Fang Yun said: "Will the Kong family offend the Xun family by doing this for me?"
"Since we, the Kong family, have done it, we don't care about the reaction of the Xun family!" Kong Delun said proudly.
Fang Yun nodded and said, "As expected of the No. 1 family. Now that you say that, I feel relieved. Now I am afraid that the Xun family will get angry out of shame."
"Since our Kong family has taken action, the Xun family will inevitably lose face. A dignified sub-saint family will not swallow their anger, and it is impossible for them to deal with our Kong family. They will definitely target you, but the good thing is that they will definitely be more careful. However, the Kong family gave you the Skywalker as a reward for your stay in the Holy Ruins. This time, they can protect you, but they cannot protect you everywhere. The reason why the head of the family said that he would send you to 'Yuhai City' instead of 'Xizhou' is to save face for the Xun family."
Fang Yun said: "I understand this. After all, the Kong family wants to treat everyone equally. The Xun family only stopped me but did not kill me. Even the saints cannot punish the Xun family. However, even if the sub-saint family does not use insidious means, it is still very difficult to deal with. After all, when the power reaches a certain level, there are too many manpower and material resources that can be mobilized. For example, this time they stopped me from entering the Saint Academy with just one sentence."
"However, the head of the Xun family does not support hostility towards you. He... how should I put it, he was too deeply influenced by Xunzi. Xunzi has four doctrines, 'separation of heaven and man', 'transforming nature and creating falsehood', 'making groups by name' and 'emptiness and tranquility'. It is difficult for the descendants of the Xun family to learn all four doctrines, and the fourth doctrine is even more difficult to learn, so most of them only choose to learn one of the first three. The head of the Xun family has studied 'transforming nature and creating falsehood' in depth, and his attainments are extremely deep. Even if you say that 'human nature is good' conflicts with what he has learned, he will still not be hostile to you."
Fang Yun said: "I understand that the four words 'change nature and create falsehood' mean that people should change their nature and improve their realm through human efforts. This leads to a question, that is, Xunzi believes that human nature is evil, but it can be changed through human efforts. If Mr. Xun is really proficient in 'change nature and create falsehood', then he will not care too much about whether I think my nature is good or evil, but will pay more attention to whether I have improved through my own efforts."
"Obviously. You have improved step by step, which is completely in line with 'transforming nature and creating falsehood', so Mr. Xun even praised your poems in private." Kong Delun said.
Fang Yun asked: "Has Mr. Xun practiced the 'name and status to make the group'?"
"The idea of 'rank and status make people a group' is too complicated, it talks about people being noble and humble, having division of labor, and being close and distant, but this is only the foundation. What is more important is the way of governing the country, the system of the country, and the embodiment of Xunzi's etiquette. Xunzi's emphasis on etiquette was based on 'rank and status make people a group'. Mr. Xun did not practice this, but the third and fourth sons of the Xun family did. Mr. Er practiced 'the distinction between heaven and man'."
Fang Yun said: "It's a pity that I can't see the original version of Xunzi. I am very interested in emptiness and tranquility, which is the strongest way of Xunzi in his later years. This emptiness and tranquility can make people maintain a humble and focused attitude, so as to see the most essential and true everything. Xunzi was able to be named the second sage at that time. I think the main reason is that he realized emptiness and tranquility at that time."
"Yes. There is a semi-saintly saying that those who follow Xunzi and only cultivate the first three paths but not 'emptiness, unity and tranquility' will inevitably go astray, and Xun Ye is one of them. He only knows nobleness and humbleness but not emptiness and unity. Xunzi's first three paths are controversial, but only emptiness, unity and tranquility are not questioned, especially the 'Encouragement to Study', which is the initial embodiment of emptiness, unity and tranquility. Every word is like a pearl, and reciting it will fill your mouth with fragrance."
Fang Yun couldn't help but think of phrases such as "perseverance" and "the disciple surpasses the master", all of which originated from "Encouraging Learning".
"What a pity. Xun Sheng is too... direct." Kong Delun said.
