There is indeed a reason why this inn is expensive. Li Ling and his friends who stayed in Zhegui Garden not only slept overnight, but also provided the food and drinks here are also quite good. At dawn the next day, a friend came to wake him up and said that Zhang Daru's lecture in the Zhegui Hall would start at Chenshi and they needed to enter early.

Seeing this, Li Ling and Xu Cang naturally didn't want to be late and missed it, so they hurriedly washed and had dinner, and then rushed there quickly. As for Li Moyun, he was not interested in these things, so he agreed to go to the city to wander around. Even though they were active enough, they really found that most of the seats were occupied by candidates who had stepped earlier, and the seats in the front were even full, so the two of them could only choose the seats in the back.

It was not until then that Li Ling had the time to ask a question: "Where did this Zhang Hefeng and Zhang Daru come from?"

He asked Xu Cang, but this person's knowledge was not as good as his. He could only smile bitterly and shook his head: "It is the first time I have heard of this great scholar's name..."

"You came from the county town below, right? Have you never even heard of Zhang Daru, who proposed the theory of 'benevolence as the heart'?" A Confucian scholar next to him couldn't help frowning, as if he was a little dissatisfied.

Li Ling hurriedly smiled and said, "Brother Tai knows Zhang Daru's deeds, can you tell me?"

"Zhang Daru is the most famous generation of great scholars in the past 20 or 30 years. He has learned a lot and was admitted to the Jinshi in less than 20 years. He was able to become an official in the Hanlin Academy. Later, he was valued by the Minister of Rites at that time because of his more explanations of Confucian classics. He was once appointed as the Minister of Rites." This admirer of Zhang Daru, who is obviously a admirer of Zhang Daru, is really as good as his family, and he is even more honorable to say. "But three years ago, because of the Jinqian case, Zhang Daru returned home. But even so, Zhang Daru's reputation in the scholars has not decreased at all, especially after he proposed the theory of "benevolence is the heart" last year, he became a famous great scholar in the world, almost comparable to the two ancestors of Xu and Zhou before this dynasty."

At this time, another person next to him said, "This time, Zhang Daru came here to teach in order to remind us that we would wait for the last time to enter the school. Otherwise, like me, who only gained fame and talent, would not even be able to enter the door of his family. I believe that if I heard this today, I would benefit for life."

Li Ling was said one by one by one by one, and he didn't feel that he was more interested in such a great scholar. After looking at Xu Cang, the two of them sat upright again.

While he was talking, time had come to Chen Shi. With a few greetings from outside, the three of them moved into the hall one after another. One of them had gray hair but a rosy complexion, and his steps were steady. When he raised his hands and feet, he exuded the momentum of living for a long time.

"This is Zhang Daru, right?" Li Ling asked curiously, and the Confucian scholar next door responded softly, and then warned: "No noise in front of Confucian scholar!"

Sure enough, although there were about a hundred people sitting in the hall at this moment, they all held their breath and did not hear any noise, which shows how high this great scholar has in everyone's minds.

Zhang Hefeng's eyes quickly swept across everyone, showed a gentle smile, and then sat down at a seat at the top of the head, and then said slowly: "It seems that there are quite a lot of scholars who want to listen to me today. You are all candidates who took the provincial examination this year, right?"

"That's right, today's students are here to listen to the teachings of Confucian scholars." At the moment, the scholars in the front rows were answering in an orderly manner, just like early rehearsals. Then the people behind them said scatteredly, but their voices were much lighter.

Zhang Hefeng smiled satisfied again: "Actually, I have never had any lectures like this before. If you want to ask me how to pass the provincial examination, I am afraid I will be disappointed, because even if I want to give it to the exam today, I am afraid I will be unable to be sure."

This immediately caused everyone to chuckle. Even Li Ling thought that this great scholar was funny and approachable. But then, he looked at him again: "But in my opinion, if we scholars study just for fame and fortune, it would be too failure to follow the way of a saint. Please think about when my Confucianism originated and when did it flourish?"

"It started in the Spring and Autumn Period and flourished in the Han Dynasty, and then it was passed down through my Confucianism for thousands of years."

Hearing someone answered below, Zhang Daru nodded: "That's true, and this is also the key issue that I want to point out. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the situation was in a great struggle, and the country had no righteous war, which made Confucius almost useless. However, those other theories that did not take ethics and benevolence to heart flourished for a while, but this affected Confucius and the sages and other Confucian sages to study moral principles and preach the world? No, such chaotic times will only make the sages and sages understand how important the way of benevolence and ritual is!

