Chapter 36: Debate
An elderly teacher at the academy said with a smile, "Dr. Zhu, aren't you embarrassing me? Although these guys are not well-educated, they still have some knowledge. How can an official understand them?"
Zhu Yuanhao shook his head and said, "No, no, haven't you heard that judging people by their appearance makes it difficult to tell the wise from the foolish?"
"When we study and learn, we cannot just read books. We should read more and learn more, observe the will of heaven and understand the feelings of the people. Even the peddlers in the market and the peasants can often speak simple truths."
His words were pertinent, but in his words he still treated Jiang Zhou as a street vendor, a villager or a peasant.
Zhu Yuanhao's words made all the students bow and say they were willing to learn.
"I'm telling you guys to speak one sentence at a time. Do you want to let me speak?"
Yan Xiaowu said impatiently: "Why? Are you afraid that you can't win the argument with my brother?"
All the students glared at him angrily.
Zhu Yuanhao was neither annoyed nor angry, and said with a smile: "Haha, you can say whatever you want, little officer."
Jiang Zhou patted Yan Xiaowu, signaling him to behave himself.
He was a little drunk, and his voice was much higher than usual: "You guys just talked a lot, but the meaning is just four words. Why do you need to say so much nonsense?"
"rude!"
The students shouted angrily, but Zhu Yuanhao waved his hand to stop them. He frowned at Jiang Zhou and asked, "Which four words?"
Jiang Zhou showed a little disdain: "Inner saint and outer king."
The eyes of several elders lit up slightly when they heard this.
Zhu Yuanhao asked tentatively, "What does it mean to be a sage within and a king without?"
"Naturally, the holy way is benevolence and virtue, and the kingly way is courtesy and governance."
Jiang Zhou said with a bit of disdain, "That's not bad, but it's too wishful thinking. If anyone really thinks that the world can be peaceful by following these four words, then that person must be an ignorant person who is high above others, does not know the sufferings of the world, and only knows how to daydream."
"presumptuous!"
"You are just a lowly official who can't read a single word. Where did you hear these heretical theories? How can you understand benevolence and righteousness?"
Benevolence, righteousness, propriety and governance are the ideals upheld by Confucianism.
His words were tantamount to insulting the entire Confucian school.
The students of Bailu did not draw their swords immediately because Li Dongyang had already stood up.
Li Dongyang stopped the students who were about to get angry and said to Jiang Zhou sternly, "What do you mean, young officer?"
Jiang Zhou glanced at the old man with a long beard who seemed to have great prestige, and smiled: "It's a good thing that you still have someone who understands."
He immediately glanced at the students who were glaring at him, smiled, and said loudly: "If I don't understand benevolence and righteousness, who else in this world can understand it?"
"The so-called benevolence is human, it is the heart of man and the nature of life."
"Ritual is the principle of heaven, the righteousness of earth, and the conduct of the people."
"Benevolence is the foundation of humanity, and propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame are the guidelines of humanity. They are the four pillars of a country."
"Without a foundation and a framework, a person cannot stand; without the four directions, a country will perish."
Taking advantage of his drunkenness, Jiang Zhou spoke eloquently.
This shocked all the students of Bailu Academy.
There was a look of disbelief in the eyes of Xu Wenqing and the noble young man.
Li Dongyang, Dai Yougong, Zhu Yuanhao and others were also stunned.
Even Yan Xiaowu behind him widened his eyes.
No one would have thought that a small demon patrol guard could speak such flowery words.
Not only that, these words were simply deafening to the ears of Li, Dai, Zhu and others.
Benevolence is the heart of man and the nature of life.
Ritual is the principle of Heaven, the righteousness of Earth, and the conduct of the people.
Benevolence is the foundation, propriety is the guideline, propriety, righteousness and honesty are the four pillars of a country.
Just a few short sentences, but they contain profound meaning.
The three of them looked at each other and saw shock in each other's eyes.
Zhu Yuanhao stood up, folded his hands in front of his chest, and bowed solemnly: "Young brother, do you have anything to teach me?"
His name has changed.
It is absolutely impossible for an ordinary official to say what he just said.
Although Li Dongyang and Dai Yougong did not move, they sat upright with solemn expressions.
"I don't dare."
Jiang Zhou was not a domineering person. He was just angry at the rudeness of these students, so he took advantage of his drunkenness to retaliate.
When others treated him with courtesy, he returned the courtesy.
For a man who spends most of his spare time in major libraries and has trained himself to be a master of words and a keyboard player, this situation can be summed up in one sentence.
I can't fight.
You can’t quarrel!
Jiang Zhou said calmly: "Taking benevolence as the foundation and etiquette as the guideline, there is nothing wrong with that."
"The benevolent love others, and people will always love them. The court cultivates rituals to control and guide the nature and behavior of the people. If everyone in the world can truly be benevolent and observe rituals, then the world will naturally be peaceful."
Li, Dai and Zhu nodded and agreed with him.
