Datang: Let you supervise the country and become an emperor through the ages

Chapter 96
At this time in the palace, in the imperial study room, Li Shimin has been entangled by someone, and the reason is also because of "Dream of Red Mansions"!
Kong Yingda and Li Gang, two great Confucians in the court, were complaining to Li Shimin, especially Kong Yingda, the old man's gray beard was covered with his own spittle, and he looked angry.

"Your Majesty, if this goes on like this, the country will be ruined!" Kong Yingda waved his hands and shouted loudly: "Nowadays, the students in Chongwen Museum are obsessed with "Dream of Red Mansions", almost day and night, but they don't know the meaning of the scientific research. Do not ask!"

"Yes, yes!" Li Gang nodded and echoed, "Your Majesty, what Old Master Confucius said is true. Such absurd things have actually appeared in the capital of the Great Tang Dynasty. It is simply sensational!"

"Your Majesty has to send someone to correct it quickly, otherwise not only the Chongwen Museum, but also the Hongwen Museum and the Guozijian will become like this! If you really want to correct it at that time, it will be too late!"

Li Shimin listened to the loud shouts of the two old men, with wry smiles on his face, but he didn't think so in his heart.

It's not that he hasn't read "Dream of Red Mansions". Li Shimin knows the contents of the book very clearly.As for belittled like this?
"Your Majesty!" Li Gang thumped, knelt down on the ground and cupped his hands, "I believe that from now on, in the second hall of the Six Schools, it must be strictly prohibited, and all students are not allowed to bring books such as "Dream of Red Mansions"!"

"And please Your Majesty decree that no one in Chang'an City shall continue to sell "Dream of Red Mansions", otherwise they will be severely punished!"

"This book has really spoiled the atmosphere and disrupted the normal study courses of our Tang students. It must be banned immediately!"

"Yes!" Kong Yingda immediately echoed: "Your Majesty, what Master Li said is very true, we must immediately ban the Dream of the Red Chamber, list it as a banned book, and destroy it as soon as possible!"

Li Shimin's eyes finally flashed a hint of surprise, not mentioning the current sales situation of "Dream of Red Mansions", but only focusing on its content. Such a good book, just because a few officials in the court think it is inappropriate, will be published. It's unreasonable to ban it!
But these two people in front of them are not ordinary people. One is a real emperor teacher, and the other is a powerful grandson directly related to Confucius.

Li Shimin decided to persuade these two old men who can't be offended, so he got up and turned to the dragon case, and smiled at the two old masters, "Both of them are great Confucians of my dynasty, and both of them are masters of a hundred schools of thought. "

"But I'm a little confused today. Why do you two treat this "Dream of Red Mansions" so dismissively? Could it be that the two great scholars have really read "Dream of Red Mansions" thoroughly? Could it be possible that this book is full of prohibited content?"

Li Gang and Kong Yingda didn't expect Li Shimin to say such a word suddenly. After looking at each other, they shook their heads.

""A Dream of Red Mansions" is not a book of sages, how could we waste time on such a book!"

"Exactly, when I have that time, I might as well read a few more words from the sages. The things that ordinary people like to see must be all dross and tasteless!"

Kong Yingda and Li Gang's attitude was very clear. They didn't even need to read "Dream of Red Mansions", they knew it was not a good thing. It would not only waste their time, but also stain their eyes!
Li Shimin sneered, took a book from the dragon case, and came to the two great scholars, "You two, this is "Dream of Red Mansions". I think this book is good, why don't you read it too!"

Um?Kong Yingda and Li Gang didn't expect that Li Shimin would have a copy of "Dream of Red Mansions" here, and they were a little surprised.

They just said that it was rubbish that only ordinary people would read, but they didn't expect a copy to appear here when Li Shimin turned around.

Great Confucians like to play tricks, don't let them find a reason, once they find a reason, they will pull their opponents to start fighting. Now Kong Yingda and Li Gang are ready to fight and debate with Li Shimin.

But Li Shimin didn't give them this chance, "I haven't even read the book, so I just draw conclusions. Is this how the two of you teach the students? Let me take a good look, and then talk after reading it!"

Hearing Li Shimin's fierce tone, Kong Yingda and Li Gang panicked instantly, quickly took the book over, and the two of them got together to read it.

But now they are intimidated by Li Shimin's domineering, and they are not convinced by Li Shimin at all, so even holding "Dream of Red Mansions" in their hands, they didn't read a word, and only thought about how to criticize Li Shimin next.

Li Shimin had already seen the thoughts of the two of them, and sighed helplessly, "It seems that the two of you are not in the mood to read, but you can't see this book after flipping through so many pages. Is there a difference?"

Li Gang hesitated for a moment, and Kong Yingda had already firmly pushed back, "I don't know what His Majesty wants me to see. Could there be any advantages in such a book? Please forgive me for being dull, I really can't see it!"

"This kind of vernacular is only read by common people, and only ordinary people will read it. Confucian disciples like me should never read this kind of book!"

Rotten Confucianism!Li Shimin almost spit out, his heart was slightly angry, "Both of you are great talents, can't you see that there are subtleties everywhere in this book, you must have disappointed me too much!"

"Could it be that the two of you look down on scholars all over the world because of your status as great Confucian scholars? Why do you two like to read "A Dream of Red Mansions"? Haven't the two of you reflected on it?"

Li Shimin snatched the book from them, opened one of the pages, pointed to the content on the page, and asked sharply, "Have you seen these things in the book? Do you know what it is for?"

Li Gang and Kong Yingda didn't know the punctuation marks pointed by Li Shimin, so they naturally shook their heads suspiciously.

But even if they were shaking their heads, the two stubborn old masters still did not forget to criticize a few more words.

"What's all this? Outline such things in the text, like a ghost drawing, how decent!"

"That's right, you can tell at a glance that you don't understand literature and science, and you dare to publish a book to embarrass people, it's an insult to gentleness!"

Li Shimin was completely irritated, "What you two said is biased. These are called punctuation marks, which are specially used to break sentences. With them, no one can misinterpret the meaning of the text!"

"Both of you are great contemporary Confucian scholars. When you read the Analects of Confucius, and when you read the Analects of Confucius with others, don't you need to punctuate sentences? Has the Analects of Confucius ever unified the sentence punctuation?"

"If the punctuation is not unified, it will lead to different understandings. You have so many schools of Confucianism, and each school has its own punctuation. I would like to ask, do the Analects read by each school have the same meaning? right?"

hum-

Li Shimin shouted loudly, instantly stunned the two great Confucians...

(End of this chapter)