As Sima Qian said, when he heard that Yang Chuan, Marquis of Changning, and Dong Zhongshu were going to fight a 'close battle at the pinnacle' in Longxi County, nearly half of the scholars in the Han Empire could not sit still.

If it weren't for the fact that some scholars were poor and couldn't take out the entanglement of those dozens of coins, they would probably come to eat......

Ahem, it is estimated that the number of readers who come to participate in the 'debate competition' will be higher.

In just one month, there were more than 2,000 scholars who came to Longxi County from all over the country, and in such an era of information closure and low level of education, this number surprised Yang Chuan himself.

"Unexpectedly, there are so many people who come to eat?"

Yang Chuan gritted his teeth and smiled: "However, let's not be stingy, didn't Confucius say that it is fun to have friends from afar?" ”

Dong Zhongshu's hearty laughter came from outside the door, and he said leisurely: "Changning Hou, don't come to harm?" ”

Yang Chuan replied with a smile as he walked out: "It's okay." ”

When Yang Chuan walked out of the back hall and stepped into the front hall, Dong Zhongshu said with a smile: "Changning Hou Xuefu has five cars, but your Analects are not right. ”

Yang Chuan arched his hand, bowed to the room full of old scholars, and said, "What's wrong?" ”

Dong Zhongshu: "In the Analects, the words friend and friend are explained separately, and this friend means the same brother as the teacher, for example, Zilu went to find Zigong, and you can use a friend from afar, but it is not the friend of the wine and meat friend you said." ”

Yang Chuan laughed, sat down in the center without care, and said, "Sure enough, it's not a friend, the seniority between the two of us is not right." ”

The others hadn't understood what Yang Chuan meant, but Dong Zhongshu blushed, snorted, and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, Changning Hou, don't you often say that you don't slap people in the face and scold people don't expose their shortcomings, why do you want to bring up the old things again?" ”

Yang Chuan laughed.

This Dong Zhongshu, in order to compete for the opportunity to print books, did not hesitate to lower his own price, and called his three little women 'Master', this matter is too outrageous, so after being ridiculed by Yang Chuan several times in person, Dong Zhongshu finally relented.

"Dong Gong, you once said that there are many disciples of your Dong family, and there are peach and plums all over the world, and now it seems that this is indeed the case."

Yang Chuan glanced at several elders of the Li clan, as well as the scholars who gathered around Dong Zhongshu, and continued with a smile: "I just don't know what you have to do when you come to Longxi County this time? ”

Dong Zhongshu twisted his beard and said with a smile: "I heard that the Marquis of Changning was the new Taishou of Longxi County, the old man was overjoyed, thinking that this Longxi County is the northwest gateway of my Han Dynasty, rejecting Diqiang in the west, and resisting the Huns in the north.

Don't hide it from the Marquis of Changning, the old man has also ordered his disciples to come to Longxi County a few times, and he has also taught some good students.

This time, it is nothing more than teaching and educating people. ”

Yang Chuan nodded slightly: "Oh, I see." ”

Dong Zhongshu arched his hand, looked left and right, and suddenly asked: "Marquis Changning, I heard that you once threatened to sit down with the old man and have a showdown, but is there such a thing?" ”

Yang Chuan: "Yes." ”

Dong Zhongshu smiled and asked: "Changning Hou, the old man who learns agriculture and mulberry crops and arithmetic is not as good as you, but when it comes to the sage article, you Changning Hou is probably not as good as the old man, do you really want to discuss with the old man?" ”

Yang Chuan said with a smile: "Whether the Tao is unreasonable, whether the reason is indisputable or not, the knowledge in this world is not a question of who is right and who is wrong in many cases, but to see who says the truth is more reasonable."

For example, if you Dong Gong's theory of heaven and man induction, Ben Hou is very disapproving, thinking that it is just you Dong Zhongshu who is dizzy, talking nonsense and nonsense, and he will not take it out to deceive the world and steal his name in the future. ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone had unkind faces and glared at Yang Chuan fiercely.

Yang Chuan didn't care, took a bowl of tea and rinsed his mouth, spit on the side of his head in the spittoon handed over by Liu Man, then took a small sip and praised: "This tea tastes good." ”

"Marquis Changning, the old man knows that your knowledge is very profound, and your knowledge of arithmetic and agriculture and mulberry crops is unparalleled in the world, but for the knowledge of the first sage's articles and governing the country and leveling the world, it is far inferior to the old man, do you really want to compete with the old man?"

Dong Zhongshu's expression was extremely solemn, staring at Yang Chuan with blazing eyes, and he really looked like he had the posture of the world's number one reader, so that those readers who followed him couldn't help but applaud secretly.

But in Yang Chuan's eyes, the old thief blinked inadvertently, and the two had a tacit understanding.

