The First Lackey Under The Empress

Lost to him... lost to him...

When Zheng Yang, in a calm tone, pointed at Zhao Du'an and said these words, almost everyone present was stunned for a moment.

Their minds went blank, their thoughts fragmented, and they experienced a moment of bewilderment.

"Mr. Zheng Yang, what did you just say...? You concede? Lost to..."

Walking by the pavilion, the Guozijian's Libationer Mei, acting as the "host," nearly lost his composure. He stammered, seeking confirmation, suspecting he had misheard.

Zheng Yang remained calm, repeating the two sentences he had just spoken.

It was true; he hadn't misheard.

"哗——"

As expected, the surrounding scholars, as well as some officials from the court who had come to observe, were moved and lost their composure, erupting in huge questions and exclamations.

And the expressions of the few old acquaintances sitting next to Zhao Du'an were particularly astonished.

"Zhao... Brother? Zheng Yang said he lost to Brother Zhao?" Dong Da gaped, standing up in shock.

"Scholar Zhao? Is he pointing at you?" Scholars like Han Zhou all lost their composure, not knowing what was happening.

The old Sicheng, who had come to join in the fun and was sitting steadily, also narrowed his eyes, his face wooden as he stared incredulously at his nominal subordinate, caught off guard by this turn of events.

As for Mo Chou, the "female prime minister," her eyes widened, and the makeup on her brow was distorted...

You were indeed secretly plotting something; you said you weren't doing anything...

She stared blankly at Zhao Du'an beside her, suddenly gritting her teeth and blurting out:

"Did you secretly threaten him? Did you seize his weakness?"

This was her first thought, and also an instinctive conjecture!

It fit her stereotype of Zhao Du'an as a dark-hearted and ruthless fellow!

Not only her, but after seeing the direction Mr. Zheng Yang was pointing, many people present had the same suspicion.

Zhao Du'an must have played tricks, using some method of coercion and inducement to force the dignified Grand Scholar to bow his head in a "public concession!"

The eyes of the monk Bianji on the opposite side of the crowd were also wrong, giving birth to a mentality of enjoying the fun of a good show.

"Mr. Zheng Yang, you can't speak carelessly!"

Grand Tutor Dong took the lead, and after recovering, he also guessed this possibility, and his face changed slightly.

If Zhao Du'an really threatened him, then the news of Zheng Yang being forced to concede today would spread, and it was unknown what the public opinion would become.

Dong Xuan said sternly: "Today, you and I are discussing learning. This is the capital of my Great Yu Dynasty, with many Confucian scholars present. You can discuss learning with me without worrying about any interference."

He was expressing his position, trying to salvage the adverse effects.

However, Mr. Zheng Yang was unusually calm. He first raised his hand to suppress the surrounding noise, and then seriously shook his head and said:

"Grand Tutor and everyone may have misunderstood. My concession today is not a joke, nor is it out of spite, nor has anyone forced me. It is because I believe that even if I try my best today, I will not be able to win."

He seemed to smile, but more of it was self-deprecation:

"I have been living in seclusion in Yunfu for ten years, diligently writing books, interpreting the words of the sages, and expounding orthodox learning, gaining some false fame. However, the more I delve into this learning, the more I feel the image of fragmentation, and some ideas sprout in my heart, but they have not taken shape, which makes me feel like I am lost in the fog and unable to grasp the essentials.

This time, I came down the mountain, not only entrusted by others, but also wanting to come to the capital in person to meet the Confucian scholars of today, to discuss learning and see if I can dispel the confusion in my heart and solve the doubts."

Listening to his narration, everyone also calmed down, realizing that Zheng Yang's appearance and attitude did not seem to be coerced.

Zheng Yang suddenly looked at Zhao Du'an, his eyes complex, and said:

"After entering the capital, I also talked with some famous Confucian scholars, but found nothing. What the scholars in the capital care about is not learning itself. So I simply closed my doors and waited only for today, but unexpectedly my disciple passed on a message, and I met Lord Zhao at Bailu.

The Xin Xue proposed by Lord Zhao, also known as 'New Learning', initially seemed to contradict the orthodox learning held by me and others, but after thinking about it, I felt more and more enlightened. Many ideas coincided with what I had realized in Yunfu.

It's just that I only thought of 'respecting morality' and 'the mind is principle', and slightly touched the true meaning of attaining innate knowledge, but I never expected the four words of the unity of knowledge and action..."

Zheng Yang narrated calmly, his deep voice echoing in everyone's ears.

He did not explain the details of the debate with Zhao Du'an, but started from this topic and publicly spoke out the theories of "Xin Xue" that Zhao Du'an had told him.

It was as if he wasn't debating at all, but promoting Zhao Du'an's theory.

Dong Xuan was initially confused by the words "Xin Xue" and "the mind is principle", but as Zheng Yang's in-depth and simple explanation continued, the Confucian giant couldn't help but frown and change his expression.

As a Grand Scholar who firmly upheld "Li Xue", he even wanted to interrupt and refute several times.

But remembering that these heresies were proposed by Zhao Du'an, he could only hold back.

However, the other scholars around him did not have such concerns, and their expressions became more and more wonderful as they listened.

Some of their eyes became brighter and brighter, attracted by this novel learning.

But this was ultimately a very small number.

Most of them still subconsciously rejected it, but facing Zheng Yang, who was almost preaching, they really couldn't say words of refutation.

As for the disciples of the Zheng Yang school, they were completely dumbfounded, like a group of abandoned children.

There was a sense of absurdity that the general had defected on the eve of the war.

