Zhao Gao showed a well-placed smile and said nothing - as an official of CRRC, he had no qualifications to participate in such a major national event, so there was no question of taking sides.
Of course, behind the scenes, he often showed his loyalty to his emperor and master, supported counties and counties, and despised enfeoffment.
At this time, Li Si and Chunyu Yue could recall that in the past, he could only show an awkward but polite smile and act as a mere bystander.
After Li Si finished speaking, Ying Zheng turned his eyes to Chunyu Yue:
"Dr. Chunyu, have you changed your mind today?"
Chunyu Yue stood up, bowed formally and responded, "Reporting to Your Majesty, I still insist that the old system should be restored and the princes should be ennobled to consolidate the world."
"I heard that the king of Yin and Zhou Dynasty was more than a thousand years old, and he named his descendants meritorious and made him his auxiliary branch. Now your majesty has a sea, and his descendants are common men. He died in Tian Chang. The ministers of the six ministers have no assistants, so how can they save each other?"
"It is unheard of that things can last long without following the ancient example."
Chunyu Yue paid no attention to Ying Zheng's thoughts and mood, or the occasion, and directly began to dissuade him.
Ying Zheng was not angry, and moved his eyes calmly to Li Si:
"Prime Minister Li, what do you, a non-ancient sect, think of Dr. Chunyu's words?"
The emperor ordered the general, and Li Si immediately stood up, thinking that this was the court, and began to refute Chun Yuyue:
"Dr. Chunyu's views are untrue."
"It is true that the king of Yin and Zhou was more than a thousand years old, but during these more than a thousand years, the king of Zhou existed in name but in reality. The so-called heroes of the descendants went on their own expeditions and ignored the king of Zhou. How can there be any support?"
"Don't forget what Mencius said: There are no righteous wars in the Spring and Autumn Period!"
"As for the doctor's words about Tian Chang, a minister of the Six Ministers, it is a bit unfounded."
After briefly refuting the benefits of enfeoffment mentioned by Chun Yuyue, Li Si continued to use his skills and began to show his true level:
"The five emperors will not be reunited, and the three generations will not attack each other. Each of them will govern, not the opposite, as time changes."
"Your Majesty will create a great cause today..."
.........If this is not forbidden, then the main force will be lowered from above, and the party will be successful from below!" (This paragraph is the original text of the Historical Records)
In this passage, Li Si refuted Chun Yuyue's theory of worshiping the ancients and also criticized various schools of thought and the people of Guizhou. Basically, he criticized everyone.
There is only one point that has been criticized. The various schools of thought and the people of Guizhou are not loyal enough. They are either disloyal or walking on the path of disloyalty. The scope of the topic has completely transcended whether to worship the past or the present, whether to enfeoff or to enfeoff the county.
This is an issue in the county.
In short, it's the same old theme - there are no two suns in the sky, and there is only one sun in my heart.
After listening to Li Si's eloquent remarks, Chunyu Yue and others secretly became suspicious.
Needless to say, Li Si's ability level, even Xunzi had to admit that he, a student who was no longer recognized, really had nothing wrong with his knowledge.
But even Li Si couldn't have organized the language in such a short period of time to give him such a slap!
Is it possible that this guy has been prepared?
This is acceptable. After all, the emperor has most likely planned to launch an attack on Little Sage Village today. Everything just happened was planned. It is normal for Li Si to communicate with the emperor in advance and make preparations.
But all the Confucian people, including Chunyu Yue, still cursed Li Si in their hearts.
Even Chun Yuyue, who was completely unaware of the situation, could tell that Li Si clearly wanted to be the vanguard of Yingzheng's attack on various schools of thought, and the first target he wanted to target was the Confucianists who respected Zhou Rites!
Not to mention Master Xun and the others.
They knew about the Book Burning Order, and they also knew that Li Si knew about the Book Burning Order.
Now that I see that Li Si is even willing to give Ying Zheng such an outrageous order, I wish I could cancel the accounts of the entire Li Si family on the spot!
But no matter how angry they are, they can't change the development of the situation.
Ying Zheng didn't deliberately communicate with Li before he came. With his style, he couldn't do such a stupid thing, but Li Si was smart enough. He grasped Ying Zheng's intention immediately and perfectly achieved the effect Ying Zheng wanted.
.
Before Chunyu Yue or others could respond, Ying Zheng spoke first and took over the conversation:
"I seem to have read these words before."
Li Si bowed to Ying Zheng and replied, "Back to Your Majesty, I submitted a memorial some time ago, and the above words are exactly the original content."
Then, without Ying Zheng asking any more questions, Li Si continued, "In that memorial, I also proposed ways to prevent this situation - of course, it was not the restoration of the old system that Dr. Chunyu advocated."
"In a nutshell, the above-mentioned chaos is a wrong thing that is neither beneficial nor harmful to the country."
