Confucian and Taoist scholar

"The Confucian sages appeared in the world to cleanse the sect..."

An Taixuan stared at the urgent intelligence report, his expression blank for a moment, his mind not quite processing it.

A few days ago, the Confucian and Taoist fortunes of Anguo inexplicably dissipated quite a bit, apparently due to this incident.

As he read the detailed information in the intelligence report, An Taixuan's expression shifted.

"This is truly unprecedented... such a ruthless act. Could it be that someone from the State of Qi has offended him?"

An Taixuan stroked his chin, pondering.

The thought of those top-tier families with a thousand-year history collapsing overnight made An Taixuan feel like he couldn't suppress a smile.

If this were to spread throughout the world, countless powerful families would tremble in fear.

"No wonder Scholar Meng didn't look too well earlier..."

An Taixuan muttered to himself that there were also branches of Confucian and Taoist sage families in Anguo, and they were obviously affected by this as well.

However, those who split up may not yet know the true situation.

An Taixuan thought that this matter couldn't be kept secret for long, so he instructed others, "Go and inform the princes and ministers of this matter, and discuss it in detail at the next court assembly..."

A palace servant nearby received the order and hurriedly left.

An Taixuan examined the intelligence carefully again. The passing of Confucian sages had already dealt a heavy blow to Confucianism in the world. Now that several great sage families had fallen to such a state, it had accelerated the decline of Confucianism.

"At this point, should we ask our ancestor to step in and take charge?"

An Taixuan's eyes flickered slightly. There were very few people in the Confucian school who could carry the banner now.

Their Anguo patriarch, a semi-saint, could take this opportunity to reveal his divine power to the world...

An Taixuan quickly got up and went to find the ancestor.

When An Jia Bansheng learned of the news and listened to An Taixuan's advice, he remained silent for a moment.

After a long silence, Anjia Bansheng sighed softly, "In times without heroes, even scoundrels can become famous... I am far inferior to the sages and worthies of the past, how could I be qualified to take charge of the overall situation? Taixuan, don't have such thoughts. Even if it's not for fame and fortune, reviving Confucianism is not something I can do."

The old man sighed inwardly. He couldn't even see the Confucian sages, so it would be somewhat embarrassing for him to go out and uphold Confucianism and take charge of the overall situation.

The old man said quietly, "The one who tied the knot must untie it."

An Taixuan's eyes flashed, and he said, "Lu Zheng... I wonder what he's doing now. I'm afraid there are quite a few people who want to cause him trouble."

The old man smiled and said, "Since he was able to lead the Confucian sages to clean house, he must have been able to foresee the consequences and made some preparations."

Even the Emperor of Qi didn't make things difficult for him, did he? Let's see how Qi cleans up the mess later.

An Taixuan thought about it and felt that it made some sense.

Anyway, it's not just Anguo that's been affected this time. We can save some trouble by seeing how other countries respond.

The old man continued, "Although I cannot directly take charge of the overall situation, it is no problem for me to show my face and put things in order, so that those Confucian and Taoist scholars can settle down and face reality as soon as possible... After everything is settled, I plan to make a trip to the new country..."

An Taixuan nodded, chatted for a while longer, and then returned to the palace.

Not long after returning to the palace, another urgent document arrived, this time from the Taiping Domain New Kingdom.

An Taixuan, curious, quickly opened it to examine it, muttering, "A book to inform all scholars of the world? This is..."

An Taixuan's eyes flashed with a strange light as he discovered that the document directly addressed the Confucian sages' purge of their own sect, explained the reasons behind it, and called upon scholars throughout the land to establish certain norms...

After reading the contents, An Taixuan immediately ordered his men to summon all the officials to the palace and also invited the An family's Half-Saint to come and discuss matters together.

An Taixuan originally intended to discuss this matter at the next court assembly, but since the proposal from the new country had arrived, there was no need to delay any longer.

Soon, a group of princes and ministers gathered in the palace for a serious discussion concerning the future development of the country and Confucianism.

Some ministers suggested incorporating certain proposals from the proposal into national policy.

After all, Lu Zheng now has the endorsement of all the saints and is their spokesperson in the human world. The suggestions he makes largely represent the saints' ideas.

Whether the Confucian sages will reappear in the world in the future depends on Lu Zheng's choice.

In the past, some ministers in the court had expressed some disagreement with Lu Zheng's views.

