Chapter 522: The Consequences of Offending Scholars

The thing that worried Liu Zheng the most had finally happened.

Just after waking up the next day, the entire Liangzhou Prefecture was already acting as if facing a formidable enemy.

At this moment.

Outside Liangzhou Prefecture, a large crowd had already gathered, and the sound of their clamor drifted inside.

Some were cursing in anger, some were wailing in grief, some were beating their chests and stamping their feet, some were chanting something, and others were still spouting classical jargon.

"What is going on?"

Liu Dahao and the others were already waiting there for Liu Zheng to wake up.

"Young Master..."

"Young Master, a group of scholars has gathered outside, insisting on coming in to find you and demanding an explanation!"

"They say you, they say you..."

These people still could not bring themselves to say the ugly words out loud.

Things like forgetting one's roots, acting against the natural order, showing contempt for the ancestral temples, and other such insults.

They did not say them, but Liu Zheng heard them anyway.

So it finally came, did it?

Liu Zheng gave a bitter smile.

In fact, when he was at Wangbei Academy, he knew that his words when he confronted Wangbei Academy were actually poorly considered. Why say that? For thousands of years, the Longyan land had been ruled by Confucian ideology because it was the ideology most suited to the imperial family. Heaven, Earth, Sovereign, Kin, and Teacher—the moral codes and human relationships were held firmly in their grasp.

Feudal dynasties loved this sort of thing.

And your theory, yet you want to subvert Confucian ideology?

To put it severely, this is complete contempt for imperial power and contempt for the court's order!

The imperial family will not tolerate you, those elite figures will not tolerate you, and these scholars who are usually high and mighty naturally will not tolerate you either!

It had erupted after all.

The remarks made by Governor Liu at Wangbei Academy had been spread by someone, from who knows where. Not just in Liangzhou, but scholars across the entire Longyan had erupted in intense indignation and issued strong condemnations.

Jinghua.

Qingzhou.

Hanzhong.

Even Liangzhou and Shuzhou.

The great Confucian scholars of every major province were attacking him with their words and pens, their language fierce. The spokesmen for the major academies across the country all came out, each writing lengthy articles to refute the fallacies of Governor Liu.

Within the borders of Liangzhou, it was the same.

"Zheng, this, this, this, what can be done about this?"

Liu Dahao was covered in sweat.

Others were also anxious.

Governor Liu was simply setting himself against all the scholars in the world!

Liu Zheng instead chuckled: "What's the rush? Besides condemning me, what else can they do? What does the imperial court say?"

The group of people was stunned by this.

That's right.

Throughout the night, there had been no news from the imperial court. In other words, those out here causing trouble were basically just those scholars in society; although there were many officials among them, they only represented themselves and the academies behind them.

The old Emperor Xie Tianyao had not said anything.

Liu Zheng chuckled, cursing inwardly: what an old fox!

Still waiting to watch the show?

"Let's go out and take a look."

Liu Zheng said calmly.

Liu Dahao immediately followed behind his son, but what Liu Zheng found very incomprehensible was that Liu Dahao was holding an umbrella in his hand.

Was that really necessary?

Who would have thought that as soon as Liu Zheng stepped out the door, a huge pile of rotten vegetable leaves and stinking eggs was instantly thrown at him. Fortunately, Liu Dahao reacted quickly, opening the umbrella to block all these things from the outside.

Seriously?

His expression changed instantly, and as he looked up, he thought to himself: good heavens.

At this moment, outside Liangzhou Prefecture, there was actually a sea of people!

A vast ocean of people!

These people, without a doubt, could be identified just by looking at what they were wearing—they were all a bunch of scholars! Regardless of whether they were poor or rich, they were all scholars! There were tens of thousands of them! When Liu Zheng came out at this moment, the gazes of these scholars instantly turned vicious, and they began to curse loudly.

"You scoundrel!"

"Betrayer of your teachers and ancestors!"

"You scoundrel who has forgotten his roots!"

"How dare you insult Confucius?"

"For this matter, Governor Liu must give an explanation to the scholars of the world!"

"We shall sit here and wait for Governor Liu to come out and debate!"

Tens of thousands of people were gesticulating wildly, their emotions exceptionally agitated; some were waving the books in their hands, spittle flying, while others were already sitting there, looking as if they intended to stake their lives to seek the truth!

Some were disregarding the obstruction of the Liangzhou Army and trying to charge in.

At a glance, several famous great Confucian scholars and great men of letters in this Liangzhou City were also among them.

In short, one word.

Chaos!

Liu Zheng frowned, a bitter smile appearing in his heart.

This truly was a case of bringing disaster upon oneself.

Since ancient times, there has never been a good outcome for those who offend the literati.

Fortunately.

Yesterday, he spent the entire night racking his brains and had already figured out a way to counter this ideology.

At this moment.

It would come in handy, right?

……

Yintan City.

Zheng Yue Ru was anxious and hurried to inform Qingyang Shuo of this matter.

Qingyang Shuo's expression changed instantly: "This is bad!"

He never imagined that his own young master would stir up such a massive mess in Liangshan!

Attacking Confucianism?

What on earth was he thinking?

Qingyang Shuo naturally knew that his young master had always admired Legalism. His long-held governing philosophy was fundamentally at odds with the mainstream of the Longyan Dynasty. One could see this just from the development of Liangzhou...

However.

You cannot do this kind of thing out in the open!

At the very least, the old Emperor Xie Tianyao is still alive today.

By criticizing Confucianism, aren't you failing to give the Imperial House face?

