Chapter 43

Yu Qianlou corrected him, saying, "It's not like the Prince of Badong we imagine. Of course, I am only making assumptions. I have served as a Registrar for so long, yet I have seen the Prince no more than twice. Naturally, I dare not say I understand him.

Let us now assume the Prince of Badong wants to consolidate his own power; whom would he want to consolidate?

Liu Tan is a very good choice, isn't he? More importantly, if he could truly use Liu Tan to build good relations with the old Duke Liu..."

A meaningful expression appeared on Yu Qianlou's face.

Yu Yuling's expression was grave as he continued his brother's words: "So, because of the old Duke Liu, he will certainly support the Prince's Academy. And because he wants to cultivate his own power, he will certainly strike at the Jingzhou gentry!"

"Striking is not the word; the Prince would not rashly stand in opposition to the Jingzhou gentry. It is just that the Prince represents the interests of the Kyoto gentry, and the officials of the Prince's mansion all came with him from Kyoto, so the weight of the Kyoto faction will certainly be heavier than that of the Jingzhou faction; this is to be expected. What's more, beyond the six imperial princes, there is another person whose status is very transcendent but who is crucial. His influence is sometimes even greater than that of the Crown Prince and the Prince of Jingling..."

Yu Yuling immediately thought of this person's identity and said, "The Grand Marshal, the Prince of Yuzhang!"

"Correct.

It is the Prince of Yuzhang!

The Prince of Yuzhang, with the dignity of being the Emperor's favorite younger brother, serves as Grand Marshal and Governor of Yangzhou, guarding the capital region. His position is of the utmost importance!

And the Emperor once, when the Prince of Yuzhang had no sons, adopted the Prince of Badong to the Prince of Yuzhang as his son. Although the Prince of Badong has now returned to his original lineage, the bond of gratitude and upbringing with the Prince of Yuzhang—how could other imperial princes compare to that?"

"So the Prince of Yuzhang and the Prince of Badong are in the same faction?" Yu Yuling was somewhat confused. According to this, isn't the imperial court in complete chaos?

"Therefore, the Prince's Academy established by the Prince of Yuzhang now wants to squeeze out your Commandery Academy and become the only official academy in Jingzhou. The Prince of Badong, whether from the perspective of the Hedong Liu clan or the Prince of Yuzhang, whether from the perspective of closeness or interest, will tacitly consent to or even support it.

And other forces, in order to win over—or at least not push away—the Prince of Badong and the Prince of Yuzhang, will not speak up on this matter. This is the reason why, no matter how Liu Zhao and Lady Xie Si plead, they are destined to labor in vain; this is also the reason why Father has always been unwilling to intervene. Do you understand now?"

Yu Yuling had not expected that the abolition of the Commandery Academy would involve such complexity. He thought blankly for a while and asked in bewilderment:

"But if the court situation is really as you say, doesn't the Emperor know about it?"

"Why do you think the Emperor let Xie Fei serve as Secretariat Director? He is a former official of the previous dynasty. When the former Emperor accepted the abdication, Xie Fei served as Palace Attendant and head of the Secretarial Ministry, with the duty of untying the Song Emperor's jade seal to present to the former Emperor. As a result, Xie Fei said, 'Qi should have its own Palace Attendant,' and actually lay down on his pillow! After waking up, he put on his court robes, walked out of the Eastern Ye Gate, and went straight home."

Yu Yuling opened his mouth wide in surprise when he heard this old secret.

Yu Qianlou couldn't help but sigh when he reached this point:

"This is the great scholar of the Chen Jun Xie clan. If it were anyone else, I fear even ten heads would have been chopped off.

Although Xie Fei kept his life, given his family status and reputation, five years of idleness and three years in an outer commandery can be considered sitting on the bench to the extreme. But why is he suddenly being transferred back to the capital now, and even treated with the position of Chancellor?

It is precisely because Xie Fei is not affiliated with any faction, and given his personality, he is destined never to join any faction.

So you tell me, does the Emperor know about the factional strife, or does he not?

But knowing is one thing, and dealing with it is another.

The Emperor spent many years putting his heart and soul into the household registration audit, but this year it was also declared a complete failure.

Even the Son of Heaven cannot do as he pleases and have everything go his way, let alone us?"

