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Chapter 275: Discussing the Dao in the academy, he is just an ordinary man!
The climate in Zhongzhou is drier than that in Jiangzhou. Zhao Dabing felt his throat was a little dry, and the salt-baked peanuts didn't taste as delicious as before, and they choked his throat.

He rinsed his mouth with a sip of strong tea that he had kept overnight, then drove forward leisurely. The Xue family's carriage was more like a caravan than a carriage. They came to Zhongzhou to do business. The eldest lady led the group herself, and Chen Qingyan followed along.

"We've arrived in Zhongzhou, which is not far from the imperial city. Zhongzhou is not as big as our Chen Kingdom, and it's only a thousand miles away. Even if we're delayed on the road, it won't take too much time."

After walking for a while, although the sun was not so scorching, it was not a good idea to walk under the scorching sun. The Xue family's convoy stopped to one side and formed a car formation. There happened to be traveling merchants selling things.

The people in the car said a few words, and then Zhao Dabing went to stop the traveling merchants and asked, "Brother, what are you selling?!"

The honest man replied, "We sell good dates and homemade wine, which is cheap and tasty. Brother, do you want some?"

Zhao Da Bing laughed and said, "Come on, my shopkeeper sees that you are a little tired. The sun is hot, why don't you come and rest? It just so happens that we are a little thirsty after traveling. Since we have wine and dates, let's eat a little to quench our thirst."

"What do you call brother?"

The man said, "My name is Shi Wu, and this is my son."

"My name is Shi Yisong."

He pointed at a teenager over there. The boy's skin was a little darker due to the sun in Zhongzhou. He was dressed in cloth and had a wooden sword hanging on his belt. He held his head high and chest out, looking quite carefree.

Zhao Dabing laughed and invited them in, then bought some dates and distributed wine to everyone. The dates were crisp and could stimulate the body's thirst, and the alcohol content of the wine was not high. Since they were all skilled in martial arts, the wine and water were just like drinking water to them.

After a while, the caravan came to thank the shopkeeper, but they didn't expect that the shopkeeper who got off the carriage was a girl of seventeen or eighteen years old. She was quite tall, wearing a cross-collared jacket with a blue cloud pattern, dozens of fine pleats at the waist, and a horse-faced skirt that looked like water ripples when she moved. However, she tied her hair with a hairpin, and looked bright and charming.

Shi Wu and his son thanked respectfully.

The shopkeeper seemed to be very free and easy. He just let them sit there and asked someone to take the price for them without reducing a cent. He also allowed people to share their food with the Shi family father and son. He was commanding a large caravan of two or three hundred people, and everything was in good order.

He is a very generous and powerful shopkeeper.

The Xue family's Chamber of Commerce also has a shop in Shi Wu's hometown, but for such a large caravan, it must be a large shop at the county level, no, a county level, right?

Shi Wu was thinking about it, and his son Shi Yisong took the wooden sword given by the young Taoist priest and went to find the guards of the caravan, wanting to see their swordsmanship. The guards swung a few times, and it was indeed cold and sharp.

The guard thought this stubborn boy was quite cute and said:
"How about a trade?"

"Take a look at my sword, what do you think?"

He took out a sword, it was an iron sword, the shark skin scabbard felt good to the touch, when the sword was drawn out, it shone coldly, it must be a good sword. The Xue family could make a lot of money by being a guard when they went out to trade, so he put the sword there, Shi Yisong was very envious.

Then he imitated the chivalrous men in the martial arts world and said, "What a good sword!"

The guards laughed.

The guard drew his sword and said:

"How about I take this sword and exchange it with your wooden sword?"

Shi Yisong hesitated, but still shook his head, held the wooden sword, pushed back the hundred-tempered steel sword in front of him, and replied, "No."

The guard was curious and hadn't said anything yet when he suddenly saw someone coming. He then showed a stern and respectful look on his face and bowed, saying, "Boss." Shi Yisong subconsciously turned around and saw the woman standing there.

Shi Yisong was startled and instinctively swung out with the wooden sword.

The woman pinched it with just two fingers.

Then the woman seemed stunned for a moment, her eyes dropped, and then she smiled.

"Little brother, where did you get this sword?"

Shi Yisong replied, "Yes, it was made for me by a Taoist priest. We walked together for a month, and he carved this sword for me with a small carving knife!"

The girl smiled and said, "Can you show it to me?"

She was clearly able to display her strong martial arts and take the sword away directly, but she still asked Shi Yisong. Shi Yisong thought about it and said, "Okay."

He let go.

