Chapter 115: Emperor! Dismiss Confucianism! Monthly Ticket Bonus Chapter 14
Outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the group of pure stream officials, whose knees were numb from kneeling, their voices hoarse from shouting, and whose beliefs had collapsed after Brother Biao’s ‘enthusiastic guidance,’ were in an unprecedented state of confusion and embarrassment.
Continue kneeling? The Emperor was clearly avoiding them.
Disperse now? They were unwilling to, and it would seem like an anticlimactic end, making them a laughingstock in court.
Just then, the figure who made them hate, fear, and inexplicably feel strange, reappeared in their sight without them knowing when.
Seeing his dispirited ‘teammates,’ Brother Biao sighed, with an expression of “You really are uncoachable.”
“I say, everyone,”
His voice wasn’t loud but clearly reached everyone’s ears. “What’s the use of you all kneeling here begging the Emperor to kill me? Even if the Emperor really killed me, would the problem be solved?”
What did he mean?
Did he not want to die?
The pure stream officials looked up, staring at him blankly.
“You all keep saying I’m disrupting the court order and harming the nation?”
Then, Brother Biao sneered and began his wild ideological output:
“Have you ever thought about why I can disrupt the court order? Why is this court order so easily disrupted by one ‘madman’?”
“It’s because this court order itself has problems! It’s built on a house of cards!”
“You’ve studied the books of the sages your whole life, your mouths full of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom. But what can you do besides kneel here shouting slogans, offering dying remonstrances, and resorting to moral blackmail?”
“You can’t manage the unclear accounts of the Ministry of Revenue!”
“You can’t investigate the ghost payroll of the Ministry of War!”
“You can’t see the corruption in the projects of the Ministry of Works!”
“You can’t save the suffering of the common people!”
“You only know how to clutch a few old books from a thousand years ago, pondering daily how to kowtow louder to the Emperor, how to write more flowery memorials, and how to find fault with others on matters of etiquette and rules!”
“You think this is how to govern the country and bring peace to the world? Bah! This is the greatest inaction! The greatest hypocrisy!”
“You—!”
The pure stream officials blushed furiously at the scolding. Some wanted to retort but were completely suppressed by Brother Biao’s imposing manner.
“As the saying goes, trace the root cause!”
Brother Biao’s voice suddenly rose, like a thunderclap: “The root of the problem isn’t just me, Zhang Biao! It’s in this system you believe in! It’s in this learning of corrupt scholars, this empty talk, this learning that harms the nation!”
“What!?”
Everyone present, not only the pure stream officials but also Shen Lang and his group, as well as Fu Youwen and his colleagues in their offices, or anyone who could hear Brother Biao’s voice, was stunned by these words.
Their minds went blank, as if they had lost the ability to think.
How could someone dare to say such things?!
Is he attacking Confucianism?!
Thinking of this, everyone’s scalp tingled.
Even Li Mo couldn’t help but shout, “Brother Biao—!”
However, Brother Biao turned a deaf ear and continued to speak eloquently on the Hall of Supreme Harmony Square:
“It’s the problem of this learning of corrupt scholars! A big problem!”
“It has produced you all, useless individuals who only engage in empty talk and are ignorant of practical matters!”
“It has tied the monarch’s hands, trapping him in red tape!”
“It has numbed the minds of the common people, making them content with poverty!”
“It is precisely this system that makes our Great Ming appear glorious on the outside, while internally it is riddled with worms and has become incurably ill!”
“What I am doing today is merely poking the abscess! Without me, Zhang Biao, there would be a Wang Biao or Li Biao to do it!”
“The one you should be executing is not me, Zhang Biao!”
“What you should truly petition for is the dismissal of this orthodox Confucianism that harms the nation and its people! It is to shatter these shackles that bind thought! It is to forge a new path of seeking truth and pragmatism!”
Saying this, he suddenly raised his hand, pointed at the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and with all his might, let out a thunderous roar: “If you truly have the courage, if you truly have the heart for the nation and its people, then stop kneeling and begging for the execution of a mere censor like me!”
“You should stand up, straighten your spines, and tell the Emperor inside—”
“Please, Your Majesty, dismiss Confucianism, establish New Learning, seek truth and pragmatism, and save the Great Ming!”
“Boom!”
These words, like thunder from the heavens, struck the heads of all the pure stream officials!
They were so shocked that their souls scattered and their hearts broke!
Chaos, complete chaos, the situation was already getting out of control.
Some, struck by the forceful reprimand, had their thoughts clear.
Others, their tails stepped on, cursed wildly.
What Zhang Biao said was earth-shattering.
Dismiss Confucianism?! Dismiss the orthodox Confucianism that had been passed down for thousands of years since Emperor Wu of Han?!
This… this was no longer mere insolence, it was digging up the ancestral graves of the entire civil official group!
It was to negate their lifelong faith and the value of their existence!
It was to overturn the order of the entire world!
It was ten thousand times more insane and ten thousand times more terrifying than Zhang Biao auditing the Imperial Treasury!
All the pure stream officials, including the aged censor Li Tiesheng with his white hair and beard, collapsed to the ground in fright.
Their faces were ashen, they pointed at Zhang Biao, trembling all over, unable to utter a single word.
Some hot-headed young Hanlin scholars even had their eyes roll back in anger and fainted on the spot.
Outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, an eerie, extreme silence of terror descended.
Soon, Zhang Biao’s earth-shattering ‘proposal’ reached Old Zhu’s bedroom.
A young eunuch came rushing in, tumbling and scrambling, unable to speak clearly. “Your… Your Majesty! Disaster! A huge disaster! Censor Zhang Biao is instigating those pure stream officials to… to…”
“To what?! To rebel?!”
Old Zhu immediately got up from his bed. Just as Yun Ming had predicted, he couldn’t sleep, how could he sleep?
Seeing the young eunuch’s state, his ominous premonition reached its peak.
“Not to rebel, but to…”
The young eunuch cried out, almost in tears, “To dismiss Confucianism! And establish New Learning!”
“Crash!”
The jade ruyi that Old Zhu had been holding to calm himself fell to the ground and shattered.
He froze in place as if under an immobilization technique, his pupils contracting to the size of pinpricks.
Dismiss Confucianism?!
Has Zhang Biao gone mad?!
No! He’s a devil! He’s a demon from hell!
Although Old Zhu himself disliked the pedantry of Confucian scholars and had executed many disobedient literati, he knew better than anyone that Confucianism was the foundation for maintaining the Great Ming’s rule and winning the hearts of the people.
It was the cornerstone of the Emperor and the scholar-officials jointly governing the world.
Once the words ‘dismiss Confucianism’ spread, it would absolutely trigger an ideological earthquake more terrifying than any peasant uprising or princely rebellion.
The scholars of the realm would immediately become alienated, and the foundation of the entire Great Ming’s rule would be shaken instantly.
This was no longer a slap in the face, this was tearing down the house.
And then setting fire to the foundation.
“He… how could he… how could he…”
Old Zhu mumbled to himself, his body beginning to tremble uncontrollably, not from anger, but from a fear that came from the depths of his soul.
For the first time, he realized that there truly was an existence in this world that he, Zhu Yuanzhang, could not control, or even understand.
Cannot hide anymore! Absolutely cannot hide anymore!
This disaster must be stopped immediately!
“Yun Ming! Summon Jiang Huan!”
Old Zhu roared as if startled awake from near death, “Quick! Hurry and prepare the carriage! I’m going to the Hall of Supreme Harmony Square—!”
He was completely panicked, and afraid!
He had to come out of his bedroom!
He had to face this madman, Zhang Biao, who could bring down the sky!
After about fifteen minutes, he emerged hastily, clad in a dragon robe, without even riding in a sedan chair.
Although his face was still sallow and his figure slightly stooped, the burning wrath and cold killing intent in his eyes were enough to make anyone tremble.
Accompanied by Jiang Huan and a large number of Imperial Guards, he stepped out of the palace gate and towards the wide square in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
His appearance, like a tangible pressure, instantly enveloped the entire area.
Those pure stream officials, who had been crying out, protesting, or were still stunned by Zhang Biao’s ‘dismiss Confucianism’ remarks, immediately fell silent like cicadas in winter and prostrated themselves on the ground, not daring to lift their heads.
Old Zhu’s gaze, like two sharp ice picks, instantly locked onto Zhang Biao, who stood in the center of the square with an expression of “So you’ve finally come out.”
“Jiang Huan! Seal all palace gates! No one is allowed to leave! Those who disobey will be killed without mercy!”
“Yes!”
Jiang Huan acknowledged and withdrew.
“Zhang Biao!”
Old Zhu’s voice was hoarse, but carried the force of a thunderbolt, each word ground out as if from between his teeth. “You are very good! You are very, very good! You forced me out? Now I’m out! Do you have any last words, speak them!”
At this moment, Old Zhu truly felt killing intent, an unprecedentedly strong killing intent.
This madman had touched the most fundamental bottom line of his rule and must be eliminated immediately.
At the same time, in the morning offices along the sides of the Hall of Supreme Harmony Square, many windows were quietly opened a crack.
Minister of War Ru Chang, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue Fu Youwen, Minister of Works Zheng Ci, Vice Minister of Personnel Zhai Shan, and others were in one of these offices.
Through the cracks in the windows, they watched the scene outside nervously and excitedly.
Seeing that Old Zhu had finally been forced out, his imperial visage enraged and his killing intent boiling, a look of irrepressible smugness appeared on their faces.
“He’s out! He’s finally out!”
Fu Youwen lowered his voice, rubbing his hands excitedly. “The Emperor is truly angry, Zhang Biao will surely die this time!”
Ru Chang’s fleshy face twitched, a flicker of pleasure in his eyes. “Hmph, he brought it upon himself! To dare to recklessly speak of ‘dismissing Confucianism,’ digging his own grave!”
Zheng Ci was relatively cautious but also relieved. “With this scoundrel removed, the court situation can be stabilized.”
Zhai Shan’s eyes flickered, and he said in a low voice, “It’s just that I didn’t expect him to seek death in such a brutal way. As long as the effect is achieved, it’s fine.”
They seemed to already see Zhang Biao bleeding out, and themselves safely passing through this crisis.
Perhaps, even the future of being more heavily relied upon for ‘forcing the palace.’
Facing Old Zhu’s immense killing intent, Zhang Biao was not only unafraid but instead revealed a relieved smile. He even tidied his robes and said loudly,
“This subject has no other request, only to die quickly! Please grant it, Your Majesty—!”
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