"As for the Han Dynasty when Confucianism emerged, although it was already a prominent scholar, the court did not use this as a basis for recruiting scholars. Instead, it was mostly based on family background and fame. Even the great scholars of the world could only bury their lives in the countryside. But did these sages give up their ideal of reading and writing? No, they still worked hard to open up the way to enter the world. This led to the decision of the court to use our Confucian classics to select scholars as officials after the Sui and Tang Dynasties!

"So, in my opinion, after we have been studying hard for ten years, we should understand the way of a saint, rather than being limited to being an official. Once the imperial examination fails, we will lose our ambition and become confused and misleading others and ourselves."

If Li Ling didn't take this so-called great scholar too seriously before and felt that it was more just a praise from the Confucians, then after listening to his views, he had to say a word of admiration.

In this era when everything is inferior, only reading is superior, or even going further, it can be said that everything is inferior, only being superior to officials, it is not just for the imperial examination, but for the sake of studying, which shows that his vision and mind are indeed far beyond ordinary people.

Zhang Hefeng also knew that these words could not be said much, so after a brief start, he quickly pulled the topic back and began to explain some of his views on the classics, especially some of his views on the Benevolence and Taoism. He said it in a simple and easy-to-understand way, which made many scholars present nod frequently and their minds stir.

Xu Cang, next to Li Ling, also had a flash of eyes and looked excited. If he hadn't had any concerns, he would have cheered loudly. However, Li Ling really couldn't be too interested in these teachings like towers in the air, but he also drew some insights and opinions on Confucian classics such as "The Analects of Confucius" and "The Book of Documents", and felt that he could use them when writing.

This lecture made time pass quickly. It was already noon after, and Zhang Daru was obviously dry and he was a little tired. After drinking a cup of tea, he smiled and said, "In the end, I will order a few people to ask questions to see if I can answer your questions."

As soon as these words were said, everyone became even more excited. Although they did not have the habit of raising their hands, they also raised their hands one by one, hoping to make this great scholar admired by everyone point him to him.

Zhang Hefeng smiled and pointed out a few people. The questions they raised, the difficulties they encountered when reading and writing, or the doubts about some theories, were naturally easily answered with his talent and knowledge. Often, after a few words, all the problems that bothered the other party for many days or even years were solved.

This made everyone more enthusiastic. Those who were impatient stood up, but Zhang Hefeng did not click these positions, but passed the front rows and pointed his hand at a scholar who was only two from Li Ling: "What do you have to do with it? Please tell me."

"Scholars, students have been troubled by the theory of the cart and the cart and the cart and the cart and the cart and the cart have been the end recently. Since the court has mentioned that agriculture and Confucianism are the foundation, and the Shang is the end, but why is the business of our Great Yue Dynasty more developed than the previous dynasty? However, many farming work is not prosperous, so putting the cart before the cart is reversed, isn't it a big deficiency?"

Obviously, this person originally wanted to use more intense words, but in the end he took them back. This question made many people think deeply, and some nodded slightly to express their approval.

As children of Confucianism, it has always been their habit to value agriculture and neglect business, but now the Dayue court's measures to encourage commerce really make them have more opinions.

When Li Ling heard this question, he sat up straight and pricked up his ears to listen carefully. As a time traveler, as a person who has just started business, he naturally attaches great importance to the view of the court and those who have the right to speak on business. After all, this is related to his future plans.

This time, Zhang Hefeng no longer had the relief he had before, and most of the smile on his face was curled. After thinking for a while, he looked at the person who asked: "So in your opinion, should the court suppress business?"

"It's not that it's completely suppressing business, but that we should distinguish priorities, such as agricultural affairs, imperial examinations, military affairs... These are much more important than business, and the court should spend more power on it. In addition, the status of merchants is too high now. For example, when the students are in Hengzhou, where the students are located, there are only one merchant, and you can go to the government office and travel without any qualitative traffic. However, it's hard for us scholars to see the prefect, which is really unreasonable."

This person obviously had too much emotion, and at this moment he burst out: "It is really not a matter for local officials to do so that they only focus on business and ignore other things! If this continues, the students are afraid that the people in Hengzhou will only seek profits by then, and only the yellow and white things are left in their eyes, but they will put the sages' ethics, benevolence, righteousness, loyalty and filial piety aside."

After his words, everyone present changed their color. Some scholars nodded secretly, and even whispered to each other and thought that what he was worried about was reasonable.

Zhang Hefeng waited for him to finish his words before sighing softly: "Actually, you said this many years ago. I had submitted a letter to the emperor and made suggestions to suppress business. But do you know what the final result will be?"
Chapter completed!