Chapter 257

Zhao Jiu barged into the chancellor's residence with an air of frivolity, as if he'd had too much to drink—though "as if" wasn't quite accurate, since he'd indeed downed a few cups of "Blue Bridge Wind and Moon" with Han Shizhong and the others before storming over.

From that perspective, it really was a case of picking a drunken quarrel.

Of course, by the time he turned back around, everyone except those who genuinely couldn't follow along had realized that today's imperial visit, seemingly a casual year-end stroll, actually involved serious business with Chancellor Lu—and the matter appeared to be of considerable weight.

After a moment's hesitation, Lu Benzhong finally decided to speak up before his father could, offering a reminder: "Those old poems of mine—Your Majesty must find them laughable."

"Laughable how?" Zhao Jiu brushed the surface of the table before him and replied lightly. "At that time, the state was broken and the family lost, with no hope of survival north of the Yangtze River. Your father, disheartened by the events of the Jingkang Incident, had resigned his post and was preparing to head south to live out his remaining years. You, under orders, set out from your hometown of Shouzhou to establish a household in Liuzhou, with no future prospects in sight, and the generations of high-ranking officials in your family were on the verge of being wiped out. In that desolate state of mind, such verses were only natural."

Only then did Lü Haowen realize that the emperor's seemingly absurd words had a basis, tied to his own son, the entire Lü clan, and even the darkest period of the nation itself—except that his son had written so many poems over the years that he'd never paid this one any mind.

But this only confirmed that the emperor had come prepared today.

"Back then, I had no idea of Your Majesty's divine martial prowess—how could I have imagined today?" Lu Benzhong replied helplessly from below. "Now that we've returned to the old residence in Dongjing, gathering with clan and friends during the New Year to compose poems, recalling that state of mind truly seems laughable..."

"Times change, and so do circumstances."

Zhao Jiu shook his head, then spotted a pot of "Blue Bridge Wind and Moon" warming over a brazier behind him, along with a few clean cups. He promptly grabbed them, poured himself a cup, and drank as he spoke. "My desire for amusement today isn't fake—was that desolate mood back then fake either? It's just that a line or two of those poems now strikes me as somewhat interesting. It's like your Lü clan's first chancellor, Duke Xu of the State, Lü Mengzheng—when he hadn't yet passed the imperial exams, didn't he study in a broken kiln? How could he have known that from him onward, your clan would produce four chancellors across five generations? People say the Mei family of Han is to this dynasty what the Yuan family of Runan was to the Later Han—if that's so, isn't your Lü clan as illustrious as the Yang family of Hongnong?"

In the winter cold of the courtyard, the wind was biting, but Lu Benzhong broke out in a sweat. Even the mild-mannered Lü Haowen could no longer sit still upon hearing these piercing words and rose to bow:

"Our family's prominence relies entirely on generations of imperial grace..."

"Let's not talk about that." Zhao Jiu, finding the vegetarian fare before him rather dull, simply continued drinking. "Times and fate—whether your family has been 'four generations of three dukes' or 'nine generations of three dukes,' sharing the state's fortunes has nothing to do with me. What brought us, ruler and minister, to where we are today doesn't depend on those things... Back then, I fell into a well and was gravely injured, unable even to recognize people I'd known, allowing the traitor Kang Lü to take advantage and trap me in the Mingdao Palace. If not for Chancellor Lü, Chancellor Zhang, and Zhengfu, I could hardly have escaped—right?"

The others held their breath in silence. Lü Haowen sighed softly, while Yang Yizhong, the other party involved, simply bowed his head and said nothing.

"And at that time, I recall Chancellor Lü had already submitted a memorial requesting a southern post, likely intending to end his days in Lingnan. It was only because I happened to be injured that you reluctantly stayed to observe." Zhao Jiu, having drunk a few more cups, stared at the clutter on the table with growing emotion. "So you see, a person's achievements require both 'an awl in a sack, piercing through' and 'times and fate'..."

