Linxia

Chapter 122, War of Words

The next day.

The government office, Moxiang Pavilion, and the parties involved in the vandalism, as well as the invited booksellers, were present in the hall. Fang Lin and Manager Liu were among them, as well as other representatives of down-and-out conservative literati.

Of course, the majority were common people who came to watch the fun, such as the Fang family, people from Xixiang Hutong, Sister Guihua, Dong Zugao, Xu Kuolao, and so on.

"quiet!"

Prefect Pu slammed the gavel and said in a deep voice: "Let's start today's case-solving debate! You two parties, please speak first!"

Both the Moxiang Pavilion and the literati who smashed and looted the shop began to make their statements immediately. One side said that they were following the trend and selling "Water Margin" just to respond to the court, which was a reasonable and normal thing. The other side was breaking the law by smashing and looting the shop, so they demanded compensation. The other side said that the court had no clear provisions and that Moxiang Pavilion should be severely punished in accordance with the laws of the time of Taizu.

The public says that the public is reasonable, and the mother says that the woman is reasonable.

"Sir, I have a case for your reference."

Among the representatives of downtrodden and conservative literati, Dai Zongqi and Zhong Zongdian looked at each other, stood up and said, "During the Zhengde period, there was a Jinshi named Li who was demoted to military service because of a fault. He wrote a book called "Jian Deng Yu Hua". What do you think this "Jian Deng Yu Hua" is about? It is about strange stories and legends, about current politics, and about expressing his grievances. How could he take the court seriously? A man does not talk about strange things, supernatural powers, or chaos. As expected, once it was published, all scholars thought it was an insult to culture, and some even denounced it as a heresy that disturbed people's hearts... In the second year of Jinglong, Jinshi named Li died. He should have returned to his hometown, but 'he was offered sacrifices at the community, and the villagers shortchanged him'. Because of a popular novel, even the villagers looked down on him."

His words were cleverly said, secretly inciting public opinion: The fellow villagers of Jinshi Li all looked down on Jinshi Li because of a popular novel. If the people in the city present did not belittle the popular novel but instead agreed with it, wouldn't that mean that their realm was not even as good as those of the country farmers?
As expected, some people in the city realized this and spoke out to refute the popular novel.

"I just think that popular novels are bad and can easily corrupt children."

"Yes, it encourages evil tendencies and people's hearts are no longer as they used to be!"

"So, we can't let popular novels sell!"

……

Hearing these voices, a bookseller got anxious and stood up and said, "You can't say that. Popular novels are not all bad. For example, the "Loyal and Righteous Water Margin" published by the Imperial Examination Yuan and the Imperial College of Yingtian has the opening line 'Song Gongming lives in the Water Margin, but his heart is in the court. He is devoted to the imperial court and to serving the country.' If this isn't teaching people to be loyal and righteous, what else can it be?"

"That's a bad word."

Zhuang Yuqing stood up. He was really against popular novels and had been prepared to point out mistakes: "The title of The Loyal and Righteous Water Margin has the words 'loyalty' in it, but I read it from top to bottom and I can't see the words loyalty at all in the whole book. If we talk about loyalty and righteousness, how can it be the turn of those rebels who rebelled against the government and the court? Take Li Kui in the book, for example, he always says 'I'm going to chop off the emperor's head'. How can this be a loyal and righteous act?"

When the people outside the stadium heard this, their focus was not on the word "loyalty", but on "cutting off the emperor's head, is it so exciting?" Some wanted to see it, but they couldn't say it, so they whispered to each other.

Of course, it was just whispers, and the majority of voices in the room were against popular novels. But even so, it angered someone.

Seeing such 'fools', Rong Cailin shouted excitedly: "How ridiculous! This is really ridiculous! Look at this evil trend, it has corrupted the good people. What's the point of watching 'The Loyal and Righteous Water Margin'? If you want to watch it, you should listen to me and read 'The Complete Record of the Five Relationships', which is a classic."

——The so-called "Complete Record of the Five Relationships" is the novel mentioned before, which tells sons to be filial after reading it and ministers to be loyal after listening to it, and it advocates blind loyalty and filial piety and sings praises of the merits of others. There are indeed models of the five relationships in the book, but the language is stale, the images are dry, and it is completely uninteresting. According to Fang Lin's evaluation, it is just a piece of shit.

