Chapter 57: Are You Done Yet?

  "What makes you think so?" Wang Fu was somewhat puzzled.

  Fa Zheng smiled and said, "This man has an arrogant look on his face, and he comes from a scholar family. From his behavior, it can be seen that he values his own family status very much and will not be someone who hopes to prosper in business. His arrogance comes from the fact that he is used to being looked up to by others as a famous scholar, and his confidence comes from being in an official position in Yi Province. He thinks that as the opposing party, he must win without a doubt. This man has served several masters and has a reputation for being opportunistic. With his family background, he should be proud, but because of his decline, he is humble, which makes him a weak character. Xu Jing is not a great talent."

  Wang Fu nodded slightly, seeming to believe and yet not believe.

  At this time, Qin Hui refuted Xu Jing and said: "Sir, using commerce to make up for the lack of military equipment is a great mistake. The sage says that weapons are evil tools, so those who are good at winning do not fight, those who are good at fighting do not deploy troops, those who are good at deploying troops do not form battle arrays, and the Son of Heaven resides in the temple hall to pacify the barbarians. Now we abandon agriculture and promote commerce, abandon morality and rely on military might, expose our soldiers and make them suffer from hunger and cold outside, while the people labor and suffer inside. How can this last long?

  Confucius said: 'Those who have a country and a family do not worry about poverty but worry about inequality, do not worry about scarcity but worry about instability.' Therefore, the king implements benevolent governance, there is no enemy in the world, why bother to exhaust the people and waste money?

  The ancient sage said: 'If distant people do not obey, then cultivate virtuous governance to attract them. Once they come, then make them secure.' Why must we always draw swords against each other and drive each other with armor? The common people are lost in the midst of war, how can ministers be at peace? How can rulers face the world?

  Emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce is beneficial for moral education. Where moral education reaches, the world will be at peace; otherwise, there will certainly be great chaos throughout the world.

  "Well said."

  Qin Hong finished speaking, and a burst of applause erupted. The two companions beside him glanced at Liu Zhang below the stage and found that Qin Hong's sentence "What does the master have to do with the world" did not anger Liu Zhang, so they also put their minds at ease and finally dared to raise their heads and face their opponents directly.

  Wang Fu turned his head to Liu Zhang and said, "This Qin Hui, although he is full of impractical nonsense about sages, also shows that he has extensive knowledge, is good with words, and that sentence 'armour and cavalry cannot last for long' is not entirely unreasonable."

  Liu Zhang nodded slightly, knowing in his heart that Qin Hui's words were actually what the aristocratic families wanted to say. As the saying goes, "it's better to let things out than to keep them bottled up". Liu Zhang had brought up this topic of debate precisely to get these scholars to speak on behalf of the aristocratic families, to put their views out in the open. Regardless of the outcome of the debate, it would be more beneficial for the promotion of commerce. In this sense, Qin Hui's words were actually in line with Liu Zhang's intentions.

  Liu Zhang believed that as long as he sat here, Yi Province was still promoting commerce, even if Qin Miao was fearless of life and death, he would not dare to let go, the power of the saint's morality would be greatly discounted, so as long as Xu Jing's side was not excessively foolish, Qin Miao would surely lose.

  Here is the translation:

  As expected, Xu Jing stood up with a confident expression, smiled slightly, and said proudly: "Mr. Qin's words are indeed the greatest joke under heaven. My great ancestor rose in rebellion by beheading a snake, overthrew the cruel Qin dynasty and established the great Han empire. However, due to the tyranny of the Qin ruler, there were decades of war and three generations of poverty. In the past, Emperor Wen of Han received the Mandate of Heaven, promoted commerce throughout the world, and thus began the prosperity of the Han dynasty. What do you mean by 'no virtue'?"

  Mr. Qin said that virtue can transform enemies and prisoners, and even more so in the lower classes, the Hu people are not uneducated barbarians, in the past, Emperor Wu of Han launched three expeditions to the great desert, drove his troops and armor into Hu territory, and brought peace to the universe, only then did the Great Han obtain a hundred years of peace, if virtue can transform the Hu, why bother with laborious distant expeditions?

  Since the chaos of Dong Zhuo, heroes have risen together, and treacherous thieves have stolen the country. Liu Xuan, the governor of Yi Province, is a relative of the Han imperial family and should lead his army to support the great Han dynasty. Can Mr. Qin really think that Zhang Lu, Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, and Sun Ce are people who can be educated? If so, I, in western Sichuan, do not need to use military force, but only need Mr. Qin to bring his three-inch tongue that never rots, to persuade the world, and Mr. Qin will become the first meritorious subject of the great Han dynasty.

  "Haha." Many onlookers burst out laughing.