"Sir, it has fallen again, it has fallen again..."

Sure enough.

This matter began to erupt throughout the entire Longyan Dynasty, and it still affected the price of Yinzhou Coin.

Qingyang Shuo and Zheng Yue Ru looked at each other with bitter smiles.

Qingyang Shuo knew that they were now facing the decisive battle in this financial war against Xie Ling. He dared not be the slightest bit negligent; after thinking for a moment, he said decisively: "Let's go, take me to Liangzhou!"

"Remember, once it drops below three gold, buy at the bottom immediately!"

"If it rises to four gold..."

"After it passes six gold..."

Before leaving, he did not forget to give instructions to Zheng Yue Ru and his subordinates.

Everyone hurriedly took note.

The Horse Carriage sped away.

……

"Hahahaha! Satisfying!"

"So satisfying!"

Having found a way to survive a desperate situation, Xie Ling was now manic. He looked around at these wealthy men and said with high spirits: "Did you see that? Did you see that? Did you really think we were fighting this battle alone?"

"No!"

"We still have people in Jinghua who support us!"

A group of people also burst into laughter.

This time, they had managed to catch their breath again.

And they saw hope once more.

This Prefect Liu really does not know how to value his own life!

To actually dare to offend the scholars of the world! They generally believed that the impact of this incident of attacking Confucianism would even exceed the Blockage of the Ship!

It's settled!

If you don't court death, you won't die!

This time, Prefect Liu is doomed!

……

The situation.

Had once again become obscure and confusing.

People found that their hearts could hardly take it anymore.

With all this back and forth.

Is this even letting people live?

However, this time, Prefect Liu has offended the scholars of the world...

Can Yinzhou Coin still hold up?

Liangzhou Prefecture, at this moment, had almost fallen.

Within this day, countless literati gathered at the gates of Liangzhou Prefecture.

These people were truly stubborn.

They did not care at all about the Liangzhou Army. Because among these literati, many held official positions, and since they already harbored resentment toward the cancellation of the Yellow Register under the Household Registration System, they naturally spared no effort in attacking Prefect Liu at this time.

The law does not punish the masses.

Moreover, there were quite a few great men of letters and great Confucian scholars among them.

They did not believe that Prefect Liu would dare to use force against them!

The atmosphere had been stirred up.

"The Master said: When a man's father is alive, observe his intentions. When his father is dead, observe his actions. If for three years he does not deviate from his father's way, he may be called filial."

"Prefect Liu, what do you think of this?"

Tens of thousands of people cheered in unison.

"The Master said: If you lead the people with administrative measures and regulate them with punishments, they will avoid the punishments but have no sense of shame. If you lead them with virtue and regulate them with ritual, they will have a sense of shame and will become upright."

"Prefect Liu, can you refute this?"

The crowd shouted loudly once again.

"What must one do to be fit to govern?"

"Honor the five virtues, cast aside the four evils, and then one may govern."

"What are the five virtues?"

"The gentleman is generous without being wasteful, imposes labor without causing resentment, has desires without being greedy, is dignified without being arrogant, and is majestic without being fierce."

"What is meant by generous without being wasteful?"

"To benefit the people by that which benefits them—is this not being generous without being wasteful? To choose the labor that is appropriate and impose it—who then would resent it? To desire benevolence and attain benevolence—how then can one be greedy? Whether dealing with many or few, the small or the great, the gentleman never dares to be negligent—is this not being dignified without being arrogant? The gentleman adjusts his robes and cap, respects his gaze, and is so solemn that people look upon him with awe—is this not being majestic without being fierce?"

"What are the four evils?"

"To execute people without having taught them is called cruelty; to expect results without having given warning is called tyranny; to be slow in issuing orders but demanding them by a deadline is called thievery; and when it comes to giving things to people, to be stingy in the distribution is called being a petty official."

"Well said!"

"Bravo!"

Outside the entire Liangzhou Prefecture.

It had become a place for scholars to lecture and discuss the Dao.

"Zheng, what are we to do? I hear that Chenyan of Yangzhou, Caocheng of Kezhou, Luokui of Hanzhong, and others are all still on their way. This, this, this, this..."

In Liu Zheng's room, he was writing furiously.

Liu Dahao was pacing in circles nearby.

These people!

They are all famous representatives of the Academies from every region, great men of letters! In other words, they represent the elite of the entire Longyan Dynasty, and can truly be said to have a following at a single call. If such people were to stir up trouble, even the imperial court would have to give them some face, let alone their Liangzhou.

"Old man, can you stop bothering me?"

Liu Zheng looked up with a bitter smile.

Liu Dahao let out an 'aiya' and fanned Liu Zheng from the side: "Zheng, usually your old man would certainly not nag you, but this time it's different! It's chaotic, everything is chaotic! You are about to go to Jinghua, and you've offended this group of people..."

Liu Zheng sighed: "You also know that time is tight and the task is heavy, right? Can you let me finish compiling this scroll?"

Liu Dahao hurriedly nodded and made a few 'oh' sounds.

"Then Zheng, should we have the Princess come out first to stabilize the situation?"

Liu Zheng chuckled: "Not at all necessary, old man. Give me three days. In three days, we will go out together..."

A sharp glint flashed in his eyes: "I will make this Xie Ling wish he were dead!"

"Good!"

Liu Dahao did not ask his son why he was so confident; he just closed the door and ran out, looking happy.

Only then did Liu Zheng take a deep breath.

He picked up his brush.

And wrote on the scroll.

The four large characters: "Unity of Knowledge and Action".