Chapter 170: Kneeling in Remonstrance at the Meridian Gate

The others present, seeing this scene, probably understood what Yu Maoheng was about to do, and some of them grew excited. These people were Cui Chengxiu's men, or those who shared Cui Chengxiu's way of thinking.

There is a saying in this world: the one who first makes the burial figurines will have no descendants. It means that once the first person does something, there will surely be others who follow suit.

Recently, Cui Chengxiu's momentum had been fierce. How he had risen to prominence was plain for all to see, and naturally many wanted to emulate him.

Even a dullard could probably see the path of Cui Chengxiu's rise. He had risen by attacking the Donglin Faction, so naturally others learned from him. This was also why, over this long stretch of time, Cui Chengxiu had been able to gather such a large following—everyone walked with him.

Now that Yu Maoheng had also stepped into the fray, it meant an even greater opportunity had arrived.

Of course, some wore sour expressions, feeling this was improper. Some thought the Donglin Faction did not deserve such a fate. Some felt the factional strife at court had already disrupted normal order, and some were simply people deeply entangled with Donglin.

These people's faces were rather grim, but seeing that those around them were all excited, they did not know whether they ought to speak up.

However, there were also those who did not care, and one of them slammed to his feet with a bang.

This man was Li Mao, a Censor in the Censorate. When the crowd saw Li Mao stand up, their faces were not too pleasant, because everyone knew what kind of man Li Mao was. Although he was not a member of the Donglin Faction, he walked rather close to Donglin.

Yu Maoheng also turned his head to look at Li Mao, and said without heat: "Do you have something to say?"

"Sir, do you not think this course of action is improper? The treacherous faction you speak of, in my eyes, are models for ministers and exemplars for the scholars of this realm. What is the court doing right now? The court is suppressing academies of learning, seeking to destroy the academies of the empire. You, sir, are also a scholar, and you should know what this means. Can you, sir, simply turn a blind eye to this?"

Li Mao stood straight as a ramrod. He knew that none of those present would likely speak up for him, and so he could only charge forward alone!

"Sun Shenxing, His Excellency Sun, and Gao Panlong, His Excellency Gao—are they doing this for themselves? They hold high positions and could easily stay out of it. Why do they do this? They are not fighting for themselves—they are fighting for the scholars of this realm!"

"At a time like this, as scholars, should we not unite against a common enemy? Should we not stand together against this policy? At a time like this, to kick a man when he is down against Their Excellencies Sun and Gao, at a time like this to see only factional strife—I say such people are unworthy to be called scholars, and even less worthy to be officials of the Great Ming!"

Although Li Mao spoke loudly, those present were quite unimpressed.

Li Mao glared at Cui Chengxiu, wishing he could kill with his eyes alone, but the sword-sharp gaze did not make Cui Chengxiu show the slightest shame—instead, a playful smile crept onto his face.

In Cui Chengxiu's view, Li Mao's brain had gone rotten, spouting such useless words at a time like this.

Yu Maoheng said nothing, instead picking up his teacup and taking a sip. His meaning was clear: for such a small fry, there was no need for him to open his mouth, was there?

Cui Chengxiu at the side knew that since Yu Maoheng would not speak, it fell to him. So he glanced at Li Mao and asked coolly: "When has His Majesty ever forbidden lecturing? When has His Majesty ever forbidden opening academies? His Majesty merely forbids just anyone from lecturing, and forbids just anyone from opening academies."

"Is it not good for academies to be run by the court? Is it not good for lectures to be presided over by the court? What are you objecting to? Do you think it would be better if anyone could lecture, if heretical doctrines could be preached by anyone?"

Cui Chengxiu's string of interrogations only made Li Mao burn with greater fury, yet for a long moment he could not get a single word out.

Cui Chengxiu continued: "As for Sun Shenxing and Gao Panlong—what are they doing? Are they admonishing His Majesty? They are pressuring His Majesty! Is that what a minister ought to do?"

"And another thing—don't keep hanging 'the scholars of this realm' on your lips. I am a scholar too, and every gentleman sitting here is a scholar as well. We too have read the books of the sages, we too revere Confucius the Sage—and we think they are forming cliques for private gain!"

Li Mao stared at Cui Chengxiu, his eyes full of blazing anger, and roared: "Man proposes, Heaven disposes! You people do such things—sooner or later, retribution will come!"

"I, Li Mao, am ashamed to stand with you, and I will never yield! For the sake of the Great Ming, for the sake of the scholars of this realm, I will surely submit a memorial to His Majesty!"

"And if that does not work, we will go kneel before the Meridian Gate in remonstrance—we must make His Majesty retract his order!" With these words, Li Mao gave a violent flick of his sleeve, turned, and strode straight out.

Watching Li Mao's hastily retreating figure, Yu Maoheng sipped his tea without changing expression.

Cui Chengxiu, meanwhile, wore a very grim face.

Seeing Yu Maoheng like this, Cui Chengxiu spoke with a troubled look, voicing his worry: "Sir, the way he is going—this might not be proper, might it?"

