It’s no wonder that Sima Yi and Wang Su were not on the same wavelength. They were just people from two different eras.
When Sima Yi came of age, the Central Plains was in chaos and constant wars and conquests, and the country faced turmoil rather than stability.
The scholars who rose up at the same time as Sima Yi were faced with Cao Cao's unification of Hebei and his scourge of the world. They adhered to the ultimate pragmatism and the ultimate achievement rather than idle talk.
Wang Su was sixteen years older than Sima Yi.
When Wang Su came of age, the north had been unified and Wang Lang was in a high position. Wang Su had always received orthodox Confucian education, which was much more traditional than Sima Yi and others, and he also paid more attention to theory.
This is the fundamental difference between their ideas.
Wang Su said so much, all of which were theoretical things that Sima Yi would never have thought of!
This is roughly what makes Wang Su extraordinary.
The emperor had always scoffed at the pursuit of immortality, and just now he was obviously not interested in the theory that the Five Emperors were inspired and transformed into the Son of Heaven.
Wang Su used the most sensitive issue of Cao's ancestors to stimulate the emperor at this most critical juncture, which aroused the emperor's desire to show off.
What's more, it was the emperor who took the initiative to ask Wang Su to separate the Han and Wei dynasties and to establish a new dynasty.
Since Wang Su talked about the most critical part of the ritual system, namely offering sacrifices to heaven, and also persuaded the emperor implicitly, then wasn't the most fundamental point of Zheng's school of thought refuted by Wang Su?
Wang Su had been targeting Zheng's school of thought for a long time, and the emperor valued Wang Su and had always disliked the prophecies, divinations, disasters and strange stories of the Han Confucians.
When the emperor met Wang Su, wasn't it just like Emperor Wu of Han meeting Dong Zhongshu?
Just in time!
Zheng’s studies are over.
Cao Rui was filled with emotion, shaking his head and sighing, "I am standing in front of Lord Wang now, and I really don't know what to say."
"I just proposed an idea, and a great scholar like Wang Qing is here to debate with me. How lucky I am!"
"Wang Qing is right!"
"The Great Wei is under the command of Heaven, and we are under the command of the Lord of Heaven. I am the Son of Heaven, and the word 'son' should mean 'heir to the destiny', not just 'son' as ordinary people understand it."
Wang Su clasped his hands and said, "Your Majesty is absolutely right! There is only one celestial body, how can there be six?"
"The Great Wei should only worship the 'One Heaven', the Lord of Heaven. The Five Spirit Emperors should not be worshipped as Heaven."
"But we have to worship the Five Emperors." Cao Rui looked at Wang Su and said calmly: "Taihao is associated with wood, Yan Emperor is associated with fire, Shaohao is associated with gold, Zhuanxu is associated with water, and Huangdi is associated with earth."
"Abandon the theory of the five emperors of blue, red, yellow, white and black. Follow Wang Qing's words and worship the five emperors of Taihao, Yandi, Shaohao, Zhuanxu and Huangdi."
Wang Su bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise! The new Wei Dynasty will be different from now on!"
Cao Rui nodded and smiled without saying anything.
Wang Su's words were too shocking. If they were to be spread out, all the Zheng school disciples in Luoyang would chase him and punish him.
However, with Wang Su's current favor in the emperor's heart, there is no need to worry about these things.
Previously, Cao Rui established Chongwen Temple and re-established Taixue in order to cultivate a group of scholars loyal to the Wei Dynasty and gradually divide the scholars throughout the world.
Now there was a son of Si Tu, Prince Wang Su, Yong, who was rushing to the front and using his rich knowledge to fight for Cao Rui in the field of Confucianism. Cao Rui was naturally happy to see this scene.
Since most of the scholars in the world believe in Zheng's school of thought, I will instead cultivate Wang's school of thought.
If one day all the scholars become disciples of Wang's school of thought, Cao Rui will not be averse to promoting Zheng's school of thought.
The disputes between schools of thought have always been like this.
After saying goodbye to Wang Su, Cao Rui walked out of the gate of Situ Mansion, rode on a white horse, and slowly walked towards the direction of Beigong.
After riding his horse for only a few steps, Cao Rui noticed something different.
When heading towards Luoyang City, there were flags and guards of honor on both sides of the road, and it seemed that the road led directly from the west gate of Luoyang to the palace.
I had been in Situ Mansion for less than an hour, and the originally bare roadside was now covered with welcoming ceremonial flags?
Cao Rui was not rigid, and when he returned victorious, he also wanted to show the great Wei spirit. A little arrangement would not hurt.
Cao Rui turned his head to Wei Zhen who was standing beside him and said, "Master Wei is thoughtful! It only took a moment to arrange it on this road."
Wei Zhen smiled and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, I was just waiting in the Situ Mansion. How could I have done this?"
"This was done by Xu Xuan, the Minister of Rites."
"Xu Xuan and Xu Baojian?" Cao Rui nodded slightly, turned to look at Xu Xuan who was riding a horse behind him, smiled, and then continued to walk towards Beigong.
