The Sage of Confucianism and Taoism

Chapter 1668: The Death Contest

Dong Wencong sat in the car for a long time, then entered the discussion board holding the official seal and told what happened in the past two days. At the end, Dong Wencong added a sentence from Confucius.

Politics is justice. If you lead with justice, who dares not to be just?

This sentence explains Confucius' understanding of those in power. To govern and rule, one must first be upright and fair. If the rulers are upright in words and deeds and fair in dealing with things, and set an example, then the officials and people in the world will be upright and will not go astray.

Soon, a large number of scholars responded to Dong Wencong's article.

"Two years ago, I thought he was just a gifted child, but today I have come to my senses. In front of Fang Xusheng, I am just an ordinary man. Dongzhou Mu ended with the words of Confucius, probably to say that Fang Xusheng is upright and sets an example for himself, and has already embarked on the path of Confucianism!"

"Fang Yun, who did not punish any official or hurt any citizen, proved the ability of officials with his own body, and relieved the worries of the people with his actions. He has the appearance of a great sage!"

"Until today, I know what it means to 'if one is upright, he will act without being ordered; if one is not upright, he will not obey even if ordered'. Fang Xusheng is upright, even if he did not personally order the people to leave, the people left on their own. Xiangzhou officials are not upright, and even if they repeatedly order, no one leaves."

"We went to the streets yesterday, and we will solve it today. Mencius said that 'civil affairs cannot be delayed', and Fang Xusheng's actions today are as fast as thunder, which is in line with Mencius's way."

The crowd continued to connect Fang Yun's actions today with the famous sayings of the saints, and praised him.

Some people also criticized Fang Yun for seeking fame and reputation, which attracted criticism from many people.

A Qingguo Jinshi said angrily: "If living by the wastewater is seeking fame and reputation, then everyone in the world is a greedy pig and dog!"

"If this method is to seek fame and reputation, then I really hope that all officials in the world will use this method to gain literary fame!"

The voice of opposition was quickly suppressed. Half an hour later, the reply of an old scholar in Kongcheng shook the discussion list.

"The world is great, but without sincerity, it cannot transform all things."

At first, some people thought it was written casually, after all, some scholars like to reply to other people's articles randomly, but soon someone understood the intention of the old scholar.

"Hey, the one above, the Xingdian invites you to have tea."

"Light a candle for the one above, and observe a moment of silence."

"Someone seems to not understand? I'll add a sentence here, this sentence was said by the sage Xunzi, who is good at commenting on the saints."

Now everyone can see that, for the sake of the wise, the man said that Xunzi was good at "commenting on the saints", which was actually "criticizing the saints", but everyone understood it when they connected the complete words.

The original text in "Xunzi" is: Heaven and earth are great, but without sincerity, they cannot transform all things; sages are knowledgeable, but without sincerity, they cannot transform all people; fathers and sons are relatives, but without sincerity, they will be distant; monarchs are respected, but without sincerity, they will be humble.

The meaning of this sentence is not profound: Even if the heaven and earth are vast and boundless, if they are not sincere, they cannot nurture all things. Sages know everything, but if they cannot be sincere and honest, they cannot educate all people. Fathers and sons are connected by blood, but if they cannot be honest, they will be alienated from each other. The king is respected and noble, but if he cannot treat people with sincerity, he will become humble.

If the old scholar finished this whole paragraph, he would naturally be praising Fang Yun for being honest and able to manage the people well. However, he deliberately concealed the following words, which meant that he was not only praising Fang Yun, but also secretly accusing the Qing Kingdom's half-saint of being dishonest, allowing Qing to exploit Xiangzhou and allowing Qing people to incite and deceive the people to take to the streets to oppose.

Afterwards, many scholars staged an unprecedented "suicide contest" under this article.

The old scholar kicked off the prologue, and soon others followed suit.

"Qi Ming and Jie."

The original words in "Xunzi" are "Qi Ming and Jie, a saint", meaning that a half-saint can always keep his mind sharp and his wisdom extraordinary. Now removing "no" is implying that a certain half-saint is not a half-saint.

"Measure yourself by others."

The original words in "Xunzi" are "A saint is someone who measures himself by himself", meaning that a half-saint is someone who can deduce things by his own ability. The people who discuss the list said the opposite, naturally saying that some half-saints cannot do this.

Later, the comments below this article were completely out of control, and Dong Wencong had to lock this article and not allow anyone to reply.

Dong Wencong quietly put away the official seal and looked out of the carriage.

"The Xu Sheng moved to the workshop. I wonder if the one in Fengzhou will settle down by the Yangtze River..."

Dong Wencong thought to himself and shook his head with a smile.

The Zong Sheng lived in Fengzhou.

That evening, officials in Xiangzhou received a message.

Just today, Fang Yun personally mobilized personnel to investigate and arrested a group of people who went to the papermaking workshop to make trouble.

As soon as this happened, it caused an uproar.

Most people were silent, but a small number of people began to criticize Fang Yun on the discussion board for defrauding the people, persuading them to leave first, and then secretly arresting people, which was not a gentleman's behavior.

Several officials in Xiangzhou actually ran to the discussion board to issue a statement, expressing their opposition to this unkind and unjust governor, and demanding that the Qingguo cabinet and the queen mother give an explanation to the people of Xiangzhou.

Soon, the gossip spread to all parts of Baling, and those who participated in the streets were angry and panicked.

Da'ao Village has more than 200 households. It is a fishing village by the Yangtze River. Most people here make a living by fishing. After learning that the papermaking workshop that had harmed a generation of people appeared in Baling City again, hundreds of people in the village even stopped fishing and went outside Baling City to oppose the establishment of the workshop.

Now, the whole village gathered in the south of the village. Many people wanted to go out, but Liu Sanzi and others stopped the villagers.

"Liu Sanzi, are you still a human being? Our fellow villagers were arrested by Fang Yun, the dog official, but you don't let us go to appeal for justice?"

"Liu Sanzi, did you accept money from Fang Yun? I suspected it at that time. You are so impulsive and reckless, and you explode like a firecracker. Why did Fang Yun let us leave the papermaking workshop and go home without saying anything!"

"Damn Liu Sanzi, if you don't make it clear today, I will stab you to death!" A fisherman held a harpoon and stared at Liu Sanzi.

Liu Sanzi was over 30 years old, strong, dark-skinned, with a two-inch scar on his face, and looked helpless.

"I say, fellow villagers, do you know that Fang Yun is the famous Xu Sheng? Such a powerful and smart person, would he go back on his word? It would never be his thing to drive us away first and then arrest people!" Liu Sanzi said earnestly.

"Then why was my nephew arrested?"

Liu Sanzi said: "Are you sure Fang Xusheng knew about this? Maybe he didn't do it at all, or he couldn't control those people who arrested him."

"Bullshit, he is the governor, how can he not control those officers and soldiers."

"People are killed every day in Shengyuan Continent, can a saint control it? Don't say it so absolutely." Liu Sanzi said.

"No matter what you say today, I will rescue my nephew!" said old man Geng.

Liu Sanzi said: "I say old man Geng, I see that you are a good person, so I talk to you and discuss it. Since you don't know how to respect me, I will tell you clearly. What kind of person is your bastard nephew? All the villagers present, anyone who knows old man Geng's nephew, please stand up and say what kind of person he is! Let me first tell you a few things I saw with my own eyes, scolding a 60-year-old mother, touching a widow's buttocks, picking up his five-year-old child and hitting the debt collector when he was being chased for debt, beating children on the 1st, 3rd and 5th, and beating his wife on the 2nd, 4th and 6th... I'll stop here, who of you wants to add anything?"

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