Taiping Inn

Shen Yuanzhong said loudly: "Li Xuandu, acting leader, please take the seat and receive respect!"

Li Xuandu held the bamboo slips and walked towards the throne on the high platform.

At the same time, more than a thousand Taiping Sect disciples entered the square in a line.

More than a thousand Taiping Sect disciples and more than a thousand guests, nearly three thousand people in total, all looked at Li Xuandu. Just at this moment, Li Xuandu stood in front of the throne symbolizing the position of the leader of the Taiping Sect and paused for a moment.

[I hope readers will remember our domain name Taiwan Novel Network →𝙩𝙬𝙠𝙖𝙣.𝙘𝙤𝙢]

Except for Li Xuandu, no one knew what Li Xuandu was thinking at this time. After thinking for a moment, Li Xuandu came to his senses and was about to ascend the throne.

At this moment, an old voice suddenly came from the sky, "Wait!"

When the word "and" just came out, the voice seemed to be very far away, but when the word "slow" sounded, it was already close to the ear. It seemed that the person who came was at a very high level of cultivation.

Everyone present was surprised. Today, many heroes gathered on Taiping Mountain, and most of the twelve sect leaders came. What kind of battle is this? Even the wedding of the little Tianshi Yan Feiqing can't compare with this. Even the earth master sent a gift. Who dares to make trouble at this time? Could it be the last of the four immortals in the realm of immortality, Tan Taiyun?

Thinking of this, many people couldn't help but be shocked. How powerful the realm of immortality is, you can see it from the battle of the earth master's surprise attack on Yunjin Mountain. If Tan Taiyun came in person, the outcome would be unpredictable when the great Tianshi and the great sword fairy had not come in person.

At this time, the person who spoke had already arrived at the round square in front of the Taiping Palace. They were three old men. The leader had white hair and beard, a high crown and a wide belt, a long beard down to his chest, and a cane as tall as a person in his hand, with a majestic aura. The other two old men had white hair and beard, and were dignified without being angry.

The three men walked forward slowly, and did not change their expressions under the gaze of thousands of people. You should know that all those who can come to the Taiping Palace to watch the ceremony today are successful people. Under the gaze of these people, even if they have not deliberately urged the Qi, there is a great majesty in the invisible, not to mention that there are Bai Xiushang, Zhang Haishi, Xiao Shiyu, Wuzhen, the three real people, and the seven elders of Taiping. Ordinary Xiantian masters can't bear it, even masters of Guizhen realm have to concentrate and hold their breath. But these three people were completely unmoved, which shows that their realm of cultivation is at least above the Tianren realm.

However, these three old men are very unfamiliar, which is a bit unreasonable.

Since he is a great master of the Heaven Realm, he should be known to everyone in the martial arts world. Even the Ten Palaces of the Yin-Yang Sect are only known to a few people, and there are very few people like these three old men who are unknown to everyone. Could it be a hidden master who has been in seclusion for many years? But it doesn't make sense. Even if he is a hidden master, he will not appear out of thin air. He must have a background and leave some traces in the martial arts world. One person doesn't know, two people don't know, ten people don't know, a hundred people don't know, but thousands of people can't know.

Li Xuan didn't recognize these three people either, but he felt that these three people were not good people, and he couldn't help but be alert in his heart.

At this time, Zhang Jingxiu jumped off the chair.

The reason why he jumped off instead of getting up was because Zhang Jingxiu, who looked like a child, was too short. Sitting on the chair, his feet didn't touch the ground, and his back didn't lean on the back of the chair, which was really funny.

However, no one present dared to underestimate this child. As Zhang Jingxiu left the chair, everyone's eyes fell on the child.

Then Zhang Jingxiu said: "Emperor Wen worshipped Taoism, Emperor Wu respected Confucianism. Since Emperor Wu, Taoism has left the temple and returned to the rivers and lakes. Today is a grand event in the rivers and lakes. I wonder why the three of you are here?"

Ordinary people have not yet pondered the meaning of Zhang Jingxiu's words, but the elders of the clan leaders present have already understood. Zhang Jingxiu was talking about the dispute between Confucianism and Taoism. In the Middle Ages, there were hundreds of schools of thought, and the most prosperous ones were Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism, and Legalism. Mohism advocated universal love and non-aggression, which was contrary to the trend of great unification, so Mohism was defeated in the dispute before Confucianism. Zulong used Legalism, but later because the laws were too harsh and militaristic, it had to die. After Chidi killed the white dragon and founded the country, only Confucianism and Taoism remained. After Chidi died, Huidi ascended the throne. Huidi died early and the foreign relatives rebelled. After the nobles put down the rebellion of the foreign relatives, they welcomed Emperor Wen to Beijing to inherit the throne. Emperor Wen worshipped the Supreme Taoist Ancestor and valued Taoism. Emperor Wen's grandson was Emperor Wu. The Queen Mother believed in Taoism, and Emperor Wu favored Confucian scholars. After the Queen Mother passed away, Emperor Wu took power alone, listened to the advice of Confucian scholars, dismissed all schools of thought, and respected Confucianism alone. From Emperor Wen to Emperor Wu, the dispute between Confucianism and Taoism lasted for nearly a hundred years. Until this time, the dispute between Confucianism and Taoism came to an end. The temple belonged to Confucianism, and the rivers and lakes belonged to Taoism. Therefore, the rivers and lakes sects all worshipped the Supreme Taoist Ancestor, and they were not the same as the Confucian disciples who believed in the Supreme Saint and Teacher.