  Xu Jing, seeing this, became even more pleased and continued: "The barbarians cannot be taught with words, so Emperor Wu used military force to subdue them. Now that the heroes have risen together, their ambitions are surging, in front there is Dong's rebellion in the palace, behind there is Yuan Shu's usurpation of power, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao's kind are rebellious and unscrupulous, should the Emperor not lead the brave warriors of Xichuan to wear armor and wield weapons? How can he bear to abandon the people of Han to the benefit of the rebels' sharp blades, sit back and watch as the imperial court falls into the hands of the treacherous heroes?"

  The matter of military preparedness cannot be abandoned, while commerce cannot but prosper. When commerce prospers, there is communication between the haves and have-nots; it can supplement national policies, encourage scholar-officials and soldiers, revive the Han dynasty's institutions, gather a myriad goods, benefit the common people, accumulate circulating currency - this is the foundation of a strong country.

  If agriculture is neglected and commerce is suppressed, then all affairs will not be promoted. Farmers will have no silk to wear, and those who weave silk will have no grain to eat. Will this not lead to great chaos throughout the world? Therefore, in ancient times, when establishing a country, they opened up the avenues of production and distribution, facilitated the use of goods and wealth, and linked the markets...

  Qin Mi spoke mostly on moral grounds, while Xu Jing took the official stance of Yi Province, using the actual situation of chaos in the world as evidence, naturally occupying a great advantage, winning praise and taking the upper hand. It seemed that he was about to win, which was also within Liu Zhang's expectations.

  Xu Jing saw that his own views were being echoed, and thought that Liu Zhang and other officials of Yi Province would also be delighted to hear them, becoming even more self-satisfied, speaking endlessly.

  Zhou Bu Yi, who was beside her, let out a yawn and fell asleep on Xiang Fu Rong's leg. Xiang Fu Rong also couldn't help but yawn continuously, she didn't understand a single word the lecturer said on stage. She had originally thought it would be fun with so many people around, begging Liu Zhang to bring her here, now she regretted it so much that her intestines were twisted in knots, she was too sleepy, and pushed Zhou Bu Yi's head, scolding: "Hey, how can I sleep like this? Get up quickly."

  "You'd better listen to what these great scholars have to say, it's good for your intelligence." Zhou Bu didn't even get up, and instead put his hands on Xiao Furen's legs. Xiao Furen was helpless, she leaned her head against the back of the chair, rolling around, only feeling Xu Jing's words rumbling into her ears nonstop.

  It wasn't long before Xiao Furen couldn't bear it anymore, and with a loud "Ah!", she rushed to the stage and shouted at Xu Jing: "Old man, are you ever going to finish?!" Her voice was loud and clear, shocking the entire audience.

  Xu Jing was speaking excitedly on stage, never expecting someone to suddenly rebuke him, and that someone was a woman. He was taken aback. The other scholars who heard Xiao Furan's words were furious. Who is Xu Jing? He is the great scholar of this generation. Many scholars saw Xu Jing participating in the imperial examination and were inspired. Xiao Furan, a young girl, dared to speak out of turn, which is an insult to the entire scholarly community.

  Liu Zhang clutched his head with both hands, his normally calm face twisted in agony. "Why did I bring this idiot along? Which nerve is wrong with me? Listening to this moron's nonsense has gotten us into trouble again! Have I become stupid?"

  "This young lady." Xǔ Jìng reacted, his heart full of indignation, but seeing Xiāo Fú Róng was by Liú Zhāng's side, he suppressed his anger and respectfully bowed: "I don't know which words I said were incorrect, please instruct me, miss."

  "How was I supposed to know which sentence was wrong? It's been half an hour already, and you're still going on and on. Aren't you tired?"

  Xu Jingdao said: "This is a literary debate, and there is no time limit. Why can't I clearly state my own views? If the young lady has nothing to correct, then it's intentional sabotage of the debate, which not only disrupts my thinking but also damages the examination rules. The young lady may need to give an explanation to me and all the candidates."

  "It's all, it's all." The scholars were agitated, and the great masters of the time were their idols. When their idols were humiliated, it was related to the reputation of the scholarly community, so they naturally did not want to give up.

  Xiao Furan was speechless and stunned on the spot by Xu Jing's slow and deliberate questioning. Liu Zhang pounded his forehead, thinking that if land was the mother of aristocrats, then great scholars were the mothers of scholars. Insulting someone's mother was a serious offense, and it was fortunate that these scholars didn't fight Xiao Furan to the death. Liu Zhang couldn't think of a way to help Xiao Furan get out of this predicament.

  Just as Liu Zhang was in a state of distress, Zhou Bu Yi lifted his head from Xiao Fu Rong's leg and gazed sleepily at Xu Jing: "Mr. Xu's words are indeed the greatest joke under heaven, deceiving the country and its people. My sister here does not dare to agree with him, so she spoke out to stop him. If Mr. Xu still doesn't know where he went wrong, then I'll take it upon myself to correct you."