Chapter 878: Great Scholar Debates

Chapter 878: Great Scholar Debates

These intellectuals of the Southern Dynasty cannot be said to be useless. Apart from being incompetent in governing the country, having no strategy to defend against the enemy, and rarely dying in the country, at least in terms of academic ethics and cultural inheritance, they are really far ahead of the northerners. Of course, the northerners mainly refer to the Western Wei Dynasty.

The hundreds of thousands of volumes of books that Li Tai saved from Jiangling are well-deserved cultural treasures of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Zhou Hongzheng, the Yan brothers and other well-educated scholars of the Southern Liang Dynasty also have their own specialties. The role they played in the process of compiling and arranging these books is far beyond the Western Wei Dynasty.

Of course, the northerners are not without academic ability. Li Tai's father Li Xiao once studied under Cui Hong of the Qinghe Cui family and learned the "Spring and Autumn Annals of the Sixteen Kingdoms" compiled by him.

However, due to the lack of historical materials, there are many regrets in the "Spring and Autumn Annals of the Sixteen Kingdoms". Among these books in Jiangling, there are many historical records of the same period, which can not only supplement the lack of historical materials in the "Spring and Autumn Annals of the Sixteen Kingdoms", but also learn from the different perspectives of the southerners in telling history.

Therefore, Li Xiao has been buried in the pile of books and tombs during this period, hoping to make a systematic supplement and compilation of the "Spring and Autumn Annals of the Sixteen Kingdoms" based on these new historical materials.

However, the overall academic construction at present still needs to rely on these southern intellectuals. Although some of the Guanzhong scholars have come to Li Tai one after another, they either need to be appointed to military and political positions or do not have enough academic accumulation to participate in the compilation.

Such a situation is obviously unhealthy and abnormal. If it is really allowed to continue, although the Southern Liang was conquered militarily, it was occupied by the southerners in academics and thoughts, and finally conquered a lonely.

Moreover, there are relatively large differences between southern and northern studies, not only in the emphasis on classics and metaphysics, but also in the specific interpretation of classics. For example, the "Book of Documents" in the Confucian classics, the northerners studied and inherited the "Book of Documents" annotated by Zheng Xuan and Ma Rong, while the southerners mainly studied Kong Anguo's "Book of Documents in Ancient Texts".

However, the "Book of Documents in Ancient Texts" handed down by the southerners seemed to be a forgery by Wang Su during the Three Kingdoms period. Wang Su's father was the prime minister Wang Lang who was scolded to death by Zhuge Liang in the novel, and his son-in-law was Sima Zhao, whose heart was known to everyone. Because of this relationship, Wang Su's doctrine was regarded as an official school in the Western Jin Dynasty and became a prominent school.

Wang Su's academic thought was to integrate the Taoist idea of ​​inaction and governance into Confucian theory, thus inspiring and guiding the Wei and Jin metaphysics. Metaphysicians such as Wang Bi and He Yan were deeply influenced by him. Not only did it form a change in academics, but the political rule and social outlook of the Wei, Jin and Southern Dynasties were also deeply affected. The guidance and change of social atmosphere by academic activities can also be seen from this.

Therefore, it is impossible for Li Tai to accept the thoughts and academics of the southerners in full, but if he wants to make some corrections and choices, his talents are still not enough. Cui Lu is the leader of northern academics, especially the attainments of the classics of Fanyang Lu family, which can be said to be a family learning source.

Since Li Tai wants to collide with some valuable sparks of thought, he naturally needs to choose a more matching opponent. If you really can't win the debate, then you can just act arrogantly, and there is no need to debate the classics.

There are Lu Bian, Lu Dan, Lu Rou and other Lu clan members in Guanzhong, each of whom has made considerable academic achievements, but most of them are now staying in Guanzhong, and Yuwen Tai does not let them come south, so Li Tai is somewhat helpless about this.

The solution he can think of now is that Zhou Hongzheng and other Southern Liang scholars will compile classics here, and at the same time arrange personnel to copy part of the collection of books and send them to Guanzhong, and Lu Bian and others will also carry out editing, annotation and sorting.

However, the information exchange in ancient times was not as smooth and developed as in later generations, and even in later generations, some academic seminars need to be organized from time to time. It can be seen that face-to-face debates and exchanges also play a significant role in promoting the development of academics.

In addition to the Western Wei Kingdom, there is another aspect of personnel that can be considered, that is, Hebei, where the Guandong clans gather.

