Zhao Mansion, on the kang in the main room.

After hearing Yu Shenxing's words, Zhao Hao couldn't help but applaud.

He also thought that if he had not intervened, it would have to wait until several decades later, when Gao Panlong and his group had grown up, before they would raise questions that directly touched upon the core of Song and Ming Confucianism.

It turns out that Yu Shenxing had already had such doubts!

This was naturally an encouragement to Zhao Hao, who had been secretly undermining Confucianism.

Zhao Hao's praise was a great encouragement to Shen Xing.

If he had said such unorthodox words at home, his father would have beaten him with a stick.

Now, instead of scolding him, some people applauded him after hearing it. Yu Shenxing was naturally very encouraged.

After Zhao Hao was happy, Yu Shenxing asked hopefully, "Sir, can you help me solve my doubts?"

"Of course, that's great." Zhao Hao rubbed his hands and said to him with a smile:

"You have this kind of trouble because the Confucian scholars of the Song Dynasty separated 'learning' and 'practical work' into two paths. They despised practical work and talked about nature and reason in vain. When they sat with their hands folded and talked about the mind and nature, they were eloquent and extremely wise; but when it came to specific government affairs, they were like stupid geese and had no idea what to do."

Amid the laughter of Yu Shenxing and Sanyang, Zhao Hao said sarcastically, "

"It's just like the ancestor of Neo-Confucianism, Zhu Wengong. When the imperial court held an imperial examination to recruit scholars, they were required to write according to his words, and not to deviate from his words. All the scholars and officials in the world had to act according to his teachings. However, when Zhu Wengong was alive, the Song Dynasty was in a national crisis. Did this gentleman offer any clever strategies to help the Song Dynasty rebuild and avoid humiliation? He didn't! Instead, he kept an eye on the eunuchs in the palace all day long, asking them to behave in accordance with the rules. Could it be that Zhu Wengong's teachings of sincerity and honesty were designed specifically for eunuchs?"

These words were such a slap in the face that Yu Shenxing looked at Sanyang and saw that they were laughing louder than anyone else, so he also started laughing.

~~

Next door, Yu Shensi was concentrating, leaning on a chair with his butt sticking up, listening to Zhao Shizhen's lecture.

Yu Shensi was already impressed by the young man's clear and clever explanation. He didn't care whether he was serving tea or sweeping the floor. Anyway, he was much better than himself...

I was listening with great interest when the explanation was interrupted by bursts of laughter from inside the room that became louder and louder.

Yu Shensi immediately said with an unhappy look on his face: "Let's go, let's stay away from them."

"As you wish."

It was rare for Zhao Shizhen to meet someone who was willing to listen to him talk, so he had no problem going up to the roof to talk.

~~

In the inner room, Wang Dingjue put down the small notebook in his hand and refilled the pot with water.

Yu Shenxing asked tentatively, "Sir, are you a disciple of the School of Mind?"

"Yangming Gong has made great contributions, made great virtues, and made great words. He can be regarded as a saint of this dynasty. 'The unity of knowledge and action' will surely shine through the ages!" Zhao Hao shook his head and said:

"It's a pity that his disciples were so bad. They only remembered his sayings 'there is no reason outside the mind' and 'there is no object outside the mind', and they talked about the nature of the mind all day long, but they only talked and did nothing. How is it different from the Neo-Confucianism they strongly criticized?"

"At least he is a real rogue." Hua Shuyang whispered, "Unlike the science of reasoning which only produces hypocrites."

Amidst the laughter, Zhao Hao said to the Second King, "Write this down for him and don't change a single word when you publish it in the future."

"Master, please don't..." Hua Shuyang pleaded with a bitter face.

"See if you dare to interrupt again." The eldest brother sneered and taught him a lesson.

Hua Shuyang had no choice but to lower his head and remain silent. He didn't dare to think about how his descendants would view him.

"Neo-Confucianism and the School of Mind are the same..." Yu Shenxing was in a state of panic. "Could it be that there is something wrong with the root of the problem? Confucius' teachings are simply not applicable to the world?"

