Wang Chong was dazed for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure. Using his movement technique, he began to make his way toward the Wang Family Residence.
Behind him, the Duke of E Residence guard and the other two soldiers of the Ultimate Martial Army separated from Wang Chong and vanished into the darkness.
… …
As he left the edge of the forest in the southern part of the city, a gust of wind blew past him. Wang Chong felt his body go cold, and he immediately became much more clear-headed. A bright moon had appeared in the sky at some point, and the surroundings were dark and quiet. As he gazed at the tranquil capital, Wang Chong suddenly felt like he was in a dream.
Now that he thought about it, everything seemed so unreal. Even now, Wang Chong did not dare to believe that he had really met those venerable seniors. He looked around but saw no evidence that he had seen them, making him feel like he was in a dream.
But when he took out that golden-covered invitation card and saw the golden symbol at the end, Wang Chong knew that he was not hallucinating. Moreover, in Wang Chong's memories, the only person who could be associated with this golden symbol was that peerless general from Taizong's era, Cheng Zhijie.
Suppressing his thoughts, Wang Chong immediately set out for the Wang Family Residence.
… …
Time passed, and after meeting those three seniors who had guided him in his last life, Wang Chong instantly felt much better. Just as those seniors had said, since this was not what he sought, what was there to care about? Even if he was slandered by the world, what was there to care about?
Putting aside Wang Chong's activities in the residence, in the capital, after Master Zhu's death, Wang Chong's slander grew more and more intense. More and more storytellers in the restaurants and tea houses began to promote Confucian education while criticizing Wang Chong's' Might Makes Right 'philosophy. Later on, criticizing Wang Chong had become a trend in the capital.
But when things reached an extreme, they could only move in the opposite direction. While everyone was criticizing Wang Chong and calling him an ambitious schemer, a few people began to have different thoughts.
"Everyone now knows that the reason the Tang dynasty fought so many wars was because those generals were ambitious and constantly fought to satisfy their selfish desires. These people are truly the disgrace of our Tang dynasty … and the King of Foreign Lands, Wang Chong, took the lead!"
In a restaurant in the capital, a storyteller dressed in an azure robe danced around as he spoke, his eyebrows dancing in exultation.
"Alright!"
Below the grandstand, the crowd was densely packed. When they heard the resonance, they all cheered and applauded.
"This isn't right! A country should tolerate different voices. The King of Foreign Lands might have privately recruited soldiers or opened an armory, but his words were not wrong! The Tang dynasty should not be one-sidedly disarming its armies and place its hopes on peace talks with all sides! "
In the dense crowd, no one noticed that a burly man was slightly frowning.
At the start, he truly had been infected by the frenzied crowd, but gradually, a different voice emerged from the depths of his mind.
'Might makes right', 'law of the jungle', 'the strong prey on the weak' … the ideas he had read in that book kept appearing in his mind. Even when he was at the height of his criticism of Wang Chong, they had not disappeared from his mind, only deepened.
"All of this is wrong …"
The man muttered to himself as he looked at the frenzied crowd, a complicated look in his eyes. Finally, he turned his head, parted the crowd, and left the restaurant.
And he was not the only one with the same idea.
In the Golden Crow Pavilion in the western part of the city, a storyteller staggered drunkenly into the restaurant. He was the main storyteller of the Golden Crow Pavilion, and every time he came to tell a story, it would always be packed with guests. In particular, with the recent conflict between militarists and Confucians, almost all the storytellers had made a fortune.
"Shopkeeper, it's time to open, time to open! Tell them that today's program is about to begin! "
A drunken storyteller dressed in a robe was preparing to start his storytelling program as usual. Although he liked to drink, he was always eloquent and eloquent when telling stories. This was one of the reasons why he was so popular in the western part of the city.
"My apologies, Mister Zhang. We're closed for the day and won't be telling stories."
But this time, before he could go over, a servant from inside the Golden Crow Tower had already walked over and blocked his way.
"What! You must be joking! Do you know what will happen to you once I tell your shopkeeper about your nonsense?! "
Zhang Qiao, who was dressed in a long robe, burped and cursed as he pushed his way forward.
"Mister Zhang, you really can't go in! “
He hadn't expected the servant to turn around and block his way again.
"Also, this is the shopkeeper's intention!"
"What!"
Zhang Qiao's body trembled and he suddenly stopped. He looked at the servant sober up.
