noveltune Chapter 5505 Honored in the Temple of Confucius
Chapter 5505 Honored in the Temple of Confucius
Chapter 5505 Honored in the Temple of Confucius
Fang Jun sipped his tea and said calmly, "Your Highness is the crown prince and the foundation of the nation. To protect Your Highness is to uphold the law. We, as your subjects, should be ready to die for you without hesitation. However, although His Majesty is currently naive and innocent, he will surely have ambitions in the future. Who can guarantee anything today?"
He looked directly at Empress Su and said, "If I were to give you a guarantee now, it would only be to deceive you into submitting to me. After I've had my fun, what can you do when I deny everything in the future?"
Empress Su's pretty face turned deathly pale. Her beautiful eyes glared at Fang Jun as she gritted her teeth and said, "Even if you take advantage of me and then deny it, I'll still accept it!"
Fang Jun was stunned. Knowing that I might deny it later, you're still so willing to go through with it?
By binding him to the chariot of the Eastern Palace, the Empress won, and all the sacrifices were worthwhile.
Even if nothing comes of it in the end, just being able to sleep with him feels like getting a good deal...
"Your Majesty is wise. Anyway, you're not at a disadvantage, are you?"
Empress Su's face turned from white to red, and she said angrily, "What nonsense are you talking about? I don't know how much I've paid or how much I've suffered!"
Fang Jun asked suspiciously, "How come I can't see that you're at a disadvantage? Could it be that your so-called request for my support of His Highness was just an excuse, and you're actually after my strong arms and muscular chest... Ouch! Your Majesty, have mercy!"
Empress Su, filled with shame and anger, simply leaned over from the coffee table and pinched Fang Jun's arm hard, twisting the skin around it.
A stunningly beautiful woman was so close, her fragrance like orchids wafting in the air. Her upper body, reaching across the coffee table, possessed exquisite lines; even through the slightly open neckline, one could glimpse her warm, white skin and the curves of her breasts…
Fang Jun avoided eye contact and begged for mercy in a low voice.
Empress Su also realized that she had lost her composure. It seemed that all her composure was gradually weakening and even collapsing in front of this man. His words became more and more intimate and his behavior more and more ambiguous.
He loosened his fingers and turned back to his seat.
The fingers tucked into her sleeves seemed to still retain the feel of the firm muscles on the other person's arm, making her heart race even faster. Her stunningly beautiful face flushed crimson.
She raised her hand to smooth the stray hairs from her temples, finally catching her breath, and said softly, "As the saying goes, 'One who stays near vermilion gets stained red, and one who stays near ink gets stained black.' Children's temperaments are not yet formed and they are easily influenced by others. They need to be guided and educated little by little. If you just leave them to grow up unattended like this, there is a great chance they will go astray... You don't want the Crown Prince to become estranged from you in the future, do you?"
Fang Jun shook his head and said, "The Empress still fails to understand and see through the current situation. The four words 'restricting imperial power' seem treasonous, but in fact, it is the future that everyone in the world yearns for. Tell me, who would be willing to have their life and death in the hands of others, and have their life and fortune depend on the whims of others?"
Empress Su remained silent.
This is actually the crux of all the problems. As the power of the imperial family, nobles, and powerful clans further weakened and they were no longer as strong as before when they "ruled the world with the emperor," a most obvious and direct crisis was once again presented to them.
When one's life, fortune, honor, and disgrace are all determined by the emperor's whim, who can guarantee their own interests?
Fang Jun said softly, "Ruling the country by law is an inevitable trend."
Whether they were members of the imperial family or powerful clans, they had now largely lost their military power, and even the number of their private armies was strictly limited, greatly weakening their influence. Yet, they had amassed enormous wealth through maritime trade, and felt increasingly threatened by the imperial power.
How can one ensure that their wealth can be passed down through generations and not be seized or plundered by powerful forces?
There is only one answer, and that is to govern the country by law.
Only by placing everything under the management of laws and regulations, and ensuring that there is a law to follow, can we safeguard our own interests—as long as I pay taxes according to the law and abide by the rules, even the emperor can't do anything to me!
Given the current flourishing development of the Tang Dynasty and the rapid social changes, this is an inevitable path and an unstoppable trend.
Anyone who goes against the tide is making an enemy of the entire world.
The only outcome can be utter destruction.
*****
The water boiled, sounding like the sound of pine trees rustling in the wind, or like the eyes of a crab.
Gai Wenyi took out a tea cake, its color a mix of green and white down, from a chest under the tea table. It was spring tea from Guzhu. He held it with a tea tong and slowly roasted it over charcoal until the aroma filled the air and the outer shell began to wrinkle slightly. While still hot, he wrapped it in paper, crushed it with a tea mallet, and then put it into a tea grinder. He pushed the grinder wheel with both hands, round and round, until the fine powder, like dust, fell into the tea sieve.
By this time, the water in the pot had reached its second boil. He scooped out a ladleful and waited. Then he sprinkled in tea leaves, followed by salt, scallions, ginger, dates, orange peel, mint, and other ingredients, which he added one by one in turn. He whisked the water vigorously, creating swirling eddies and white foam.
Add a ladle of cold water, and it will boil three times and be ready.
Use a wooden spoon to scoop the tea into a teacup. The foam in the bowl is like snow. Take a light sniff; it smells like mountain mist, morning dew, and the crisp autumn air outside the window.
Take a sip, close your eyes and savor the taste, nodding your head and making smacking noises.
