Although Zhang Fei is a rookie in officialdom, he has studied ancient laws and he knows why there is no rule of law in feudal society.

Since he was going to give this lesson, he certainly knew what he might face, and although the process caught him off guard, he was not completely unprepared.

"What's this?"

Xu Zhiqian looked at Zhang Fei returning home with a bundle in his hand, looking sly, and couldn't help but ask curiously.

Zhang Fei glanced around and whispered, "Let's talk about it in the room."

"oh."

Xu Zhiqian nodded and immediately went into the house with Zhang Fei.

Click, click.

As soon as Zhang Fei opened the bundle, he saw more than a dozen memorials falling out of it.

Xu Zhiqian exclaimed: "This is..."

...

...

"Memorial."

Zhang Fei chuckled and said, "It was given to me by the government, but I didn't steal it."

Xu Zhiqian rolled her eyes at him: "Of course I know this, but what is this memorial?"

"These are the memorials impeaching me. I have selected a few representative ones." Zhang Fei said.

Xu Zhiqian's eyes lit up, "I understand, you plan to study their memorial first, and then refute them. As the saying goes, knowing yourself and the enemy, you can fight a hundred battles without danger."

"Promise me that you will read less military tactics in the future."

Zhang Fei said: "I plan to publish all their views in newspapers."

"ah?"

Xu Zhiqian looked at Zhang Fei in shock, "Why is this happening?"

Zhang Fei chuckled and said, "I've thought about it carefully. For things like this, we should speak out openly. Covering it up will only make people suspicious. I, Zhang Dongpo, am open and aboveboard and I am not afraid of what people say."

Xu Zhiqian thought what she said made sense, but after thinking about it carefully, it seemed not quite right. "But you also said before that your legal system is indeed in conflict with the moral code. They are not wrongly accusing you. This is all true!"

Zhang Fei said unconcernedly, "Things like thoughts are not perfect. No matter what I say, they can always find reasons to object. As the saying goes, too much talk leads to mistakes. It's better to speak out openly. Others will decide what is right and wrong."

Xu Zhiqian frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "In that case, why not publish your views in newspapers? Wouldn't that be better?"

Zhang Fei exclaimed, "If we do that, it will play into their hands. As long as I publish my rebuttal in the newspapers, everyone will join in. But think about it, who will support us? Men can't oppose the husband being the head of the wife. The only way is not to argue with them. We just agree with whatever they say and that's it."

"But.."

"No buts."

Zhang Fei interrupted her, "This is a brilliant plan that I discussed with the emperor, it can't be wrong."

After hearing this, Xu Zhiqian thought so too. Since the emperor supported it, what else could she say? She asked again, "Then what should we do?"

Zhang Fei said: "First, read their memorials, and then write down their opinions in an article, but don't copy them. If you do that, everyone will know that we have read their memorials, and this is against the system."

Xu Zhiqian asked, "Shall I write it?"

Zhang Fei said: "Of course you write it. I can't write this kind of article. But don't worry, after this article is published, no one will pay attention to your writing style."

Xu Zhiqian was still worried and said, "I don't have time to care about these things at this moment. Are you sure it's okay to do this?"

"Don't worry. No problem."

"All right."

Xu Zhiqian sat down.

"I'll help you grind the ink."

Zhang Fei took the inkstone and said, "Remember, you have to write from the other party's perspective. There can't be even a hint of rebuttal in it."

Xu Zhiqian couldn't help but look at Zhang Fei with a strange expression again, and opened her mouth slightly, but finally held back. After all, Zhang Fei had used similar tricks before and often scolded himself.

But this matter is a little different, because it involves the moral code, which is closely linked to the imperial power.

Xu Zhiqian always felt that doing so was too risky. Wouldn't that be adding fuel to the fire? But since the emperor supported it, she couldn't say much.

Those memorials were actually articles. Xu Zhiqian only needed to write them based on those memorials and change some sentences. It was not very difficult.

But Xu Zhiqian wrote it with trepidation, because the views expressed in it were not nonsense, but rather pointed to the point.

They cited many examples from the relationship between the emperor and his subjects, father and son, brothers, and teachers and students to prove that no matter whether the concept of the rule of law is good or bad, as long as there is the concept of defending the legitimate rights and interests of individuals, it will inevitably undermine the ethical code.

"Zhang San, don't you think what they said makes sense?" Xu Zhiqian suddenly looked at Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "That must make sense. Those censors are all well-versed in the classics. How could they talk nonsense?"

Xu Zhiqian asked: "Then how do you plan to refute it?"

"Didn't I tell you that?"

Zhang Fei said: "You are right, right, right, right."

".?"

After finishing writing, Zhang Fei took the articles and rushed to the genuine bookstore.

Hou Dong looked at the article and said excitedly, "Yes, I'll have someone do the typeset printing right away."

"Wait a minute!"

Zhang Fei called Hou Donglai and said, "Old Hou, when did you become so careless and start typesetting and printing without even looking carefully."

Hou Donglai was stunned for a moment, then said, "I saw it clearly!"

Zhang Fei was puzzled and asked, "You saw it clearly, but you didn't even ask me a question?"

Hou Donglai was also puzzled and asked, "What are you asking?"

Zhang Fei asked curiously, "Don't you know about the law of the rule of law?"

“I know!”

"I know you won't ask, but all of this is a refutation of my views on the law of the rule of law."

"So that's what Saburo was talking about."

