After moving back to Luoyang from the east, Liu Xie was influenced by Chen Chong and attached great importance to the rule of law. For this reason, when rebuilding the eastern capital, he specifically asked Zhuge Liang to build the Imperial Academy camp to three times its original size, which could accommodate enough students. Thousands of people are giving lectures at the same time. Since Liu Xie ascended the throne, he has participated in lectures on classics in Taixue every year and recruited talents from among them. No matter in good years or bad years, he has never neglected Taixue. By the third year of Yanxi's reign, tens of thousands of scholars from Luoyang came to Taixue to study every year, and countless people wrote and debated scriptures. Elderly people say that the current situation of Dongdu is not inferior even when compared with that of Guanghe.
But for Chen Chong, when he was young, he only debated scriptures because he was competitive. What he was really passionate about was history. From writing books and commentaries to engraving "National History" in Chang'an, it was all out of this hobby. But as he got older, he could no longer bear to read history and turned to reading inscriptions and poems. Until now, when Chen Chong asked Fu Qian for the latest scriptures, he felt like he was in another world for some reason. He couldn't remember the last time he discussed scriptures with someone.
Ever since Chen Chong asked Zheng Xuan to serve as a doctor, Zheng Xue's disciples have been in control of Taixue to this day. The dispute between ancient and modern texts that originally lasted for hundreds of years has now been replaced by Zheng Xue. Fu Qian specially selected forty famous doctoral works for Chen Chong. Chen Chong took a quick look and found that half of them were extensions of Zheng Xue. Zheng Xue emphasized strict rule of law, which was close to Chen Chong. However, there were many prophecy theories such as the connection between heaven and man and the cycle of five virtues, which were not liked by Chen Chong. After comparison, Chen Chong singled out Xu Ci and Meng Guang, who were more skilled in magic, as candidates for entering the palace.
Chen Chong looked at the remaining scrolls carefully. Most of the works written by non-Zheng Xue paid too much attention to literary beauty and were flashy, or they were too mysterious in their discussion. I don't know why, which annoyed Chen Chong. Fortunately, he opened a book called "Holy Evidence Theory", and the content suddenly made him feel fresh and new. This book stands on Ma Rong's standpoint of ancient classics, safeguards the family law of the ancient classics school, and comprehensively refutes Zheng Xue based on two works, "Confucius' Family Sayings" and "Kong Congzi", believing that it distorts the words of the sage. , tarnishing the image of the Master. The words were very sharp, and once reminded Chen Chong of Zheng Xuan's criticism of He Xiu. But looking at its content, one cannot help but laugh out loud. The book "Kong Congzi" quoted in the article is said to be the family biography of Confucius. Chen Chong has never seen it, and has never heard Kong Rong and Ma Rixi talk about it. However, it is probably the author's own forgery. However, the author dared to write it out blatantly, which must be said to be daring.
After calling Fu Qian, Chen Chong asked him who wrote the "Sheng Zheng Lun". Answer: The author is Wang Su of Donghai, the son of Wang Lang, the former prefect of Tongchuan. At the age of sixteen, he studied classics with the famous Confucian Song Zhong, and at the age of twenty he left the academy and entered Imperial College. However, at the age of twenty-seven this year, he was already well-known in the capital. In the past seven years, Wang Su has never failed in debating classics. Even Guo Yuan and other high-ranking disciples of the Zheng sect are three times weaker than him. He is known as the God of the East China Sea and the leader of the Qing Dynasty.
Chen Chong had actually heard of Wang Su's name, but he didn't expect him to be so young. Chen Chong couldn't help but think of his youth. It's no wonder that he wrote so wantonly. Then Chen Chong re-read the book's propositions and found that although Wang Su did not like strict laws, his views of frivolous corvee, low taxes, and rule by inaction complemented Zheng Xue. Chen Chong now had a new idea. He could teach Wang Su, Xu Ci and others to the emperor together, so that Liu Yi could experience the feeling of understanding by listening at the same time.
