Facing Xunzi's angry outbursts, Ying Zheng remained expressionless throughout.
You could tell he was definitely in a bad mood, but he wasn't really angry.
During the whole process, Li Si couldn't help but tried to stop him several times, but Ying Zheng remained unmoved and listened to everything quietly.
The emperor didn't say anything, so Li Si naturally couldn't overstep his authority, so he could only follow and listen to the whole process.
After listening, Ying Zheng remained silent. He neither punished Xunzi and Fu Nian on the spot, nor did he graciously accept Xunzi's "slightly" radical "advice."
He just silently signaled Li Si with his eyes to send the person away.
This time, Li Si could no longer maintain the superficial skills he should have as a student of Xunzi, and casually sent Fu Nian Xunzi away - which is what the outside world saw.
The three of them were laughing at Li Si and the emperor.
Although the emperor did not get angry or break his guard, he was able to listen to all Xunzi's words in silence, in a sense because he had no way to refute.
This does not mean that Ying Zheng cannot refute Xunzi's remarks.
There are many ways to refute it. Just let Li Si talk nonsense like before, and he can deflect it. You can even say anything in the world that Wang Tu will forcefully block Xunzi.
Although the original intention of this sentence was not to emphasize the king's supreme power, no one could refute Ying Zheng's explanation.
But these rebuttals have one thing in common - they all lead to the end of Ying Zheng.
Whether he directly refutes it with the emperor's authority, or whether he ends up being sidelined, the emperor Ying Zheng has to step forward. It is nothing more than the difference between doing it all by himself and cooperating with Li Si.
Either way, it is a somewhat embarrassing behavior for Ying Zheng.
In order to promote book burning before, it was enough to order him to die once, but if he did it again now, it would be a bit of a loss of face.
Of course, it would be humiliating to refute Xunzi with fallacious reasoning, it would be humiliating to be pointed in the nose and scolded by Xunzi, and it would even be humiliating to chase people away as soon as Xunzi opened his mouth.
When Xunzi gave up his own life, and even gave up the entire Little Sage Village, the emperor's face was inevitably torn off, no matter how embarrassing it was.
Ying Zheng chose to listen silently and then take revenge. It was not a good choice at all.
But the same goes for other options.
Now that you have lost your face, it is not easy to pick it up again with dignity.
Unless Ying Zheng can spare Confucianism, show absolute magnanimity, and then cancel the book-burning order and show enough mercy, it will appear that the Little Sage Village is making trouble unreasonably.
At that time, Confucianism, which emphasizes heaven and earth, king, parents and teachers, will turn into a group of villains who frame and belittle the emperor for their own interests. The original moral high ground will collapse, and the emperor's face will naturally be restored.
But... for Ying Zheng, the price he had to pay for this little bit of face was a bit high and not worth it at all. It was putting the cart before the horse.
Fu Nian and others would naturally be happy to be able to block both ends of the emperor's life.
Although the price is heavy, but...even if you don't hate the emperor, he still wants you to die!
Being happy alone is not as good as being happy as everyone is, and being happy as everyone is not as happy as being happy at all.
He looked at Fu Nian with an open face and said with a leisurely smile, "To be honest, I'm a little surprised that Senior Brother you would actually take Uncle Xun to see the emperor."
Fu Nian calmly replied, "Uncle Master is an elder. The elder has a request, and it is a reasonable request. I have no reason to refuse."
Logically speaking, Fu Nian's meeting with the emperor was to ease the conflict between Confucianism and the empire. As the most senior and highest-ranking Confucian at present, Xunzi was the most reasonable, otherwise the emperor would not directly agree.
It's a pity that the emperor did not expect that Xunzi's temper was more violent than he thought - but this is quite reasonable, Xunzi was too old.
When Xunzi was active in all the countries in the world, Qin was still under the rule of King Zhaoxiang, and he was the great-grandfather of Yingzheng.
When Ying Zheng was born, Xunzi entered the Chu State as a county magistrate and was no longer very active. When Ying Zheng really came to power, Xunzi completely lived in seclusion in Xiaoshengxianzhuang (according to historical facts, Xunzi died when Ying Zheng came to power.)
Although Ying Zheng admired Han Fei as a follower of Xunzi, he had no more accurate knowledge of Xunzi other than his name. At most, he heard that Xunzi had an eccentric temperament.
As for how special it is, it is difficult to have a clear understanding. After all, it is taboo for venerables and elders, and few people will mention Xunzi's past "ups and downs".
Of course, the reason Fu Nian gave was just a pretext.
The emperor didn't understand Xunzi, how could he still understand him?
Xunzi made it clear that he was looking for trouble. The fundamental reason why he could agree was that he also wanted to find trouble.
