In the spring of the third year of Yanxi's reign, Prime Minister Luoyang's Mansion was even busier than before. Firstly, because the execution of the Abolition of Docks Order is coming to an end, the government is preparing for the resumption of farmland in Hebei; secondly, some of the new troops have been trained, and the relevant procedures for preparing for transfer in Beijing are coordinated by the Prime Minister's Office; thirdly, the Prime Minister's Office is responsible for coordinating It was because of the Prime Minister's own family affairs that Chen Chong's second daughter was finally getting married.
Speaking of which, Chen Chong's second daughter Ayun actually reached the age of marriage early, and she was considered slim and graceful. However, due to her unruly personality and high vision, she has never found a suitable family. Dong Bai scolded Chen Chong and Ayun countless times just because of this matter. Fortunately, it was finally settled this year. And the family she married into was none other than Jiang Wei. Although Jiang Wei was a warrior, he had the appearance of a handsome boy from the Han family. He had a long head, high cheekbones, teeth as white as jade, and a stalwart and tall figure, standing as tall as a jade tree. After the first year of Yanxi's reign, he was placed in a high position by Chen Chong and often came to the Prime Minister's Mansion to report on palace affairs. It happened that Ayun was passing by the corridor and saw among the crowd a tall and well-groomed Han man. He looked like a lone pine standing on the jade mountain, dazzling. He couldn't help but secretly thought: "I never imagined that there would be such a strange man between heaven and earth!" So Chen Chong mentioned this matter.
Chen Chong naturally agreed with such a good candidate. Even Dong Bai couldn't fault him, so he discussed the matter with Jiang Wei. Jiang Wei's father died in his early years, and he was comforted by his widowed mother. Therefore, he did not dare to decide on the marriage alone, so he said that he would go back to his hometown to ask his widowed mother for her opinion. Chen Chong laughed at this and said: "Since Bo Yue is an official in the capital, how can he let his family live alone in the countryside?" So Chen Chong sent Zhao Qiu to Tianshui and asked him to be responsible for relocating Jiang's mother. After Jiang's mother came to Luoyang, Chen Chong paid a special visit to Jiang's mother to say hello. Jiang's mother was neither humble nor overbearing. She declined the courtyard presented by Chen Chong and only said: "People in the countryside cannot be rich and noble, but I can make Bo Yue love the people like the prime minister." , I will be satisfied." The marriage was settled like this.
The two families were originally scheduled to get married in September of the second year of Yanxi, but unfortunately, Ayun suffered from a lung disease before the wedding, and the wedding was delayed until February this year, just in time for all the important events. . At Jiang's mother's request, the wedding was held in a simple manner, but the proper etiquette was still indispensable. It took about ten days of busy work before the wedding came to an end. Logically speaking, when an official gets married, the court will allow him to rest for a period of time. However, just three days after Jiang Wei's wedding, the Prime Minister's Office sent him a transfer order, asking him to prepare to go to Nanyang with the new army and transfer to Nanfu.
Naturally, he had to meet Chen Chong again before leaving. Jiang Wei did not dare to neglect. At noon when he received the transfer order, he changed his clothes and went to the Prime Minister's Mansion to wait for the summons. Due to the authorization of the late emperor Liu Xie, the entire Prime Minister's Palace has actually become the real political center of the imperial court. Except for going to court to discuss matters, Prime Minister Chen Chong spends most of his time in the palace dealing with important military and state affairs. There are countless things to deal with every day. When Jiang Wei arrived, there were about a hundred people waiting to meet Chen Chong. They waited in line for a long time, and it wasn't until the sun set that he heard someone calling his name.
Entering the study, Jiang Wei saw his father-in-law at a glance. He was writing at the desk. Just as Jiang Wei was about to salute, he heard Chen Chong say: "We've been waiting for a long time, so stop making false salutes and sit down and talk."
Jiang Wei was stunned for a moment, then sat cross-legged and lowered his head, waiting for Chen Chong to continue speaking.
Chen Chong put down the pen and ink in his hand, punched his waist, and then smiled at Jiang Wei and said, "We just got married, so I will transfer you to Nanyang. You won't blame me in your heart, right?" Jiang Wei said he didn't dare, and then Chen Chong said again Said: "The situation in Nanyang is actually not bad. If the Wu people come to fight, it will not be much better than last year. However, we serve the country and the people and cannot be content with the status quo. Now that the new army has trained tens of thousands, Marshal Guan asked me for help. , I sent you over, Boyo. Boyo, do you dare to perform meritorious deeds?"
Jiang Wei keenly heard the hidden meaning and asked excitedly: "Sir, are you planning to go south to attack Wu? Wei is willing to be the vanguard of the army!"
Chen Chong waved his hand, sighed and said with a smile: "It's still early, it's still early." He paused, saw a look of disappointment on Jiang Wei's face, and said with a smile: "You don't have to be too anxious. Last year Hebei implemented the abolition of docks. Today It takes one year to field the annual fields, one year to register next year, and another year to raise the people. Three years later, it will be a good opportunity to go south again. Bo Yue went to Nanyang, so he can train his troops carefully and become familiar with the geography and humanities of Jiangnan. When the war begins, I believe you will be able to shine."
When Jiang Wei learned about Chen Chong's specific arrangements, he felt a lot more at ease. He clasped his fists and nodded, saying, "I will obey your instructions." Just when he thought the conversation was over and was about to stand up and leave, Chen Chong suddenly asked, "Boyue, what are you doing?" Have you heard of the theory of talent lately?"
Although Jiang Wei was a military commander, he was fond of studying Confucian classics. In the past two years, he often went to Taixue to study in his spare time. Naturally, he heard about the theory of talent and nature. He nodded and said: "In recent years, people in Taixue often discuss the difference between talent and nature, either saying that talent and nature are irrelevant, or saying that talent and nature are consistent. The debates often go on for days, and it is quite similar to the conflict between modern and ancient texts. Your Excellency mentioned Do you think there is anything wrong with this matter?"
