Although Yang Lian said it simply, the truth is not that simple.
Yang Lian's youth coincided with the rise of the Donglin Party, and he greatly admired the integrity of Gu Xiancheng and others who took the country's affairs of state as their own, were not afraid of power, and dared to criticize the government.
Whenever there was a Donglin lecture, Yang Lian would make every effort to rush to Wuxi to discuss the philosophy of nature and reason with the Donglin gentlemen and discuss the way to govern the country. The two shared the same ideals and gradually became a rising star of the Donglin Party.
It can be said that Yang Lian represents the future of the Donglin Party, while people like Gao Panlong are already yesterday's news and there is no big drama for them to perform.
"Gu Xiancheng has spent his life teaching and educating people and advocating loyalty and righteousness. I also know his thoughts." Zhu Youxiao looked at Yang Lian without any change in his expression.
In Zhu Youxiao's view, there was nothing wrong with the Donglin Party's ideas. What was wrong were the things they did in secret. The Donglin Party's slogans were so loud that they shook the earth.
As a person of later generations, Zhu Youxiao deeply understood the importance of ideas, so he was not prepared to completely overthrow the Donglin Party. At least, he could advocate ideas such as loyalty to the emperor and serving the country.
Of course, we also need to add some things, such as "empty talk will ruin the country, hard work will make it prosperous" and so on.
It would be a good thing if the Donglin Party had this idea and stopped being a party of empty talk.
As for not wanting to pay taxes, wanting more tax exemptions, and hiding land, these things were not only done by the Donglin Party. Didn’t the Qi, Zhejiang, and Chu Party also do it? No, they did it too.
In this matter, these so-called parties are all forming cliques for personal gain, and there is actually no essential difference between them. It’s just that other parties are not as good at packaging themselves as the Donglin Party.
At least the Donglin Party was consistently strong in propaganda and consistently high-quality in appealing to people.
When Yang Lian heard Zhu Youxiao's words, his expression suddenly became a little excited. After a while, he said, "Your Majesty's insight in judging people is rare in ancient and modern times. I admire you very much."
Zhu Youxiao waved his hand, then smiled and said, "I remember Gu Xiancheng's words very clearly: 'Serving as an official at court, one's ambition is not to serve the emperor; serving as an official in a remote area, one's ambition is not to care for the people; living by the waterside or in the woods, one's ambition is not to care for the world. A gentleman does not act this way.' I still remember these words clearly. If all officials can practice these words, why worry about the Ming Dynasty's prosperity?"
"Serving in the court, one is loyal to the monarch; serving in the frontier, one cares for the people's livelihood; and in the mountains, forests and rivers, one ponders the knowledge of the world. This is not only a good way to be an official, but also a good way to be a human being."
"As the saying goes, one should establish merit, morality and words. Gu Xiancheng has done a great job in establishing words. I think he is comparable to Yangming Gong!"
Yangming Gong naturally refers to Wang Yangming, the most powerful figure in the Ming Dynasty. He was very strong in both thought and military. In particular, the Yangming School of Mind he developed made him a true thinker of his generation.
Of course, Zhu Youxiao mentioned Wang Yangming at this time not because of these, but because in the 12th year of Wanli, 54 years after Wang Yangming's death, Wang Shouren, together with Xue Xuan, Hu Juren and Chen Xianzhang, became the four scholars enshrined in the Confucius Temple in the Ming Dynasty.
The fact that Wang Shouren was enshrined in the ancestral temple shows that Wang Yangming's philosophy of mind was finally officially recognized.
Zhu Youxiao's meaning was very clear, that is, Gu Xiancheng had the opportunity to be enshrined in the Confucius Temple, which was a chance to become a saint instantly. In this way, Donglin became a school.
Hearing this, Yang Lian was immediately excited and almost shook. He was a believer in the Donglin Party and naturally wanted this. Once Gu Xiancheng was enshrined in the Confucius Temple, the Donglin School would become a prominent school.
Zhu Youxiao looked at Yang Lian with a gentle smile on his face. This was of course a big promise he had made.
Whether and when this big pie can be realized depends on what the Donglin Party does.
"I thank Your Majesty on behalf of Master Gu." Yang Lian immediately lifted his clothes and knelt on the ground, saying loudly, his eyes a little red.
Zhu Youxiao smiled and gave him a slight support: "Alright, get up!"
In fact, Zhu Youxiao had no good intentions at all. You should know that Neo-Confucianism and the School of Mind were the most prominent schools of thought in the Ming Dynasty. The Donglin School could not even get on the stage. If it wanted to become a prominent school, it would have to rely on the efforts of the Donglin Party, which would lead to a counterattack from Neo-Confucianism and the School of Mind. There were also people within the Donglin School who believed in the School of Mind and Neo-Confucianism.
Once this news spread, they would probably start fighting among themselves. Although people in later generations may not care about these false names, in this era, there were many scholars who sacrificed their lives for the orthodoxy.
By the time Yang Lian stood up, Zhu Youxiao felt that it was about time, and continued, "My dear Yang, many people have impeached Wei Zhongxian these days, mostly because of the affairs of those imperial envoys. You are the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, and I would like to hear your thoughts." As he spoke, Zhu Youxiao looked at Yang Lian with a smile, waiting for him to speak.
Yang Lian was still agitated, but after hearing Zhu Youxiao's words, he calmed down for a while before speaking: "I think this is extremely inappropriate."
"The officials impeached Wei Zhongxian previously simply because he was trying to deceive Your Majesty by blinding your wisdom and recommending evil spirits into the palace to deceive Your Majesty. We were sincere in our actions and had done nothing wrong. Wei Zhongxian was vindictive and had several imperial eunuchs imprisoned, tortured, and framed them wantonly. This was truly the behavior of a powerful eunuch." Yang Lian's expression was serious. "I believe that Wei Zhongxian should be severely punished and the imperial eunuchs released."
Zhu Youxiao nodded, then nodded to Chen Hong: "Hand those confessions to Yang Aiqing for review."
Chen Hong hurried over from the side, handed the confessions to Yang Yanglian, then bent his body and retreated to the side, farther away than where he had just stood.
Taking the confession from Chen Hong's hand, Yang Lian began to read it. His face became darker with every detail he read. By the time he had finished reading it all, Yang Lian's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.
Zhu Youxiao looked at Yang Lian and said, "If you think it's not the case, you can go to the East Factory and take them away. These people are also from Mr. Gu Xiancheng's school, but what are they doing? They are colluding with the border guards, accepting bribes, and framing the border ministers. Is this how they practice Mr. Gu Xiancheng's ideas?"
"I thought they were trying to discredit Mr. Gu Xiancheng. How could these people claim to be his disciples? If he were still alive, I wonder if he would be pissed to death by them."
Yang Lian's face darkened as he heard this. It was too embarrassing, especially since he was the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate and these people were his subordinates. But what he did was too shameful.
"My dear Yang, how do you think this matter should be handled?" Zhu Youxiao looked at Yang Lian and said expressionlessly.
Yang Lian's face was gloomy, and he spoke slowly, "Your Majesty, I believe that the punishment should be severe. If it is not severe, it will not serve as a warning to future generations. This case will be tried to the end, and there will be no leniency."
P.S. Here comes the second update. Good evening.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