After finishing reading "Holy Evidence Theory", it was already dark and Chen Chong felt a little tired, but there were still three articles on the desk that he had not read. He cheered up, lit a lamp, and prepared to go to dinner after reading. The first two articles were unremarkable. They were just influenced by his son-in-law He Yan, who liked to talk about some metaphysics. Chen Chong quickly put them down. When he opened the last article, the title was refreshing. The famous work "Four Essays on Talent" seemed to be an article starting from nature. Chen Chong read it carefully and soon frowned.
This article is not an ordinary exegesis of scriptures, but a narration of the Qing Dynasty’s discussion on the use of personnel. The opening preface reads: "Husband, officials are responsible for employing people, and they are the handle of the country. Therefore, Quanheng is dedicated to the platform pavilion, which is divided into superiors; filial piety exists in the alleys, and the superior and inferior people from the countryside are divided into inferior ones. I want to be judged by the Qing Dynasty." Choosing is just about clarifying the divisions and not interfering with each other. Which one? If you exceed the divisions above, you may be afraid that you will not follow the roots, and your momentum will open up the road; if you exceed the divisions below, you may be afraid that the heaven will lead to others. And there are many gates of power and power. The power of the emperor is the source of discussion for the common people. The gates of power and power are the source of chaos.
It has been a long time since the official officials in the prefecture and counties came here, and there have been many Burmese, but they have not been neatly organized. Could it be that the classification is wrong?
Everyone has lost their important point! If Zhongzheng is ordered to be upright but his moral conduct is tested, and his moral conduct should be equal, then he will not be an official. Which one? If a husband is filial to his family, wouldn't he be loyal to his official position? Doesn't it mean that benevolence and resentment among the nine tribes are not equivalent to government? Is it true that righteousness is carried out in the township party, and it is unbearable to do things? The three are like Zhongzheng. Although they are not given official names, they can be known by their appointment as officials.
There are big and small behaviors, and there are high and low comparisons, so the currents are clearly differentiated. Xi will make the opportunity for Zhongzheng and Quanquan balanced at the bottom, and those who hold the power will be entrusted to the top, and the top and bottom will invade, so that chaos will arise? Now, when you come to the pavilion, you will be asked to examine whether your merits have been verified. Each of the various positions has its own officials. They examine each other day and night. Don't worry about it. The discussion of Lu Yan will be decided according to the will, so that the craftsman and the governor will lose their position. Everyone is frightened and wants to Is it possible to achieve quiet customs? Tiantai County is far away and everyone is disappointed. What you get is even closer, who doesn't modify it to get what you want? If there is a way to seek, those who have built their own family will no longer be as good as reaching out to the township party. It is no longer as good for those who want to reach the rural party to seek it from the state. There is a way to open up the road, but if it is to pretend to be true and deviate from the original, even if it is severely punished and punished, it will still be of no use. How can it be that the commanders and commanders are divided into divisions, and the officials are divided according to whether their subordinates can present the towers and pavilions. The towers and pavilions are based on whether the officials are able to offer them, and the virtues of the village are taken into consideration to compare them, so as not to be biased. Zhongzheng means only to examine his deeds, distinguish his superiority and inferiority, judge his generation, and do not promote or demote him. In short, if it is abbreviated or there are errors in the reference, it is the responsibility of the author.
The official's appointment should be made by the middle-aged and upright people, and they should be used according to the order. If it is not suitable, the responsibility will not be withheld. However, the inside and outside are related, the gains and losses are related, and the shapes of each other are examined. How can they complement each other? In this way, people's hearts will be calm and things will be in order, and the common people can calm down their customs and judge their officials' talents. "
The preface of this preface clearly states that the foundation of the country and the country lies in the employment of people, and the employment system is naturally the top priority. Then the article directly criticizes the current system of inspection and promotion. He believes that it has been many years since Chen Chong's reforms and the addition of left, right, central and central officials, but there are still "many Burmese and Burmese, and there is no order." This has led to chaos in the DPRK and the Central Government with "misunderstandings and misunderstandings, and each has lost its important point." It can be seen that Chen Chong's reforms have not been successful. unsuccessful.
