Xu Yan's words shocked Liu Che greatly.
He had not expected that the Confucian doctrine would have such an image in Xu Yan's eyes.
After listening to Xu Yan's explanation, he fell into deep thought.
He was wondering if the Confucians were really like what Xu Yan had said, a bunch of people who cheated the world and stole fame.
Or rather, what he had done before was wrong, and Confucianism could not be used to govern the country.
Liu Che pondered for a long time, trying to find evidence to refute, but sadly found that he could not find any words to refute Xu Yan's words.
That's right.
Even the foundations of the Confucian school were pieced together, and not a single one of them was something that belonged to the Confucian school.
How could you expect the Confucians to govern the country?
He couldn't say that the other party had excellent moral character and had the ability to govern the country, right?
Although Liu Che was young, he also knew that a person's ability had no direct relationship with his character. The brutal Xiongnu people could not be benevolent and moral.
After a long time, Liu Che came back to his senses.
He took a deep breath and asked Xu Yan seriously,""In that case, which of the Hundred Schools of Philosophy do you think can be used to govern a country?”
"Taoism? Legalism? The study of Ghost Valley? Or perhaps it was the Mohist School or the School of Political Conspiracy?”
The theories that Liu Che mentioned were all famous theories of the philosophers of the Qin and Han Dynasties.
In particular, Taoism was the governing theory adopted by the Western Han Dynasty. Empress Dowager Dou and others were staunch supporters of the study of Huang Lao.
When Xu Yan heard the question, he did not answer immediately. Instead, he asked curiously,"I heard that Your Majesty is very unhappy with Elder Huang's studies. Can Your Majesty tell me the reason?”
"Could it be that Teacher Xu is also a supporter of Elder Huang's teachings?”
Liu Che couldn't help but frown when he heard this. He didn't hide his rejection of Elder Huang's knowledge.
Xu Yan shook his head and said," Your Majesty, you're wrong. I hate Confucianism, not because I hate the ideology of Confucianism, but because I feel that Confucianism has gone down the wrong path. Similarly, I asked Your Majesty why you hate the study of Huang Lao, not because you think it can govern the country, but because I feel that the world's understanding of Huang Lao's study has gone astray.”
"If Your Majesty is unwilling to answer, then why don't you let me guess?”
"Ever since Emperor Gaozu, our dynasty has relied on the teachings of Huang Lao to govern the world. We pay attention to governing by doing nothing and recuperate. We are unwilling to use weapons and are also somewhat weak against the Xiongnu.”
"Your Majesty doesn't like Elder Huang's teachings, not because they have nothing to recommend them, but because you feel that Elder Huang's teachings govern by doing nothing. Whether it's internally or externally, they're too sloppy and weak, lacking in courage and rules, right?”
Liu Che nodded and did not hide his true thoughts in front of Xu Yan. He said angrily,"Teacher Xu is right. Those ministers who admire Elder Huang's teachings are not only lazy and weak, but they also do nothing. They often use the excuse of 'governing by inaction' to deal with me. They do not put me in their eyes at all.”
"I want to abolish the teachings of Huang Lao and promote the Confucian scholars in order to reform the old and bring forth the new. Only in this way can our Great Han defeat the Xiongnu and wash away the shame of our past.”
Xu Yan nodded, expressing his understanding.
In fact, the young Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did not like the teachings of Huang Lao and kept promoting Confucian officials. There was not much reason for this.
To put it bluntly, he had just ascended to the throne and wanted to do something big to defeat the Xiongnu. He wanted to fulfill his promise to his sister and save her from the Xiongnu.
As a result, the ministers in the court were all used to being lazy. Not only did they not do anything, but they were also very disobedient.
Don't ask. Asking was the way of governing by inaction that Elder Huang had learned.
As such, it would be strange if Liu Che did not have any objections to Elder Huang's teachings.
As for why Liu Che would wantonly promote Confucian scholars?
