Chapter 43: Mount Wulu

"You brat, what do you take the people of the world for?" Lu Zhi asked, his tone calm as he slowly rose to his feet. "Forging documents and stealing seals... did you truly believe you could toy with the world using such senseless tricks?"

Gongsun Xun's mind went completely blank. After turning around, he momentarily forgot even to kneel and beg forgiveness.

"Close the door." Lu Zhi sat cross-legged on the bed, his back ramrod straight — where was even a trace of drunkenness now?

Like a puppet, Gongsun Xun turned back around and closed the door. Only when the skin of his hand touched the doorframe did he feel a thread of life return to his body, and a sliver of clarity return to his mind.

And so, after shutting the door, he immediately turned back, knelt, and begged forgiveness: "Your student has committed a grave error. I beg you, my lord, to punish me."

"Tell me then, why did you take such a treasonous action?" Lu Zhi still bore that same composure, as unshaken as Mount Tai before collapse.

"To answer you, Teacher." Prostrate on the floor, Gongsun Xun's mind spun, and he immediately threw out the most presentable of his many reasons. "Some days ago, right here, Teacher insulted my mother..."

This was no lie. The reason Gongsun Xun had schemed against Lu Zhi like this was, to a large extent, because he had held a grudge over those words that night. Had it not been for that, he would not have made up his mind so swiftly.

"A fine reason." Lu Zhi could not help but laugh. "Heaven, Earth, Sovereign, Kin, and Teacher — to defy the way of the teacher in the name of filial piety, you could hold your head high and speak those words even if you were bound and dragged before Yin Zhuye, the Intendant of Henan. Besides, Lu Zigan is a renowned Confucian of the realm — if he insults a disciple's parents to their face, must he not also consider the public opinion in Luoyang... is that what you mean?"

Gongsun Xun prostrated himself, not daring to answer.

"Raise your head." Lu Zhi barked.

Gongsun Xun hurriedly looked up. Yet when he raised his head and met the other's gaze — half-smiling, half-serious — a sudden realization dawned on him. Yes, there was still a turn in this matter; otherwise Lu Zhi would never be acting this way!

If he were truly furious and wanted to deal with him, why would he have him close the door, and interrogate him so leisurely? Lu Zhi was no weasel, toying with a mouse for half a watch before eating it!

"Aside from this, are there any other reasons?" Lu Zhi continued to ask.

"I dare not deceive you, my lord." With a faint trace of confidence in his heart, Gongsun Xun became considerably more candid. "Truthfully, I also wished to use this to escape my predicament. This young man's ambition is too strong; I truly cannot endure the solitude of Goushi..."

"At least you are honest." Lu Zhi shook his head. "You come from a prominent frontier commandery family. By common reasoning, how deep your classical scholarship runs is of little real help to you; what matters is connections in the capital... Come to think of it, my keeping you by my side to instruct you personally has instead blocked your path! But let us set that aside for now. I ask you: even if I had not discovered this today, I would inevitably have guessed it was your doing afterward. Why did you think I would forgive you then?"

"I thought that Teacher, being a renowned Confucian of the realm, would possess considerable moral magnanimity. Once the matter became a settled fact, I assumed you would not, without solid proof, do anything to an uncapped disciple..."

At this point, Gongsun Xun simply could not continue. There was no helping it — it was far too awkward!

The thing is, when it comes to what people think of others, some thoughts can be openly displayed, but some things one truly has no face to say to the person involved.

Like this matter — speaking of it with the similarly afflicted Gongsun Yue, with Lu Fan whom he had won over to his side, with a rough fellow like Han Dang, or even with the profit-driven Xu You, all would be fine. But to say it to Lu Zhi's face, the very person involved... what kind of thing was that? Did he, Gongsun Xun, have no shame left?

"What were the contents of the forged document?" Just as Gongsun Xun was suddenly struck by moral awareness and engaging in self-reflection, Lu Zhi on the bed resumed his interrogation.

"It was a memorial requesting that the Mao Odes be engraved on the reverse side of the stone classics, to serve as a complement to the Han Odes."

"A rather clever move." Lu Zhi nodded slightly and smiled. "It saves me the trouble of sending you beneath the walls of Luoyang to call those people back... And, should I thank you, for finding me an excellent move to break the deadlock?"

Hearing these words and seeing the other's expression, Gongsun Xun felt a violent jolt in his heart, as if someone had poured a basin of ice water over his head. Yes — how could he not understand now? His every action had simply been used by this keenly perceptive great Confucian before him!

Teacher Lu understood the situation before him better than anyone, could see reality more clearly than anyone, and was more pragmatic than anyone! Seeing the situation deadlocked, he had long been prepared to settle for second best!

He himself had simply been used as a knife by the man before him!

As for the one truly and utterly duped, it seemed only to be that Liu Kuan, Granny Liu, still sleeping over there!