So the article further analyzes why it failed? The main reason is that the superiors interfere too much in the Zhongzheng system, which leads to the selection trend not coming from the clear deliberation of the townships and counties, but more influenced by the superior bureaucrats. The author criticizes this phenomenon, saying that it is "invasion from above and below, resulting in confusion", which leads to unrest in customs. In order to compete for fame and fortune, people are not willing to be pragmatic about loyalty and filial piety, but focus on flattering and flattering. The people selected by the country are all villains who are flattering and bullying.
Therefore, the article advocates that it is hoped that the imperial court will further decentralize the power of selection, shift the focus of inspections to listening to the opinions of townships and counties, and then exclude local governors, so that "the customs and customs can be calmed and the talents of officials can be judged."
After the preface, the author wrote more than 3,000 words eloquently. Because the content is too long, I can only give a brief summary. The author combines character with official talent, and summarizes four customs for evaluating personnel, namely "same talent and nature", "combination of talents and nature", "separation of talents and nature", and "different talents and nature". "Taixingtong" means that the character and official talents are consistent, which is the upper realm; "Taixingtong" means that the character and official talents are comprehensively evaluated, which is the middle and upper realm; "Taixingli" means that only officials and talents are evaluated, not When examining character, it is the middle and lower realms; "different talents" means that even if you know that the character of the person you are hiring is low, you still choose people based on their talents, which is the lower and lower realms.
The author also discusses that these four custom phenomena are mainly affected by the state's investigation and prosecution policy. If the country pays more attention to virtue and etiquette, scholars will pay more attention to their own cultivation, and then reach the state of "matching talent and nature", and even "identity of talent and nature". If the country does not pay attention to morality, loyalty and filial piety, but only relies on scholars If one chooses talents based on their talents, then the scholars will bend the meaning and twist the truth to favor flattery. On the contrary, they will directly slip from "talent and sex separation" to "talent and sex difference". And if the selected officials have no moral integrity, do not even know how to be filial to their parents, and do not even know how to care for their children, how can we expect them to do anything beneficial to the country? The more talented such people are, they will only bring greater disaster to the country.
Then the author cited scriptures and reviewed the decline of Confucian classics and the bankruptcy of Mingjiao during the period of Emperor Huanling. He pointed out that at that time, talented people were everywhere but the country could not use them, and the legacy still remains today. Finally, he concluded that the lesson is not far away. If the court cannot realize the seriousness of this problem and cannot adjust the academic style, political style, and scholarly style in time, it is very likely that the country will have female thieves like Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao. It's too late!
After Chen Chong read the full text, he did not speak immediately. He closed his eyes and meditated for a while. After adjusting his mind, he slowly asked Fu Qiandao: "Who wrote this article?"
Written? How was the response at Taixue? "
Fu Qian saw Chen Chong's expression, and realized that this matter was not trivial. He said softly: "This article was written by Liu Jing and Liu Wengong of Pei State. He is the son of Liu Fu, the former governor of Bohai. He is now a doctor in Taixue, and he is the author of "Ouyang". "Shangshu"." As for the influence of "The Four Treatises on Talent" in Taixue, Fu Qian considered it and said: "This article was written three months ago, and now it has really resonated among the younger generations, and almost everyone can recite it. But it's just that this article was written three months ago. Many old people don’t like it, so it hasn’t become mainstream yet.”
After hearing this, Chen Chong tapped the table with his palm and picked up the article again. He was speechless for a moment, the weight of the paper in his hand was extremely light, but he seemed to hold a huge weight in it.