The reason was very simple. It wasn't that Liu Che truly acknowledged the ideology of the Confucians, but because the Confucians were obedient and wanted to borrow Liu Che's power to replace Elder Huang's teachings and make their own doctrine the mainstream doctrine of the Darkhan Dynasty.
This was especially true after Dong Zhongshu appeared in the scholarly faction, which allowed the Confucian scholars to see the future of the scholarly faction.
That was why they were moving closer to Liu Che, ready to gamble on him.
And Liu Che didn't really believe in Confucianism.
If he really believed in Confucianism, he would not have sent Dong Zhongshu, the Confucian genius who had proposed to abolish all schools of thought and only worship Confucianism, out of the royal court and sent him to a vassal state to tutor the vassal king.
To put it simply, both sides were taking what they needed.
Xu Yan was very clear on this point, so after listening to Liu Che's complaint, he smiled and shook his head, saying,""In fact, in my opinion, Elder Huang's knowledge is not bad. However, it has gone down the wrong path and has been distorted.”
"Teacher Xu, what do you mean?"
Liu Che frowned, obviously not expecting Xu Yan to say such a thing.
Xu Yan ignored Liu Che's puzzled expression and said,""Elder Huang's teachings are not about governing by doing nothing, but about 'Dao'.”
"Then what is 'Dao'?”
"Dao is not the Heaven, nor is it the Sun and Moon Gods, but the laws of all things in the world.”
"sunrise sunset are the Dao. From this, the people of the world concluded the division of day and night. With the twelve hours, they knew the definition of time.”
"The four seasons are the Dao. From it, the people of the world understood spring, summer, autumn, and winter. They had the twenty-four solar terms of spring plowing and summer, and they understood spring plowing and autumn harvesting.”
"Sunny days are Dao, rainy days are Dao, the great rivers flow eastward is Dao, and the growth of grains is Dao.”
"As the saying goes, everything in the world can become a Dao.”
"In my opinion, the true knowledge of Elder Huang is not about governing by inaction, but about Dao. It is about how to find the laws of everything in the world and use them for my own use.”
"The ancient sages observed the law of grain growth and created farmers. Observing the laws of war, there are military strategists; Looking at the rules of the creation of artifacts, there is the Mohist Gongshu family; Observing the laws of the changing human heart, with the Phantom Valley School of Political Conspiracy…"
"I observed the Dao and comprehended a theory called the investigation of things!”
"The Book of Rites, Da Xue, says that knowledge comes from the investigation of things, and only after the investigation of things can one know the truth. Therefore, the meaning of the study of things is to study the truth of things.”
"What do you think, Your Majesty?"
In Xu Yan's opinion, it was undoubtedly very narrow to simply summarize the Taoist school of Huang Lao as "governing by inaction".
As the saying goes, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to all things.
The foundation of the Daoist school of Huang Lao was still in the pursuit of Dao.
What was Dao?
Dao was the law of all things in the world, and it was also the so-called science in the future.
However, Liu Che would definitely not understand science, so Xu Yan replaced it with 'study'.
Therefore, when Liu Che asked Xu Yan if Huang Lao's knowledge could be used to govern the country, the answer was naturally yes!
"Physics?"
When Liu Che heard Xu Yan's story, he was also shocked by Xu Yan's ambition.
At this moment, he finally believed what Xu Yan had said in his letter of recommendation." He had learned from hundreds of schools of thought since he was young, and now he had comprehended hundreds of schools of thought to become a school of thought."
Such a study of things was even more shocking than Dong Zhongshu's " Abandon all schools of thought and only respect Confucianism ".
After all, Dong Zhongshu's rejection of the Hundred Schools of Thought was only to suppress other theories and only to worship Confucianism.
On the other hand, Xu Yan's study of things wanted to swallow up all the schools of thought and integrate them into his study of things.
One suppressed, the other annexed.
Which one was more difficult and more shocking was needless to mention.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。