The Great Wei Music Bureau

Chapter 187 The Way of the Saint

Let’s cut to the chase and get straight into the debate between Li Yi and Zhu Xi, and see what shocking remarks Li Yi will use to discuss the sage’s way with Zhu Xi.

It is not appropriate to describe Bailuzhou Academy as overcrowded today, because almost all the Confucian and Taoist scholars around Jiankang City have come, so even the trees, walls, roofs, and any place where a person can stand are filled with people. At this time, no one said that they did not know etiquette and were insulting the culture.

Arriving at the academy and looking at the huge crowds of people, Li Yi felt as if he was in a scenic spot during the National Day Golden Week, a train station during the Spring Festival travel rush, or a singer's concert.

Tuoba Li was surprised and asked, "Where did so many people come from? Are they here to see us?"

Lu Yu shook his head and sighed: "They came to see us, but they all came to see how we lost."

Cui Zhi said unhappily, "Humph, then they will be disappointed. My Master is not prepared to lose!"

Li Yi raised his hand and pressed down, saying, "Keep a low profile, keep a low profile."

Lu Yu looked at Li Yi, who was dressed in a gorgeous outfit, and said with a curled lip: "Li Lefu, you don't look low-key at all with this outfit!"

Tuoba Li said coldly: "Yes, your clothes are probably more expensive than mine! I heard that it was given to you by the Second Prince of Nanliang?"

Li Yi stretched out his hand and looked at his woven gauze cloak and brocade Confucian robe, and said with a smile: "After all, I am going to debate with Zhu Zi, who is in the supernatural realm. Of course I have to dress up well! Otherwise, it will be a loss of face for our Great Wei."

Tuoba Li snorted coldly: "Humph, then I am indeed dressed shabbily."

Li Yi chose to turn a deaf ear to Tuoba Li's Yin-Yang language. There was originally a debate venue in Bailuzhou Academy, but Zhang Deyuan specially built an open-air debate platform and guest seats in order to let more people witness Li Yi's defeat. When the delegation arrived, they saw that the guest seats were already full of people, and there was no place for them.

Tuoba Li said unhappily: "Do these Liang people know the rules?"

At this moment, Zhang Deyuan came over and pointed at the makeshift shed on the other side of the debate platform and said in embarrassment: "Your Highness, I am so sorry. I didn't expect you to come to the debate in person. But all the top Confucianists and Taoists in Daliang are here, so there is really no room. Please bear with it and sit over there. But don't worry, tea and snacks are ready."

Tuoba Li was about to lose his temper, but Li Yi tried to dissuade him, "Your Majesty, the guest should follow the host's wishes. There are not many people over there, so we don't have to listen to their noise."

Tuoba Li flicked his sleeves and snorted coldly, then stepped forward and took his seat. Li Yi smiled and said, "Don't be upset, Your Majesty. I will help you vent your anger later." Tuoba Li glanced at Li Yi and then nodded.

Soon, Zhu Xi arrived, and the whole audience stood up and saluted Zhu Xi. This scene shocked Tuoba Li to some extent. He asked Xiang Luyu: "Although Zhu Xi is a leader of Confucianism and Taoism in Southern Liang, his prestige is probably not much better than that of the Southern Liang emperor."

Lu Yu nodded and said, "That's right. Zhu Xi's Confucianism and Taoism dominated the Southern Liang Dynasty. Even if all other schools of thought were added together, their influence was far less than half of Zhu Xi's school. In the court, the aristocratic families occupied high positions, but outside Jiankang City, Zhu Xi's disciples were spread all over the Southern Liang Dynasty. Even if the Liang Emperor issued a decree that was inappropriate, it would be resisted by those Zhu Xi's disciples and it would be difficult to implement."

Tuoba Li nodded and said, "Well, if our Great Wei also had such a school, I'm afraid Your Majesty would be very uncomfortable."

Li Yi smiled and said, "Of course. For the sake of future planning, it is necessary to suppress the arrogance of the Zhu Xi school." After saying that, he stood up and went on stage.

Just as Li Yi and Zhu Zi came on stage, a eunuch shouted, "The Crown Prince and King Kang have arrived!"

The crown prince Xiao Zongqing and the prince of Kang Xiao Zonggang arrived, and everyone bowed to them. The two bowed to Zhu Zi on the stage as disciples, and Zhu Zi returned the greeting. After some fussing, the two Xiaos took their seats.

Tuoba Li cursed: "This shameless Zhang Deyuan, ah, the two princes have seats when they come, but we don't! Is this their way of entertaining guests?"

Lu Yu comforted him, "Your Highness, this is in Liang after all. We are here to pick up the bride, not to issue a challenge. Just be patient." Tuoba Li let out a breath.

