Zhang Zongshi said: "The masters of the two palaces and two places cannot give Fang Xusheng direct help in this matter, but they are still considered as Fang Xusheng's strength, which is enough to prevent the miscellaneous family from acting rashly."
The old scholar said helplessly, "You worked in the Governor's Office before, so you must be aware of the current situation in Qing. In Qing, scholars from all over the country and major forces have united to launch a final counterattack. If they fail, they will die. The Miscellaneous Family is their last chance. Others may not know, but we Xiangzhou people should be able to see that Qing and the Miscellaneous Family have fought to the death."
A scholar echoed, "I just came back from Qing a few days ago, and I found that anti-Jing sentiment in Qing was extremely high. Even those who previously recognized Fang Xusheng no longer said a good word about Fang Xusheng in order to support Qing. Some people in Qing now have similar views. They believe that Qing did make mistakes before, but they also think that Jing's punishment of Qing was too harsh, leaving Qing people with no hope and no choice but to fight to the death."
Zhang Zongshi was stunned for a moment, and said, "I see. I left the Governor's Mansion not long ago, and I have been reviewing the classics of the saints at home these days. I don't know about the happiness in Qing. Could it be that because of the pressure from Jing, Qing has been awakened and more united?"
The old scholar sighed and said, "This is what I am most worried about. Once the people of Qing and the Zajia family really fight with Jing, even with Fang Xusheng, Jing will suffer heavy losses. After all, Qing is an old and powerful country, and Jing is still not as strong as Qing. Therefore, Jing should try to dissolve the alliance between the Zajia family and the Lidian, and then continue negotiations, bargain slowly, and finally sign a contract that both parties can accept."
Zhang Zongshi showed a surprised look and said, "From my judgment, Fang Xusheng doesn't seem to care too much about the Zajia and Qingguo. He still focuses on innovation instead of dealing with the Zajia and Qingguo."
"Oh? Why do you think so?" The old scholar was even more surprised.
The rest of the people in Wenyouju stared at Zhang Zongshi curiously, because this statement was very novel and no one had ever expressed a similar opinion before.
Zhang Zongshi said: "When I was in the Governor's Office, I learned a lot of ways to be a person and do things from Fang Xusheng. I carefully analyzed everything about the Li Xiang Pavilion and found that the focus of the Li Xiang Pavilion is not to improve the status of the Ministry of Rites or "Rites", but to maintain and expand the status of Jingguo's culture and morality, and at the same time be vigilant against the influence of other countries on Jingguo."
"Tell me about it in detail." The old scholar became interested.
Zhang Zongshi said: "Previously, the rules and regulations of various government offices were mostly the same, but this Li Xiang Pavilion specifically noted that the interests of Jing State were the basis, and it was formulated by Fang Xusheng himself. This is a very unusual signal, indicating that Fang Xusheng attaches great importance to this aspect. According to my experience, Fang Xusheng attaches more importance to this rule than to winning over Li Palace. I have no direct evidence to prove this, I just judged it based on my experience and feelings in the Governor's Office."
At this time, a young man said: "Brother Zhang's words are very inspiring. According to Brother Zhang's inference, can we conclude that Fang Xusheng actually believes that the Li Xiang Pavilion may eventually disregard national interests?"
Zhang Zongshi was stunned and said in surprise: "It's so! This gentleman really woke me up with a word. I felt that this rule was a bit strange before, but I could never find the source. Now I finally figured it out! Fang Xusheng believes that the power of the Li Xiang Pavilion is very strong, but he also thinks that because of its special status, the Li Xiang Pavilion handles the cultures of foreign countries and Jingguo at the same time, and it is very likely to be eroded by foreign cultures, completely forget the national interests of Jingguo, and start to serve foreign cultures, prosper foreign cultures, and suppress Jingguo culture!"
"This seems a bit confusing." The old scholar frowned.
