Confucianism under Heaven

Chapter 40 The Confucian-Legal Debate

Chapter Forty: The Confucian-Legal Debate

Upon hearing that Han Dingsheng wanted to compete with Ye Ru in terms of literary courage, everyone present changed their expressions.

Magistrate Zhang and the others also widened their eyes. Han Dingsheng had been a student for many years, and his knowledge of books was probably comparable to that of a scholar who had passed the county-level exam.

Xu Ming's writing skills are worlds apart from his.

"Han Dingsheng has studied the Legalist school of thought, and his book contains Legalist ideas. If we don't fight, the book will be tarnished; if we are defeated, the book will be damaged. Either way, it will harm Ye Ru."

"Moreover, if Ye Ru suffers a defeat, the damage to the book's core will not be as simple as just being broken."

Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, Ye Ru took a deep breath.

Fang Zifeng and the others frowned and discussed worriedly.

"Don't be impulsive, and try to avoid your weaknesses."

Upon seeing this, Fang Zifeng quickly said something.

Ye Ru then turned his head and smiled faintly at Fang Zifeng:

"Don't worry, we all come from the same Wenxing Private School. I'll just ask Brother Han for some advice."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Ru raised his head and stared directly at Han Dingsheng, his dark eyes showing no fear.

He then stepped forward, extended his palm, and his clear laughter echoed through the heavens and earth:

"please."

The single word "please" caused quite a stir, highlighting the vast difference between the two.

After all, Han Dingsheng's literary talent was comparable to that of a scholar.

And so this newly promoted student accepted the challenge.

"What if something unexpected happens?"

Xu Qingyuan let out a breath, but the tension on his face was still evident.

"Let's wait and see. Ye Ru's move is unwise. He should have competed with the other party in writing poetry and prose; that would have given him a better chance of winning."

Magistrate Zhang shook his head and said.

"Let's see how it goes; what if a miracle happens?"

Fang Zifeng looked at Ye Ru with great interest, seeing the future of the Yanhuang Kingdom in this young man.

He believed in miracles.

"As expected, you are young and impetuous. In that case, please stand still, Brother Ye."

Han Dingsheng sneered, and the two stood on the poetry duel platform.

Then, Han Dingsheng gave a low shout, and a library palace appeared behind him.

Han Dingsheng's study was only the size of a box, but the talent he exuded was comparable to that of a scholar.

The Book Palace grows with the scholar's strength; legend has it that Confucius's Book Palace could hold everything and was enormous.

Ye Ru also used his talent to summon his own book palace.

This library is smaller than Han Dingsheng's, but it still exudes a rich atmosphere of talent.

The people of Ningfeng County scoffed disdainfully when they saw Ye Ru's book palace.

"You say I betrayed my clan and joined the Han Fei family, which is utterly wrong. The great Confucian scholar Shang Yang said: 'People have likes and dislikes, therefore the people can be governed.' This is precisely what is meant by liking profit and disliking harm. I follow Legalist thought, so why should I observe etiquette?"

Han Dingsheng's courage deepened once again, and a crimson aura of talent appeared around him. This talent was so intense that it almost reached the orange level.

Among the ten ranks of Confucian scholars, each corresponds to a different talent. For example, a student in the first year of high school corresponds to a red talent, and so on.

As they were speaking, the four characters "good profit and evil harm" suddenly appeared on Han Dingsheng's book palace. These four characters transformed into four large hammers, which smashed fiercely towards Ye Ru's book palace.

These four characters, as if they were tangible, carried a powerful Legalist ideology that shocked everyone.

"This is a freehand style of writing. I never expected that Han Dingsheng would understand the Legalist school's emphasis on benefit and aversion to harm so thoroughly."

Fang Zifeng took a deep breath, looked at the disciple he had personally taught, and murmured.

Many people were looking at Ye Ru, and Magistrate Zhang was also looking at Ye Ru. This was likely to be a small-scale debate between Confucianism and Legalism.

Confucianism advocates self-discipline and restoration of propriety, and it wanted rulers to implement the enfeoffment system of the Zhou Dynasty.

The Legalists, who governed the world through rewards and punishments, sought to strengthen the power of the rulers.

Han Feizi was a student of Xunzi and was the greatest synthesizer of Legalism. However, Legalism did not follow Confucianism and advocated radical reforms, which led to endless disputes between the two schools.

