Chapter 129: Digging Graves and Uprooting the Grass

In officialdom, academies and factional cliques were not really that big a deal, because everyone knew it was an unspoken rule. Which official didn't understand in his heart how things really worked?

On the surface, everyone said that establishing academies was for spreading culture and education, for training officials for the court.

But what about in reality?

In officialdom, the relationship between teacher and student was the closest one could get. Which official gave lectures for any purpose other than cultivating his own partisans?

"Plums and peaches filling the world"—was that really for the sake of teaching?

Never mind others—what did Old Ancestor Confucius lecture for?

Wasn't it so that more people would practice his philosophy—the so-called "shared aspirations and common goals"?

What did "shared aspirations and common goals" mean?

Wasn't it just people getting together to do one thing that made it "shared aspirations"? Otherwise it would be called "those with different paths have nothing to plan together."

Since they shared aspirations and goals, naturally what they did was also one and the same thing—wasn't that still forming a clique?

In this routine memorial, Yu Maoheng also brought up the "On Factions" that Ouyang Xiu had written, and he directly tore that theory apart.

One should know that although Ouyang Xiu's "On Factions" was not favored by emperors, and many people attacked him for it, privately there were still many who agreed with it.

Especially the "gentleman faction"—many people used it as a self-proclaimed label. The meaning was simple: I am a gentleman; when we gentlemen come together, it is "gentlemen harmonize despite differences"—how could that be forming a clique?

Could gentlemen working together be called forming a clique?

Only when petty men worked together was it called forming a clique.

As for who was a petty man—wasn't that a simple matter?

If he wasn't a gentleman, then naturally he was a petty man; we are gentlemen, and if he doesn't stand with us, then he isn't a gentleman, so naturally he is a petty man—and so when petty men gather together, that is forming a clique.

There was no logical flaw in this whatsoever.

So Yu Maoheng's routine memorial was tearing everyone apart alive.

When such a memorial reached the Grand Secretariat, it naturally stirred up an enormous uproar.

After the other Grand Secretaries finished reading it, none dared to render a judgment, and they directly passed the memorial to Chief Grand Secretary Liu Yijing.

Liu Yijing was startled at first—in recent years, memorials that the other Grand Secretaries dared not adjudicate were actually few and far between.

He took the memorial, and after reading it, he too got a splitting headache.

In this routine memorial, Yu Maoheng quoted a great deal from Li Zhi.

For example, he said that many court officials "bear the name of mountain hermits, yet in their hearts are merchants; their mouths speak of morality, yet their ambitions lie in thievery"; that benevolence, righteousness, and morality were merely masks concealing their base and filthy natures—"originally seeking wealth and rank, yet outwardly twisting words to claim unwillingness, truly wishing to use this as a ladder to honor themselves, while also adopting matters of morality and righteousness to cover themselves."

In the memorial, Yu Maoheng also said these people "study books to seek high examination ranks, hold office to seek honor and prominence"—all calculated for themselves; "not a single cent spent planning for others." Such hypocritical gentlemen, saying one thing while meaning another, acting inconsistently with their words, were instead inferior to the honest substance of "market commoners" and "field laborers."

And he said that since these people carried such heavy selfish motives, how could their lecturing possibly be for promoting scholarship? Naturally it was for forming cliques and pursuing private gain.

On this matter, Yu Maoheng's primary target was the Donglin Faction, saying that they had lectured in Jiangnan for so long, promoting only their own doctrines, befriending only their own partisans, and when serving as officials at court, colluding with one another as a faction.

As could be seen from this very case, the Donglin Faction looked down on Xiong Tingbi, so naturally they had to impeach Xiong Tingbi. They colluded internally and externally, framed false charges, and stopped at nothing.

In the memorial, Yu Maoheng could be said to have cursed the Donglin Faction out at the top of his lungs.

As for the behavior of these people, Yu Maoheng also summarized it, comparing them to locusts swarming the sky, saying they flew across in flocks and swarms, leaving nothing behind but a scene of devastation.

This routine memorial was truly too vicious in what it said, and the cursing was too severe.

The entire Grand Secretariat's nerves were on edge—it could be said that this memorial made countless people realize that this fire had finally been ignited.

Once this memorial was sent up, the situation would be beyond anyone's ability to predict.

In this routine memorial, Yu Maoheng also mentioned another matter—that academies privately established in various places taught different doctrines, taught by different people, and inevitably some would propagate heretical teachings, recklessly discuss court affairs, and slander the sovereign.

In this memorial, the front section attacked the Donglin Faction and the Donglin Academy, and the back section spoke about academies in this way—who Yu Maoheng was referring to went without saying.

So Yu Maoheng recommended abolishing all academies nationwide, strictly prohibiting officials at every level from lecturing; even if scholars wished to lecture, gatherings of more than ten people were absolutely not permitted; anyone organizing a lecture of ten or more people was to be arrested on the spot.

If anyone wanted to lecture in this manner, or wanted to establish an academy, they had to obtain permission from government offices at every level.

In a word: if you wanted to open an academy or give lectures, you had to obtain the court's permission; lecturing privately was absolutely not allowed.

Yu Maoheng also said that all learning to be taught at academies must be uniformly compiled by the court, with annotations made by the court. Anyone propagating their own annotations would be uniformly regarded as heretical doctrine.

Those who wished to lecture had to pass the court's approval and be issued qualifications; otherwise, lecturing was not permitted for anyone, no exceptions. This was to prevent lecturers from propagating heretical doctrines, forming cliques for private gain, and slandering the sovereign.

This routine memorial could be said to have stunned everyone at once—no one had expected Yu Maoheng to produce such a memorial.

After seeing this memorial, everyone's only reaction was: has Yu Maoheng gone mad?

Although everyone did this sort of thing, you still couldn't say it out loud—this cut off everyone's livelihood. Were you tired of living?

Yu Maoheng's actions instantly silenced officialdom.

Liu Yijing set down the memorial in his hand, his face grim, his cold, sharp gaze sweeping across everyone's faces.

With so many people in the Grand Secretariat, there was no way to keep this memorial secret, so it had to be sent up as quickly as possible.

Otherwise, if they didn't send it up and Your Majesty learned the news from another source, the crime on their heads would be grave indeed.

Among those below, the one with the ugliest expression was Han Kuang—although he had stepped on the Donglin Faction this time, that didn't mean he detested the Donglin Faction, or even detested the Donglin Academy.

Yu Maoheng's routine memorial had directly trampled the Donglin Academy to death.

But Han Kuang had no way out either—no way to stop this memorial from being sent up.

In this memorial, Han Kuang saw something different: Yu Maoheng cursed the Donglin Faction, attacked the Donglin Academy, and even every academy under heaven, and recommended that the court bring academies under its jurisdiction.

All of this pointed in one direction—that Yu Maoheng had switched allegiances.

This allegiance was naturally not an officialdom allegiance, but an academic one.

Yu Maoheng's arguments quoted Li Zhi's doctrines extensively, and the meaning was already very clear—this made Han Kuang even more anxious.

He had heard that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had arrested quite a few people, all because they had gone to cause trouble at Chen Kedao's lectures.

Now Yu Maoheng had pulled this stunt—there was something going on here, and it was something big!

Someone was digging graves for people like them, trying to sever their very roots!

He raised his head to look at Liu Yijing, wondering whether he had seen it too.