Fang Yun smiled and said, "Not only was he direct, he called Mozi's ideas beastly, but he also said in his own book that Mencius's idea of human nature being good was wrong, which triggered a thousand-year-long debate on whether human nature is good or evil, and there is still no conclusion to this day. It was not until the Saint's death that Xun Saint gave up criticizing him. Unfortunately, although he took the longevity fruit, he was injured while traveling and died early."
"I see that you don't like 'name and status make the group'?"
Fang Yun was silent for a moment, then said, "I agree that there should be differences in closeness and distance, and I also agree that people should have division of labor. As for the other things, I cannot say more."
Kong Delun smiled slightly. Fang Yun never mentioned the status of a noble or humble person, which was enough to explain everything.
"What about human nature, good or evil?"
"I don't think there's any need to argue about this. Anyway, no matter whether one is born good or evil, since Mencius and Xunzi both believed that things can be improved after birth, we should focus on how to improve. There's no need to lose sight of the big picture and argue about what things were originally like." Fang Yun said.
Kong Delun nodded and said, "The way of emptiness, unity and tranquility is not in the Xun family. Before his death, Saint Xun placed the relevant classics in the Saint Courtyard. All disciples of the Xun family can read them, but non-disciples of the Xun family must have sufficient military merits to read them. When you reach the Hanlin Academy, perhaps you can take a look."
"Okay, I remember it." Fang Yun said.
"Shou Lu has been looking here, as if he has something to ask you. Go ahead." Kong Delun said.
Fang Yun nodded and walked towards Han Shoulu.
"Fang Yun." Kong Delun called from behind.
Fang Yun turned around and looked at Kong Delun with a determined look.
"I am not as talented as you, and I will certainly not be as talented as you in the future, but I have been in the Kong family for many years after all. Sometimes, you should be brave enough to write like you did today, even if the other person is a sage."
Fang Yun was stunned and realized what Kong Delun was referring to. He nodded seriously, smiled slightly, and turned to walk towards Han Shoulu.
Kong Delun looked at Fang Yun's back and smiled faintly.
Han Shoulu came over and said happily: "Third uncle will be here soon to escort you back to Yuhai City."
Fang Yun immediately said, "I will definitely reward him handsomely when he comes."
"No, Third Uncle has a very stubborn temper. He is a Grand Secretary but he still personally investigates cases. Most of us Legalists focus on law making and investigating cases, but he likes investigating cases the most. The head of the family was afraid of attacks from monsters and barbarians on the way, so he asked him to escort us. This way I feel relieved. His strength is slightly inferior to Jianmei Gong, but his experience is higher than Jianmei Gong. With him around, we can rest assured."
At this time, Hua Yuqing interrupted and said, "My fourth uncle is on his way here. A medical friend of Zhang Sheng's family is coming with my fourth uncle."
"Fang Yun, do you remember the old man who gave you his handwritten copies of "The Art of War" and "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu at the Mid-Autumn Literary Meeting? That was my third great uncle. He is also going to Yuhai City, and he will be there soon." Sun Naiyong pronounced the word "Yuhai" very heavily. The people around him laughed secretly. They said they were going to Yuhai, but in fact he was going to Xizhou for Fang Yun.
"Someone from the Meng family is coming too."
Soon, Fang Yun's friends said one after another that some of them wanted to go to Yuhai City together. Some were their relatives, and some were celebrities with whom they were not very close.
Fang Yun stood outside the east gate waiting. A quarter of an hour later, seven university secretaries, twelve Hanlin scholars and more than twenty Jinshi scholars arrived one after another.
Those university secretaries and Hanlin scholars were there to escort him, there was no problem at all, but the twenty-odd Jinshi scholars made Fang Yun laugh and cry. It was obvious that they were there to watch the fun. However, these people seemed to be dissatisfied with the Xun family, so Fang Yun did not let them leave.
When the time came, a pale golden holy page appeared in the hands of a scholar from the Kong family. (To be continued...)