Chapter 45

Yang Bo heard the Emperor asking what he meant by the words he just said, so he was full of smiles and thought seriously for a moment before saying, "Liu Liu Zhizhi the truth is the beginning of action, and action can make the truth clearer."

"Where the truth known is true and earnest, it is action; where action is clear and precise, it is knowing."

"Liu Liu Zhizhi and action are originally one thing."

"This is what is called: Liu Liu Zhizhi is the beginning of action, and action is the completion of knowing! Where knowing is true and earnest, it is action; where action is clear and precise, it is knowing. Liu Liu Zhizhi and action are one. It comes from the Duke of Wen-cheng, Wang Yangming."

Duke Wen-cheng, Wang Yangming, is Wang Shouren, the one who pacified the rebellion of the Si-tian Yao people, wiped out the bandits of Nan-gan, pacified the rebellion of the Prince of Ning, achieved enlightenment at Long-chang, and founded the "Yangming School of Mind." His posthumous title is Wen-cheng, so he is called Duke Wen-cheng.

What Yang Bo talked about was the unity of knowing and action, talking about the relationship between knowing and action.

Zhu Yijun asked again, "What is knowing?"

Yang Bo thought for a moment and replied, "Liu Liu Zhizhi, the knowing of knowing, to understand, to comprehend, to summarize, to think, is action. Liu Liu Zhizhi, the knowing of cognition, the books of sages, the heart of the text, the virtue of benevolence, the infinite principles of all things, is truth."

"Liu Liu Zhizhi is internal cognition, internal knowledge, the essence of morality, the understanding of the infinite principles of all things, and spirituality."

Yang Bo explained the word "knowing" very clearly. Liu Liu Zhizhi is both the knowing of knowing and the knowing of cognition.

Zhu Yijun looked at Yang Bo, and his expression became complicated. Undoubtedly, Yang Bo's learning had no problems at all and was explained extremely thoroughly. He thought for a moment and said, "I have read few books. The 'Analects of Confucius: Shu Er' says: 'Confucius taught four things: literature, conduct, loyalty, and trustworthiness.' That is to say, the Master taught four contents: knowledge, conduct, loyalty, and trustworthiness."

"The Grand Secretary said, literature is the literature of the Six Arts; conduct is embodying the truth in one's body, practicing what one preaches;"

"Loyalty is exhausting one's heart, which is being loyal to one's original heart, or acting and doing things loyal to one's own spirituality and inner heart. This is loyalty."

"Trustworthiness: treating people sincerely, truly understanding all things, not listening to hearsay, and even less listening to one-sided words, is trustworthiness."

"I don't know if Minister Yang thinks there are any errors or omissions in the Grand Secretary's annotation of this sentence?"

Loyalty, interpreted by Zhang Juzheng as: loyalty to the monarch, loyalty to the country, loyalty to oneself, and loyalty to one's own cognition and spirituality.

"The Grand Secretary is right." Yang Bo said this very seriously. Zhang Juzheng's learning had no problems, and everyone's cognition was the same. Yang Bo had seen the memorials between the young emperor and Zhang Juzheng, word for word, and was extremely familiar with this passage.

The Emperor was really studying seriously. This sentence was taken from his hand without any errors.

Although the young emperor was a bit not attending to his proper business, he still put a lot of effort into studying.

Zhu Yijun continued to ask, "Minister Yang, the Grand Secretary said: 'Learning, if one only listens to what others say, is nothing but the vanity of word-of-mouth, not the reality of solid practice. But if one's actions are not loyal to one's own inner heart, and one does not understand the truth of things, then what one knows and what one practices are both hypocrisy, and there will definitely be no achievements or gains.'"

"'It is said: Scholars, nothing but the vanity of word-of-mouth, not the reality of solid practice; those who act, if they are not loyal to themselves, what they know and what they act are all hypocrisy; and in the end, there is no gain.'"

"'Minister Yang, is the Grand Secretary right?'"

Yang Bo had already understood what the young emperor was asking, and said quite sadly, "The Grand Secretary is right."

Zhu Yijun continued, "The Grand Secretary's lectures, in the end, I think, are to read more books, understand more truths, do things, practice solidly, and do things loyal to one's original heart, finding reality from vanity, which is learning."

