Chapter 184: Debate on Scriptures and Doctrines

"If we follow the old system, we will be unwilling to make progress and will cut off our own future. By then, other countries will have better systems and better talents. Wouldn't Daliang fall behind?

Let’s not talk about the countries, let’s just talk about Qingxi Town——”

Zhu Lan raised his hand and pointed to the distance, "Senior Lu, Master Lu, you have stayed here for too long, which is tantamount to shutting yourself off from the outside world. Why don't you go out for a walk and see what the world is like outside now?"

"Nonsense." Lu Zhiyi retorted.

"I grew up in Qingxi Town, and because of this, I can understand the wisdom of our ancestors' laws better than you outsiders. The peace and prosperity of this place is all due to the laws and regulations established by our ancestors. No one has violated them for thousands of years. Otherwise, how could there be such a good Qingxi Town now?

Your fantastic ideas are just for show, but actually they disrupt the foundation!"

"Prosperity?" Zhu Lan chuckled.

Her finger pointed to the door of a house not far away, where the farm tools they used for farming were placed.

"If I'm not mistaken, this is a straight-beam plow, right? I didn't expect that there are still places in Daliang that use straight-beam plows for farming."

Zhu Lan's tone became a little deeper, and the people below the stage looked surprised, wondering what was wrong with using a straight-beam plow for farming.

"Did you know that in other regions there is already a curved plow to replace the straight plow, which has long been out of use?"

The people looked at each other, with confusion in their eyes.

Lu Zhiyi glanced at his father and moved his lips, but he didn't know what to say.

He had hardly ever left Qingxi Town since he was a child. He stayed at home reading books all day long. The farthest he had ever been away from his hometown was to the county seat of Tongzhou to attend the autumn examination. Therefore, he was not very sensitive to changes in the outside world.

Has the world outside really changed so much?

Zhu Lan shook his head slightly, feeling that the scene before him was a bit absurd and ridiculous.

It is true that the academic atmosphere in Qingxi Town is thriving, but everyone is only concerned with working in isolation, clinging to the earliest set of ethical rules and regulations handed down from ancient times, and delving into unchanging knowledge, which is completely out of touch with reality.

Zhu Lan had the straight-beam plow brought over, and in front of all the people in the town, he explained how the curved-beam plow was modified based on the straight-beam plow and what advantages it possessed.

These words were like a huge rock thrown into a pool of stagnant water, stirring up unprecedented waves.

After hearing this, everyone's eyes widened and they were amazed. Mr. Zhou was even more shocked.

"Mr. Zhou, Mr. Lu, do you still think that such innovations that benefit the people are heresy?" Zhu Lan asked.

"This..." Lu Zhiyi was finally speechless.

It took Mr. Zhou a long time to come back to his senses, and an unprecedented feeling surged in his heart.

He sighed, bowed to Zhu Lan, and said slowly: "I have lived to this age in vain. Today, after listening to Miss Zhu's words, I realized how foolish I was. I am ashamed, ashamed!"

He then gave orders that from that day on all plows be replaced with more convenient curved plows.

Lu Zhiyi's eyes trembled for a few times, and finally he bowed to Zhu Lan: "Miss, your vision and talent, Lu Zhiyi admires you, and I will learn from you today."

He then looked at Lu Qingfeng beside him, "Father, I lost the debate today. Miss Zhu's talent is far superior to mine, which is really eye-opening.

We were prejudiced against girls before, but now we ask father to keep his promise and allow girls in the town to enroll in school from now on."

After listening to the debate between Zhu Lan and Lu Zhiyi, how could Lu Qingfeng dare to have any disrespect in his heart?

He also showed a bit of shame on his face, "A gentleman's word is as good as his bond. I have lost the bet with Miss Zhu, and I will keep my promise."

Then Lu Qingfeng faced the audience and announced that Qingzhu Academy would be open from today. Women in the town could enter the school to attend lectures without having to cover their faces with cloth.

"Great, great! From now on, we can study like men!"