Zhang Zongshi said patiently: "The literature and the way are brilliant. Many actions that seemed to be heretical in ancient times are now seen as helpful to the way of the saints and even to the progress of the human race. The simplest example is Confucius. He opened a private school, which was considered heretical at the time, but now it is seen as a blessing for the human race. Neither we nor the Li Xiang Pavilion can accurately judge what is the future trend and what is a wrong move, because we do not have a standard. Now, Fang Xusheng has given a standard, which is "based on national interests", which solves this problem."
"Could you explain it more clearly?" asked the old scholar, and the others nodded hurriedly, wanting to know more.
Zhang Zongshi thought for a moment and said, "Fang Xusheng once used a country called Europe as an example in his Political History. It said that country had a period called the Renaissance. There were many factors that led to that period, and there were many successes. But Fang Xusheng pointed out in the book that the core of the Renaissance was that the scholars of the foreign race who were good at painting and writing broke away from the shackles of their religion and stopped creating stereotyped, highly similar works of religion. They began to explore and recognize the beauty and characteristics of the individual, thus liberating the nature of the foreign race, gaining more possibilities for development, and balancing the interests of the group and the individual, allowing the foreign race to reach the peak."
"If, I mean if, that ethnic group had an office similar to the Li Xiangge at that time, and that office did not judge based on the national interest, what would be the result? Those foreign scholars would definitely be considered to be rebellious against the moral code and thus banned. However, if we consider it from the perspective of national interests, we will find that those people created different works. Did they violate the law? No. Could they really threaten the national order? No. However, those different works can promote cultural prosperity and meet the needs of foreign races. Even from the most utilitarian perspective, they can also bring in tax revenue. Is this good or bad? Should it be promoted or banned?"
"Obviously, it should be promoted. At the same time, we should also see the higher level of national interests, that is, if the culture of Europe continues to prosper and begins to influence other ethnic groups, other ethnic groups will recognize Europe more. This will lead to the possibility I mentioned before, causing people of other ethnic groups to like or even worship Europe, start to promote everything about Europe, and slowly make other ethnic groups submit spiritually, even if the other country has an office like the Court of Rites, it will be of no avail. A prosperous culture can not only resist foreign invasions, but also slowly invade foreign invasions!"
The young man who reminded Zhang Zongshi before said: "I have also read the Political History. In fact, the Renaissance is bound to happen, but it may not necessarily happen in Europe. Perhaps it can be regarded as the luck of Europeans and has nothing to do with government offices such as the Ministry of Rites."
Zhang Zongshi said in a loud voice: "This is why I admire Fang Xusheng! We may just think that it was a coincidence, and we won't even dig into the root of the matter, let alone connect the Renaissance with Jingguo. However, Fang Xusheng learned one thing from the Renaissance, that is, Jingguo should imitate the Renaissance, prosper Jingguo culture, let Jingguo culture erode foreign countries, and thus strengthen Jingguo in all aspects."
The old scholar asked again: "If there are good things in foreign countries, will Jingguo also boycott them?"
Zhang Zongshi was stunned for a moment and couldn't answer immediately.
The young man smiled and said, "It's very simple. We learn good things, absorb and digest them, but we don't deify foreign countries. We learn 'good things', not 'foreign countries'! We learn 'knowledge' and respect 'teachers', not become teachers' slaves just because we have learned knowledge. Only those who can't distinguish between 'learning knowledge' and 'learning teachers' will feel inferior. We respect teachers, but we only bow to correct knowledge! Just like the rules of Wenyouju, sometimes we only talk about things, not people. As long as the Li Xiangge of Jingguo does not betray its own country, grasps the right measure, does not infinitely elevate and deify foreign countries, and treats good things with a fair and just attitude, there will never be traitors in Jingguo."
"Brother, this is a brilliant idea!" Zhang Zongshi expressed his sincere admiration.
Everyone continued to discuss until late at night, when Zhang Zongshi left Wenyouju and returned home.
On the second day, Zhang Zongshi received a document from the governor's office, which said that as long as Zhang Zongshi passed the imperial examination, he could directly serve in the Left Prime Minister's Cabinet.