"Men like the late Chancellor Zong and the living Li Yanxian—they are heroes rising with the times, like a single spark in pitch-black night, waiting to set the plains ablaze, or a pillar in the midst of a raging flood, standing firm against the current, unshakable... Such men earn their own merit and rank. Even under a foolish ruler, without official honors, they'll still leave a name in history."

"Then there are men like the Prince of Yan'an and Chancellor Xu, whose bodies couldn't hold out—they had both talent and timely action, as well as fortunate coincidences, so they surpass Li Yanxian and Chancellor Zong by three parts, enjoying wealth in life and leaving their names in history... It's what they deserve."

Upon hearing this, Han Shizhong puffed out his chest slightly, but sensing the awkward atmosphere, he sucked in his belly and pretended to look at the scenery.

"But there are also men like me, like you, Chancellor Lü, and even Chancellor Wang, who should have been honored in death..."

At this point, Zhao Jiu drained his cup and, holding the empty vessel, let out a scornful laugh. "As I see it, the three of us have neither outstanding talent nor extraordinary courage. We were simply pushed and shoved by circumstances into our positions, then looked left and right—no one to replace us, no one to rely on—and yet we couldn't bring ourselves to abandon basic conscience and morality to do shameful things. So we barely supported each other and gritted our teeth to hold on... Chancellor Lü, do you understand what I mean?"

"Your servant dares not agree. Your Majesty's divine martial prowess is known throughout the realm..." Lü Haowen clasped his hands and bowed his head.

"My so-called 'divine martial prowess'—others may not know, but don't you?" Zhao Jiu gripped his cup, nearly doubling over with laughter in his seat. "And what I'm trying to say isn't that you're incompetent or that I'm utterly alone. It's that, no matter what, you, I, and men like Chancellor Wang have long since shared honor and disgrace in life and death. Because, no matter how you spin it, the Son of Heaven who made this situation is me, the head of the Department of State Affairs is you, and the Privy Council is Chancellor Wang... The Two Rivers haven't even been recovered yet, and they're already calling it a national restoration. If it truly is a restoration, then who else but me is the restoring ruler? And who else but you, Lü Haowen, is the foremost minister of that restoration? What use is there in you declining?"

Lü Haowen was about to speak, but the emperor pressed his cup down on the table and pressed on before the other could respond: "And to put it another way—if one day we suffer an easy defeat like Western Chu, the Former Jin, or the Later Tang, or if we stall and settle for partial peace, then I'll become a laughingstock for the ages, and won't you, Lü Haowen, be one too? Chancellor Lü, your Lü clan's shared fortunes with the state mean nothing to me, but the bond between you and me—one glory, one loss—is an iron fact, not something you or I can twist by thinking otherwise... Last year, I asked you at the foot of Shaoshi Mountain. At the start of this year, at the Yiyou Gate, I entrusted you with my heir and made a wager with you. When I returned victorious in autumn, you urged me to slow down, and I slowed for several months. Now it's already the twelfth month—must I wait until next year?!"

By the end, Zhao Jiu's smile was long gone. Lü Haowen, knowing he was prepared to speak frankly with the emperor, slowly bowed and lowered his head: "Your Majesty, I request a private audience!"

Zhao Jiu nodded and raised his hand slightly to the right.

Immediately, the Prince of Yan'an, Han Shizhong, followed by all the military governors, generals, and attendants, rose, bowed, and hurriedly departed. On the other side, the Lü clan relatives and friends also bowed and retreated in quick steps.

"Lu Benzhong, stay." Zhao Jiu suddenly spoke. "If your father cannot do it today, then it falls to you, his son, to act."

Lu Benzhong's heart pounded with alarm, but he could only turn back and stand in the open space several dozen paces from the emperor and his father, hands clasped, head bowed in silence.

Seeing only the three of them left in the rear courtyard, Lü Haowen addressed the emperor helplessly: "Your Majesty, this son of mine was born early and, through a series of mishaps, encountered so many troubles that he's over forty and still hasn't formally entered officialdom. What use is keeping him?"

