Chapter 415 Pei Yuan's Verbal Battle in the Imperial Court
The pain was so intense that he almost bit off his own tongue.
"Young Master, I smashed it." Li Chengxuan rolled up his sleeves, his already bruised and swollen face now filled with anger, which was quite frightening.
He might not be able to argue with these scholars, but he could take action.
"Everyone says that scholars have strong pens, but I never expected that they would have such foul mouths."
"What do you mean this trend shouldn't be encouraged? I think it's your nonsense that shouldn't be encouraged!"
Don't think he doesn't know.
This Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, Lord Yang, is a man of Prince Heng. His son married the youngest daughter of the Marquis of Anding, who is Prince Heng's cousin.
Prince Heng had just brought him into the Censorate a few days ago.
Lord Yang covered his swollen mouth, trembling with anger.
No matter who hit him, Lord Yang would jump out and complain to the emperor, begging His Majesty to punish them severely.
Unfortunately, the young master Li Chengxuan was not up to the task.
All the men of the Duke of Huguo's mansion died on the battlefield in the southern border, leaving only this one son.
Not to mention that the Grand Princess of Chengyang protected him like the apple of her eye, even the emperor rarely reprimanded him.
Lord Yang was indignant, saying that he had no choice but to accept the damage.
"Did I say something wrong? Since ancient times, men and women have been different, and there has been a hierarchy. It is a man's duty to make achievements outside the home and assist the king in governing the country."
Women should stay at home, bear children, support their husbands, raise their children, and serve their parents-in-law.
Besides, women have long hair but short wits and shallow vision, what could they possibly have... Ugh, who hit me again?
Lord Yang covered his mouth and cried out in pain; this time, his front teeth were almost smashed out.
He Zhengxiang bent down to pick up the walnuts that had fallen to the ground, and continued to twirl them in his hands, his eyelids drooping, speaking with righteous indignation.
"As your superior, I have a responsibility to correct and guide you if Lord Yang is wrong."
You've studied for so many years, so let me ask you: which passage in the Four Books and Five Classics states that women cannot hold official positions?
In my opinion, if men can be officials, women can be officials too; if men can be businessmen, women can be businessmen too.
Lord Yang constantly looks down on women, saying they are short-sighted. Has he forgotten that he was also born of a woman?
Do you dare call your elderly mother short-sighted?
"You!" Lord Yang was so angry that his face turned red and his neck bulged. "This is simply sophistry. If we accept your reasoning..."
If men can hold official positions, and women can hold official positions, wouldn't the court be filled with men and women, thus destroying all moral order and social norms? Wouldn't the world descend into chaos?
He Zhengxiang, you've studied Confucian classics for so many years, how could you say such shameless things against your conscience?
Many of the veteran officials of Prince Heng's faction stood up to criticize He Zhengxiang.
"How could someone as the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate utter such an absurd theory?"
"Women should stay in the inner quarters and do what women are supposed to do."
"What a joke! How can women be compared to men? Women simply can't do what men can do."
Faced with so much chatter, He Zhengxiang was immediately at a disadvantage.
Although Zhou Jun jumped out to speak in his defense, he was young and thin-skinned, no match for those cunning and shrewd civil officials.
She was brought to tears after only a few words.
Li Chengxuan wanted to jump up and argue with the civil officials, but his mind was blank.
After racking my brains, the only words I could come up with were vulgar phrases like "Damn it, I'll kill you all."
Ling Ce was frustrated because he had no status and therefore no way to speak.
Just then, a jade-bone fan flashed past Lord Yang, who was the most vocal in his criticism.
A flash of cold light, and the sharp blade nearly slit Lord Yang's mouth open.
He turned pale with fright and collapsed to the ground.
A cold sneer rang out. Pei Yuan took the jade fan and tucked it into his waistband, his cold gaze sweeping over the crowd.
"Fu Hao, wife of King Wu Ding of the Shang Dynasty, wielded a spear and rode a horse to expand the territory; Hua Mulan joined the army in place of her father and made great achievements; Liang Hongyu followed her husband to fight against Japanese pirates and made unparalleled contributions."
After her husband's death, Ba Qing refined cinnabar and managed the family business, providing strong financial support to the Qin state, and was treated as an honored guest by the King of Qin.
During the Han Dynasty, Ban Zhao was summoned to the capital and continued writing the Book of Han, which has been passed down through the ages.
Throughout history, whether in business, politics, or the military, countless women have achieved great things.
"What can a man do that a woman can't?"
Pei Yuan's voice was strong and resounding, and his words left the ministers who had been arguing just moments before speechless.
Pei Yuan snorted coldly and continued, "In my opinion, what men can do, women can also do; conversely, what women can do, men may not be able to do."
Lord Yang shook his beard, his face full of dissatisfaction.
"What is something that women can do but men can't?"
Pei Yuan scoffed, "Can men give birth? Do men have milk to feed children?"
Lord Yang.......
Pei Yuan looked at him with disdain.
"You keep talking about confining women to the inner quarters, but that's just because you're afraid that women will do better than you, that women will stand higher than you, and that women will stand farther than you."
Lord Yang was somewhat dejected by these words and couldn't find any rebuttal for a moment.
The Marquis of Anding, the maternal uncle of Prince Heng, stepped forward and said loudly, "Your Highness Prince Rui is mistaken."
Men cannot give birth or breastfeed because men and women have different bodies.
It is precisely because of this difference that it is clear that women should fulfill their duties in the home.
Moreover, our discussion today shouldn't be about whether women should serve in the imperial court, but rather about Shen Chu's crime of deceiving the emperor by disrupting the established order and violating the established norms as a woman.
Pei Yuan said coldly, "A-Chu is indeed a woman, but apart from that, she has never deceived His Majesty in any way."
In terms of talent, she relied on her own hard work and knowledge to pass the imperial examinations and became the top scholar, and was appointed as an imperial censor by her father.
In terms of achievements, she cleared up dozens of long-standing cases in the Censorate and solved a murder case that even the Court of Judicial Review had failed to solve with her intelligence and keen insight.
In the case of the smuggled salt case in Changsha Prefecture, she disregarded her own safety, went deep into the bandit's den, investigated the distribution of the smuggled salt, and cleaned up the salt administration.
In the case of the missing girl in Yangzhou, she searched for corpses in a mass grave in the middle of the night while heavily pregnant, outwitting the cunning Prefect Jiang and eventually capturing him.
And just now, when faced with the challenge from the Confucian scholars of Nanyue, did any of you dare to step forward and accept the challenge?
Pei Yuan looked at the crowd with a menacing gaze.
Recalling what had just happened, everyone blushed slightly, their eyes darting around.
Pei Yuan sneered, "When it comes to the reputation of the scholars of our Great Wei, who among you has stood up?"
"Is it you, Lord Yang, or you, Marquis of Anding, or any of you gentlemen who keep saying women should stay in the inner quarters?"
His cold, sharp gaze swept across everyone's faces as he shouted, "You don't!"
None of you stepped forward; it was Achu who did.
This silly girl, she knew that if she didn't write well, she would not only embarrass herself, but might also incur the Emperor's wrath, yet she still stepped forward.
With her frail shoulders, she shouldered the reputation and dignity of the entire Wei literati.
This includes all of you here, but what about you? You enjoyed the honors and praise she brought you, and now you're all brazenly trying to drive her to her death.
Don't you feel any shame? Have you lost all your conscience?
"If what she did was disrupting the established order and corrupting the court, then aren't all of you here corrupting the court every day?"
If she deserves to die, don't you all deserve to die too?
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