I

   Chapter 458 456 [Wenwu Emperor Temple]

  The first year of the Republic of China, the first year of Datong Emperor Zhao Han, this is obviously not a good year.

  Severe droughts have occurred in many southern provinces, and food prices have almost doubled!

  Actually, the drought has eased a lot compared to the previous year, and the drought in the north has completely improved. But the more intuitive feeling of the people in the south is that the price of food has soared, and Zhao Han's life will be worrisome when he ascends the throne.

  So after the autumn harvest of this year, some officials and civil scholars asked Zhao Han to abide by the sacrificial rituals, and to worship heaven and earth in Nanjing next spring, praying for the emperor to bless the weather and the earth.

   "Great worship of heaven and earth in the southern suburbs", this is the sentence with the highest frequency in "History of Ming Dynasty".

  Every first month, between New Year's Day and Lantern Festival, the emperor of Ming Dynasty would choose an auspicious day to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth.

  Because there were too many people in Shangshu, Zhao Han had to express his opinion. He summoned the cabinet and officials from the ten ministries, and said: "The heaven and the earth can be sacrificed, but it is not necessary. It is only for auspiciousness. The scale should not be too large. It is enough to send a few officials from the Ministry of Rites to sacrifice to the heaven and the earth on my behalf."

   Except for certain occasions, Zhao Han usually refers to himself as "I", and calling himself "Zhen" means that he has made up his mind.

  Many ministers who were sitting and discussing affairs stood up in unison at this moment, including Pang Chunlai.

Pang Chunlai remonstrated: "Your Majesty, the important affairs of the country are sacrifices to the army. Although the emperor of the old Ming Dynasty often sent his relatives to sacrifice, they were only offering sacrifices to the gods of mountains, rivers and rivers. The worship of heaven and earth must never be handed over to others! Sacrificing heaven and earth, controlling The six armies must be the emperor himself!"

Li Banghua even knelt down directly: "I know that your Majesty is the emperor who is responsible for the people and does not care about the blessings of heaven and earth. His majesty will definitely refute, saying that the former Chongzhen worshiped heaven and earth every year, and the whole country is still suffering from severe drought and continuous military disasters. But your majesty must know, This is not a matter of belief or disbelief, but something that can and cannot be done. The emperor must be the emperor, and he can only be the emperor. If any minister dares to sacrifice the heaven and the earth on behalf of his majesty, the minister will definitely impeach him for treason. Do not dismiss this People, I will resign and return to my hometown!"

   "Your Majesty, please think twice!" Many ministers knelt down one after another.

  Zhao Han suddenly smiled and said: "Get up, it's because I didn't think carefully, don't kneel down at every turn."

  Some things, even as an emperor, cannot be disobeyed, such as the Confucian etiquette that has been formed for thousands of years.

  Etiquette is the norm, and it is also a system of rules.

   This thing is the root of Confucianism. Compared with it, Zhao Han's reform of the imperial examination system is just a child's play. Etiquette is not only reflected in the folk, but also in the court. It is the emperor's right and duty to sacrifice to heaven and earth.

  Whoever dares to do it for you is treason!

   Zhao Han’s smile was faked, and he said: “Cabinet, Li Cao, Ministry of Rites, go down and discuss sacrificial etiquette. Just like the national flag, keep its charm, but try to simplify it.”

  The national flag has been revised, and the rising dragon, crane, and unicorn patterns are still there, but they are simplified to only keep the charm of the lines.

  Chen Maosheng asked: "How far is it simplified?"

  Zhao Han replied: "No matter how far you simplify, you have to remember one gist: don't waste money and people!"

   "Obey!" Chen Maosheng cupped his hands.

  Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, a very disgusting phenomenon has appeared.

  Due to the lack of finances in the Ming Dynasty, the monarchs and ministers had no money for disaster relief, so when facing a catastrophe, they often allocated symbolic funds for relief, and at the same time labored and mobilized the people to start offering sacrifices and praying.

  For example, when the Yellow River broke its embankment, the imperial government did not allocate money for disaster relief, and the embankment could not be built temporarily due to the flood. The governor of the river channel first offered sacrifices to the **** of the river. Occasionally, he would be impeached by the censor, and the content of the impeachment was: the object of sacrifice was wrong!

  A certain river channel worships this god, and a certain river channel worships that god. They must not be confused.

  Worshiping to the wrong **** may result in loss of official position.

