Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 480 Unleashing the Killer Move: Materialist Dialectics!
Outside the imperial city,
The students, numbering in the tens of thousands, stood close to the city wall, waiting for the latest news from inside the Wenhua Hall.

Further out, there were also Beijing residents watching the spectacle, crowding the area around the Imperial City.

The students of Qingfeng Academy who were unable to enter the Wenhua Hall waited anxiously in the sea of ​​people, like a lone boat adrift.

Finally, a member of the Imperial Guard rode out from inside the city and distributed the papers in his hand to the other Imperial Guards nearby.

Then these imperial guards rode their horses and dispersed around the imperial city, posting the messages they had received on imperial edicts and reading them aloud:

"In the first debate, Grand Secretary Mei, the head of the Hanlin Academy, and Gu Yanting, the head of the Gu family in Jiangnan, jointly proposed that... practical learning, which emphasizes tools over principles, tempts people to pursue profit, corrupts people's hearts, and shakes the foundation of the country. This is putting the cart before the horse and is a disastrous act that harms the country and its people."

The previously noisy surroundings fell silent in an instant.

The students in the capital were filled with excitement, while the students of Qingfeng Academy were all deep in thought, fully aware of the brilliance of the two great Confucian scholars.

After a moment of thought, the two began to discuss it again, but not long after, another message came.

"The Duke of Dingguo's arguments are meticulous and precise, and his skillful use of tools is for the greater good and righteousness. Empty talk about benevolence and righteousness is what brings disaster to the country and its people..."

"The Duke of Dingguo wins the first battle!"

After hearing the whole story, the students of Qingfeng Academy became excited, which contrasted sharply with the students around them and naturally attracted the hostility of others.

Once the second debate topic spread beyond the capital, it was met with a barrage of sarcastic remarks.

"The imperial examination is the only way for those from poor families to change their fate. If the reforms are carried out so drastically as the Duke of Dingguo, can there still be any fairness or credibility?"

Another person said, "No wonder you bunch of monsters follow the Duke of Dingguo so closely, even coming all the way from Cangzhou to the capital. It turns out that the Duke of Dingguo is working for your benefit, using the whole country to support one place."

Soon, the crowd was stirred up with a passion that mirrored that of the Wenhua Hall.

Inspired by Yue Ling, Gu Yanting chose to become a representative of the students from his hometown. In particular, as the Gu family was one of the four great Confucian families in Jiangnan, he was qualified and had reason to stand in front of the stage and question these issues.

Moreover, once the emotions of bystanders are stirred up, they cannot be calmed down in a short time.

To everyone's surprise, Yue Ling's consideration time this time was even shorter than the last time. In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he spoke up, looked around at everyone, and loudly replied, "Fairness? What kind of fairness does Elder Gu want? And for whom is he demanding fairness?"

"Looking through the records of scholars who passed the imperial examinations over the years, seven out of ten came from Jiangnan. Is this what Master Gu calls fairness?"

Yue Ling summed it up in one sentence, causing an uproar throughout the room.

The capital city is the main battleground for students from the north. The number of students from the south who came to the capital with Gu Yanting was even smaller than the number of students from Qingfeng Academy. Therefore, Yue Ling's words naturally resonated more with people than Gu Yanting's.

The disparity in the number of candidates selected through the imperial examinations between the North and South has a long history. In particular, the incursions of the northern barbarians into the Jinzhong and Beijing areas further devastated the already fragile educational resources, requiring decades to recover.

During this period, under the monopoly of aristocratic families, Jiangnan placed increasing emphasis on education, leading to a growing imbalance in the number of people admitted to the imperial examinations. The current situation was certainly not as "fair" as Gu Yanting described.

The students who were just standing up for Gu Yanting have suddenly become divided. The students from the north have begun to seriously consider what kind of environment they are in now and whether there is any so-called "fairness".

