Chapter 30: Discussion on Rituals

  "Is that so?" Yang Chengfeng's eyes flashed with excitement, and he burst out laughing: "Starting tomorrow, I will be the true master of Wuwei. Lord Lei has made significant contributions to this, and I will definitely report it to His Majesty."

  "Thank you, Your Excellency!"

  "Master Lei seems to be from Yangzhou, right?" Yang Chengfeng asked casually while admiring the "Tiger Descending a Mountain" painting in the study.

  Lei Meng's face changed, and he looked at Yang Chengfeng with some surprise. Seeing that Yang Chengfeng was expressionless, he replied: "Yes."

  "Yangzhou is a good place, ten miles of Qinhuai River, rich merchants gather, green buildings stand tall, painted boats sail on the waves, it's a beautiful place in Jiangnan. Especially during the Lantern Festival, thousands of small lanterns are lit up on the Qinhuai River, both banks of the river are filled with colorful lights, golden and jade-like towers, scales overlapping, painted boats sailing on the waves, I don't know if it's real or not?"

  "Yes."

  "Can Lord Lei introduce me to the situation of Qinhuai River?"

  "Yes, the Qinhuai River takes Confucius Temple as its center and the river itself as a bond, including Zhan Garden, Confucius Temple, White Egret Isle, Zhonghua Gate, as well as the scenic views of boats on the river from Taoye Ferry to Zhenhuai Bridge, which can be said to combine ancient relics, gardens, painted pleasure-boats, streets, buildings and folk customs..."

  "Is Mr. Lei familiar with Fuzi Temple, a place that men of letters are particularly fond of?" Yang Chengfeng asked.

  "Subordinates have been there many times." Lei Meng was now more and more confused about what Yang Chengfeng wanted to do.

  "Can Master Lei introduce me to the Confucius Temple?" Yang Chengfeng turned his head and smiled at Lei Meng: "I was weak and sickly since childhood, didn't read much books, so I don't know much about the Confucius Temple."

  The Temple of Confucius is a common name for the Confucian Temple, which is a place to worship and sacrifice to Confucius. It was built 300 years ago and is located on the north bank of the Qinhuai River in Gongyuan Street. The temple uses the Qinhuai River as its moat, with a wall on the south bank and the Aggregation Star Pavilion and Thinking Music Pavilion in front of the temple on the north bank. Along the central axis are built the Gate of Auspicious Stars, the Great Completion Gate, the Great Completion Hall, the Mingde Hall, and the Revered Scripture Pavilion, among other buildings. In addition, there is also the Quixing Pavilion to the east of the temple. The surrounding area has tea houses, wine shops, and stores, where... Lei Meng gave a detailed introduction about the Temple of Confucius.

  "Mr. Lei is a man of letters, and he should know that 'to cultivate the son of a nation with virtue, one must teach him the six arts: first, the five rites; second, the six music; third, the five archery; fourth, the five charioteering; fifth, the six books; sixth, the nine numbers.' I wonder which of these six arts the scholars of the great Qin Empire have achieved? The six arts of Confucianism are ritual, music, archery, charioteering, writing, and arithmetic. Have today's scholars achieved all of them? Take ritual for example, what is ritual? Before Confucius, there were already the rituals of Xia, Shang, and Zhou. The rituals of the three dynasties of Xia, Shang, and Zhou evolved over time, until the Zhou ritual in the era of Duke Zhou. In Confucius' view, ritual was inseparable from 'benevolence.' Confucius said: 'If a person is not benevolent, what is the use of ritual?' It was the virtuous governance that 'guided by virtue and regulated by ritual,' breaking through the restriction of 'rituals are not for common people.' By the Warring States period, Mencius further summarized benevolence, righteousness, ritual, and wisdom. Ritual became one of the virtues of human beings as 'the heart of courtesy and humility.' Xunzi valued ritual even more than Mencius, writing 'On Ritual,' which discussed the origin and social function of ritual. He believed that ritual gave each person a proper position in society's hierarchical system of nobility, age, wealth, etc."