And of course, himself! How laughable that he had been so self-satisfied before, thinking his scheme was so meticulously arranged — inviting people, building momentum, forging documents, stealing seals...

"Figured it out?" Lu Zhi shook out his sleeves, then prompted him. "If you've figured it out, get up. The floor is cold, the air above is hot — let the summer heat and the earthly chill seep into you together, and when you are old you won't even be able to walk."

"Yes." Gongsun Xun rose to his feet in a daze, but could not help asking, "But, Teacher, didn't you just say that such tricks... were insufficient to toy with the people of the world?"

"That also depends on the situation." Lu Zhi answered with a calm expression. "When a man is in dire straits, unable to advance or retreat, how can he still worry about such things? You are always telling your fellow students how you Gongsun brothers, caught between Liu Kuan and me, are in such a difficult position. Did you think I am not caught between the Excellencies of the central government and the worthies of Shandong?"

Gongsun Xun was stunned, then fell silent.

"I am the sole Erudite of the Old Text in the court; to champion the Old Text is my unshirkable duty." Lu Zhi continued to explain. "Yet my appointment largely relied on the grace of the central Excellencies; they showed me the kindness of recognition. And besides, as you said earlier, this matter touches the very foundation — the central Excellencies cannot retreat even half a step, and I am but one man. Thus, my fate after this dispute was practically sealed from the start. It was nothing more than what you described: being shelved away in some corner, gathering dust. That being the case, I might as well sit back and watch you play your little tricks, to see if some gap could be exploited, to fight for whatever little could be fought for..."

"But if that is so, if Teacher's fate was sealed, why fight for this tiny bit? What benefit is it to Teacher?"

"To me, perhaps no benefit. But to the overall situation, perhaps there is some benefit... This realm decays day by day. To restore its institutions, I am convinced that the Old Text is, in the end, somewhat more suitable than the New Text. Thus, even a little progress is good." At this, Lu Zhi paused briefly, and when he looked at the other again, his gaze had softened considerably. "This principle — it was Lady Gongsun who taught it to me that day."

"Teacher knows my mother?" Gongsun Xun had completely lost his capacity for thought.

"I have never met her." Lu Zhi laughed. "But we have exchanged letters for many years."

Before Gongsun Xun's eyes flashed the words 'not necessarily fearsome' from his mother's letter, and all the talk back then about how he absolutely must study under Lu Zhi... While feeling a surge of indignation toward his own mother, he also relaxed considerably: "So it was like that?"

"Why could it not be like that?" Lu Zhi said dismissively. "Both being men of Youzhou, though Zhuo Commandery and Liaoxi are separated by two commanderies, your family's business has reached this far. Besides, whether it is I or your mother Lady Gongsun, we are both figures of some renown in Youzhou..."

Gongsun Xun nodded repeatedly, then recalled the earlier topic: "Teacher spoke of the 'principle' my mother taught you... how did that come about?"

"I ask you: did you take any note of the locust plague in Henan some days ago?" Lu Zhi put away his smile and became serious once more.

"Naturally." Gongsun Xun quickly nodded.

"Back then, when the locust plague struck Hebei, leaving devastation everywhere, I was teaching in Zhuo Commandery." Lu Zhi began recounting an event the other had some vague impression of. "Before the locust swarm reached Zhuo Commandery, I sent a fast rider to ask your mother... You must understand, the previous year there had been a great drought, and Lingzhi was preserved because of her counsel to divert water for irrigation. I admired her greatly for that... So I sent someone to ask her how the locust plague should be dealt with. She replied that they could be swatted, killed, and eaten! I was quite disdainful of this. Do you know why?"

"Locust swarms fly." Gongsun Xun naturally knew this matter. "So-called swatting and killing would at most last two days. How many days could one eat them? After the locust plague passed, Mother took this matter as a disgrace, saying she had lofty aims but low ability, that she only knew how to talk on paper, to play little tricks that had no bearing on the greater situation."

"That is what I thought that day as well, and I even wrote back rebuking her for nonsense." Lu Zhi shook his head with a bitter smile. "Yet after the locust plague passed, the people of Lingzhi, after all, had some locusts to fill their bellies. Coupled with your Gongsun clan's relief efforts, they somehow managed to endure that year. Whereas in our Zhuo Commandery, order collapsed, and it even reached the horrific sight of people eating people... After that incident, I came to understand that a line in your mother's past letters was truly a maxim of the highest truth: 'Do not fail to do good because it is small; do not do evil because it is small.' Gongsun Xun, you must understand: when a man walks through this world, if he believes a principle is right, then he naturally must do his utmost to act on it."

This was teaching by word and example. Gongsun Xun immediately bowed in salute.

"Enough of my affairs," Lu Zhi said, then continued to ask, "Let us speak only of you. After today's events, have you learned any lesson?"

"In all matters, one must know oneself and know the other." Coming back to his senses, Gongsun Xun could not help but flush red and lower his head. "To not even know one's own weight or the weight of others, and then to do such a thing — it was far too childish!"

