Chen Chong has been prepared for a long time to refute the talent theory. He wrote the article in private, not only asking Jiang Wei for his opinion, but also mentioning it to many of his staff, in order to make the article round and round. By early March, he had polished it several times, and several students including Xiong Xi and Liu Xi felt that the article was impeccable. Chen Chong then told Fu Qian to spend a day giving lectures at Taixue, and the time was scheduled to be Ding Chou in March.
After the news came out from the Prime Minister's Mansion, it immediately caused an uproar in the capital. After all, since the first year of Long'an, due to one or other reasons, Chen Chong has not given lectures at Taixue again. By rough calculation, it has been ten years. This makes young scholars only remember the identity of the Prime Minister Wenzong, but they do not I have never seen his style of discussing scriptures. Therefore, the scholars from Henan regarded this lecture as a grand event in the literary world and gathered in Taixue one after another. On the day of the lecture, many dignitaries, officials and wives from the eastern capital also came to watch.
Chen Chong was wearing a snow-white robe and a cyan turban on his head, looking like an ordinary scholar. It's just that as he gets older, he no longer behaves as powerfully and moves like the wind as he did when he was young. Therefore, he naturally loses a bit of coolness and looks like a steady and talkative old man. This can't help but disappoint the young people. But thinking of hearing the teachings of the current prime minister, the students still cheered up, hoping to hear some unique insights.
However, what happened next was unexpected. After the Prime Minister ascended to the altar and sat down, he did not talk about the way of self-cultivation of the mainstream imperial school, and secondly did not talk about the historical interpretation of scriptures on which he was famous. Instead, he criticized the newly popular Four Treatises on Cai Xing in Taixue, and the content was extremely sharp. , just as Chen Chong had prepared before, he successively criticized the existing Qingyi, party members, Tanxuan and other phenomena, and said that it is true for scholars to organize their families, but it is false to govern the country. Not only is it deviant, but it also has no sense of being a scholar. Decent.
Taixue was bustling at the beginning, with many people outside the altar anxiously inquiring about the situation inside. But after the Prime Minister's remarks came out, the surrounding scholars were silent. They waited until Chen Chong finished his lecture and left Taixue, and then they began to whisper. Many scholars who came to study abroad said: Regardless of whether the Prime Minister's words are reasonable or not, this is clearly an attempt to attack political opponents through lectures. It not only insults the custom of learning and learning, but also uses the opportunity to bully others, which is unavoidable. I have lost the dignity of the prime minister.
But there are also some people who are fascinated by it and agree with it very much. They say it is indeed true. Throughout the ages, there has never been a shortage of hypocritical and pretentious people. Even the Master said during his lifetime: "Hometown wishes are the thief of virtue." Isn't this consistent with the Prime Minister? At present, there is a Zhumen commander who controls the Qing Dynasty and selects people based on virtue. But Guan Zhong once said: "If you have a solid warehouse, you will know the etiquette; if you have enough food and clothing, you will know the honor and disgrace." He was born in a humble family and had to struggle to maintain food and clothing. How could he care about loyalty, filial piety and integrity? It's just like raising a horse. If you don't have enough food, you don't have enough energy. Although you have the ability to run a thousand miles, how can you use it? The prime minister insists on this statement, which is really the best thing in the world.
After this lecture, Taixue talked more and more about the theory of talent and nature, and then it actually replaced the previous debates on classics and metaphysics, and it was even more prosperous than before Chen Chong's lecture. By the time May came, everyone in Luoyang was talking about the differences and similarities in talents from morning to night, whether in the Imperial College, in the government offices, or in the clan schools within the elite clan, as if this matter was related to their own wealth and life. Even if you die to understand the way, there is no turning back. So the students of the Imperial College gradually divided into two groups: one group said that if the Qing Dynasty is indispensable, moral education cannot be neglected, and the world is talking about it, how can the high school control it? It's just that the power is not delegated enough to the subordinates; another group of people say that the prime minister has a far-sighted vision. If he cannot select people based on their talent, but instead measures their virtues, it will end up being nothing more than a comparison of families, resulting in no high-ranking scholars in the humble family, and no noble families.
On Dinghai in May, a disciple from a poor family named Zheng Chong went out for an outing with several friends. They climbed west to Longmen Mountain and watched the scenery of Longmen Mountain and the beautiful scenery of Yishui. They saw picturesque green mountains standing on both sides of the bank. The time lingers and the mind is relaxed and happy. But when they were going down the mountain, they also met a group of young people on an outing. This group of people, about ten people in rich and noble clothes, were talking about political anecdotes as if no one else was watching. One of them, a scholar named Zhuge Dan, happened to talk about the recent controversy over talent and sex, and ridiculed the government. He said that Prime Minister Chen Chong was a first-class female official in Liang and Ji. The dissident's methods can't stop the world's mouth, and sooner or later he will be defeated like Liang Ji.
This made Zheng Chong, who was watching, very angry. He immediately had a dispute with Zhuge Dan and others, and finally changed the situation.
It was a combination of fists and kicks, and a big fuss broke out. Although Zhuge Dan had a large number of people, he was not as brave as Zheng Chong and other poor people who dared to risk their lives. During the beating, several people were injured, including many fractures. Zheng Chong and others were naturally also seriously injured.
