In the early morning, the palace city was bathed in the morning light, and the high-sounding Yuwen Wen sat in the side hall, preparing to "go to work" (go to court). The clock hand walked to 6:30, and there were still thirty minutes left before the morning court began (7:00).

There are three types of court meetings today. The first is the grand court meeting held on the New Year and the Winter Solstice. The scene is the most solemn, with princes and nobles, civil and military officials above the Jiu rank in Beijing, and envoys from foreign countries participating;

The second type is the first day of the 1st day of the 15th day of the lunar month, and civil and military officials above the rank of the 9th rank of Beijing participated;

The third type is the daily regular dynasty (morning dynasty), also known as "changgan". It is currently held every three days, with civil and military officials and honorary officials above the fifth rank in Beijing, supervisory censors, and doctors of Taichang.

Today is Changchao (morning court). The Changchao starts at 7 o'clock at Mao, which usually lasts for one to two hours. To be short, efficiency is the most important thing, so that officials of various departments can return to the official office as soon as possible to handle official duties.

Since Yuwen ascended the throne, apart from special circumstances such as going on tour, he has maintained a "full attendance record" of attending court so far. He has never been late, nor has he just given a court meeting for his own reasons.

The eunuch sent him today's morning newspaper. Because of the ample time, Yuwen Wen read the newspaper. This is a habit he has developed in recent years. Every morning, he has to see what "big news" is there.

The world is peaceful, and he does not want to see any "big news" about natural disasters. During this period, the most popular news in the newspapers is that scholars from all over the world (PhD, Assistant Teachers and above) participate in the discussion of the revision of the law.

Scholars are not officials and do not have the power to write to speak. This time, the court allowed scholars to publish articles in newspapers and magazines and allowed scholars from all over the country to conduct academic debates on etiquette and law, which is considered a "moral policy" that opens up the way to speak.

It is also the atmosphere that Yuwen Wen wants to create.

In order to achieve rapid development of the newspaper industry through telegram, its newspapers should become a carrier of ideological and cultural confrontation, so that all the people in the world who care about current affairs can get inspiration or insights from the big debate.

Yu Wenwen believes that active and benign ideological, cultural, and academic open debate is a necessary guarantee for the healthy development of society, and the effect of this policy is still good at present.

For scholars, learning and becoming an official is the goal pursued by countless people, but how to learn to "be well-known among princes or even kings" is an extremely difficult thing to do.

If a scholar wants to learn to "get aware of the princes" according to the traditional method, he or she has to find ways to participate in various activities organized by local officials, or participate in various "friend circles" of scholars, travel around, and dance in the mountains and rivers, and "win reputation".

By managing connections, various "circles of friends" can help promote themselves, so that their names can attract the attention of "officials".

However, such a method has great requirements for financial resources and background, and most scholars cannot do it.

But now there is a better way to publish articles in newspapers.

The popularity of newspapers is changing with each passing day. Although newspapers are only published in major metropolis and commercial ports, this alone is enough to maximize the author's talent and opinions to the powerful, officials and even the emperor.

No matter how bad it is, you can make friends with literature and gain a reputation in the circle of scholars.

Such opportunities have extremely high results but extremely low costs, which is unprecedented. Therefore, taking advantage of the opportunity of the court to open up a wide range of opinions, many state doctoral students and assistant professors actively contributed to express their academic views on the revision of the law.

At the same time, refute the views of those who disagree or debate with each other.

Various newspapers will also publish academic debates on etiquette and law in famous state schools, so that readers can see what opinions and opinions are like on various etiquette and law issues, and the opinions of both parties.

Articles published by newspapers in various newspapers can be reproduced with each other (the source must be indicated). The confrontation of various opinions in newspapers has attracted readers' rush, resulting in a surge in the circulation of newspapers in various places.

Therefore, a large-scale ritual and academic debate on law has begun, and Yuwen Wen, who is the initiator, is happy to see it.

Now, the newspaper he held in his hand published articles with different opinions, and each expounded (debate) on the passage "There are three kinds of unfilial piety, and no descendants are the greatest".

The passage "There are three kinds of unfilial piety, and the greatest thing is without a descendant" is very familiar. Of course, Yu Wen Wen is very familiar with it. Now he is very curious and wants to see what different arguments can be made around this passage.

The first article says "say":

"Mencius Lilou (Part 1)" says: There are three types of unfilial piety, and having no descendants is the greatest. Shun did not tell him but married him, and he was the last one. A gentleman thought he still told him.

What does this passage mean?

