Bi Yuan had a thousand words in his mind, but he didn't refute in the end, because every one of his rebuttals would become a reason for Fang Yun to despise him, just like the first one.
"The people support you, not so that you can make them slaves of a conquered country; the country entrusts you with important tasks, not so that you can push Jingguo into the fire pit. The people support you so that we Jing people can at least be on an equal footing with other people and not be looked down upon; the country entrusts you with important tasks so that you can help my great Jing country stand at the top of all countries and become strong and prosperous! You don't want to do it? Sure, get out of the government office. I can guarantee that no citizen will point at you and curse you for harming us Jing people because you have no official status. But since you are in the government office and are the Dean of Xiangzhou Academy of Literature, you must let more Xiangzhou students pass the imperial examinations, let more Xiangzhou students be loyal to Jingguo, and let more Xiangzhou students distinguish between friends and enemies. Indeed, they can be untalented, disloyal to Jingguo, and not distinguish between friends and enemies, but that is their business. If you don't do it, you are dereliction of duty!"
Bi Yuan was speechless.
"You, still want to quibble? I'll give you a chance." Fang Yun looked at Bi Yuan.
Bi Yuan gritted his teeth and said loudly, "Jing is weak, not strong enough to fight against Qing, not strong enough to keep the people safe and strong, and not strong enough to drive out the monsters. Isn't it strange that people from this country are admired by Xiangzhou students? Although Qing is an enemy country, they are strong and rich. If we can become Qing people, won't we be the same as Qing people? We don't have to be bullied by powerful countries, slaughtered by monsters, or participate in internal struggles among officials. Everyone can live and work in peace. Isn't it good?"
Fang Yun blinked and asked in confusion: "Which country are you talking about? How about this, if the Qing country in your mouth and in your mind is more than 30% different from the real Qing country, you will break your own courage, how about that?"
"I firmly believe that the people of Dangqing are better than the people of Dangjing!" Bi Yuan changed the subject and asked Fang Yun a question.
"I must admit that the average wealth of the people in Qing is higher than that of my country Jing. However, the problem is that you are not a Qing person, you are a Jing person! Even if you go to Qing and become a Qing person, you are still a 'Qing person who was once a Jing person'. There are people competing for every official position, every imperial examination quota, every store and even every street stall in Qing. Why should they give them to outsiders like you? If you were a Qing person and annexed Jing, would you give the benefits from Jing to your own people or to the people of Jing?"
"I..." Before Bi Yuan could say anything, he was interrupted by Fang Yun.
"Let me tell you, Qing will divide the benefits it gets from Jing into three parts. The largest part will be divided among the royal family, officials and noble families of Qing. The second largest part will be rewarded to you slaves who work hard for Qing and subvert Jing. The last remaining part will be thrown to the hundreds of millions of people in the original Jing country, and a large number of Qing people will participate in the competition for this benefit. You dog slaves will naturally get benefits if you find your master and sell out most of us Jing people, but what about the hundreds of millions of Jing people? Use your literary courage to tell me that as long as the hundreds of millions of Jing people become Qing people, they will be exactly the same as those wealthy Qing people, not the same as those lower-class Qing people, and it is even more impossible to be worse than those lower-class Qing people! As long as you dare to swear with your literary courage and say these words with your literary courage, even if our Fangyun bears the infamy of hundreds of millions of people in Jing, we will help Qing annex Jing and let the people of Jing live the happy life you have fabricated with your stupid and ignorant mind!"
Bi Yuan looked at Fang Yun with panic in his eyes, because Fang Yun hit the nail on the head with his innermost thoughts. He never cared about the situation of the hundreds of millions of Jing Kingdom people after they joined Qing Kingdom. He only believed that once he joined Qing Kingdom, he would definitely gain benefits and would definitely have a higher official position and a higher literary position than his current ones.
"There is no such thing as gaining something for nothing in this world. The only way to truly advance is to either sell out others or improve ourselves. It has nothing to do with which academy or country we are in. Your claim that everything will be fine if you join Qing was initially an excuse for yourself because you could not advance further, and now, it is an excuse for you to sell out the people of Jing."
Bi Yuan looked at Fang Yun and felt as if his heart was being torn apart alive by Fang Yong's hands and his literary courage was being crushed alive by Fang Yun.
Bi Yuan's Wen Palace began to vibrate.
"You... I..." Bi Yuan's body swayed and he sat back in the chair, looking at Fang Yun weakly.
"There are many officials in Xiangzhou who are helping Qing State and are hostile to Jing State. These people are collectively called 'Qing officials'. Do you know why I didn't look for these people but for you?" Fang Yun asked.
Bi Yuan couldn't answer. The world he saw was shaking and Fang Yun in front of him was very blurry.
"Then let me tell you, the harm you have caused to Dianzhou and Jingguo is more serious than that caused by ten or even a hundred Qing officials! So you should be killed for your heart and for your crime!" Fang Yun's voice exploded in Bi Yuan's ears.
Bi Yuan turned pale as he realized that Fang Yun wanted to kill someone!
Fang Yun straightened his clothes, raised his head high, looked at Bi Yuan in front of him, and said: "I have said everything I need to say. Considering that you are a Hanlin, you have made contributions to the human race. I will only say one last thing: doctors should not be punished."
After saying that, Fang Yun walked out of Bi Yuan's study.
Bi Yuan slumped in his chair, his face ashen.
"No punishment shall be imposed on officials" is a saying from the Book of Rites. Confucius, Zheng Xuan and Jia Yi have all explained it, and the three have basically agreed that if officials and other people of high status commit serious crimes, such as capital crimes, their true charges should not be made public, nor should they be tied up and taken to the execution ground. Instead, they should be given face and allowed to commit suicide at home.
However, there is another interpretation of this sentence, which holds that "上" is the same as "尊", and not respecting means not giving preferential treatment, meaning that everyone is equal before the law and doctors will not be given preferential treatment.
As for some people thinking that this sentence means "doctors and other high-ranking officials should not be punished", it is purely misleading and has ulterior motives.
Bi Yuan knew very well that there were only two interpretations for “no punishment for doctors”, so which one did Fang Yun want to choose
If Bi Yuan doesn't want to choose the first explanation, then Fang Yun will choose the second explanation for him.
Bi Yuan sat in the study, in a daze for a long time.
On the second day, a piece of news spread throughout Xiangzhou and Jingqing.
Bi Yuan, the director of Xiangzhou Academy of Literature, committed suicide in his study. Before his death, he poured his talent into a brush, forming the Hanlin Wenbao Brush.
Bi Yuan also left a suicide note, asking his children to be good citizens of Jing.
Officials and scholars from all over the country wrote letters to comfort Bi Yuan's wife and children. Lian Fangyun also expressed condolences to the Bi family on behalf of the Governor-General's Office and promised to properly accommodate Bi Yuan's family.
On the same day, Fang Yun went to the State Academy of Literature to exercise his authority as the head of the state academy and comprehensively formulate new selected textbooks for Xiangzhou to correct the original intention.
As the time draws closer to August 12, Dong Wencong is increasingly looking forward to Fang Yun's second letter of challenge.
.(To be continued.)