"In this matter, the Imperial Master has shown great kindness to the village of Xiaoshengxian and to hundreds of schools of thought." Xunzi was greatly pleased after hearing this.

At his age, even if he has advanced martial arts skills, he may die at any time, and he may not be able to get up one night after sleeping.

Therefore, he really saw the turmoil in the world more and more lightly.

This book burning incident was probably the only thing that made him really angry in the past twenty years, apart from Han Fei and the Li Si brothers.

It's the only thing that really matters to him.

Xunzi thought that Gu Xun could provide help in this matter, which was a great favor to the world, so he deliberately asked Fu Nian to make some concessions to Gu Xun.

Fu Nian himself had similar thoughts, and nodded when he heard this, "Fu Nian will definitely keep this in mind."

"Concerning the book collection, there is one more thing I need to ask my uncle for advice. Do I want to continue to make rubbings and add copies?"

"Of course, there's no need to ask!" Xunzi glared at his rigid nephew like a fool, "Impossible to make as many rubbings as you can!"

Confucianism, or almost all schools of thought, is stuck with one problem, that is, there are not enough books. To be precise, under normal circumstances this problem will continue to exist for thousands of years.

If it weren't for the fact that copying books takes up a lot of time for academy disciples, Little Sage Zhuang would only wish to make hundreds of copies of each book.

What's more, there is also the threat of book-burning orders. One more copy of a volume means one more possibility to preserve these books.

Fu Nian naturally had no objection to this, so he just mentioned it and continued:

"This last thing is also Fu Nian's real purpose of coming here today. I want to ask my uncle to clarify his doubts."

"Not long ago, General Meng Tian defeated the wolf army in the north. After the news came back, many people in the government and the public began to have doubts."

"In the Battle of the North, Meng Tian was the chief general and the eldest son Fusu was the supervisor. According to the regulations of the empire, His Highness Fusu also made great contributions. Therefore, many people hope to use this to persuade the emperor to withdraw his orders and summon His Highness Fusu to return to the court."

"There are also many fellow Confucians among them."

"I don't know how Uncle Master thinks I should behave in my little Shengxian Manor?"

For Confucians, if Fusu could succeed to the throne, even if he could not become their ideal Holy Emperor, he would definitely be much better than Ying Zheng.

So they are also very active in this matter.

Fu Nian knew that he should not meddle in the matter of establishing a heir apparent, and it was unlikely that he would use the military exploits of the North to allow Fusu to return to the court, but he... was still somewhat tempted.

Because he also sincerely hopes that Fusu will inherit the throne, so that everything in the empire may be reversed and will not continue to deteriorate.

To be honest, he had even considered asking Gu Xun about Fusu.

He didn't understand why Gu Xun seemed completely indifferent to Fusu's demotion.

Hearing this question, Xunzi fell into silence for a while, and then replied after a while:

"Since you came here specifically to ask me, you must be interested in helping Su?"

Fu Nian bowed his head and said, "The eldest son is a talented scholar, honest and kind-hearted, and is loved by everyone. Apart from him, Fu Nian really doesn't know who else can be the heir apparent."

"Do you still know your duty as a minister?" Xunzi's face turned cold and he asked in a deep voice.

The establishment of a crown prince is a major event for the country, and it is also an important matter. As ministers, they naturally have the responsibility and obligation to advise the emperor to establish a crown prince, but they should not try to go beyond the emperor to decide on the candidate for the crown prince.

Because according to Zhou rites, there is no second choice for the crown prince.

Of course, today is different from the past, the Zhou rites have been abolished, and the emperor can make whoever he wants as the crown prince.

But as ministers and those who learn the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, they still should not overstep their authority.

Fu Nian lowered his head and did not answer Xunzi's question.

He knew he shouldn't do this, but... there are things a gentleman must do as well as things he shouldn't do.

The saints Confucius and Mencius never encouraged Confucian disciples to blindly submit to imperial power.

In fact, Xunzi also supported Fu Nian. He only asked this question to see what Fu Nian was thinking. Now that he had the answer, his face relaxed and he asked softly:

"how do you want to do it?"

"Fu Nian... we don't have a clue yet." Fu Nian lowered his head and replied in a deep voice, "There is absolutely no chance of success in submitting a letter to ask Chen, but if it fails this time, His Highness Fusu will probably be even more..."

"There is also the Imperial Master, whose attitude is also unpredictable."

Xunzi glanced at him when he heard this, and replied in an erratic voice, "It seems that you still have an idea... Then do it according to your idea."

"Don't forget, you are the head of Little Saint Xian Manor, and it is up to you to make all decisions."

After a moment of silence, Fu Nian stood up and bowed to Xunzi, "Fu Nian understands."

"I understand, let's go, don't disturb my rest." Xunzi waved his hand to chase people away impatiently.

Fu Nian bowed again, then said goodbye and left.
Chapter completed!