Half a mont later, Li Xuan and the Jijiu Quan Dingtian of the Guozi Bureau, were seated high at the top of Mingjing Hall.
Even though the roof of this hall had been blown off, leaving only the four walls intact, the atmosphere inside was even more solemn and inspiring than before.
Li Xuan felt slightly uncomfortable amidst the burning admiration and reverence – even awe – shown by those around him.
Now he not only had to arbitrate for the five Darus, but he had also beco an admired figure to the five thousand students of the Guozi Bureau.
A perceived as regular man suddenly thrust into the position of the Confucianism leader, took more than a mont to adjust.
However, he concealed his discomfort well and gently asked the Master Yade on his right, Fang Ming, "During your debate, Mr. Ikawa ntioned, ’Better to die of starvation than lose one’s integrity.’ Can I assu that soone ntioned ’Fear of starving to death in the future’ beforehand?"
"Yes!"
Fang Ming did not wish to persist on this issue anymore because, after all, the diator chosen by Master Yu was beyond questioning. Wasn’t whatever he said undoubtedly correct?
But Li Xuan’s next sentence made his expression more serious, "I recall that Guanzi said, ’When granaries are full, people know to conduct with propriety; when food and clothing are sufficient, people are familiar with honor and disgrace.’ How do you all view this statent? Do you agree with it?"
"Those words are from ’Guanzi·Mu Min’." Fang Ming nodded slightly, then pondered and said, "The respect Saint had towards so of the teachings of Guanzi. And I do believe these two statents make a lot of sense."
Li Xuan continued to ask with a smile, "So I dare to ask you two, does the state of today live up to the standards of full granaries and food-and-clothing-sufficiency?"
According to his knowledge, although the land of this world was highly productive with exceptional fertile paddy fields and wheat fields, the constant upheaval caused by demons had rendered many farmlands undeveloped. Additionally, the general populace burdened by the heavy taxes imposed by the Liudao Division, led to a hard life.
"That is why Master Yu and Mr. Ikawa said they had no other choice."
Li Xuan laughed, "To expect those poverty-stricken people to conform to the morality, propriety, and integrity of a gentleman would be asking for the moon, wouldn’t it? I think we, Confucianists, should devote more efforts towards ’Bringing Peace’. Surely ’Teaching and Reforming’ will follow naturally in peaceful and well-fed tis?"
As per his knowledge, there was indeed a gradual upliftnt of ethical values among the people with the rise in prosperity during his ti. However, one had a hard ti controlling one’s heart after being well-fed and well-clothed.
Wasn’t there a saying that goes like, "With a full belly, one’s mind turns to yin desires"?
But every word of his sounded completely reasonable.
As everyone was plunged into deep thought by his words, Li Xuan spoke again, "Moreover, about the argunts concerning the benefits of righteousness and the conflicts between reason and desire. While I don’t fully understand the forr, I believe Jijiu Quan ntioned that ’The Book of Changes’ states ’The benefit is the harmony of righteousness,’ and Master Yu has said that ’where there is harmony, there is benefit.’ This indicates that, in the eyes of Master Yu, righteousness and benefit are interconnected and inseparable. Regarding ’the conflicts between reason and desire,’ I understand even less. But–"
His voice paused, then he glanced at the many Jianshengs and continued, "The phrase ’Keep the heavenly principle, extinguish human desire,’ doesn’t necessarily imply that principle and desire oppose each other. As we all know, the ’Heart Asking Bell,’ a holy item, originated from the Lianxin Clan twelve hundred years ago.
It is said that the mbers of this clan practiced self-deprivation from emotional desires, hence their extrely cruel behaviors. This led to their eventual extinction by the hands of Master Yu himself. It’s clear to see that our desires are not necessarily monsters to be abhorred. If humans only acted according to ’propriety’ and had no desires, would those be considered humans?"
At this point, Master Jingyuan Kong Xiu was as uncomfortable as if he had eaten a fly. He thought ’the debate about benefits of righteousness and the dispute between reason and desire’ couldn’t be as simple as how Li Xuan had put it.
But Li Xuan was endorsed by Neo-Confucianism, and criticizing him was almost impossible unless Master Yu was reborn or the Hufa of previous generations were to reappear.
Seeing that the two of them had been ’persuaded’ by Li Xuan’s reasoning, Siye Tong gave a triumphant smile, "Mr. Hufa’s words make great sense, a true representation of Master Yu’s intentions. I believe both of you agree as well. If so, there shouldn’t be any dispute concerning the final ’Book’ test of our Guozi Bureau. Do you have any other questions or comnts?"
Master Jingyuan Kong Xiu helplessly remained silent and Fang Ming, from beginning to end, maintained his calm deanor.
Just as Siye Tong was about to declare the final decision, a student from the Guozi Bureau stood up and said, "Master Siye, I disagree!"
The audience was stunned as their gaze shifted to the protesting student. It turned out to be Xi Hanqing, the disciple of the left Shilang of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites. He looked furious, "Long Rui and Wang Jing invited to participate in the ’Number’ test as the referee, it’s a clear case of cheating! Hence, I believe this test is unfair."