"Impossible! The shopkeeper can't do this. Do you know how much business you'll lose each day I don't tell stories? “”
Zhang Qiao said harshly. He had thought that the other would more or less yield, but the result was completely different from what he had imagined the Prime Minister to be.
"Haha, the shopkeeper said that he can afford this kind of loss. Mister Zhang, you should go somewhere else!"
The servant bowed and gestured for Zhang Qiao to go somewhere else.
"Good! Remember, don't regret it! "
Zhang Qiao finally reacted and shouted into the Golden Crow Pavilion with a glare. Then with a wave of his sleeve, he left in a fluster.
Once the storyteller had left, a figure walked out of the darkness of the Golden Crow Pavilion.
"Shopkeeper, Mister Zhang's storytelling is famous throughout the capital. Isn't it bad for us to drive him away like this? The restaurant will probably lose quite a few customers this time! "
The servant said as he walked up to the shopkeeper of the Golden Crow Pavilion, deep concern in his eyes.
"Let him be!"
The shopkeeper stood in front of the door, his eyes abnormally firm.
"The voices in the capital criticizing the King of Foreign Lands are getting louder and fiercer. I don't know if the King of Foreign Lands is right, but I do know that he truly did save the southwest and all of Anxi and Qixi. Such a person shouldn't be humiliated like this, and what he says might not be wrong! "
But he did not say the last words. In this period of time, the voices of peace and opposition to the war in the capital were getting louder and louder. In this environment, no one dared to say anything else, but deep in his heart, he knew that some of the words spoken about the King of Foreign Lands were not true.
After pondering for a very long time, he finally made his decision. The entire country needed someone to speak up. Perhaps this would cause him to lose a lot of business, but if he didn't do this, he would never be able to eat or sleep in peace. At the very least, this was what he truly believed.
Time passed, and it was as if he had suddenly woken up from a dream.
As countless people threw themselves into the anti-war movement, another kind of thought was slowly awakening.
Although no one could resist the influence of Master Zhu, no one could oppose this tide, more and more people were beginning to reflect, and in their own ways, they began to express their support for Wang Chong. This was also the thinking of the empire.
In the capital, it was not just this restaurant that stopped storytelling and prohibited storytellers from entering. While everyone was cheering wildly and sinking into a frenzy, there was also more than one person who turned around and left amidst intense shouts.
… …
"Master Zhu isn't necessarily right. We should make our voices heard!"
In the bamboo forest, several Confucians had gathered together, and one of them suddenly spoke.
If these words were to get out, they would immediately cause a massive uproar.
Master Zhu's status was unshakable, perhaps even supreme. There was no other voice to be heard in the school, and no student dared to argue with their teacher. But everyone knew that even Saints could make mistakes, let alone Master Zhu.
The Central Plains had a tradition of civil and military coexisting for more than one thousand years, and there had to be a reason why this system had existed for so long. But the current Confucianism was no longer promoting Confucian ideals, but uprooting the militarists from their roots. If the barbarians paid particular attention to benevolence and honor their promises, the world would have been at peace long ago.
"I trust that everyone understands what's going on with the King of Foreign Lands. If he really did harbor ill intentions, the Holy Emperor would never have tolerated him. A person who has rendered great service to the country should not be humiliated like this. Only this is justice! "
Another Confucian seated cross-legged on the ground said.
"It's not just that. All of you have read 'Might Makes Right'. Everyone should understand whether or not the words in it are correct and reasonable. Right now, everyone is in an irrational state. If this continues, something will happen sooner or later! "
A third Confucian said, glancing at the pile of 'Might Makes Right' in front of him.
The more one debated, the clearer it became. There was no such thing as warmth in the relationship between countries. The principles of the King of Foreign Lands' book had been verified countless times in the past.
It was precisely because they had all read it that the book was correct and had hit the nail on the head that they had gathered here. Because they shared a common point of view, they had gathered together.
"We have to do something. This can't continue!"
The people in the bamboo forest glanced at each other and firmly nodded. Their reactions were already very fast, but there were others who reacted even faster.
A few days later, several anonymous books were published in the capital, appearing on the streets: 'On the Correctness of Might Makes Right', 'The Law of the Jungle', and 'Relations Between Countries'. These books used their own methods to interpret Wang Chong's' Might Makes Right 'and' The War Debate ', and they used their own methods to support him.
… …
"We want peace, not war!"
"Bring down the King of Foreign Lands! Bring down the Demon King of Slaughter! "
"What difference is a man from a beast without etiquette! 'Might Makes Right' is a load of nonsense! "
"Reduce the army! We don't want an army! "
… …
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