Water Margin people

"Other tasks?"

Lu Zhishen touched his bald head and looked at Sun Lei in confusion.

"Take Deng Yuanjue with you to preach when the time comes!"

Sun Lei explained helplessly that the combination was so obvious yet he still had to explain it himself.

"I see!"

Lu Zhishen finally reacted, but he was still a little dissatisfied. He was not interested in preaching, he preferred to lead troops into battle.

"Come on, I'll go with you and take a look!"

Seeing that Lu Zhishen looked unwilling, Sun Lei could only wave his hand and say.

I walked all the way to a small courtyard by the water, and just as I got closer, I heard a fierce argument inside.

"Are you quarreling?"

Lu Zhishen frowned as he listened to the argument which he could not understand at all.

“I heard it’s been like this for a while!”

Sun Lei shook his head. This was also his first time here. However, he heard that the people inside were not normal. It was common for them to argue with each other until they were red in the face. Even Gongsun Sheng sighed from time to time.

The guard pushed open the gate and saw a group of scholars in Confucian robes arguing with each other. If they were not weak and looked like they could not fight, he would have been afraid that they would start fighting.

Among them, a young man of about seventeen or eighteen was the most excited, his finger was almost pointing at the nose of the old scholar opposite.

"His Majesty!"

Gongsun Sheng, Qiao Daoqing, Fan Rui and others hurriedly saluted when they saw Sun Lei coming, and monk Dao Ji also performed a Buddhist salute.

"What's going on? It's been so many days and you're still arguing about it?"

Sun Lei looked at Gongsun Sheng and asked.

"Your Majesty, these people are all blinded by anger. They fight like this every day. But now they have split into two groups. One group believes that we should keep the principles of heaven and get rid of human desires. The other group believes that we should discover our original mind, which is the principle."

Gongsun Sheng said.

"Although their theories are derived from Taoist academic research, they have now been transformed into Confucianism. The two schools are arguing with each other, and it is estimated that it will be difficult to determine the winner!"

Qiao Daoqing also spoke.

"This poor monk has broadened his horizons!"

Dao Ji sighed. Now he had changed into a clean and simple monk's robe. He originally thought that the Buddhist debates were intense enough, but he did not expect that the Confucian debates were even more terrifying. These learned people had many ideas and their perspectives were unique, and they even made sense to listen to.

As Sun Lei led his men into the courtyard, those who were debating also stopped.

"Greetings to Your Majesty!"

Those Confucian scholars also bowed to Sun Lei. Confucianism places the most emphasis on etiquette.

"Everyone, get up."

Sun Lei waved his hand to signal everyone to stand up, and he sat down in the pavilion in the yard.

"Everyone, sit down!"

Seeing that everyone was standing in the yard waiting for him to speak, Sun Lei spoke to them.

Everyone found chairs and benches and sat down, but they were clearly divided into two camps.

"This is my first time here, please introduce yourself!"

Sun Lei looked at those people and spoke.

"I am Lu Zuqian from Wuzhou!"

"Nanjianzhou Zhu Xi."

"Lu Jiuyuan of Fuzhou."

"Lu Jiuling!"

…Everyone introduced themselves one by one, and none of them were too old.

Sun Lei stroked his chin and looked at the people in front of him. He had never paid attention to these people before. This was the first time he knew their names. Now he saw that all the masters of Neo-Confucianism and Mind-Study were included in one fell swoop.

"You should know why I recruited you here!"

Sun Lei looked at everyone and asked.

"Your Majesty wants to find a new school of thought!"

Everyone spoke.

Sun Lei was stunned and looked at Gongsun Sheng. This didn't seem to be what he meant. He was not interested in any school of thought. These things would often only hinder the development of society.

"Your Majesty, they have misunderstood. In the eyes of Confucianism, a new religious sect is equivalent to a school of thought!"

Gongsun Sheng quickly explained that only religion talks about sects, while the academic world only talks about schools of thought.

"I want to develop the outside world. The people there are ignorant and have all kinds of strange religions. I want to destroy these religions, so you Confucians need to cooperate with Taoism and Buddhism to find a theory that can destroy those religions. You can think of it as a school of thought, or you can understand it as a sect."

Sun Lei looked at everyone and said.

These words made the scene quiet instantly. The Confucian scholars looked at each other in bewilderment. They thought that the emperor needed a new school of thought to educate the world, just like Dong Zhongshu's theologization of Confucianism in the Han Dynasty.

But now it seems that although the emperor also needs a tool to rule people, it is not used for internal rule, but for external conquest and rule.

No one dared to speak again at this moment, and the excited faces were replaced by hesitation.

"It turns out that they have been castrated so badly that they appear to be fierce at home but are timid to the outside world!"

Sun Lei looked at those Confucian scholars and spoke without any politeness.

Confucianism was still very powerful during the time of Confucius and Mencius. Even Confucius dared to travel around the countries with a sword in hand during the barbaric times, and was not afraid even if he heard there was a tiger on the road.

Although the various nations at that time only moved around the Central Plains, the situation at that time was sparsely populated, wars were constant among nations, and bandits were rampant, so it was not easy to survive.

But after thousands of years of continuous castration, these Confucian scholars no longer had the courage to draw their swords. When they heard about external expansion and conquering barbarians abroad, they all hesitated.

"You are here debating how to teach others, and now I ask you to teach me, why are you backing off? You should know very well that you are only valuable if you can be used by me. If you don't want to, just go home and study hard behind closed doors!"

Sun Lei glanced around and spoke again.

"Your Majesty, we brothers are willing to go!"

Brothers Lu Jiuling and Lu Jiuyuan spoke.

"Well, finally some people still have the courage!"

Sun Lei nodded with satisfaction, saying that psychology is indeed more advantageous.

"Your Majesty... I... I want to go too!"

Seeing that the Lu brothers were asking for orders, Zhu Xi knew that he could not fall behind, but he was also very clear that his theory would not work outside the region. However, he had no choice but to go ahead, because he knew that if he lost this time, he would never have a chance of turning the tables.

"What are you going to do? What can you do?"

Lu Jiuyuan looked at Zhu Xi and said.

"You can go, why can't I? Am I not as talented as you?"

Zhu Xi said unyieldingly that he would never admit defeat. Once he did, his lifelong ambition and the Neo-Confucianism he wanted to promote would be completely lost.

"You want everyone to read the books of sages and study things to gain knowledge. Even in the Central Plains, it is impossible for everyone to read and write. Who will understand what you say when you go to the outside world?"

Lu Jiuling looked at Zhu Xi and spoke.

"Humph, reading is just one step. Even if those people don't understand anything, as long as the theory exists, it can be generalized."

Zhu Xi said that he must strongly support Neo-Confucianism in front of the emperor because Neo-Confucianism was more in line with the interests of imperial power, while the School of Mind was not.

"Stop arguing. I don't care whether you believe in psychology or rationalism. Just do what you should do. You are here to attack the other side's religion. I only care about the results!"

Sun Lei looked at the crowd and said that he was not interested in listening to their debate. The School of Mind and the School of Principle each had their own advantages and disadvantages. He was not interested in these. All he wanted was to unsheathe these two swords and chop at the enemy. (End of this chapter)