"I need the Lü family scholarship, which has a place in Daoist learning, and your status as Chancellor. He is, after all, your eldest son and the heir to the Lü family scholarship, isn't he? If you won't act, I'll have him do it in your name." Zhao Jiu continued to pour wine. "Sit down, Chancellor Lü... We'll take our time today... Your turn."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Lü Haowen turned and sat behind a table on one side, sighing several times before speaking. "I understand Your Majesty's intent and know the importance of this matter... In the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, a hundred schools contended. The Former Han revered only Confucianism; the Later Han had Old Text and New Text. By this dynasty, the theories of Heaven's response and the Five Virtues' cycles have been nearly abandoned. Everyone wants to blaze a new trail to achieve the Great Way... Academic matters may seem like empty talk, but they have always been the foundation of state affairs. Having an officially revered, orthodox doctrine is the difference between doing things with half the effort and getting twice the result, or vice versa."

Zhao Jiu kept pouring and drinking.

"Your Majesty." At this point, Lü Haowen looked at Zhao Jiu seriously. "As Your Majesty said, we have been through so much together. I dare not say we are one and the same, but since Your Majesty has this request, I should do my utmost to comply. Besides, Your Majesty has long had this intention—I knew it clearly since last year at the foot of Shaoshi Mountain..."

"Then why have you been playing deaf and dumb?"

"The reason I've been playing deaf is twofold—I still have a few difficulties here..."

"Do you also think the New Faction ruined the state?" Zhao Jiu sneered, cup in hand. "That New Learning ruined the state? Must I say it outright? The ones who ruined the state were the two emperors taken north, especially the retired Daoist Emperor. Back in the Jingkang era, you, out of respect for the exalted, dared not say outright that he caused the realm's collapse. And because of decades of factional strife between the New and Old Factions, you seized the chance to pin the blame for the state's fall on Cai Jing, the New Faction, the New Learning, and even Wang Anshi... I still dare say this now—shameless!"

Lu Benzhong, witnessing this scene for the first time, felt a storm raging in his heart. Lü Haowen, however, grew even more placid: "To be honest, I no longer care about the old grievances between New and Old Factions, New Learning and Old Learning. At the very least, I wouldn't argue with Your Majesty over such personal matters..."

"I knew I could trust Chancellor Lü." Relieved, Zhao Jiu quickly poured wine, then raised his cup with emotion. "Do you think I don't know that most of those New Laws had bad practical effects? By the end, when Cai Jing and his ilk controlled the New Faction and the court, eight out of ten New Laws were harmful... But the issue is that, regardless, the original intent of Wang Anshi's reforms must be affirmed. When things don't work, change is necessary! Sitting still and waiting for death is absolutely unacceptable! That's the root of why I've steadfastly upheld the New Learning!"

"Your Majesty." Lü Haowen waited for him to finish before continuing helplessly. "The reason I've never agreed to this with Your Majesty isn't that I can't change course in governance for you. It's that the New Learning of Prince Shu (Wang Anshi) has inherent deficiencies. Matters concerning the sage's ultimate teachings—I dare not violate Heavenly Principle to act... Doing so would be no different from abandoning the state and surrendering to Jin."

Zhao Jiu immediately drank another cup and sighed... He understood perfectly what the other meant—that in the eyes of someone like Lü Haowen, who belonged to one branch of Daoist learning, the New Learning was ultimately a doctrine with massive, obvious flaws. Forcing him to promote it would be as absurd as a later government compelling a scientist to advocate for a flat earth.

However, after sighing and shaking his head, the emperor laughed instead of getting angry: "We discussed this at the foot of Shaoshi Mountain. I seem to recall it had something to do with Heavenly Principle and morality being off?"

"Not off—lacking." Lü Haowen explained helplessly. "Let me make it clear to Your Majesty: Prince Shu Wang Anshi's personal scholarship and moral character were impeccable. But even he couldn't grasp the fundamental nature of Heaven and man... The New Learning has two major deficiencies. First, it never addressed the nature of the cosmos—what Heavenly Principle actually is. Second, it never explained the interactive relationship between Heavenly Principle and man—how man can derive Heavenly Principle. The Daoists and Buddhists, though not fully complete, at least said Heavenly Principle is 'nothingness' and 'emptiness,' respectively. We of the School of Principle and Daoist Learning call ourselves such precisely because we strive to find a Heavenly Principle of our own for Confucianism!"

