Chapter 47 -42: Meeting the Gentleman_3
“Hmm?”
“Is it good or not?” The hem of his robe was tugged again.
“Not good.”
Zhao Rong’s lips curved into a smile. “As expected of you, Su Xiaoxiao, to easily speak words I wouldn’t have anticipated.”
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“You go be bad yourself; Xiaoxiao won’t care about you anymore.”
“Do you think reading too much will make you bad?” Zhao Rong asked leisurely.
...
Su Xiaoxiao originally didn’t want to pay attention to him out of spite, but after a while, she still gave a soft hum.
“Who told you that reading too much would make you bad?”
“Isn’t that just what happened with Lin Wenruo? He read so many books, and the more he read, the worse he got. He did so many bad things; it would’ve been better if he hadn’t read at all.”
Zhao Rong’s smiling expression became more serious, and his eyes slightly narrowed as he looked down at the pair of clear black and white eyes before him, speaking earnestly, “Do you just believe whatever people say?”
His voice was not loud, but in the quiet of Zuiweng Pavilion, where only the light sound of music drifted, it carried with the melody into the ears of all present.
“Judging a person is not about what others say, nor is it about their physical appearance or even what’s in their heart; it’s about their actions, about what they have actually done.”
“Pfft.” Li Shiqian scoffed.
Teacher Qingxi and Chen Hongyuan also showed disdain.
Just another “Philosopher” who had read a few books and was full of empty talk, preaching to others.
“But, but he really did wrong by that Blue Fairy.” Su Xiaoxiao said doubtfully.
“Regardless of whether there’s more to the story, that is only his private virtue, not the main basis for judging him,” Zhao Rong said softly. “Because as a Confucian Scholar engaged in governance, the most important criterion for judgment should be his public virtue, that is, his actions toward Zhongnan Country.”
Su Xiaoxiao seemed to understand but was also confused.
“Aren’t his actions the promulgation of Sorcery, causing harm to Zhongnan Country?” Li Shiqian couldn’t help but interject, “You’re such a boring scholar. I kindly invited you to the Literary Gathering, but you’re ungrateful and lack manners. And now, you’re spouting nonsense, even speaking on behalf of Lin Wenruo. Is this the conduct of a Confucian Scholar? Birds of a feather flock together, indeed!”
“I’m not just speaking for Lin Wenruo; I’m speaking on behalf of us Confucian Scholars,” replied Zhao Rong calmly. “Isn’t your method of dealing with us scholars to first destroy our private virtues, making people despise us, then pushing public sentiment against us, blurring the true from the false, thereby ruining our reputations and confusing our merits and demerits?”
Zhao Rong spoke coldly. “Just like you’re doing now, even though we’re simply debating philosophy, you bring up my absence from the gathering to attack my private virtue.”
“You!”
Li Shiqian was speechless.
Chen Hongyuan said harshly, “Then how do you explain his laws that bring disaster upon the country and misery to the people?”
Zhao Rong suddenly looked odd. “Have you truly understood the specifics of the Spring Seedling Law, the Retreat Law, and the General Soldier Law?”
Chen Hongyuan suddenly felt somewhat conscience-stricken. Wasn’t it said throughout Luojing that they exhausted the people’s resources and wealth?
He, a Daoist, had no interest in understanding those new laws in detail. The only one he was somewhat clear about, the Retreat Law, which involved the demolition of grandiose Daoist Temples to turn them into farmland for penniless peasants, seemed to him the epitome of cultural regression, utterly ludicrous. He did remember clearly the new laws that harmed his own interests.
But at this point, there was no turning back, and he could only nod reluctantly.
Zhao Rong reflected on what he had seen and heard during his time in Zhongnan Country, speaking with a heavy heart.
“The Spring Seedling Law relieves farmers, increases production, enriches the people, and fills the Court’s coffers—a win-win situation. The Retreat Law returns farmland to the peasants, easing Zhongnan Country’s urgent food problem, eliminating the costly need to import it; the General Soldier Law reorganizes military equipment, replenishing the border defense soldiers, safeguarding against foreign threats.”
“Considering his public virtue, these three laws are quite sufficient!”
“The laws are good, but the difficulties in their implementation, causing public outrage and the wrath of heaven, are issues of the country’s decayed system and poor execution by those involved. Why blame the faults entirely on the laws themselves and the one who promulgated and enforced them?”
Li Shiqian, Chen Hongyuan, and Teacher Qingxi looked at each other with varying expressions.
“Moreover, these three laws are tailored for the lower-class citizens of Zhongnan Country and are beneficial to the state. I see that most people in Luojing live comfortably in the middle class, not the lower class; these three laws won’t benefit them much, and might even harm the interests of the upper class, including those at Chongxu Temple. Hence, some people hide behind the scenes, manipulating public opinion, and you, whether short-sighted members of the interested parties or swayed by local debate, echoing others without understanding, are all unwitting tools, yet you don’t realize it!”
Li Shiqian’s mouth opened, but he had no retort and held back his words.
“The ambitious Great Chen Dynasty in the south has been reformed by the scheming Legalists, threatening at any moment to move north and swallow up the rich lands of Zhongnan. The Daoist governance of ‘small country, few people’ no longer suits the circumstances of Zhongnan Country. Someone finally steps forward to reform and innovate for you, yet you wallow in ignorance, decrying and destroying reputations without knowing any better.”
Zhao Rong, word by word, asked, “Why do you so deceive us Confucian Scholars?”
The only other Confucian Scholar in the pavilion pursed his lips.
“In the vast Zhongnan Country, the ruler indulges in Alchemy, the State Preceptor in Cultivation, the citizens in ignorance, the Daoists in inaction, the Hermits in retreat, the scholars in debauchery, all doing nothing.”
“Only a group of Confucian Scholars exhausts their thoughts and cares wholeheartedly for state affairs, trying to patch up the flaws.”
“You all are biased towards private virtue, while public virtue is Nearly neglected.”
“The reason why Zhongnan declines by the day is no mystery. There are too many so-called good men who restrain themselves from misdeeds but enjoy their rights without fulfilling their duties, as if they owe nothing to society. Despite the multitude, they cannot contribute to the common good and instead become a burden—how can the decline not accelerate!”
Zhao Rong’s speech was powerful, every word striking like a hammer, every sentence ringing with conviction, echoing throughout Zuiweng Pavilion.
The crowd was silent.
Li Shiqian and the others had various expressions, some pale, some angrily brushing their sleeves, some looking down, yet none dared to meet the Confucian Scholar’s gaze.
“Clang!”
The sound of the qin abruptly stopped.
Whether the piece had ended or the player was interrupted was unknown.
Suddenly.
An epiphany.
Zhao Rong, as if moved by unseen spirits, turned his head to look towards the source of the now-halted music.
Lin Wenruo lifted his hands from the qin strings and raised his head, his gaze passing over everyone in the pavilion to rest on the Scholar who turned back.
His smile was like a gentle spring breeze.
“I am Lin Qingchi, styled Wenruo. May I ask for your honored surname and great name?”
Upon seeing a gentleman, joy springs forth in my heart.