Chapter 13: Shaping the World |
Xuanjing City, Scholarship Abode.
A group of scholars gathered together to examine the volumes of ancient books that had recently caused the world to tremble.
Ever since the ancient books appeared in the world a few days ago, the city's bookstores have been printing additional copies without stopping. Even so, the demand for the published books exceeded the supply. These scholars also managed to obtain a few volumes today with great difficulty, so they invited a group of friends to come here to enjoy it together.
"Supreme benevolence is like water, benefiting all things without hesitation. Wonderful, wonderful!"
"Dao begets one, one begets two, two begets three, and three begets all things. In just a few words, it instantly feels infinitely profound; this scripture is truly extraordinary!"
"In my opinion, these three thousand words are worth more than all the literature I've read before!"
"I feel the same way!"
"No, no, no, in my opinion, the subtlety of that volume of 'Yi Jing' is even higher than that of Dao De Jing. Although the words are obscure and cryptic, they are so well-written that they seem to contain the supreme principles of heaven and earth."
"Precisely, 'The way of heaven is to benefit others, and the gentleman is unceasing in his self-improvement!' It speaks to the heart of my generation!"
At this moment, one of them suddenly sighed, "I never expected that such an exquisite text has been buried thousands of years underground without anyone knowing about it. Every time I think about it, it pains me deeply!"
These words also caused the crowd to echo in agreement.
"Yes, our late master loved reading the most during his lifetime. If he had been able to read these few volumes of scriptures, I wonder how delighted he would have been."
"It is unfortunate that all the world's past scholars couldn't read these scriptures!"
"However, these scriptures were written by previous generations, lost due to war, and preserved in ancient tombs as fragments, right? As I read the 'Nan Hua' and the Lunyu, I noticed that none of the people and events in them are recorded in the history books." Among the crowd, a voice abruptly interjected.
The crowd was quiet for a moment, but then they came to a firm conclusion.
"It must be so. There is absolutely no possibility of forgery of such texts by modern people. Existing history books only detail nearly three thousand years of history. Before three thousand years ago, there were basically no detailed records. I think these classics are the product of that time."
"I heard that the School of Ancient Wisdom claimed that in ancient times, there were hundreds of competing schools of thought, and the classics that were born were as numerous as the stars in the sky. These few volumes of scriptures that we are reading today are but an insignificant part of them."
This statement immediately caused a gasp of surprise in the restaurant.
"There is actually such a thing!"
"The thought that there are still so many classic texts buried deep underground, unknown to the world, makes me incomparably heartbroken and unable to sleep at night!"
"I wonder what the rest of the classics are like."
...
"But after all, these ancient texts are deeply hidden in various ancient tombs. What the School of Ancient Visitors has said about the massive excavation of ancient tombs in search of the lost classics is really against human decency."
The crowd of scholars instinctively wanted to speak out in agreement, but once they thought of the countless classic texts still waiting to be unearthed underground, their tone became less resolute.
"Didn't the leader of the School of Ancient Wisdom say that what they are doing is a matter of protection and rescue of classics, and not tomb-robbing?"
"That's right, I heard that every time they excavate an ancient tomb, they don't wreak havoc like previous grave robbers who only take gold and silver. Instead, they carefully take out all of the objects and keep them properly. If there is any damage, there is also someone responsible for repairing it."
"Indeed, one cannot simply compare them to grave robbers."
However, there were still quite a few people in the crowd who held opposing views.
"But that's just a nice way of putting it. What's the difference? Who here doesn't have an ancestor? If your family's ancestor's tomb was excavated like this, how would you feel?"
"The precedent of this matter is absolutely unacceptable, or else the consequences will be endless. We must do our best to dissuade it."
"Exactly. "
...
There were still some people who did not voice their opinions, acting as peacemakers.
"The Emperor and the ministers in the court will definitely have made their decision on this matter, so we don't need to worry too much about it."
"Let's wait and see, let's wait and see."
...
As the 'Dao De Jing' spread throughout the world, heated debates erupted all over the Grand Xuan Kingdom.
There were countless scenes similar to the one in the Scholarship Abode today.
Li Fan knew that wanting to change the minds of the people of the world in such a short period of time would definitely not work.
Right now, it was just the beginning.
But Li Fan wasn't worried at all that things wouldn't work out.
In the current world, it was the scholars who held the power of speech.
With countless classics as bait, Li Fan was not afraid that these scholars would not fall into line.
What's more, Li Fan didn't need these people's support. As long as they didn't oppose him, it was enough.
...
While secretly plotting to control the world, Li Fan was also gradually increasing the influence of the School of Ancient Wisdom in the secular world.
In the sixth year, the Emperor was suddenly stricken with a serious illness and was bedridden. All the doctors were at their wits' end. At this time, the School of Ancient Wisdom brought forth a pill, claiming that this elixir was found in an ancient tomb and was suspected to be left by an immortal, with the power to revive the dead.
The Emperor did not pay attention at first, but with his body slowly withering away, he reluctantly took it as a last resort.
Surprisingly, the pill worked wonders, and the Emperor returned to full health after only a few days.
The court was shocked, and the ministers discussed.
The Emperor even sent out an edict to summon the leader of the School of Ancient Wisdom into the palace and ask about the immortal. For a few days, he did not go to court.
Since then, the Emperor wholeheartedly believed in the existence of immortals. He secretly authorized his army to cooperate with the School of Ancient Wisdom to look for traces of immortals in the ancient tombs.
In the ninth year, the School of Ancient Wisdom held an exhibition in the City of Xuanjing, inviting the ministers of the imperial court and the princes and nobles of the capital to watch.
Although these people were very rich and knowledgeable, after seeing the rare treasures in the exhibition, they were all stunned, and could not extricate themselves from the wonders.
After this, the School of Ancient Wisdom even loosened its restrictions so that ordinary people could enter the exhibition as long as they purchased a ticket.
Xuanjing City was suddenly in an uproar.
Countless people lined up, wanting to enter the exhibition to get a glimpse of the treasures. The number of people was so large that it caused the roads in the capital to be blocked. Fortunately, the Emperor issued an order to have the garrison battalion hold formation to maintain order, and only then was the excitement gradually suppressed.
The spectacle lasted for more than half a month.
After this, instead of closing, the exhibition began to tour around, visiting each part of the Grand Xuan Kingdom.
In the eleventh year, Jiangnan Prefecture uncovered a vicious grave-robbing case and captured a grave-robbing group of hundreds of people.
This group had gone on a rampage, excavating ancient tombs in the deep mountains and causing incalculable damage.
According to the law, all of them should be sentenced to death.
However, the number of people involved in the case was so large that the governor of Jianghuai Prefecture did not dare to make the decision on his own, and sent a letter over eight hundred miles to Xuanjing City, to ask the Emperor to make a decision.
Some ministers were outraged and wrote a letter asking for the death penalty.
However, surprisingly, the vast majority of court officials remained silent at this time.
The emperor also ignored all the memorials that were sent and did not take a position.
It was only after a month that the Emperor's decree arrived.
Instead of capital punishment, they were only sentenced to slavery and were to be brought to the capital.
Few ministers in the court wrote a letter of opposition.
Li Fan looked at the edict and smiled slightly, knowing that the situation had already been decided.
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