If they really made a scene at the Meridian Gate, the Censorate would likely earn His Majesty's displeasure. His Majesty was already very angry over this affair. Sun Shenxing and Gao Panlong's pressure in the court had already driven His Majesty to strike hard.

If they now pulled this trick on top of it, to what degree would His Majesty's fury rise? And who could stop it then?

These people were using this matter, but they did not dare truly provoke His Majesty. Once His Majesty was truly enraged and launched a great case, how many people would be dragged in?

Last time, the case was not even finished being tried, and the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Revenue were all swept clean, the Censorate lost more than half its men—how many were killed? How many households were confiscated? Is His Majesty the sort of man who compromises?

If His Majesty were truly provoked, it might well be another bloody storm.

What they wanted was power; they did not want a shattered court, so Cui Chengxiu was also worried. Of course, if this happened somewhere else, he would gloat.

But if it happened in the Censorate, who knew whether it would drag him in too?

Yu Maoheng remained unruffled. He glanced at Cui Chengxiu, set down his teacup, and said slowly: "Can we stop it? Block one Li Mao, and there will be others. All we can do is submit memorials to state our position."

"When you return, have everyone write routine memorials immediately. After I review them, they will be sent up together. Go write them at once—everyone can write the basic content as they see fit. But one thing is certain: the Donglin Faction is a treacherous faction, a treacherous faction headed by Gao Panlong, Sun Shenxing, Zou Yuanbiao, and Yang Lian. They were implicated in the previous cases, and this time they pressured His Majesty because they harbor resentment and spite."

Harboring resentment and spite—that was a grave charge, and one that, once pinned on, could never be removed.

Cui Chengxiu glanced at Yu Maoheng, and an excited look spread across his face. He had not expected Yu Maoheng to strike so ruthlessly, and a note of wariness rose in his heart.

But this was not the time to dwell on that, so Cui Chengxiu hastily rose to his feet, bowed, and said: "Rest assured, Chief Censor—I will see it done properly."

Yu Maoheng nodded lightly, waved his hand with a smile, and said: "Very well, you may go."

After the men had left, Yu Maoheng's expression relaxed.

After a moment of deliberation, Yu Maoheng smiled wryly at himself and murmured: "There is no such thing as so much right and wrong. One man's hero is another man's mortal foe—that is all there is to it."

As for where he stood, Yu Maoheng had long since planted his feet firmly. He was now on Xu Guangqi's side.

When the matter first erupted, Yu Maoheng had already made his stance clear, and had even made a special visit to Xu Guangqi. At a time like this, Yu Maoheng naturally would not waver. He needed to hold his position firm, so Li Mao's words could not shake him.

Through his recent contact with Xu Guangqi and the others, Yu Maoheng had genuinely discovered some interesting things, and especially after studying some of Li Zhi's books, some ideas had indeed taken root in his mind.

Originally, he had studied Li Zhi's books merely to put up a front. After all, if he took this stance and knew nothing about it, would he not become a laughingstock?

So Yu Maoheng studied Li Zhi's books very seriously, and in the end he got somewhat drawn in. He found that once he cast aside the old frameworks, Li Zhi's ideas were actually quite easy to accept.

It was just that most people dared not say such things out loud—only Li Zhi dared.

It was not that no one had thought of these things before. The more Yu Maoheng read, the more he found himself in agreement.

For example, Li Zhi said that the Way of Confucius and Mencius as it existed now was no longer the original Way of Confucius and Mencius—it was all later writings. No one knew why the sages had said what they said, and no one knew what the sages had been thinking. Everything was recorded by later generations, and how much distortion and misinterpretation there was, no one could know.

To take the simplest example: the School of Principle and the School of the Mind give different interpretations on many questions, and even the interpretations of the present dynasty differ from those of the previous one. What does this show?

It shows that these are not the doctrines of the sages, nor the thoughts of the sages—they are all fabrications pieced together by later generations.

Do the scholars of this realm not know this?

No, they all know it. It is just that they need to work under this banner, so they all must defend it.

Only Li Zhi dragged these things out into the open. Li Zhi even went further, proposing that the sages were not all sages; even if a man was a sage in one respect, he could not possibly be omniscient and omnipotent.

There is no law that lasts ten thousand generations in this world, and no sage who lasts ten thousand generations either.

Yu Maoheng had already accepted this view in his heart—at least on the surface, because his position demanded it, so he made his heart accept the position as well.

This was the struggle between two schools of thought, and from ancient times to the present, struggles between schools have always been a matter of life and death.

Whether it was Teacher Huang's struggle with the Confucian school, or the Hundred Schools of Thought contending further back, which one wasn't soaked in blood?

So Yu Maohang struck ruthlessly as well, because once a matter had begun, there truly was no turning back.

Setting down the teacup in his hand, Yu Maohang also rose to his feet.

He was preparing to write a routine memorial, and he wanted to write an excellent one, so he needed to deliberate carefully — this matter could not go wrong.

The Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Youxiao also set down the teacup in his hand, glanced at Wei Zhongxian kneeling below, and asked expressionlessly: "You say someone is going to kneel and remonstrate at the Meridian Gate? And not just one or two people — they've even started networking already?"