His words sent a shocked gasp through the crowd. Everyone’s astonished gazes shifted towards Long Rui and Wang Jing. They thought this was not just unfair, but outright cheating!
Among the two, Long Rui, who had a thicker face, was only slightly embarrassed, while Wang Jing, with a blushing face, quickly stood up and said, "I can swear, we both did not know beforehand that Colonel Li was the Hufa of Neo-Confucianism."
At these words, the crowd’s outrage dampened a bit as they trusted Wang Jing’s integrity.
Li Xuan nodded slightly, "They didn’t indeed know in advance, but that should not be considered a violation, should it?"
He was composed, not thinking he did anything wrong.
This?"
Siye Tong felt a headache: "Indeed it is not against the rules, the rules we set before didn’t say that Mr. Hufa could not be invited to participate--"
At that ti, they assud that renowned scholars in Nanjing City would cherish their reputation and wouldn’t possibly directly participate in this kind of young generation’s dispute, so they didn’t set any restrictions on who could be invited.
However, before Siye Tong could finish his sentence, Quan Dingtian, twirling his beard, interposed, "Let’s have another round! It will still be Shi Wen Zhi Yi, and those who ranked in the top hundred previously can participate. This ti, let’s take the sentence ’Ke Fu Yuan Yu, Bu Xing Yan, Ke Yi Wei Ren Yi’ from the Analects as the topic, and the best one can participate in the ceremony at Xiao Mausoleum."
At this, the several prominent scholars present couldn’t help but look sideways at Quan Dingtian. They thought to themselves that this man was really cunning, wasn’t it well known that his two disciples were weak in arithtic?
Quan Dingtian’s remark just included his disciples and avoided their weak points. His intention to protect his disciples was very clearly shown.
But since other Jianshengs also had a chance, everyone else didn’t bother arguing with him.
After everything was settled, many Rujiao students still lingered in Mingjing Hall.
Li Xuan’s achievent today, creating ten great poems overnight and grievously injuring the Knife Demon Li Zhetian, will surely shock the whole world and the entire Confucianism.
Even hundreds of years later, this will still be a Confucian tale widely told and savored.
As participants in this grand event, even after two hours, everyone was still thrilled and could hardly contain their feelings.
Quan Dingtian was the most decisive. He imdiately handed over a scroll, "Mr. Hufa, please seal this."
Li Xuan opened the scroll and found that inside were the ten poems he had written. The preface was ’Chasing Li Zhetian and Singing Poems of Ambition, Nine Poems and One Spring of Qin Garden, and One Pair of Couplets.’
Quan Dingtian’s handwriting was excellent, like iron paintings and silver hooks, full of vigor and montum, and complented these poems perfectly. Li Xuan felt humbled.
When did he find the ti to write this?
Li Xuan couldn’t help but laugh, he took out his seal from his sleeve and stamped it on the scroll.
The Jijiu knew his background and only asked him to stamp the seal without signing it.
Fang Ming and Kong Xiu both couldn’t help but glare at Quan Dingtian upon seeing this.
These great scholars usually concealed their emotions well, but now they didn’t hide the envy in their eyes.
Quan Dingtian’s scroll not only included the ten classic poems but also absorbed the true aning and overflowing energy of the Guozi Bureau. The result was formidable.
However, having seen Quan Dingtian took the lead, the four scholars followed suit, writing the poems on the spot and asked Li Xuan to stamp them afterwards.
Surrounded by students of the Guozi Bureau, they crowded around Li Xuan like a vast sea of people.
Most of them did not have the resources of Quan Dingtian. They didn’t carry around space artifacts to store papers and pens, so they salvaged materials on the spot. They stripped Mingjing Hall bare, divided the wooden boards among themselves, wrote down poems, and had Li Xuan stamped his seal on them.
Although Li Xuan’s arm beca sore from all the stamping, he enjoyed the whole process and didn’t reject anyone.
Although this rock star treatnt made him feel novel and proud, Li Xuan’s own cunning was also one of the reasons he enjoyed it.
He knew that after today, these five thousand students who participated in the battle will beco his most loyal followers in Confucianism and the foundation of his authority as the Hufa of Neo-Confucianism.
Exchanging a stamp for these people’s support was a very profitable deal.
It was not until two hours later that Li Xuan left the crowd. As soon as he stepped out of the main gate of Guozi Bureau, escorted by Quan Dingtian and others, he imdiately saw Xue Yunrou.
The young girl looked at him with such passionate eyes that they could lt iron and stone. There was joy, concern, gratitude, admiration, and worship in her eyes.
Seeing this, Li Xuan’s heart was invigorated, thinking that he might have a chance tonight and that second base, third base, even ho run were all possible.
But just as Li Xuan was about to approach Xue Yunrou, he suddenly frowned and vomited blood. Then, an unprecedented pain and weakness began to attack his body, making him feel dizzy and faint.
While Xue Yunrou was frightened, not far away, Lady Jiang, although worried, quickly ca up with a plan. She briskly waved her sleeve, "Hanyun! What are you standing still for? Hurry up and take Xuan back to the clinic, and let your father treat him!"
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