But before Yue Ling could finish speaking, he continued his attack: "Old Master Gu seems to be worried about the students of Jiangnan and the lack of opportunities for those from poor families. I ask you, is Old Master Gu from a poor family? How many of those who pass the imperial examinations in Jiangnan every year are not his disciples or grand-disciples who have studied under the four great families of Jiangnan?"

"You are revered as literary leaders in Jiangnan, yet you operate as an academic clique with a monopoly. You constantly innovate and sell your commentaries on the classics at exorbitant prices, and tuition fees have been rising year after year. I ask you, who has blocked the path for those from poor families? Have students from impoverished families in Jiangnan enjoyed what you call 'fairness'?"

After sowing discord within the enemy ranks, Yue Ling still felt it wasn't enough, and even managed to incite the students of Jiangnan to become hostile towards each other.

The children of aristocratic families were viewed with hostility by those from humble backgrounds, and signs of a split were beginning to emerge.

Mei Wenhe, who was squeezed in the middle of the students, originally wanted to watch his father perform a miracle in front of others, just like a sage lecturing thousands of years ago, to gain a group of believers and make the Mei family's reputation even more resounding.

At first, there were no problems. Father's lectures were extremely wonderful and received the same applause. However, after Yue Ling took the stage, unpredictable situations always arose.

The first debater had already lost ground, but unexpectedly, the second debater, Yue Ling, hit the nail on the head of the Gu family, catching him off guard.

As a result, the students around him started making noise and, following Yue Ling's train of thought, began to insult others.

Mei Wenhe's face was full of astonishment.

He had always thought that Yue Ling was an uneducated and lecherous man, especially since he had an affair with the girl he was engaged to, which made him even more contemptuous.

Who would have thought that in this situation, even a great Confucian scholar would be at a disadvantage in terms of both literary debate and argumentation.

Even his most admired father was still keeping quiet, which made him even more nervous.

He tilted his head slightly, looking in the direction of the Wenhua Hall.

Mei Wenhe knew that Emperor Longyou and the women of the inner palace were listening in the hall. Even though he couldn't see what was happening inside, he could imagine the smug faces of the adulterous couple, who were mocking and humiliating him.

Amidst the cacophony of curses echoing in his ears, Mei Wenhe clutched his nearly exploding head and bowed his head deeply.

Gu Yanting naturally took a look at the scene in the audience.

As if his mind was in a daze, Gu Yanting was so anxious that he was speechless for a moment and swayed. It was Mei Hanlin who grabbed his arm and reminded him, "Finding the problem is often more difficult than solving it. Patriarch, don't lose your composure."

Gu Yanting immediately swallowed his anger and nodded to apologize to Mei Hanlin.

He raised his sleeve and coughed lightly to cover his weakness, then asked in a deep voice, "What the Duke of Dingguo is referring to is not the gain or loss of one person. If things can be improved, that would be a good thing. If the Duke of Dingguo has a plan, I am all ears."

Yue Ling smiled and nodded, pacing back and forth in front of the stage. He seemed to have gained some control of the situation and was enjoying the stage more and more.

After clapping three times to quiet the surroundings, Yue Ling spoke again, explaining his plan in a measured manner: "Our country desires reform and the introduction of new schools, not to create obstacles, but to open new paths!"

"In terms of teaching, in my opinion, the imperial court will preside over the teaching of new schools in various prefectures and counties. Mathematics is the foundation for beginners in mathematics and engineering. It does not require mountains of gold and seas of silver. A few problem sets and some molds are enough. With diligent study and hard work, even those from poor families can become successful."

"The eight-legged essay system for selecting officials allowed for a biased selection of essays, which depended on the examiner's likes and dislikes. Mathematics and engineering, on the other hand, only had one result, making it easier to judge their quality and eliminating any suspicion of collusion or cheating."

"Of course, no reform can be accomplished overnight. Therefore, I advocate that, like the Mingjing and Jinshi examinations of the Tang and Song dynasties, the imperial examinations should be divided into several lists, creating a new path."

"The Ministry of Works cannot do without manufacturing, and the Ministry of Revenue cannot do without mathematics. Why can't they have dedicated personnel to manage these things? In the past 120 years, the Ministry of Works has made no progress in manufacturing equipment."

