Chapter 1183: Entrusted

Lin Weide could see through this logic, and so could his good friends. When two or three of his good friends learned of the conversation at the entrance of the academy, they immediately rushed to Pine Mountain Academy from all over the capital.

“Your Highness broke the stalemate with the Imperial Court the moment you arrived. It seems that The Great Qi Times is very much intertwined with the Imperial Court. I just don’t know how I should position The Great Qi Times going forward.”

“The Great Qi Times is now an asset of the King’s estate. In the future, it will at least still belong to the commoners and the royal family. However, the royal family will most likely not interfere in the management and will only supervise. The officials of the Imperial Court are busy with politics, so they naturally don’t have time to manage The Great Qi Times and maybe will only ask a question or two occasionally.”

Lin Weide’s eyes lit up when he heard that. “If that’s the case, it’s really a blessing for the scholars of Great Qi and the people!”

Mu Yangling shook her head and said, “Teacher Lin, in my heart, there is no distinction between civil and military affairs. I hope that there is no bias towards either side in The Great Qi Times either. Civil officials can govern the country, and martial officials can lead the country to peace. No matter when, we cannot do without either civil or military officials. Before the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang officials all had civil and military talents. Although the Great Qi Dynasty recruited civil and military personnel separately, I don’t wish to see an obvious distinction between civil and military affairs outside of the imperial examinations and military examinations.”

Lin Weide understood that it was not good to have one party surpass the other. If the former dominated, they would not be able to protect the country like the Great Zhou, whereas the latter would easily lead to trouble. Therefore, the country had to emphasize both literature and martial arts equally.

Lin Weide said seriously, “Don’t worry, Your Highness. I won’t let you down.”

Mu Yangling nodded solemnly.

After a cup of tea, Mu Yangling smiled. “Since Teacher Lin is done asking questions, it’s my turn to ask. I heard that Teacher Lin once discussed the Dao with the family head of the Cheng-Zhu school of thought at Mount Wutai. I wonder who won.”

“There was no winning or losing,” Lin Weide said. “I couldn’t convince the other party, and the other party couldn’t convince me either.”

Seeing the smiling Mu Yangling raise her eyebrows mockingly, he immediately recalled the conflict between Mu Yangling and the Cheng-Zhu school of thought. He heard that when Queen Consort Rong and the Empress started the girls’ school, Queen Consort Rong had scolded the people from the Cheng-Zhu school of thought.

Both the Emperor and the Empress sided with Queen Consort Rong, causing the Zhu family to fall silent. When he thought about the fact that The Lily Times’ staff was going to comprise all women, his heart skipped a beat. He asked, “Your Highness doesn’t like people from the Cheng-Zhu school of thought?”

“That’s right.” Mu Yangling said bluntly, “I find them very annoying.”

Lin Weide spoke up for them. “Actually, some of their theories make sense. Why do you have to deny their school of thought completely, Your Highness?”

“It’s a pity that there are fewer aspects of their school of thought that are reasonable as compared to their unreasonable fallacy, so they can’t convince me. Naturally, I am turned off by it.”

“Just because their doctrines degrade and restrain women?”

“That’s just one reason.” Mu Yangling said indifferently, “I just hate it when they act like sanctimonious gentlemen in front of the world, but in fact conduct themselves like beasts in human clothes. The imperial censorate had concrete evidence to impeach Zhu Xi for seducing a nun to become his concubine, and even Zhu Xi admitted it himself. How could a self-proclaimed man of knowledge who preaches morality do such a thing?”

Lin Weide stopped talking.

“It’s only because Emperor Jingyan’s empire was unstable that these theories became popular.” Mu Yangling said sarcastically, “Not only did the officials in the imperial court not stop him, but they even promoted his ‘Annotations to the Four Books’. The four books contain the teachings of sages and everyone can interpret them differently. However, he rigidly fixed the meaning of the four books and claimed that any opinion that didn’t match his annotations was wrong. It’s only been a few decades, but a deplorable man like Zhu Xi is actually being referred to as Zhu Zi1.”