The young shopkeeper took the sword in her hand, her fingers gently brushed across the sword, her eyes drooped slightly, her eyelashes were very long, and her soft gaze was fixed on the wooden sword. On the sword body near the hilt, there was a freehand mark with the word "Li" engraved on it.

Shi Yisong muttered, "I originally wanted a world-class swordsman to write this character for me, but Taoist Li wrote it for me. I have no choice but to work hard to become a great swordsman myself!"

"This sword will be very famous by then!"

He said it proudly.

Very childish too.

Little Stone looked at the dazed girl, and his mind suddenly became smart. He asked in a low voice: "Boss, do you know Taoist Li?"

The young shopkeeper smiled and said, "Yes, I know him."

She sat on a stone nearby, holding the hilt with one hand and the fingers of the other hand gently pressing the carved sword marks on the wooden sword and slowly brushing over them. The little stone murmured curiously and said, "Master Li is so lucky that he actually has a friend like you."

"Have you grown up together?"

The girl smiled and replied, "No."

"It's just that we did play together when we were younger."

The girl asked again: "Why did you say that just now?"

Little Stone said very honestly: "Because Taoist Li is very poor!" He recalled and said again solemnly: "He is really very poor!"

The girl couldn't help but chuckle, but Shi Yisong pondered for a long time, and after recalling for a long time, he said: "But he is so poor, he eats flatbread every day, and has to eat our green onions. He eats the white part of the green onion himself and gives me the old green part of the green onion. He wears a whitened blue Taoist robe, but he still has a jade pendant on his waist."

"Well, he really treasures this jade pendant."

"You're such a grown man, but this is the only valuable jade pendant on your body."

"But I would rather eat pancakes and green onions every day than protect it."

"I wonder who gave it to him?"

The ten-year-old child expressed these feelings very frankly, but when he looked up, he saw the calm and capable young shopkeeper holding a wooden sword. There appeared an expression on her face that the child could not understand.

Shi Yisong reacted.

"Oh, that jade pendant, was it you who gave it to him?"

The young shopkeeper of the Xue family smiled and said, "Yes."

"It's just that I gave him this jade pendant because I hoped he could take it to the pawn shop to exchange for money when he needed it. There's no need to keep it forever. It's not a very special thing."

"What are you talking about!"

The child retorted, pointing at the wooden sword and shouting:

"I also want that good sword. I know I will never get it. Even if I go out with my father to do business for several more years and collect a lot of firewood for others, the money I save will be used to supplement the family income."

"I won't buy such a fine sword."

"But I won't take this wooden sword to exchange with him!"

"Because this is what the Taoist priest gave me, the wooden sword is more important than the good sword that I can never afford in my lifetime!"

"To Taoist Li, it must be something very, very important. It's not important just because it's valuable. Just like this wooden sword is very important to me because it was carved by Taoist Li. It must be very important to him."

"Because it was from you!"

The girl was stunned.

Shi Yisong was stunned.

Then after thinking, he clenched his right fist and slammed it hard on his palm.

"Oh, I understand!"

The child pointed at the young shopkeeper in front of him and said loudly and directly:
"you like him!"

Maybe it was because of the temple fair, or maybe it was because he was watching opera at the temple fair, but when Xiao Shitou said this, Shi Wu's scalp went numb. First he pestered the young Taoist priest to learn sword, and then he said this to the shopkeeper of the Xue Family Chamber of Commerce in the county.

A man who has done good deeds all his life feels that he is unlucky.

Only their own children would be so outspoken. Shi Yisong took his father to apologize, but the little guy did not hear what the amiable female shopkeeper said. Out of curiosity, little Shitou raised his head and looked over quietly.

Then, he saw the beautiful young shopkeeper holding the wooden sword. She did not object, but her face turned the same color as the most beautiful sunset in the sky, and even her ears turned red.

Shi Yisong thought.

How beautiful!
The girl returned the wooden sword to Little Stone and replied:

"Ah."

"Yes."

She said so.

So Xiao Shitou felt that this beautiful female shopkeeper was really brave like a hero. When he parted with the Xue family's Chamber of Commerce, the female shopkeeper personally handed a sword to Xiao Shitou.

So the little ranger wore two swords on his waist.

One of them was a sword given by the young shopkeeper.

One is the sword given by the young Taoist priest.

One of the swords was inscribed with "Xue" and the other with "Li". Shi Yisong was so happy that he couldn't calm down. He grinned and crossed the two swords together, saying in a very heroic and chivalrous manner: "If Taoist Li bullies you."

"I will definitely go find him!"

Then the young shopkeeper replied with a smile:
"He won't."

..............................

