I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Being falsely accused of being a lecherous man who disrespects women... a feeling of displeasure arose in Qingdeng's heart.

For a moment, Qingdeng felt an urge to slam his fist on the table, stand up, and have a serious talk with these pedantic scholars who were just spouting nonsense, in order to salvage his image.

But upon further reflection, Qingdeng silently suppressed this overwhelming impulse.

—Forget it, why bother arguing with these idiots…

Even if I try my best to persuade them, these guys will only believe what they want to believe.

Moreover, he currently has the mission of accompanying Tokugawa Iemochi and Tenshōin on their incognito visit, so it is not advisable to act rashly.

With this thought in mind, Qingdeng silently raised his teacup—he decided to stop listening to the heated debate of those pedantic scholars and focus on drinking tea and eating snacks.

At this moment, Qingdeng sincerely felt that even drinking tea and spacing out like an old man was more meaningful than continuing to listen to those pedantic scholars reciting distorted scriptures.

Today was truly a meaningful day.

Suddenly I understood the meaning of those two famous quotes by the great writer Lu Xun.

Suddenly I understand the meaning of a certain idiom—"a monkey wearing a crown."

In Qingdeng's eyes, this group of pedantic scholars who were still talking big really resembled monkeys wearing hats and pretending to be humans.

Having seen through this group of pedantic scholars, Tokugawa Iemochi, Tenshōin, and the Nie sisters, who were nothing but empty shells, had long since stopped paying attention to them and went about their own business, some drinking tea, others eating snacks.

—Ha, no matter which country or era, pedantic scholars are all the same... You can smell the stench of an old corpse the moment they open their mouths.

Thinking of this, Qing Deng couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.

His cold laugh, though not loud, was not quiet either—it reached the ears of some of the pedantic scholars.

"...May I ask what you are laughing at?"

In an instant, the heated debate that had filled every corner of the teahouse since earlier ceased.

In an instant, a barrage of cold gazes focused on Qing Deng.

Qing Deng raised an eyebrow, slowly put down his teacup, and then calmly turned his head to meet the gazes of the pedantic scholars who were glaring at him.

*******

*******

Nearly 7000 words today! Both the word count and the plot are incredibly well done! (crying emoji)

In my opinion, the remarks of the pedantic scholars in this chapter are so well written that they accurately depict all the common characteristics of pedantic scholars, making one want to clench their fists.

For the sake of this chapter's quality, please vote for this book with a monthly ticket! Requesting monthly tickets! Requesting recommendation tickets! (Leopard crying.jpg)

Chapter 341 Qing Deng's Debate with the Confucian Scholars!

A tense atmosphere instantly arose.

The people who created this atmosphere were naturally the Confucian scholars who suddenly fell silent and glared angrily at Qingdeng.

There was no joking or teasing intended.

The anger in the Confucian scholars' eyes was almost tangible, like thousands of arrows that wanted to turn Qingdeng into a hedgehog.

The rest of the customers in the teahouse fell silent, like cicadas in winter.

They either looked surprised, cast worried glances at Qing Deng and the Confucian scholars who were facing off from a distance, or simply showed expressions of pure amusement, hoping to see a good show.

The young lady, who was wiping a dirty table, had to stop what she was doing. She looked at Qing Deng with a surprised and uncertain gaze, then at the Confucian scholars. Her eyes darted around, and then she forced a cheerful expression as she quickly walked between Qing Deng and the Confucian scholars.

"Haha, esteemed guests, your tea cups are all empty. Would you like some more?"

As the last syllable fell, Miss Teshiro happened to stand between Qing Deng and the Confucian scholars, using her petite body as a wall to prevent the two sides from looking at each other.

Miss Teshiro's cheerful laughter eased the tense atmosphere that was currently filled with tension, reducing the overall sense of danger.

However, it was of no use.

"Your Excellency, did you hear what I said?"

The person who relentlessly questioned Qingdeng was a fair-skinned, tall, and handsome man with a freckled face, only unfortunately covered in unsightly freckles.

The freckled-faced man stood up and strode towards Qingdeng.

During the journey, he violently shoved aside the young lady who was blocking his way.

"what!"

Miss Shoudai let out a startled cry.

She had not expected the Confucian scholar's attitude and behavior to be so rude.

She was not a martial arts expert, but just an ordinary teahouse waitress. She lost her balance and fell straight to the ground.

Just as her left shoulder and half her body were about to make intimate contact with the ground, a large hand suddenly reached out from the side and, with a powerful yet graceful movement, caught her.

Still shaken, the young woman looked fearfully at the hard ground that had been less than 30 centimeters away from her. Then she looked up gratefully at the person who had reached out to help her at the last minute.

"Thanks……"

Qingdeng nodded slightly: "Get away from here quickly."

After saying that, Qingdeng released Dai's hand. At the same time, he quietly turned his gaze to the freckled face in front of him, who was glaring angrily at him.

At this moment, several more scholars stood up and quickly approached the handsome man.

With so many companions supporting him, the freckled man unconsciously straightened his back even more and raised his head even higher, almost looking down at Qingdeng with his nostrils.

The freckled face swept his gaze around, taking in the traveler-style clothing worn by Qing Deng, Tokugawa Iemochi, and the others, and a layer of disdain gradually surfaced in his eyes.

The woman with freckles didn't try to hide her dislike.

Therefore, Qingdeng easily noticed that the freckles on his face were almost identical to the expression that directly conveyed "contempt" on his forehead.