"'It is said: Diligent in literature and solid in conduct, loyal in heart and pragmatic, knowing and acting to the fullest, inside and outside as one.'"

"Your Majesty is wise! Your subject is ashamed." Yang Bo bowed his head again, his body swaying slightly. Ge Shouli hurriedly stepped forward and supported Yang Bo.

"Minister Yang, are you okay?" Ge Shouli asked with concern on his face.

Yang Bo waved his hand and said, "It's okay, it's okay, an old illness has flared up."

Yang Bo didn't know whether the young emperor's words were scolding him or just asking out of confusion.

Others couldn't hear it, but Yang Bo heard it. The Emperor seemed to be asking for advice, but every word sounded like he was scolding him.

Scolding him for knowing all the truths but not being loyal to his inner heart;

Liu Liu Zhizhi that Wang Chonggu's recommendation of military talents had problems, yet still sitting idly by;

Liu Liu Zhizhi that factional strife consumed the Great Ming's national strength, yet still watching the censorate impeach Tan Lun;

Liu Liu Zhizhi clearly the virtue, the truth in his heart, but his behavior was: "what comes from oneself is not loyal."

The Emperor's words seemed to be scolding him for reading the books of sages for a lifetime, but where did he read them? Even if he didn't care about the emperor, and was indifferent to the country's affairs, where did the truths of the unity of knowing and action that he had lived for a lifetime go?

Not loyal to the emperor, not loyal to the country, could it be that he also had to be disloyal to his own heart!

The Emperor's words seemed to be scolding him for being a hypocrite, a villain who is inconsistent inside and out, not loyal to the emperor, not loyal to the Great Ming, and even more disloyal to his own heart. Yang Bo could only say he was ashamed.

He couldn't defend himself. These things, these words, these behaviors, whether they were his original intention or not, he could only do so.

Because he was the leader of a clan faction.

There were too many people behind him, pushing him to move forward constantly. Some things, he couldn't help himself, which was why he had to retire and return to his hometown to live in leisure after the Performance Assessment Method was piloted.

"Thank you, Minister Yang, for teaching me the truth." Zhu Yijun did not continue to pursue, but revealed a bright and cheerful smile, and led the court officials to continue visiting.

Zhu Yijun was just using Yang Bo's words to scold him. Scholars like to point at the mulberry and scold the locust tree. Who wouldn't?

Most of the court officials thought the young emperor was asking for advice. This smile on his slightly chubby face was really too deceptive.

But Zhang Juzheng knew that the young emperor was just using the name of asking for advice to scold Yang Bo. The emperor was now considered a scholar, and his attack power had the style of a scholar, grabbing Yang Bo's pain points and striking hard.

When Yang Bo died of illness, if he remembered these words, I am afraid it would be difficult for him to close his eyes.

Once Yang Bo thought of these words, being questioned like this by a ten-year-old child, but only able to answer with shame, his life was like a joke.

How gentlemanly he was before, now he is how villainous; how magnanimous he was before, now he is how worried; how virtuous he was before, now he is how unbearable. This... how can he close his eyes.

Zhang Juzheng always refused to agree to Yang Bo's merger of the Jin and Chu factions because he knew that if he took the position of the leader of the Jin faction, he would not be able to be loyal to his "knowing" and would not be able to be loyal to his own spirituality.

If he took that position, the first person he would be sorry for would be himself. He was already the Grand Secretary, and he still had to kneel to be the Grand Secretary?

His thoughts were not clear.

Zhu Yijun led the court officials to visit his fields. Hall of Auspicious Grain had added five new acres of land, five acres on the left of the fire room and five acres on the right of the fire room. The left side would be planted with seedlings that had been pinched and killed-green, and the right side would be seedlings that had not been pinched and killed-green, to see how much the yield would differ.

Promotion among the people certainly couldn't be planted like this. How to choose these seedling cultivation technologies was a difficult problem in future promotion.

Ge Shouli finally realized that his previous scolding of Zhang Juzheng for fooling the emperor was a joke. The emperor was practicing the unity of knowing and action, not fooling around.

This was undoubtedly good news for the Great Ming.

"Alright, that's it for today. All ministers and officials, please go slowly. I am returning to the palace." Zhu Yijun stood in front of the Xuanwu Gate. He was going back to the palace to practice martial arts. Cultural lessons could be rested, but martial arts practice could not be stopped for a day.

