Chapter 106: The Crowd Seethes with Indignation

Cui Chengxiu's routine memorial was very simple, containing nothing difficult to understand.

But the reason Chen Hong had delivered this memorial was that its contents represented something.

In the memorial, Cui Chengxiu clearly expressed his stance. He expressed extreme, extreme dissatisfaction with this group of people in court forming cliques for private gain.

Cui Chengxiu felt that these people talked endlessly about benevolence, righteousness, and morality, but were actually full of theft and whoring. Although they claimed to be loyal to the sovereign and loving to the people, acting for the Great Ming and for the world, they actually wanted to deceive Your Majesty into believing them, so as to achieve their goal of monopolizing power.

These people used their slogans as packaging, but what they actually did was the business of powerful ministers forming cliques for private gain.

Cui Chengxiu criticized these people from head to toe, and to sum it up in one sentence, he requested that Your Majesty severely punish these people who formed cliques for private gain.

Seeing such a memorial, Zhu Youxiao naturally had to laugh.

This represented a shift — someone had begun to pick a side.

After the first person stepped forward to pick a side, it would quickly trigger a domino effect. Countless people would choose to step out, and the pressure to follow the crowd and conform would be much smaller.

However, Zhu Youxiao still had some doubts.

Turning his head to glance at Chen Hong, Zhu Youxiao asked, "What's the story with this memorial?"

Hearing Zhu Youxiao's question, Chen Hong hurriedly replied, "In reply to Your Majesty, this was just delivered. This servant brought it straight to Your Majesty."

Nodding lightly, Zhu Youxiao expressionlessly handed the memorial back to Chen Hong and instructed, "Set it aside and shelve it."

This memorial proved nothing at all, so Zhu Youxiao was not in a position to take a stance.

Of course, not issuing an edict to rebuke and berate Cui Chengxiu actually represented Zhu Youxiao's attitude in itself — it was just that this attitude was not convenient to express openly.

This world is never short of clever people.

As for Cui Chengxiu's memorial, part of the reason was that he wanted to submit it himself; part of the reason was that he was testing the current emperor — this testing was aimed at himself.

As for whether it was something Cui Chengxiu wanted to do himself, or something the people behind him wanted to do, there really wasn't much difference.

As long as he did not issue an edict to rebuke Cui Chengxiu, then there would inevitably be successors.

This world is never short of clever people, never short of adventurers — especially in officialdom, where clever people and adventurers abound. So Zhu Youxiao only needed to shelve this memorial without issuing a response, and he didn't need to do anything else.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong acknowledged, respectfully took the memorial, and withdrew.

In the court, hearts were anxious and uneasy; in the scholarly community, things were not peaceful either.

Chen Kedao had not been idle these days. Although the academy had not yet been built, his lectures had already begun.

Whether it was him or the Embroidered Uniform Guard officers handling matters, everyone knew what His Majesty wanted. So although the academy had not yet been established, the lectures could begin first.

This lecture gathering attracted quite a number of people — many disciples of the School of Principle had all rushed over.

You see, in the capital, there were quite a few disciples of the School of Principle. Everyone had gathered in the capital, so with such an opportunity, of course they would come.

The purpose of gathering here this time was different from ordinary gatherings.

Usually when everyone gathered, it was to give lectures, to attack current affairs, and to make a name for themselves.

This time, everyone had come to eliminate heretics.

In everyone's view, Li Zhi's doctrines were heresy, and they all wanted to eliminate him.

Of course, academic debate was only one aspect.

In this country, from ancient times to the present, ideological disputes had never been purely ideological disputes — what was involved here was political issues, the question of who governed.

Whichever ideology governed, the people who advocated that ideology would inevitably be given important positions.

Now the School of Principle was in power, while the School of Mind was weak and having a very hard time. On top of that, the School of Mind had produced a few heretics, so naturally it was rejected by the sovereign and the mainstream schools.

Under such circumstances, no one thought highly of the School of Mind.

Of course, inclusiveness and eclecticism had always been its strength, so the School of Principle also began to learn from the School of Mind, absorbing their ideas for its own use.

This posed no difficulty at all for Confucianism.

The famous lecturer Feng Congwu was the standout in this regard, hailed as one who had mastered both the School of Principle and the School of Mind.

But that was only on the surface — everyone knew this was simply cutting off the roots of the School of Mind.

From ancient times to the present, Confucianism had never lost in its struggles against other schools, and it basically used this method.

Continuously absorbing and incorporating, continuously taking in the strengths of other schools, while also continuously flattering those above and gaining the support of those in power.

Thus Confucianism's status kept rising.

Between the School of Principle and the School of Mind, the School of Principle had better inherited this aspect.

The School of Mind, by contrast, appeared far more rebellious, and so was branded as heresy.

This time, Chen Kedao had entered the capital, been summoned by His Majesty, and his lectures had received His Majesty's approval. This made people very worried.

If Chen Kedao and his kind were pushed to the forefront, then what would happen to themselves? So countless people of the School of Principle began to converge here, preparing to eliminate Chen Kedao in one stroke.

The crowd gathering grew larger and larger, and among them were also followers of the School of Mind.

Although the schools everyone believed in were different, they all belonged to the School of Mind. Since His Majesty was willing to listen to Chen Kedao's lectures this time, and was even willing to establish an academy for him, then who knew whether there might be a place for themselves in the future?

The lecture platform outside had already been set up, with Embroidered Uniform Guard officers guarding the surroundings.

At this, everyone who had come felt somewhat astonished.

Everyone knew that Chen Kedao had been brought in by Luo Sigong, the Regional Military Commissioner of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

But none of them had expected the Embroidered Uniform Guard to support Chen Kedao so much, actually dispatching their men to back him up.

Seeing this, the disciples of the School of Principle who had come found it even harder to stomach, and flew into a rage on the spot.

"People of the School of Mind actually consort with the Embroidered Uniform Guard, those royal hounds!" Many people, overcome with indignation, shouted out what was in their hearts.

"Truly contemptible — what kind of scholarship could such people possibly have?" A portion of the crowd felt ashamed of Chen Kedao's collusion with the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

"Indeed a heretic!"

"People like this should be eliminated outright!"

"Leaving them in the world can only corrupt people's hearts!"

If you gave them a torch, they would probably tie Chen Kedao directly to the pillar of the lecture platform and burn him clean away.

"The human heart is no longer what it once was!"

For a moment, the crowd outside seethed with indignation.

The disciples of the School of Mind were truly too few, and some among them did not agree with Chen Kedao's views.

After all, they all knew that Chen Kedao's teachings were somewhat rebellious. It was just that they did not want to let this opportunity slip by.

Sitting in a house not far away, hearing the noisy clamor outside, Luo Sigong furrowed his brow, set down his teacup, turned to look at a Chiliarch beside him, and said, "Zhang He, have you truly made all the arrangements? If anything goes wrong here today, every one of us will be in deep trouble."

Zhang He, the Chiliarch of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, was a middle-aged man in his forties, somewhat lean of build, but with sharp, keen eyes and a very capable bearing.

Hearing Luo Sigong's words, Zhang He quickly stepped forward and said respectfully, "Rest assured, sir, this subordinate has made all the arrangements. There is absolutely no chance of failure."