People who argued with Confucianism earlier than Zhuge Liang in the ancient history of China.

When it comes to debates among scholars, people will think of a wonderful debate in Wudong by Zhuge Liang on the eve of Battle of Red Cliffs in 208 AD. In the 43rd time, Zhuge Liang took Lu Su across the river alone to lobby Wu Dong. Liu Bei was defeated and retreated to Xiakou, Cao Cao's army was besieged on all sides, and Wu Dong's main force surrendered gradually. In this situation, Zhuge Liang fought a verbal battle with Confucianism with superhuman courage and superb language skills, defeated all his opponents with his eloquence, finally persuaded Sun Quan, and contributed to the formation of Sun and Liu's anti-Cao alliance. In fact, as early as 289 years ago, in the sixth year of Emperor Zhao of the Western Han Dynasty, there was a wonderful story about the war of words between Confucianism. Sang Hongyang, the hero of the story, defeated Confucianism with his golden words and became the first arrogant person to argue with Confucianism in history. Sang Hongyang is the son of Sangjia, the famous richest man in Luoyang. Sang is the richest man in Luoyang, and Sang Hongyang is a legend. As a teenager, he was famous for "calculating with heart" rather than chips. At the age of thirteen, he became a servant and began to serve the emperor beside Emperor Wudi. 33. Dong Guo, Xianyang and Kong Zhi had a profound analysis of the economy, thus gaining the trust of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. It was not until 1 15 BC that Kong was promoted to be a big farmer, and Sang Hongyang succeeded him as a big farmer and was in charge of accounting affairs. In the first year of Yuanfeng, Sang Hongyang became a family searching for the Soviet Union, and at the same time served as the agricultural minister, in charge of national tax and finance. At the end of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty was appointed as the censor. Until Zhao Di was killed in the first year of Han Yuanfeng, he was still in charge of finance. Sang Hongyang has been in politics for 60 years. When he served in the palace in his early years, he had an influence on the economic policy decision of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. Later, he directly took charge of financial power for 30 years and played a particularly important role in the social economy of the Western Han Dynasty. Most of the economic reform measures of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty were put forward and implemented by Sang Hongyang. With the same economic mind as a businessman, he promoted the official operation of salt and iron and liquor monopoly, created fair losses, unified the monetary system, reformed financial institutions, and solved the financial crisis faced by the Han Dynasty. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, though it is because of the merchant background rather than the biography of Sang Hongyang, has to admit that he is "rejuvenating the country" and has reached the ideal state of "people don't make money, but the world will never forgive". The Western Han Dynasty reached its peak in the period of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, which initiated the first peak of feudal society in China. All this is inseparable from Sang Hongyang's contribution to improving government finance. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty can achieve a generation of martial arts, and it is also inseparable from the strong financial support of Sang Hongyang. Guo Moruo commented, "It should be said that it was great to have a great financier like Sang Hongyang more than two thousand years ago." In 87 BC, when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was dying, he appointed his eight-year-old son Liu Fuling as Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty. At the same time, General Fu Huo Guang, General Che Qi, General Zuo Shangguan Jie, Prime Minister Tian and ancient doctor Sang Hongyang were entrusted to assist the imperial court. Of the five people, he died early, Tian was gentle and honest, and he didn't say a word when he was in trouble. Sang Hongyang and Shangguan Jie opposed Huo Guang's monopolization of power, so there was a struggle between two political groups within the government. In order to overthrow Sang Hongyang, who had been in charge of finance and economy for a long time, Huo Guang started from the cause of economic reform and urged the "Salt-Iron Conference", hoping to create public opinion against Sang Hongyang. In the sixth year of Emperor Gaozu's Zhao Di, Confucian scholars with the status of "literate" and "virtuous" in various counties questioned Emperor Gaozu on behalf of the people.

We should advocate morality, benevolence and righteousness, and oppose valuing profit over morality. Then the people will be honest and obedient, and the country's financial resources will naturally be sufficient. "Sang Hongyang fought back. He said, "The two people who spoke just now, in my opinion, are parasites who are idle, do not plow, eat or knit sweaters. You clamored for the country to be rich and poor, as if you were pleading for the people, but in fact you were just pleading for the powerful forces and industrial and commercial dajia. If the salt and iron official camp and liquor monopoly are abolished, only these people will benefit, and the national interests will be damaged, and the people will be the real victims. What you want to oppose is centralization, but what you want is the right to divide and rule, which is absolutely impossible. As for promoting morality and advocating benevolence and righteousness, these decadent preaching can't govern the country at all. " The counterattack hit the nail on the head and the Confucian scholars were dumbfounded. At this time, their coach asked Du Yannian to go out in person. He turned the topic to the question of opposing the war with the Huns: "In ancient times, morality was emphasized and soldiers were ignored. Kong Ziyun: If the enemies in the distance are not satisfied, they will convince others with virtue and make them surrender. It is a waste of people and money to abandon morality and abuse force now. " All the Confucian scholars present echoed. A Confucian scholar named Wansheng said: "The war against the Huns can't go on any longer, and the result of the war can only be the misery of the people. Stop fighting and make friends is the best policy. " Sang Hongyang lambasted, "Huns are aggressive and rebellious, and they can only resort to force against stubborn enemies who keep their promises." "In the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the profits of the salt and iron official camp were used to build fortifications and strengthen defense. Xingyi soldiers raped and plundered to protect the lives and property of ordinary people. Now we must follow the policy of Emperor Wu and strengthen our armament. It's shameless of you to make good friends with beautiful women and rich Huns. What morality is this? " The other side carried Confucius out and continued to attack. Sang Hongyang said, "All the students are arrogant, but they do nothing. They don't talk much, but they don't look alike. If you are a thief, you have suffered from it since ancient times. Kong Qiu publicly accused Yu Lujun that he had never used it in the world. who is it? The first shot, sometimes not. Therefore, the king of Qin burned his art instead of doing it, not using it for the pit. " In Sang Hongyang's eyes, Confucian scholars only talk and don't do it. Just like those thieves, they have been evil since ancient times. Therefore, the monarch of Lu was expelled and abandoned only because he was tactful and pedantic and had no practical ideas. This is why Qin Shihuang burned the works of Confucian scholars, so that their remarks could not be circulated. He would rather bury them alive than appoint them. Sang Hongyang also accused them of "confusing truth with falsehood, preaching and teaching to solve doubts" in an attempt to change the political line of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to consolidate national unity and strengthen centralization. After a long argument, Sang Hongyang argued with a group of Confucian scholars. Against more than 60 Confucian scholars, one person always has the upper hand in the debate, making the sage "unable to justify himself". At this meeting, due to the firm struggle of Sang Hongyang, only the liquor monopoly was cancelled, salt and iron were still patented by the court, and other policies continued to be implemented. Regarding the cause of Sang Hongyang's death, Historical Records records: "Hongyang thought his country was rich and powerful, with rich interests, cut off his merits, wanted to be an official for his descendants, and held a grudge against General Huo Guang, so he conspired with Shangguan Jie and others to kill him." In my opinion, this view is biased, and things are far from simple. Because Sang Hongyang's talent was far above that of Huo Guang, Huo Guang, who monopolized the imperial power at that time, always regarded him as a thorn in the side. After the death of the shrewd Sang Hongyang, only the old Prime Minister Tian wanted to protect himself. So no courtier can challenge the power of Fu Huo Guang. Sang Hongyang is just a victim of power struggle and one of the many tragedies in ancient court.