This was also something that Mu Yangling found baffling in her previous life.

Forget about the others. Zhu Xi’s stain had been officially proven since the imperial censor’s impeachment and the Emperor’s reprimand were all recorded. However, in the late South Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, the scholars in the world acted as if they could not see those things. They actually addressed him respectfully as Zhu Zi and ranked him after Kong Zi1 and Meng Zi.

She wondered if Kong Zi and Meng Zi would jump out of their graves when they found out.

Lin Weide was a little embarrassed. He didn’t expect Queen Consort Rong to have such deep loathing for Zhu Xi. Although he also didn’t agree with the Cheng-Zhu school of thought’s viewpoint, his dislike wasn’t nearly as intense.

As academics, they really didn’t pay attention to a fellow academic’s private life and only paid attention to their theories and opinions.

Actually, Mu Yangling was glad that although Zhu Xi was highly respected during Emperor Jingyan’s reign, the Zhu family had changed their surname not long ago. If not for Mu Yangling, on account of the fact that the Cheng-Zhu school of thought emphasized loyalty to the ruler, Qi Xiuyuan would not have objected to the Zhu family even if he didn’t support them like Emperor Jingyan did.

However, he had a sister-in-law called Mu Yangling and a younger brother who doted on his wife.

It was obvious how much Mu Yangling hated Zhu Xi. When she was young, she didn’t even allow Bowen to use Zhu Xi’s books as a standard reference. In addition, her actions were the opposite of what the Zhu family advocated. With Qi Xiuyuan siding with this sister-in-law of his, the Zhu family naturally couldn’t prosper.

Therefore, if Mu Yangling openly expressed her disgust for Cheng Zhu in public now, no radical would come out to throw rotten eggs at her.

As for Zhu Xi’s family, they had gradually declined. Unless an outstanding talent emerged from the family, they would not be able to rise again.

Mu Yangling said clearly to Lin Weide, “I don’t like men who look down on women. In my opinion, a man only looks down on women because he’s timid, narrow-minded, and afraid of being surpassed by women. What achievements can a man who doesn’t dare to be introspective and fears women have? A true gentleman will cast aside class, gender, and age when judging his friends and opponents.”

Lin Weide was deep in thought.

Mu Yangling poured herself a cup of tea and said, “I know that many people outside say that King Rong is henpecked, so he doesn’t dare to take concubines, visit brothels, or take handmaidens.”

Lin Weide was embarrassed. Although he thought so too, he still said, “Your Highness, you’re thinking too much. No one thinks this way.”

Mu Yangling smiled and didn’t care about his answer. She continued, “Why do they think so? It’s because they’re not gentlemen and are used to using despicable thoughts to fathom others.”

Mu Yangling’s words were too ruthless and actually included the majority.

“But in my opinion, King Rong is just following the gentlemanly agreement between us because he loves me. When King Rong rejected Emperor Jingyan’s marriage arrangement, the world already knew that I had a promise with King Rong. In that case, isn’t it reasonable for him not to take concubines or handmaids? Why does everyone think that he’s afraid of his wife?” Mu Yangling said calmly, “King Rong is a gentleman, and only gentlemen can recognize this fact. But how many gentlemen are there in this world?”

Lin Weide looked at Mu Yangling in shock. Qi Haoran was a gentleman?

“I started The Great Qi Times and The Lily Times with the aim of educating the people. I don’t expect all the people in the world to be gentlemen who can respect women, but I hope that the talented scholars working at The Great Qi Times can respect women like they respect their mothers and wives.” Mu Yangling sighed and said, “Just like how King Rong respects me!”

Lin Weide pondered.

Mu Yangling straightened her body and knelt on the seat. She bowed to Lin Weide and said, “Teacher Lin, we women don’t ask for much. We only want respect from men.”

Lin Weide immediately returned the bow and said solemnly, “Your Highness, I’ll work hard in order not to disappoint you!”

When Qi Haoran turned in from the forest, he saw the two of them bowing to each other. He opened his mouth and thought of what he had just heard, then immediately shut his mouth and looked at Mu Yangling with a deep gaze.

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