Zhang Deyuan bowed to the two people on the stage and said, "You two may begin now."

Li Yi bowed to Zhu Zi and said, "Master Zhu, I think we should not discuss etiquette today."

Zhu Zi looked at Li Yi and asked, "What does Li Yuefu mean by this?"

Li Yi pointed to the tent where the Wei envoys were and said, "Liang and Wei are on good terms, and our Wei envoys have come to welcome the bride. Our Prince Ping'an is the chief envoy of the envoys, but our prince came early and was told by Minister Zhang that there were no seats available, so he had to sit in the makeshift tent.

But when the Crown Prince and Prince Kang came later, there were seats reserved for them in the stands. Lord Zhang is the Minister of Rites, how could he not even understand this little bit of etiquette?

It's obvious that you are deliberately making things difficult for me. If you treat me like this, what's the point of me arguing with you about etiquette even if you win? Facts speak louder than words. If you know etiquette but don't follow it, what's the point of etiquette?"

There was a lot of discussion in the audience, and many people pointed the finger at Zhang Deyuan. Zhang Deyuan was about to stand up to defend himself, but Zhu Zi gestured for him to sit down. He was in the wrong in this matter, and no matter how much he defended himself, it would be useless, so he just endured it.

Zhu Zi bowed and apologized in the direction of the Northern Wei delegation, saying, "This matter was the negligence of Bailuzhou Academy and has nothing to do with Minister Zhang. Please don't blame me, Your Majesty."

Tuoba Li sat in his original position and waved his hands. Lu Yu hurriedly pulled him up and then bowed, saying, "Master Zhu, you are too kind. It's just a trivial matter. My prince is kind-hearted and doesn't mind."

Tuoba Li rolled his eyes and bowed, "That's right, I am magnanimous and don't mind it, Master Zhu, please continue."

Zhu Zi turned to Li Yi and asked, "Since we were disrespectful first, it is indeed inappropriate to argue about etiquette. I wonder what advice Li Yuefu has for us?"

Li Yi bowed and said, "I don't deserve the title of 'teaching', but Master Zhu has been established for many years. If you want to go one step further, you will become a sub-sage. Master, you have encouraged yourself with the way of a sage. So today, I would like to discuss the way of a sage with Master Zhu."

Zhu Zi nodded and said, "Okay, then please tell me your opinion on the way of the sage, Li Yuefu."

Li Yi waved his hand and said, "I am a junior, how dare I act rudely in front of you, Master? Please speak first, and let me learn more." Zhu Zi nodded in agreement, and Li Yi stepped aside.

Zhu Xi glanced at the crowd. He had never considered this debate as a debate from the beginning, but rather as a lecture. He had not been to Jiankang City for a long time and had not given lectures to the students of Zhu Xi's school. Just as Li Yi wanted to discuss the way of the sage, he took the opportunity to discuss it with the Confucian scholars.

Zhu Xi then quoted from the classics and expressed his understanding of the Way of the Sage. The general content is as follows:

In the past, the first sage Cangjie assisted the wise ruler, promoted the alliance of Yan and Huang, created characters that could reach the sky, controlled the destiny of the human race, controlled the spirits of the four directions, and helped Ji Xuanyuan get the guidance of the way of heaven, so that he could win the battle for hegemony, stop the hostilities, and save the people. From then on, he became the common ruler of the world and accomplished the great cause of Huangdi.

The way of the first sage is to have the ability to communicate with heaven, the merit of creating characters, the source of luck, to gather the luck of the human race by the method of casting a tripod, to regulate the rituals of sacrifice, to understand the will of heaven, to build the foundation of Confucianism, to open the source of all laws, and to pass on the torch of the human race. These are all achievements for all ages.

Since Emperor Zhuanxu severed the connection between the earth and heaven, the human race has been self-reliant. Although there is no saint who can reach heaven, they can live in peace between heaven and earth by relying on the teachings of the first saint. The second saint, Li Er, was an official who kept the treasury. He read a lot of books and ancient books, cultivated himself and realized the truth, opening the door to Taoism. In the end, he returned to heaven and preserved the knowledge of the Lord. Later, he was divided into three sects, which restored the grace of heaven and enjoyed the benefits of the earth and protected the peace of the nine provinces.

The Way of the Two Saints follows the laws of nature, respects heaven and earth, and has restored the destiny of mankind and saved it from the disaster of annihilation. They have inherited the teachings of the Three Saints and helped mankind to revive and pass on the torch. This is all the work of the Two Saints.

