Plan to cut off the nine states

The number of visitors to Siguo Valley suddenly increased sharply, all in the name of worship, to watch a debate that caused a stir in all quarters.

Among the disciples of Fan Clan, Kou Daogu has the most famous reputation, which is on par with his master, but the reason is not entirely due to his knowledge.

Kou's father and Fan Guan were close friends. Kou Daogu, whose real name was Kou Zhen, had often been a guest at Fan's house since he was a child. He often stayed there for more than ten days. He was very smart. He listened to Uncle Fan's lectures while playing, and could never forget Fan Guan's family. When asking questions, the students were still thinking, while little Kou Zhen was already talking. Her voice was childish, but her words were able to hit the target.

Fan Guan was a famous scholar of his generation, and he never accepted disciples, except for his old friend's child.

Kou Zhen became a disciple at the age of seven. From then on, he stopped playing with children of the same age and devoted himself to reading and studying knowledge. His favorite thing was debating with his fellow disciples.

After the age of ten, Kou Zhen suddenly became taciturn, and he turned a deaf ear to other people's conversations.

At the age of thirteen, Kou Zhen returned to his old ways and became argumentative. The difference from before was that he had to ask questions and the other party would answer them. He was the one to find faults. After only one month, no one from the Fan family dared to answer. His words.

Kou Zhen could only go to the master, one old and one young, and they could argue for three days or even longer on a single topic. The other disciples could only listen and couldn't get in the conversation at all.

Kou Zhen's reputation among his classmates is getting better and better. No matter how old or young they are, they all respect him very much and think that he will become the successor of Fan Xue and be able to carry it forward.

Fan Guan didn't think so. One time he sighed in front of all his disciples: "How can a dove occupy a magpie's nest and a bandit survive?"

No one understood the meaning of this sentence at the time.

When he was sixteen years old, Kou Zhen lost his voice again, but studied harder and harder. He could read a book for a whole day without eating or drinking. His family was so frightened that they arranged for a servant to stay by his side with food. , bring it up when you have time, and beg him to take a bite.

Kou's mother died early, and his father also died when he was seventeen. Kou Zhen stayed in the house for two years. When he was nineteen, he suddenly announced that he would go on a trip. Everyone was surprised and regretful about this. He was only a few months away from staying in the house. After three years of filial piety, I gained a good reputation, but in the end I just gave up.

The Fan disciples were not surprised. They had calculated that Kou Zhen would undergo a transformation in one to three years. The only thing that surprised them was that Kou Zhen, who had always only moved his mouth and eyes, had to be fed by servants even when he was eating. , actually going to travel thousands of miles.

For another three years, Kou Zhen traveled far and wide. With his master's reputation, he was welcomed wherever he went, and there was no one he wanted to visit without opening the door.

In the process of traveling, Kou Zhen gradually showed a tendency to deviate from his teachers. Not all the people he visited were Confucian scholars, but also Buddhist and Taoist masters and even celebrities from various schools. He wanted to meet and talk about them.

At the age of twenty-two, Kou Zhen returned to Fan Guan. He refused to marry and changed his name to "Daogu". He brought back several boxes of books, some of which were heresies in the eyes of Fan's disciples, but Fan Guan did not stop him. , but other disciples are not allowed to borrow it: "A glutton can eat, and its belly can accommodate it. In terms of knowledge, Kou Sheng is a glutton, and he can eat no matter the sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, or exotic delicacies from all directions. You don't have the same appetite, so you can only choose. Simply put, eating too much will harm your body, and you must not imitate the greed of the enemy."

When he was twenty-five years old, Kou Daogu had the desire to tell again. This time he didn't want to argue, he just wanted to preach. Moreover, the path he preached was completely different from that of Fan Guan, and was closer to a mixture of Buddhism and Taoism. His words were often shocking, even He openly claimed that all Master Fan Guan taught was minor skills and was not worthy of his reputation.

His fellow disciples were deeply alarmed by his change. Many of them recalled what their master once said and finally understood that the four-character comment "dove occupying the magpie's nest" was absolutely correct. Kou Daogu was an ungrateful white-eyed wolf.

Fan Guan did not stop him or expel him. He let Guan Daogu spread all kinds of heresies in the sect, but he refused to argue directly with this disciple. Usually other disciples were suspicious of what Kou Daogu said and came to seek advice from the master. Fan Guan then Willing to explain a thing or two.

There are more than 200 official disciples of Fan Sect, but the number of people who come to study is dozens of times that, and they stay for as little as one day and as much as one year. There is never a shortage of young people who are eager to learn, and Kou Daogu actually got a group of them. People’s recognition and following.

Kou Daogu began to recruit disciples.

At the age of twenty-eight, the "three-year change" expired. Instead of returning to silence, Kou Daogu intensified his efforts to persuade his master Fan Guan to change his doctrine.

Fan Guan, who had always refused to argue with his disciples, accepted the challenge this time and chose a day to discuss Taoism publicly.

On that day, nearly a thousand people came unexpectedly. Only about thirty people were able to enter the room to observe. The others stayed outside, anxiously waiting for the results. As if they were there, from time to time, observers would come out and tell the story of Master and Disciple II. What people say.

The discussion lasted for seven days. During the day, the master and the disciples came and went. At night, the audience could not argue. Some supported someone, some opposed a certain party, but supported a certain sentence.

By the end of the day, there were more than 3,000 spectators, but it was rare to find two people with exactly the same views. Many close friends broke up over this, and fellow disciples exchanged harsh words...