Wang Chong, a great Confucian scholar, once said in his "Lunheng": "Han Yu was not a Confucian scholar. He said that Confucian scholars were useless and harmful. He said that vulgar Confucian scholars had no moral character, did not pay attention to etiquette, used the name of Confucian scholars but acted vulgarly, used real learning but talked falsely, and were corrupt officials who were honored. Therefore, they were not worthy of respect."

Ye Ru remained unfazed, his words sharp and incisive, using Wang Chong's "Lunheng" to launch a counterattack.

As soon as the words were uttered, a hurricane swept through, eventually transforming into four crimson longswords, which, along with the four large hammers, slammed down fiercely.

boom!

As their talent dissipated, Ye Ru took three steps back, and Han Dingsheng took four steps back.

In this first round, Ye Ruxian gained the upper hand.

“Wang Chong, a great Confucian scholar, once questioned Confucius and criticized Mencius in his book Lunheng. He was not a member of the Confucian school.”

Han Dingsheng sneered.

"Neither legal family members nor non-family members."

Ye Ru retorted sarcastically.

Wang Chong advocated the doctrine of moderation, and his ideological views leaned towards Taoism.

"Human nature is inherently evil. If there is no law to control it, the world will surely be in chaos. Which of the laws of the imperial court and the local civil laws were not revised by the Legalists? The sacred path that I uphold is without error."

Han Dingsheng said in a cold voice.

The magnificent library, imbued with Legalist thought, crashed down upon Ye Ru like a mountain.

"The Great Learning states that cultivating oneself, regulating one's family, governing the state, and bringing peace to the world are all progressive steps. If one does not cultivate oneself and regulate one's family, how can one govern the state and bring peace to the world? You have abandoned your ancestors and turned to your descendants, thus abandoning self-cultivation. How much of the virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness do you possess?"

Ye Ru's eyes turned cold, and he shouted in a similarly stern voice.

Ye Ru's study was also abuzz with excitement. The surrounding talent surged, turning into a hurricane that made his robes flutter and sway incessantly.

Self-improvement, virtue and integrity, inner sage and outer king – these twelve sacred characters appear, forming a phantom of a mountain of books, isolating the Legalist thought from the outside world.

"Twelve sacred characters, and even the Book Mountain's assistance—this is simply a prodigy..."

People from Ningfeng County and Qingyun County held their breath as Ye Ru quoted classical texts and spoke eloquently, his words like pearls of wisdom, forcing Han Dingsheng into a series of defeats.

The people of Qingyun County breathed a sigh of relief. Han Dingsheng's talent was already comparable to that of a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations), while Ye Ru was only a Tongsheng (a student who had passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations). However, their current situation was that the Xiucai was not as good as the Tongsheng.

This is an unprecedented battle for Qingyun County in the past century.

Han Dingsheng's face grew increasingly gloomy. Legalism occupied the last place among the Hundred Schools of Thought. Since the Hundred Schools of Thought merged with Confucianism, Confucianism accounted for 70% of all schools of thought in the entire Confucian continent, while the remaining 30% was divided equally among the various schools of thought.

The Legalist school was less influential than the Confucian school. If he were to refute them, he might win, but his literary reputation would still suffer.

"You sharp-tongued bastard! Let's have a verbal battle if you dare!"

Han Dingsheng frowned, instantly thinking of a way to resolve the situation, and then sneered.

The hearts of everyone who had just breathed a sigh of relief jumped into their throats again.

The literary contest tests one's own talent, which has nothing to do with sages or their words.

"Don't engage in a war of words with him; you can't win."

Magistrate Zhang said with concern.

"Bullying the weak is shameless."

The people of Qingyun County cursed.

"Using your strengths to attack your weaknesses, what's so shameless about that? You keep talking about benevolence and righteousness, so today you'd better come and have a verbal battle with me for the sake of benevolence and righteousness in Qingyun County!"

"If you don't dare, then your benevolence and righteousness are nothing but empty talk and don't count at all!"

Han Dingsheng pinpointed the essence of Ye Ru's words—benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness—and retorted sharply.

Ye Ru did not back down in the slightest. His face was equally grim. He bowed to the sky, and his words, equally sharp and confrontational, rang out:

“You betrayed your clan, which is unrighteous; you helped another county gain the heart of the book, which is unjust; you have brought shame to Legalism and Confucianism, which is impolite; you do not acknowledge impoliteness and injustice. Today, I, Ye Ru, will act on behalf of the sage and follow the sage’s way!”