"Childishness is not necessarily a problem." Lu Zhi shook his head. "A few young men, not yet capped or just capped, ought to have some heroic spirit, daring to be the first under heaven. The heroes I have seen over the years who could break free of the shackles of their birth were mostly reckless fellows like you, with courage as big as the sky... The truth is, the real crux of today's matter is that the consequences were far too severe. Did you think I was lying when I told you earlier that 'stealing the seal of a two-thousand-bushel official is punishable by beheading'? A gentleman does not stand beneath a crumbling wall. There are some things you can gamble on, and some things that, the moment you see them, you must circle far around. Only when one is in dire straits, as I am, can one risk a desperate gamble!"

"Yes!" Gongsun Xun answered while stealing a glance at the other.

"No need for stolen glances." Lu Zhi laughed. "I will not pursue this matter. But you must also engrave this lesson firmly in your heart."

"Aye!" Gongsun Xun finally felt as though he had come back to life.

"Your mother gave you quite a few ideas in her letters, didn't she?" Lu Zhi suddenly asked again. "Are there any that could give the Old Text a further edge?"

"There are some, such as punctuation..."

"That will do." Lu Zhi cut off his explanation, then nodded repeatedly. "Since the forged document has already been sent up, let us see how the situation unfolds. As I expect, your joint memorial still has its merits. His Majesty will most likely approve it on the spot, and the other central Excellencies, constrained by His Majesty and Lord Liu, will be helpless to do anything... No need to look; he is indeed asleep, and even if he were not, it would not matter... When the time comes, if I am occupied, you shall go in my name to supervise the engraving of these Mao Odes!"

Gongsun Xun felt dazed and lost, and finally could not help but ask: "Teacher, I harbored resentment first, and forged documents and stole seals later. Why does Teacher treat me so? From our very first meeting, you wished to keep me by your side to instruct me, to today's magnanimity... Is it merely because you are on good terms with my mother?"

"On what good terms am I with your mother?" Lu Zhi threw his head back and laughed heartily. "Did you think that day when I called her views those of a woman and a merchant, I was deliberately provoking you? I have exchanged letters with her for over ten years, and there has been far more dispute than admiration..."

"Then..."

"Come forward." Lu Zhi suddenly beckoned.

Gongsun Xun stepped forward in a daze, arriving before the bed.

Lu Zhi stood eight chi two cun tall. Even seated on the couch, he could still reach out and rest his hand on the shoulder of the very tall Gongsun Xun. "Among the beauties of the east, there is the xunyuqi jade of Mount Wulu... From which text does this come?"

"The Huainanzi!" Gongsun Xun quickly bent slightly at the waist. "That is the source of my name. Mount Wulu is in Liaoxi."

"Yes, the Huainanzi." Lu Zhi seemed somewhat moved. "That year you were about three or four. Your mother felt she could no longer call you by your milk name, but that very day, due to business dealings, she was embroiled in considerable profit disputes with the clan and did not wish to ask the clan elders for help. So she entrusted someone to deliver a letter to me, who had just then gained some renown in the village. And I, in my reply, wrote this line for her." At this point, both Lu Zhi and Gongsun Xun could not help but tremble. "In other words, this name of yours was chosen by me... By my reckoning, it has been about fifteen years now!"

Gongsun Xun once again fell into that earlier state of being wide-eyed and tongue-tied, unable to move hand or foot.

"The reason I became angry that day in the charity lodge and forcibly demanded you back from Liu Wenrao was for no other reason than you yourself." Lu Zhi continued. "Although your mother and I have never met, we have exchanged letters for fifteen years. How could I not know she is a person without a sovereign? And you, having lost your father's protection from a young age, are naturally a person without a father! Therefore, I truly could not bear to see the child I personally named all those years ago become a person without sovereign, without father, and without sage. That is why I wanted to call you to my side to personally and strictly instruct you... Who could have imagined it was already too late!"

Gongsun Xun knelt before the couch, already at a complete loss.

"You have knelt before me several times," Lu Zhi shook his head and smiled. "But mostly because you regarded ritual as nothing and did so deliberately... Yet today's kneeling can be called genuine and sincere. Very good! It is late; you may go now!"

Gongsun Xun performed a grand bow and departed.

"Several months later, Lu Zhi returned to Luo from Jiujiang and still resided at Mount Goushi. (The Grand Ancestor) then personally served two teachers, often traveling back and forth between Luozhong and Goushi, performing rites with utmost respect, never negligent. The literati of Wan and Luo all praised his virtue." — Old Book of Yan, Volume 1, Annals of the Grand Ancestor, the Martial Emperor

PS: Those of you with time, please help click the rating on the PC side... So strange, yesterday it was 9.7, today it suddenly became 7.8... I don't know what the mechanism is.

Also, the new book group, 684558115, interested students can join.

(End of Chapter)