In the end, the one who managed to temporarily stop the Ming emperor's headache from getting worse was still Empress Ma.
Her reasoning was simple.
Better to wait until Luo Guanzhong arrived before trying to sort everything out clearly.
And her thinking was very methodical.
"Since figures like the Marquis Huan, Tang Taizong, Duke Zhao of Tang, and the Song Founder have all appeared…"
"Then this screen's usefulness surely will not be limited to today."
"If it shows its effects again in the future, we should summon more people and discuss matters together."
These words finally calmed the constant stream of questions rising in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind. He could not help joking quietly:
"If not for you, sister, I wouldn't even know how to be this emperor."
The atmosphere in Kunning Palace relaxed again.
---
Inside the palace at Bianliang, Zhao Kuangyin twisted his slightly sore neck and muttered:
"So the Hongwu Emperor ignores the Marquis Huan, fine… but he doesn't even answer my thanks…"
---
On the screen, the narration resumed:
---
[Lightscreen]
[Although the Two Song dynasties, especially the Southern Song, had many problems that led to constant frontier crises, from another angle the era's economy was indeed prosperous, and the academic environment relatively open.
As mentioned earlier, after centuries of coexistence between Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism during the Northern and Southern dynasties, and the Sui-Tang blending of Confucian literary discourse with the practical simplicity of Buddhism and Daoism, by the Song period the Three Teachings finally merged under a relatively free intellectual climate.
From this synthesis emerged Neo-Confucianism.
First came Zhou Dunyi, who placed Confucianism at the core while incorporating Buddhist and Daoist thought. In his Taiji Diagram Explanation, he spoke of the cosmic principle above and feudal ethics below.
After him came the Cheng brothers, both students of Zhou Dunyi, likewise well versed in the Three Teachings and prolific in writing and teaching.
Both Zhou Dunyi and the Chengs were active during the reigns of Emperor Renzong of Song and Emperor Shenzong of Song, when the Northern Song's lingering strength still remained. Prosperous commerce and relatively open speech formed the soil in which Neo-Confucianism first took root.
Some argue that Neo-Confucianism at this stage raised the distinction between righteousness and profit as its measuring standard for the world. Under this lens, it criticized the court for moral decline and the Imperial Academy for chasing gain, placing the pursuit of truth and moral cultivation as the ultimate purpose of scholarship.
Thus, even before entering the mainstream, Neo-Confucianism had already sparked a wave of intellectual criticism among scholars and common society. This formed part of the foundation for the rise of the Chengs' Luoyang school.
It was also from this point that the political center and cultural center of the Northern Song began to diverge, starting from Luoyang.
As everyone knows, when chaos spreads across the realm, pragmatic thinking inevitably rises.
The famous line, "No matter black cat or white cat, the one that catches mice is a good cat," is the most classic form of pragmatism.
After the Song court fled south, two things happened simultaneously.
On one side, Zhao Gou, after interacting with Neo-Confucian scholars, quickly fell out with them and swore, "From now on I will not employ men of literary refinement," creating a court trend suppressing Neo-Confucianism.
On the other side, thanks to the court's spectacularly foolish governance, public dissatisfaction kept rising. Neo-Confucianism, with its built-in culture of intellectual criticism, spread rapidly among the literati, gaining influence over public discourse and carving out a considerable space for social activity.
The crucial transformation of Neo-Confucianism came with Zhu Xi.
On one hand, through classical study he constructed what was, though rough, a surprisingly systematic lineage of Neo-Confucian orthodoxy for the time.
On the other, by defining clear intellectual boundaries and priorities, he pushed Neo-Confucianism toward secular social influence.
The fiercest clash of Neo-Confucian thought came at the Goose Lake Debate.
In 1175, Zhu Xi, already famous, met the great Mind-School thinker Lu Jiuyuan at Goose Lake Temple. They debated for days. Though they did not achieve unity in doctrine, their tensions eased greatly.
