The young man continued with a smile, "The main point of this matter is that you only have money in your eyes, but in the eyes of the people of Ning 'an, money is just an ordinary tool. What we care about is not money. What we care about is whether our wives can eat well and wear warm clothes. What we care about is whether our children can study well. What we care about is whether our parents don't have to work hard in their old age. What we care about is whether our relatives and friends can live a good life. What we care about is whether we can live a good life. Sometimes, we use money to measure things, but we don't bully others to see who is better. We just don't want to live a worse life than others! So, you say that we Ning 'an people are greedy for money, not because we Ning' an people have bad morals, but because you want to attack us Ning 'an people and deny our hard work and progress. Back then, the people of Jingguo made the same mistake and accused the wealthy Gyeongo of extravagance and greed. So, we Ning 'an people don't do this kind of thing. "
Zong Weixiong stared at the young man and praised, "Ning 'an is indeed a place of crouching tigers and hidden dragons. An ordinary young man has such insight."
"This isn't an insight. This is something all Ning 'an people know. Don't you think so, fellow villagers?" the young man asked.
"Of course!" many Ning 'an people replied proudly.
Zong Weixiong saw the light of confidence in their eyes.
Zong Weixiong was silent for a moment before saying, "Ning 'an is indeed different. I came to the right place."
The old man smiled and said, "Not bad, you're worth teaching! Once you've lived in Ning 'an for a while, you'll understand that Ning' an is the best place for the entire human race! "
"Low-key, low-key. There's even a Notre-Dame," someone laughed.
Everyone roared with laughter.
Zong Weixiong pondered for a long time before standing up to pay the bill. He scanned the teahouse and found that the young man was still there, but the young man had disappeared. He frowned slightly, but he couldn't remember what the young man looked like. He didn't care and left the teahouse.
Not long after, the young man left the teahouse. Before he reached home, he saw his wife looking around at the door. When she saw him, she lifted her skirt and ran over excitedly.
The young man looked at his wife dotingly and said, "Slow down. What's so good that you're smiling like that?"
"There's a high-ranking official from the county. He said that Ning An County is about to be promoted to a prefecture, and the county yamen is recruiting talents. The village constable recommended you and gave you a letter of appointment. When I was illiterate, he even read it to me, saying that your salary is equivalent to the ninth rank of the secondary class. If you perform meritorious deeds, you can be promoted, and it won't delay your imperial examinations. This is a joyous occasion! "
"Really? Let me take a look at the county's documents. "Tong Sheng hurriedly took the county's documents and read them carefully.
Not far away, the neighbors looked at the student with envy. They knew that this student, who was usually unremarkable, had a bright future.
Zong Weixiong continued to observe Ning An County. The more he understood the situation, the more complicated he felt.
Previously, in his opinion, even though Fang Yun had made contributions in many areas, it was impossible for him to be an all-rounder. The things that were promoted in Jingguo or Jingguo were nothing more than things to show off. In the darkest places of Jingguo, there were bound to be layers of dark secrets.
However, after days of investigation, Zong Weixiong realized that even though Fang Yun's decrees were controversial and didn't have a good effect, or even had some negative effects in the short term, from a long-term perspective, all of Fang Yun's decrees were very correct.
Zong Weixiong even carefully analyzed Fang Yun's reforms and decrees. He realized that everything was almost perfect. It was as if he had completely transformed Jingguo. Furthermore, everything in Ning An City proved that Fang Yun's reforms were feasible.
"Is the old etiquette more important, or are the reforms that benefit the human race more important?"
Zong Weixiong thought for a long time. Suddenly, he remembered Fang Yun's retro etiquette. He was stunned for a long time, and sweat poured down like rain.
"When the retro etiquette was retro etiquette, did he already predict what would happen today?"
Zong Weixiong let out a long sigh. He didn't expect Fang Yun to set up such a huge trap.
Scholars could be without conscience, but scholars with a conscience couldn't go against their conscience.
When Zong Weixiong was in the Hall of Rites, he took it as his duty to deal with matters fairly and uphold etiquette. As he learned more about Fang Yun and Ning An, he gradually realized that Fang Yun's reforms didn't violate etiquette. On the contrary, they were greatly beneficial to the human race.
However, this wasn't the result that the Hall of Rites wanted.
Therefore, Zong Weixiong wavered between conscience and the Hall of Rites. In the end, he remembered Fang Yun's retro etiquette. He suddenly realized that Fang Yun had pretended to retro etiquette and forbade people from using it randomly. In fact, he had already set up an indestructible monument.
Previously, Zong Weixiong thought that Fang Yun was wrong to disregard the retro etiquette. He agreed with Fang Yun's subsequent ban on it. Then, his current situation was similar to Fang Yun's at that time.
Supporting the Hall of Rites was tantamount to disregarding the retro etiquette. Supporting conscience was tantamount to facing the ancient etiquette.
If Fang Yun didn't have his retro etiquette activities, Zong Weixiong could choose to support the Hall of Rites. At most, he would feel guilty. He could do some good deeds in the future and read more of the Sacred Classics.
However, that retro etiquette movement had already left a deep impression on Zong Weixiong. If he supported the Hall of Rites' punishment of Fang Yun now, it would be tantamount to going against his conscience and going against what he had learned. If it was light, his courage would be covered in dust. If it was heavy, his courage would be torn apart.
"This Fang Xusheng is really trying to torment people to death …" Zong Weixiong could only smile bitterly. There was nothing he could do.
After a long time, Zong Weixiong regained his spirit. He took a deep breath and said slowly, "Forget it. Whether or not there is Fang Xusheng, as a scholar, I should stick to my conscience and not go against my heart."
Then, Zong Weixiong wrote down what he had seen and heard in the past few days. He wrote down his thoughts truthfully and sent them to the Hall of Rites.
At about the same time, the officials of the Hall of Rites sent to various places in Jingguo submitted their inspection documents.
After the Hall of Rites received all the documents, some of the elders were furious.
A few of the officials of the Hall of Rites reported their conclusions truthfully. Almost all of them were praising Fang Yun.
There were also many officials who reported in a very neutral position. Although they summarized Fang Yun's wrongdoings, none of them could be considered a crime or even a mistake. It was as if they were helping Fang Yun.
Only a very small number of officials in the Hall of Rites had evil intentions. They were nitpicking and nitpicking, and in the end, they concluded that Fang Yun was an unpardonable heinous criminal. If Fang Yun wasn't killed, the humankind would definitely suffer a catastrophe.
The inspection results of the officials of the Hall of Rites accounted for at least 30% of the elders' decisions.
The Hall of Rites originally wanted to punish Fang Yun with great fanfare and even investigate strictly. Now that the results were like this, everything became a joke.
Although the elders were angry, they didn't lose their minds. They also knew that many of Fang Yun's actions were correct. However, in order to protect the Confucian Holy Path and protect the dignity of the Hall of Rites, they had to do this. They had to restrain the Punishment Hall.
Just as the Hall of Rites was hesitating, the Wenxin Courtyard, which was formed by the School of Miscellany, announced that since many of the Miscellany students in Jingguo believed in Legalism and went against the School of Miscellany's Holy Path, from now on, the Wenxin Courtyard would stop all cooperation with the Jingguo Miscellany Scholars.
At the same time, the Wenxin Courtyard announced that they would send officials from the Miscellany School to Jingguo to investigate. If they were found to have betrayed the Holy Path, they would use the Miscellany's Holy Path to expel them from the Miscellany School.
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