The Sage of Confucianism and Taoism

Chapter 2457: Burying a son to serve his mother

Fang Yun's handling methods were highly recognized by both the government and the public. Even Yang Xuwen, the assistant prime minister who was obviously leaning towards the royal family, publicly praised Fang Yun for being clear-sighted and clear-minded in this matter, and that he was a true example for all officials.

Some of the censors of the Control Council regretted not being the first to report the case, and some were jealous of Luo Yu's evaluation. However, most of them recognized Fang Yun's handling methods and believed that Fang Yun had set the most correct example for the cabinet and ensured the high degree of independence of the Control Council. On the premise of sex, give the Supervisory Yuan the fairest treatment.

Therefore, He Mingxiang, the censor of the Supervisory Yuan, issued an order to the censors of Jingcheng, Dongyun Prefecture and Yanzhou, asking them to report officials who violated etiquette as soon as possible and perform the duties of censors.

Several censors expressed opposition because they knew that the censor in charge was reciprocating the favor and deliberately avoided Mizhou, Xiangzhou and Jiangzhou.

However, He Mingxiang did not pay attention to the objections. As an ordinary censor, he could do whatever he wanted, but as the first chief official of the Supervisory Yuan, he must abide by some rules of the officialdom.

If Fang had sent such a big gift from the Overwatch Council and he, as the Head of the Oversight Council, had not given back at all, then which force would support him to continue to serve as the Head of the Council or even be promoted in the future?

In the next few days, the Oversight Yuan reported more than a dozen officials, large and small. Although their grades were not high, up to six grades, they sent a clear signal to the outside world. The Oversight Yuan did not oppose Fang Yun, but was doing official business. Public office.

The Assistant Prime Minister's Office still forwarded the relevant memorials to the Zuo Prime Minister's Office, and Fang Yun's punishment for the new officials who violated etiquette was not as severe as the first time, but it was also recorded in the documents of the Ministry of Civil Affairs' Examination Department and left in the files. It will have a great impact, but if the officials want to target someone, then this punishment will become a powerful weapon.

The daily rituals continued, and just when everyone thought that this so-called restoration of rituals only involved trivial details, the promulgation of the twelfth ritual suddenly became the focus of controversy in the world.

Because this twelfth ritual requires every high-ranking official to learn the Way of the Half-Saint Son once a year.

When Zilu was young, his family was poor. He often ate wild vegetables, but he would walk hundreds of miles to buy rice and carry it home so that his parents could eat good food.

Later, Zilu received the education of Confucius and became a high-ranking official. He often missed his parents. He once said that although he can taste wild vegetables now, he can no longer carry rice for his parents as he did back then.

The requirement of the twelfth ritual is that every high-ranking official is required to walk to a place a hundred miles away to buy twenty kilograms of rice before and after his parents' birthday every year, and carry it back home on foot.

Although there were officials who were dissatisfied with the previous eleventh rite, no official stood up to oppose it. However, on the day when the twelfth rite was promulgated, many officials went to court to object, believing that it was not suitable to implement this old ritual.

In the court hall the next day, the twelfth rite became the focus of debate among officials.

Some of those who objected believed that this kind of respect was a waste of time. If you really want officials to be filial, carrying ten miles of rice is enough.

Some people give an example: it takes ten hours to go a hundred miles away, wasting a whole day, and returning during the next day, which is equivalent to wasting two days. If a major incident fails to be handled in time, who will bear the responsibility?

Some people say that Fang Yun is torturing the officials. Some officials are in poor health. If they have to carry rice on their backs for 200 miles on foot, they are likely to be exhausted to death. This is the greatest unfilial piety.

There are supporters.

Some people think that if an official cannot walk two hundred miles in two days, he might as well resign and return to his hometown. Without a strong body, how can he handle complex government affairs.

Some people think that Fang Yun is not torturing officials, but just letting them become role models for the people. Moreover, it only delays two days a year, so he can give officials two days off. If every official can do this, the people will naturally be moved and will fulfill their filial piety.

Some people also believe that Zilu is a semi-sage, a disciple of Confucius, and one of the ten philosophers of Confucius. As long as you learn from him, it is not an exaggeration to do anything. If officials can't even carry rice for two hundred miles, doesn't it mean that it's wrong for the Holy Academy to require great scholars to go out for training?

The court fell into a quarrel.

However, some officials have never spoken out against or supported it, because they always feel that Fang Yun's purpose of restoring courtesy is not simple, and they will never express their stance until the dust finally settles.

There are also some officials who have repeatedly thought about Li Wenying's words these days, and finally chose to believe in Li Wenying and Fang Yun, so they remain silent for now.

What’s even more weird is that although there were many officials who objected, none of the officials of the third rank or above said anything. Even Sheng Boyuan, the Minister of Rites who firmly supported the royal family, did not object. He even occasionally showed a sneer, as if he was eager for Fang Yun’s fortune. The twelve rites are implemented.

Without any obstruction from senior officials or the royal family, the twelfth ceremony was officially stamped with a jade seal and became the king's order, which every official must carry out.

As a result, more and more officials began to be dissatisfied with Fang Yun, and some officials even publicly criticized Fang Yun on the discussion list. However, they were very careful in choosing words and sentences. There were no obscenities and no fictitious facts. It was a legitimate criticism. This is the Holy Court. Given the rights given to scholars, neither Fang Yun nor the censor could use this as evidence to punish officials.

That is to say, on the day when the Twelfth Rite was officially implemented, Fang Yun did not announce the Thirteenth Rite. Instead, he announced that he had adapted "Twenty-Four Filial Piety" into a simple and easy-to-understand "Twenty-Four Filial Piety Illustrations", which listed the twenty-four filial piety in history. story.

Fang Yun was published directly on the discussion list and soon spread throughout the world.

This "Illustrated Explanation of the Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars" starts off very well. The first filial piety is about filial piety that moved heaven. The protagonist is the wise emperor Shun. Even though he was framed by his parents, he did not fight back. After becoming the emperor, he was still filial to his parents.

The second filial piety is about entertaining parents with colorful costumes. A man named Lao Laizi often dressed in colorful clothes to make his parents happy even when he was over 70 years old. Another time, Lao Laizi accidentally fell down. Fearing that his parents would worry, he immediately imitated a child and cried loudly, which made his parents laugh instead.

The following filial piety stories are very normal, including the story of Zilu carrying rice for a hundred miles.

However, when everyone saw the ninth filial piety story, their reactions were different, so that the entire discussion board quickly turned into a battlefield.

The ninth filial piety story is about burying a child to serve the mother.

In the Han Dynasty, there was a man named Guo Ju, who was from a poor family. After his wife gave birth to a child, Guo Ju was afraid that the family's food would not be enough to feed the child, so he decided to bury the child and kill him.

As a result, when digging a pit to bury the child, gold was found, so Guo Ju said that it was his filial piety that moved the heaven, and the heaven allowed him to dig gold, so he put away the gold, stopped killing his son, went home to raise his son, and also supported his mother.

Although Guo Ju did not kill his son in the end, Fang Yun actually regarded this story as a model of filial piety, which caused great controversy.

Because this incident also caused controversy in Shengyuan Continent. Some people think that Guo Ju is a model of filial piety, some people think that Guo Ju is a beast, and some people suspect that Guo Ju is trying to cover up the unknown origin of the gold, and some people think that Guo Ju made up this lie in order to get the recommendation of officials.

In short, whether it is the discussion list or the court of Jingguo, there is a fierce debate on whether "Twenty-Four Filial Piety Illustrations" should be popularized.