Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 122: Leader of the Clean Stream
Zhu Houzhao did not expect that just by giving a few examples he would cause Wang Yangming to ask so many questions.

Not only Wang Yangming, but also Yan Song, Zhang Cong and Xia Yan had question marks written on their faces.

Zhu Houzhao answered patiently for a long time and made up various reasons for why he knew so much, such as a god giving him a book in a dream. It dragged on until the afternoon before he got rid of the questioning of Wang Yangming and others and returned to the Forbidden City to attend to government affairs.

But no matter what, Zhu Houzhao would come in person to give lectures to the only two students at the Imperial University of Peking whenever he had time.

The two officials, Wang Yangming and Yan Song, often listened in from the side.

Of course, sometimes Zhu Houzhao would encourage them to debate with himself, and even encouraged them to debate with each other, making the academic atmosphere of the Imperial University of Peking particularly free and open from the very beginning.

Zhu Houzhao liked the Imperial University of Peking very much and valued it very much.

In his view, the current Imperial University of Peking is a cradle for cultivating talents who can innovate the Ming Dynasty in the future, and a base for sowing seeds.

After all, in the original history of the 20th century, the new ideas that ultimately changed China and made China rise again also began to sprout in several universities at that time.

But Zhu Houzhao was the emperor after all, and his emphasis on the Imperial University of Peking naturally attracted more people to pay attention to it.

But it just so happens that this era is still an era where Confucianism is prevalent.

Therefore, the inclusive educational philosophy of the Imperial University of Peking was not tolerated by the vast majority of scholars of that era.

In particular, those Qingliu officials who attempted to safeguard their own interests by utilizing the Neo-Confucianism system did not want other disciplines to be promoted besides Confucianism. Otherwise, they would no longer be able to safeguard the interests of their own class through Confucianism.

Just when the unique way of running schools of Imperial University of Peking caused controversy among scholars, the leader of the Qingliu group, Wang Ao, came to Beijing!
Wang Ao was a third place winner in the imperial examination and was almost one of the top three candidates in the imperial examination. He was even the teacher of Emperor Xiaozong and Zhu Houzhao. If he had not returned home for mourning, he would have entered the cabinet by now.

When Zhu Houzhao was the crown prince, he had many teachers. Cabinet ministers such as Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, and Xie Qian were also teachers, but most of the time they were just teachers in name only. The real teachers of Zhu Houzhao were the officials of the Eastern Palace, Wang Ao and Yang Tinghe. Wang Ao not only taught the crown prince, but also the emperor. His qualifications were higher than Yang Tinghe, and his status was the highest among the Qingliu.

The reason why Wang Ao came to Beijing now was because he was recommended by the court to be the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

Although he did not enter the cabinet, this official position also meant that he was not far from entering the cabinet. It was enough to show that although Wang Ao had been in mourning at home for a long time, he still had prestige in the court, otherwise he would not have been recommended by the court as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

Of course, Zhu Houzhao did not prevent Wang Ao from being recommended by the court as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel because his impression of Wang Ao was just that he was an academic official, just like Wang Hua. He had no aversion to such officials and therefore did not reject the court's recommendation of Wang Ao to be the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

But in fact, the people who were most happy about Wang Ao's arrival in Beijing were the upright officials in the court.

After all, since Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian and other Qingliu ministers were executed for regicide, a large number of Qingliu officials were also implicated, causing the Qingliu officials to become a loose sand and unable to resist the Zhuoliu officials. Now that Wang Ao has come to Beijing, they have undoubtedly given them a backbone.

At this time, like most of the upright officials who rushed to the city gate to welcome Wang Ao to Beijing, Yan Bianxiu of the Hanlin Academy also came to the city to welcome Wang Ao, and said excitedly: "It's great that Mr. Wang is coming to Beijing! From now on, we upright officials will no longer be leaderless!"

"Yes! Nowadays, the court is full of corrupt officials, and we, the clean officials, are all excluded! Now that Mr. Wang has come to Beijing, the predicament of us, the clean officials, will surely be broken!"

Zhuang Zhongyun, who came with him, also echoed the sentiment. Other upright officials who came to greet Wang Ao also agreed.