Li Xuandu immediately understood that these three old men were not Taoists, but Confucianists. No wonder the rivers and lakes had never heard of these three people, because these three people were not people from the rivers and lakes at all.

The old man in the lead bowed to Zhang Jingxiu and said, "What the great master said is wrong. There is a saying that family affairs, national affairs, and world affairs should be of concern. Whether it is the rivers and lakes or the temple, they are all the world."

Hearing this, Li Xuandu turned and walked down the high platform, and said loudly: "What a world affair, I haven't asked for your name yet?"

The old man looked at Li Xuandu and said, "My surname is Wen, and my given name is 'Ren'."

Li Xuandu immediately knew the identity of this old man. There are three great priests in the Wanxiang Academy, and one of them is surnamed Wen. Li Xuandu clasped his fists and said, "So it is the great priest Wen who is here in person. I am sorry, I am sorry."

Wen Ren looked at Li Xuandu for a moment and said, "You must be Mr. Li Xuandu."

Li Xuandu nodded and admitted, "Yes, I wonder what advice the high priest has for you?"

"I don't deserve it." Wen Ren said calmly, "I just want to ask Li Xuandu not to be the leader of the Taiping Sect. I wonder if Mr. Li can agree?"

Although Li Xuandu had guessed it long ago, he didn't expect Wen Ren to say it so bluntly. He thought to himself that Confucianism is indeed the one who sets the rules for the world. It is really overbearing.

Since Confucianism has been the only religion, which moral rules and five ethics are not from Confucianism? From the emperors and ministers to the common people, who is not following the rules of Confucianism? From this point of view, Confucianism is indeed much better than Taoism, which can only live in seclusion.

Although Li Xuandu was deeply influenced by Confucianism, it did not mean that he would blindly follow Confucianism, just as he did not completely agree with Li Daoxu or Zhang Suqing. He had a path that he was constantly exploring.

So Li Xuandu said: "Whether to be the leader of Taiping Sect is entrusted by Mr. Shen, and it is the family affair of Taiping Sect. Although the Grand Priest is highly respected and admired by everyone, he should not interfere too much in this matter."

Wen Ren was not surprised by Li Xuandu's refusal. Those who can be the Grand Priest of the Academy are not bookworms who have read too much. Naturally, they have already prepared a response. He did not answer directly, but said: "Back then in Wanxiang Academy, I was not the Grand Priest of the Academy, but just an ordinary Priest. A gentleman came to the Academy to study. Three years later, he took a book and asked the Grand Priest at that time for advice on how to save the world and govern the country. Afterwards, the Grand Priest made him the Grand Priest of the Academy. He relied not on his realm and cultivation, but on a sentence. He said: 'The affairs of the world are not difficult to make laws, but difficult to enforce the laws.'"

Li Xuandu remained silent.

Wen Ren looked at Li Xuandu and said slowly: "This gentleman is from Qizhou, his name is Li Daoxu, he is a great man. I didn't expect that forty years later, I would meet another Mr. Li on Taiping Mountain. I would like to ask Mr. Li the same question as Mr. Li, how can we make sure that the law is enforced?"

Li Xuandu didn't know how to answer for a moment.

Wen Ren emphasized his tone and said, "The key lies in the word 'rules'. Putting rules above people, one must not go beyond the rules. Mr. Li's appointment as the leader of Taiping Sect is against the rules."

Li Xuandu asked back, "I wonder what is against the rules?"

Wen Ren said, "Mr. Li is not a disciple of Taiping Sect, how can he inherit the position of leader of Taiping Sect?"

Li Xuandu said, "Although I am not a disciple of Taiping Sect, I am from the same lineage as Taiping Sect and I worship Taiping Dao together."

Wen Ren smiled calmly and said, "The "Da Dao Family Commandments" says: '... In the Chishi City of Quting, Linqiong County, Shu County, the Zhengyi Mengwei Dao was created, and the heaven and earth certificates were established to establish twenty-four governances, and the Xuanyuanshi Qi was distributed to govern the people. You gentlemen do not know the root of the truth and falsehood, but compete for the high world, and compare the noble and the humble, violate the Dao and rebel against virtue, and want to follow the will of others. People are happy to cause chaos, so the Taiping Yellow Turbans rebelled. Who do you know Taiping? Since then, tens of millions of people have died.'"