Invasion Myth: Starting with the Schoolteacher

Chapter 878 Academy Tea Party

The matter of Magistrate Ximen didn't take Xu Xuan much time. It was just a matter of taking him around and giving him some support.

But the effect was surprisingly good.

It can only be said that the outside world is too treacherous, which makes Qiantang seem like a pure land on earth.

With Xu Xuan in charge, there wasn't much intrigue or backstabbing in Jiangnan, because the real intrigue and backstabbing were all created by the Holy Father.

Even a tainted county magistrate can start over peacefully.

"Autumn harvest and winter storage, it's the final moment of the cycle of the four seasons."

Time passed quickly, as if winter had arrived in the blink of an eye; yet time also passed slowly, as if everything except humans had been put on 0.75x speed.

Wild beasts lie dormant, birds hide their tracks, and even the aquatic creatures of Dongting and Taihu Lakes are drowsy.

The Jiangnan water system, which had been turbulent for a whole year, had all entered the dry season, and no water monsters were willing to cause trouble anymore.

As for the revival of the Water Element, it can only proceed after the true Water Lord, Xiao Qing, awakens.

Yu Bai, however, insisted on fighting against his nature and refused to rest. Instead, he worked even harder on the reorganization, because as far as he knew, the treacherous little demon Gui Da had gained the favor of the hall master again, which made him anxious.

The young protagonists from the new Shushan have also returned to Qiantang with their spoils. These newly created main characters are sharing their experiences of the outside world with other children in Dugu Garden.

Li Yingqi, on the other hand, helped Yan Chixia teach the final cloud cultivation.

Zhou Qingyun's 100-day foundation building progress is very good, and his physical body has become much more thorough, but he is still a little short of the peak.

It is speculated that the remaining three divine weapons of the Seven Swords need to be gathered to break through the shackles of destiny and complete the leap and return of the Three Heroes and Two Clouds to their rightful place.

Therefore, for his younger sister's safety, Li Yingqi decided to teach her some of the sect's secret techniques.

Yan Chixia sighed and then turned to attack Xiahou the swordsman.

There is fire in my heart.

Ordinary people are busy preparing for the New Year, hoping to bring joy at the end of this difficult year.

Xu Xuan was in a good mood. He had finally weathered the storm of the year-end.

What about the remaining troubles?
Let's talk about it next year.

When he had nothing to do, he would stay in the academy, drinking tea and chatting with the old professors.

The professors, all natives of Luoyang, knew the history and stories of that capital city like the back of their hand. From court intrigues to family secrets, from the corruption of the imperial examinations to anecdotes from the streets… through their descriptions, Xu Xuan's understanding of Luoyang gradually became clearer.

He had been to Luoyang once, but at that time he stood on a high place, looking down at the emperor.

Going there next year will truly allow you to step into the vortex of the empire's core.

At that time... the Pure Land will expand.

No matter what topic they talked about, it always ended up coming up with "establishing a government".

After all, the old professors are long past the age of talking about women; this is all they have left in common.

Coincidentally, Xu Xuan also liked it.

Professor Gu had spent many years in the Mingjing system, where he mostly interacted with old scholars.

In his view, the Jin Dynasty was already showing signs of "the collapse of rites and music".

"Rudeness" is no longer condemned; instead, it has become a trend.

As he said this, his eyes unconsciously glanced at Professor Shi.

Although Professor Shi sat very upright, his clothes were loose and his demeanor casual. Yet, this was precisely the kind of person who was the most skilled qin (a seven-stringed zither) professor at Chongqi Academy.

Professor Gu was actually very conflicted.

Because "unrestrained behavior" is not necessarily true indulgence.

Some people may seem absurd, but they are actually using this method to criticize the hypocritical etiquette of the previous dynasty.

They abhorred "moral fanaticism," pursued authenticity and nature, and even refused to serve in government, thus demonstrating their alienation from the regime.

He had a few such old friends, but most of them... simply enjoyed indulging themselves.

After all, such is human nature, and the established rules of etiquette are inherently contrary to human nature. Especially for those aristocratic families and newly powerful nobles, who are already adept at indulging in pleasures, now that there are no constraints, they have become even more unrestrained.

"The latter is a thousand times greater than the former..."

Professor Gu sighed deeply, and even began to have doubts:
After his old friends die, will there still be true "critics" in this world?
Or is it that all "unrestrained behavior" will ultimately become an excuse for indulgence?

Xu Xuan listened and suddenly laughed.

"Therefore, even traditional Confucianism can be influenced by the state of the world."

"It's not that the social order has collapsed, but rather that the social order... is inherently subject to change."

"What has changed is not people's hearts, but the outer layer of their hearts."

The professors were all taken aback upon hearing this.

Although Hanwen is young, he really understands people's hearts.

In Professor Liu's view, the Great Jin Dynasty wasn't so bad—or rather, it was at least polarized.

He is gratified by the increasing breakthroughs in his writing style and the emergence of many promising young talents.

Unfortunately, most people's writing has lost its power and integrity, instead veering towards the bizarre and outlandish.

He sighed softly, yet with a hint of expectation: "Though Zhou is an old state, its mandate is ever new."

Perhaps such changes will give rise to new masters?
I've heard that the Wang family of Langya has produced a child prodigy who has an exceptional talent for writing, but I wonder if it's true...

Professor Shi was pleased with the outcome.

Although the Great Jin Dynasty and he were sworn enemies, the circumstances of the late emperor's death remained a mystery.

He may seem like a dissolute person, but he is actually very principled, so he has never secretly gone to Luoyang to play a piece of "Qingjiao" in all these years.

If he were to actually play it, it might cause a huge uproar, like "an earthquake in Luoyang that startled the emperor in his dream."

Judging solely from the musical atmosphere, the current state of affairs actually suits his taste.

You can freely incorporate your ideas into music theory, and you don't even need to be restricted in your posture and movements.

If this had happened in an era of strict social norms, such behavior would likely have been rejected and ostracized by the mainstream; it was too unrestrained.

He was quite self-aware; he knew that his style was only suitable for the flourishing era before the Qin and Han dynasties, or for the current era of moral decay.

Xu Xuan listened and found it interesting.

These elderly professors were a mixed bag: one was deeply worried, one was full of hope, and one was completely indifferent...

But ironically, they were all talking about the same thing.

The world has changed after all.

And what has changed is not just rites and music.

Professor Qin, on the other hand, prefers to let data speak for itself.

Although his network of connections did not extend to the Ministry of Personnel, he still had several classmates and old acquaintances in the Secretariat.

Through his connections with officials, he was able to access a considerable amount of "non-public" data:

Changes in household registration under the "yellow" and "white" categories... the latest results of land surveys... a comparison of tax collection across different states...

These numbers are cold and hard, yet more persuasive than any grandiloquent speech.

According to his calculations, the current era...

"Each generation is worse than the last."

The Great Jin Dynasty has entered a downward cycle, and the trend is difficult to reverse.

The data may be outdated, but it's more likely that... the actual situation is worse than the numbers suggest.

But then Professor Qin shook his head, refuting himself, "However, these data may not be accurate and cannot represent anything."

(End of this chapter)