Chapter 78 Section 2 The No. 1 Writer of the Ming Dynasty

The second stage is to gradually develop contempt, and words are no longer humble. Originally Zhu Yuanzhang did not know a few baskets, but with more and more intellectuals around him, under the influence of them, he began to study in a planned way, read classics and history, and learned to make a fuss, and gradually entered the room.He found that knowledge is not so unattainable. As long as he works hard, he, Zhu Yuanzhang, can understand the past and the present, and even write decent articles. As his cultural level became higher and higher, and he understood the profoundness of knowledge, Zhu Yuanzhang's superstitious heart towards intellectuals gradually faded.He found that intellectuals have both outstanding strengths and obvious weaknesses.The strengths are extensive knowledge and resourcefulness, and the weakness is indecision and lack of action.Zhu Yuanzhang understood why people said that scholars rebelled and failed in three years.They are timid in doing things, have too many rules and regulations, lack courage and courage, and can only be gentlemen, not villains.Therefore, it is difficult for them to achieve great things independently, and they can only follow themselves to find fame and wealth.The real heroes are big bastards like him and Liu Bang.Knowing this, Zhu Yuanzhang gradually became contemptuous of literati.

After the founding of the country, he frankly talked about his true views on Song Lian in his imperial order to Song Lian: Although Er Lian is well-versed in the present and the past, it is a pity that he does nothing in the face of affairs, and he can't make decisions in every matter.It would be more than enough if you were to review it, but it would be insufficient to implement it. ("Ming Taizu Collection" Volume 3) He believed that although Song Lian was knowledgeable and knowledgeable, he lacked decisiveness and executive power, and could not do any practical things. In this case, Zhu Yuanzhang would never say it before the founding of the country.Song Lianshang, the head of the founding civil servants, made such an evaluation, and the status of other civil servants in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind can be imagined.The success of his career made Zhu Yuanzhang inevitably inflate himself.

As the regime became more and more stable, everyone realized that there was no longer any doubt that the surname Zhu was in the world.Zhu Yuanzhang didn't need to search and invite them as hard as before, and the intellectuals who were so numerous took the initiative to attach themselves to the skin of Zhu's regime with enthusiasm.Zhu Yuanzhang's extensive school system has begun to cultivate a large number of intellectuals. For a time, the intellectuals were extremely rich and seemed to be inexhaustible. Their value in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes was also getting lower and lower. His respect for them The overall attitude is also getting more and more contemptuous.

In the seventh year of Hongwu, a noble concubine of Zhu Yuanzhang died.The imperial concubine is the concubine relative to the queen.According to ancient rituals, when the concubine's mother dies, the children and grandchildren do not need to wear mourning.Zhu Yuanzhang liked this concubine very much and asked his children to wear mourning for her.Civil servants wrote letters one after another, opposing him to change the ancient rituals, so Zhu Yuanzhang wrote a "Preface to the Record of Filial Piety and Compassion", scolding these intellectuals as "pedantic".It is said that they only know how to read dead books, read dead books, and compare the past with the present, but do not know how to judge the situation and deal with problems realistically and flexibly:

Today's pedantic Confucianism only knows one thing, but does not know the other. It is obvious that the past is not the present. He also said that these people are actually just a bunch of waste, and they can't do anything good. He warned future generations of monarchs not to listen to them too much: I observe that the king born in the palace, who loves the people in the mountains and forests, who is not a pedantic man, who is not a pedantic man, who is not a pedantic man, who restricts the meaning of the text and keeps his leisurely travels, and who is not pedantic?Confucianism can't judge the situation and adapt to the theory of funeral rites and the abnormalities of the current literature.

Through these hearty scoldings, Zhu Yuanzhang belittled those "people of the mountains and forests" into a bunch of waste, and warned future monarchs not to listen to them too much, in order to prevent "restricting the meaning of the text and continuing to enjoy the tour".In this, there are insights into the weaknesses of intellectuals, and more prejudices that kill with one shot. Not only did he disdain the political ability of intellectuals, Zhu Yuanzhang also became more and more daring to comment on the writing skills of literati and scholars, and denounced Fang Qiu.Although Zhu Yuanzhang didn't start learning to write articles until he was middle-aged, but because of his good talent, he often produced outstanding works.Although some of his writings are crude and messy, their style is unique and heroic, with an imposing manner throughout the ages, which is unique among ancient and modern emperors, and he is quite proud of it.In the seventh year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang held a poetry and prose conference and ordered civil servants to write "Yuejiang Tower".After reading it, no one paid attention to it, so I wrote two articles by myself, as a demonstration for civil servants.

The ministers were of course full of praise and admiration, Zhu Yuanzhang accepted all the orders, and complacently ascended the throne of the first writer of Ming Dynasty.Not long after, he became dissatisfied with his status as the number one person in the contemporary literary world, and wrote articles such as "Refuting Han Yu's Praise to Boyi Wen" and "Discriminating Han Yu's Litigation Style Bo Wen", and began to praise Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan, the prominent figures in the history of Chinese literature. Criticism, saying that Han Yu's "investigation of things and knowledge, has not yet examined his feelings", saying that these literati only pay attention to rhetoric and do not understand human physics.As if with the dignity of an emperor, he guides the literati all over the world how to write. The articles are forceful and unreasonable.