When Xu Xuan saw the emperor's slightly admiring look, in just a moment, almost all the bones in his body were softened.
An emotion that was hard to tell whether it was excitement or excitement spread throughout Xu Xuan's body like an electric current.
Of course Xu Xuan wanted to be valued by the emperor, but his reaction was a little exaggerated. The harder he tried, the greater his expectations, and the happier he felt when he got positive feedback.
Scholars in the Han and Wei dynasties did not feel ashamed to pursue official titles and fame. On the contrary, if they only studied in the study to cultivate their reputation, they would sometimes be regarded as timid and selfish people who were unwilling to help the common people.
Xu Xuan worked hard for several days and got a look in return, which was enough for him.
The emperor's procession slowly arrived at the south gate of the North Palace. After seeing the emperor's procession, the tiger guards standing outside the palace gate slowly pushed open the heavy palace door in advance, and the door hinges made a creaking sound.
Cao Rui was dressed in a plain robe, sitting on a white horse, looking at a group of women standing inside the palace gate with a smile.
After lightly tapping the horse's belly and crossing the threshold, Cao Rui dismounted and saluted towards Grand Empress Dowager Bian and Empress Dowager Guo.
Although the two elders had a lot to say, they knew better than to exchange pleasantries at this time.
After all, there are so many of the emperor's concubines waiting behind him.
Cao Rui looked up and saw that there were exactly twenty-one people.
Except for the earliest concubine Mao, the rest were the twenty concubines selected by the Queen Mother.
The two concubines, Sun Luban and Guo Yao, were among these twenty people.
Concubine Mao had the highest rank and entered the palace the earliest, so she was the leader of the group of female relatives and walked forward with a baby in her arms.
This is Cao Rui’s eldest son Cao Qi.
When the baby saw his father, he babbled excitedly but could not utter complete words yet.
After some intimacy with Cao Qi, the next person to come was Concubine Sun Luban, who was pregnant and would give birth in a month.
After Sun Luban and Guo Yao exchanged greetings, the remaining eighteen women and Cao Rui just nodded slightly, as if they had met each other.
There was no other way. Cao Rui was already a little tired after days of marching. He had just spent a lot of energy in Situ's mansion. How could he take care of everything?
After a few brief words, the Grand Empress Dowager, the Queen Mother, and the women also dispersed.
Cao Rui held his son in his arms, got on the carriage, and returned to the palace with Concubine Mao.
Although we haven't seen each other for half a year, it's broad daylight after all, so I can't help it in the afternoon.
Cao Rui and Concubine Mao were the first to know each other. Although they exchanged many letters during the past six months, they were still not satisfied. So he returned to the palace, hugged his son, and started to talk about private matters.
After closing the palace door and handing her son over to the wet nurse, only Concubine Mao and Cao Rui were left in the room.
After saying a few words, Concubine Mao actually leaned on Cao Rui's shoulder and sobbed softly.
"When I heard that Your Majesty was ill in Chencang, my heart was burning. I couldn't leave this palace. I wanted to do something for Your Majesty, but I couldn't do anything."
"I can only pray to God every day, hoping that Your Majesty will recover as soon as possible."
As she spoke, Concubine Mao hugged Cao Rui's arm tightly in her arms: "Your Majesty, you must take care of yourself in the future! Even for my sake, don't get sick like this again!"
"There is no way to prevent illness. How can people avoid being infected by diseases when they eat grains?"
Cao Rui had just said a few words when Concubine Mao looked over at him with her almond-shaped eyes wide open, tears in them.
"Don't get sick! Don't get sick!" Concubine Mao said angrily, "When your Majesty returns to the palace, I will cook porridge for you every day and take care of your health!"
Cao Rui smiled and embraced Concubine Mao in his arms, patting her back and soothing her: "The Imperial Household Official will prepare meals for me..."
Concubine Mao wanted to blame again, but Cao Rui tried to comfort her.
The two of them went back and forth like this, sticking together and having seemingly endless sweet things to say to each other.
Cao Rui also recounted many interesting stories from his Western Expedition.
It talks about the steepness of Tongguan, the boundlessness of Guanzhong Plain, the long and continuous Longdao, the towering Qishan Fort...
It talked about geography, human customs, and the scenery of the four directions, but there was not a single mention of hard work or military affairs.
They chatted for a long time until the eunuch Bi Jin called out softly and told the emperor that he was going to attend a banquet. Only then did Cao Rui let go of Concubine Mao's hand, changed his clothes and prepared to go out.
While helping Cao Rui change his clothes, Concubine Mao sighed softly: "I have something else to tell your majesty. It seems that I shouldn't say it, but I shouldn't hide it either."
"What's the matter?" Cao Rui stretched out his hands and let Concubine Mao put on his robe from behind, and asked in a relaxed tone.
Concubine Mao whispered, "Your Majesty, on New Year's Day, someone from the Yu family in the same county as mine sent me some New Year gifts."
Cao Rui closed his eyes and exhaled lightly, not wanting to think about these past events. (End of this chapter)
