Fang Yun smiled calmly and said, "Bi Siye is very humorous. You and I also went to school and studied in the past. The subjects in school were complicated. The imperial examination had ten subjects. Even those top scorers and later great scholars and semi-saints had their preferences or even hated a certain subject when they were students. It is indeed a great achievement to make students like a subject. The problem is that students often don't know what they like about themselves, and they have no right to really like something."
"Governor Fang knows students better than most professors. If you were a professor, you would surely be famous all over the world," said Bi Yuan.
"Sir Bi, you are too kind. When it comes to teaching students, I am far inferior to a real teacher. But at least I know that deliberately letting students in a state admire people from other countries and look down on people from one's own country under the pretext of promoting optional reading is tantamount to treason," Fang Yun said slowly.
The real dagger is revealed.
Bi Yuan's expression did not change at all, even the candlelight reflected in his eyes did not shake at all.
Bi Yuan pretended to be puzzled and asked, "May I ask Governor Fang, who is that person? If he is in the State Academy of Literature, I will definitely impeach him and show no mercy."
Fang Yun smiled slightly and said, "Oh? Bi Siye wants to resign?"
"What does Governor Fang mean? I am confused." Bi Yuan said hurriedly.
"You don't even understand what I say, and you claim to be confused. It seems that you are indeed not suitable to be the dean." The smile on Fang Yun's face disappeared.
Bi Yuan said sternly: "If the Governor-General publicly declares that he dislikes me, I will immediately resign and leave. However, if the Governor-General finds some unfounded accusation to slander me, then I can only find a way to prove my innocence."
"Innocent? If you are from Qing country, you are indeed innocent." Fang Yun said.
Bi Yuan looked angry and said, "You implied that I deliberately let Xiangzhou students admire people from other countries and look down on people from my own country. This is really ridiculous! I have been the Dean of Education for less than three years. I have barely learned how to exercise the power of the Dean of Education. How can I care about the selected books?"
"Oh? Then why did the scholars and officials in Xiangzhou repeatedly point out that there were problems with the books read in Xiangzhou, but you used your power as the Minister of Education to suppress them all?" Fang Yun asked.
"I have said before that I have just become familiar with the affairs of the Ministry of Education. Before this, it was a matter concerning the selection of books for a state, and it was difficult for me to make a decision. Naturally, I will put it aside for now and handle it properly later." Bi Yuan said confidently.
"Master Bi, you may have forgotten that you once made a bold statement that as long as you are here, no one can change Xiangzhou's elective textbooks!" Fang Yun looked at Bi Yuan calmly.
Bi Yuan's eyes flickered slightly, and then he said: "That was just a joke."
"I overestimated you before." Fang Yun's tone was full of disappointment, as if he really felt sorry for Bi Yuan's stubbornness.
Bi Yuan's eyes flashed with anger, which was different from the anger he pretended to have before, but he was really angry. The reason why he was angry was not only because Fang Yun belittled him, but also because he knew that he had done something wrong. As a Hanlin, he was caught by someone but he argued quibbled, and then was exposed. This kind of shame can only be transformed into anger.
Bi Yuan shouted, "Governor, you accuse me of treason. Do you have any evidence? If you don't have any evidence, it's slander!"
"Are you worthy enough to be slandered by this Saint?" Fang Yun looked at Bi Yuan, not hiding the contempt in his eyes.
The anger in Bi Yuan's eyes grew even stronger. He never expected that a generation of virtual saint would insult him like this.
"I praised the Governor as a good teacher before, but I take it back now. Your ambition to pass down 16 poems in three years to become the world's teacher has expired. Your bet with the saints of the demon world has been terminated, but the bets between the officials of the human families are still going on. Last year's New Year's Eve was the final deadline, but you missed it. Starting from the Spring Festival this year, the families have begun to settle the bets. The families that supported you back then will lose a huge fortune because you did not complete the 16 war poems, which is enough to make the families seriously injured!"
Bi Yuan suddenly launched a counterattack.
Fang Yun was stunned, as if he wanted to explain something, but soon he burst into laughter and said, "When the time comes, not only do you not repent, but you also try to use such a trivial matter to confuse my literary courage. Bi Siye, do you think highly of yourself, or do you think low of me?"
"A small matter? You make it sound so light. It seems that Governor Fang doesn't care about the losses of the various families at all, and so does this humble official. It's just that I made a small mistake in selecting books, but it's not a serious crime. As for saying that it's tantamount to treason, it's too serious." Bi Yuan said.
Fang Yun was kind and patient, explaining, "As a commoner of Jing, it is normal to yearn for Qing. If you really hate Jing and don't want to be a Jing citizen, there is nothing wrong with entering Qing as a citizen. If you must find fault, it is the fault of the king and officials of Jing. Everyone has the right to choose with their feet, even though this saying is often used to mock. However, the 'one person' in this sentence only includes individuals who do not hold a national official position, because once you get an official position, you are no longer a 'one person', not a private person, but a 'public official' who is connected to tens of millions of people and shoulders the heavy responsibility of a country. Without saying anything else, just these few words, do they make sense?"
Bi Yuan did not refute, because he had already made the most clumsy cover-up just now and could not deny the other party's correct words again in such a short time.
"Very good, then you and I have a basis for continuing the conversation. No one is perfect, and it is understandable that officials of Jing admire Qing, just like the workers in this workshop envy the workers in other workshops for their high income and easy work. This is normal. Even this saint now envies the bravery of Wu, the wealth of Shu, and the unity of Yun. Even the mortal enemy Qing has something to envy. As an official of Jing, being in the dirtiest place of Jing, accustomed to darkness, it is normal to think that other countries are better than Jing. If you don't think so, you must have never been wronged, never seen the dirtiness and darkness, and don't know the advantages of other countries. Living in an environment you don't like, it is normal to be depressed, decadent, and even passive. After all, you and I are not saints, and even I, the governor, have low moods. To say something that may be taboo, we just need to quit our official positions and go to other people's workshops and go to Qing, and there is nothing wrong with it! In doing so, we have not let anyone down, and no one has been harmed. But!"
Fang Yun suddenly raised his voice and Bi Yuan's eyes flickered.
"But! Can you burn down your own workshop just because you envy the high income of the workers in other workshops? Can you kill the workers in your own workshop just because you envy the easy work in other workshops? Obviously not, why? Because if we really do so, we will hurt others. Then, as the Dean of the Academy of Literature of a state, you receive the salary of Jingguo, enjoy the support of the people, and obtain various privileges, but harbor evil intentions, making future generations of people in Xiangzhou despise Jingguo and admire Qingguo, making outstanding scholars become Qing people, cutting off the foundation of our Jingguo, and hurting our Jingguo people. Why can't such heinous crimes be compared with treason! Why can't everyone punish them! Please correct me, Dean Bi!"
.(To be continued.)