Three Kingdoms

Chang'an.

Qinglong Temple.

After a period of deliberation, as well as the preparation of some young scholars, young Confucian scholars, etc., Zheng Xuan was also ready to start his official career in Qinglong Temple in Chang'an.

Before Zheng Xuan took the stage, almost all other people's activities stopped, like the brief calm before the variations, or the subconscious clumsiness when the boss appeared.

For most students of the Han Dynasty, Zheng Xuan was an unreachable peak.

Even if Mr. Shui Jing grinds his teeth and talks about this for many years, he still cannot surpass it. Sometimes, not all can be achieved through pure hard work. Basically, if it takes 100% to achieve a career, then personal efforts account for at least 80% of it, but above 80%, it is personal talent...

For example, some people are good at mathematics and have very strong mental arithmetic skills. When they go to the supermarket to buy things, they can calculate the final payment without using the checkout counter. However, some people are numb when it comes to calculations and forget the last number after calculation. If you don’t know the next number, life will be gloomy without a calculator. Perhaps the latter can reach 70% to 80% of the former's level through a lot of hard work, but it will be very difficult to continue to improve.

The same is true for Confucian scriptures. If you have to read and memorize them thoroughly and reach the level of 70 to 80%, and spend a lot of hard work, one year will not become two years, and ten years will not become twenty years. In the end, you can generally become a bookworm, but you have to start from the book. Not everyone can apply it flexibly, draw lessons from other sources, even corroborate each other, and bring forth the new from the old.

Zheng Xuan is almost at the top of the Confucian classics in the current Han Dynasty. It is not just that Zheng Xuan can read and recite the classics, but that Zheng Xuan can understand them and reach the state of Confucianism.

"Only when the king builds the country, he determines the right position, organizes the country and manages the country, establishes officials and assigns duties, and considers the people to be at the forefront." Then he established the Heavenly Official Tomb Supervisor, commanded his subordinates, and took charge of the country's governance, so as to assist the king in balancing the country..."

Zheng Xuan sat on a high platform and talked eloquently. Every sentence he said was read loudly by his disciple Guoyuan at his side so that the surrounding disciples could hear it. Of course, shouting loudly and continuously is a very strenuous thing. Most people can't do it, and they will choke after three or two times. However, Guoyuan has obviously practiced it before, so his voice is not only loud, but also his enunciation is clear. Even though he was far away, he could generally hear clearly.

The reason why I say generally is because Zheng Xuan said that being humble is something that some people repeat subconsciously, some people sigh with emotion, and some people can't help but show off. Even if everyone's voice is low, there will be a buzz in the periphery. …

Another point is that accents vary slightly from place to place. The accent in Luoyang, Guanzhong is obviously Han orthodox, while those in marginal areas can naturally adapt to it.

On the other side of the high platform, in a side room separated by a wall and a corridor, two people were listening.

On the table, there is tea.

Of course Fei Qian did not sit down on the stage. On the one hand, it is to avoid the situation where the leader leaves first, and on the other hand, it is also to hear the truth, so that Fei Qian will not be present to decorate and whitewash it. After Fei Qian leaves, he will immediately remove the flag.

Therefore, Fei Qian secretly took Xu Chu and some guards with him without notifying anyone, and hid with Pang Tong in a small wing in the side hall of Qinglong Temple, drinking tea and listening to Zheng Xuan's lecture on the high platform.

The three rites are "Etiquette", "Zhou Rites" and "Book of Rites".

The first two existed before the Han Dynasty, while the "Book of Rites" appeared during the Han Dynasty, and is probably not much different from the "Book of Filial Piety".

Of course, the Three Rites are said to have been written by Duke Zhou, and then discussed by Confucius and recorded by his disciples.

However, like most scriptures in the Han Dynasty, this matter is actually not very reliable.

Duke Zhou is too busy. Not only does he have to run the country, he also has to lead troops to fight. Then he has to have a lot of children at home, inspect places, and then he has to take time out of his busy schedule to write books, such as writing a book. The Book of Peace... Bah, it's the Book of Changes, and Zhou Li, and it also helps people interpret dreams...

If you have trouble sleeping, you have to look for Duke Zhou. Do you think Duke Zhou is busy?

Therefore, some of these books were written by Duke Zhou, which is true, but all of them must be attributed to Duke Zhou...

Isn't this just like someone in later generations? Everything is said by him. Who are you to sit down? Ask yourself, is there anything wrong with the fact that you have said so many things and misunderstood one or two of your sentences?