The stories in the martial arts world are turbulent, yet calm and intertwined like two fallen leaves blown by the wind. Li Guanyi changed into the scarlet unicorn-patterned battle robe and the golden hair crown he wore when he first entered Zhongzhou. He was originally holding the ancestor's ancient pine-patterned sword.

After hesitating for a moment, he put the pine-patterned ancient sword down again.

He picked up the Scarlet Sky Sword, put it on his waist, and then went to the academy in Zhongzhou. Today was the beginning of the academy's discussion of Taoism - King Gongyang Su had previously proposed a terrifying proposal that was enough to stir up the world.

The disciples of various schools of thought were born.

The power accumulated over the past eight hundred years is finally going to be revealed to the world. Even five hundred years ago, in the era of General Xue and Duke Chen, even three hundred years ago, when the heroic spirit tore through the decadent atmosphere of the entire world, the academy had never been born.

The world is going to change drastically.

This feeling became more concrete and clearer, but when Feng Xiao accompanied Li Guanyi, he did not have any expectations for today's discussion. He took a sip of wine and said, "My lord, what do you think we are fighting for today?"

"Is it the knowledge of great Confucian scholars? Is it the philosophy of various schools of thought?"

"of course not!"

Feng Xiao had a trace of worry on his face: "What we are fighting for is still the general trend of the world. This time it is just a literary fight on the surface, but in reality, it is just the countries and forces working together to take over the academy by relying on their influence."

"This is also the reason why the academy did not enter the secular world before."

"But I don't know why His Majesty King Su is willing to let the academy enter the world this time. Is he really not worried that the academy will be swallowed up? Besides, with these scholars and noble families around, if the students of the academy enter the Ying Kingdom and the Chen Kingdom, they can still be checked and balanced."

"What I'm afraid of is that once we enter Jiangnan, these great scholars and celebrities, relying on the wise men and people's livelihood of the world and their own disciples, will inevitably interfere in the direction of the entire Jiangnan and take advantage of their seniority."

"But we can't say anything yet."

"As soon as he opened his mouth, he knew that there was order of seniority and respect for the young."

"They have schools under their command, as well as students and disciples."

Feng Xiao ruffled his naturally curly hair until it became even more messy. He already knew why King Gongyang Su did not allow the academy to enter the world. He did not want the academy to be cut up and swallowed up, and he also did not want the major schools to drag down those young and inexperienced students.

This is to prevent our students from being used as knives by others and finally being thrown away.

We have arrived at the academy. It is not as solemn as usual, but rather bustling.

Feng Xiao drank half a pot of wine, and his face was a little drunk. He raised his head and said softly: "My lord, Ji Daochun's death has made you the opposite of the aristocratic family, and today a large number of talents are being snatched away. Chen and Ying are happy to see this." "And the big trend that Wen He and Ling Jun have compiled for my lord cannot be announced yet."

"In today's discussion of the Dao, you will be the target of those great scholars. Don't say you are stupid, they are very smart. On the one hand, they are smart, but on the other hand, they are also influenced by human feelings. Ji Daochun's old age and strength are not due to those conspiracies."

"When he was young, he also had some ambitions. The current Wen Xianggong was poor at that time, and Ji Daochun personally delivered books to him. Mr. Jiang went to school in the palace on a snowy night, but because of the heavy snow that blocked the mountain, his body became stiff and died, so Ji Daochun brought people to bring him back."

"At that time, Ji Daochun was 23 years old and had no success in the royal family. He carried Mr. Jiang, who was not well-known at the time, on his back for a whole night. When he returned, his legs and feet were frozen."

"There are many such things. All I can say is that Ji Daochun before he was fifty and he later behaved like two different people in many ways. Since ancient times, there have been many people who were full of vigor and vitality when they were young but became stubborn and confused when they were old."

"History is long, and it is recorded in books that most of the incompetent people died thirty years earlier. They are all favored by heaven."

"After all, if one can be recorded in history, he cannot be truly incompetent."

"It's a pity that he lived too long and ruined his reputation after his death."

"Now that he's dead, his connections and favors have become your opponent, my lord."

"So I'd rather die drunkenly before I get too old and confused."

Li Guan laughed and cursed: "You are still drunk."

Feng Xiao scratched his head and smiled, took a sip of wine, looked at the gate, and said, "I can't accompany you in, my lord, I have other things to do..."

He smiled and bowed, saying, "May everything go smoothly, my lord."

Li Guanyi said: "How many do you think we can take away from the academy with so many people gathered there?"

Feng Xiao replied, "Before you came to Zhongzhou, there were about a hundred."