His tough attitude in speaking had a counter-effect for a while, especially since he kept referring to "you people", separating himself from the people. This aroused rebelliousness among many people outside the venue, making the whispers even louder.

After all, you are not a commoner, not one of us, so is there any need for us to listen to your instructions?

"No, we can't let them ruin this good situation."

Zhong Zongdian said to himself, and seeing that Li Gongru was cautious and did not say anything, he had to step in and pull the situation back: "Sir, although the Beijing Supervisory Office and Yingtian Imperial College published "The Water Margin", the court currently has no clear law to open up popular novels. Since there is no such law, we should follow the law of Taizu to make the judgment."

Prefect Pu glanced at the man and said nothing.

Since he allowed the debate to be held in court, he naturally had an inclination in his attitude. He was inclined to open up to popular novels. As an official, it was always right to keep in line with the court.

After all, if they responded to the central government, even if there were problems, there were the Beijing Supervisory Office and the Imperial College of Yingtian to take the blame, so they would have done a good deed and not done a bad deed. On the contrary, if they really sentenced the Moxiang Pavilion according to the law of Taizu, where would the court be placed? Should the central government follow suit and punish the Beijing Supervisory Office and the Imperial College of Yingtian? Regardless of whether it was right or wrong, such behavior was against the court and had no sense of propriety.

"The situation is now clear. The fact that the Imperial Examination Yuan and the Imperial College of Yingtian can publish "The Water Margin of Loyalty and Righteousness" shows that the retro-style faction is at a disadvantage. At this time, I must not take advantage of the situation."

Moreover, in terms of factions, Prefect Pu is not of the same kind as those retro-styled people, and he would not do such a high-risk, unprofitable thing.

In this regard, these down-and-out conservative literati are different from Prefect Pu. If this matter fails, there will be no liquidation of small figures like them. On the contrary, if it succeeds, they will have a huge reputation, and maybe they can use it to come into the sight of big figures. It is definitely a low-risk, high-return thing.

"However, given the current situation, I can't do this myself, so I still have to find someone..."

Prefect Pu gave a look, and immediately some booksellers jumped out. However, these down-and-out literati were well prepared and had the advantage of taking the initiative just now, while the booksellers were unprepared and were a mess, so they were refuted in just a few words.

Fang Lin stood behind Shopkeeper Liu, watching silently, and found that these scholars were indeed capable and eloquent, while the booksellers were indeed lacking in some aspects.

"Sir, is it possible that the case has been solved?" Zhong Zongdian refuted another person and asked with some pride in his voice.

"Don't worry, listen more, and you will understand clearly if you listen to both sides!" said Prefect Pu, glancing away.

When Fang Lin saw Prefect Pu looking at him, his heart skipped a beat. Sure enough, the next moment, he was called.

"What's your name, young man in green?" Prefect Pu seemed to really not know Fang Lin.

"Sir, my name is Fang Lin."

"Have you ever been crowned?"

"Never."

"Does it have a reputation?"

"Not yet."

"Okay, if you have any ideas, feel free to tell us. Don't be afraid of offending the seniors. Today we are here to speak freely!"

Prefect Pu paused for a moment and continued, "You have no achievements, but you represent the people, so you can hear the real voices. You have not yet been crowned, and you are not yet an adult. If you have made mistakes, you can say that children speak without restraint, and ignorance is not a crime!"

When he said this, he looked at the group of scholars and asked, "Do you think this is the truth?"

"good."

This group of down-and-out conservative intellectuals nodded magnanimously, with tolerant smiles on their faces showing they were confident of victory and were willing to give way to the younger generation.

After all, in their opinion, what can a teenager say? Even if he supports popular novels, they are confident that they can fool the other party with just a few words and make him hate popular novels.

Seeing this scene, the reactions of some people in the audience were extremely interesting.

Sister Guihua pursed her lips; Manager Liu and Dong Zugao also tried hard not to laugh out loud. They knew that something interesting was about to happen as someone actually looked down on Fang Lin.

Fang Lin listened and thought that Prefect Pu was a wonderful person: "Prefect Pu is indeed interesting. He didn't just pull me out and kill me without burying me. He first defined me as a commoner because I had no achievements, and then defined me as a teenager because I had not been crowned. Children can speak without restraint... Such crazy stacking of armor also allows me to speak freely."

"Then the boy said it?"

