Chapter 203: Furiously Rebuking Wei Dazhong

Even though he had to maintain his composure, he still needed to strike back when appropriate — he couldn't let this man seize the initiative, or else he'd fall right into his trap. If he lost face here today, he'd be finished from then on.

So Wei Dazhong stood on the platform with all the elegance of a Confucian scholar, looking at Song Yingxing with a smile in his eyes, and said: "Do you think this matter is wrong? Back in the day when Confucius lectured, he had three thousand disciples — everyone knows the benefits of lecturing. As for academies, they are places where learning is passed down — should they not be defended?"

"Is my teacher not doing this for the sake of all the scholars under heaven? Is he not doing this for the Great Ming?"

Zhu Youxiao took a sip of tea and cast a cold glance at Wei Dazhong on the platform.

Setting everything else aside, just the hat he was trying to pin on them was formidable enough.

This Wei Dazhong brought out Confucius the moment he stepped up — this was pressure being applied to Song Yingxing. Plainly put, it was telling Song Yingxing not to speak recklessly, or rather, leaving him with nothing to say.

Zhu Youxiao tossed a handful of candied fruit into his mouth, then watched with keen interest as Song Yingxing stood ramrod straight before him, wondering what he would say.

Since Song Yingxing had come here today, he had clearly come prepared. He naturally wouldn't be intimidated by a few words from Wei Dazhong — he would certainly rebut, and might even counterattack fiercely. So Zhu Youxiao waited to watch the show.

Sure enough, Song Yingxing leisurely took a step forward and declared in a clear voice: "Has His Majesty ever said that lecturing is forbidden?"

The moment these words left his mouth, everyone present was stunned.

Wei Dazhong was also taken aback, and then his face turned so ugly that anyone could see it.

Because this was something he couldn't very well address — first, it involved the current Emperor, which was a rather sensitive topic; second, there really wasn't much to say, because His Majesty hadn't banned lecturing — He had only forbidden just anyone from lecturing, and had also forbidden lecturing on any content outside the designated subjects without permission.

But for Wei Dazhong, whether lecturing was banned or not didn't really matter — what mattered was whether they could lecture.

Clearly, the court had been targeting them before, but they couldn't very well counterattack from their own standpoint — naturally, they had to drag in all the scholars under heaven.

But now this Song Yingxing wanted to tear this matter open — utterly unforgivable!

"His Majesty naturally has never said lecturing is forbidden, but those treacherous ministers are the ones doing so. They only let their own people lecture while forbidding others from doing so — what is that? That is villainy! We naturally must oppose them." Wei Dazhong raised his head high and declared loudly, his voice filled with righteous indignation.

"Then who decides what should be lectured and what should not?" Song Yingxing unhurriedly took another step forward and again spoke loudly: "Is it you who decides? Or the people present? Or perhaps the current Emperor?"

Song Yingxing spoke these words in a loud voice, his expression extremely solemn.

Everyone present exchanged glances with one another — how was this question supposed to be answered?

In truth, there was no way to answer it. In private, they would of course think that they themselves should have the final say; but on this occasion, no one dared to say so openly.

If anyone actually said that, it would be tantamount to making treasonous remarks in a public setting.

Wei Dazhong took a step forward, straightened his back, and declared with his head held high: "As long as it is the learning of the sages, it can naturally be lectured."

These words, Wei Dazhong believed, were beyond reproach — no matter where they were said, they held water, and even His Majesty could say nothing against them.

He stared at Song Yingxing with blazing eyes, his mind racing as he thought about how to drive Song Yingxing away — and preferably leave him utterly disgraced.

"Sages?" Song Yingxing let out a scornful laugh, then suddenly raised his voice sharply: "Who is a sage?"

The moment these words came out, the crowd erupted in an uproar.

But Song Yingxing did not stop there — he continued: "In the eyes of us disciples of the Confucian school, Confucius the Sage is a sage, Mencius is a sage — is Xunzi a sage? Can anyone lecture on anyone?"

Upon hearing this, everyone hesitated somewhat.

Because this matter couldn't be spoken of that way — Xunzi was different from Confucius and Mencius. Their thoughts had many points of divergence, and were even more different from the School of Principle of the Song dynasty, with very great conflicts. On the contrary, Xunzi's thought shared much in common with the Guanzhong School.

Naturally, then, not just anyone could lecture. I can lecture but you cannot — plainly put, it was a struggle for the right to speak.

Wei Dazhong looked down at Song Yingxing with contempt and said: "Naturally, only sages who enjoy sacrificial rites in the Confucian Temple — only those who have entered the Confucian Temple can be called sages. No one else qualifies."

Song Yingxing looked at Wei Dazhong and suddenly felt like laughing.

He felt that his trip here today had not been wasted. Xunzi — he hadn't simply never entered the Confucian Temple; he had been driven out of it.

Xunzi advocated: "Rites and law upheld together; kingly and hegemonic ways unified."

Emperor Xuan of Han proclaimed: "The Han house has its own institutions, originally blending the kingly and hegemonic ways."

The Han dynasty's institutions mixed the kingly and hegemonic ways, and Han Confucian thought likewise synthesized Confucianism and Legalism — Xunzi was held in great esteem in the intellectual and academic circles of his time.

In the early Tang, as the rulers reflected on the historical lessons of the Sui's fall and the Tang's rise, they paid particular attention to Xunzi and his thought.

Starting from the mid-to-late Tang, the Confucian school began to elevate Mencius, and Xunzi began to face questioning from within the Confucian tradition.

By the Song dynasty, the Cheng-Zhu School of Principle arose. The philosophers of the School of Principle launched fierce criticism against Xunzi's doctrines of the separation of Heaven and man and the evil of human nature.

