Fang Yun's handling method was highly recognized by the court and the public. Even the prime minister Yang Xuwen, who was obviously inclined towards the royal family, publicly praised Fang Yun for his clear vision and clear mind in this matter, and said that he was truly a role model for all officials.
Some of the censors of the Supervisory Yuan regretted not being able to report the case first, and some were jealous of Luo Yu's evaluation. However, most of them approved of Fang Yun's handling method and believed that Fang Yun had set the most correct example for the cabinet and gave the Supervisory Yuan the fairest treatment while ensuring its high degree of independence.
Therefore, He Mingxiang, the chief censor of the Supervisory Yuan, issued orders to the censors of the capital, Dongyunzhou and Yanzhou, requiring them to report the officials who violated etiquette as soon as possible and perform the duties of the censors.
Several censors expressed their objection because they knew that the Chief Censor was returning a favor by deliberately avoiding Mizhou, Xiangzhou and Jiangzhou.
However, He Mingxiang did not care about the voices of opposition. As an ordinary censor, he could do whatever he wanted, but as the first chief official of the Supervisory Yuan, he had to follow certain rules of officialdom.
If Fang sent such a huge gift to the Supervisory Council, but he, as the head of the Council, did not give any return at all, then which force would support him to continue to serve as the head of the Council or even get promoted in the future
In the next few days, the Supervisory Office reported more than a dozen officials, both big and small. Although their ranks were not high, at most they were of the sixth rank, they sent a clear signal to the outside world that the Supervisory Office did not oppose Fang Yun, but handled the matter impartially.
The Fuxiang Pavilion still forwarded the relevant memorials to the Zuoxiang Pavilion, and Fang Yun's punishment for the new officials who violated the etiquette was not as severe as the first time, but it was all recorded in the documents of the Ministry of Personnel's Examination and Reward Department and left in the archives. It would not have much impact under normal circumstances, but if the Ministry of Personnel wanted to target someone, then this punishment would become a powerful weapon.
The daily ritual continued, and just when everyone thought that this so-called respect for ritual and restoration of the past only involved minor details, the promulgation of the twelfth ritual suddenly became the focus of debate throughout the world.
This is because the twelfth rite requires every official of a certain rank to learn the path of a half-saint once a year.
When Zilu was young, his family was poor and he often ate wild vegetables, but he would walk hundreds of miles to buy rice and carry it back home so that his parents could have good meals.
Later, Zilu received education from Confucius and became a high-ranking official. He often missed his parents and once said that although he could taste wild vegetables now, he could no longer carry rice for his parents for hundreds of miles to show his filial piety as he did in the past.
The requirement of the twelfth ritual is that every official of a certain rank must walk a hundred miles away to buy 20 kilograms of rice around the birthdays of his parents every year, and then carry it back home on foot.
Although some officials were dissatisfied with the previous eleven rituals, no official stood up to oppose them. However, on the day when the twelfth ritual was promulgated, many officials submitted memorials of opposition, believing that it was inappropriate to implement this old ritual.
The next day in the court, the twelfth ritual became the focus of debate among officials.
Among those who opposed it, some believed that this kind of respectful ceremony was a waste of time, and if officials were really expected to show filial piety, carrying rice for ten miles would be enough.
Some people give an example, saying that it takes ten hours to travel a hundred miles, which wastes a whole day, and the return trip takes place the next day, which is equivalent to wasting two days. If something serious is not handled in time, who will bear the responsibility
Some people said that Fang Yun was making things difficult for the officials. Some officials were in poor health, and if they were to carry rice on their backs and walk 200 miles, they would probably be exhausted to death. This was the greatest act of filial piety.
There are supporters.
Some people think that if an official cannot walk 200 miles in two days, it is better for him to resign and return home. Without a strong body, how can he handle complicated government affairs
Some people think that Fang Yun is not torturing officials, but just letting officials become role models for the people. Moreover, it only takes up two days a year, so officials can be given two days off. If every official can do this, the people will naturally be moved and will do their best to show filial piety.
Some people also believe that Zilu is a semi-saint, and he is a disciple of Confucius, one of the Ten Philosophers of Confucius. As long as you learn from him, no matter how hard you try, it is not too much. If officials can't even carry rice for 200 miles, doesn't it mean that the Saint Academy is wrong to ask the great Confucian scholars to go out for training
The court was engulfed in quarrels.
However, some officials have not spoken out their opposition or support, because they always feel that Fang Yun's purpose of respecting the ancient rituals this time is not simple, and they will never express their views until the dust settles.
There are also some officials who have repeatedly thought about Li Wenying's words in these days, and finally chose to believe Li Wenying and Fang Yun, so they remain silent for now.
What was even more bizarre was that although many officials opposed it, no senior official of the third rank or above said anything. Even Sheng Boyuan, the Minister of Rites who firmly supported the royal family, did not object. He even occasionally sneered, as if he was eager for Fang Yun's twelfth ceremony to be implemented.
In the absence of obstruction from high officials and the royal family, the twelfth ceremony was officially stamped with the imperial seal and became the emperor's order, which every official was bound to carry out.
As a result, more and more officials began to be dissatisfied with Fang Yun, and some officials even publicly criticized Fang Yun on the discussion board. However, they were very careful in their choice of words, without using foul language or fabricating facts. It was a legitimate criticism, which was a right granted to scholars by the Holy Court. Neither Fang Yun nor the censors could use this as evidence to punish officials.
That is, on the day when the twelfth ceremony was officially implemented, Fang Yun did not announce the thirteenth ceremony, but announced that he had written a book "Illustrated Explanation of Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars", which listed twenty-four stories of filial piety in history.
Fang Yun posted it directly on the discussion board and it quickly spread throughout the world.
This "Illustrated Explanation of the Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars" starts off very well. The first filial piety is about filial piety that moved Heaven. The protagonist is the wise ruler Shun. Even though he was framed by his parents, he did not fight back. After becoming the emperor, he remained filial to his parents.
The second filial piety is to entertain parents with colorful costumes. A man named Lao Laizi often dressed in colorful clothes to make his parents happy even though he was over 70 years old. Once, Lao Laizi accidentally fell down. Fearing that his parents would worry, he immediately cried like a child, which made his parents laugh instead.
The following stories about filial piety are all very normal, including the story of Zilu carrying rice for a hundred miles.
However, when people saw the ninth filial piety story, their reactions were different, so much so that the entire discussion board quickly turned into a battlefield.
The ninth story about filial piety is about burying a child to serve the mother.
During the Han Dynasty, there was a man named Guo Ju who came from a poor family. After his wife gave birth to a child, Guo Ju was afraid that the family's food would not be enough to feed the child, so he decided to bury the child and kill him.
As a result, when he was digging a hole to bury the child, he found gold. Guo Ju then said that it was his filial piety that moved the heavens, and that the heavens allowed him to dig up the gold. So he put away the gold, decided not to kill his son anymore, and went home to raise his son and support his mother.
Although Guo Ju did not kill his son in the end, Fang Yun actually regarded this story as a model of filial piety, which caused great controversy.
Because this incident has also caused controversy in the Shengyuan Continent. Some people think that Guo Ju is a model of filial piety, some people think that Guo Ju is a beast, and some people suspect that Guo Ju wanted to cover up the unknown origin of the gold. Some people even think that Guo Ju made up this lie in order to get the recommendation of officials.
In short, whether it was on the discussion board or in the court of Jing State, there was a fierce debate on whether "Illustrated Explanation of the Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars" should be popularized.