"Your subjects respectfully send off Your Majesty." The gathered officials paid their respects and saw off the emperor.

On the way back to the palace, Zhu Yijun said to Feng Bao and Zhang Hong, "Feng, Zhang, do you know what we are doing?"

"Farming? Your subject is dull." Feng Bao replied quite puzzled. Wasn't this just finished farming? What else?

Zhang Hong thought for a moment and said, "Farming, trying to grow the seedlings of potatoes and sweet potatoes."

Zhu Yijun said quite definitely, "That's right, grow potatoes and sweet potatoes, beat the seedlings, take root, sprout, bloom, pinch flowers, prune branches, remove floating roots, and after a few months, turn the potatoes and sweet potatoes out of the soil. This is the harvest."

"Feng, I am farming, really farming, hoping that these potatoes and sweet potatoes can really save countless lives. So, don't do those hypocritical things, let the eunuchs of the Shipping Commissioner's Office in Yuegang buy some potatoes and sweet potatoes and send them to the capital to make up the numbers."

"One is one, two is two. By speaking with facts, we can discover problems, find causes, find possible methods, and then practice multiple times to find the answer to the problem. If from the beginning, the phenomenon is fake, it is hypocritical, then everything is fake."

"The Grand Secretary taught me: 'Scholars, nothing but the vanity of word-of-mouth, not the reality of solid practice; those who act, if they are not loyal to themselves, what they know and what they act are all hypocrisy; and in the end, there is no gain.'"

"Virtue: walking the path and gaining from it, is the reality of solid practice. If Feng uses hypocritical phenomena to deceive me, how can I cultivate virtue? Xu Xu Jianxing is the only criterion for testing cognition."

Zhu Yijun learned perseverance, loyalty and filial piety, trustworthiness, and benevolence and virtue.

If the phenomena are all fake, then everything is fake.

"Your subject obeys the decree." Feng Bao understood what His Majesty was saying. By speaking with facts, he would not buy various potatoes and sweet potatoes to send to the capital to create auspicious signs to fool the emperor, fool the ministers, and fool the country.

Zhu Yijun had given a very clear instruction. If Feng Bao violated it, his eunuch career would also come to an end. That iron box for reporting father and son was not only Feng Bao's sharp weapon for rectifying the harem but also a sharp sword hanging over his head.

Feng Bao clearly understood His Majesty's spirit. Protecting Hall of Auspicious Grain was the top priority, and everything else was nonsense.

Zhu Yijun stepped on the setting sun and walked into the Great Ming Imperial Palace.

The Capital Battalion Commander Wang Chonggu also rarely stayed in the city, but went to the North Earth City. The group of hundred-household officers, platoon leaders, and soldiers who barked wildly in front of General Qi yesterday were tied up and pressed to the city gate. The Provincial Military Commander, Duke of Cheng, Zhu Xizhong, also came together.

Zhu Xizhong was a military nobility. The soldiers tied up were his subordinates. He couldn't manage his soldiers. If he could manage them well, in the 29th year of Jiajing, during the Gengxu Incident, he would have gone out of the nine gates to the civilian houses to defend against the enemy, instead of defending in the city.

After the Tumu Crisis, the Great Ming Capital Battalions were all lost. Yu Qian was the commander of military affairs, and Shi Heng was the Capital Battalion Commander. Under the decree of the Great Ming Emperor Jingtai, the Capital Battalions were rebuilt. In October of the 14th year of Zhengtong, the newly formed Capital Battalions went out of the city to the civilian houses outside the city to defend against the enemy, pinning the Oirat leader Esen firmly at the West Straight Gate and the Virtue Victory Gate outside the West Earth City and North Earth City, finally repelling the Oirat people.

Zhu Xizhong was a military nobility. The Capital Battalions he led could only be on the city walls, relying on the solidity of the city walls, waiting for Altan Khan to plunder the capital area for eight days and retreat.

Zhu Xizhong couldn't restrain the Capital Battalions. Even though Zhu Xizhong was above all the nobility and deeply trusted by the emperor, he was still a military nobility. The military nobility declined. Zhu Xizhong couldn't manage the affairs of the Capital Battalions. Who could manage them?

The commander of the Capital Battalions, Wang Chonggu, could manage them.