As early as when it was determined that the Jiangling collection of books was well preserved, Li Tai had already had the idea of ​​using this cultural treasure to attract some people from Hebei to Xiangyang.

For those who are determined to learn and fascinated by academics, such a large collection of books in Jiangling is no different from a coveted treasure house. As early as the Southern Liang Dynasty, there were many northerners who went to the Southern Liang Dynasty to exchange academics.

For example, Zu Ting, the thief of the Northern Qi Dynasty, had several anecdotes related to stealing books.

The newly compiled "Hua Lin Bian Lue" in the Southern Dynasty was taken to Yecheng by a southern merchant to sell to Gao Cheng. In order to show that the Eastern Wei Dynasty was also prosperous in literary affairs, Gao Cheng gathered scholars to copy it overnight and then returned the book. As a result, Zu Ting threw a few volumes of books to sell in the market, and the merchants caught the stolen goods and confronted Gao Cheng, which made Gao Cheng very embarrassed.

For some famous families, mastering the right to interpret scriptures is far more important than holding a high official title in a dynasty. The Fanyang Lu family has been eating up Lu Zhi's capital since the Later Han and Three Kingdoms period, and it has not yet been eaten up.

If Li Tai is willing to open these collections of books to these Hebei families and allow them to browse and edit, he will definitely be able to attract a considerable number of Hebei people. The arrival of these people not only provides him with more choices in academic thinking, but also brings other benefits.

Today in Zhitang, after Li Tai and his cousin Li Shiyuan discussed the operation of the Selection Institute, they talked about the plan to lure Hebei scholars.

"Xiao Xie sent a message a few days ago, and he has led his men to Xiangcheng and is waiting for the opportunity to enter the territory of Northern Yuzhou. Li Tang and other old Gao family members are traveling with him, and there are also Zheng family members to support him. It should be smooth next time."

When Li Tai was formulating this infiltration and enticement plan, Li Licheng volunteered to go. On the one hand, he felt that the military and political affairs of the Taifu had not been very effective recently. On the other hand, after seeing Li Tai's parents and brothers reunited in Guanxi, he felt sad that he was still lonely and hoped to find an opportunity to bring his brothers and relatives who were stranded in Northern Qi to Guanxi.

Unlike the previous route of Li Yunxin and others who infiltrated Jinyang while smuggling, Li Licheng chose to infiltrate from Henan to Hebei this time.

Li Tai had been in and out of Sanya Road several times before, so that Mianbei had always maintained its influence and control over the southeastern region of Luoyang and Henan, and Xiangcheng had always been in the hands of the Taifu.

Li Tang, who was traveling with him, was also Gao Zhongmi's staff member in the past, and the Bohai Gao family had maintained a considerable degree of influence on Northern Yuzhou and other places since the Gao Aocao period.

During the Eastern Wei period, Gao Aocao and Hou Jing were ordered to manage Henan together. Gao Aocao was in the north and Hou Jing was in the south. The reason why Gao Zhongmi was able to surrender to the Western Wei at Hulao Pass was also because his family had a deep business in Northern Yuzhou and other places.

Li Licheng followed his cousin Zheng Hao of Xingyang into the pass last year, and the Zheng family of Xingyang also had considerable local influence in his hometown. After Li Licheng arrived in the territory, as long as he did not brazenly and ostentatiously publicize his identity and purpose, his safety could be guaranteed.

Since Hou Jing's rebellion, Northern Qi's control over Henan has not been greatly strengthened. There was originally a Murong Shaozong who could be entrusted with the future affairs, but he was defeated in Shouyang and drowned in the Huai River.

As for the nobles of Jinyang, they were not very interested in Henan. They had already made up their minds to gather in Jinyang to enjoy wealth and retirement. When it comes to enterprising spirit, they are not even as aggressive as the powerful people in Hebei and the nobles in Guandong.

At least these people are really actively exploring in Huainan. Of course, it is also because most of the inherent interests of the empire have been occupied. If they cannot open up new increments, the space left for them will only become smaller and smaller.

Li Tai was still discussing with his cousin whether Li Licheng's trip would be successful, how long it would take to see results, and when the grand occasion of great scholars debating scriptures would appear in Xiangyang. Little did he know that Li Licheng and his party had encountered a major setback shortly after entering the country and had not had time to implement their plan, and were directly captured by the local garrison.