Zhou Ziren spread his hands, showing a helpless look, and continued: "Private and public, originally opposite, can only be barely balanced, can not have the best of both worlds. Xiangzhou's strength is not enough to decide which country it belongs to, so, if it belongs to Qing, we should at least support Qing on the surface; if it belongs to Jing, we should at least support Jing on the surface. However, no matter which country we support, we need a premise, that is fairness!"
"Let me give you a very simple example. When we were Jing people, we got the greatest fairness in the imperial examinations. This is also the main reason why many Xiangzhou people tend to Jing. Even though we were Qing people a few years ago, even though we didn't get fairness in the imperial examinations, we could at least eat well and wear warm clothes. Our status was only slightly worse than that of the Qing people. At least we got a lot of fairness. But if one day, our Xiangzhou was occupied by monsters, what would be our fate?"
Some young students shuddered with fear, because humans are called human slaves in the demon world.
Zhou Ziren said: "I think everyone knows that those who are not of our race must have different hearts! On the Shengyuan Continent, whether it is a war between southerners and northerners, or a war between different ethnic groups, no matter who wins or loses, everyone has the same blood, the same culture, and celebrates the same festivals, and their appearances are not much different. No matter what the victorious side does, at least they will treat us as human beings, and will not guard against us as they would against enemies. But the monsters will not do that. The monsters will not even give us the basic fairness of having enough food, clothing, and going to school. In the hearts of the golden-haired lion monster and the green-eyed tiger barbarian, we will always be human beings, far from monsters. Therefore, I will never support the monsters. I would rather fight with my life than be a slave! In a world ruled by alien races, it is no longer a question of whether the upward channel is unobstructed, but a question of whether you can maintain your own status!"
Many readers nodded vigorously.
"The reason why the demon world needs the human race, and the reason why the human race can live a good life, is that their distant relatives, that is, the human race of our Shengyuan Continent, have not been wiped out by the demon barbarians, and are still threatening the status of the Lord of All Worlds! Once our human race is officially defeated by the demon world, then there will only be human slaves in the Ten Thousand Worlds, and no human race. Therefore, I have always believed that the human race who surrenders to the demon barbarians because of fear is not stupid, and the human race who surrenders to the demon barbarians because of persecution from within the human race is not stupid either. But those who take the initiative to surrender to the demon barbarians, think that they can break through the gap of blood, race and culture and become the superior human race in the demon world, and think that the demon barbarians will be noble enough to give the resources for canonization to the human race instead of to the descendants of the demon barbarians. In my opinion, such people are terribly stupid. Such people are not only stupid themselves, but also believe that the demon barbarians are stupid. If the demon barbarians really have been handing over their power to alien races instead of their own descendants, the current Lord of All Worlds is definitely not the demon barbarians!"
"So, no matter what day it is, you must remember one thing. Even if you are against the race, you must remember that the monsters will definitely say that the reason they became the masters of the myriad worlds is because of their hard work, because every monster is at ease, because their customs and habits are good, and because they are more noble, sincere, and kind. But I can tell you that they are talking nonsense. The dragon clan enslaved all the races, why did only the ancient monsters rise? The ancient monsters controlled thousands of races, why did only the monsters rise? There is no other reason. The ancient monsters are the luckiest race among all the races, and the monsters are also the luckiest race among thousands of races, because they mastered the most powerful force in the myriad worlds at that time! That's all! It is precisely because they master powerful forces that they have better customs and habits, and have more time to be at ease."
"You must remember that the demons will never give their power to become the masters of all worlds to the human race, even to the most loyal human slaves or rebels."
Many students originally had doubts about Zhou Ziren's attitude, but after hearing these words, everyone was relieved. From now on, no matter whether Zhou Ziren chose Jingguo or Qingguo, no one would blame him.
"Brother Zhou's words have opened my eyes!" A scholar bowed to Zhou Ziren, and the others followed suit.
After a few breaths, Zhou Ziren smiled and said, "Three months ago, someone from the Punishment Hall told a joke on the discussion board. I wonder if you remember it. Someone from the Punishment Hall caught a traitor. The person from the Punishment Hall couldn't talk about the details, but he summarized what the traitor said, 'Since the human race got Fang Yun, the traitors have been cheering because they can sell the human race for a higher price.'"
Many people laughed. This statement hit the nail on the head, but it also made the human race more confident. It was because the human race was becoming increasingly powerful and the monsters were wary that this situation occurred.
No one will contain, attack, stigmatize or hinder an insignificant race.
Zhou Ziren changed the subject and said, "Now we are going to talk about the issue of 'bias' and 'loyalty' that I mentioned. As Xiangzhou people, what should we do? We should not completely lean towards either Jingguo or Qingguo, nor should we completely break with the other side. What we need is a balance. We must be prepared to be completely loyal to Jingguo, but also be prepared to become Qingguo citizens again if Jingguo is destroyed and swallowed up by Qingguo. At the same time, we should not anger Qingguo and Jingguo, and we should not let the contradictions in Xiangzhou escalate, so as to break this rare balance."
"What we Xiangzhou people need is to balance Qing and Jing. Only when one country has absolute power to occupy Xiangzhou and will not lose it again, will we decide which country to be loyal to. You can see that we Xiangzhou people are actually very sad. Only Jing and Qing can decide where we belong. We are essentially unable to decide. It is precisely because of this that we need balance even more. We use balance to allow us to spend the future years in a stable and peaceful manner until the dust settles."
The students in the audience had different expressions. Some felt that Zhou Ziren's words were too utilitarian, while others felt that his words made sense and were the true way of dealing with the world.
Zhou Ziren's face darkened, and he said, "Originally, Xiangzhou has achieved the balance we need most, playing both sides between Qing and Jing. However, the Qing officials are trying to break this balance, sacrificing the people's stable lives, creating conflicts, and angering the growing Jing. This will cause the entire Xiangzhou to fall into dire straits. The reason why I call on you to take action tonight is to give those businessmen a warning, telling them that they can choose not to side with Jing, but it is the most foolish behavior to completely side with Qing."
The academy auditorium was silent, and many people had complicated expressions.
Most of the scholars who came here were full of passion, believing that completely devoting themselves to Jing State was the way of a gentleman and what scholars should do. However, after listening to Zhou Ziren's words, they suddenly felt that for the people of Xiangzhou, balancing the status quo was the best option. Any extreme behavior might lead to unexpected events.
Zhou Ziren said slowly: "Our enemy is not Jingguo or Qingguo. To be frustrating, we are not worthy of being the enemy of two countries. Only people like Fang Xusheng are the enemy of a country. Our enemies are the idiots in Xiangzhou, those ambitious people who want to sacrifice the lives of the people to get to the top!"
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