  The Great Guanzhong Earthquake killed 830,000 people. Emperor Jiajing only allocated tens of thousands of taels for disaster relief, which was less than the money he allocated to the Taoist Temple in Wudang Mountain. Then, Emperor Jiajing sacrificed with great fanfare, and the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty were mobilized. The focus of the court changed from earthquakes to sacrifices in an instant.

  Zhao Han will never allow this kind of phenomenon to happen. In his opinion, offering sacrifices is fine for auspiciousness, but that's all.

Facing these ministers, Zhao Han said: "My dear friends, Mencius has a saying: When heaven will send a great mission to a man, he must first suffer from his will, exhaust his muscles and bones, starve his body and skin, empty his body, and disturb his behavior. For, so tempted and tolerant, it has benefited what it could not. It is the same for people, and it is the same for the country. I am united with China. In the face of natural disasters and visions, we should unite as one. Overcome the difficulties. At the beginning of the rebellion, I did not own the entire territory of Jiangxi, but encountered a flood that did not happen in a century. At that time, officials at all levels fought against the flood together with the people. After the flood, although there were losses, the officials and the people were united. This is not heaven Is the true meaning of the great appointment?"

   "What Your Majesty said is true!"

   All the officials shouted.

Zhao Han said: "It is said that the emperor is the son of heaven, Chongzhen is the son of heaven, and I am the son of heaven. They are all sons of heaven, which one should God love? Then use disasters as a test, and whichever emperor can handle it will be chosen as the true son of heaven! As fathers, if you are given a test, a son who only knows how to beg his parents is a waste, and a son who knows how to overcome difficulties by himself is a thousand-mile horse. I agree with the sacrifice of heaven and earth, only to express the respect of the emperor to heaven, not to ask for blessings from heaven The whole country and the people. The real son of heaven should face up to difficulties by himself. Have you never read "Yi"? Tian Xingjian, a gentleman must strive for self-improvement!"

   "Listen to the holy instruction!" All the officials shouted again.

Zhao Han said to Wang Tiaoding, the head of the Imperial Academy: "Write down these words, write an article, and compile it into the "Datong Collection" next year. Officials at all levels should not indulge in sacrifices in case of natural disasters, and should lead the people to tide over the difficulties together. Sacrifices cannot be used for political achievements. They only know sacrifices but do not know how to relieve disasters. From now on, they will be dismissed from office! I have only heard that King Yu controlled the water, but I have never heard that King Yu sacrificed to heaven and earth and the flood retreated by itself!"

  This sets the tone for the sacrifice, which is just a ritual and has nothing to do with political achievements, it is reserved as a form.

  Chen Maosheng took the opportunity to say: "Your Majesty, please appoint the sages of Wenwu Temple."

  After a large number of justices were brought against the Kong family in Qufu, the Nanzong Kong Zhenyun was canonized as Yan Shenggong, but the sacrificial system of the Confucian Temple and the Confucian Temple, as well as the corresponding sacrificial objects, are still pending.

   Even, Zhao Han has been delaying to reply whether the Confucian temples in various places will restart the annual sacrifice.

Zhao Han glanced at the ministers: "The sages of the Confucian Temple, Confucius and his disciples, only keep the four sages of Confucianism. The ten sages of Confucianism, except the four sages, are all invited out of the Confucian Temple. Whether the Confucian Temple worships the ten sages is a matter of Confucianism." My own business, but I think the Confucian Temple should be changed."

   Invite the ten philosophers of Confucianism out of the Confucian Temple?

  Ninety-nine percent of the ministers were dumbfounded. How the **** did this happen?

   It’s not like everyone is invited out, but Yan Hui is still retained.

Zhao Han ignored the opinions of the officials and continued: "In the future Confucian Temple, the most holy Confucius will be enshrined, and the Fusheng Yanhui, Zongsheng Zengzi, Shusheng Zisi, and Yasheng Mencius will be enshrined. As for the seventy-two sages, Xunzi , Zuo, Guliang, Gongyang, Han Yu and other sages can all be preserved, and many others are open to discussion. Why not join Sima Qian, the soloist of historians? Why not join Fan Zhongyan, who was worried about the world first? Why not join Wen Tianxiang, who keeps his loyalty and history? Zhu Xi , Why doesn't Wang Shouren join?"

  Li Banghua said with a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, such a large-scale change may be criticized by the scholars of the world. Maybe we can wait for the unification of the world before deciding which sages to worship in the Confucian Temple."

"No, just now," Zhao Han said, "you will all be given a list when you go down. The sages selected for worship in the Confucian Temple should have one of meritorious deeds, morality, and words. I'm talking about Sima Qian, Fan Zhongyan, Wen Tianxiang, Zhu Xi and Wang Shouren must be included in the Seventy-two Sages of the Confucian Temple!"