Fang Lin first looked at Zhong Zongdian: "I am ignorant, but I have heard that the Imperial Supervisory Office and the Imperial College of Yingtian are the core of the court and the model of the world. How can they not represent the official opinions? If they can't represent them, can we ordinary people represent the official opinions with our empty words?"

He spread his hands and said, "That doesn't make sense! I think that the officials in the court must have considered everything before doing anything. If you go against the court just because there is no clear document, isn't that contempt for the court and disobeying the law?"

Everyone nodded as they listened. This was indeed true. The Great Xia court still had great credibility.

How could Zhong Zongdian dare to take the blame for "disrespecting the court and not abiding by the law"? It was even more impossible for him to openly say that the court officials were deceived by traitors. If he said it publicly, his future would be bleak. He could only avoid the topic and say, "Little brother, you don't know that in the early years of the founding of the country, Taizu explicitly banned it, saying, "Except for the costumes of gods and Taoists, righteous husbands and chaste wives, filial sons and grandsons, persuading people to do good and celebrating peace, all other things are banned. Those who are not included will be handed over to the officials for investigation."

"This moment is the same as that moment."

Fang Lin refuted, "In the early years of the founding of the country, there was a lot of work to be done. Under the background of the times, Taizu naturally banned entertainment and let the people concentrate on production... Now, under the leadership of Your Majesty and the officials of the court, it has reached a prosperous era, and the situation is very different. Do you not trust Your Majesty and the officials of the court? Do you think that allowing popular novels will ruin this glorious era?"

Zhong Zongdian didn't dare to say that he "could not trust Your Majesty and the officials in the court", and could only say: "Of course not, it's just... it's just..." He stumbled and was unable to continue for a while.

"Humph, you are just trying to quibble." Zhuang Yuqing stood up and said, "This is the law of our great ancestor. The law of our ancestors cannot be abolished!"

"Oh?"

Fang Lin looked at Zhuang Yuqing and said, "The Imperial Supervisory Office and the Imperial College of Yingtian are the mouthpieces of the court and represent the will of Your Majesty. You have ignored the changes in the world and insisted that the laws of our ancestors cannot be abolished. Are you trying to put Your Majesty in an unjust position?"

This pot is even bigger, Zhuang Yuqing didn't dare to take it and was speechless.

Fang Lin refuted this person and took the initiative to look at the next person - Dai Zongqi: "I have also read the "Jian Deng Yu Hua" you mentioned. There is an article in it called "Chang'an Night Walk Record", which tells the story of a peddler's wife being forcibly taken away by King Ning. However, there is a group of court writers who whitewashed the crime for their master, oppressed the common people, covered up the facts, and reversed black and white, and confused right and wrong. Isn't it absurd?"

"I have heard that corrupt officials protect each other. Your Excellency uses this book as an example to belittle and despise it... Alas!"

He didn't say anything else, just shook his head.

The other party had previously manipulated public opinion, and now Fang Lin was also manipulating public opinion. The people hated corrupt officials to the core, and after listening to the story of "A Night Walk in Chang'an", they naturally hated the scholars who spoke up for the evil people. At this time, Dai Zongqi was drowned in scolding before he could even say a word.

"This person must have been struck in the heart. He is just like the scholar in the book who only knows how to whitewash his faults and sing praises."

"Yes, otherwise why would he say bad things about "Jian Deng Yu Hua"? In my opinion, this person has a malicious heart and wants to ban this kind of book so that we can only read his nonsense praising his merits."

"In that case, popular novels really can't be banned."

……

The voices outside the venue began to reverse!

Fang Lin was full of vigor and continued to look at the next person: "Your Excellency said that The Water Margin is not worth reading and only The Complete Record of the Five Relationships is a classic?"

"Yes." Rong Cailin admitted with his head held high.

"I have also read your works, and I still remember one of them clearly." Fang Lin said suddenly.

"Oh? You have read my book. You are... not bad." Rong Cailin nodded condescendingly and commented.

"In the twelfth chapter of your book, The Story of Loyalty, Filial Piety, Chastity and Righteousness, it tells the story of a father who had hemorrhoids and his son licked them. One day, while licking, the father farted. The son didn't take it seriously, took a deep breath and said, 'This is the fragrance of grains'..."

Before Fang Lin finished speaking, there was already a sound of vomiting outside the venue.

"Ugh~ I'm so sick!"

"That's right. I didn't expect that this guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes could write such a disgusting book?"

