Volume Two: Winds Rise in Anxi Prefecture Chapter 151: Deep-Seated Problems Are Hard to Remedy

Lu Jiuzhang stopped. He had also heard the clamorous discussion around him.

“You all seem to have quite a few grievances against me.”

Looking at the crowd, Lu Jiuzhang continued, “Though Changshui County is remote, it still falls under the jurisdiction of Anxi Prefecture. You and I may be said to share the same roots.”

“Though the Demon-Slaying Office is made up of martial men, it nevertheless protects the peace of Great Xia!”

“I truly do not know—what exactly is so worthy of your ridicule?”

As soon as he said this, the surroundings fell silent.

Those people looked at Lu Jiuzhang, none daring to meet his eyes.

“Not even the courage to argue—are you truly students of Anxi Academy?” Lu Jiuzhang sneered. “Since you have slandered me, why not step forward and debate me openly?”

“If all you can do is speak ill of others behind their backs, how are you any different from the petty men of the streets? Take note: I said petty men of the streets, not vulgar shrews. In my eyes, even vulgar shrews at least dare to speak and make a scene. Yet you cannot even summon the courage to stand forward and slander me to my face!”

Still, no one spoke.

Lu Jiuzhang smiled calmly. They were no cause for concern.

With only a few words, he had stripped them of the courage to speak. They were nothing more than frogs at the bottom of a well.

“Who says we cannot?”

Suddenly, a voice came from nearby.

A tall man wearing a scholar’s crown approached, surrounded by a group of people.

The moment he appeared, the crowd regained its courage.

“It is Senior Brother Zhou! He passed the provincial examination this year, became a Presented Scholar, and advanced to the eighth rank of the Confucian Path.”

“Now that Senior Brother Zhou is here, how dare this barbarian from that remote place called Changshui County act so arrogantly?”

“Senior Brother Zhou, quickly restore the honor of our Anxi Academy! I cannot stand the sight of this wretch. Master Xu should have taken Senior Brother Zhou as his disciple instead. This fellow is far too arrogant!”

The crowd chattered excitedly, urging Senior Brother Zhou to step forward and suppress Lu Jiuzhang.

Surrounded by them, Senior Brother Zhou glanced at Lu Jiuzhang and said disdainfully, “Is the Confucian Path something precious? If everyone called himself a Confucian scholar, the world would fall into chaos, and the Confucian Path would be held in contempt!”

If everyone in the world practiced the Confucian Path and every person called himself a Confucian scholar, would that not make the Confucian Path utterly commonplace?

He was mocking Lu Jiuzhang, implying that he was unworthy of the title.

“The Master once said, ‘Education should be available to all, without distinction.’ Why, then, can the entire world not become Confucian scholars?” Lu Jiuzhang countered.

“Who is this Master? And which Master ever said such a thing?” Senior Brother Zhou sneered. “What utter nonsense. Among all things under Heaven, there are high officials and nobles, and there are commoners. If everyone were a high official or noble, would not the world descend into chaos?”

“The Confucian Path is no different. If everyone under Heaven became a Confucian scholar, the world would likewise fall into disorder!”

“No. ‘Education for all, without distinction,’ is an attitude.” Lu Jiuzhang said, “It means enlightening the common people. Once the people are enlightened, they will respect the Confucian Path. Once the people are enlightened, Great Zhou will prosper. And when Great Zhou prospers, the Confucian Path will flourish all the more!”

“May the heavens resound with grandeur, and may my path flourish day by day!”

“You speak nothing but utter nonsense!” Senior Brother Zhou said angrily. “You are merely a martial man, yet you dare spout such outrageous words in Anxi Academy?”

“What does it matter whether one follows the Confucian Path or the Martial Path? Of the three thousand great paths, is there truly any distinction between high and low?” Lu Jiuzhang demanded. “Absorb the wisdom of a hundred schools and gather the strengths of them all. Take the essence and discard the dross. Have you never heard that the countless great paths, though different in origin, all lead to the same destination?”

“Besides, the Demon-Slaying Office suppresses demons throughout the realm and safeguards the peace of every region. It is revered by the common people. By what right do you look down upon it?”

“My elder brother, Lu Huaigu, died while suppressing demons. Changshui County is remote, and along the road from Changshui County to Anxi Prefecture, demons run rampant and mounted bandits wreak havoc!”

“Passing merchant caravans suffer grievous losses.”