Zhao Jiu continued to pour and drink, as if fortifying himself, and replied with a three-tenths drunkenness: "In other words, compared to Buddhism and Daoism, the New Learning is only missing a foundation? Compared to the School of Principle or Daoist Learning, it's only missing half a foundation?"

Lü Haowen finally lost his composure: "Your Majesty, is missing half a foundation not enough? How many great scholars, with white hair and endless study, across generations and multiple schools, have labored tirelessly just to find that half a foundation..."

"And it's just that laughable 'Qi'?!" Zhao Jiu raised his cup and drank again, sneering impatiently.

"Your Majesty!" Lü Haowen stood up and spoke sternly. "Hu Anguo's 'Qi' may have obvious flaws, but his taking this step was decades of hard work—how can it be laughable?!"

"I was wrong; I shouldn't have been so frivolous." Zhao Jiu set down his cup, leaned back in his seat, and looked up at the sky. "To be honest with you, Chancellor Lü, I've actually studied Hu Anguo's 'Qi' quite thoroughly these past few days... I've gained some insights."

Lü Haowen frowned slightly: "Does Your Majesty intend to graft Hu Anguo's 'Qi' onto Prince Shu's New Learning? Forgive my bluntness—you'd be better off borrowing Buddhism's 'emptiness.'"

"I'd rather use 'Qi' than 'emptiness'!" Zhao Jiu sneered again at his chancellor. "Chancellor Lü, do you think my telling you to eat more meat and less vegetarian fare was nonsense?"

"Your Majesty." Lü Haowen suppressed some emotion and advised. "I know Your Majesty detests Buddhism, but that's a problem with the Buddhist institution, not the doctrine—just as, in Your Majesty's eyes, the problem is Cai Jing, not the New Learning. These aren't the same thing! And Buddhism has indeed gone further here—even Hu Anguo's 'Qi' borrowed from both Buddhism and Daoism, didn't it?"

"I'm just making a comparison. My real purpose in coming today is precisely to have you, Chancellor Lü, step forward and complete this Heavenly Principle (cosmology) for me, then stitch it onto the New Learning's utilitarian doctrines." Zhao Jiu was clearly growing impatient.

But at these words, not only did Lu Benzhong in the distance taste bitterness in his mouth, even the mild-tempered Lü Haowen finally became exasperated: "Your Majesty! If I could personally fill in this Heavenly Principle (a Confucian-compatible cosmology) for you right now, I'd already be a sage!"

"That's not necessarily true." Zhao Jiu quickly poured another cup of Blue Bridge Wind and Moon, then held it up to the sky. "If you ask me, today's weather is excellent—yin and yang converging—a perfect time to comprehend Heavenly Principle... Who knows, we might just fill in this Heavenly Principle together, and then you, Chancellor Lü, can stitch it onto the New Learning and truly become a sage!"

"Your Majesty has had too much to drink!" Lü Haowen flicked his sleeve in indignation.

"The Grand Historian said, 'To study the relationship between Heaven and man, to understand the changes of past and present, and to form a school of one's own.' Zhuangzi said, 'To judge the beauty of Heaven and Earth, to analyze the principle of all things.' Master Hengqu said, 'To set a heart for Heaven and Earth, to establish a destiny for the people, to continue the lost teachings of past sages, and to open peace for ten thousand generations.' And Qu Yuan's 'Heavenly Questions' with 172 queries—I've thought long and hard, and I know clearly: a doctrine of Heavenly Principle must exist! With it, I can drive Confucian officials with twice the result for half the effort; without it, I get half the result for twice the effort!"

Lü Haowen glanced at his son Lu Benzhong, and the two exchanged a look, each sighing—the meaning was clear: the emperor was drunk, and these were words Lü Haowen himself had spoken earlier.