But now, no one dares to show it at all; they all act as if they support Lu Zheng.

After all, there are precedents to learn from, even the great Confucian and Taoist families ended up like that.

They really didn't want to repeat the same mistakes, ending up disgraced and burdened with eternal infamy after death, which was far worse than being killed outright.

An Taixuan felt that the atmosphere of this meeting was different from the past. On major decisions concerning the country, not a single official objected or even questioned them.

An Taixuan narrowed his eyes, looking at the ministers who were actively discussing how to implement a series of policies in the hall, and his mood was somewhat complicated.

After a long and heated discussion, some matters were finally settled, and they went back to draft the regulations for implementation.

An Taixuan said with a smile, "Gentlemen, you have worked hard. Some of these new policies have never been implemented in our An Kingdom before. I expect there will be many obstacles in their implementation, so we will need everyone to put in more effort..."

The princes and ministers nodded slightly, thinking that it was a rare sight that His Majesty was showing them consideration at this time.

They must ensure that any government decrees issued in the past are carried out properly.

An Taixuan paused for a moment, then continued, "However, everyone need not worry too much about not doing well. I have already prepared to invite Lu Zheng back to An Kingdom to come to Tai'an City to guide your work, after all, he has more experience in this area..."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions varied, with some showing a hint of horror in their eyes.

Who should be brought back to provide guidance? Is it really about bringing them back to provide guidance, or is it about settling scores with certain individuals?

Some people get a headache just hearing the name Lu Zheng; they have no desire to confront that young man.

An Taixuan waved his hand, "Alright, everyone, go back!"

The lively atmosphere from a moment ago suddenly became much quieter.

Some of the princes and ministers looked slightly uneasy and walked heavily toward the palace gate.

Some people were racking their brains, thinking about how to deal with the potential crisis that might come next.

In this imperial court, among the princes and ministers, how many can say they have no problems at all?
Therefore, many people are afraid that someone might make a big fuss over something trivial, and losing their official position would be a minor matter...

An Jing watched the officials leave, then looked at An Taixuan and asked in a low voice, "Father, is Lu Zheng coming back?"

An Taixuan whispered, "Well... how would I know? I was just saying. If we send someone to invite him now, it will probably be a long time before he has time to come back. I'm just saying this to scare them and make them more proactive."

An Jing's expression turned slightly strange upon hearing this. When did his father start liking to play this kind of game?

She saw that some people were quite frightened, and everyone was practically living in fear.

An Taixuan smiled and said, "What do you call this? One thing subdues another! I still have to give them some face, otherwise I won't be able to find anyone to do things for me in the future... But Lu Zheng doesn't care about these things. If they don't do a good job, they'll be asking for trouble."

An Taixuan looked at An Jing and said, "Now, things are exactly as you wished. You can now fully integrate the Confucian school and those academies..."

An Jing nodded and smiled, saying, "The reforms to education and the imperial examination system can now be fully implemented in all regions. Who dares to oppose them now?"

Now that someone has stood up to oppose it, who knows, maybe in the future someone will bring along ancient sages and worthies to reason with them, which would be even more shocking than the imperial court sending soldiers to visit.

After all, opposing the court's maintenance of the old imperial examination system could be seen as opposing authoritarianism and upholding the rights of Confucianism. Even if one died, one might still leave behind a good reputation.

But if Confucian sages come to your door... that means you are opposing the sages, that you are being rebellious, that you are forgetting your ancestors.

Even in death, they will be nailed to the pillar of shame.

An Taixuan said quietly, "I hope that certain people and families will be able to keep a low profile for a while from now on!"

……

Anguo, Kaiyang County.

In the evening, County Magistrate Li Yuan was still processing official documents.

Since the implementation of the new policies in Kaiyang County, the area has been thriving, and the people live and work in peace and contentment. Its current level of prosperity even surpasses that of the prefectural capital.

Therefore, Li Yuan has received many awards over the years.

Based on his political achievements, he could have directly entered the imperial court as an official.

However, he declined such a good offer and preferred to stay in Kaiyang County to continue serving as a county magistrate.

Because he is very familiar with the current situation in Anguo, many places cannot achieve the same level of development as Kaiyang County.

He worried that if he left, the hard work and achievements of so many people would be destroyed by some individuals.

Therefore, Li Yuan wanted to stay here until the day when Anguo fully implemented the new policies and there were no more obstacles, only then would he feel at ease...