In the early Ming, the Confucians of the time wished to strip Xunzi of his status as an attendant sage in the Confucian Temple.

In the ninth year of Jiajing, the Emperor approved Zhang Cong's routine memorial requesting that Xunzi be removed from sacrificial rites — and so Xunzi was stripped of his attendant status and driven out of the Confucian Temple.

Wei Dazhong's rebuttal point was this: only the doctrines of those within the Confucian Temple could be lectured; the doctrines of those outside the Confucian Temple could not be lectured.

That completely blocked Xunzi's path — and as for Zhang Zai of the Guanzhong School, that was even more impossible. So this was Wei Dazhong's rebuttal to Song Yingxing — he believed this point had already boxed Song Yingxing in completely, leaving him no way out.

But when Zhu Youxiao, sitting off to the side, heard these words, he actually felt rather pleased.

This was a good idea.

Only the learning of those who were worshipped in the Confucian Temple would be permitted to be propagated — could he perhaps do some maneuvering on this front?

Drive out everyone he disliked from the Confucian Temple — like Zhu Xi of the School of Principle. Then let those he favored enter the Confucian Temple?

This wasn't just a matter of reputation — it also brought practical benefits. One could consider formulating a policy whereby only the doctrines of those who enjoyed sacrificial rites in the Confucian Temple could be used as examination questions in the imperial examinations, directly cutting off the path to officialdom for students of the School of Principle.

This was a good idea — only, the impact would be rather significant.

Zhu Youxiao mulled it over, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt it was a good idea. But this was a heavy pot to carry!

If he really went through with this, he reckoned people really would call him a fatuous ruler. Should he find someone to carry the pot for him?

But who could possibly carry a pot this heavy?

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Song Yingxing, then shook his head.

Forget it — he couldn't set Song Yingxing up to take the fall. This was a man of talent.

At this moment, Wei Dazhong could never have imagined that he had just given the current Emperor a brilliant idea while digging a great big pit for himself.

He was looking at Song Yingxing with smug satisfaction.

But Song Yingxing's expression showed no change at all. Instead, he took a step forward and asked with a gentle smile: "So that means you also agree that not just anyone can lecture, and not just any doctrine can be lectured — that restrictions must be imposed, and it is best to lecture only the doctrines of the sages within the Confucian Temple. Is that the reasoning?"

The moment these words came out, the smile on Wei Dazhong's face froze instantly.

Wei Dazhong glanced at Song Yingxing and felt that he had been led into a trap.

This question, Wei Dazhong had no way to answer. Because what they had been defending before was the right to lecture — which meant demanding that everyone be allowed to lecture, just as before.

The officials in court believe their task is to restrict lecturing—that's what Your Majesty has said, and that's what is being done now. If you share this view, then what exactly are you opposing?

How could Wei Dazhong possibly admit to such a view?

But he had also said earlier that only the teachings of the sages enshrined in the Confucian Temple could be lectured.

"Then how can you insist your teacher is not wrong?" Song Yingxing continued.

"Since you believe not just anyone can lecture, and not just any doctrine can be taught, shouldn't you be submitting a memorial to Your Majesty expressing your views? Your teacher, on the other hand, directly opposed and openly defied Your Majesty—what exactly is he trying to accomplish by doing that?"

"Your teacher does not act for the Great Ming, nor for the scholars of the realm—he acts for yourselves!"

"The ministers at court are not targeting the scholars of the realm, nor are they targeting lecturing, and certainly not the academies—otherwise Your Majesty would not have funded the establishment of academies. What they are targeting is you, only you, the Donglin Faction!"

"You form cliques for private gain! You take bribes and pervert the law! Yet you refuse to admit it, and instead drag all scholars into your cause—you are utterly shameless!"

"Now do you still say your teacher has done nothing wrong? Do you still say your teacher has no selfish motives? Do you still say your teacher acts for the Great Ming and for the scholars of the realm?"

With every sentence Song Yingxing took a step forward, his face flushed crimson, eyes glaring wide as he roared his accusations at Wei Dazhong on the platform.

Wei Dazhong was also furious at this moment, veins bulging on his neck. He knew that if he could not suppress this Song Yingxing, his reputation would be ruined, and he would have no place left to stand from then on.

So Wei Dazhong shouted loudly: "What we lecture is also the learning of the sages! The corrupt officials at court—that is them. The learning is not wrong; what is wrong are those corrupt officials!"

This was an attempt to distance himself.

Zhu Youxiao watched Wei Dazhong with cold detachment—compared to his teacher, this Wei Dazhong seemed even more ruthless.

"My teacher opposes those treacherous villains and defends the scholars of the realm. My teacher has done nothing wrong; what is wrong are those treacherous ministers. You stand here speaking up for treacherous ministers—what is your intention? Are you in league with them?"

"One who speaks up for treacherous ministers will surely become a treacherous minister himself upon entering officialdom. A man like you—I am ashamed to be associated with you!"

Song Yingxing looked at Wei Dazhong and suddenly burst out laughing, saying loudly: "This is truly laughable. Do you dare not admit what you just said? You just said only the teachings of the sages in the Confucian Temple may be lectured—is that not regulating lecturing?"

"Then are you not doing something different from your teacher? Your teacher defied Your Majesty—not to regulate teaching, but to defend your lecturing. So selfish and self-serving, and he claims to act for the scholars of the Great Ming?"

After saying this, Song Yingxing laughed even louder, then his eyes narrowed sharply as he glared at that crude fellow on the platform and said: "When you cannot defeat me in argument, you call me treacherous, you say I speak up for treacherous ministers. Then let me ask you—who is the loyal minister, and who is the treacherous one? Is that for you to decide?"