Confucianism and Taoism are both classical schools in ancient China, and Taoism has long occupied a dominant position, and even in the early Western Han Dynasty, Taoism was regarded as the foundation of the country.

Until the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Confucianism school rose rapidly, and the dispute between Confucianism and Taoism intensified.

In this world, the Four Books and Five Classics of Confucianism were all brought by Zhu Zhen, the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty, and it can be said that they are basically copies of another world.

Xu Rui has not paid attention to the Taoist classics, but since he can produce a Zhu Zhen, there is no reason why there will not be other traversers, and the Taoist thoughts that want to come to this world are very likely to come from the world where Su is.

In order to show respect for talents, the Changxing Dojo covers an extremely large area, including many places for lectures and lectures, and the real debate arena is only the size of an indoor basketball court, and the surrounding stands can only accommodate a few hundred people, which is not large.

Of course, a debate at this level is naturally not something that everyone can watch, and in addition to his status, people who are not knowledgeable enough will not understand it even if he is let in.

Therefore, a debate competition that has attracted much attention from the outside world is often recorded, annotated, and reviewed by a special person by the Guozi supervisor after it happens, and then the press release is sent to the cabinet and local academic and political offices for public announcement.

The best seats in the debate arena were naturally reserved for the emperor and high-ranking cabinet officials, but these big men usually did not show up in person, but only sent special envoys to observe the debate, and then report the situation to the masters behind them after the debate.

The remaining seats were reserved for academic institutions such as the Ministry of Rites, the Hanlin Academy, and the Guozijian, as well as celebrities and academic leaders from all walks of life, and the worst were the turn of officials at all levels who were invited to watch the ceremony.

Because of their special status, the two princes were assigned to the next few seats, but they were very close to the dragon platform, and they could even see the spitting stars spewed out by the players on the field.

In order to see Xu Rui, the two princes came late, and when the four of them entered, the debate had already begun for a while, and there were two futons on the circular dragon platform with a diameter of more than ten meters, and the two old men with gray beards were debating on it.

These two people are naturally not the famous Mr. Dong Li and Chang Qingzi, the debate is a team battle, at the beginning the two sides will naturally send the younger brothers to fight each other, and when the atmosphere reaches **, the big guys will end up in person.

This format is actually very unfair to newcomers, because it is not only the team and financial strength that is tested, but also the physical strength of the debaters.

If it is a new doctrine, a lone debater must fight the crowd and defeat the opponent's entire team to be a blockbuster, which is why Mr. Higashiri has been able to defend for 30 years, and the threshold for debate is really high.

However, there are pros and cons to everything, and the newcomers and new ideas that can stand out in such an environment must be very convincing, and they will not be indiscriminate and full of ideas that can truly lead the development of the times.

"Hey, Mr. Higashi's side has lost three games in a row!"

As soon as he sat down, King Su pointed at Longtai and exclaimed.

Xu Rui looked in the direction of his finger, and saw that there was a circle of chairs around Longtai, the fifteen seats in the north were Mr. Dongli's phalanx, and the fifteen seats in the south were Changqingzi's phalanx.

At this moment, there were already four vacant seats in Mr. Dongli's phalanx, and except for one person who was debating on the field, three of them had disappeared, and they probably left the table after losing the debate.

And there is only one vacant seat in the fifteen seats on Changqingzi's side, and it is an old man who is talking on the dragon platform.

Although the two princes and the new champion did not clearly say that they were on the side, from the details of the conversation, Xu Rui had already guessed that the three of them were protégés of Confucianism, and they were naturally Mr. Zhan Dongli's team.

Although Xu Rui is not interested in either school, in terms of governing the country, in comparison, the people-oriented Confucianism is at least much better than the Taoism of doing nothing.

The four of them had the same position and unified emotions, and they were a little uneasy when they saw that Mr. Dongli, who represented Confucianism, was actually at a disadvantage.