A scholar was dissatisfied and said, "This is what we all hold. Do you still need to say it?"
"hehe."
Jiang Zhou smiled and said, "That's the truth, but if we really follow this and regard benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and justice as the guiding principles to govern the country and the people, then I'm afraid it will be..."
He glanced at the students and slowly uttered a few words: "The country is about to perish."
“Bold!”
"shut up!"
“This is ridiculous!”
As expected, his words caused the students to curse loudly, and even several old teachers could not sit still.
Jiang Zhou was neither anxious nor afraid, he just watched them scold quietly.
"alright!"
Finally, under the dissatisfied gazes of Li and Dai, Zhu Yuanhao shouted to stop them.
Everyone stopped talking angrily, but still glared at Jiang Zhou.
Zhu Yuanhao swept his stern eyes over everyone before saying, "Young man, please continue."
Jiang Zhou smiled and said, "What you all want is for everyone in the world to be good. If there are countless people who do good, there are only a handful of people who do evil."
"In this way, the superiors don't need to work hard at all. All they need to do is issue a clear order, and the few evildoers will naturally be drowned and eliminated by the overwhelming trend of good in the world, and the country will naturally be peaceful."
"I am not very knowledgeable, I don't know if what I said is correct?"
The noble young man said, "Yes, you are a clerk, and although your words are crude and simple, you have understood some of the truth."
"The two words 'benevolence' and 'propriety' are the great principles of our Confucianism. If the world can all follow the principles of our Confucianism, cherish benevolence and observe propriety, how can there be any disasters and chaos?"
Jiang Zhou sighed and said only three words: "Is it possible?"
The noble scholar stood up and said righteously, "How can it be impossible? As long as we study poetry and books, understand the classics, and stick to our original intentions, when we are in the court one day, we will naturally make this great way popular throughout the world. By then, everyone will be blessed by the king's benevolence and know the etiquette of the sage king, and it will naturally be accomplished!"
Li Dongyang, who had been sitting quietly and stroking his beard, suddenly looked up and said, "From what you said, it seems that you don't agree with the rule of law by benevolence, righteousness and propriety."
"Although you did not mention it in your words, I, an old man with no talent, have understood your meaning. What you advocate is the word 'law'?"
Only then did Jiang Zhou look directly at the old man with a long beard who had been so quiet the whole time.
He said a lot, but he didn't say a single word related to "law".
Some words cannot be spoken out loud.
After hesitating for a while, Jiang Zhou gritted his teeth. He had said so many big words before, so he was not afraid to say more.
He immediately said, "To be a sage within and a king without, the sage way is benevolence and virtue, the kingly way is respect for propriety, this is a great way, but this great way is blocked."
The students were angry and wanted to scold, but Li Dongyang stopped them and looked at Jiang Zhou seriously.
Jiang Zhou was not afraid: "This world is too big to be governed by the opinions of one family."
"I am not advocating the 'law' system, but when it comes to governing a country, 'law' is indispensable."
“If there were no law, people would just laugh it off when someone was killed. No one would know right from wrong, and they would just compete to see whose fist was bigger.”
Li Dongyang stroked his long beard and said with interest: "What you said is indeed reasonable, but I am not incapable of doing anything. On the contrary."
"Since your Majesty came to the throne, the legislation has been the most stringent in history, but why is there still so much unrest in the world?"
"How many people disregard the strictness of the law, take risks, and break the law. From this , it seems that the word law is not applicable. Isn't it because those who break the law do not know benevolence and etiquette?"
Jiang Zhou smiled slowly and said, "Old sir, what I said is 'one law', not the law."
Li Dongyang's eyes lit up: "Oh? What's the difference?"
"Humph, you're just being mysterious..."
Someone among the students murmured in a low voice, and was glared at sternly by Zhu Yuanhao.
"Nothing is better than a single and solid law. Use power to establish authority, use tactics to control ministers, and use law to control the people. The law does not favor the rich, the law does not bend, the punishment does not spare ministers, and the reward for good deeds does not exclude ordinary people. The most taboo is to contradict the old and the new, to contradict each other, and to change the order every day."
Jiang Zhou spoke these words quickly and with ups and downs.
He didn't care whether others could understand him or not, and he didn't intend to explain. There was no need, and he didn't dare to.
He didn't stay in the Sujing Division for a long time, but it was enough for him to see many things.
The laws of Daji are indeed strict, but they are also full of drawbacks.
The problem of not punishing officials and not extending courtesy to common people also exists in this world, and it is even more serious.
Criminal law is for common people.
Etiquette exists for noble people.
If common people break the law, they should be punished. If they have done meritorious deeds or good deeds, that is what they deserve and it is what you should do. It is not worth mentioning.
On the contrary, there are many cases where nobles are not punished for their crimes, do nothing, but are praised for their merits.
Most of the students had confused eyes, only a few looked thoughtful, including Xu Wenqing.
Li Dongyang, Dai Yougong and others listened with excitement in their eyes.