Six years later, Zhu Xi invited Lu Jiuyuan to lecture at White Deer Grotto Academy. Their reconciliation was complete. Lu left behind his lecture manuscripts, and Zhu Xi wrote a postface for them.
Because of this, Lu Jiuyuan's school later stood under Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucian banner, advancing together. Their aim was to emulate reformers of earlier dynasties and cleanse corruption from the court.
Unfortunately, by then the external environment no longer allowed the aging Zhu Xi to proceed step by step.
In 1188, again at Goose Lake Temple, Xin Qiji met Chen Liang, and wrote the famous Po Zhenzi. Zhu Xi had also been invited but did not attend. One might guess he was busy consolidating the Neo-Confucian faction and aligning with Emperor Xiaozong of Song, leaving no time to go.
But soon after, in 1194, Emperor Xiaozong suddenly died.
The following year, Zhao Ruyu lost his struggle with Han Tuozhou and died. Han then launched the Qingyuan Party Prohibition. The Neo-Confucian scholars Zhu Xi had painstakingly unified were labeled "pseudo-learning traitors" and collectively destroyed.
Zhu Xi himself died during the ban. It is said he was still organizing fragments of his scholarship on his deathbed.
After his death, the court forbade large funeral gatherings. Yet still, over a thousand mourners risked persecution to attend.
Xin Qiji himself came openly and wrote:
"What does not perish leaves a name for ten thousand ages. Who says the Master is dead? His spirit still stands."
The true golden age of Neo-Confucianism stretched from Emperor Shenzong to Zhu Xi's death, spanning the upheavals of both Song dynasties and two waves of political purges. Just as Zhu Xi seemed closest to success, it ended abruptly.
One could say his ambitions remained unfinished.
---
There was, however, another figure within the Neo-Confucian lineage who stood apart in his own way.
His name was Zhang Zai.
Many Confucians throughout history spoke of saving the world. Few truly tried to act on it.
Plenty of pedantic scholars shouted about restoring Zhou institutions and the well-field system. Very few actually attempted it.
Zhang Zai did.
For seven years, across three generations of his family, they dug irrigation channels and farmed land in Hengqu, experimenting personally.
In the end he reached a simple conclusion:
"If land is allotted to the people, and each household receives a portion, they can survive."
But Zhang Zai was neither emperor nor rebel leader. Where would he get the power to distribute land?
So all he could do was "strengthen the roots and guide customs," teaching instead.
From our modern perspective, one might nitpick and call him naive.
But we stand on the foundation of vastly different productive forces. It is not a fair comparison.
Zhang Zai's tragedy was that his ideas were limited by his era. The world was understood far too simply then.
Yet in action, he could truly be called a gentleman of his time.
During the Song, officials and scholars alike often prioritized wealth. Zhang Zai died in poverty. At his death he had no savings, only a nephew by his side, not even enough money for a coffin.
Even so, in Correcting Ignorance he wrote:
"The people are my brothers, and all things my companions."
He also submitted his Nine Frontier Proposals, personally wishing to serve at the front lines. Thankfully Fan Zhongyan realized he was not suited for military command and persuaded him to stand down.
But his most thunderous words were still the Hengqu Four Sentences:
"To establish the heart of Heaven and Earth,
To secure the life of the people,
To continue the lost learning of the sages,
To open peace for ten thousand generations."
These words could shine through the ages.
It is worth noting that Zhang Zai's seven-year experiment led to an extremely simple conclusion. Yet many people still failed to grasp it. Otherwise, so many peasant uprisings would never have erupted.
Of course, some people did understand.
For example, Li Zicheng. When land was insufficient, what was the solution? Kill some corrupt Ming officials. That would free up enough to distribute.
At the end of the Ming, Nurhaci raised troops with the same promise. Give every strong man thirty mu of grain land and six mu of cotton land, and all would be fed and clothed.
But he soon realized the land still was not enough.
As for his solution…
Everyone present probably already knows it.]