"I can't answer this question." Zhao Hao shook his head and said seriously, "But I can tell you that Confucius always emphasized the importance of being a sage within and a king without, and that he taught his students to cultivate morality within and establish achievements without. He was not wrong."

"For example, Confucius despised Guan Zhong's character and thought he was very immoral. But he praised Guan Zhong's achievements in assisting Duke Huan of Qi in 'uniting the nine states' and 'restoring order to the world', and praised him as 'as benevolent as he is'. So in Confucius' eyes, individual conduct and administrative standards, morality and politics, are not completely integrated, nor do they need to be integrated."

"The root of the problem lies with Mencius. He and Xunzi split Confucius's teachings, one unilaterally emphasized 'inner sagehood' and the other unilaterally emphasized 'outer kingship'. From the Han and Tang Dynasties to the early Northern Song Dynasty, Xunzi's 'outer kingship' was still the dominant doctrine. Therefore, there were many cruel officials with outstanding achievements in the Han Dynasty, and there were also talents in the Tang Dynasty who were famous for managing the country with wealth or for being cunning and wise. They did not have any 'inner sagehood', and their success was not the result of self-cultivation. On the contrary, according to moral standards, most of them were treacherous villains, but this did not affect their achievements and the glory of the Han and Tang Dynasties."

"Of course, the one-sided emphasis on 'external kingship' also led to the decline of the Han and Tang dynasties. In the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, with the rise of Neo-Confucianism, the study of internal sageliness gradually overwhelmed the study of 'external kingship', so integrity and morality became the highest standard for judging officials. As a result, the court was full of moral gentlemen but no capable officials for governing the country, and naturally there were no outstanding achievements like the Han and Tang dynasties. As a result, the reputation of the weak Song Dynasty was ridiculed even by our Ming Dynasty..."

"Of course, we in the Ming Dynasty never back down..." Sanyang and Xiaoyu nodded in unison.

No matter whether you can win or not, just fight hard and it's over.

"You can also write this down..." Zhao Hao twitched his lips and asked Yu Shenxing: "Do you understand your confusion now?"

"Yes, it's all Mencius' fault." Yu Shenxing nodded heavily, then returned to the original question and asked: "Then, sir, do you have any practical theories to teach me?"

"Science is the study of seeking truth from facts and applying it to society." Then Zhao Hao said word by word:

"The knowledge in this school is all about focusing on real-life issues. Studying all aspects of reality, finding patterns, and solving problems is science."

The disciples silently recited the eight words "seek truth from facts and apply knowledge to the world" in their hearts, and then quickly wrote down the master's definition of science.

Yu Shenxing got off the kang barefoot without hesitation, knelt before Zhao Hao, and begged sincerely: "Sir, I beg you to teach me science, and please allow me to be your disciple, regardless of my ignorance."

Zhao Hao smiled and nodded, "That's exactly what I meant."

"Thank you very much, Master, for your help." Yu Shenxing kowtowed four times, then stood up and saluted his three senior brothers.

The three of them returned the greeting with a serious look, and then Yu Shenxing stood at the end and continued to listen to the master's teachings.

~~

Zhao Hao was talking until his mouth was dry. Seeing that the two idiots outside hadn't come in yet, he angrily said, "Are you planning to sleep outside?!"

The third brother ran out quickly and called back the two people who were hiding in the west warehouse to explain the questions.

When Yu Shensi came in, he said to his brother with a look of dissatisfaction on his face: "Wu Gou, why don't you go back first, brother is in high spirits."

"Third brother, I'm not going back." Yu Shenxing smiled and said, "I have already accepted you as my master."

"Ah, really?" Yu Shensi looked at his brother in surprise. He knew that his brother always disdained these strange and tricky skills.

Then he looked at Zhao Hao again and thought, could it be that the gentleman really has a theory that can be used in the world?

"He has already become my disciple. How long are you going to wait, you fool?" Zhao Hao shouted.

Yu Shensi knelt on his knees and kowtowed to become his disciple.

In fact, ever since he was provoked by Sanyang and Xiao Zhao, Zhao Hao couldn't chase him away even with a stick.

ps. The guaranteed first update is here, please give me monthly tickets and recommendation tickets~~