Chapter 338

The afternoon of the third day was the day of the final round of the debate competition.

When Li Ye and the others arrived at the final venue, Qin Qin Yongsheng suddenly asked in a low voice, "Li Ye, didn't you sleep well these past two days? Do you want to take advantage of the time we have left to catch a quick nap?"

Li Ye asked in surprise, "No, I didn't! Where did you get the idea that I didn't sleep well?"

Qin Qin Yongsheng looked at Li Ye and said, "I can't really tell, but I just get the feeling... you're a bit tired."

"You're just telling the plain truth," Li Ye said, both annoyed and amused. "Try receiving several groups of enthusiastic compatriots every day and see for yourself. You all get to sleep upstairs while I'm downstairs chatting about sentiments; how could I not be tired?"

Overseas compatriots had been coming to the hotel non-stop for the past few days, and most of them could call Li Ye by name, making him feel like a mascot being dragged around by Team Leader Zhou to make appearances.

"I wish I were tired, but people don't come looking for me!" Gao Qiao Gao Qiao Dapeng pouted, putting on a pitiful look. "I also want to accept the enthusiasm of those compatriots, especially those kind old grandfathers who come with pretty granddaughters and big piles of gifts..."

"Get lost! You're all born in the Year of the Rabbit, aren't you? Have I ever failed to share good things with you? Don't make me turn hostile!"

"Hahahaha~"

The group burst into laughter, which actually helped dissolve the pre-match tension.

Li Ye and the others had indeed received many gifts over the past few days, but most were still just ordinary fruit and pastries, all of which had been digested by everyone's stomachs.

As for someone as generous as Fu Fu Guiru, she was the only one, and everyone was busy speculating about what kind of person she really was.

Li Ye also wanted to know about her situation, but Pei Pei Wencong had not yet given Li Ye an answer; he figured a private investigator wasn't the FBI and couldn't dig up someone's background in a minute.

When the final began, Li Ye saw Wu Wu Jinyuan in the audience, and the half-sentence she had said drifted through his ears again.

"Debate competition, no problem."

It seemed there really was no problem.

The two sides of the debate were Peking University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and the final topic was: Confucian thought can coexist with other cultures.

At first glance, there was nothing wrong with this topic, because Confucian thought was quite prevalent in Singapore, and Li Ye remembered that according to the trajectory of the original timeline, topics concerning Confucian thought and Western trends did indeed appear in subsequent debate competitions.

However, when Li Ye and the others learned of this topic, they took it very seriously and were very cautious.

In particular, they developed various response strategies targeting the opposing side.

Because if one were to say that Confucian thought could not coexist with other cultures, would it be misinterpreted or even exploited by those with ulterior motives?

At this moment, the negotiations between the mainland and Britain were not yet over! If you say they cannot coexist, does that mean it's strictly black or white, and the East Wind must prevail over the West Wind?

Therefore, Li Ye and the others prepared that if they were drawn as the opposing side, they would argue in the direction that "Confucian thought does not coexist with other cultures, but rather shares common ground with them, allowing for integration and complementarity."

But when it came to drawing for the affirmative and negative sides, an interesting situation arose.

Peking University drew the affirmative side, while the Chinese University of Hong Kong drew the negative side.

How could you debate this?

Hong Kong had always prided itself on being a model of "East meets West"; are you saying yourselves that two cultural ideologies cannot coexist?

That would be quite strange! Are you planning to strip away all Western consciousness and restore the orthodox culture of the ancestors?

Just kidding, how could that demonstrate the magnanimity and inclusiveness of our great Empire of China?

However, after the debate began, the Chinese University of Hong Kong side did not give up in despair, but instead displayed a "Taiji Yin-Yang diagram" and proposed a debate strategy of "as one wanes, the other waxes" to actively confront Peking University.

But regardless, the fact that Confucian thought and other cultural ideologies could coexist was not questioned in the slightest.

But when the third speaker for the University of Hong Kong, He He Qiusheng, began his summary of the cross-examination, the direction of the debate suddenly veered off course.

"Looking at history, any successful cultural ideology has a strong aggressive nature. The Western Crusades, which occurred eight times, were caused precisely by the collision of faith and ideology."

"And in our East, there was previously the glorious 'Hundred Schools of Thought,' with Daoism, Mohism, Legalism, Agriculturalism, and others, each with their own strengths, yet ultimately Confucianism was elevated above all others."

"Even during the prosperous Tang Dynasty, Confucian thought moved south and north, suppressing, devouring, and ultimately digesting all other regional cultures..."

"Therefore, if two ideologies coexist, it is not because the ideologies themselves are peaceful and friendly, but because of the stalemate formed by the parity of their power, just like the Yin and Yang stalemate on the Taiji diagram..."

