Before the grand court meeting, the empress dowager sent her most capable eunuch to invite Fang Yun to the Fengtian Palace.
Everyone was afraid that Fang Yun would use illness as an excuse to not attend court.
After the ceremony, the Fengtian Hall fell into complete silence.
Some of the officials lowered their heads, some looked straight ahead, and some looked upwards, but no matter where they looked, their peripheral vision was on Fang Yun.
Everyone knew that this grand court meeting was actually for just one thing.
Convince Fang Yun.
Everyone was silent for a full quarter of an hour. The Minister of Rites Sheng Boyuan coughed lightly to break the silence and said, "Since none of my colleagues are speaking, I will be the first to speak out. We have argued enough about this matter, and I do not want to say more this time. Fang Xusheng, I am sorry, are you willing to admit your mistake to me?"
Fang Yun tilted his head slightly and looked at Sheng Boyuan, asking, "What are you admitting?"
Sheng Boyuan stood there in a daze, and all the officials were also slightly stunned.
Many officials suddenly realized the situation and their faces turned red.
Yes, what mistake does Fang Yun want to admit
Almost everyone wants Fang Yun to admit his mistake and resolve the crisis, but almost no one has thought about this simple question: what was Fang Yun's mistake and what should he admit
After a few breaths, Sheng Boyuan smiled and said, "Some things cannot be judged purely by right or wrong. To give you the simplest example, your ban on the sea for Qing Country is a great thing in the eyes of me and the people of Jing Country, and there is nothing wrong with it. But in the eyes of the people of Qing Country, you did something wrong. Since you think you did nothing wrong, you can pretend to admit your mistake for the sake of Jing Country."
"From what Minister Sheng said, it doesn't matter what I do, what the enemy thinks is important?" Fang Yun asked.
"Saint Fang Xu is joking. How can the people of Qing be considered enemies? Now only the monsters are enemies. The countries of Qing and Jing are only in a competitive relationship, but not an antagonistic one." Sheng Boyuan said.
"Since they are not in opposition, then why has Zajia declared that it will use the Holy Dao Sealing on Jing State? This is a plan to wipe out the entire family, which has gone far beyond competition. Could it be that Minister Sheng has accepted money from Zajia and is preparing to defect to Qing State?" Fang Yun asked.
Sheng Boyuan was not angry and said, "That was just our negotiation strategy. As long as you admit your mistake, we will definitely not do that."
Fang Yun said, "Could it be that Minister Sheng has a bad memory? The Miscellaneous Family has offered more than one condition. Asking me to admit my mistakes is only the most insignificant part. The Miscellaneous Family also forbids me to be hostile to them and forbids me to obstruct the Miscellaneous Family's holy path. The latter two things are the most important."
Sheng Boyuan smiled and said, "You are a pillar of the human race, so you will naturally not oppose the Miscellaneous School; and you are a disciple of Confucianism, so you will naturally not affect the Miscellaneous School's holy doctrine. These two things are actually insignificant."
"Minister Sheng, I really doubt that you have been paid. What is considered obstructing the Miscellaneous School? What is considered opposing the Miscellaneous School? Is the decision-making and interpretation right in your hands, in my hands, or in the hands of the Miscellaneous School? I will also give you a simple example. If I issue a decree right now, even if it is a trivial decree, does it also fall into the category of the Miscellaneous School's holy way? As long as the Miscellaneous School is not satisfied, can it be considered that I am obstructing the Miscellaneous School?"
Sheng Boyuan said helplessly: "Fang Xusheng, you think too much of the Miscellaneous School. How could the Miscellaneous School do such a thing? As long as your actions do not weaken the Miscellaneous School's holy way and do not publicly accuse and criticize the Miscellaneous School, the Miscellaneous School will not care about these things."
"Oh, if the Zajia is not so petty, then why would they force our Jing country to negotiate with them? Has our Jing country declared opposition to the Zajia? Has our Jing country torn apart the Zajia's holy path?" Fang Yun asked.
Sheng Boyuan was silent for a long time, and then said, "Our Jing country's reforms these days are too radical, and they have destroyed the harmonious relationship with Qing country. The Zajia family naturally has the right to investigate."
"In other words, you still think that I, Fang Yun, did something wrong?" Fang Yun looked directly at Sheng Boyuan.
Sheng Boyuan was silent for a long time again, and then he said slowly: "If you had used gentler means, perhaps the current result would not have occurred."
"You stupid idiot! Will the Yaoman Kingdom give me time to be gentle, or will the Qing Kingdom give me time to be gentle? I could have had a long time to recuperate after I came out of the Valley of the Holy Burial, but I ran to the cabinet to carry out reforms without stopping. Why do you think it was because of idiots like you who are forcing me to be radical! If I am not radical, idiots like you will sooner or later drag the Jing Kingdom to death, turn it into a dog of the Qing Kingdom, and turn it into rotten meat under the butcher knife of the Yaoman Kingdom!" Fang Yun suddenly became angry.
Sheng Boyuan said angrily: "I know you have made great contributions to the Kingdom of Jing, but you cannot insult our civil and military officials like this!"
"I didn't insult you. When you force me to admit my mistakes, you are humiliating yourself." Fang Yun's tone became increasingly cold.
He did not release any external power, but the scholars around him felt that Fang Yun seemed to have turned into an iceberg. If they got close to him, they would be frozen into ice sculptures.
"Are you willing to admit your mistake for Jingguo?" Sheng Boyuan asked harshly.
Fang Yun looked at Sheng Boyuan with contempt, and then looked at the civil and military officials with contempt, and finally looked at Sheng Boyuan and said contemptuously: "I said you are stupid, and you immediately proved it with your words and deeds. Do you think that if I admit my mistakes, my family will let me go? Do you think that if I promise not to obstruct my family's holy way, my family will not find fault with me? Now think about it with your spotless mind. Could it be that my family just wants me to admit my mistakes? My family wants to eat me alive and eat Jingguo alive!"
Sheng Boyuan said: "As long as our Jing country is strong, why would we be afraid of the Za family?"
"You bureaucrats without knees are used to ignoring national interests for your own benefit. Under the pressure of the miscellaneous families, you will slowly sell out the national interests that you think are dispensable. When there is nothing left to sell, you will find that from the very beginning, you, a bunch of spineless slaves, have been afraid of the miscellaneous families and Qing Kingdom. Even though I and other scholars have worked hard to strengthen Jing Kingdom for so many years, I can't make your bones hard even a little bit! If you were not afraid, why would you hold a grand court meeting for the miscellaneous families to discuss how to share our business! Even if you have a little bit of backbone, you will not be so afraid of Qing Kingdom and the miscellaneous families! The root of the whole thing is not how powerful Qing Kingdom was in the past, nor how threatening the miscellaneous families are now, but that most of the officials who control this country are a group of cowardly bandits!" Fang Yun finally pointed at Sheng Boyuan's nose and cursed.
"You are talking nonsense!" Sheng Boyuan glared at Fang Yun.
However, many officials present changed their expressions because of Fang Yun's words.
These officials were filled with dissatisfaction and had countless reasons in their minds to shirk responsibility, but their reason and instinct told them that no matter how biased Fang Yun's words were, there was always a ray of truth in them that they could not refute.
"Back then, the ancestors who founded Jingguo led countless people and scholars to overcome difficulties and stand tall in Shengyuan Continent. Now, I and so many hardworking people in Jingguo are leading you to develop Jingguo, but you cowardly bandits not only refuse to follow us, but even hold us back! Not only are you unworthy of being an official, you don't even have the basic spirit of being a human being!"