"If you ask me, Hu Anguo's biggest problem is treating everything as 'Qi.' He doesn't realize that his 'Qi' is too broad—it should be split in two: one part is principle, the other is matter." Zhao Jiu kept talking to the sky, white breath dissipating and re-emerging. "So we should revise it like this: so-called Heavenly Principle is, first, the Principle of Heaven (the basic laws of cosmic operation), and second, the Origin of Heaven (the matter that constitutes the cosmos, which could be atoms)... Things and principles aren't the same—we need to separate matter from the concept of Heavenly Principle first... Chancellor Lü, am I right?"

And you know what? Lü Haowen and Lu Benzhong were momentarily stunned—they actually found the emperor's drunken ramblings somewhat insightful, even connecting to the teachings of the Cheng brothers, Buddhism, and the School of Principle.

"Then may I ask Your Majesty..." Lü Haowen, almost helplessly, decided to humor him, knowing that if pressed further, the emperor would surely hit the same dead ends as those Daoist and Principle scholars before him. "Since we're speaking of Qu Yuan's 'Heavenly Questions,' I'll take the liberty of asking Your Majesty a few questions from it... If that's the case, 'Before the forms of above and below took shape, how could they be investigated?'"

"Naturally, the Principle of Heaven existed first (the basic laws of cosmic operation came first), converging into the Supreme Ultimate (the cosmic origin point)." Zhao Jiu, his face flushed, answered calmly.

Lü Haowen didn't mind either—after all, it was just the initial setup, so he could say whatever he wanted. Thus, this Grand Councilor merely nodded and continued his perfunctory questioning: "When darkness and light were still obscured, who could fathom them? When formless vapors swirled, how could they be discerned? (But how exactly was that chaos brought into a state of clarity?)"

"The Supreme Ultimate suddenly gave birth to yin and yang (the Big Bang), and from within yin and yang emerged the primal atoms (atoms gradually formed after the Big Bang)," Zhao Jiu blurted out, looking at the sky. This was a substitution of terms he had painstakingly organized over two or three months. "Once the primal atoms emerged, they followed the Heavenly Principle and gave rise to the myriad things (atoms formed various substances). The myriad things also follow the Heavenly Principle, naturally becoming clear and distinguishable."

Lü Haowen pondered for a moment, roughly confirming that the logic was still coherent for now, so he continued his perfunctory questioning: "Your Majesty's words have already addressed the first few questions of 'Heavenly Questions.' May I ask Your Majesty, since the myriad things have been born and yin and yang are understood... next, what about the alternating brightness and darkness—how does day and night come about?"

"The primal atoms gave birth to the myriad things. Among the myriad things, there are objects of extreme yang that absorb yin and take a spherical form—these are the sun. There are objects of extreme yin, also spherical, which are the earth, absorbing yang... The earth rotates on its axis and is also attracted by the sun to revolve around it, thus creating brightness and darkness," Zhao Jiu blurted out, but he was somewhat nervous, clearly afraid that his half-baked knowledge wouldn't achieve logical consistency. "Actually, these things can be verified slowly in the future... It's still better than the Buddhist concepts of great chiliocosms and small chiliocosms... I know that Councilor Lü's doubts don't actually lie here."

Lü Benzhong's eyes were glazed over, clearly dizzy from the spherical sun, spherical earth, rotation, and revolution.

However, his father Lü Haowen, upon hearing Zhao Jiu's words, sighed and abandoned his contemplation of these two spheres, cutting straight to the crux: "Then may I ask Your Majesty, how can the Way of Heaven, or the Heavenly Principle (the basic laws and truths of the universe), be reflected in humans? And how can humans obtain the Heavenly Principle?"

"The human body is itself a thing," Zhao Jiu, knowing they had reached the critical point, steeled himself to answer. "Things carry the Heavenly Principle."

"If that's the case," Lü Haowen finally let out a laugh. "Then all things should carry the Heavenly Principle, shouldn't they?"

"That is precisely the idea!" Zhao Jiu threw down his empty cup and slapped the table in response. "Therefore, one must investigate things to extend knowledge—investigate all things to glimpse the Heavenly Principle!"

Lü Haowen opened his mouth to speak but was momentarily dazed, because it seemed that he had actually connected humans, things, and the Heavenly Principle? And the reason it could be connected was precisely because, at the start, Zhao Jiu had taken Hu Anguo's vague concept of 'Qi' and split it into the Heavenly Principle and the myriad things, stripping the myriad things away from the originally chaotic concept of the Heavenly Principle.

