Cheng Yao was speechless after hearing Chu Zhenglin's words. If you can't make a complete decision, why did you bargain with me like this just now? Isn't this just a waste of my time?
But now that he needed help from the State of Wei, Cheng Yao could only suppress his dissatisfaction and wait for the response from His Majesty the Emperor of Wei in the palace.
Cheng Yao raised his glass and toasted Chu Zhenglin, saying, "I hope Your Highness can speak well of Julu Academy in front of His Majesty the Emperor of Wei. After all, Confucianism has been passed down on Shengwu Continent for thousands of years, and Julu Academy is considered one of the holy places of Confucianism on Shengwu Continent. I don't want Confucianism to lose its former glory due to the mistakes of our generation.
I don’t want future Confucian students to learn a distorted and emasculated version of Confucianism. If that happens, how can we face the sages of the past generations?
Chu Zhenglin thought of the plans made by his brother, the current Emperor of Wei. From his perspective, Cheng Yao was undoubtedly a person with a keen understanding of politics and the overall situation of Shengwu Continent. If it were someone else, Wei would have experienced the invasions of the Xiongnu and the Gan Kingdom just last year, and also the devastating floods in the nine provinces of Hedong.
Now that the Canglan Empire has declared war on the Wei State, many forces are completely pessimistic about the Wei State. However, Cheng Yao dares to propose a request for the neutral Julu Academy to join the Wei State at this time. This fully demonstrates that Cheng Yao not only has enough understanding of the development of the Wei State in the past two years.
At the same time, it also proves that he has seen the coming chaos from the conflicts between various countries on the Shengwu Continent. In such a chaotic world, Cheng Yao obviously knows that even if Julu Academy remains neutral, it will be difficult to survive on its own, so he came to me and asked to join the Wei Kingdom.
Chu Zhenglin said to Cheng Yao, "Mr. Cheng, can I ask you a question?"
Cheng Yao put down his glass as a sign of respect and said, "Your Highness, please ask anything you wish to ask."
Chu Zhenglin asked directly, "What made Julu Academy decide to join the Wei Kingdom at this time? Cheng Daru should also know that our Wei Kingdom does not currently implement the imperial examination system, and the degree system established by Your Majesty is not entirely based on Confucianism as the main teaching content.
Julu Academy is a sacred place for Confucianism on the Shengwu Continent. Joining the Wei Kingdom wouldn't significantly benefit the development of Confucianism. It might also be difficult for Julu Academy's Confucian students to accept, as the Wei Kingdom is no longer a Confucian-dominated world. The students of Julu Academy are proud of their own abilities. Would they agree to relocate the Julu Academy's headquarters to the Wei Kingdom?
Cheng Yao was slightly taken aback, clearly not expecting Chu Zhenglin to ask such a question. He thought for a moment, then replied earnestly, "Your Highness is absolutely right. The degree system currently implemented in the Wei Kingdom is indeed different from the Confucian-based curriculum. But it is precisely for this reason that Julu Academy needs to join the Wei Kingdom so that Confucianism can be truly promoted and passed down."
Chu Zhenglin was originally a warrior. Even though he had studied some Confucianism before, his understanding of it was only superficial. It was obvious that Chu Zhenglin could not understand Cheng Yao's answer.
Chu Zhenglin asked in confusion, "Master Cheng, could you explain in detail why Confucianism was able to develop even better after the Wei Kingdom abolished its absolute dominance?"
Cheng Yao sighed and said, "Because Confucianism has long been misinterpreted. When Confucius founded Confucianism, he didn't simply want students to study hard, but hoped that they would work for the welfare of the people of the world. The earliest Confucianism required the study of the Six Arts of a Gentleman.
However, some self-interested Confucian scholars, in order to please the imperial power, began to add their own selfish desires to the words of the saints and distort them, causing Confucianism to gradually deviate from its original intention.
This is why the original Confucius was so strong and powerful, and his disciples were also high-ranking warriors. Confucius could travel around the world with his disciples and servants without fear of threats from bandits and robbers. Would the prince still think that those who studied Confucianism were weak scholars?
Confucius, the sage, originally traveled around the world to encourage people to abide by rituals and laws, restrain their behavior, and thus achieve the ideal state of universal peace. However, after hundreds of years of inheritance, Confucianism was gradually exploited by rulers and used as a tool to maintain their rule. The original core concepts of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness were misinterpreted and ignored.
Although Confucianism no longer held absolute dominance in the Wei state, His Majesty the Emperor and the Wei court understood its true value. The Wei state was working to free Confucianism from its distorted image and restore it to its original form. As a sacred site of Confucianism, Julu Academy had the responsibility and obligation to assist the Wei state in this transformation.
We joined the State of Wei hoping to leverage its power to truly promote and inherit Confucianism, rather than allowing it to be misinterpreted and exploited as it is now, becoming a shackle that binds people's minds. We believe that with the efforts of the State of Wei, Confucianism will surely be revitalized and revitalized."
Cheng Yao's words opened Chu Zhenglin's eyes to another side of Confucianism, a side he had never known before. However, Chu Zhenglin obviously couldn't accept Cheng Yao's point of view so easily. After all, Confucianism had long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people on Shengwu Continent, and who could truly know what Confucius's thoughts were thousands of years ago?
Chu Zhenglin said, "What Cheng Daru said is indeed something I have never heard of before. However, I cannot simply believe Cheng Daru's one-sided statement. After all, Confucianism has been passed down on Shengwu Continent for thousands of years, and its status and influence are deeply rooted. If it were truly wrong, how could it have persisted for thousands of years without being corrected?"
Cheng Yao also knew that he did not have enough evidence to convince Chu Zhenglin, but whether the headquarters of Julu College could be moved to Wei State did not entirely depend on the right or wrong of Confucianism, but on whether Julu College could bring enough benefits to Wei State.
Cheng Yao said, "It's completely understandable that Your Highness doesn't believe Cheng Mou. After all, the words of a sage are interpreted differently by different people, and what Cheng Mou said is merely his personal opinion. However, the situation in which Julu Academy integrates into the Wei Kingdom, as Your Highness worries, where Confucian scholars look down on those of other schools of thought, will absolutely not occur."
Chu Zhenglin continued, "Even if we in Wei recognize your views on Confucianism, will the students and Confucian scholars of Julu Academy also agree with this change? If they become resistant and unwilling to come to Wei, wouldn't that put both Wei and Julu Academy in an awkward position?"
Chu Zhenglin's question once again touched a raw nerve for Cheng Yao. Another reason why Julu Academy's headquarters had been relocated to Wei was that its true Confucian scholars and students had long been dissatisfied with the current state of Confucianism and yearned for change. Furthermore, their refusal to conform to the ruling philosophies of other nations meant they had no chance of success in other countries.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