"Since it is wrong, it is forbidden."
"I request your Majesty to issue an order to burn books!"
"History officials, not Qin Ji, all burned it.
If there is anyone in the world who dares to collect poems, books, or a collection of dialects from hundreds of schools of thought other than those held by doctorate officials, he will be guarded by them all, and Wei Za will burn them.
Anyone who dares to even talk about poetry and calligraphy abandons the market. Those who think that the past is not the present. Those who do not do anything when the officials see it are guilty of the same crime.
It is ordered not to be burned for thirty days and to be tattooed as Chengdan.
Those who don’t go away are books about medicine, divination, and tree planting. If you want to learn laws and regulations, take officials as your teachers!”
As soon as he said it, it was like a winter thunder, resounding in the hearts of everyone present, even Xunzi and others who had known about it for a long time were no exception.
No matter how externally he cuts off his relationship with Li Si, the fact that he was once a direct student of Xunzi cannot be changed.
At this time, when Xunzi heard his student say such "treasonous and unethical" remarks, despite his Qi-nurturing skills, he felt angry inside, his face turned red, and he almost vomited blood - he was angry at the emperor's ridiculous order.
, I am also annoyed that I have taught such a student.
The faces of the three brothers Fu Nian were gloomy, as if they had been splashed with ink, and they were all clenching their teeth, eager to get up and take action - just like the teacher-student relationship between Xunzi and Li Si could not be erased no matter what, Li Si's origin in Xiaoshengxian Village was also unknown.
Can be changed.
His earth-shattering request to burn books in just a few short sentences put Little Sage Village and the village on the pillar of shame.
As for Chunyu Yue... the old man was completely stupid.
Even in his nightmares, he could not imagine that a Confucian scholar could propose to the emperor the idea of burning books.
Is this something a human can do!?
He looked at Li Si blankly, unable to say a complete sentence, "You...you...you..."
When his brain finally came to his senses, he was so angry that his whole body was shaking, his beard was trembling, and he cursed angrily, "Absurd! Ridiculous! The greatest absurdity of all time!"
Everyone else was furious, but Ying Zheng looked calm, as if Li Si was just suggesting to him what to have for lunch tomorrow, and asked Chun Yuyue, who was about to faint from anger:
"Why, Dr. Chunyu thinks Xiang Li's suggestion is not good?"
As soon as Ying Zheng said these words, his attitude was clearly revealed. Chunyu suddenly turned his head when he heard this. He didn't care about the difference between superiority and inferiority. He stared at Ying Zheng with wide eyes, and then he couldn't breathe. He really fainted. .
Zhao Gao, who had been silent for a long time, finally found a chance to show off. He got up first and grabbed Chun Yuyue who fell to the ground before everyone else.
Then he didn't do anything too extreme. He simply checked the opponent's pulse, rolled his eyes, and said to Ying Zheng with a smile:
"Your Majesty, Dr. Chunyu is not seriously injured, he just fainted."
"Maybe it's because I'm getting older. After walking around in Zhuangzi today, my blood is surging and I can't support it for a while."
Chunyu Yue obviously fainted from anger, but he opened his eyes and lied, saying that he was tired.
Chun Yuyue is indeed not young, but he has always been in good health. Even if he walked around the Little Saint Xian Manor for a full circle, he would not faint from exhaustion.
But Zhao Gao didn't care and just wanted to talk nonsense. Ying Zheng just listened to the truth and quickly arranged for servants to help him.
Xunzi, who had been silent all this time, finally couldn't help but speak. His old voice was still full of sharpness - he didn't even make sense and directly attacked him personally.
"Zhao Fu Ling...oh, you are no longer the Zhongche Fu Ling, so how should I call you?"
Without waiting for Zhao Gao to reply, Xunzi shook his head and said to himself, "I'd better call you Zhao Fu Ling, there is no other title available."
"Ling Zhao, you have been with the emperor for a long time, but you have learned the art of talking nonsense from Li Xiangguo."
"Master Xun's words made me confused." Zhao Gao's expression changed slightly, but he maintained his composure and responded calmly, "Dr. Chunyu's physical condition is clear at a glance. I have heard for a long time that Master Xun is also a master of medicine, and he can still hide it from me. Can’t make it?”
Chun Yuyue's symptoms are commonly known as rapid fire attacking the heart. In fact, it means that the heart beats too fast and blood rushes to the brain.
But anger is not the only thing that can cause this situation. There are many possibilities. Anger is one, and any other excited emotion can also be used. The situation mentioned by Zhao Gao can also be used - of course, it is a lot of nonsense.
But it would be pointless for you to forcefully argue with him about this kind of thing, not to mention that it would be impossible for you to argue with him in front of the emperor.
Therefore, Xunzi did not hesitate and chose to attack directly.
"Of course what Zhao Fuling said is not a lie, and deception is not nonsense at best. It is just rhetoric." You have ulterior motives!"