"After the incident at Tiance Mansion, there should be one thousand, which is ten times the number. Your opponents are Chen and Ying, which have a history of three hundred years. They are great Confucian scholars, famous scholars, and schools that have accumulated for eight hundred years. You can compete for more than a thousand students with the reputation of one person."

"My lord's reputation is enough to be proud of."

Li Guanyi smiled and nodded, tied his mount beside him, and then entered through the solemn gate of the academy. The bluestone bricks were dim, and when he walked to the place where the discussion was held, it was already crowded with people, and the students surrounded the periphery in layers.

In fact, those who can listen and watch here today are all outstanding disciples from various major schools. More students cannot get close, so they use words and flying eagles to transmit the progress of the discussion to different places, and then the news is spread by storytellers, one of the nine schools of thought, the [novelist].

Li Guanyi had a good eye and had already seen Chen Dingye, Jiang Wanxiang, and Ji Zichang who were on the high ground. They were kings, and although they came here today, they did not participate in the discussion, but watched this scene from a high place.

Jiang Wanxiang was very skilled in martial arts. He noticed Li Guanyi and nodded slightly.

Chen Dingye's gaze fell down. His eyes were calm and cold, with a hint of chillness, but also with a different aura from the past. He raised the wine cup on the table and raised his glass slightly to Li Guanyi.

His eyes were cold.

They raised their glasses to congratulate each other, and then drank.

Li Guanyi paced slowly. There were actually a lot of students here, but when they spotted Li Guanyi, they were all startled for a moment, and then they retreated in layers. In front of Li Guanyi, a smooth path appeared as if the waves had been cleared.

Two great scholars are discussing philosophy.

What he said were all the words of sages, he quoted extensively and made witty remarks, using the words of sages to demonstrate his own political views.

However, the current discussions on the Dao are different from the original ones that were for the purpose of perfecting one's own path. Now, it is more for strengthening one's own lineage and suppressing others. If poor students do not join the sect, they will be unable to move forward.

This situation was not alleviated until King Gongyang Su ascended the throne of the academy.

When Li Guanyi arrived here, the discussion between the two great scholars suddenly stopped.

Their gazes all shifted to Li Guanyi. Their previous discussion was just a casual chat between each other. In fact, all their attention was on Li Guanyi.

This enemy of the aristocratic family, this enemy of the world.

A dignified scholar in the academy whispered, "The biggest thief in the world."

He fixed his eyes on Li Guanyi and said in a slow and low voice, "Do you want to destroy the order and rules of the world that have existed for eight hundred years? Qin Wuhou."

He could see the purpose of Li Guanyi's actions at a glance.

From those clues, he saw the characteristics of this [Enemy of the World]. What he saw was Li Guanyi, the man who destroyed the order of the Red Emperor era, and also the majestic White Tiger Sect.

Then the masters who had discussed Taoism before looked at Li Guanyi, bowed and told him their names.

"Cheng Rulong."

"Zhu Jingmian,"

"Meet Qin Wuhou."

Li Guanyi nodded calmly, Zhu Jingmian had already raised his eyes, and the old man said slowly:

"What does Qin Wuhou want?"

"I heard that you want to gather students and go to Jiangnan to teach the people to read and write?"

Li Guanyi said calmly: "Why not?"

Zhu Jingmian shook his head and said, "The people can be made to follow it, but they cannot be made to know it."

"The sages said that the people should be fed and clothed, well clothed and well housed, and then that's all. The people don't know how to distinguish, and they need a king to guide them forward. This is what is called a sage and a gentleman."

"Does Qin Wuhou want to hand over the sharp weapons to the people?"

Meanwhile, Chen Dingye, who was at the upper position, held up a wine cup and said calmly, "Li Guanyi has no foundation. I have never heard of or seen any great scholars from the academy challenging one person together."

Ji Zichang remained silent, looking at Li Guanyi with concern.

Originally, the order of the world was like a stagnant pool of water. He and Li Guanyi stirred up the stagnant water, and then waves arose. Those things that were originally accumulated and hidden under the calm stagnant water would appear at the first moment.

When the king travels, there will naturally be historians accompanying him.

The imperial historian behind Ji Zichang took up his pen and wrote down, whispering:

"In the autumn of the eleventh year of Tianqi, all the scholars in the academy attacked one person."

Ji Zichang clenched his fists, which represented the counterattack of the royal family.

All the philosophers and schools of thought came together to attack one man.

When people in later generations read history books, the first thing they will think of is that this person is bad.

When facing the emperor, the royal family will not be so reckless as to launch an open counterattack. Their counterattack will be a feminine one, which is hard to guard against but covers every aspect and corner.