"If you memorize a lot of books, you don't necessarily have good learning, and if you have good learning, you don't necessarily have a good character," Yang Chuan chuckled noncommittally, and said leisurely: "Dong Gong, you are the biggest reader in our Han Dynasty, and you have half a stomach full of sage articles, which Ben Hou still admires, but this reading thing, it's not that you can learn well if you memorize more articles, eat the ancients, eat the ancients, eat alive, pull around, and copy the same thing, this is the common problem of you readers." ”

While drinking tea, Yang Chuan lightly made the world's scholars lightly, making his originally extremely handsome face especially hateful, which naturally attracted a 'buzz', but it was Dong Zhongshu's disciples who exchanged words and whispered to the elders of the Li clan and the scholars.

Dong Zhongshu's eyes flashed, and he said lightly: "Marquis Changning, since this is the case, let's have a debate." ”

Yang Chuan nodded: "Okay." ”

Next, the two agreed on a time for the 'debate'.

As for the location, it is naturally the open space in front of Yang Chuan's house, a platform was built halfway up the mountainside, two tents were set up, tables, chairs and benches were placed, and all kinds of food, wine, and tea were sent up like flowing water.

may be because he was born as a cook, so one of Yang Chuan's favorite things in two lives is to eat banquets.

He likes this lively atmosphere, smelling the aroma of food, and looking at the different eating appearances of everyone, Yang Chuan, who is sitting in the center, will have a very strange thought: Isn't the emperor in the world just like himself, standing tall, taking the world's rivers and mountains as a dining table, and taking the people's offerings as a reward, so that this official in the world can eat and drink?

Moreover, it's not enough to eat and drink.

This person's heart is actually the biggest abyss in the world, there is no bottomless pit, whether it is an emperor or an official, if he just eats and drinks like this, pulls and pulls, the world will not be chaotic.

After all, in the current Han Empire, there are about 1,500 ordinary people who support a Han official, even if every ordinary person saves one bite or two from the ration, the official can eat a big fat pig.

Where are some dynasties in later generations, seven or eight people support a court official......

……

The front is tight, the rear is tight.

In the next half a month, Yang Chuan and Dong Zhongshu's 'debate match' was slow to move, but there was a steady stream of readers, but more and more people came to read, and the tents originally built were not enough, so they simply moved into the unfinished 'Lintao New Town'.

On weekdays, these scholars eat and drink, their minds are full of sage articles, and they want to make a splash in the debate competition, even if they can't win against Changning Hou Yang Chuan, but it is also an excellent thing to be able to show their style in front of the world's readers.

Of course, the minds of the vast majority of readers, in the final analysis, still want to brush a wave of presence in front of Yang Chuan, a big upstart.

Yang Chuan knows this.

Similarly, Dong Zhongshu is actually very clear.

There is no way, with the joint efforts of Yang Chuan, Dong Zhongshu, Princess Nangong and others, the Han Empire set up the so-called 'Tai Academy', which seems to be a bit of a prosperous scene of 'a hundred flowers blooming and a hundred schools of thought contending', and there are many young students in it.

But these people know very well in their hearts that the so-called Tai Academy, under the dark box operation of powerful and famous families in various places, there is no real poor student in a hundred, and almost all of them are 'noble three generations', which is useless.

For this reason, even Yang Chuan, who is a priest of Tai Academy, is too lazy to go to work in Tai Academy.

This time, the 'debate competition' in Longxi County, here in Yang Chuan, is a calculation against the imperial court and the Li family, and the same is true for Dong Zhongshu; But in the eyes of the world's readers, it is tantamount to a 'heaven meeting', which is a rare opportunity, if you can brush a wave of presence in front of the nobles, maybe you can reach the sky in one step......

"This is Lintao New Town?"

"Tsk, the Marquis of Changning is so generous, this city wall, this street, and this house are stronger and more generous than those in Chang'an City!"

"Brother Xian said carefully, this is a local county guard, how can it be compared with the imperial capital!"

“……”

When eating meat and drinking wine on weekdays, these scholars looked at the construction site in full swing in the river valley, and few people cared.

Needless to say, the tall and sturdy arrows of the city wall are all made of stone blocks and cement concrete pouring, and those who read the book naturally do not understand the truth, anyway, they feel that they are more reliable than the city wall rammed with loess; What really stunned the readers, but it was still the dozen or so streets that extended in all directions, seven or eight zhang wide, the whole presented a very good-looking light cyan, flattened, very hard, the carriage drove on it, there was no slightest bump, which was like the yellow mud avenue of Chang'an City, the rainy day is full of puddles and mud ponds, and the dust can choke people to death on sunny days.

Seeing the fuss of the readers, Yang Chuan was tired for a while.