He He Qiusheng suddenly looked at Li Ye and said, "For example, the third speaker for the affirmative side, this new writer of the younger generation, detailed the expansion and setbacks of Confucian thought in his own novel, 'Shuo Feng Shuofeng Feiyang'..."

"In the novel 'Shuo Feng Shuofeng Feiyang,' it is detailed that because of the defeat at the Talas River, Confucian thought invaded Japan, ultimately incorporating Japan completely into the Confucian cultural sphere."

"But the Battle of Talas recounted in 'Shuo Feng Shuofeng Feiyang' had a different outcome, because due to the defeat of the Great Tang at the Battle of Talas, the westward expansion of Confucian thought was forced to a halt."

Li Ye: "..."

【It really is 'know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle.' Has my 'Sharp Blade' actually reached the point where it's being used as a breakthrough point by others?】

Listening to He He Qiusheng's eloquent talk, Li Ye truly admired his cleverness and eloquence.

If you want to say that Confucian thought almost crushed and unified all other cultures in East Asia, that is certainly correct.

Saying that ideology has a direct correlation with power is also damnably reasonable.

But you have to emphasize the aggressive nature of Confucian thought... how can you say such things?

【Is this your 'Confucian Threat Theory'? Or is it a 'China Threat Theory'?】

Our Confucian thought values benevolence above all else; you cannot just focus on those tiny flaws. Why don't you start by learning about benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness?

In the early eighties, if someone were to promote the 'China Threat Theory,' basically no one would believe it, but Hong Kong people might believe it; after all, they were too close to the mainland and too far from Britain.

"Now, the third speaker for the affirmative side will provide the summary of the cross-examination."

Li Ye stood up, bowed slightly, and gestured to those around him.

"First, I must emphasize the contribution of Confucian thought to world civilization and technology..."

"According to the 'Chronology of World Natural Science,' before the 16th century, there were about 300 major scientific and technological inventions that influenced human life, 175 of which were invented by the Chinese people."

"It was precisely these major inventions and discoveries that kept China's agriculture, textile, metallurgy, and handicraft manufacturing technologies at the world's advanced level for a long time."

"And Confucianism also left behind a large number of world-renowned scientific works, such as 'The Artificer's Record,' 'Tiangong Kaiwu,' and so on..."

Li Ye's speaking pace was not fast, but every word was clear and powerful.

After he finished speaking about the contributions of Confucian thought, he added, "Furthermore, the argument just put forward by the third speaker for the negative side, using my novel, is completely wrong."

"Confucian thought was able to take root everywhere, not because of any aggression, but precisely because of its advancement."

"Whether it was Japan or the peninsula to the north, they both sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty in China over a very long period, bringing China's advanced ideas and technologies back to their homelands."

"Confucian thought significantly increased productivity over a wide range; this is a historical fact recorded in various scripts."

"Moreover, this behavior of cultural and technological export was basically free of charge; China never collected any fees or demanded any price for the outflow of these technologies."

"Therefore, Confucian thought is not aggression, but attraction."

Li Ye paused for a few seconds and said with extreme calmness, "We cannot be sure about other civilizations and ideologies, but Confucian thought is peaceful, full of goodwill, and is capable of and willing to accept other excellent cultural ideologies."

"..."

After Li Ye finished speaking, two seconds after he sat down, the applause from the surrounding audience began, and it grew more and more enthusiastic, lasting for a long time.

Li Ye's speech was peaceful and indifferent, as if it lacked any strong emotional tension, but it consistently emphasized one point: you guys all voluntarily believed in Confucian thought, and you all benefited from it.

In the subsequent free debate, the Chinese University of Hong Kong's performance was clearly more aggressive, citing several regional civilizations that had disappeared in history because of the Chinese Empire, hoping to prove that Confucian thought had a strong exclusionary attribute.

But the Peking University debate team changed its style, simply stating indifferently, "This is the progress of the times; their demise was due to their own flaws."

"If they were excellent enough and advanced enough, they would certainly coexist with Confucian thought to this day."

And the more peaceful Peking University appeared, the more fierce the attacks from the University of Hong Kong became, with brilliant exchanges back and forth.

But what the two debate teams, as participants, did not know was that the people around them all felt that Peking University's aura of a king was growing stronger and stronger, becoming unshakable.

The more ambitious the University of Hong Kong debaters were, and the more they wanted to win, the more they were unable to shake Peking University's indifferent, vast, and water-like Confucian style.

There were too many such things in the history of China; the more impatient you are, the more humble I am. I am already so humble, why do you still say I am a bad person? Why do you still say I don't give you a way to live?

Instead, it is when you are no longer impatient that the elegant and romantic Confucian scholars are forced to put down their books and pull out a long broadsword from under their clean and tidy scholar's robes.

"Bear with it! My blade is very fast, it doesn't hurt at all. After I cut you... you will be one of us."

How could Confucian thought, which was able to radiate over a territory of twenty thousand miles north and south, be just a gentle gentleman?