Chen Dingye sneered and lowered his eyes indifferently: "Historian."

The Chen historian took a step forward.

Chen Dingye was drinking alone, his white hair hanging down at his temples, his wide sleeves with Chen State patterns hanging down, he said calmly:
"Record."

"In the autumn of the eleventh year of Tianqi, at the academy, Qin Wuhou fought alone against the other scholars."

The historian of the State of Chen agreed.

Jiang Wanxiang laughed and said, "Historian."

The historian of Ying State stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty."

Jiang Wanxiang said: "Take——"

"In the autumn of the eleventh year of Tianqi, Qin Wuhou fought alone in the academy."

Ji Zichang looked at the two men on his left and right, but suddenly lowered his eyes. At this time, the two great scholars below had already walked over and said in a leisurely voice:

"Qin Wuhou's body is worth thousands of gold, and his military exploits are outstanding, but why doesn't a gentleman cultivate culture? Why doesn't he revive the Red Emperor's law and re-establish order?"

"This is against all propriety and is immoral."

Another old man said slowly: "Etiquette, law, and the way of the king."

"Qin Wuhou is a minister, but he wants to change this ritual and law arbitrarily. His name is not right and his words are not smooth."

"You are going against the teachings of the sages again. How do you think, Qin Wuhou, that you understand the teachings of the sages better than the sage Master?"

Li Guanyi's palm was pressing on the Chixiao Sword. He knew that he could not win the argument with these two old masters - because they had their own perfect logic, and their logic and thinking were based on maintaining the order they were familiar with.

What they are maintaining are their own interests under this basic order.

This criticism has continued for eight hundred years!

Li Guanyi wanted to draw his sword, but he knew that he didn't care about this bunch of old and corrupt scholars. What he wanted were not the celebrities and great scholars, but the young students in the academy. The old ones were conservative, while the young ones were ready to keep up with the times.

But these old people have such great influence.

There was a hint of vitality in Li Guanyi's eyes. He saw a huge aura rising from the old man. This was the so-called "righteousness", which was the gathering of the self-will and aura of these great scholars.

They are majestic and vast, and although they are not warriors, they all have their own mysterious methods.

Right now.

A sound of footsteps that was out of tune with the current atmosphere targeting Li Guanyi was heard, and a calm voice said:
"In building a country and governing its people, teaching comes first."

"To think about the constitution and seek goodness is enough to gain fame, but not enough to move the masses; to follow the wise and to understand the distant is enough to move the masses, but not enough to transform the people. If a gentleman wishes to transform the people and establish customs, he must do so through learning."

The two old Confucian scholars were stunned. Thousands of people were watching the young scholar who walked to the side of Li Guanyi. The latter looked gentle and calm: "I am Guanyi's side, the one who will deal with you masters."

Zhu Jingmian frowned and said, "There is no reason for a teacher to come out on behalf of a student."

Wang Tong smiled and said, "It's available today."

He looked at Li Guanyi and said gently, "You are not good at these things. The discussion in the academy is about the teachings of saints and the righteousness of the people. After all, you are a martial artist and are not familiar with this."

Zhu Jingmian said, "There is one today. He is indeed the one who distorted Master's teachings."

Wang Tongdao: "Are people like you and me always limited to the Master's name?"

Cheng Rulong said in a deep voice:

“The sage’s words are profound and profound, and it is difficult to learn their true meaning even after a hundred years.”

Wang Tong smiled and said, "Master, will you be angry when you hear such words?"

"If a man can spread the truth, how can he know that those who come after him will be inferior to those who came before him?"

He then paced back and forth, saying, "Please."

Cheng Rulong and Zhu Jingmian frowned. They were of similar generation to Su Wang. How could a mere junior be qualified to discuss Taoism with them?

But the king was behind him, so he had to be patient and did not leave in anger. So he asked:

"...You are so arrogant, young man. Who do you want to argue with?"

Wang Tong shook his head, raised his head and looked into the distance, saying:

"How long will it take to discuss each one of them?"

"Everyone, and those who are waiting for the right moment..."

"Everyone, come together."

Wang Tong took half a step forward.

Li Guanyi was attracted by a force of energy, and he could sense that the majestic cultural spirit of the various schools of thought rose into the sky and dominated the four directions. In Li Guanyi's eyes, the entire academy seemed to have changed!
Master Wang Tong looked up and watched all this.

He coughed and said:

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid."

Putting his hands down, the young Confucianist straightened his back and said softly:
"I am just an ordinary man."

(End of this chapter)