Chapter 42 Determining the Future Direction of Confucianism
In the house that was packed with people just now, in the blink of an eye, only Chunyu Yue and Fusheng were left.
Fusheng carefully rolled up the "Analects of Confucius" - this was engraved by Yan Hui, a disciple of Confucius.
If it weren't for making things difficult for Chunyu Yue today, he would never have taken out this copy of "The Analects of Confucius". He had originally intended to pass it down to his descendants as a family heirloom.
"Chun Yuyue, what on earth are you thinking?" Fu Sheng said angrily, "You did that at the court meeting, and then you sent Zhang Ping and four others to the tower after noon. What are you planning?"
"Brother Fu, you don't need to worry about these things, just focus on your studies. The more you know, the more you can guarantee that there will still be Confucians in the future. But whether the Confucians in the future will be the Confucians of today is your business. Isn't this how we have always divided our work?"
Chunyu Yue smiled implicitly, his brows and eyes were gentle, and he did not look like he bore any grudge against Fu Sheng at all.
If Chunyu Yue had said this in the past, Fusheng would have just given up. This kind of conversation between the two had happened more than once or twice.
But not this time.
Fu Sheng's palms traced the knife marks on the bamboo slips, and the bamboo texture moved across them.
The rough and concave touch made Fu Sheng unable to calm down.
The road to spreading Confucianism is also so bumpy.
He and Chunyu Yue had agreed on this before.
One in the Lord - studying Confucianism.
One focuses on external matters - spreading Confucianism.
Fu Sheng originally thought that what he was doing was several times more difficult than what Chunyu Yue was doing.
Now he found out that he was wrong.
Because by studying Confucianism, at least there is no need to worry about one's life or reputation.
As for Chunyu Yue, not only did he almost lose his head today, but his reputation was also nearly ruined.
After rolling up the bamboo slips, Fusheng spread a straw mat placed against the wall on the ground.
He took the clay teapot and teacups from the table and placed them in the middle of the straw mat.
Fu Sheng took off his shoes, knelt down on one side of the straw mat, pointed his palm at the other side of the straw mat, and said to Chun Yuyue, "Sit down."
"Why is it so?"
Chunyu Yue had no choice but to take off his shoes and kneel on the other side of the straw mat like Fusheng, sitting opposite him.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, after Confucius led his disciples to travel around the countries and encountered setbacks, he finally returned to his parents' country, Lu, with the help of Ran Qiu.
From then on, Confucius devoted himself to writing, editing and compiling the "Book of Songs", "Book of History" and "Book of Rites", and writing the "Spring and Autumn Annals" from his own point of view.
At the same time, lectures were given. During the lectures, there was no distinction between high and low status, and everyone sat on the floor. At one point, the number of disciples reached three thousand.
This is what it means to sit and discuss the Dao.
From then on, any Confucian disciple who sat upright invited others to sit and discuss.
If the invitation is accepted, it means that the topic that both parties will discuss next will be the most solemn and serious matter.
Although the teapot is called a teapot, what it pours out is not tea soup, but hot water.
Tea was a luxury that only high-ranking officials with an annual salary of more than 1,000 dan could afford.
In the Qin Dynasty, being able to drink hot water anytime and anywhere was already an extremely good condition, after all, charcoal for boiling water was very expensive.
Fu Sheng held up the teacup with both hands, handed it to Chun Yuyue, and said sternly: "I apologize to Brother Chun Yu. What I did today was because I didn't know the current situation. If Brother Chun Yu still respects me, please drink this cup. And tell me your thoughts truthfully."
Chunyu Yue also took the teacup from Fu Sheng with both hands and said nonchalantly, "We are both Confucians, so what's wrong with you?"
He brought the teacup three inches to his lips, paused for a moment, and then put the cup handed to him by Fusheng back on the straw mat.
"Brother Chunyu, you don't want to drink, but you don't want to forgive me?"
Chunyu Yue looked at Fusheng with some confusion and anxiety. He had no idea how to deal with this nerd who only knew how to read .
Chunyu Yue let out a long sigh and uttered a word helplessly.
"hot!"