Kong Yingda, Yu Zhining, and Gu Nalu sat opposite each other, each picking up their teacups to taste the tea, praising it highly and looking thoroughly satisfied.
Gu Nalu savored the aftertaste and sighed, "Nowadays, tea is often stir-fried. Although you can see the true flavor and the fake products are natural, it lacks the complexity and richness of brewing tea. It's like a cow chewing on a peony. Moreover, its tea is cold in nature, and I have never been used to drinking it."
Yu Zhining also said, "The tea-brewing skills of the two gentlemen are renowned far and wide, and can be described as unparalleled. Today's tea tasting is truly a life well-lived."
Gai Wenyi, with a humble smile on his wrinkled face, shook his head slightly and declined to comment.
His elder brother, Gai Wenda, was one of the "Eighteen Scholars of the Qin King's Palace". Together with him, they were known as "Er Gai" and were both famous scholars in the world.
Gu Nalu was a descendant of the Dongyi people, but he was very learned. When Kong Yingda was compiling the "Correct Meaning of the Five Classics", he asked Gu Nalu to help him. Chu Suiliang jokingly called him "the Nine Paths Library", praising his profound understanding and familiarity with Confucian classics.
The four of them together represent almost the entirety of contemporary Confucianism.
……
Kong Yingda is very old now. Although he still holds the title of academy doctor, he is in poor health and lacks energy, and has long since stopped teaching at the academy.
Hearing Gu Nalu's words, he smiled and said, "Whether you boil tea or stir-fry it, it's just different ways of preparing the same thing. The tastes are different, but the result is the same. In the end, don't we all just fill our stomachs? Hehe."
The other three also laughed, but each with a different meaning.
Who could fail to hear that Gu Nalu was using his critique of tea-making methods to question the flourishing development of the "investigation of things" in modern times?
This person had Dongyi ancestry, but was more devoted to "Confucianism" than many Han people, regarding all doctrines other than Confucianism as heresy.
In the eyes of traditional Confucian scholars like Gu Nalu, the method of boiling tea is one of the traditions they must strictly adhere to. They regard the method of boiling tea as "rites and laws," a root that gentlemen must strictly uphold and pass on, and they would absolutely not accept the simplified method of frying tea...
However, Kong Yingda had a different opinion.
Whether you boil tea or stir-fry it, it's still tea, something you're going to drink. So what's the difference?
Gu Nalu frowned, looking at Kong Yingda with worry in his eyes: "It's not that I'm narrow-minded and can't tolerate other doctrines, but the 'investigation of things' claims to advocate nature and follow the laws governing the universe, but in reality it's absurd and misleading, quantifying everything in the world and believing that all things have their fundamental rules... If this continues, it will inevitably lead to people becoming mercenary and calculating, and the collapse of morality and social order!"
This is the biggest criticism that Confucianism currently leveles against the principle of investigating things.
Confucianism emphasizes "morality," "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness," which are the most basic qualities of a person. These things are extremely subjective, and it is difficult to accurately measure a person's moral level by how many good deeds or bad deeds they have done. It is even difficult to define a person's moral level before they die.
The core of Confucianism is "metaphysics," which is abstract.
But the way of investigating things quantifies everything; right is right, and wrong is wrong—it's something that can be clearly seen.
For ordinary people, it is as difficult as climbing to heaven to measure "morality" and "benevolence and righteousness," but they can easily define the way of investigating things.
Take governing a country as another example.
When faced with specific problems, Confucianism can only offer theoretical guidance, which may be correct, but it is lofty and shrouded in mystery. How to interpret it depends on individual aptitude, and there are thousands of different methods and no two are the same.
But the principles of investigating things taught the officials detailed solutions: how to build cities, how to repair dikes, how to build ships, how to cultivate the land...
The world's acceptance of the principle of investigating things is increasing and becoming more widespread.
Almost all middle and lower-ranking officials from Confucian backgrounds began to read and study various books on the principles of investigating things, drawing knowledge from them to help them handle specific affairs.
Not to mention the heretical doctrine that "the earth is round," which subverts Confucian principles. How could Confucian scholars not realize the danger involved?
This led to the current situation where Gai Wenyi, Gu Nalu, and Yu Zhining jointly visited Kong Yingda.
Not to mention that Kong Yingda's mastery of Confucianism was first-rate, his prestige and status during the "Renhe" dynasty alone were enough to earn him the title of "Grand Master of Confucianism".
Unexpectedly, Kong Yingda's attitude was like this.
Yu Zhining lamented, “We, the descendants of Confucian scholars, inherit the legacy of the sages, uphold morality and righteousness, cherish the ambition to govern the world and revitalize the country, and shoulder the responsibility of educating all people. How can we stand by and watch Confucianism decline from our hands? In the future, we will have no face to meet Confucius in the afterlife!”
His grief and sorrow were palpable.
Kong Yingda took a sip of tea, slowly put down the teacup, and looked at Yu Zhining with a strange expression. He asked, "Brother Zhongmi, are you confused? The Sage resides in the Confucius Temple and is worshipped by his descendants for generations. How can you see the Sage in the afterlife? Or do you think you are worthy of being worshipped in the Confucius Temple?"
He clicked his tongue, seemingly realizing that his words were a bit sharp and might belittle Zhi Ning, so he added: "Of course, my virtuous brother Zhong Mi is learned and has written many books. If he were to study diligently for another ten... twenty... decades, he might not be without the opportunity to be honored in the Temple of Confucius."
Yu Zhining: "..."