enter officialdom through the imperial examinations and realize their political ambitions, or to gain wealth and status through business or military service."

"In contrast, the spiritual pursuits of the School of Mind, such as its emphasis on inner cultivation and self-awareness, did not align well with the mainstream values ​​of Tang society and were difficult to gain widespread recognition and dissemination."

"Forget about rational learning, even the study of the mind is difficult to promote."

"The Neo-Confucianism of the Song Dynasty and the School of Mind of the Ming Dynasty were mostly unsuitable for the Tang Dynasty!"

"Academic exchanges were quite active in the Tang Dynasty, mainly between Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, as well as cultural exchanges between different regions."

"This kind of exchange is more about the mutual learning and integration of religious doctrines and philosophical ideas."

"The development of the School of Mind requires a relatively independent academic exchange environment. In the academic exchange atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty, it was difficult for the School of Mind to gain sufficient attention and development space."

Li Shimin smiled. "I like the confident, open and inclusive Tang Dynasty. I don't know much about later generations and don't like them very much. I especially don't like the Song Dynasty at all, and the Qing Dynasty even less so."

"In fact, the Song Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty are somewhat similar."

Li Shimin looked disdainful. "How are they the same? The Song Dynasty hasn't even achieved unification yet, how can we compare it to the Tang Dynasty?"

"The Song Dynasty was also very impressive culturally. Tang poetry and Song lyrics are truly exceptional!"

"That's right. I've seen it written over the past five thousand years, but there's nothing else besides this, right?"

"The Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty have one more thing in common." Xiao Ran stretched out a finger.

"What could we have in common?"

"Neither the Tang nor the Song built the Great Wall."

Li Shimin thought for a moment and said, "How can this be the same? The reason why the Tang Dynasty didn't build the Great Wall is because the border is far beyond the Great Wall, so there is no need to build the Great Wall at all."

"Can the Song Dynasty do the same? Even if they want to build it, they can't touch the Great Wall."

"Having the Great Wall but not using it is different from not having the Great Wall at all!"

"That makes sense!" Xiao Ran agreed.

"As for the weapons we mentioned before, you said that the Tang Dynasty should make them by itself. The weapons made by the Tang Dynasty will definitely not be good enough. Let's get some back from there!" Li Shimin needed more large-caliber truths to reason with other countries.

"This time, Tubo must be incorporated into the territory of the Tang Dynasty. It has been criticized before, but this time I cannot allow people to talk about this issue. Tubo must belong to the Tang Dynasty."

"The situation before was that Tang couldn't defeat Tubo on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. But after leaving the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Tang beat Tubo hard. It was a situation where neither side could do anything to the other!"