When Chen Chong saw that Jiang Wei also knew about this, he couldn't help but feel a little depressed. He did not answer Jiang Wei's question, but asked instead: "What does Bo Yue think of the talent theory?"
Jiang Wei pondered for a moment and replied briefly: "From what I have seen, if we look at the most popular theory of changing customs today, there is nothing wrong with it in theory. If the scholars can be made to have the same talent and temperament, all officials in the court will be able to practice Virtue is naturally the best choice. But this is easier said than done. In the four hundred years since the founding of the Han Dynasty, although there has been peace, such simplicity has never been seen. It seems that only the ancient kings can have such virtuous governance."
Seeing that he could quickly grasp the key points, Chen Chong felt relieved and nodded: "Bo Yue is right. Since I took office, I have also held the view that people should have both ability and political integrity. If someone has a bad character, I will always be unforgiving according to the law. . But now some people are ridiculing the government, saying that the country punishes many corrupt officials every year because they do not pay attention to morality but only to officials. Isn't this ridiculous?"
Speaking of this, he took out the "Four Books on Talent" from the document on the desk, and while reading the preface, he said to Jiang Wei: "But now some people say that it is not difficult to change customs. All you need to do is let the court Give up intervention, promote virtuous government, and let Zhongzheng listen to the people's opinions. Naturally, we can calm down customs and recruit good talents. What a joke! If the Qing Dynasty can produce good ministers, the three monarchs, the eight heroes, and the eight ministers will be introduced by the Qing Dynasty. , Baji, Bachi, some of them are suitable for great use! These remarks at the moment are simply misleading the country and the people!"
After he put down the "Four Essays on Talent", he took out another document, handed it to Jiang Wei, and then said: "This is an article I wrote specifically to refute the Theory of Talent. You are also familiar with the classics, so you might as well Take a look and tell me what you think.”
After listening to the remarks just now, Jiang Wei knew that Chen Chong attached great importance to this article, so he immediately opened it and read it. Although it is known that Chen Chong is extremely disgusted with talent theory, only after reading the article did he know how disgusted Chen Chong was. Chen Chong's article uses plain language and detailed discussion. Although the rhetoric is not very gorgeous, it quotes scriptures and is very convincing.
Chen Chong's discussion mainly focuses on two points. One is that talent is knowable but nature is unknowable, and the other is that Qing discussions are knotted and only in name but in reality.
Regarding the first point, Chen Chong discussed that everyone in the world knows that one must have both moral character and academic skills, and one cannot be partial to others. However, this can only be a person’s self-requirement and cannot become a criterion for selecting talents. After all, people's hearts are deep and unpredictable, and they are often fickle. People who seem to be kind today often change their ways and pursue self-interested ways once they encounter setbacks. And those who made mistakes yesterday may not be unable to repent and change their past mistakes. This is a common thing in this world. How is it possible that one's good and evil deeds in one day can determine a person's lifelong good and evil deeds? And there are also some people who, on the surface, use the guise of morality to confuse the world, but secretly engage in male theft and female prostitution. Once they gain power, they begin to act recklessly and recklessly. This kind of people do harm, often subverting divine weapons and bringing disaster to the government and the public. Those people who blatantly cause harm in the countryside are nothing compared to this kind of people!
On the second point, Chen Chong's criticism was even more sharp. He severely criticized the Party members' Qing Dynasty during the second Party Rebellion. It was certainly not wrong for the Party members to oppose Ling Emperor's chaotic government. However, the party's purge discussion has shown a serious clan tendency. For this reason, he even criticized his elders. UU Kanshuw. said that even the fourth chief of Yingchuan at that time paid too much attention to family connections, except that they were dedicated to making famous their descendants. , many children from poor families, whose talents and character are obviously far better than those of high-ranking sons, are unable to enter officialdom because they are controlled by the county magistrate due to the Qing Dynasty. Later, when Dong Zhuo came to Beijing, how many of the famous scholars elected by the Qing Dynasty could keep their integrity in front of Dong Zhuo? There are only a few people who can protect themselves wisely, let alone defend the Han Dynasty and serve the country.
Therefore, Chen Chong concluded that Confucius was called a saint by later generations, and he even taught traitors like Gong Boliao. Before Wang Mang was regent, he was famous all over the world, but he committed the crime of Tai Ah's rebellion. It is absolutely impossible. At present, the imperial court selects people based on their talents, and then rewards and punishes them based on their merits. This is the right way to employ people. If the world listens to the lies of the so-called talent theory and abolishes the country's current righteous path, it will inevitably cause huge disasters. After reading this article, those who still insist on promoting the talent theory are either stupid or false, and they are a great harm to the country!
After Jiang Wei finished reading, he was extremely confused. On the one hand, he felt that the article was fascinating, clear and almost impossible to refute; but on the other hand, he could not accept it. After all, this article essentially denied the centuries-old Confucian idea of "cultivating oneself, regulating one's family, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world." "political ideal. Moreover, once it is published, Chen Chong will offend almost all the high-ranking officials in the county who presided over the local political debate, and it will definitely cause an uproar in the government and the public. How things will develop next is unimaginable to Jiang Wei. Therefore, after he struggled for a while, he handed the article back to his father-in-law and gently advised Chen Chong to be cautious.
But Chen Chong was determined. In March after Jiang Wei left Luoyang, he came to Taixue again to give lectures in an extremely rare event and made this article public. Then there was an uproar in Taixue, which led to a protracted debate that did not come to an end until Chen Chong's death. Of course, this is all a story for later.