This incident involves allusions. In ancient times, Shun (who has not yet become a king) was not well treated by his parents, so the marriage was not settled. When the monarch Yao wanted to marry his daughter Ehuang and Niaoying, Shun got married without telling his parents.

Shun's behavior was to marry without complaint (not telling his parents to get married without permission), but that's not wrong.

Zhao Qi of the Later Han Dynasty made an annotation on "Mencius" and explained this passage:

There are three things that are unfilial to rituals, which means that Ayiqu follows and traps his relatives and is unrighteous, one is unfilial; the family is poor and the elderly are not good for the people, and the two are unfilial; the family is not married and has no children, and the ancestors are not worshipped, and the three are unfilial.

To put it bluntly, there are three types of unfilial piety. One is: if you find that your parents have any mistakes, they will not persuade them, and let them fall into injustice. This is unfilial;

Secondly, if the family is poor, the elderly parents are not full, and the sons do not go to get a salary for officials (do not work to find ways to earn money and grain) to support their parents, which is unfilial;

Third, if a son does not marry a wife and has children, and has no descendants to continue the incense of his ancestors, this is unfilial.

Among these three behaviors, the greatest unfilial piety is that the son does not marry and has children, and fails to give birth to descendants (male people) to continue the incense of his ancestors.

Therefore, Shun's behavior of marrying without complaining is not unfilial. On the contrary, getting married and having children continues the incense of ancestors, which is great filial piety.

The article uses this to give an argument, that is, if a person (man) who leaves his hometown and goes to the metropolis and works in a commercial port, if he meets a suitable woman and marrys him without complaining, this is not unfilial, but one of his filial piety.

Because only by getting married and having children and having offspring can it be in line with the filial piety mentioned by the wise men. Based on this principle, people can not inform their parents first when getting married, and do not need to obtain their parents' consent in advance.

If people are blindly asked to get married, it is wrong if their parents make arrangements that are not properly arranged, resulting in the son being unable to get married and having no descendants.

When Yuwen Wen saw this, he raised his eyebrows and felt that the arguments of the article were very consistent with his wishes. Now that industry and commerce are booming, a large number of migrant populations gather in major metropolis and commercial ports. The marriages of these people should not be bound by "the orders of parents and the words of the matchmaker."

The law revised by the court is to allow the right to marriage to escape from clans and parents to a certain extent, so that men and women with appropriate marriage have the right to fall in love freely (relatively speaking).

Whether it is a slave who escapes from a feudal manor or a illegitimate child who has left a family of living and wealth, they all have their own basic rights, and can settle down in the city (a different from another family), get married (marry without complaint), have children, and live a new life.

However, there are articles in this newspaper today who hold different views, believing that the meaning of "no filial piety is the greatest", and no descendant is the greatest" has been misinterpreted.

This article quotes classics and uses the content of "Mencius Lilou (Part 2)" as an argument:

The five things in the secular world are called unfilial: laziness is the fourth branch, and it ignores the upbringing of parents, one is unfilial; playing games and drinking, and it ignores the upbringing of parents, two is unfilial; being fond of goods and wealth, having private wives, and not caring about the upbringing of parents, three is unfilial;

According to the desires of the ears and eyes, it is believed that the four things are not filial; the four things are not filial; the five things are not filial; the five things are not filial.

Here are five unfilial piety: lazy limbs and do not support parents, this is the first type; alcohol and gambling, not support parents, this is the second type; greedy and stingy about money, only care about wife and children, regardless of supporting parents, this is the third type;

Indulging in pleasure and humiliating parents is the fourth type; showing off courage and fighting, implicating parents is the fifth type.

It is not said that "no descendants are unfilial."

Secondly, the three in "there are three unfilial things, and no descendants are the greatest" should actually be imaginary numbers, not the number "three", just like the "hundred" among the "civil and military officials", otherwise it will not correspond to the "five" of the "unfilial and military officials" as mentioned in the same book.

Therefore, the true meaning of "there are three kinds of unfilial behavior, and no descendants are the greatest", should be "There are many unfilial behaviors, and the younger generation fails to fulfill the obligations that the younger generation should fulfill. This is the most serious unfilial behavior."

The author of the article believes that the reason why Shun's behavior of marrying without complaining was not unfilial was that his father-in-law Yao was an emperor and a king and a father, and the status of the king and father was higher than that of his parents. Therefore, in fact, this marriage was a complaint to the king and father, not a marriage without complaining.

So, in the court's law, people are now allowed to marry without suing their parents. They only need to testify in person when they get married for a period of time, and even use the slaughter to be flogged forty to "avoid the crime of sexual misconduct and offense". The relevant legal provisions are inconsistent with etiquette and are subject to discussion.
Chapter completed!