The water in the teapot was the boiling water that Chunyu Yue had just boiled.
Chunyu Yue didn't even need to bring it to his mouth; the heat was burning his lips painfully even though it was only three inches away!
"Uh, it's another case of being inconsiderate and inconsiderate."
Seeing Fu Sheng's embarrassed look, Chun Yuyue said sincerely: "Brother Fu, let's forget about this discussion today."
"No! I must understand Brother Chunyu's difficulties and solve his doubts! You and I are both Confucian students, so we should advance and retreat together!" Fusheng rejected it flatly, with a generous look on his face.
"...Okay." Chunyu Yue couldn't bear to attack Fusheng again.
He agreed verbally, but in his heart he was thinking: If you just study hard, that would be the greatest help to me.
"Duke Xiao of Qin promoted Gongsun Yang of Wei, who reformed the Qin State and made it strong. The six generations of Qin kings have all followed the fundamental principle of ruling the country by law, without any change. Your Majesty is now able to unify the world, and the Legalists have made great contributions. Do you agree with what Yue said, brother Fu?"
Although Fu Sheng was extremely reluctant, he was a person who did not want to tell lies.
It was indeed the Legalists who played a huge role in the rise of the Qin State. The Confucian disciples came to the Qin court only after the country was unified.
Fu Sheng nodded reluctantly, not even wanting to say the word "recognize".
Chun Yuyue continued, "Although your majesty is familiar with the classics of various schools of thought, his inclination is absolutely that of the Legalists. For Han Fei alone, your majesty marched to Han to threaten King An of Han. He promoted Li Si, who was once a retainer of the rebellious Lü Buwei, and made him the Minister of Justice of the Nine Ministers. He required officials of the counties and prefectures in Guanzhong to popularize Qin law to the people and make sure that everything is decided by law. These things your majesty has done are enough to show that among all the schools of thought, your majesty only favors the Legalists. The position of the Legalists in Qin cannot be shaken."
Fu Sheng was stunned.
This was the first time that Fu Sheng heard these words. Chunyu Yue had never said these words to him before, and he had never cared about the situation.
He was only obsessed with Confucianism and studied books such as "Shangshu" and "Analects of Confucius" in depth.
"In the court, haven't the number of my Confucian disciples exceeded that of the Legalist disciples?"
"That's all false."
Chun Yuyue shook his head and said, "Most of my Confucian students hold the position of Doctor with an annual salary of 600 dan. They have the right to discuss but no real job. They just look numerous and powerful. On the other hand, the Legalists have the Shangqing Tingwei with an annual salary of 2,000 dan, Tingwei Supervisor with an annual salary of 1,000 dan, and Tingwei Zheng with an annual salary of 1,000 dan. It would be more practical to call the Tingwei Mansion located on the main avenue in Xianyang the Legalists Mansion."
"Oh, in fact, my Confucianism is not only inferior to the Legalists, but also to other schools. The disciple of the School of Diplomacy, Dun Ruo, is a senior minister, the disciple of the School of Names, Yao Jia, is a senior minister, and even the disciple of the Mohist School, Meng Fu, is a senior minister. My Confucianism seems to have many people, but there is not a single senior minister!"
Perhaps it was because he had never told anyone about his inner plans, and these things had been suppressed in Chunyu Yue's heart for a long time. Now that he had opened his mouth, he could no longer stop. Without waiting for Fusheng to speak, Chunyu Yue continued to tell the story.
"The power of our Confucianism is manifested in governing the country and pacifying the people, not in fighting and slaughtering. In troubled times, it is difficult for our Confucianism to compete with other schools of thought. The Qin State is happy to hear about war, and Your Majesty likes to show off his achievements. Therefore, in the Qin Hall, there are no Confucian disciples in high positions."
"Your Majesty leads the world with the law, and accepting our Confucianism into Qin is just a move to gather people's hearts. In fact, Your Majesty has never taken Confucianism seriously. If we want our Confucianism to become a prominent school of thought, it is impossible to pin our hopes on Your Majesty, who is obsessed with military aggression. Therefore, the prominence of our Confucianism lies after Your Majesty's death, in Qin II!"