“It is the Demon-Slaying Office of Changshui County that suppresses those demons. And I, a mere martial man of the Demon-Slaying Office, am the one who exterminates the bandits and keeps the roads safe!”

“And that is only Changshui County. What of Anxi Prefecture? Every year, the Demon-Slaying Office of Anxi Prefecture launches large-scale campaigns to suppress demons. Over all these years, the servants and martial artists who have died number in the hundreds, even thousands!”

“And you? What have you done?”

“You stand here despising the martial men of the Demon-Slaying Office? Despising the heroes who protect the peace of an entire region?”

Under one question after another, Senior Brother Zhou found himself unable to answer.

Stammering, he said, “Do you truly think the Demon-Slaying Office is so glorious? Is it not full of filth beneath the surface? How many disgraceful affairs are hidden away in the darkness?”

“Under the light of the sun, where is there no darkness?” Lu Jiuzhang said sharply. “Does Anxi Academy have no dark corners either? You look down upon the martial men of the Demon-Slaying Office—is that not darkness in itself?”

Senior Brother Zhou’s face turned gloomy, and he dared not reply.

...

At the highest point of Kui Star Tower, Dean Bai and Master Xu stood by the window, watching the scene below.

“He is showing rather too much edge,” Dean Bai said with a sigh. “The Confucian Path teaches one to cultivate the self, regulate the family, govern the state, and bring peace to the world. If one cannot cultivate the self, how can one ever accomplish anything?”

“What does it mean to cultivate the self?” Master Xu asked in return.

“To refine the mind and body, nurture one’s virtue, and cultivate one’s character,” Dean Bai replied.

“Wrong.” Master Xu shook his head. “If the body is the nature, then cultivating the body is cultivating one’s nature. But how can nature itself be right or wrong? Human nature may be violent or mild—how can one transform a violent nature into a mild one?”

“As the saying goes, rivers and mountains may be changed, but one’s nature is difficult to alter. What you describe is actually suppression—suppressing one’s nature. And how is nature to be suppressed? As I understand it, the body refers to reason. To cultivate the body is to cultivate reason. Whether one is violent or mild, once one understands reason, that is the cultivation of the self.”

“Lu Shoucheng stands upon reason. Thus, he is not in the wrong, nor is he merely showing off his edge,” Master Xu said.

“Master Xu, could it be that because Lu Jiuzhang is your own disciple, you are protecting him?” Dean Bai said with a laugh.

The remark had already crossed the line somewhat; Dean Bai had spoken it in a moment of carelessness.

He was only a seventh-rank Confucian scholar and had yet to master the discipline of speaking cautiously and acting with steadfastness.

“You have forgotten that he also cultivates the Martial Path. He cultivates both the Confucian and Martial Paths. If he does not contend, how can he grow strong?” Master Xu said. “Lu Shoucheng is not, in the end, a pure Confucian scholar. You cannot hold him to the standards of the Confucian Path.”

“After all these years, have you not noticed that the Confucian Path has its flaws as well?”

Master Xu gazed toward the sky. “Since the First Sage created the Confucian Path, countless years have passed, yet the Confucian Path remains exactly as it was. It has neither grown stronger nor weakened, like a stagnant pool.”

“By contrast, the Martial Path has risen step by step. Even the other minor paths have each enjoyed their moments of glory.”

“For all these years, beneath that stagnant surface, the greatest achievement a Confucian scholar has reached is the rank of Sage-Ascendant. Apart from the First Sage, have you ever seen a new sage emerge?”

“The Martial Path, however, has produced Martial Saints who soared through the sky and suppressed the entire realm—more than once.”

“The Confucian Path is too peaceful. That is precisely why it cannot rise.”

This was the flaw of the Confucian Path. Since ancient times, the fact that it had produced no sages had become a universal consensus throughout the world.

Would Lu Jiuzhang be an exception?

Master Xu did not think so. He was merely lamenting the state of the Confucian Path and wondering how it could possibly continue.

“The Confucian Path has no sages...” Dean Bai sighed along with him.

The goal of every Confucian scholar was merely to become a Half-Sage, a Sage-Ascendant, or at most a Grand Confucian.

Yet the glory of the Martial Path had existed since ancient times.

“If Master Xu could remedy the flaws of the Confucian Path, perhaps you might attain the honored rank of Sage-Ascendant,” Dean Bai said.

“How exceedingly difficult that would be!” Master Xu sighed. “The Confucian Path cannot be changed through my efforts alone. Its accumulated weaknesses are too deeply rooted, and they cannot be overturned in a single day.”