The book "Zhou Li" was called "Zhou Guan" in the early Han Dynasty. It was not until Wang Mangju took the photo that it was changed to "Zhou Li", and then it is still used today. As for why Lao Wang changed "Guan" to "Zhou Guan" "Etiquette", of course everyone knows this idea.

The Zhou rites of the Han Dynasty were presented to King Liu De of Hejian Province, who obtained this book from the people...

Then I have to talk about Liu De. Well, there is no Hua, just Liu De.

Liu De is the second son of Liu Qi. He and his eldest son Liu Rong were both born from the same mother, and there was a younger brother under Liu De. The three brothers all had the same mother, making them the top three in Liu Qi's royal bloodline.

But what is very interesting is that after Liu Qi, the tenth son of the emperor succeeded to the throne, that is, the famous Emperor Wu of Han...

As the eldest son of the emperor, Liu Rong was dragged into the water by his violent old mother Li Ji, and was eventually deposed, and Liu De was also sent to the river.

Under this background, a Hejian king gained a lot of reputation among Confucians. Not only did he personally receive ordinary Confucian scholars, but his own food standards did not exceed those of the guests. Then, Liu De presented "Zhou Rites" to Liu Che...

Liu Che took it with a smile and immediately threw it into the secret palace to refrigerate. It was not until the reign of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty that Liu Xiang and Liu Xin, the father and son school secretaries, listed them again.

The reason is naturally remarkable. So if it is said that "The Rites of Zhou" was really written by the Duke of Zhou himself, then it would be wrong, but it cannot be said that it is all false. After all, Confucius also traveled around the world and praised the Rites of Zhou. Well, from this aspect For example, when Liu De presented Zhou Li, and then Liu Che threw Zhou Li away, he was playing a good hand!

Just like now, Fei Qian pushed Zheng Xuan forward to play cards. In fact, it had almost a similar purpose.

What Zhouli is? Simply put, it is the rules for being an official.

"The words of the three rites must be spoken by Mr. Zheng..." Fei Qian listened for a while and said with some emotion, "In terms of proficiency in recitation, I am afraid there are many capable people in this Shoushan Academy, but I want to be proficient in citation." , citing scriptures, historical records, etc., and the opinions of various schools of thought to correct their interpretation... I am afraid that it will be difficult for the world to come up with the right one..."

Pang Tong also nodded, and then said: "Just like this sentence, "To make the people prosperous, send envoys to lead them; to make the people prosperous, send envoys to rule them." Duke Zheng quoted Lao Tzu's words to explain, "The sage has no permanent heart, and he treats the people as his own. "The heart is the heart" is wonderful. To govern the people, we must pay attention to the people's hearts. There are no remnants of the people in ancient and modern times who can govern..."

Fei Qian nodded.

Zheng Xuan was not only familiar with the three rites and proficient in Huang Lao, but he even had some knowledge of the Legalists, peasants, soldiers, astronomy, calendar, etc. So when explaining the three rites, he would bring up these contents from time to time and explain them, which caused bursts of excitement in the audience. Discussions and exclamations.

After listening for a while, Fei Qian suddenly smiled and said, "Mr. Zheng has changed it here..."

Pang Tong also listened sideways, and after a moment he also laughed and said, "Yes, it is different from what Mr. Zheng said last time." 』

Speaking of which, Zheng Xuan changed his rhetoric immediately because of Fei Qian.

Prophecy.

This thing, under Fei Qian's strong pull, was finally somewhat separated from serious literature. Although it was not completely removed, it was much stronger than the previous parasitic state.

Religion is religion and scholarship is scholarship.

If the level of productivity and cognition is temporarily not reached, some unknown things can be attributed to religious mysticism, but it cannot be said that relying on mysticism can explain everything. Because human nature is lazy and greedy, if you find a way to save trouble, you will naturally choose the way to save trouble. And a religious system that does not explain anything and attributes everything to a mysterious religious system is obviously a "easier" way, so why not Why do we need to work hard to research and develop new technologies?

When religious authority becomes stronger, it’s not just Brother Bai Ni who will be burned to death, right? Not burned to death? Just treat it as a fire. Religion is very good at barbecue anyway.

And there are other problems here, and Fei Qian is also making arrangements...

It turns out that when Zheng Xuan and Fei Qian first talked about the Book of Rites, it was either a preview or an early communication. Zheng Xuan also received the influence of some previous customs and used prophecies to annotate the "Book of Rites" and construct his ritual system. .