At that time, as soon as Wang Ao appeared, a large group of upright officials swarmed over, bowing and saluting, all of them were extremely respectful.

Lian Yang Tinghe also bowed and said: "Hearing that Mr. Wang is the Junior Prime Minister, we all burst into tears. It can be seen that the wise court will not let talented people be left in the wild! Mr. Wang's arrival in Beijing will surely make the court a new look!"

"I am a humble man, but I have been favored by Your Majesty and recommended by my colleagues to serve as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. Now I can only serve you diligently and conscientiously!"

Wang Ao went into the city first, and as soon as he entered the city, he called Yang Tinghe to him and asked, "Mr. Yang, you are the teacher of His Majesty. Please answer me truthfully. Has His Majesty started the imperial lecture now?"

"To be honest, Mr. Wang, Your Majesty has never held a lecture since he ascended the throne!"

Yang Tinghe replied.

"Ridiculous! This is simply ridiculous! Your Majesty is only fifteen years old. Although you are already a monarch, you have not yet mastered your studies. If you are not taught knowledge that can be applied to the world in time, how can you govern the world! Scholar Yang, you are a close minister of the emperor and the emperor's teacher, why don't you advise him!"

Wang Ao slammed the table and shouted at him.

"Mr. Wang, please calm down. I know how important the imperial lecture is, but you also know the temperament of the current emperor!

Moreover, with so many major events happening recently, and Ma Wensheng and other cabinet officials who only care about governing the people and not the emperor, your majesty's studies have been neglected for a long time. Now, not only has he not received any orthodox Confucian education, but he has built a capital university and mixed with a bunch of businessmen, doctors, and scum of Confucian scholars, and is promoting the Hundred Schools of Thought and the inclusiveness of all arts and crafts!"

Yang Tinghe sighed and said, "If this continues, Your Majesty will only focus on strange and cunning tricks, and we, the upright officials, will no longer be able to control Your Majesty and make him follow the teachings of Confucius and Mencius and the principles of the saints! The future of our scholars is in jeopardy. Today, the court is filled with officials from the turbid currents, and in the future, I am afraid that the court will be filled with people from all walks of life!"

"I have also heard about this Imperial University! Such a school that corrupts the academic atmosphere and deviates from the orthodox teachings should not exist! It should be demolished! This time when I came to Beijing, I did not intend to fight with Ma Wensheng and his people. Since they want to reform the civil service, let them do it, but Your Majesty must let us, the upright people, teach them! They must be educated with orthodox learning!"

Wang Ao was from Suzhou, from a Jiangnan gentry family, and was also a leader of the Qingliu. He naturally knew that only by respecting Confucianism and advocating ethics could he safeguard the interests of the Jiangnan gentry and Qingliu officials behind him. He also knew that if he, the Qingliu officials, wanted to still control the real power in politics, he had to control the emperor in his own hands! He could not let the emperor stay with the turbid officials all day, or even stay with the cunning and skillful people at the Imperial University.

Therefore, the first thing Wang Ao wanted to do after arriving in Beijing was to urge the emperor to strictly implement the imperial lecture system.

The Imperial Lectures were a way for these upright officials to control the emperor by using Confucian theories.

Moreover, he also found that if he did not control the emperor, he and other clean officials would not be able to defeat the dirty officials or even the eunuchs.

After Wang Ao said this, Yang Tinghe couldn't help but bow and said, "Mr. Wang is the teacher of the late emperor and also the teacher of Your Majesty. This matter can only be done by Mr. Wang. If Your Majesty can really hold a lecture on the classics and follow Confucianism, the world will be blessed!"

Wang Ao quickly submitted a memorial, requesting Zhu Houzhao to restart the imperial lectures, and also requesting Zhu Houzhao to change the original frequency of once every ten days to once every five days!
At the same time, Wang Ao also petitioned Zhu Houzhao to demolish the Imperial University! Confucius, Mencius, Zhu Xi and others should be regarded as orthodox, and heresy should not harm the world!
Thanks to the book friend Wuwangwunianym for the 100 starting coins reward. Thank you to the book friend Zhoutian Meridian for the 5000 starting coins reward.

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(End of this chapter)