The head of Confucianism is a gentleman, a traditional gentleman who is upright and upright in the eyes of others and himself, but a gentleman also has a temper.
Even if he carries the life and death of Little Saint Xian Village on his shoulders, he still has the temper he should have.
Of course, part of the reason is that Fu Nian doesn't think he can really turn the situation around.
He wanted to see Ying Zheng to persuade him again, but he just did his best to obey fate. Since Xunzi, an elder, risked his own life, he naturally had nothing to say.
Yan Lu put his hands behind his back and smiled lightly and replied, "The Analects of Confucius says: Those who know something is impossible but do it - the head senior brother must have the style of a sage."
Fu Nian shook his head, "Fu Nian is incompetent, how dare you compare yourself to the sages and tarnish their holy names?"
"If you really want to know that it is impossible and do it, you should be Master Xun."
Xunzi was already an octogenarian, and his age was his greatest protection, even more useful than his status as a great scholar.
He didn't want to die. Even if Ying Zheng wanted to destroy Xiaoshengxian Village, he would let him go and carry the old man down the mountain respectfully.
This does not mean that older people will have a golden medal to avoid death, but it is a habit of Chinese civilization since ancient times to respect the old and love the young.
As long as their humanity has not been destroyed, these two types of people will generally not be killed.
Even Ying Zheng would be as merciful as possible - this may be one of the reasons why Ying Zheng could bear to listen to Xunzi's insults. It would be too shameful to fork the old man out on the spot.
Zhang Liang couldn't help but smile knowingly when he heard this.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! If there is anyone in the world today who can compare with the sages who have long gone, it is only Master Xun.
Because strictly speaking, when Xunzi was active, there were still many famous scholars and sages in the world, and he also interacted with many of them.
For example, Zhuang Zhou from the Taoist family, Zou Yan from the Yin Yang family, Gongsun Long from the famous family, etc...
When he was active, it was still the heyday of various schools of thought. However, after Xunzi gradually retired to seclusion, the disputes among the countries in the world gradually disappeared. Although there were still seven warring states, the Qin State was the dominant one, and the six countries were conservative and self-defeating.
The general trend has been formed, and all schools of thought have lost the soil for their continued prosperity.
Apart from Xunzi, the most qualified person is his outstanding student Han Fei.
As for Fu Nian and Qi Lu, although their names are famous, their level is still far behind.
"Speaking of which, where is Uncle Xun?"
Fu Nian nodded towards the library to the north and said, "I'm going to read when I get back."
Zhang Liang and Yan Lu laughed again when they heard this.
Fu Nian asked Zhang Liang at this time, "How are the arrangements for the students in the villa?"
"Those who should leave have already left, and those who are still left...are not willing to leave." Zhang Liang replied simply.
Many of the students at Xiaoshengxianzhuang came from ordinary families, but there were also some from high-ranking families, and many of their families were even imperial officials - there were local officials in Songhai, but there were also high-ranking officials from other places, including the central court.
Their origins destined them to be unable to coexist with Little Saint Xian Manor - of course, there are also a very small number of people who betray their origins.
And those students who have nothing to do with the empire are not all afraid of death - there is nothing shameful about it, the only way to survive the hardships is to die.
As early as when the situation went wrong, a group of students had already left. Later, when the situation worsened, another group left. Those who are still staying in the villa are really unwilling to leave even if they die.
Fu Nian sighed softly when he heard this.
He didn't want anything to happen to any of the academy students, but he couldn't stop them - he couldn't force them down the mountain.
Even if they are driven out, they may not stop making trouble with the empire, so they might as well stay in the academy.
"Then... two junior brothers, please follow me to teach the remaining students a few more lessons."
After Fu Nian finished speaking, he turned around and walked towards the school.
Master Ban can tell that time is running out for Xiaoshengxian Manor, and so can Fu Nian.
At this time, it is not appropriate to sit and wait for death, something must be done.
Yan Lu and Zhang Liang looked at each other and smiled, then followed suit.
………………
At dusk that day, at the foot of Xiaoshengxianzhuang Mountain, the imperial army completely blocked the entire mountain gate, and those standing at the forefront were Zhao Gao and his Six Sword Slaves.
Zhao Gao set up a chair like Zhou Zheng, looking arrogant, and the Six Sword Slaves also had different postures, and they didn't look very serious.
On the mountain, at the gate of Little Sage Village, the three heroes of Qi and Lu stood in a row with their hands clasped behind their backs.
The empire is ready to take action, and it's time for them to come out and fight.
As for those students, there is no need for them to come forward, they can just stay in the villa.
If the emperor still has a sense of compassion, they may still have a chance to survive. If not... then there is no need to engage in meaningless resistance.