In "Zhou Rites" there are five emperors, five human emperors and five sense gods.

At that time, Zheng Xuan thought that Fei Qian had launched the Five Directions God Religion, so he thought that Fei Qian was also slightly inclined to the mystical side of prophecy. Therefore, regarding the Five Emperors in Zhou Li, Zheng Xuan said this at the time, "The Five Emperors, Cang Yue Lingwei Yang." , Taihao eats Yan; red says Chi Jinu, Yandi eats Yan; Huang says Hanjun, Huangdi eats Yan; white says Baizhaorui, Shaohao eats Yan; black says Zhiguangji, Zhuanxu eats..."

Zheng Xuan's explanation is that there are five spirit emperors in the sky and five human emperors below. They were born after their mothers were conceived by the essence of the five emperors. The five human emperors are the sons of the five heavenly emperors. There are five senses under the five emperors. After the death of the five senses, they become five gods. During sacrifices, the five gods each eat their own emperor.

It sounds like there is nothing wrong with it. The gods of the five directions have names, origins and even directions, just like they are real things, but in fact they are all fiction. This statement comes from the messy "Spring and Autumn Wei Yuan Ming Bao", "Spring and Autumn Wei Wen Yao Gou", "Yi Wei Qian Chi Du" and so on related to "He Tu".

Although Zheng Xuan's previous remarks can also be used to explain the "Five Emperors, Five Human Emperors and Five-Sense God", Fei Qian clearly stated that it was inappropriate.

"Governing a country is based on order and benefiting the people; politics and religion have scriptures, and order is based on conduct." ” Fei Qian said to Zheng Xuan at that time, “To benefit the people, there is no need to follow the ancients; to do things for the Zhou Dynasty, there is no need to follow the past... The five directions of the Zhou Dynasty are not necessarily the five emperors of the Han Dynasty, and there is no need to impose attachments. 』

Zheng Xuan's carefully prepared "Commentary on Five Directions and Five Emperors" was actually said to be "far-fetched" by Fei Qian. This embarrassed Zheng Xuan, but there was nothing he could do. After all, Fei Qian had the final say in Fei Qian's territory. The first session of Qinglong Temple's Grand Commentary also officially determined that Chenwei is Chenwei, and scriptures are scriptures, and they must "seek truth and seek correctness." Therefore, Zheng Xuan had to change the original "Heaven and Earth are determined" to " The theory of the unknown in the far reaches...

China is naturally the Central Emperor, but there are also four emperors in the other four directions, living in extremely remote and unknown places. The emperors of the four directions were defeated by the Yanhuang back then, so naturally they have the same official system as the Yanhuang, building a huge world... …

Therefore, people from all directions are both enemies and friends. If the middle is weak and the four directions are strong, then the four directions will dominate it. If the middle is strong but the four directions are weak, then the middle will rule it, and so on.

Such rhetoric is divorced from the original prophecy. Although it cannot avoid carrying some mysterious flavor, at least the core of it has changed. From the original certain and unchangeable to the unknown, there may be changes. s things.

This is the real "Zhou Li".

Even though Old Master Zhou held back the Zhou Rites at home for three years and three years, and finally drew them out with a pen in one hand and a carving knife in the other, what was Old Master Zhou’s purpose of doing the Zhou Rites in the first place?

Write something fun?

No, it’s about making rules and setting standards!

Therefore, thousands of years ago, Master Zhou already understood the importance of standards and put them into practice. As a result, in later generations, he was burdened with Eastern and Western standards one by one. Will the coffin be lifted in anger?

From a tribe to a country, it is like going from a local small business to a national or even a large multinational group. What is most important in this process?

Talent?

Maybe, but not the most important thing.

After all, who said "Talent is the most important"? Uncle Ge! And what will happen to Uncle Ge, who just knows how to value talents?

That’s why rules are important! Standards are what matter! How to make better use of talents is more important than simply pursuing talents! Apart from freaks like Fei Qian, how can we ensure that when the so-called talents arrive at the branch, they will not touch the breasts of female subordinates, embezzle the company's money, report false accounts, or inflate expenses?

The more talented and smart a person is, the easier it is to discover loopholes in the company!

If you don’t first set down the rules and determine the standards, messing around will inevitably be inevitable.

The key to Zheng Xuan's annotation this time is not only "unknown", but also "replaceable"!

