"Long" and "long" have the same pronunciation. A mountain that rises and falls like a dragon is called Long. Unfortunately, Xun Long heard that he was like a dragon. He saw him twice in two days, and then he realized that his reputation was not worthy of the reality. What he heard was false."
"Strong winds reveal strong grass. Such people are too common." Mo Shan said.
Yan Yukong suddenly sighed and said, "I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but in the past few years, my relationship with the head of the Yan family was not good. It was not until the past one or two years that we eased up. Do you know why?"
Zong Wude said, "We all know this. When you were famous in Qing Country, the head of the Yan family saw a talent and sent people to take you back to the main family, giving you the same treatment as the main family disciples. The treatment of the main family and the side disciples was very different. You even had a chance to read Yan Zi's sacred text, which caused dissatisfaction among some main family disciples, not to mention the side disciples, so some people made things difficult for you. Some adults thought it was a fight between young people and it was inconvenient to intervene, and some wanted to see your character. But you were so good. After enduring for two months, you left the Yan family without saying a word and never returned."
Li Fanming smiled and said, "This incident caused quite a stir among the noble families. We thought you were too arrogant at the time, but later we learned that you traveled around the world with the Southern Saint and walked tens of thousands of miles, and then we realized that you were quite courageous."
Yan Yukong said: "Xun Long's status is similar to mine, and he is also a member of the side branch. I have heard some things about him. He suffered a little humiliation when he was young, and then he concentrated on studying. His status in the Xun family became higher and higher. Later, because of his merits in the Shihan Ancient Land, he was valued, but he was still not listed in the main family tree, and was not as good as the main family's children. You also know that the Xun family pays great attention to respect and inferiority, nobility and intimacy, even more than my Yan family, so I know that he is in a difficult situation, and I once felt very sympathetic towards him."
At first, everyone thought that Yan Yukong was going to speak for Xun Long, but after hearing the end, they realized that Yan Yukong did not seem to think so.
"But later, I gradually learned about some things and put away my sympathy. I can't go into details about the specific things, I can only say that he obtained the hard-earned status, and then tried his best to maintain his status. He did many things to maintain the hierarchy, and was ruthless to people outside the Xun family. I guessed correctly, what he wants to do most now is to enter the main family's family tree, and then let his son enjoy the treatment of the main family's children, not like he did in the past." Yan Yukong said.
Everyone listened attentively.
Yan Yukong's eyes changed, and he said, "I support him very much in his fight for his position, and I can understand that he even uses some dishonest means. After all, if the water is too clear, there will be no fish. But now, he knows that the Xun family may endanger Fang Yun's life, but he still protects Xun Ye and obstructs Fang Yun. This person is no longer using means, but is murdering Fang Yun! The Kong family suffered a worse fate than the Xun family, but the Kong family gradually improved step by step. Although they followed the "respect and inferiority" of Confucius, they also pursued the "benevolence" of Confucius, and insisted on benevolence first and respect and inferiority second. But some descendants of the Xun family value "ritual" more than benevolence, which is..."
Yan Yukong did not say anything more. But everyone knew that he wanted to say that the Xun family had taken the wrong path, but because of his status, he could not say it directly.
Kong Delun suddenly whispered: "Some people want to make the semi-saint ancestor ascend to the sub-saint, so naturally there are people who want their ancestors to suppress other sub-saints."
Everyone looked at them strangely.
Fang Yun suddenly realized. The people that Kong Delun wanted to make their ancestors the second sage were the descendants of Dong Zhongshu. Dong Zhongshu was a genius, and was canonized for his famous "harmony between heaven and man" and "great unification" ideas. He was named "Confucian Master" and was praised as the first half-sage of Confucianism. He was originally the most likely genius to be canonized as the second sage.
However, Dong Sheng was too bold. Not only did he try to change the teachings of Confucius, he also wanted to unify all schools of thought to challenge the position of the second sage. He offended many semi-saints, and in the end nothing was accomplished. The great unification was never fully achieved.
However, although Dong Zhongshu was radical, he had real talent and knowledge and made great contributions to the human race. Although the aristocratic families did not like his ideas, they also respected him very much.