Hou Donglai laughed and said, "Sanlang, please don't test me again. I've done this so many times. No matter how stupid I am, I understand what's going on. We run newspapers and magazines to make money. As long as we can attract readers, it doesn't matter who we curse. What's more, we are just refuting your point of view, Sanlang, and we didn't curse anyone. We are after money, which is normal."

Whether it was the news or celebrities, the person who was scolded the most was Zhang Fei.

How could this kind of trick scare Old Hou?

Zhang Fei laughed and said, "It seems that you have made a lot of progress. You are much better than my Zhiqian."

"No! No! This is all because of your good teaching, Sanlang."

"Okay, go ahead and get busy."

"Why!"

After Hou Dong left, Zhang Fei couldn't help but smile bitterly and said, "It seems that I am really not suitable to be a teacher. These students have all learned the wrong things. After this is over, I have to remind him not to scare him with everything."

Big seller!

After this issue of news came out, it was immediately snatched up. As soon as the newspaper appeared in the restaurant, it was immediately snatched away. As a result, all major restaurants directly sent people to squat in the genuine bookstores, saying, "We will buy as much as you offer."

The craftsmen in the genuine bookstores also worked overtime.

"Teacher, this is the news report that just came out."

Lu Huiqing walked quickly into the house and handed a newspaper to Wang Anshi.

Wang Anshi took a look at it and was shocked. "What is this news?"

Lu Huiqing immediately said, "I didn't quite believe it before, and I even sent someone to inquire about it. It turned out to be a genuine bookstore."

Wang Anshi looked at Lu Huiqing blankly, "Is he crazy?"

It would be fine if it was the scholars who did it, but Wang Anshi really couldn't understand why Zhang Fei himself published the other party's views.

Lu Huiqing said: "I guess Zhang San wants to use the same old trick again, first publish the views of the censors, and then publish newspapers to refute them. But this can't be done. How can the moral principles be messed up? Even if he has reasons to refute them in the future, no one will support him."

Wang Anshi frowned and nodded, "Yes! Although what he said in class makes sense, some things are just unreasonable."

He was a rather wild person and he also raised objections to Confucianism, but all his arguments were based on clinging to the imperial power.

Although he disdained his ancestors, natural disasters, and people's opinions, his core demand was to assert imperial power.

Just try to make him disdain the imperial power.

In feudal society, as long as you grasp this point, it will never be possible to be punished for speech.

Of course the emperor likes it.

Therefore, those who often criticize Wang Anshi speak from the perspective of benevolent government and from the perspective of the people. It was only after Wang Anshi monopolized power that people began to sow discord between him and the emperor.

Zhang Fei's argument was exactly the opposite. Although he did not disdain his ancestors or natural disasters, his point of view was not to assert imperial power. What he emphasized was personal interests and checks and balances, including imperial power.

This is the biggest difference between the two.

Sima Guang, who had been studying history, was well aware of the interests involved. When he saw the newspaper, he could no longer sit still and went straight to the Zhang family.

"What are you doing?"

The newspaper in his hand was almost hitting Zhang Fei's face, which showed that Sima Guang was really anxious this time.

Zhang Fei took a step back and said righteously: "Master Sima, you should know what kind of person I am. Although I am just a commoner, I have always acted uprightly!"

Sima Guang interrupted him mercilessly, "You haven't used enough of those little tricks."

".Ahem!"

Zhang Fei's expression changed, and he said awkwardly: "Master Sima, please listen to my explanation first. This is what I think. The more open and aboveboard I act, the less people will doubt my intentions. The more secretive I am, the more people will suspect that I have ulterior motives."

Sima Guang was so earnest that he said, "Who asked you to cover it up? You could have explained it to the court, or you could have given a lecture to explain the issue. Either way would have been more appropriate than what you did. Aren't you just adding fuel to the fire? This will only lead to more people impeaching you."

Zhang Fei said embarrassedly: "But no matter how much I explain this matter, it is pale and powerless. They will definitely have objections."

Sima Guang was startled, "What do you mean?"

Zhang Fei said: "If Scholar Sima asked me whether someone would do something against moral principles because of the concept of the rule of law, even if I didn't mean to do so, I couldn't guarantee it. Because the concept of the rule of law is to emphasize the legitimate rights and interests of individuals. Even if I guarantee it, they won't believe it."

Sima Guang blinked and asked stupidly, "Do you want to challenge the ethics of the country?"

Zhang Fei said hurriedly: "I don't have this idea, but I think the law should not include the entire code of ethics, there should still be some distinction."

"You are so confused!"

Sima Guang stamped his feet anxiously, "The Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues must be above the law. This is the foundation of the monarch's rule and cannot be questioned. Don't you even understand such a superficial truth?"

"I."

"You don't need to say anything. Hurry up and write two petitions, one for yourself and one for me, if there is a chance."

Having said that, Sima Guang turned away.

He originally thought that Zhang Fei wanted to use the same old trick again and it was a technical mistake, but he never expected that Zhang Fei really had this idea.

Is this movable?

Zhang Fei said aggrievedly: "No matter what, I was just talking, is this a crime?"

“Third brother!”

Li Si ran over breathlessly and handed a wooden block to Zhang Fei, "Third brother, do you think this is big enough?"

Zhang Fei took it and looked at it. He saw a bird carved on the wood block. He nodded and said, "Very good. But you have to tell those people to hurry up and prepare a few more sets. I don't have much time left."

"Oh! I know."

Li Si nodded.

Zhang Fei took the wooden block and looked at it, then said with a smile: "What moral principles? This is the essence of the Chinese nation."

Just throw the piece of wood to Li Si.

(End of this chapter)