Upon hearing this, the Ministry of Works officials below blushed and became somewhat uneasy.

"No, why did the Duke of Dingguo start swearing during this debate? The Ministry of Works is short of funds, how could there be any profit?"

An official from the Ministry of Revenue beside him comforted him, saying, "Let it go, let it go. The Duke of Dingguo was just getting carried away with his argument and spoke his mind."

However, Yue Ling immediately followed up with, "The Ministry of Revenue's year-end final accounts took less than three months." The Ministry of Revenue official, who had just comforted others, also looked rather grim and said in a somber tone, "The figures are enormous and cannot be accomplished in a short time. How could the Duke bring this up?"

An official from the Ministry of Justice stroked his beard and smiled reassuringly to the two ministries, "It's just a debate, nothing serious. Besides, His Majesty is still listening in the hall; how could you possibly go on stage to plead your case?"

"The Ministry of Justice is investigating cases, yet some people are still unaware of the criminal charges..."

Just as the Ministry of Justice officials were about to stand up, they were firmly pressed back into their seats by the officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works behind them.

"Just listen to it, His Majesty is still watching from behind."

Yes, yes.

The group of people looked ashen-faced as eggplants, and could only sulk on stage, while Yue Ling on stage seemed dazzling, continuing to eloquently explain his ideas.

“Promoting agriculture and sericulture, and water conservancy and canal dredging all require dedicated personnel. Why can’t we list them as separate subjects and select people to serve the country?”

"Especially now, the majority of those on the imperial examination list are from aristocratic families. They are well-versed in the classics, can write beautiful articles, and have no worries about food and clothing in their daily lives. They don't have to do anything themselves. How many of them would actually go to the fields to guard the dikes and fight floods after becoming local officials?"

Yue Ling stared wide-eyed at Gu Yanting, “This Duke is not excluding everyone, it’s just that children from aristocratic families have more opportunities than those from humble backgrounds, and the current imperial examination system is hardly fair to those from poor families.”

"These new learning paths, managed by dedicated personnel, are more likely to be new avenues for ambitious, talented, and willing students from impoverished backgrounds. They offer opportunities for fair competition based on genuine ability and knowledge. If this reform is successful, students from impoverished backgrounds across the country will finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!"

Yue Ling's words were so moving that they won a round of applause from the audience.

Especially in the current context, with thousands of students taking the imperial examinations, it's like a thousand troops crossing a single-plank bridge, with little prospect of advancement.

After Yue Ling revealed that the imperial examination system was nothing more than a means for powerful families to monopolize resources, the students were even more disillusioned and filled with despair.

It was Yue Ling's next words that rekindled their hope. Even if they couldn't write brilliant articles, they could still find a future by specializing in one area and realize their ambition to benefit the world.

The strategy of first suppressing and then elevating the performance yielded surprisingly good results.

Chai Pu's face grew increasingly grim, thinking that the situation had been reversed and that his lingering fears had become a reality.

Shui Rong's fingers, gripping the teacup tightly, turned white as he clenched his teeth.

Inside the Wenhua Hall,

The girls didn't dare to celebrate too openly in front of outsiders; they just secretly high-fived each other under the table, overjoyed.

Xue Baoqin whispered in Xue Baochai's ear, "Those few words were my angry remarks criticizing corrupt officials who hold positions without doing their jobs. It's surprising that the Marquis said them out loud. Isn't this a big problem?"

Seeing Emperor Longyou drinking alone not far away, looking quite content, and occasionally chatting and laughing with the Empress beside him, Xue Baochai calmly replied in a low voice, "Perhaps His Majesty has been wanting to scold them for a while now. These days His Majesty has kept his ministers out of the capital, and with the capital in such a mess, His Majesty hasn't investigated anyone's fault. He just wants to see them get scolded so he can vent his anger."

Xue Baoqin's beautiful eyes curved into crescents, brimming with gentle waves of light, and filled with a smile.