"You can't ban popular novels, otherwise, we will only be able to read this kind of stuff in the future."

……

"You...you..." Rong Cailin almost fainted when he heard these words. In his excitement, he even stuttered: "This is pure and filial piety. How can you, a child like you, understand it?"

"Really? I just find it unbelievable and laughable. When parents are sick, they should go to the doctor and ask for medicine. Wouldn't licking them delay the treatment? I really don't understand, is this a pure filial act, or is it a way of gaining fame in the name of filial piety?"

"You...I..." Rong Cailin was so angry that he couldn't speak.

But it couldn't stop Fang Lin from continuing: "If it's the former, I can only say that this person is stupid and pitiful; if it's the latter, then this person is just for fame and ignores his parents. He is so disloyal and unfilial. To be honest, I have never seen such a shameless person!"

"You you...ah!" Rong Cailin pointed at Fang Lin. He could neither admit that he was a fool nor that he was an unfaithful, unfilial and shameless person. In his excitement, his eyes rolled back and he fainted and was carried away.

"My friend is too much. Brother Rong's "The Story of Loyalty, Filial Piety, Chastity and Righteousness" advocates loyalty and filial piety, and teaches people to be kind. It has been widely circulated and has done countless merits..." Seeing his teammates being refuted one by one, Li Gongru, although cautious, had no choice but to stand up and speak.

"Works like "The Story of Loyalty, Filial Piety, Chastity and Righteousness" advocate blind loyalty and filial piety, and are inflexible. Good intentions can also become bad things. Is this worth promoting? The more it spreads, the more harmful it becomes, and it will greatly harm the people of Great Xia."

Fang Lin paused here and looked outside the venue: "I think that the people have the ability to distinguish good works from bad ones. A work that has been reviewed by hundreds of millions of people and passed down to future generations is a true masterpiece. As for those works, no matter how absurd they are, they only use words as a weapon to help the tyrants to commit atrocities, close their eyes and sing praises for their own selfish interests, and whitewash the peace, they will eventually be swept into the garbage dump by history."

"I have only one word to say to you about this."

He glanced at those downtrodden and conservative scholars one by one, and in the sunlight, he spoke clearly: "Your bodies and names will be destroyed, but the rivers and mountains will flow forever!"

These words were so eye-opening that the entire audience was silent for a moment before bursting into cheers.

"it is good!"

"This young boy said it well!"

"Yes, whether a book is good or not, can't we judge it ourselves? Why let these people tell us what to do?"

……

"That's my son!" Fang's father and mother excitedly said to the people around them, receiving many envious looks.

Tian Xuan's cheeks were red, and she stared at the stage without blinking, looking at Fang Lin as if he was sparkling.

……

"This boy is good, very good. I owe him a favor this time."

Prefect Pu thought that at the beginning, he named Fang Lin just to reverse the situation, but he didn't expect that he would actually win a resounding victory.

……

"Good boy!" Shopkeeper Liu, despite his age, was also excited by what he said and clapped and cheered along with the surrounding booksellers.

……

"Brother Fang, congratulations!"

Dong Zugao looked at Fang Lin in the hall and thought to himself: "When a needle is placed in a bag, its tip will be revealed immediately. Today's debate among scholars is really exciting!"

……

"It's so satisfying! So satisfying!" Xu Kuo Lao clapped his hands vigorously, especially the last part where he looked around and said, 'Your body and name will be destroyed, but the rivers and mountains will flow forever', it was so damn handsome.

……

The debate was over, and the winner was clear. Prefect Pu took the opportunity to announce the result: "The writers who smashed and looted the Moxiang Pavilion must pay compensation to the owner of the Moxiang Pavilion. From today on, popular novels are allowed to be sold in the city. Anyone who smashes and loots and obstructs will be severely punished!"

When the people heard this, they all applauded.

……

The impact of this debate is far from over. The people in the city still talk about it after dinner. The sentence "I have never seen such a shameless person" made Rong Cailin faint. The sentence "Your body and name will be destroyed, but the rivers and mountains will flow forever" made those literati feel ashamed and embarrassed. I don't know how many people have mentioned it repeatedly.

In particular, when "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is published in the near future, the plot in the book is connected with today's scenes, and famous scenes such as debates with scholars are spread along with "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and spread out of Huai'an Prefecture. They are talked about by people at that time and recorded in history books, leaving an interesting story in the history of youth.

……

(End of this chapter)