Chapter 348 Pang Tong VS Zhuge Liang

Everyone has their own opinion on what the grand event of last year was, but this year there is only one grand event!
End of year debate!

In the thirteen states of the country, not to mention the hermits living in seclusion in the mountains and forests, even the local idiots in remote areas such as Bingzhou, Liangzhou and Youzhou want to get involved.

Especially Han Sui, the commander of the Xiliang Military Farm, as a representative of the Liangzhou scholars, did not even want to be an official but wanted to attend the event.

Of course, Jinmao would not do such a stupid thing. Han Sui has worked diligently in recent years and has not made any mistakes. Where can you find such a good employee?
Leave must be granted!

The counselors are even more outrageous. They all clamor to participate, but if everyone comes back, will things still get done?
Jinmao had no choice but to open a back door for his own advisers stationed outside, and each of them could set a question in the imperial examination.

This time, the generals were not happy again.

Why can scholars set questions but military generals can’t?

Very good, Jin Mao likes this kind of generals. All the generals who have spoken will be asked questions. If anyone gives a bad question, don't blame Jin Mao for exposing him by name in public.

By then, the whole world will know that someone is brave but not wise, which would be really embarrassing.

So, the generals picked up books one by one to study hard, but it is impossible to cram at the last minute. They are doomed to be clowns!
As the end of the year approaches, Wancheng in Jingzhou is more lively than ever, with leaders from various schools gathering here. This is not only a great opportunity to promote their own schools, but also a grand event to restore the reputation of their respective schools.

Zheng Xuan, the ancient literature school within the Confucian school, is the only surviving great Confucian scholar of our time. He can be called an encyclopedia of Confucianism, being proficient in everything.

But Zheng Xuan was not without rivals. Wang Su, the leader of the Modern Literature School, was his most powerful competitor. In addition, the Ancient Literature School was divided into the Gongyang School and the Guliang School. Zheng Xuan was more inclined to the Guliang School. He Xiu of the Gongyang School had challenged Zheng Xuan many times.

However, this event was different from previous ones.

Although the great scholars will not work together, they still have to work together to fight the enemy.

Ever since Dong Zhongshu "abolished all schools of thought and respected Confucianism alone", the various schools of thought suffered a fatal blow.

Now that Jinmao has given us such a good opportunity, we have to find a way to pull Confucianism down from the altar.

The three schools of Mohism have put aside their prejudices and chosen to cooperate. Although Taoism advocates the idea of ​​inaction of the Huang-Lao school, it is obviously the Laozi and Zhuangzi school that is more aggressive this time.

Taoism has been suppressed by Confucianism in the past few hundred years, but a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. No matter how desolate Taoism is, it is still better than Mohism.

This event will be led by Taoism, which will unite with Mohism and other schools of thought to attack Confucianism.

Interestingly, the Xunzi school and the Legalists, represented by Xunzi, stood in opposition to Confucianism this time, giving people a sense of déjà vu as if the son had grown up and wanted to separate from the family.

This behavior was severely criticized by the Mencius school and other Confucian schools.

The so-called most terrifying enemy comes from within. Taoists and Mohists have only a few tricks up their sleeves. On the contrary, Xunzi and Legalists, who were derived from Confucianism, are the most difficult to deal with, as they understand Confucianism's weaknesses best.

On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, King Jinmao of Wu asked each family to select a representative and informed everyone that this debate would be conducted in the form of a debate competition.

The competition system is in the form of ring match, knockout round, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.

The winner will be exempt from criticism for one year, and all schools of thought will have to bow their heads and call the champion "Master".

Since this is the first year, there will definitely be a second and third year...

Jinmao plans to hold this grand event every year, if for no other reason than to revive the various schools of thought.

Even if there are dregs, as time goes by, only the essence will remain.

All the factions are scholars, so how could they not understand Jinmao’s bold move? If the judges were not 30,000 students, everyone would have quit long ago.

In this way, time came to the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month.

The first classics and history debate competition in the late Han Dynasty officially started.

The preliminary round is divided into one hundred sessions, each with three hundred students. Each student can cast a vote for both sides of the debate, or abstain, depending on how exciting the debate is.

As long as you get more than half of the votes in each game, you can advance to the knockout stage.

The rules of the competition are very simple. As long as you can convince the students below the stage, the challenge is considered successful.

That is to say, if there were debates in every venue, there would be two hundred schools of thought.

In fact, there are not so many schools, but there are so many people, among which Confucianism has the largest number of people and naturally has the most advantage.

But no matter which school, one must rely on real skills and knowledge to gain a foothold and move from the ring to the knockout stage.

Of course, there will be two representatives competing against each other at the beginning of the competition. If someone thinks that the person on the stage is just so-so, they can go on stage to challenge. Even students in the audience can go on stage to fight.