The three sages, Confucius and Mencius, inherited the strengths of Zhou rituals, studied the art of the Book of Changes, followed the methods of the two sages, collected the opinions of hundreds of schools, traveled around the countries, advised the kings to be benevolent, and to respect heaven. Later, they wrote books, lectured and accepted disciples. They had 3,000 disciples, 72 of whom were sages. They were recognized by heaven and earth, and thus founded Confucianism.

The Three Sages' Way emphasizes courtesy and virtue, governs the country with courtesy, governs with virtue, and treats people with benevolence. They revised the Six Classics, established the Six Arts, and wrote down the Holy Teachings, so that the successors have laws to learn and ways to follow, which is why Confucianism and Taoism are so prosperous today.

Gathering their luck, they killed nine demons, eliminated six monsters, sealed three demons, and put an end to their delusion of restoration. From then on, there were no more big demons or giant monsters in the land of Kyushu, and the rise of the human race was protected. This was all the work of the three saints...

Zhu Zi casually talked for more than half an hour. Although he talked in detail, it was not lively and even a little rigid. Why do I say that? Because Li Yi fell asleep beside him. There was nothing he could do. He felt sleepy during class and woke up after class. He felt hungry at a certain time and slept after eating. This was a "good habit" that Li Yi developed during his college years.

In his opinion, Zhu Xi was not talking about the way of the sage, but was just singing a lullaby. Lu Yu in the audience couldn't stand it anymore, so he picked up a small stone and threw it over, which woke Li Yi up.

Li Dacai opened his eyes, looked around, and saw Lu Yu staring at him with a confused look on his face. It was just like the confused fruit on the confused tree, and you and me under the confused tree, each with a confused fruit, and the confused person still had to find an accomplice.

Lu Yu gestured for a while, and Li Yi finally realized that he was currently debating on the stage. He stretched lazily at an inappropriate time and muttered, "I've already taken a nap, why haven't you finished your speech yet?"

At this time, Zhu Zi was talking about the Way of the Three Saints, talking about how he wrote books, gathered his luck, and established his life with the six arts of a gentleman. He heard the noise and turned back to look at Li Yi. The latter had an embarrassed look on his face, as if he was being stared at by the teacher when he took over the conversation in class.

Zhu Zi was displeased and asked, "Does Li Yuefu have any different opinions?"

Li Yi looked up at the sky, then said, "Master Zhu has been speaking for so long, I think you must be tired. Why don't you take a break and listen to what I have to say." There were waves of condemnation, accusations, and even verbal abuse coming from the audience.

Li Yi came to Zhu Zi and bowed, saying, "Master Zhu, we agreed to have a debate, but you keep talking endlessly. This is really unreasonable. The first sage Cang Jie you talked about was too long ago, so it is impossible to verify whether what you said is true or false.

As for the two saints, they passed away early in order to complete their consciousness of the Heavenly Dao and did not leave behind many legends or stories, so there is nothing much to tell about them.

The Three Saints did leave behind many intriguing stories, but many of them were deliberately fabricated by later generations in order to glorify the saints. Even you, Master Zhu, have been influenced by these fabricated stories.

In fact, these saints were not as powerful and upright as the legends said. It was the later generations who deified them. "

As soon as these words came out, the audience became restless. Master Zhu raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and then asked Li Yi: "Li Yuefu, do you know what you are talking about? These three saints are the foundation of Confucianism and Taoism! You actually said that the three saints were deified by later generations! If you can't explain it today, I will ask the will of heaven to abolish your Confucianism and Taoism!"

After Zhu Zi finished speaking, he used his righteous energy to condense a ruler. If Li Yi's words failed to convince everyone, he would use this ruler to wipe out Li Yi's Confucian and Taoist cultivation.

Li Yi shook his head and smiled, "I wonder if you have ever heard of the term 'a lost dog'. I'm sure you all know that this is how Confucius was described after he got separated from his disciples in Zheng State. It comes from Mr. Sima's 'Records of the Grand Historian: The Family of Confucius'.

If Confucius was really so divine, how could he be like a lost dog? I know that some people may say that Confucius was not yet a saint at that time.

But he was already a great scholar at that time. There are many great scholars here. I would like to ask if you were separated from your disciples, would you feel like a lost dog? In addition, this book also says that Confucius was nine feet six inches tall. "

As he spoke, Li Yi raised his hand and gestured, "Nine feet six inches, at least this tall. If Confucius was really this tall, why aren't there any records in other books about his unusual height?

In addition, Chongxu Zhenren Liezi mentioned in Liezi Shuo Fu that Confucius's strength could open the gate of the country. And in Honglie, Liu An of the Former Qin Dynasty, it is also recorded that Confucius was wiser than Chang Hong, braver than Meng Ben, and could walk on the foot of a shrew. He could open the gate of the city with his strength and had many abilities.