"Not only can we study, but we can also take the imperial examinations and even become officials in the future!"

The sounds of women cheering could be heard from the crowd.

When Zhu Lan saw this scene, a relieved smile appeared on his face, and his previous dissatisfaction with the Lu family also faded.

In the same chaotic slumber, some eras are like a group of people pretending to sleep who you can never wake up, while some are not even aware that they are living in a dream and just lack someone to wake them up.

Fortunately, the people in Qingxi Town belong to the latter.

"Senior Lu is very righteous, and I admire him."

Zhu Lan bowed politely to everyone and was about to leave when he heard Lu Zhiyi calling him again.

"Wait a minute, I haven't asked for Miss Zhu's name yet." Lu Zhiyi began to feel a strong curiosity about the person in front of him.

Zhu Lan turned around gracefully and said, "My name is Lan."

"Zhu...Lan?" Lu Zhiyi repeated it several times, and suddenly his eyes widened, "Could it be that the girl is Zhu Jieyuan from Jiangzhou City!?"

Zhu Lan smiled slightly, which was considered as his agreement.

When the audience heard that she was the top scorer in the provincial examination, there was another uproar. Both men and women showed admiration in their eyes, and they suddenly felt that the image of Young Master Lu was not so great after all.

"I see! When I heard of Zhu Jieyuan's name before, I thought he was a man, but I didn't expect that he was actually..."

Lu Zhiyi recovered from the accident and smiled with relief. He was now completely convinced.

Clan leader Lu Qingfeng also lost all his previous airs and smiled as he invited Zhu Lan and her friends to his home.

As they had to continue their journey, Zhu Lan wanted to refuse, but Lu Qingfeng urged him so much that it was hard to refuse, so he agreed to have lunch at Lu's house before setting off again.

Murong Jing, Zhu Qingyan and Ajiang Ziran went with them.

The Lu family's house is not far from Qingzhu Academy. Although the house is not as magnificent as those of the wealthy families in Jiangzhou City, it also has flowers and water, and is quiet and elegant.

After entering the main hall, Lu Qingfeng first warmly invited everyone to sit down, and then asked Lu Zhiyi to call his family to meet the champion of Jiangzhou Prefecture.

Not long after Lu Zhiyi left, he came in with a woman and a boy of four or five years old.

When the woman saw Murong Jing, she blurted out, "Benefactor?"

It turned out that she was the woman who was rescued from horse hooves by Murong Jing on the street this morning, and also Lu Zhiyi's wife, Liu.

After hearing what Liu said, Lu Zhiyi realized that such a thrilling thing had happened in the morning. Lu Qingfeng, who was standing by, was also frightened.

Murong Jing only has this one precious grandson, and he has saved the life of the entire family!

Lu Qingfeng immediately took Lu Zhiyi to thank Murong Jing for saving their lives. Murong Jing waved her hand, indicating that she shouldn't take it to heart.

For this meal, Lu Qingfeng specially invited the best chef in the entire Qingxi Town. Local dishes were served one after another, and the aroma immediately filled the air.

Hearing that Zhu Lan and others were going to Northern Xinjiang, Lu Qingfeng was a little surprised and asked them what they were going to do in Northern Xinjiang.

Zhu Lan pointed at A Jiang and said, "This child's relatives are in the northern border. Let's send her home."

Lu Qingfeng said "Oh" and hesitated to speak.

"Senior Lu, is there anything wrong?" Zhu Lan asked.

Lu Qingfeng thought for a moment, "Miss Zhu, you may not know that a few years ago, there was a young man in our clan who didn't want to study and insisted on going to the Northern Frontier to join the army. As a result, it seemed... it seemed that he died on the way."

Zhu Lan's chopsticks stopped in mid-air, and the people around him all looked surprised.

"At that time, I heard people say that the road leading to the northern border seemed to be unsafe and there were bandits causing chaos." Lu Qingfeng continued.

"But you know, our place is too remote, and we don't have that much information. As for whether the gang of thieves is still there, I can't say. Anyway, girls, please be careful on the road."