Lü Haowen was dumbfounded. It was a long while before he spoke, and when he did, there was more caution and seriousness in his tone: "Your Majesty... if that's the case, then humans are also things, and they also carry the Heavenly Principle. So what about human morality? Why do some people not follow morality?"

"Morality is probably because humans are born with desires. Desires naturally follow the Heavenly Principle as well. But humans are the most intelligent of all things; they are formed against the natural order and are unstable. So sometimes desires become excessive, or too shallow. This goes against the Heavenly Principle. At such times, one must investigate things to extend knowledge, to fundamentally understand what the Heavenly Principle is all about, and then guide one's desires. This is what is called the lost learning of the sages. Therefore, one must follow human desires to discern the Heavenly Principle..." Zhao Jiu rambled on, forcing himself, but the more he spoke, the more fearful he became. "Actually, I don't know how to handle the human aspect itself, but Councilor Lü, after all I've said, isn't this still a bit better than Hu Anguo's 'Qi'? Just tell me, can it be connected to the New Learning? I think it can probably be done, right?"

Zhao Jiu's words had taken on a pleading tone. Lü Haowen was stunned into silence, standing there with his hands at his sides for a long time. Several times he tried to speak, but each time he ultimately could not.

Now, having spent so much time with this emperor, how could he not know the level of His Majesty's Confucian scholarship? That the other party had been 'studying' intensively for these past few months was certainly true... But the problem was, the 'Heavenly Principle' that had come out of this 'study'—didn't its logic seem to hold? Hadn't he actually managed to forcibly connect humans and the Heavenly Principle? And as for this business of following human desires to discern the Heavenly Principle, although His Majesty had clearly run out of words, it still seemed to have some feeling to it, and it barely touched upon utilitarian doctrine?

There were definitely a lot of loopholes in the Heavenly Principle that Zhao Jiu had cobbled together—there was no doubt about that.

But the problem was, this connection of the Heavenly Principle being carried by things under heaven, and then humans investigating things to extend knowledge to pursue the Heavenly Principle—compared to Hu Anguo and these trendy Neo-Confucians and Dao-ists—it really did seem to be much stronger... And what was even harder for Lü Haowen to accept was that he, Lü Haowen, was also a Dao-ist and Neo-Confucian of several decades, and his level in the Heavenly Principle was even lower than Hu Anguo's. So how was it that this emperor, after studying for two months, had managed to produce something (even if not necessarily endorsed) that he himself hadn't been able to produce in most of his life? What was that all about?

"How did Your Majesty come to think of all this?" Lü Haowen remained silent, but his son Lü Benzhong behind him couldn't hold back any longer and suddenly asked.

"I investigated things and extended knowledge to get it," Zhao Jiu replied forcefully, his breath reeking of alcohol, then eagerly turned to Lü Haowen to change the subject. "Councilor Lü, this 'Heavenly Principle' that I've patched together with you and your son today—just tell me, are you willing to sew it on for me? For this little thing, I've done my best, and it's been very hard work!"

Lü Haowen stared blankly at the alcohol-breathed emperor, still unable to accept it... unable to accept His Majesty's attitude toward the Heavenly Principle.

"If you're unwilling, then it'll be Lü Benzhong!" Zhao Jiu finally showed his ruthlessness. "If he's unwilling too, then it'll be your second son, Lü Youzhong! If your whole family is unwilling, I'll just put you under house arrest and publish an article in the official gazette under your name explaining this Heavenly Principle! You father and son will become sages whether you want to or not!"

"Your servant is willing." After the ultimatum was delivered, it was half a day before Lü Haowen finally spoke, his voice trembling. "But if investigating things reveals the true Heavenly Principle, Your Majesty must permit your servant to make corrections..."

Zhao Jiu felt a great weight lift from his shoulders. He was about to stand up and shake hands with his old partner, but as soon as he rose, he was hit by a wave of dizziness... It turned out that His Majesty had drunk too much of that courage-boosting wine today.