  Xunzi said: "The way of man is not without distinction, and the greatest distinction is in division. The greatest division is in ritual propriety." Therefore, the former kings established rituals to distinguish between people, making distinctions between the noble and humble, old and young, wise and foolish, able and unable, so that everyone would carry out their duties according to their station.

  The Book of Rites says: "Rituals are used to determine intimacy and distance, resolve suspicions and doubts, distinguish similarities and differences, and clarify right and wrong." It also says: "Favoring relatives, respecting the virtuous, these are born from rituals."

  Han Feizi said: "Rituals...are the interactions between ruler and minister, father and son, and the distinctions between noble and humble, virtuous and unworthy."

  Dong Zhongshu said: "Rituals are used to 'order the positions of superior and inferior, noble and humble, large and small, while distinguishing the levels of outside and inside, far and near, new and old'".

  The White Tiger Tongde Theory says: "Rituals are used to 'order above and below, correct human conduct'". So among so many rituals, which one should we follow? Why are there so many differences in rituals from ancient times to the present?

  "This..."

  "Would Confucianism's 'rites' change, then wouldn't the thoughts of scholars also change? Rites, music, archery, charioteering, writing and arithmetic are the six arts of Confucianism, but in today's Great Qin Empire, how many people master these six arts? Lord Lei, how many of these six arts do you master? Literature can bring peace to a nation, while martial prowess can stabilize a country. Lord Lei, tell me, which is more important between scholars and warriors?"

  "If warriors are important in times of war, scholars are important in times of peace." Lei Meng replied with his head lowered.

  Yang Chengfeng asked: "Now? Does Lord Lei think this is a time of peace or a time of war?"

  "This...” Lei Meng found it somewhat difficult to answer. If this were a time of peace, then how would one explain the wars between the Great Qin Empire and the Mongol Empire, the Qing Empire, and the Wind Cloud Empire? And if this were a time of war, then how would one explain that, apart from the border regions, all places within the Great Qin Empire were peaceful and prosperous, with scholars in power and military men being suppressed everywhere?

  "The Ma family is a prominent family in Wuwei, with a history of over a thousand years. The Ma family army alone has tens of thousands of iron cavalry, and the Narati grasslands have always been under their control. Just like now, a single branch of the Ma family, Martingding, can gather 80,000 iron cavalry in less than a month. If the Ma family were to rebel, what kind of situation do you think would arise, Lord Lei?"

  Without waiting for Ma Meng's response, Yang Chengfeng continued: "With the prestige of the Ma family in Wuwei, as long as they call out to gather, they can assemble tens of thousands of troops within an hour and occupy Wuwei. Within half a month, they can recruit a large number of Qiang people into the army, forming a force of several hundred thousand soldiers. One-thirteenth of the land of the Great Qin Empire would fall into enemy hands. Therefore, in my opinion, the harm caused by the Ma family is even greater than that of the Mongols. Moreover, there are not a few large families like the Ma family throughout the Great Qin Empire. If all the aristocratic families in the world were to rebel, the entire Great Qin Empire could be torn apart within a day."

  The harm of the aristocratic family, Lei Meng finally understood Yang Chengfeng's purpose now. As a member of the aristocratic family, everything he did was centered around his family's interests, and he couldn't listen to Yang Chengfeng's words at all.

  "Lord Lei, how do you think we can eliminate the harm caused by these aristocratic families? If they were to defect to a rival nation or declare independence, where would our great Qin be then?" Yang Chengfeng's eyes shot out a sharp glint.

  A knock at the door was heard, and a voice came from outside, "Sir, the guests have arrived."

  "Haha!" Yang Chengfeng smiled and said to Lei Meng: "Lord Lei, go entertain the guests! I'll be out in a moment."

  "Yes, Your Highness!" Lei Meng let out a sigh of relief.