Dong Zhongshu did not become the second sage. He was open-minded and had no complaints during his lifetime. However, his descendants wanted to push him to the position of the second sage, or as a second best option, let the Dong family be treated as the second sage family.
When Kong Delun mentioned the Dong family, Fang Yun finally understood why the Xun family attached so much importance to hierarchy, because this is within the realm of "ritual".
Among the six sub-sages, King Wen of Zhou, who created the Book of Changes, is undoubtedly the first of the sub-sages, and the second is Mencius. Mencius not only became a sage earlier than Xunzi, but also perfected "righteousness". Therefore, Xunzi's family could never compete with King Wen's family and Mencius' family.
Later generations have verified that Xunzi also wanted to surpass Mencius and achieve higher achievements in "ritual", but he was unable to make a breakthrough. Instead, he became the second sage because of his emptiness and tranquility and the gift after the death of Confucius.
Although Xunzi had disputes with Mencius, Mozi and other saints about the holy way, he himself did not care about the ranking, and his disciples and descendants were different.
After the death of Xunzi, the disciples of Xunzi's family always wanted Xunzi to rank higher than Mencius, so they have been working hard on "ritual". The idea of respect and inferiority represented by "ruler is ruler, minister is minister, father is father, son is son" is the most important foundation of "ritual". After respect and inferiority, Xunzi proposed the more extreme concept of "noble and humble". If the Xunzi family wants to make a breakthrough in "ritual", they must attach importance to respect and inferiority, and it is impossible for them to oppose their ancestors.
It is precisely because of this that the Xun family has a different family style.
Fang Yun figured out the reason and said, "I can understand some things, but I will never accept them! The holy path is difficult. If someone sees me as an enemy, I will definitely treat them as an enemy! I will never back down in this literary duel!"
After Fang Yun finished speaking, he started to get off the boat.
Everyone followed closely behind.
Fang Yun looked around as he got off the boat. The roads on both sides were blocked by roadblocks, but more and more people appeared behind the roadblocks. They were crowded. Most of them were talking, most were extremely angry, a few were cursing, but a few were silent, without any resentment.
Hundreds of people stood in front of the State Academy of Arts.
There were old and highly respected scholars in Xizhou, officials in Xizhou, and students. Most of them had the rank of Juren or above, and a few were scholars among them.
Fang Yun took a closer look and found that except for some young people who looked dissatisfied, the slightly older people all came to greet him with smiles. Seeing this scene, Fang Yun knew that this literary duel would be more difficult. He would rather see a group of angry Xizhou literati, which would be easier to deal with. However, he was also somewhat relieved that the human race was better than the monsters after all.
"Welcome Fang Zhenguo and other grand secretaries to Xizhou, and take the sky-high ship to bring honor to our Changning Prefecture." An elderly man with a white face and no beard, wearing the official uniform of the third rank, walked in front.
Zong Wude whispered, "Sheng Zhizhou, a university scholar, a member of the royal family."
Fang Yun understood and smiled, "Student Fang Yun, greetings to Mr. Sheng, the Grand Master, and all the elders."
"You're welcome. You are indeed a young talent. We were just arguing about which girl among our families would be the most suitable for you if you hadn't married." Sheng Zhizhou said with a smile. It didn't seem like a formal official reception at all, but more like a gathering of literati.
Fang Yun smiled slightly and glanced sideways at the Grand Secretary and the Hanlin scholars behind him.
Those people shook their heads slightly, and no one showed any intention to come forward.
Sheng Zhizhou said with a smile: "Wen Ying, I haven't seen you for many years. You are more charming than ever. Yuzhi, you..."
Li Wenying interrupted Sheng Zhizhou and said, "Mr. Tingshan, today is Fang Yun's literary contest, so old guys like you and me should stop talking nonsense. Fang Yun is a straightforward person, so you should be more straightforward too. Bring ten candidates, and after the contest we will go back to Yuhai to sleep."
Fang Yun secretly praised Jianmei Gong in his heart, and at the same time regretted that Zhang Poyue was not here at this time, otherwise he would have angered the people of Qing to death. (To be continued...)