Huang Zhengyuan stared closely at the two people debating on the field, and suddenly frowned for a while and said: "The person debating on the field is named Tian Cong, Chang Qingzi's most proud protégé, I didn't expect them to send such a figure as soon as they came up, it seems that they want to take the lead!" ”

Sure enough, as soon as Huang Zhengyuan's voice fell, the big Confucian who was arguing on the field was speechless by Tian Cong and hid his face.

Unexpectedly, Tian Cong, who was over fifty years old, went down to the four cities in one go, and the momentum was like a rainbow, and the people watching the ceremony were in an uproar.

The situation of Taoism is very good, and the fifteen disciples are happy, while the situation of Confucianism is becoming more and more critical, and the fifteen disciples are pale.

After a short discussion, among the fifteen Confucian seats, an old man in his sixties with square eyebrows and eyes came out.

As soon as he saw this person, King Su was immediately overjoyed: "Master Zhang has appeared, and this time he will definitely be able to save a game!" ”

This old man's name is Zhang Zongnian, and he is a personal disciple of Mr. Dongli, a scholar of the official residence palace, and one of the teachers of the princes, naturally the teachers of King Yu and King Su.

In King Su's view, this strict master has his own strategy in his chest, how can a man in the mountains and wilderness be compared? Naturally, it is full of confidence.

However, Xu Rui doesn't see it that way, many times the test in the debate field is not knowledge but wit, if there is no agile thinking, even if the knowledge is high, it will not be able to play.

And the royal selection of teachers, it is natural to look for those people who are calm and stable, who have a calm personality and have been immersed in officialdom for many years, and are accustomed to the thinking mode of planning and moving, and they are a little less sharp and sharp.

Not to mention that they are already over half a hundred years old, from a physiological point of view, the brain is already at the trough of decline, and Alzheimer's is already thankful, how agile can they be?

On the other hand, Tian Cong, although he is also an old man, is ten years younger than Zhang Zongnian, plus he is a professional player at first glance, and he is familiar with all kinds of old and spicy routines, and he will dig a pit from time to time, which is really difficult to deal with.

Just thinking about it, Xu Rui suddenly saw that Huang Zhengyuan was also frowning, not at all as confident as the two princes, and realized that he was not optimistic about the outcome of this debate.

The trend of the debate was similar to Xu Rui's analysis, as soon as they came on the field, the two greeted each other, Tian Cong immediately changed his face, pointed at Zhang Zongnian and shouted: "You are in a high position, take it for me, pluck a hair and benefit the world, not for it!" ”

What this means is that Zhang Zongnian is in a high position and can pay a small price to benefit the world, but he is unwilling to sacrifice.

Being pointed at his nose and scolded, Zhang Zongnian was naturally angry, but there was no color on his face, but he calmed down and thought about how to deal with it.

But before he could speak, Tian Cong said again: "You are for me, and you are a king." Thou art both teacher and love, and thou shalt be fatherless. No king and no father, he is a beast! ”

Tian Cong scolded Zhang Zongnian for being selfish, having no king, scolding Mr. Dongli for being both loved, having no father in his eyes, and the two of them were beasts without a king and a father.

Combining love and non-aggression is a Mohist doctrine, but Zhu Zhen borrowed a large number of other classics when integrating Confucianism, and reinterpreted the idea of love into Confucianism.

But Tian Cong's words were actually a naked personal attack, Xu Rui didn't expect that he could directly greet other people's ancestors on the debate field, which was an eye-opener.

Zhang Zongnian's kung fu to nourish his anger was still at home, but he was scolded by Tian Cong, but he didn't mess up at all and provoked the topic.

"Confucianism is still the law of etiquette, emphasizing benevolence and righteousness, it is the study of the world, not like your Taoist mysteries, which only increase the ears of the people."