After Zhuge Dan returned to Taixue, he couldn't sleep for a while. He thought that he was the younger brother of Zhuge Liang, the current governor of Huainan, and he was quite famous in Langya, but one day he would be beaten up by a humble family. The reason was inexplicable, which made him Worried about it.
At first, he planned to find Wang Chang, the commander of Luoyang, and planned to use Zhuge Liang's connections to arrest Zheng Chong and others in prison and torture them. However, after Wang Chang heard the reason, he immediately refused, saying that the matter should not be publicized. But after Zhuge Dan was rejected, his hatred increased instead of diminishing. He actually got ruthless and spent money to find a few dead men to plan murder and revenge.
Two days later, two of Zheng Chong's friends died tragically in the streets, named Ding Shuang and Guo Chen respectively. Ding Shuang's neck was cut, and Guo Chen's stomach was disemboweled, and his death was horrific. They were killed in the evening, in a dead-end street in Dongdu. There were no witnesses or evidence, and they had no idea where to start the investigation. Zheng Chong was furious when he saw his friend end up like this. He quickly guessed that it was Zhuge Dan who did it. So he immediately borrowed a waist knife and ran to Taixue to question Zhuge Dan. Zhuge Dan saw that the other party was holding a knife, but with a faint smile on his face, he said sarcastically: "I come from a famous family and have served the country for generations. It has been hundreds of years. How could I do such a thing that disgraces my family name?" Could it be that they were trying to do harm to others, and ended up seeking their own death?" In his words, although he did not admit the murder, he actually did not deny it. After all, Zhuge Dan's hands and eyes could reach the sky, and he was surrounded by a large number of servants. As a result, Zheng Chong had no way to sue the officials and had no way to fight for his life, so he had nothing to fear.
Zheng Chong had no choice but to suppress his anger and go back to collect the bodies of his two friends. But how should he return his friend's coffin to his hometown? When he thought of this, Zheng Chong suddenly felt sad and couldn't help himself. He thought about it and thought that his good friend Huan Fan was serving as the left prisoner of Yulin. He might be able to help Ding and Guo redress their grievances, so he immediately went to ask for his opinion. After Huan Fan heard the cause and effect, he came up with an idea and said: "Since it has been confirmed that he killed the person, you might as well make the matter bigger. Luoyang is the capital of the country and the most virtuous place. No one dares to deal with such a shocking murder case casually. .The reason why these dandy boys are so confident is because they think we don’t dare to cause trouble.”
Three more days passed, just when everyone thought the matter was over. Zheng Chong contacted hundreds of friends from poor families and used the coffins of the deceased to block the way in and out of the Imperial Academy. This fashion happened early in the morning. Zheng Chong and others all wore plain clothes and denounced cause and effect on the road, attracting thousands of people to watch. Zheng Chong took advantage of the fact that all the poor people were filled with righteous indignation and gnashing their teeth in pain for the deceased. He climbed up and shouted, and more than a thousand people went to Zhuge Dan's residence.
When the doctorate bureaucrats learned that the students were making such nonsense, they were all shocked and said, "How could such a thing happen?" Then they hurriedly led the guards to stop the students, but when the students saw someone trying to stop them, they ignored them. He quickly broke through these obstacles and directly surrounded Zhuge Dan's residence. When Zhuge Dan heard that there were so many people coming to make trouble, he fled long ago, leaving only an empty house. The students had nowhere to vent their anger, so they simply set a fire in Taixue and burned down the houses of several people involved.
As soon as this incident came out, there was an uproar in Beijing, and everyone in the government and the public was discussing this matter. Although Luoyang ordered Wang Chang to capture and imprison the leading student, he did not dare to take action on his own. Instead, he reported the matter to Chen Chong of the Prime Minister's Office. Naturally, Chen Chong personally intervened in such a major case. He carefully reviewed the circumstances of the case, and at the same time sent people to arrest Zhuge Dan and other party members. After questioning them one by one and comparing their confessions, the truth soon came to light. Now that the facts of the case were clear, Zheng Chong and others were acquitted, while Zhuge Dan and other conspirators were punished and beheaded in the street.
However, after this incident, Taixue did not regain its calm. Instead, as the poor and high-ranking sects began to compete with each other, the competition for talent intensified. From time to time, someone would start a fight in Taixue over a disagreement, which would then turn into a fight involving hundreds of people. When the people in Luoyang saw it, they all said, "Where are you studying here? You are clearly working hard!" When the matter got to this point, the guards could no longer control it. Even though the government often arrests and grounds large groups of people, such fights are still common. By the second half of the year, everyone had become accustomed to this kind of contradiction. As long as people were not beaten to death, or rather beaten to death,
There were not many people there, so Fu Qian pretended that nothing happened.
But in fact, both the government and the opposition are well aware of the source of the conflict. The essence is still the struggle between Prime Minister Chen Chong and the wealthy families. If one party refuses to admit defeat, then this conflict will continue. But is it really that simple?
In the fourth year of Yanxi's reign, some rumors began to spread in Gyeonggi Province. They were said to be rumors, but in fact they were just commonplace talk: Who was the Tu Gao who Emperor Sejong said "the person who succeeded the Han Dynasty should be Tu Gaoye" Woolen cloth? Now some people say that Chen is Tu De, Ting Jian is Tu Gao, and Tu Gao is naturally referring to the Prime Minister Chen Chong! So unknowingly, Chen Chong's remarks that he should be the emperor became known to everyone.
