Chapter 323: Debate with Scholars
The emperor's ceremonial procession arrived at a city near Mount Tai for rest.
Ying Zheng summoned many local Confucian scholars to discuss the details of the Fengshan ceremony with them, and Zhao Yuanxi was listening nearby.
The cacophony of voices from those Confucian scholars made her feel as if she were in a vegetable market. It was so noisy that some people talked about this, some about that, and it took a long time for them to get to the point. Not only did Ying Zheng get anxious listening to it, she also felt annoyed listening to it.
Even Zhao Yuanxi suspected that they came deliberately to cause trouble. Compared with these Confucian scholars, Chunyu Yue seemed less pedantic.
However, it is not easy to offend these Confucian scholars. The pen of the scholar is the knife of murder. These people are very narrow-minded! But they also hold the so-called benevolence and righteousness in their hands.
After Ying Zheng sent these people away, Zhao Yuanxi looked at the furious Ying Zheng and said with a smile, "Why bother getting angry at these people? All they have in their heads is all that nonsense. They value the past over the present, and only care about those complicated Zhou rituals. If you want to create your own era, you need to despise the past and value the present, and establish a new order, a new order that suits the Qin State."
"Since those messy, rambling gifts don't meet your requirements, just modify them."
These words immediately hit the nail on the head for Ying Zheng. He summoned the Confucian scholars who had come with him from the State of Qin and re-established the Fengshan process according to his ideas.
As Zhao Yuanxi listened, he felt something was amiss. "You want to declare your achievements to Heaven, but don't you also need to declare the legitimacy of Qin's rule to the people?"
In Zhao Yuanxi's view, Fengshan was just a political performance to promote the unification of the Qin State, but now the propaganda efforts were totally insufficient and it seemed more like the Qin people's self-entertainment.
"Why not invite the nobles of the six kingdoms over and have them watch the ceremony from the sidelines? We can make a bigger noise and get everyone involved! This is a happy event for Qin, and it should be a happy event for the people of the world as well. Your Majesty, why don't you grant amnesty to the entire nation to demonstrate your benevolence?"
Everyone looked over at once, making Zhao Yuanxi feel embarrassed. "You guys continue, you guys continue, I was just saying it casually."
"Your Majesty, I believe that the Queen Mother's words are reasonable. Only by combining kindness and power can the people submit to you."
"I think so too."
…
Ying Zheng lowered his brows in thought, pondering the possible consequences of a general amnesty. After a long pause, he raised his eyes and said, "Then all criminals, except those with serious criminal charges, can be exempted from punishment."
Those who commit murder, arson, and rebellion must be put to death.
The specific process of Fengshan was discussed for three full days before it was finally finalized.
At first, Zhao Yuanxi was willing to go and listen, but after hearing that they were arguing for an hour about laying out cloth of different colors on the road, she simply gave up and decided to let Ying Zheng handle such troublesome matters himself.
Zhao Yuanxi led Fusu and others to stroll in the city. When they passed by a tavern, they heard the discussion inside and couldn't help but stop.
I saw three Confucian scholars sitting together, holding wine glasses and chatting.
The elder in the seat stroked his gray beard and sneered, "That barbarian from the west actually dared to come here to perform the Fengshan ceremony and even tried to split the stone of our Mount Tai. How arrogant!"
Someone sneered, "That chieftain even wants us to advise him on how to formulate the Fengshan rituals. That's simply wishful thinking."
"I heard that they are now planning to act according to their own etiquette. Barbarians are indeed barbarians, with no manners at all."
Fusu heard clearly what the Confucian scholars were saying and was so angry that he rushed forward to argue with them, but was pulled back by Zhao Yuanxi, who patted him on the back gently and motioned him to step back.
Fusu understood and gave way.
Zhao Yuanxi stepped forward with a sinister smile, and said bluntly, "Gentlemen, you are truly like frogs in a well, short-sighted and mean-spirited. Is this the demeanor of a Confucian scholar?"
The scholar's face changed, "Who are you?"
"I'm just a passerby who heard some unfair words and couldn't help but talk to you!"
"It's true that only women and villains are difficult to raise. What does our conversation have to do with you?"
This sentence swept across everyone present except them.
The woman Zhao Yuanxi couldn't even pretend to smile, the villains Fusu and Ziying were gritting their teeth, and Lu Zhi, who was both a woman and a villain, glared at them fiercely.
"Confucius promoted the Zhou rituals, but did that bring an end to the world's wars? What have you Confucian scholars done besides writing letters of surrender to your king?"
"The First Emperor conquered the six kingdoms, ended the conflict, and wished to usher in eternal peace. Now he wants to declare this to the heavens, but you are interfering. He did not want to argue with you, so he chose to revise the Fengshan ceremony. Not only are you ungrateful, but you are here to gossip about him. You are truly the worst of gentlemen!"
Zhao Yuanxi's tone was full of sarcasm. She seemed to understand why Ying Zheng hated Confucian scholars so much. This group of people didn't do much practical work except making sarcastic remarks!
The Confucian scholars blushed, especially the one in the lead, who had actually written a letter of surrender for the King of Qi not long ago. This directly hit him in the spine, and he was so angry that he trembled all over.
"What has Confucianism got to do with the turmoil that is raging throughout the world?"
"Every man is responsible for the fate of his country. Since you are a citizen of this world and well versed in the ways of minister and ruler, how can this not be your business? Oh! I see. The peace of the world is due to your contributions, but the chaos of war has nothing to do with you."
Zhao Yuanxi sneered and cursed, "You really have such a big face!"
Ziying agreed, "Yes, you are shameless!"
Fusu nodded, "It's indeed shameless."
Lu Zhi followed the formation, "Well, shameless!"
The Confucian scholars were extremely angry when they were mocked by a group of women and children whom they looked down upon the most.
"You bastard, you bastard!"
Zhao Yuanxi sneered, "You always talk about propriety, righteousness, integrity and shame, but you are all rude lunatics and shameless villains. You are disloyal as ministers, unfilial as sons, unkind as human beings, and unrighteous as friends. What qualifications do you have to call yourselves Confucian scholars? I think the reputation of Confucian scholars has been ruined by a bunch of parasites like you!"
The Confucian scholars who heard the noise and came to watch the fun, who originally wanted to stand on the side of their own people, no longer dared to speak for them. They all avoided them and chose to cut ties with them.
That’s right, the reputation of Confucianism has been ruined by this group of rude and shameless villains!
This quarrel did not cause much trouble. Zhao Yuanxi and others did not reveal their identities and did not punish them again. However, because this quarrel took place in a busy city, it was recorded by many people.
Those three were quite famous among the Confucian scholars. It was really shameful that they had quarreled with a group of old, weak, women and children and failed to win the argument.
What they were talking about was the Fengshan ceremony, which concerned many people. This made the matter spread, and many people cursed this group of Confucian scholars, saying that they were ungrateful.
The fact that the Confucian scholar wrote a letter of surrender for the king became a laughing stock for a while.
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