Yu Qianlou looked at his younger brother with profound meaning.

"But don't Father and the Emperor have a private friendship? As long as Father is willing—"

"Foolish!" Yu Qianlou interrupted sternly. "Is that called a private friendship? That is the Emperor using Father to win over the Jingzhou gentry, while at the same time wanting the good name of visiting the reclusive and seeking the virtuous!

It is precisely because Father does not hold office that the Emperor is willing to chat with him about idle matters. And Father can also step outside of private interests and court politics to speak of things that are truly beneficial to the national economy and the people's livelihood, but the premise is that he must absolutely not involve imperial princes or royal relatives, and even less so involve himself in factional strife!

Do you believe me? If, during that time in the third year of Yongming, Father had truly accepted the edict to become a Crown Prince's Attendant, the Emperor would absolutely never have exchanged private letters with Father again."

Yu Yuling said bitterly, "Then according to what my brother says, our Commandery Academy will definitely be abolished?"

Yu Qianlou looked up at the sky and said with his hands behind his back, "I have recently read the Records of the Grand Historian and the Book of Han repeatedly and understood one principle. There is nothing that is certain; variables always exist, it is just that one does not know where they are."

Yu Yuling's expression was dejected, and he muttered, "Where is the variable for our Commandery Academy..."

"... The bamboo slips are wrong, there is no definitive proof, and judging by the logic of the text, this is what is called the 'method of textual collation.' The most brilliant method is this one, and the most dangerous method is also this one. Perhaps modern people do not understand the intentions of the ancients and mistake what is not wrong for what is wrong, then the confusion becomes even greater! Therefore, I believe that errors in exegesis are more harmful than errors in the bamboo slips..."

Wang Yang stretched a big stretch and said, "Finished."

Liu Zhao stopped his brush, looked at Wang Yang, and widened his eyes: "Finished?"

"Yes, the manuscript is finished," Wang Yang said while yawning.

"How is it finished?! You haven't detailed the errors in exegesis yet, how can it be finished?!"

"This book is about the 'Book of Documents,' not about the study of exegesis; writing more would not fit the format," Wang Yang prevaricated.

"What do you mean it doesn't fit the format!" Liu Zhao was somewhat agitated. "The writing has reached this point, it should continue to discuss the errors in exegesis! How can one speak only halfway!"

"Then you can just add one more sentence: 'Details will be described separately.'"

Liu Zhao:???

"The study of exegesis is broad and complex; it cannot be hastily attached to the end of 'Pointing Out Flaws.' A new book must be written separately."

Wang Yang knew that if he wanted to persuade Liu Zhao, he had to persuade him this way.

Liu Zhao nodded after hearing this: "That makes sense."

Seeing that Liu Zhao was finally pacified, Wang Yang was about to return to his room to sleep, but who would have thought that Liu Zhao would change to a new sheet of paper and say, "Then let's continue."

Continue what!!!

Wang Yang immediately explained that the study of exegesis is refined and profound, and that to go beyond the Han Confucians and create something new, one must study and ponder it with care and cannot write it down lightly.

Only then did Liu Zhao remember that Wang Yang was only an eighteen-year-old youth, and that he himself was being too impatient.

Besides, even for a great scholar, there is absolutely no reason to produce a book off the cuff. He spoke about the "Book of Documents" so smoothly; who knows how many years of hard work in the cold and heat are behind this? How could he talk about the study of exegesis now?

Moreover, he extremely agreed with Wang Yang's cautious attitude toward scholarship, so he allowed Wang Yang to read his collection of books at will. As for the organization of the "Pointing Out Flaws" manuscript, he would take full responsibility for it himself.

That night, Wang Yang slept for less than two hours, not even four hours.

Actually, he didn't need to write a book today, and his appointment with A-Wu was to pick her up at noon, so he didn't originally need to get up so early. But Wang Yang wanted to get up earlier to read.

Yes, read.

Wang Yang liked reading very much, but not to the point of forcing himself to get up early to read right after pulling an all-nighter.

He did this because he felt he urgently needed to read! Especially after the events with Old Du Sanye and Tong Luozhu yesterday.

After transmigrating, what books should one read first?

Everyone's answer might be different.

But in Wang Yang's view, one should read the laws first.