As the three heads of Little Sage Village, the three of them must come forward. This is not only their due responsibility, but also an explanation to the empire - they must have enough heads.
Zhao Gao, who was at the foot of the mountain, glanced at the sky. The sun was already setting, and it would soon turn dark.
So he got up and started walking towards the mountain. Six Swordsmen immediately picked up his sword and followed him.
At the same time, outside Songhai City, Gao Jianli Xuenu Gai Nie Tianming Shaoyu led a group of Mohist disciples and men from the Xiang family and rushed towards the city.
However, a person blocked their path.
Wei Zhuang put on his most commonly used pose, holding a shark tooth and blocking the middle of the road.
Gao Jianli and others who were stopped were a little confused.
Wei Zhuang and Zhang Liang have been close friends for twenty years, and there is no way they would stop them, so they want to join them?
But it doesn’t look like...
"Mr. Wei Zhuang, what do you mean?" Gao Jianli stepped forward and asked.
"Can't you see? Blocking the road." Wei Zhuang raised his eyes and replied calmly.
Tianming became anxious when he heard this, "We are going to rescue Third Master, where are you blocking the way!?"
"I was entrusted by someone, and it's you who are stopping me." Wei Zhuang replied calmly, as if he was not in a good mood.
"Entrusted by someone?" Tian Ming was stunned, because he was anxious and his mind was not very clear, so he didn't want to curse loudly, "Has your brain been kicked by a donkey? Can you get paid for this kind of thing? You don't care about the life or death of Third Master!?"
Wei Zhuang blinked his eyelids, but after all, he still didn't care about Tianming.
It was Gai Nie who saw clearly and stepped forward to point out the facts:
"Zhang Liang should have invited you here, right?"
"Ha!" Wei Zhuang sneered and mocked, "It seems you can still come up with an idea."
Gao Jianli and others were stunned when they heard this answer.
"Third Master...what is he thinking!?" Tianming muttered in disbelief.
Gai Nie explained the reason calmly, "He just made the choice that a disciple of the Little Saint Xian Village should make."
From the very beginning, Zhang Liang repeatedly emphasized that no one else could help Xiaoshengxian Village in this crisis.
This inability is not due to lack of strength.
Although the Mo family cannot help Little Shengxian Village fight against the empire head-on, if they just want to save people, it is really not a difficult task.
Little Shengxian Village's own strength is not bad either.
But Xiaoshengxian Village cannot unite with others.
In the face of the empire's criticism, they could resist and kill them at the slightest provocation. That is not called loyal to the emperor, but that is mentally ill. Confucius would have scolded him a few words even when he was alive.
But they cannot join forces with any anti-Qin forces to resist the empire, otherwise they will really be rebels with ulterior motives, and the empire can throw whatever dirt they want on them.
This is something that Xiaoshengxian Village cannot accept. Otherwise, even if it survives, Xiaoshengxian Village will exist in name only but in reality.
Therefore, Zhang Liang must not let the Mo family and Xiang family appear in Songhai at this time.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The help requested in the previous letter was only for the Moh family to secretly take care of the surviving disciples afterwards.
If the empire blindly kills everyone, those students with family backgrounds may be able to survive, but those students with ordinary backgrounds will be really in danger.
Of course, other factions of Confucianism should handle this matter, but if something happens to Xiaoshengxian Village, it is hard to say what kind of turmoil will happen to Confucianism. Secondly, he cannot trust other Confucianists.
From the beginning to the end, Zhang Liang only felt a sense of belonging to Xiaoshengxian Manor, and his feelings towards Confucianism were very average.
Zhang Liang also expected that the Mo family would not stand still as he said, so he specially called Wei Zhuang to stop him.
As for why Wei Zhuang didn't intervene... First, it was a matter of identity. Wei Zhuang was now a wanted criminal, and second, he and Gu Xun were in similar positions, so it was difficult to take care of them.
There are some things that not even a biological father can interfere with, let alone just friends?
"This...this..." After Gai Nie's reminder and Zhang Liang's repeated emphasis before, Tianming immediately figured out the key, but he couldn't accept it.
He has been living on the streets since he was a child, and has experienced life and death several times at a young age. Compared with fame, Tianming values human life more.
At this time, he could understand, but could not accept Zhang Liang's approach.
"Are we here just to watch the Third Master and the others die?" Tianming spread his hands and shouted to everyone, "I don't care, he is alone and can't stop us!"
Gao Jianli and others hesitated, but did not respond to Tianming's words.
It's about the century-old reputation of Xiaoshengxian Manor, so they can't force it.
Gai Nie said at this time, "It's not convenient for people from the Mo family to come forward. How about you and me?"
"Ha!" Wei Zhuang sneered again and asked, "The bounty you put on the empire's bounty list is more than this group of people combined, what do you think?"