The great hero standing there was the one she had pledged her life to, possessing the spirit to go against the tide even if there are thousands of people, as well as loyalty and chivalry for the poor and needy.

Not to mention her, a quick glance around revealed countless other women whose eyes were fixed on Yue Ling, their gazes seemingly melting into water.

Lin Daiyu was enjoying Yue Ling's outstanding performance, but for some reason, she felt a chill in her back, making her feel inexplicably uncomfortable.

Upon seeing Qin Keqing's gaze and comparing it to the gazes of the other women around them, they suddenly realized the truth and were filled with resentment.

Crossing her arms, Lin Daiyu murmured, "It's good to be envious; all we can do is be envious!"

The Empress noticed the unnatural little movement and couldn't help but smile. She shook her head helplessly and gently comforted him, "Don't worry, it seems that your wedding will be held in the capital soon."

Lin Daiyu's cheeks flushed instantly, and she stammered, trying to hide it, but under the Empress's gentle gaze, she couldn't utter a single word of "self-restraint."

……

The situation on the stage took a sharp turn for the worse, and chaos erupted outside the capital, with more and more people turning against Yue Ling and supporting him. It seemed that the two learned scholars' decline was beyond saving.

Despite this predicament, Mei Hanlin remained calm. He stepped forward, bypassed Gu Yanting, and came to Yue Ling's side, cupping his hands in greeting. He said, "Scholar Dingguo, your thoughts are profound, and I admire you. However, with the statues of the Sage and the Second Sage here today, we are not discussing the path of the imperial examination, but rather the orthodox tradition. What the Duke of Dingguo said just now was somewhat off-topic."

"These measures should be discussed in the court, with the approval of His Majesty, before being communicated to students throughout the land, rather than the Duke of Dingguo overstepping his bounds."

With just a few words, Yue Ling's morale was crushed once again, and he was even accused of disrespect. It seems that the words of civil officials are sharper, killing without drawing blood.

The students in the audience fell silent.

When Mei Wenhe heard his father's voice, the dejected look on his face vanished, and he looked up again, full of anticipation.

This is an opportunity for the Mei family!
Yue Ling could tell that the old man had ill intentions. He narrowed his eyes slightly and raised his hand in return, "According to Grand Scholar Mei, is there anything else you would like to say?"

Even after losing the first two rounds, Mei Hanlin remained calm. The "Great Debate at the Imperial Lectures" would ultimately come down to the interpretation of the classics, and Mei Hanlin was still confident that he could turn the tide on the last question.

"I dare not call it any instruction."

Mei Hanlin paused for a moment, then asked, "If I may be so bold as to ask, in the Duke of Dingguo's mind, which is more important, the sage's path of 'cultivating oneself, regulating one's family, governing the state, and bringing peace to the world' or the practical skills you advocate, such as 'mathematics and engineering'? If one cannot have both, how will the Duke choose?"

This problem, just like his earlier words of advice, is fraught with pitfalls.

If Yue Ling says that "practical skills" are more important, then he will be condemned in front of the statue of the sage for "deviant doctrine" and "belittling sacred learning," and will fall into eternal damnation.

If Yue Ling says that the "Great Way of Sages and Virtuous Men" is more important, it is tantamount to admitting that practical techniques are "minor matters." The core logic of his reform is self-contradictory, and the necessity of reform is completely lost.

If Yue Ling gives a vague answer, he will be seen as having run out of arguments and will lose all the advantages he gained in the first two matches.

The entire audience held their breath, focusing their attention on Yue Ling.

This time, most of the people present were determined not to let Yue Ling lose.

It was clearly the most difficult question, and Mei Hanlin even wanted to give him more time to think, but Yue Ling just shook his head and smiled, and then got ready to speak.

Although this is the most classic dilemma in Confucian debate, for Yue Ling, who has completed nine years of compulsory education and studied high school political thought, the question is as simple as if there is a template for answering it.

"If there is dialectical materialism, how did I fall into the dilemma of having to choose between two options?"

(End of this chapter)