The competition system looks very chaotic, and it is actually very chaotic.

Fortunately, Jinmao has set a time limit for each arena. After an hour, there will be a result. Whether more or less than two people will advance, we can only wait and see.

Soon, the results of the first ring match came out.

Thirty-five out of thirty thousand students succeeded in the challenge, and a total of four hundred and fifty-three students from other schools succeeded in the challenge.

You have to know that these 30,000 students have all received new-style education, with the longest school year being less than three years, and there are even geniuses among them.

Jin Mao specially met with these thirty-five people and gave them some words of encouragement, which made these students very happy.

Aren’t they studying so hard just to show up in front of His Royal Highness the King of Wu one day?
This time my dream has come true. Now all I have to do now is to unleash my own little universe and compete with other schools!

Unfortunately, genius is just a stepping stone. In the first round of eliminations, all 35 people were eliminated.

After all, there are thousands of students watching the knockout rounds, and luck is no longer a part of strength, or luck has limited impact on strength.

The eighteenth day of the twelfth lunar month.

After a round of intense elimination matches, the top 16 were finally decided. These 16 people who made it to the final were all the best in their respective schools.

Among them, the various branches of Confucianism occupied seven seats, and the remaining nine seats were divided among the nine schools.

It is worth mentioning that Xun Yue, the representative of the Xun school, and Pang Tong, the representative of the Legalist school, each occupied one of the nine seats.

In other words, Confucianism actually occupies nine seats. After all, both of these schools originated from Confucianism.

What’s even more interesting is that Zhuge Liang was selected to represent the Mohist school and took a seat.

What’s even more interesting is that the first duel was between Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong.

How could Jin Mao not be present at such an interesting scene? He completely ignored the debate scene of great Confucian scholars such as Zheng Xuan and went straight to the two of them.

"His Royal Highness King Wu!"

"Your Highness is here!"

As the idol of 30,000 students, Jin Mao's popularity was absolutely outrageous. His movement immediately caused a tsunami of cheers. Even the other students who were debating looked over with envy, wishing that their debate would end immediately.

"Greetings, Your Highness." Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang did not dare to be arrogant and stood up to greet him.

Jin Mao came to the stage, stretched out his hands to more than a thousand students, and pressed them down. Suddenly the scene became quiet. Even those students who had sneaked over moved very carefully for fear of making any noise.

It can be seen.

"Everyone, please be seated. Students who are still entering the venue, please do not make any noise." Jin Mao pulled out a loud speaker from behind and said at the top of his voice, "I will be the moderator and set the questions for this debate."

These words caused another commotion, which was immediately suppressed by Jin Mao's eyes.

Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong had burning eyes, knowing that they had to decide who was the better of them today. The two of them confronted each other with sharp eyes.

"Today's debate topic." Jin Mao was very satisfied with the status of the two. Who of the two, Crouching Dragon and Phoenix, was higher in the ranking? Let's try it out today.

"Law!"

"The affirmative side argues that the law has feelings."

"Counterargument: The law is ruthless."

Jin Mao took out two jade sticks from his sleeve and held them in his hand. One side was engraved with the front and back, and the other side was smooth.

Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang were already familiar with the procedures and began to give way to each other.

Jin Mao was annoyed by what he saw, so he shuffled the jade sticks in his hand and then forced the distribution.

As a result, Zhuge Liang was assigned to the opposing side and Pang Tong was assigned to the affirmative side.

"Both the affirmative and negative sides have 15 minutes to prepare. After the preparation time is over, the affirmative side will answer first."

As soon as he finished speaking, Pang Tong bowed with a fighting spirit and said, "Your Highness, I don't need time to prepare. I can answer you now."

Zhuge Liang showed no sign of being outdone, and also stood up and bowed, saying, "Me too!"

"Okay!" Jin Mao looked around and announced, "The debate officially begins!"

Pang Tong said with full vigor: "Law is based on people, and people are based on law!"

"Law is the cornerstone of society and the foundation of the country. It not only constrains people's behavior, but also protects everyone's basic rights and freedoms. People-oriented means that when formulating and enforcing laws, the good and evil of human nature should be fully considered, and the scales of fairness and justice should be balanced. People regard law as heaven, which highlights the supreme status of law. It is like the Big Dipper in the sky, guiding the confused and allowing society to move forward in order."

"While the law is important, it also needs the touch of human feelings. The law is cold, but the human heart is warm. If we only emphasize the majesty of the law and ignore human emotions and needs, we may turn the law into a shackle rather than a protection. Therefore, I say: the value of the law lies in the balance of leniency and strictness in its execution, and the integration of emotion and law. While adhering to the bottom line of the law, we must also be considerate of the people's feelings and make the law a tool to promote harmony rather than create confrontation. The support of the people is the vitality of the law."