   "Obey!"

  Li Banghua bit the bullet and agreed.

   Not only Zhao Han will be scolded by scholars all over the world, but Pang Chunlai, Li Banghua and others will also not escape the infamy.

  Li Banghua couldn't figure it out. Now that the world is uncertain and disasters are constantly happening, why did Zhao Han want to offend scholars at such a critical point?

Zhao Han continued: "The Confucian Temple must not be built on a large scale, nor should it be offered repeatedly, at most once a year, and it is not allowed to exploit the people by offering sacrifices to the Confucian Temple! Any official is not allowed to recruit servants when offering sacrifices to the Confucian Temple! Set up a martial arts temple. When military academies are established in the future, a martial arts temple must be built near each military academy."

  Pang Chunlai asked: "Your Majesty, if you want to restore the Martial Temple, where should Jiang Ziya be?"

   "First place!" Zhao Han replied.

  Pang Chunlai asked again: "Jiang Ziya was invited into the Martial Temple, so does the Emperor's Temple still have a sacrifice?"

   "Together." Zhao Han said.

  Li Banghua said: "Your Majesty, it is not in accordance with etiquette."

  Zhao Han said: "Since Jiang Ziya has merits and virtues, so what if he is worshiped in the Wu Temple and the Emperor Temple?"

  In the Ming Dynasty, there was no Wu Temple.

  Zhu Yuanzhang built the Emperor Temple and found that Jiang Ziya was not with King Wu of Zhou, so he asked the officials of the Ministry of Rites: "Where is Jiang Ziya?"

  The official of the Ministry of Rites replied: "Jiang Ziya is the main **** of the Wu Temple, and he was named Wucheng King."

  Zhu Yuanzhang was very angry: "Jiang Ziya is a subject of King Wu of Zhou, how can he be crowned king? Isn't the monarch and his ministers in chaos? You should remove Jiang Ziya's title and welcome back to the Emperor Temple to worship King Wu of Zhou!"

  The official of the Ministry of Rites was very embarrassed: "Jiang Ziya is the main **** of the Wu Temple. After going to the Emperor Temple, what will the Wu Temple do?"

  Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Then there is no need for Wu Temple!"

  So, in the Ming Dynasty, the Wu Temple disappeared without a trace.

  Li Banghua repeated the question asked by the emperor and ministers in the early Ming Dynasty: "Your Majesty wants to reset the Wu Temple, will Jiang Ziya restore the title of king?"

  Zhao Han said with a smile: "Confucius's Wenxuan King is gone, how can Jiang Ziya's Wucheng King be kept? Since Confucius was named the Dacheng Supreme Master, Jiang Ziya should be named a Dacheng Sage Patriarch."

  Although Emperor Jiajing had a lot of shit, he also did two interesting things:

  First, abolish Confucius' title of king and turn Confucius into a teacher. That is to say, King Wenxuan of Dacheng was abolished and replaced by the most holy teacher of Dacheng. The Kong family in Qufu was very upset, and from then on they enshrined the title of king bestowed by the Yuan Dynasty, and resolutely refused to enshrine the title bestowed by the Ming Dynasty.

  Second, remove Kublai Khan and his officials from the temples of the emperors of the past dynasties, and do not recognize Kublai Khan as the emperor of China.

   To be honest, the second thing is very inappropriate.

  Because the sacred objects of Genghis Khan (for Mongolia), as well as the relics of Kublai Khan, most of them are in the hands of the Ming Dynasty. In this regard, Daming has the legal authority of the Yuan Dynasty. In theory, the entire grassland belongs to Daming, and Emperor Jiajing would give up if he did this.

  Well, although it doesn’t matter whether you give up or not.

  Pang Chunlai asked: "Do you want to invite Yuan Shizu (Kublai Khan) back to the Emperor's Temple?"

  Zhao Han said with a smile: "Of course please come back, and make an offering to Yuan Shizu. What lands Yuan Shizu owns...cough cough, we will talk about it later."

  As long as Kublai Khan is invited back to the Temple of the Emperor, China will have a strong claim to Mongolia, Tibet, and Xinjiang. It seems useless, but it has political significance, and the reasons for sending troops are very sufficient.

Zhao Han continued: "When rebuilding the Temple of Martial Arts and the Temple of Emperors, two people must be invited in. One is Yue Fei, who should enter the Temple of Martial Arts; "

  (end of this chapter)