Even the gods of the five directions take turns taking charge. What's so good about the lowly people, gods and officials of the five directions being "hereditary and irreplaceable"?

Rules and standards change according to the times. If you want to avoid being replaced, you must make efforts.

Just like what Fei Qian was doing in Longxi and Longyou, at the beginning, a lot of officials thought they were very safe and felt that there was nothing Fei Qian could do to them. Even if he replaced a small group, there would still be a large one, just bet on luck. Well, at most, a few minions will be arrested and given a warning, and others will be given a lecture and that will be it...

Therefore, when Longyou and Longxi were in chaos at the beginning, all the officials were not very afraid and felt that they would not be so unlucky. Maybe they just needed to be more subtle and not the most out-of-the-box, and everything would be fine.

But he didn't expect that Fei Qian had already prepared manpower. He directly transferred people from Guanzhong Sanfu and Hedong Zhong, and then directly replaced them from top to bottom, county by county, from the county magistrate to the county magistrate. From Cangcao to household officials, all are replaced directly!

The officials in Longyou and Longxi were immediately dumbfounded...

In fact, how many real officials are there in a county?

In the Han Dynasty, large counties, that is, those with more than 10,000 households, were called county magistrates. Those with less than 10,000 households became county magistrates, but their duties and powers were similar. They were all the highest officials of a county. They were also called country, town, and road. The country was called a prince. , the city is the fiefdom of the queen, empress dowager, and princess, and the areas where there are ethnic minorities living in the territory are called roads.

In such a county, in addition to the county magistrate and county magistrate, there are also meritorious officials and historians who always advise everyone. The county lieutenant is in charge of the county's military affairs. Sometimes he is also the county magistrate. Then there are the county magistrate, the chief secretary, the court governor (or others concurrently), the chief secretary's office, and the Shaofu.

As for the lower ranks of the sect, they are basically already low-level officials, so there is no fixed number. To put it simply, they are temporary workers, the kind hired by county magistrates and county magistrates.

To put it simply, there are probably six to eight officials in a county, and as long as a team of four is dispatched, they can take over and completely replace them! Then relying on the power of the surrounding armies, the replaced officials do not even need to bring any special guards. After all, being replaced is just a personal loss of office. If something happens, the result will be the confiscation of the family and the extermination of the clan!

Therefore, when the officials in Longyou, Longxi Province saw that Linjing and other county towns had been replaced, they immediately behaved. Admit your mistakes, surrender, and in order to keep your position, you must exert a thousand times more diligence than usual...

But once you do something seriously, things will naturally become easier to handle. The original difficulties are no longer insurmountable or unsolvable, and solutions that were previously unthinkable have been devised.

This is very interesting.

Have things become easier, or have people become smarter? Or is it both, or is it neither?

That's how it works sometimes.

Fei Qian stood up and said it was okay and he was ready to go back. Compared with Pang Tong and others, his fatigue is not in handling specific things, but in thinking about the overall plan, and in this regard, other people can assist, but cannot replace it.

What is irreplaceable is precious, but what can be replaced is nothing to be complacent about.

For these officials, it’s not that nothing can be done, it’s not that nothing can be changed, and it’s not that whatever they say is what they say, it’s just that for them, these shrewd officials will naturally think of ways to gain official status. , to change your thinking, if you really just listen to what these officials say and don’t take a real look, how can you understand the real situation and how can you make decisions?

Just like this time's Qinglong Temple lecture, Fei Qian would come secretly and then leave quietly, or else would he simply listen to his subordinates' descriptions? What is it? Then whether the officials under his command could understand what Zheng Xuan said was one thing, but whether they could express the key points was another matter entirely.

If the officials below say there is no problem, does it really mean there is no problem?

If you let others say whatever you want, why do you need your own brain?

Fei Qian avoided the flow of people and walked out.

Anyway, the planning architect of Qinglong Temple was nearby. Of course, the pavilions and pavilions in Qinglong Temple were clear. He took Fei Qian to turn left and right to avoid the noisy main venue area, and then exited Qinglong through the side door. temple.

"Prime Minister Cao really took action..." Fei Qian said as he walked away, "Now we just have to see how these people respond..."

Pang Tong said from the side, "Prime Minister Cao pried open Xun's Wubao, and Yuzhou was shaken by it... However, these people may not be willing to give up..."

Fei Qian nodded and looked east, "It depends on how much Prime Minister Cao can do..."