"No!" Zhuge Liang was also quite knowledgeable about the Legalists, not inferior to Pang Tong. According to the opposing debate topic, the law is ruthless, he began to refute: "What Pang Shiyuan said, the fusion of emotion and law is indeed an ideal state, but in the long river of history, many dynasties have changed because emotion is more important than law, and the law and discipline are relaxed, and finally the country is about to fall. The law is the cornerstone of stabilizing the country and maintaining peace. If it is ruthless, it is public, and if it is emotional, it is private. Imagine, if the scale of the law tilts towards the side of emotion, how can we ensure fairness and impartiality? How can we convince the people and how can the social order be stable?"

"Furthermore, the majesty of the law lies not only in the coldness of the provisions, but also in its resolute and impartial execution, so as to demonstrate the light of justice. If law enforcers are selfish and make arbitrary changes, the law will no longer be a law, but a toy in the hands of the privileged. Such a situation will not only fail to lead society forward, but will put the people in chaos and injustice."

"Moreover, the formulation of laws originates from the needs and will of the people and is to protect social order and public interests. Although it may seem ruthless, it actually contains deep concern for the fundamental interests of the vast majority of people. Therefore, when enforcing the law, we should emphasize its fairness and universality, rather than easily opening the door to convenient laws on the grounds of emotion."

"In short, the ruthlessness of the law is not cold and heartless, but transcends personal emotions, and uses justice and fairness as the yardstick to measure everything in the world. Only in this way can we ensure social stability, people's peace, and the long-term stability of the country. This is the true meaning of the spirit of Legalism, and it is also an iron law that has been proven countless times in history."

The first round of confrontation ended in a draw. Pang Tong knew Zhuge Liang's strength very well and continued to dig deeper into the argument that the law has compassion.

"Kong Ming's words make sense. The impartiality of the law is indeed the cornerstone. However, when I say 'the law has emotions', I do not mean that the law itself contains emotions. Instead, I emphasize that the process of lawmaking and enforcement should contain a deep understanding and respect for human nature, as well as a deep pursuit of social justice."

"Just imagine, if the law completely disregards the warmth and coldness of human feelings and the suffering of the people, and only mechanically enforces the provisions, it may chill the people's hearts and lose their support. The real law should be both hard and soft, with both the rigidity of being iron-faced and impartial, and the flexibility of being sympathetic to the people's feelings. It should be like a wise man, who can severely punish evil deeds and maintain order, and can also see through the various aspects of the world and make timely adjustments to achieve the greatest justice at the lowest cost."

"Furthermore, the 'emotion' of the law is also reflected in its flexibility to keep pace with the times. Society is developing and the times are changing. If the law cannot keep up with the times and be revised and improved in a timely manner to adapt to new social needs and values, it will become a shackle that restricts social progress. Therefore, when formulating and revising laws, we must fully consider the sentiments and opinions of the people, listen to the voices of the people, and ensure that the law can both maintain social order and promote social harmony."

Zhuge Liang was not to be outdone. He paced on the stage until the number seven and then he had a new idea.

“Laws are ruthless, but wise men make laws to use ruthless rules to constrain the boundaries of compassion. This is not cruelty, but justice.”

Zhuge Liang understood this very well. He continued, "People often say that the law is like iron, which cannot be shaken. But it is not true. Although iron is hard, it can be melted and made into a tool. Although the law is strict, it also needs the warmth of people's hearts to soften it. We legislators should build the foundation of the law with a fair and selfless heart, so that every law is like a mirror, reflecting the good and evil of people's hearts, without bias."

"The ruthlessness of the law does not mean indifference to human feelings, but adherence to justice. It requires us to transcend personal emotions and prejudices when facing the complex world, and to judge right and wrong with an objective and rational attitude. Just like when I went to Qishan six times and conquered the Central Plains in the north, although I knew the road was difficult, I never changed my ambition because of personal feelings. It was precisely because of this persistence in ideals and adherence to justice."

“Therefore, the ruthlessness of the law is actually the ultimate compassion. It allows everyone to enjoy equal rights and bear the same obligations within the framework of the law, regardless of identity, status, or wealth. When the law becomes the consensus and belief of society, its ruthlessness contains the most affectionate care, because it ensures that every life can grow freely and with dignity on this land.”

Then the two of them fought each other until dawn. In the past, the winner could be decided in half an hour, but today they fought for a full hour, until Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang's voices were hoarse. Only then did Jin Mao suddenly realize and stop the game.

At this time, there were more than 5,000 students in the audience, and Jin Mao asked everyone to vote.

As a result, Pang Tong beat Zhuge Liang by one vote, and both of them received more than five thousand votes!
(End of this chapter)