Xunzi's words turned the blame on Li Si.
Being accused by his teacher, even though he was the left prime minister of the empire, Li Si couldn't get angry, and he couldn't even refute his teacher directly, but he could still defend himself.
But Ying Zheng got there before Li Si, and asked calmly, as if he was unaware of Master Xun's aura, "It sounds like Master Xun doesn't agree with his student's ideas."
Even when facing Ying Zheng, Xunzi still prioritized clarifying his relationship with Li Si:
"Your Majesty, I am not as good a student as Li Xiangguo."
"As for his idea... Since it is nonsense, what reason is there to approve it?"
"I think what Li Xiangguo said is reasonable and well-founded. Why are you talking nonsense?" Ying Zheng didn't care about Xunzi's previous sentence, nor was he angry. He still asked calmly.
"If there is no causal relationship, of course it is nonsense." Xunzi replied equally calmly, "Not to mention whether his impassioned statement at the beginning was correct, even if he was right, hundreds of schools of thought are arbitrarily discussing national policy. , slandering the emperor, swaying public opinion, forming cliques and conducting military campaigns... How does that have anything to do with the burning of books?"
"Why, it's hard for people in the world to achieve anything if they don't study, and they become beasts that can't speak or think!?"
"It's okay to say that all the scholars have evil intentions, and it's okay to say that the people in Guizhou are blind and foolish. Li Xiangguo can put all the blame on the hundreds of scholars and the people in Guizhou, but what does this have to do with the book?"
To put it simply, Xunzi said that it has nothing to do with the person who is killed by the sword.
Of course there is no problem with this, but it just doesn't make sense here in Ying Zheng's case - because he is the one who really places the blame on the weapons.
Back then, he was able to gather the soldiers of the world and cast them as the Twelve Golden Men. Now it is reasonable and reasonable for him to do the operation of burning books to fool the people - at least it seems reasonable to him.
However, Ying Zheng did not know how to argue with Xunzi directly, so Li Si took over the conversation wisely:
"What Master Xunzi said is certainly reasonable. If a sword hurts someone, the blame lies with the person. If the scholar criticizes the government, the blame naturally also lies with the scholar."
Xunzi repeatedly denounced his relationship with him, so Li Si could not force himself to be shy and call himself his disciple, so he could only call him Master Xunzi.
Li Si continued, "However, the swords are sharp and can hurt people and are useless to the people, so the imperial law prohibits them."
"Similarly, if a thoughtful person reads a sage's book but uses it to criticize the imperial court, then the sage's book will be useless to the people and harmful to the country, so the empire should naturally ban it."
Li Si's principle is also very simple.
As a tool, the sword is naturally innocent, but as a tool that can harm others and is not necessary, it is reasonable for the empire to ban it - although the strength of the empire's ban on soldiers is difficult to describe.
Books are equally innocent as tools, but if people are willing to learn the principles and use them to attack the empire and the emperor, then they should also be banned - but the same goes for reference books such as medicine, divination, and tree planting, which are necessities.
You can't say that people have to read a few "The Analects" before they can continue farming, right?
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! As for the need for scholars to govern the country, there is no need to worry.
The imperial court itself will still preserve the world's collection of books, and will naturally use them when necessary.
Speaking of this, Xunzi remained silent.
Reasonable reasoning no longer makes sense.
Li Si forcibly turned books and weapons into "contraband" that was not needed by the people.
Since it is not needed, then it is reasonable to destroy it, right?
But in fact, even if books are really not necessary, can all unnecessary things in the world be destroyed?
Xunzi also felt that the mountains to the west of Songhai were not necessary. Should the empire send people to dig them out?
People can be full by eating. Even if they need meat, there are still chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs. Shouldn’t we kill all other unused animals?
"Confucius said: It is only in the Spring and Autumn Period that you know that I have sinned against you!"
"But I don't know if you, Li Tonggu, can also say with a clear conscience that you know I have sinned, but the only way is to 'burn the book'!"
After saying that, Xunzi stood up and walked away.
Not only did he not care about Li Si's face, he also didn't care about the emperor's face - the last sentence was addressed to both Li Si and the emperor.
Ying Zheng's expression also changed significantly for the first time, revealing a little darkness.
To put it bluntly, based on Master Xun's behavior of leaving without saying goodbye, Ying Zheng's killing of him was considered in line with etiquette.
Zhang Liang stood up at this time - not only to make peace, but also to avoid anger:
"Uncle Xun is very old. He is often confused and moody. He usually meditates quietly. He may have been too tired today and was rude when he drove without paying attention."
"Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
Zhang Liang's request for Ying Zheng's forgiveness was very straightforward and effective - Master Xun was old.
Compared with Chunyu Yue, the old man described by Zhao Gao, Xunzi was a real old man who lived a long life, and was already an octogenarian.
