Liu Bei's question really touched Liu Hong's slightly vast knowledge blind spot.
Although Liu Hong didn't know that his knowledge blind spot was a bit big, and he didn't really care about it, he still had the curiosity he deserved.
"What's the difference?"
Liu Hong asked: "What is the difference between the academics at that time and the academics today?"
"I also heard my teacher Lu Gong mention it by chance."
Liu Bei pretended to sigh and said: "In the past, there was only one academic center in the Han Dynasty, and that was Luoyang, and there was only one core in Luoyang, and that was Taixue, and within Taixue, there was only one academic leader, and that was... …The Emperor of Han himself.”
Not to mention Zhang Rang, even Liu Hong was very surprised when he heard this.
"The Emperor himself?"
"Yes, in the past, from Emperor Guangwu to Emperor Xiaozhang, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty himself was the only true academic leader of the Han Dynasty."
Liu Bei said slowly: "Since Emperor Guangwu resurrected the Han Dynasty, the three generations of emperors have personally discussed the classics and meanings with scholars in order to unify the academic world, lead the direction of academic research, and make judgments on the disputes of many scholars.
At that time, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty was the leader of the Confucian scholars. The Emperor often visited the Imperial Academy and often communicated with doctors and students. A word from the Emperor of the Han Dynasty could not only decide government affairs, but also resolve academic disputes. The world's academic affairs revolved around the Emperor of the Han Dynasty. , in Luoyang, in Taixue, not in the Yuan family or the Yang family. "
"What happened next?"
Liu Hong quickly asked: "What happened next?"
"Originally, all this could have continued, but since Emperor Xiaozhang, there have been few emperors of the Han Dynasty who have grown up to be in charge."
Liu Bei sighed: "The emperor of the Han Dynasty has not reached adulthood, has not been able to personally govern, and has not completed his studies. Naturally, he cannot become an academic leader. He is increasingly influenced by his relatives, loses his majesty and manners, is increasingly ignored by others, and the central government is declining.
Without the emperor of the Han Dynasty as the leader to lead the academic world, the Taixue model would naturally not be able to continue. As a result, Taixue declined, and Luoyang declined. The world's academic circles gradually split from Luoyang Taixue as the core, from a public school to a private school, and from the king's method to a private school. It became a family law.
Today's Five Classics and Fourteenth Family Law is so prosperous, and the inherited clans are so noble in the Han Dynasty. They were gradually accumulated after Emperor Xiaozhang. What the emperor of the Han Dynasty lost did not disappear, but was stolen by these clans. became their own. "
After Liu Bei finished speaking, Liu Hong was silent for a long time, almost two quarters of an hour, before he raised his eyes and looked at Liu Bei again.
"Xuande, did your teacher Lu Zhi tell you everything you said?"
"Teacher just lamented the prosperity of Taixue in the past. Everything else was explored by myself."
Liu Bei said slowly: "I was curious about the prosperity of Taixue in the past and its current strength, so I delved into the matter and asked many well-known scholars why Taixue declined. From what they knew, I roughly pieced together what is happening today. .
I dare not say that this must be the truth, but I can't find a more reasonable explanation. However, I can also be sure that for the emperor, ruling as an adult and ruling as an adult are completely different things. "
Then, there was another period of silence.
It seemed that Liu Hong needed some time to sort out the information he had learned.
Liu Bei's nervousness was lifted again.
This is all his cards, he has played out all the cards in his hand.
If Liu Hong cannot be moved, cannot be moved by the poor situation of the big man, cannot be moved by everything that has happened in the past, and make some decisions, then his efforts will be meaningless and everything he has done will be in vain. Meaningless.
The thigh-hugging route will no longer be possible.
But he still wanted to gamble because he knew that Liu Hong was a greedy person and Liu Hong had strong desires.
When a greedy person becomes an emperor, his desires should never be limited to simple things like making money.
If Liu Hong still has the slightest desire for national power and worries about his own unstable status, then he will never turn a blind eye to this matter.
In this way, he can become an important weight for Liu Bei to coordinate the interests of the eunuchs in this matter.
When Liu Bei told all this, Zhang Rang was very unhappy and worried.
As a relatively capable eunuch politician, Zhang Rang clearly realized why Liu Bei did this.
It was nothing more than awakening Emperor Liu Hong's awareness of imperial power, and taking the initiative to ask the eunuchs for power, even at the expense of harming the eunuchs' interests to a certain extent.
Although the eunuchs and the emperor were political allies, and it was not impossible for the eunuchs to hold imperial power on their behalf, the emperor and the eunuchs were not one entity after all.
If an emperor's consciousness of imperial power is awakened, then he will definitely reach out to the imperial power. Eunuchs can still exist as a group holding imperial power on their behalf, but their autonomy will be greatly reduced.
There is a big difference between acting as an extension and representative of imperial power and acting as a minion following the emperor's orders.
Although Liu Hong never denied the existence of eunuchs as his political allies, Liu Bei's intervention was still a risk.
Zhang Rang was very unhappy, but what Liu Bei said was too heartbreaking, and he was a clan member of the Han Dynasty. Zhang Rang really didn't know how to refute this topic involving the survival of the Liu family in the world.
In the late Western Han Dynasty, the idea of passing on the Yi surname became very popular, which eventually led to Wang Mang usurping the throne and changing dynasties. Although the final facts proved that the path chosen by the Confucian scholars to pass on the Yi surname could not change the current situation, it was true that the Liu family was once devastated.
Although the eunuchs valued power and interests, if Liu Hong's throne was unstable and the Han Dynasty was unstable, it would be fatal to them.
Conflicting emotions filled Zhang Rang's heart.
In the end, Zhang Rang could only watch Liu Bei angrily complain about the ills of the Han Dynasty, which made Liu Hong's awareness of imperial power awaken like never before.
Boy, did you talk too much?
Although Zhang Rang was conflicted, he also felt that Liu Bei's big mouth said too much.
But Liu Bei didn't see it that way.
Did I say too much?
Maybe, it was a little too much, which made Liu Hong understand a lot, and he was about to transform into an understanding emperor.
But so what?
I know when Liu Hong will die.
Liu Bei knew too many things that Zhang Rang didn't know, whether in the past or in the future.
So the two will never stand on the same starting line.
Of course, Liu Hong doesn't know either.
Finally, Liu Hong was persuaded.
"So, Xuande thinks that the solution to the current national predicament is to restore the emperor's authority in Taixue and the emperor's academic leadership status?"
"Yes."
Liu Bei nodded and said: "This approach has been proven feasible by Emperor Guangwu, Emperor Xiaoming and Emperor Xiaozhang. During the Three Emperors period, the three emperors had the final say on whether it was world government affairs or academic topics.
This is not only something that the emperor can do, it is also something that academic leaders can do. Therefore, the combination of the authority of the emperor and the authority of academic leaders is the real authority of the Emperor of Han Dynasty.
But now, His Majesty does not have the final decision-making power on academics. This power does not belong to any one person. Instead, it has been stolen by countless clans and became a way for them to obtain the power that should belong to the Emperor of Han Dynasty. From this point on Say, they are all thieves of the country! "