"Dong dong dong..."

There was a slight knock on the door.

Before Li Yuan could say anything, excited voices came from outside the door.

"My lord, Mr. Lu Zheng, Mr. Lu is back!"

Immediately afterwards, the door was pushed open, and two figures stood outside.

One was Li Yuan's trusted bodyguard, and the other was Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng looked at Li Yuan, smiled, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Magistrate, it's been a long time."

Li Yuan looked at Lu Zheng and stared wide-eyed at the young man whose face hadn't changed much in the years they hadn't seen him.

He couldn't help but pinch his arm, and felt a sharp pain that instantly made him feel much more energetic.

"It's not a dream!" Li Yuan suddenly stood up, his expression excited. "Lu... Zhen... is it really you?"

Li Yuan was still somewhat incredulous, wondering who was impersonating Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng couldn't help but slightly open his mouth and whisper a message to Li Yuan.

Li Yuan's eyes lit up; it was a private conversation he had with Lu Zheng in the past.

"It's really you!"

Li Yuan said excitedly, "You actually came back! I heard you've accomplished a lot these past years, even establishing a country in the Northern Region. My goodness, I can't believe it... You're simply amazing..."

Li Yuan was so excited that he was almost incoherent.

"Come, come, sit down! Did you come back alone?"

Lu Zheng nodded and said, "I came back alone. I came back to take a look. I have too many things to do, so I can't stay for long."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan said, "Is that so? It's good that you could come back. Everyone has missed you. You must have seen everything when you came... I, Li Yuan, have not let you down..."

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "Your Excellency, the county magistrate and everyone else have worked hard."

When Lu Zheng entered Kaiyang City, he did see significant changes.

If the location of Kaiyang County hadn't remained unchanged, he would have almost thought it was a completely different place.

The city has expanded considerably. Apart from the small courtyard where he used to live, everything else has changed completely, with a new look for everything.

As for the other villages and towns in Kaiyang County, Lu Zheng found them to be much more prosperous than he had expected.

It has also spurred the planning and development of several surrounding counties.

Having received Lu Zheng's approval, Li Yuan grinned and said modestly, "Oh, it's all just my duty. It's mainly thanks to the policies you proposed that the people of the county are always grateful to you!"

Li Yuan paused for a moment, then said, "Compared to what you have done, my achievements are insignificant."

Every now and then, Li Yuan would hear some earth-shattering news about Lu Zheng.

He simply couldn't imagine that the young man he had once admired would achieve such success.

I heard that Lu Zheng recently asked the sage to overturn those Confucian and Taoist families, which almost made his jaw drop.

Lu Zheng couldn't help but laugh and said, "We're all working for peace and prosperity, there's no difference between us."

Li Yuan noticed that even after so many years, Lu Zheng was still as approachable as ever, to the point that countless people had to look up to him, yet he had no airs whatsoever.

He could even sense a powerful aura emanating from Lu Zheng, as if he were facing an ordinary person.

He couldn't help but ask mysteriously, "Is it true that you've become a saint?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Zheng replied, "No. But it's close enough. Does the magistrate intend to distance himself from me because of this?"

Li Yuan was stunned for a moment, and a warm feeling welled up in his heart.

"That's a very..."

Li Yuan said, somewhat moved, "As long as you acknowledge me as Li Yuan, I will definitely never forget you!"

After hearing these words, Li Yuan felt that there were no longer any barriers between him and Lu Zheng, and they were even closer than before.

Li Yuan beamed and said, "Attaining enlightenment and becoming a saint! I never dreamed that our Kaiyang County could produce a true saint. You really bring honor to us!"

Li Yuan had already decided that Lu Zheng would become a true saint, after all, that's what everyone was saying.

Lu Zhengdao said, "It's almost time to leave the office. Let me treat everyone to a meal later!"

Li Yuan raised an eyebrow. "Hey, you've come back from out of town, how can we let you treat us? Consider it a welcome-back dinner..."

Lu Zhengdao said, "I'll do it. I'll treat the whole city to a meal."

As he spoke, Lu Zheng even took out some money.

Li Yuan blinked and asked, "Should we inform the people in the city?"

Lu Zhengdao said, "Tell them I'm back."

Lu Zheng didn't want to show off or boast in front of others; he genuinely wanted to meet everyone.

And it was also a blatant announcement to some people that Lu Zheng had already arrived in Anguo. (End of Chapter)