Lu Cheng and Song Ju Ren looked at each other in silence, and saw the shock in each other's eyes.

Zhao Du'an's expression was also a bit strange. This was even better than the best situation he had expected.

In his original plan, he would snipe Zheng Yang once. Today, Grand Tutor Dong was on the stage, and he was off the stage.

If Zheng Yang won against Dong Xuan, he would appear.

But he didn't expect that after two days of debate, Zheng Yang would directly surrender.

Not only did he surrender, but he also changed his appearance and publicly preached the theory of "Xin Xue", abandoning the original "debate".

And...

He spoke very well, even more thoroughly than Zhao Du'an.

Not surprisingly.

Although Zhao Du'an moved the theory of Xin Xue, his understanding was impossible to compare with Zheng Yang.

Now Zheng Yang had mastered it, and the Xin Xue spoken from his mouth was more complete and easier to understand.

"...Therefore, the fog in my heart dissipated. Last night, I sat alone in the inn all night. When it dawned, I saw the faint morning light in the room, illuminating the dark room. My heart is bright, what more can I ask for."

Mr. Zheng Yang's eyes became brighter and brighter, and his face was flushed with the joy of enlightenment.

He looked around at the scholars present and said seriously:

"Therefore, I know in my heart that if I continue to argue strongly today, even if Lord Zhao does not take action, I will not escape the fate of losing, because my heart has changed its banner and has a new direction."

He pointed to his chest and then cupped his hands towards Dong Xuan:

"I have been in Yunfu for a long time and do not know the greatness of the world. The capital is a place of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Just one Lord Zhao has enlightened me. I think Grand Tutor Dong's learning is even deeper, so I will no longer humiliate myself."

"Sir, you are too modest..." Dong Xuan's face was awkward, and he wanted to say something but stopped.

Zheng Yang ignored him, turned around and looked at Zhao Du'an from afar, cupped his hands again, and said:

"Lord's words have been very enlightening to me, and should be called a 'teacher'. It has also made me see the smallness under the fur robe. After today, I will return to Yunfu, re-enter the mountain, and diligently write books to expound the principles of Xin Xue. When the book is completed, I will send it to the capital, and I would like to ask Lord to review it."

Zhao Du'an smiled and said: "Easy to say, easy to say..."

This sentence put Zhao Du'an in the position of a teacher.

A dignified Grand Scholar calling a treacherous official a teacher?

Zheng Yang turned around again, his eyes swept across the almost frozen faces present, and sighed meaningfully:

"It is easy to break the thieves in the mountains, but it is difficult to break the thieves in the heart..."

He didn't continue, turned around, and walked out of the pavilion step by step.

Lu Cheng and other disciples blankly made way to both sides, watching their teacher walk out with his chest held high, stunned for a moment before stepping out to chase after him.

...

The autumn wind swept through the Plum Garden.

Everyone quietly watched the people of the Zheng Yang school leave.

People were still in shock, not yet recovered, or immersed in the learning just now, or temporarily unable to accept the dramatic development of things.

"Sir... eh... Grand Tutor, look..."

Libationer Mei stood in place, looking left and right, not knowing how to end the scene.

Was this over? Or not over?

Grand Tutor Dong was also standing in place, still not recovered. He had prepared for many days, racking his brains.

As a result... the discussion of learning that could potentially shake the legitimacy of the Empress's succession, just... ended like this?

The smile on the face of the white-robed monk Bianji had long frozen. He slowly turned his neck to the opposite side and met Zhao Du'an's smiling gaze.

Zhao Du'an's lips moved, but he didn't make a sound.

Bianji understood his lip language. The sentence was: "Is the Dharma Master still satisfied?"

Bianji was expressionless, closed his eyes, and quickly moved the prayer beads with his thumbs, using this method to calm his mind.

"Did he just leave like that?"

Dong Da stood blankly, turning his head to see the complex faces of scholars like Han Zhou.

Then, a group of people looked at Zhao, who had been sitting in the chair from beginning to end, in a lazy and leisurely posture, as if the big events in front of him had nothing to do with him.

"That Xin Xue..." Sun Lianying asked hesitantly. The old eunuch didn't understand learning either.

Mo Chou stared at him with a straight face and a gloomy look: "I need an explanation."

After a pause, she hurriedly added, "To His Majesty."

Zhao Du'an met these faces with an innocent look, and then found that many people in the garden had also turned their eyes and looked at him, as if they wanted to pounce on him and ask him clearly.

Oh, ho... it seems like he stirred up a hornet's nest... Zhao Du'an patted his butt and got up to slip away:

"I still have some things to do, you guys continue."

Now that things had been resolved, he didn't want to stay and be surrounded by a group of scholars.

It should be known that Xin Xue challenged the old learning, and these Confucian scholars didn't dare to refute Zheng Yang, but they had no baggage to refute him, Zhao.

Trouble.

"Hey, wait..."

Listening to the shouts behind him, Zhao Du'an didn't turn his head back. He only heard the voices of people like a tide outside the high courtyard walls of the Plum Garden.

He twitched the corner of his mouth and looked resentful:

Zheng Yang, ah, Zheng Yang, scholars are sly, today, he is afraid that he will provoke the opposition of many old Li Xue learnings.

Fortunately, lice are not afraid of itching.

...

And as Zheng Yang and Zhao Du'an left one after another, everything that happened in the Plum Garden, like the autumn wind passing through the streets and alleys, attacked the people inside and outside the capital, countless people who were watching from afar and waiting for the results of the discussion of learning.