The dawn in the capital was very quiet, but there was an undercurrent of activity in Harmony Prefecture.
In a brightly lit auditorium of Clear Heart Academy in the prefectural city, there were only slightly more than a hundred people in the auditorium that could hold a thousand people.
The members of the Recovery Society were all gathered here.
The Recovery Society had been secretly established decades ago with the goal of bringing Xiangzhou back to Jingguo. It was only after Jingguo had taken back Xiangzhou that the society was officially announced to the public.
The head of the Recovery Society, Zhou Ziren, stood on the stage in the auditorium. The light from the Night Pearl shone on the young man's face, making him look even more serious and determined. It was as if he had become a middle-aged man overnight.
Zhou Ziren said slowly, "I'm different from many people. After thinking about it, I want to make things clear before today's operation."
The members of the Recovery Society looked at Zhou Ziren in surprise, but no one spoke. They were waiting to hear what he had to say.
"I've always believed that every citizen of Xiangzhou has the right to choose whether to be a citizen of Jingguo or a citizen of Gyeongo. Even Half-saint can't interfere!" Zhou Ziren said slowly.
Some people were shocked, while others were angry. They wanted nothing more than to beat Zhou Ziren up, thinking that he was betraying Jingguo.
Zhou Ziren took in everyone's expressions and smiled. "My ideal world is one where we don't need to let officials or even Half-saint decide our future, fate, and path. There's a line in the Book of Rites, one of the most important classics of the Confucian school. 'The path of the Great Way is the world. Half-saint is the world, and you and I are also people of the world!' "
Everyone was even more confused, but since Zhou Ziren had brought out this famous line from the Confucian classics, it meant that he hadn't gone astray and hadn't betrayed the Recovery Society's goal.
"Please enlighten me," a young scholar said.
"What is the Great Way? The path of all things and the principles of all things are the Great Way. If the Great Way appears and operates in the world, then the world will be fair, just, and public. This is the core of the Book of Rites and Fate. "
"After reading this chapter, scholars like us will naturally feel our blood boil and be influenced by our predecessors. However, if we calm down and think carefully, we will ask ourselves, is the Great Dao walking on earth now? After pondering for many years, I finally understood a simple principle. The Great Dao has yet to appear, and the human race has been bitterly searching for the Divine Path. Only when the Divine Path has reached its end can the Great Dao be seen! Before the Great Dao is achieved, it is difficult for the world to be fair! "
The scholars present only felt that Zhou Ziren's words were enlightening. Most of the people present were either scholars or xiucai, so their literary positions were not high. When they read "The Book of Rites", they only understood the meaning of the text. Zhou Ziren went against the meaning of the text. Among his peers, he was like a crane in a flock of chickens.
No one could refute Zhou Ziren's words.
Some of the scholars even nodded lightly, agreeing with the saying, "The Great Way has not been walked, so the world cannot be just."
Zhou Ziren said, "It's hard to be fair under the heavens. In other words, there are both public and private interests under the heavens. What should we do? This brings me back to what I said at the beginning. Every citizen of Xiangzhou can choose to be a Jingguo or a Gyeongo. However, a person's choice is private, while a nation's choice is public. As a scholar, as a scholar with a brain, you should know that it's stupid to overrule private interests for public interests, and it's a crime to overrule public interests for private interests. Therefore, you and I must weigh public interests and private interests. "
When Zhou Ziren finished speaking, more people nodded.
"Let's take the two countries as an example. Let's talk about private interests first. Even today, I still insist on one point, and the words I insist on can't be spoken as a scholar, because that would be blasphemy against sages. I'll use my most vulgar identity and foul language to say, I don't care whether it's Gyeongo or Jingguo. Whoever gives me the most benefits, I'll side with that side! There's a saying that goes, 'whoever has milk is the mother.' When we were infants crying piteously for food, if we didn't drink milk, we'd starve to death. Acknowledging a mother is indeed shameful, but it's not an unforgivable sin. "
Some of the scholars looked ashamed, because many of them realized that they sometimes thought the same way.
"When we were children, we needed milk, but what about now? The older we are, the greater our selfish desires. In our youth, we don't need milk anymore, but we need to eat our fill, wear warm clothes, have a house to live in, and have books to read. When we're older and leave private schools, we need to have a skill to support ourselves or a family. In fact, unless we go to the demon world and go to those human cities enslaved by demon barbarians, every human country can satisfy our basic needs, and we'll have a relatively stable space to grow up. In terms of the lowest selfish desires, Jingguo and Gyeongo are no different. "
Everyone listened carefully.
Zhou Ziren continued, "But the problem is that our selfish desires are even greater! Not only do we need a stable life, not only do we need to have a skill, not only do we need to compete with the people around us, we also need to compete with the people of other countries, and we also need to compete with the creatures of the myriad worlds! What do we need the most in terms of food and clothing? I'll just say one thing, who can tell me? "
No one answered, and many people fell into deep thought.
After dozens of breaths, Zhou Ziren stretched out his hand and pointed at the sky, saying, "The path to ascension! Some people want to travel to other countries, so they need a higher income and the opportunity to earn more money. This opportunity is the path to ascension. Some people want to become high-ranking officials, so they need to get a place in the imperial examination. They need to participate in the imperial examination in a country or region with a lot of places. The imperial examination is our path to ascension. I'm sure everyone knows what I'm going to say. I'll tell myself selfishly, be it Gyeongo or Jingguo, whoever can give me a path to ascension, I'll lean towards that country. "
Without giving everyone a chance to think, Zhou Ziren slammed the table and said loudly, "When Xiangzhou belonged to Gyeongo, Gyeongo's jackals and wolves had already blocked our path to ascension. They treated us as servants, as slaves! This is the root of my anger. The people of Xiangzhou and Jingguo were originally from the same family. Xiangzhou was originally rich, and it was Jingguo's top imperial examination state. There were as many scholars as the clouds and as many as the rain. However, after Xiangzhou was occupied by Gyeongo, what did we get? A large number of Gyeongo people poured into Xiangzhou. The Notre-Dame's imperial examination quota was originally reserved for people from Xiangzhou, but Gyeongo people interfered, so most of the quota was taken by Gyeongo people. If Xiangzhou people hadn't assassinated Gyeongo officials, Gyeongo people would've only allowed people not from Xiangzhou to participate in Xiangzhou's imperial examination! "
"I don't ask for much, just a fair opportunity. I hope that everyone can rely on hard work, sweat, wisdom, and themselves to ascend the path to ascension. However, Gyeongo people didn't want to give it to us! Now, Jingguo is giving it to us, and it's giving us a lot! Therefore, I'm biased towards Jingguo. Please note that I'm biased, not loyal. Yes, I'm a mother to whoever gives me milk, but I also want face, I also want dignity, I also want reputation! As of now, I only have a reason to be biased towards Jingguo, but I don't have an excuse to be loyal to Jingguo. This is because the current Jingguo can't make me proud, nor can it make me proud. "
The audience was silent. Many students felt as if a new window had opened in their world.
Zhou Ziren said, "My personal feelings tell me to be biased towards Jingguo. What about public feelings?"
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