Tian Cong said: "I want to hear it." ”

Zhang Zongnian said: "Be benevolent and righteous. ”

Tian Cong said: "Excuse me, benevolence and righteousness, human nature is evil?" ”

Zhang Zongnian said: "Yes." If a gentleman is unkind, he will not succeed, and if he is unjust, he will not be born. Benevolence and righteousness, the nature of a real person, will be ridiculed again? ”

Tian Cong said: "Excuse me, what is benevolence and righteousness? ”

Zhang Zongnian said: "The center is good, and love is selfless, and this benevolence and righteousness are also." ”

Tian Cong said angrily: "Meaning, almost afterword!" Husband and love, not too much! Selflessness is selfishness. If the Master wants the world to be free of His shepherdship?

Then heaven and earth are inherently constant, the sun and moon are inherently bright, the stars are inherently listed, birds and beasts are inherently grouped, and trees are inherently established. The Master also walked in virtue and followed the path, which has come to an end; What is the revelation of benevolence and righteousness, and the nature of the master and the son of chaos is also! ”

The general meaning of this debate between the two is that Tian Cong asked, "What is the essence of Confucianism?" ”

Zhang Zongnian replied: "The essence of righteousness is benevolence and righteousness. ”

Tian Cong asked again: "Is the "benevolence and righteousness" you are talking about, is it in line with human nature? ”

Zhang Zongnian said: "Of course! A gentleman, if he is not benevolent, cannot stand; If you are unrighteous, you will not live. Is there anything to doubt about benevolence, of course, true human nature? ”

Tian Cong asked again: "What is "benevolence and righteousness"? ”

Zhang Zongnian said: "With a loving heart, may all things be happy; Loving all people in the world without any selfish thoughts is benevolence and righteousness. ”

Tian Cong said angrily: "Oh! You are trying to mess with human nature! It's so selfish! All things in heaven and earth, the sun, moon and stars, all have their own nature, and it is very good to survive and live according to their own nature, which is happiness, and even the highest state. ”

Hearing this conversation, Xu Rui sighed, expecting that Zhang Zongnian had lost.

He remembered that in another world, Confucius and Lao Tzu had a debate about benevolence and nature, which was similar to what was said at this time.

Zhang Zongnian probably made the same mistake as Confucius, Confucianism seems to have been expounding, but in fact, he is arguing with Taoist thinking, being led by the nose, naturally being restrained everywhere, and finally falling into the trap of digging up thinking without knowing it.

Zhang Zongnian was affected by Tian Cong's emotions in one game, and he wanted to get rid of the interference and find another way, which was naturally right, but under the pressure of losing four games in a row, he pursued too much to convince people with reason, and it was easier to fall into the trap.

In fact, if you write a magnificent article, Tian Cong probably doesn't deserve to lift Zhang Zongnian's shoes, but when it comes to debating skills, the two are not at the same rank at all.

It's just that Tian Cong's upright means are not used, and he tries his best to make some off-the-plate tricks, so that a good debate has become a stage for small tricks, and it is already a trick in another world, but it is ridiculous that those sour people can't see it, and they actually answer seriously, which is really stupid.

Thinking of this, Xu Rui suddenly couldn't help laughing.

At this time, when the debate on the field was fierce, everyone held their breath and waited for Zhang Zongnian's answer, Xu Rui's laughter was extremely abrupt.

It's like when a leader is giving a speech on stage, someone throws a broken shoe, and immediately attracts all eyes to himself.

Xu Rui realized the gaffe, his heart was not good, and he quickly shut up, but it was too late, and his laughter had successfully interrupted the train of thought of the two people who were debating in the audience.

Debates are about the fortunes of the nation, how solemn and how can they be ridiculed?

The academic champions sitting at the front frowned.

"Brother Xu, you ......"

Huang Zhengyuan looked at Xu Rui in shock.

Not only him, Changxing Dojo is the territory of scholars after all, and the most unoffending person in this world is the scholar, seeing that Xu Rui provoked the anger of the public, even the two princes sweated for him.