Qing Deng immediately understood what this guy was thinking and why he had that expression—Damn it! That stinking outsider! Came to Edo to beg for food!

If we're talking about which region in all of Japan is most prone to regional discrimination, then Kyoto is undoubtedly the place.

As the nominal capital of Japan and one of its oldest cities, Kyoto holds a prominent position in the cultural and political spheres.

This characteristic of Kyoto led the residents to consider themselves "people of the royal land," exhibiting a strong sense of psychological superiority and xenophobia.

In the worldview of Kyoto people, the world is divided into only two parts—Kyoto and the rest of the land outside of Kyoto.

In the eyes of Kyoto residents, people from outside Kyoto are a bunch of uncultured bumpkins and country bumpkins—even the Kanto people who conquered them and the whole country are no exception.

Even under the rule of the Edo Shogunate, the Kanto region, with Edo at its head, had become extremely prosperous, yet the people of Kyoto still looked down on the people of Kanto.

Even now, nearly 300 years after the Edo Shogunate ruled Japan, many Kyoto residents still contemptuously refer to the people of the Kanto region as "Eastern Barbarians."

However, while regional discrimination is severe among Kyoto residents, the Kanto people... to be more precise, even the Edo people are not much better off.

Aside from the people of Kyoto, the people of Edo suffered the most severe regional discrimination.

In terms of historical heritage alone, Edo is relatively "young" among all the cities in Japan, not to mention ancient capitals like Kyoto and Nara that have existed for thousands of years.

Three hundred years ago, Edo was a desolate and barren wasteland. It was only after Tokugawa Ieyasu moved into the Kanto region that it was gradually developed into what is now Japan's largest city.

Edo was the center of the current shogunate's rule, and influenced by this mentality, the people of Edo inevitably developed an arrogant attitude.

No matter which domain you belong to, in the end you are just a vassal of our shogunate!

It was so common in Edo that people, especially the sons of retainers whose status was similar to that of the Eight Banners in the Qing Dynasty, discriminated against outsiders that it could hardly be called "news".

—These people have so many bad habits…

Qing Deng, who thought this to himself, felt even more disgusted with this group of arrogant Confucian scholars.

"Your Excellency," the freckled-faced man said in a harsh, uncompromising tone, enunciating each word clearly, "may I ask you what you were laughing about just now? I clearly saw you glance at us and then give us a disdainful sneer. What do you mean by that? Are you mocking us?"

The questions from the freckled woman were getting increasingly sharp.

With each question he asked, the gazes he and the other Confucian scholars beside him cast toward Qingdeng grew sharper.

The atmosphere around them grew increasingly heavy.

Qing Deng, who had already decided not to argue with these Confucian scholars, was now feeling a surge of anger.

Qing Deng had always disliked this group of pedantic scholars. He had always hated pedantic scholars... no, to be precise, he hated all idiots with abnormal minds.

In fact, Qing Deng himself did not dislike Confucianism.

The original Confucianism founded by Confucius is fundamentally different from the Confucianism that was later modified by figures like Dong Zhongshu and Zhu Xi.

The former has many merits and can, to some extent, guide people toward goodness.

The latter was merely a convenient tool to provide convenience to feudal rulers.

Qingdeng mainly harbors more prejudice against the latter.

So-called pedantic scholars can be mainly divided into two categories.

Firstly, there are those who only know how to study, becoming dull-witted from studying too much.

He is inflexible, his thinking is outdated and rigid, he is stuck in his ways, he loves to belittle the present and speaks in classical Chinese phrases and saying that "the laws of our ancestors cannot be changed". He does not understand the true essence of Confucianism at all. He does not learn any of the six arts of the gentleman advocated by Confucius, namely "rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy and mathematics". However, he has mastered all kinds of dross in Confucianism.

Secondly, there are the bloodsuckers who pretend to be ignorant when they know the truth.

These people are well aware of the advantages and disadvantages of Confucianism becoming a tool of rule, but they pretend to be blind and deaf, insisting on maintaining Confucianism's dominant position in the realm of thought.

All of this is because they are the beneficiaries of promoting Confucianism.

As long as Confucianism continues to prevail, they can continue to exploit the nation and its people, sucking their blood until they become bloated and bloated.

Judging from the confident pronouncements of these Confucian scholars just now regarding the necessity of restoring the well-field system, and their indignant lament about being born at the wrong time... they undoubtedly belong to the first type of corrupt Confucian scholars mentioned above—idiots who have become stupid from reading too much.

The annoyance at the unreasonable fault-finding of these pedantic scholars in front of him, and the aversion to their very existence, grew and swelled in Qing Deng's heart.

By the time Qingdeng came to his senses, he was already laughing out loud.

I can't be bothered to hold a meeting with you bunch of pedantic scholars who were just belittling me, but you've come looking for me yourselves!

When faced with people and things that actively seek to cause him trouble, Qing Deng never backs down or tries to appease them. He always confronts them head-on without flinching.

First there were the madmen of the Expeditionary Army, then there were the fire-wielding thieves and their rebellious subordinates who refused to obey him—the fates of these people were not good.

Since the other party took the initiative to cause him trouble, he decided not to be polite!

After laughing heartily for a while, Qingdeng clapped his hands and smiled:

"Your Excellency, you misunderstand. I was indeed laughing just now, but not to mock you. I thought what you said was truly excellent. The shogunate is indeed underestimating Confucianism and Confucian scholars."