Isn't it just a few walls of cement and concrete and a few gallop roads, as for all the fuss?

If they were to know that these roads had been hollowed out underneath, and roads had been made of stones, water-condensed concrete, iron bars, etc., and drainage ditches had been built, which could not only cope with the once-in-a-century floods, but also carry out underground transportation of troops and grain during wartime......

It is estimated that these scholars will scold him, this Changning Marquis is a loser, right?

The scholars of the Han Empire always attached importance to oral communication, which Yang Chuan called 'oral sex'.

For the matter of agriculture and mulberry crops, for the matter of construction machinery, it has always been scoffed, thinking that these things are servants, craftsmen and other inferior people should do things, gentlemen, worry about the country and the people, promotion and wealth sleeping women are the right way.

Of course, not all readers are like this.

Dong Zhongshu is different.

When the old thief entered the city, he jumped out of the carriage and dragged Yang Chuan, the Marquis of Changning, to walk slowly with him, chattering all the way, asking questions from east to west, and he was even more serious and studious than several students of Yang Chuan's family.

"Changning Hou, what do you do next?"

Taking advantage of the unpreparedness, the old thief suddenly lowered his voice and asked.

Yang Chuan said quietly: "Scatter your students, open up wasteland, build schools, and make Longxi County rich within three years." ”

Dong Zhongshu nodded, naturally knowing Yang Chuan's plan, and said, "Okay." ”

Then, I saw the old thief striding to his carriage, stepping up, standing on the pedal of the wheel, and said loudly with fluttering sleeves: "Marquis Changning, don't you want to deceive people too much, isn't it just a small city?" Do you really think that my Confucian scholar is easy to mess with? ”

With a single voice, everyone's eyes were attracted and they all looked at Dong Zhongshu.

Dong Zhongshu flicked the invisible dust on his clothes very coquettishly, stood with his hands in his hands, and said indifferently: "Changning Hou, can the old man and your discussion be done in a different way?" ”

Yang Chuan said expressionlessly: "Dong Gong, if you don't dare to compete, hurry back to Chang'an City, and Benhou will send you more than a dozen little dancers, little chefs, and little singers?" ”

Dong Zhongshu snorted coldly and said, "Changning Hou, do you dare to bet with the old man?" ”

Yang Chuan: "What are you betting on?" ”

Dong Zhongshu groaned a few times and said: "It is said that you Changning Hou Yangchuan is familiar with farming and farming, and is very good at making money, and when you are too punctual in Shuofang County, it only took one year to manage a barren land in an orderly and vibrant manner, and the old man will gamble with you on farming, how about it?" ”

Yang Chuan chuckled: "Why, if you summon the world's scholars, you don't dare to discuss with Ben Hou?" ”

Dong Zhongshu shook his head and said proudly: "It's not that the old man doesn't dare to discuss the Tao with you, but the kind of thing that sits and talks about the Tao is too boring, the ancients are cloudy, travel thousands of miles, read thousands of books, the old man just wants to prove to the world once, my Confucian scholar not only reads well, even if it is the ability to govern the country and level the world, it is not inferior to you Changninghou."

In this way, the old man will make a bet with you Changning Hou for a period of three years.

Within three years, the few counties governed by the old man and his disciples are not as good as the counties governed by your Changning Hou personally, and the old man is willing to bow to the wind, and since then he has retired to the mountains and forests, and no longer recruits disciples until he dies, how about it? ”

As soon as Dong Zhongshu said this, everyone was shocked.

In the eyes of the current Han Empire readers, in fact, it is no different from Pingyang Hou Cao Xiang, Wuyang Hou Fan Li and other evil, and can be commented as 'one of the four evils in Chang'an City', but people are also obvious to all in terms of farming and making money, no matter who mentions it, they can't help but stretch out their thumbs up and give a thumbs up......

Dong Zhongshu wants to bet with Yang Chuan on farming, isn't this using his own shortcomings to compare the strengths of others?

Self-inflicted humiliation.

This is the unanimous idea of many readers.

Even, some people have already begun to persuade Dong Zhongshu, and naturally there is a lot of noise and chaos.

"Dong Gong, please think twice."

"Dong Gong can't either!"

“……”

Dong Zhongshu was unmoved, just shook his head slightly, sighed, looked at Yang Chuan and asked, "What's the matter, Changning Hou doesn't dare or doesn't want to?" Do you want to know that the old man is using his own shortcomings to compete with your Changning Hou's strengths, is this courage gone? ”

Yang Chuan frowned slightly, as if he was repeatedly groaning and thinking about something.

After a long time, he said reluctantly: "Okay, Benhou promised Dong Gong that if Benhou loses, he will resign from the post of Taishou of Longxi County, and ask the emperor to lower the title of Benhou by one order, how about it?" ”

(End of chapter)