Fang Yun's handling of the matter received high approval from all levels of society. Even Yang Xuwen, who was clearly leaning towards the royal family, praised Fang Yun in public for his clear-sightedness and clear-mindedness in this matter. He was a true role model for all officials.
Some of the Overwatch Council's censors regretted not being the first to report. Some were jealous of Luo Yu's evaluation. However, most of them approved of Fang Yun's handling of the matter. They believed that Fang Yun had set the best example for the cabinet. Under the premise of ensuring the Overwatch Council's independence, he gave the Council the fairest treatment.
Thus, the Overwatch Council's censor, He Mingxiang, ordered the censors in the capital, Dongyun, and Yanzhou to report the officials who had violated the etiquette as soon as possible.
A few censors objected because they knew that the Overwatch Council was returning the favor by deliberately avoiding Mishou, Xiangzhou, and Jiangzhou.
However, He Mingxiang did not care about the objections. As a normal censor, he could do whatever he wanted. However, as the head official of the Overwatch Council, he had to follow the rules of officialdom.
If Fang Yun had given the Overwatch Council such a big gift and he, as the Overwatch Council, did not reciprocate at all, then which power would support him to continue as the Overwatch Council or even be promoted?
In the next few days, the Overwatch Council reported a dozen or so officials. Although their ranks were not high, at most sixth level, they sent a clear signal to the outside world that the Overwatch Council did not oppose Fang Yun. They were doing business as usual.
The Assistant Minister's Office still passed the relevant memorials to the Left Minister's Office. Fang Yun's punishment for the new officials was not as severe as the first time, but it was still recorded in the Ministry of Personnel's meritorious service evaluation document. Usually, it would not have much of an impact, but if the Ministry of Personnel wanted to target someone, then this punishment would become a powerful weapon.
The ceremony continued every day. Just when everyone thought that this so-called retro etiquette was only a minor detail, the announcement of the twelfth ceremony suddenly became the focus of debate.
This twelfth ceremony required every official of rank to learn the Half-saint Zilu once a year.
When Zilu was young, his family was poor. He often ate wild vegetables, but he would walk hundreds of miles to buy rice and bring it home so that his parents could eat good food.
Later on, Zilu received Confucius's education and became a high-ranking official. He often missed his parents. He once said that although he could taste wild vegetables now, he could no longer carry rice for his parents from a hundred li to fulfill his filial piety like he did in the past.
The requirement of the twelfth gift was that every official with a rank had to walk to a place a hundred miles away to buy twenty catties of rice before and after their parents' birthday, they had to carry it home on foot.
Although there were some officials who were dissatisfied with the eleventh ceremony, none of them stood out to oppose it. However, on the day the twelfth ceremony was announced, many officials objected and thought that it was not suitable to carry out this old ceremony.
The next day, in the imperial court, the twelfth ceremony became the focus of the officials' debate.
Among the people who objected, there were some who felt that this kind of ceremony was a waste of time. If they really wanted the officials to be filial, carrying the rice for ten miles would be enough.
For example, some people said that it would take ten hours to travel a hundred miles, which would waste an entire day and then return the next day. This was equivalent to wasting two days of time. If there was a big matter that could not be dealt with in time, who would bear the responsibility?
Some people said that Fang Yun was tormenting the officials. Some of the officials were not in good health. If they had to carry the rice for two hundred miles on foot, they would very likely die from exhaustion. This was the greatest unfilial act.
Supporters had this.
Some people thought that if an official could not even walk two hundred miles in two days, then it would be better to resign and return home. Without a strong body, how could they handle complicated government affairs?
Some people thought that Fang Yun was not tormenting the officials. He was just letting the officials be role models for the people. Moreover, it would only take two days a year, so the officials could be given two days off. If every official could do this, the people would naturally be moved and would fulfill their filial piety.
There were also some people who thought that Zilu was Half-saint and was his disciple. As long as they learned from him, it would not be too much. If the officials could not even carry the rice for two hundred miles, then wouldn't it mean that the Notre-Dame was wrong to ask the great scholars to go out and gain experience?
The Imperial Court fell into a quarrel.
However, there were some officials who did not speak out in opposition or support. This was because they felt that Fang Yun's goal of returning to the past was not simple. Until the dust settled, they would not express their opinions.
There were also some officials who had been thinking over Li Wenying's words. In the end, they chose to believe Li Wenying and Fang Yun. Thus, they remained silent.
What was even stranger was that although there were many officials who objected, none of the officials of the third rank or higher spoke out. Even the Minister of Rites, Sheng Boyuan, who firmly supported the imperial family, did not object. He even occasionally revealed a cold smile, as if he could not wait for Fang Yun to carry out the twelfth ceremony.
Under the circumstances where the high officials and the imperial family did not obstruct, the twelfth ceremony was officially stamped with the imperial seal and became an imperial order. Every official had to carry it out.
Thus, more and more officials began to be dissatisfied with Fang Yun. There were even officials who publicly criticized Fang Yun on the list. However, they were very careful with their words and did not use any obscenities or fabricate facts. It was a legitimate criticism. This was the right that the Notre-Dame gave to scholars. Fang Yun and the censors could not use this as evidence to punish the officials.
On the day the twelfth ceremony was carried out, Fang Yun did not announce the thirteenth ceremony. Instead, he announced that he had written a book, "The Illustration of the Twenty-four Filial Piety," which listed twenty-four stories of filial piety in history.
Fang Yun directly published it on the list and it quickly spread throughout the world.
The "Illustration of the Twenty-four Filial Piety" started off well. The first filial piety was about filial piety. The main character was the wise emperor, Shun Shun. Even though he was framed by his parents, he did not retaliate. After he became the emperor, he was still filial to his parents.
The second filial piety was to entertain the parents. A person named Old Laizi often wore colorful clothes to make his parents happy even though he was over seventy years old. There was also one time when Old Laizi accidentally fell. He was afraid that his parents would be worried and immediately cried like a child, which made his parents laugh.
The following filial piety stories were very normal, including the story of Zilu's Hundred Miles of Rice.
However, when everyone saw the ninth filial piety story, they all had different reactions. The entire list quickly turned into a battlefield.
The ninth filial piety story was about burying a child to serve his mother.
In the Han Dynasty, there was a person named Guo Ju. His family was poor. After his wife gave birth to a child, Guo Ju was afraid that the food at home would not be enough to feed his mother. Therefore, he decided to bury and kill his child.
In the end, when he was digging a hole to bury his child, he found gold. Therefore, Guo Ju said that his filial piety had moved the heavens and allowed him to dig up gold. Therefore, he put away the gold and did not kill his son. He returned home to raise his son and provide for his mother.
Although Guo Ju did not kill his son in the end, Fang Yun actually regarded this story as a model of filial piety, which caused a huge controversy.
This was because this matter had caused a lot of controversy in the Saint Origin World. Some people thought that Guo Ju was a model of filial piety. Some people thought that Guo Ju was a beast. There were also people who suspected that Guo Ju was hiding the origin of the gold. There were also people who thought that Guo Ju made up this lie to obtain the recommendation of an official.
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