Fan Men's Theory of Taoism became a sensation, and soon some meddlesome people compiled the opinions of both sides into a book. There were more than 70 versions. Fan Guan's and Guan Daogu's words were almost the same. The differences were all in the annotations and other people's comments.

As the book spread, the divisions it caused became more and more widespread. Just in time for the death of Emperor Zhang Xi of Tiancheng and the accession of the Emperor of All Things to the throne, the Ministry of Rites read a book, thinking that there were too many idiosyncrasies and disturbing the minds of scholars, so it should be regarded as a book on Taoism. All prohibited.

The emperor issued an order, and local governments acted vigorously. In just one month, more than 70 books on Taoism were reduced to ashes, and only a few were hidden.

There are always winners and losers in Taoism. Strangely, such a simple thing has different opinions, and even the bystanders who were present at the scene at the time held different views.

In general, more people think that the master won, because Guan Daogu got up and left at noon on the seventh day, giving up the argument and looking speechless.

A few people firmly believed that Kou Daogu was the winner. They held several versions of the book on Taoism and recited sentences, trying to prove that it was Fan Bi who was speechless, and Kou Daogu left with victory and no need to argue.

When the books were banned, the minority became rare, especially after the court issued an order to reiterate the way of respecting teachers and rewarded Fan Mingshi generously, everyone understood that the master's victory was the right way, so they all abandoned the dark and joined the light.

At the age of thirty, Kou Daogu still refused to marry, find a job, or change his ways. On a cool early summer morning, he took advantage of the cool weather, carried a bag on his back, and floated away with his personal servants without saying goodbye to anyone.

A year later, news came that Kou Daogu had found a small mountain in Jizhou to live in seclusion. He didn't talk about Taoism or books, but worked as a farmer every day.

Fan Bi never hated this disciple. After hearing about his whereabouts, he sold Kou's assets and sent someone to send the money over.

Kou Daogu accepted it. If his master didn't write a letter, he wouldn't reply.

Five or six years ago, Fan Bi moved to Siguo Valley outside Yecheng. People who were familiar with the dispute between the master and the apprentice talked about it quietly, thinking that this was the master taking the initiative to show goodwill and hoped that the disciple would visit him.

Although they were only two hundred miles apart, Kou Daogu acted as if he had never heard of it. He never visited him in person or sent anyone to greet him until the news of his master's death came.

An Zhongqian and others became disciples later. They only heard about the discussion of the Taoism in those days and had not even read the relevant books. They only knew the general idea. They knew that there was such a eloquent senior brother in Fanmen, and he was in Jizhou, who could be the opponent of King Wu. So they wrote a letter to invite him, but he did not come. Then they sent a representative to explain in person.

The person who went was Yan Wei. After returning, he shook his head repeatedly, "Fortunately, we did not invite him. We were all wrong. Kou Daogu is not a disciple of our Fanmen at all. He is full of heresy. It is a pity that he refused to come."

A few days later, Kou Daogu showed up in Yecheng without invitation.

At this time, more than 80 disciples of Fanmen had gathered, arguing every day, discussing how to recapture the Valley of Repentance and the orthodoxy of Fanmen. Because they heard that another eloquent senior brother Yin Fu was on the way, they waited patiently.

Yin Fu's experience was flawless. Even his appointment as an official was approved by his master in advance. Fan Bi once said: "If there are people who preach, there must be people who practice. Yin Sheng practices, and he should be fair and impartial."

When the Eastern Capital fell, Yin Fu followed the emperor to Shitou City in Jiangdong. After confirming the emperor's safety, he resigned from his post and went back to his hometown in Huaizhou. When he learned of his master's death, he came here despite the dangers of the road, but he walked slowly and was beaten by Kou Daogu.

Kou Daogu did not meet with his fellow disciples, but directly released the news that he would go to Siguo Valley in person three days later to compete with the King of Wu for the orthodox position of Fanmen.

Kou Daogu did not come out for a long time, but his supporters did not completely disappear. They were all overjoyed to see him coming, and they volunteered to run for him, and soon spread the news inside and outside Yecheng.

The disciples of Fan Sect were shocked. An old man said, "Master once said 'a cuckoo occupies a magpie's nest'. We are 'inviting a wolf into the house'. No matter who wins, it will be a great misfortune for our Fan Sect. I only hope that Senior Brother Yin can arrive soon and use the right way to expel the dissenters."

The disciples who had suggested inviting Kou Daogu to come did not dare to say a word at this time. Yan Wei had to apologize again and again because he had personally invited Kou Daogu.

The orthodoxy dispute was of great importance to the disciples of Fan Sect, but it was just a lively event in the eyes of outsiders, especially when it was rumored that the Jizhou Army was going to go to war again and was recruiting soldiers. The debate that was about to take place in the Valley of Repentance was becoming less and less important.

The day before Kou Daogu went to the Valley of Repentance, two things happened, which rekindled the interest of many people.

The first incident happened among the disciples of Fan Sect. Yan Wei, who had been apologizing frequently, unexpectedly changed his attitude and went to join Kou Daogu. Before leaving, he said to his fellow disciples: "Mr. Fan's argument is flawless, while Mr. Kou's argument is perfect. Compared with the two, Mr. Guan is the right one. If you see the right way but don't follow it, you have read ten years of books in vain."

This public "betrayal" angered the disciples of Fan Sect and also made the onlookers feel interesting.

The second incident had a greater impact. Zhang Shiyu, the prince of Jibei, announced that he would go to the Valley of Repentance to watch the debate between the two sides.

There were rumors in Yecheng that the prince of Jibei might be made emperor. His attention immediately attracted the attention of the whole city. People who knew nothing about the debate before also planned to take a look.