Chapter 586: Bole in the Land of the Han
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
After dusk, a pure bright light flashed in their eyes. Then, they saw buildings that were old and antique.
There were platforms made of rammed earth in the distance, where luxuriously patterned pavilions, terraces, and open halls sat on top of.
“A big city…” Meng Qi looked at the people pa.s.sing by.
A few of them were blade-equipped men in handsome robes who rode through in carriages. But most of them were just common people bustling about, with looks on their faces like emotionless slaves.
“There must be officials and aristocrats with high statuses in such a city. We’ll preach it well!” Zhao Heng slightly nodded.
But that caused Meng Qi to frown. “How? The thoughts of the School of Mo greatly imperil the benefits of the aristocrats…”
Each of them had information that was given by the Dominator of Samsara in Six Realms. The information contained the general ideas of the School of Mo.
Jiang Zhiwei looked around and said, “Let’s find a quiet place first.”
They did indeed look different from the citizens. They would need to put on some disguises, lest they be taken as spies.
Soon afterward, they found a house that was made from mud and straw, where only a mother and her child lived. The mother was weaving while the kid was running the kitchen. They seemed to lead a tough life. White cloths were hung up and it seemed that the breadwinner had died recently.
Behind the house was a quiet place, so Meng Qi’s group put on some disguises there and blended in with the citizens.
“It’s both full of Vital Qi and, at the same time, bleak here.” Ruan Yushu closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Maybe it’s because the Sky-reaching Eminence tried to rebuild the Earth Fire feng shui, but turned out to shatter the entire world.” Under the apparent circ.u.mstances, Meng Qi concluded from what he knew from the Immortals and his last life.
Jiang Zhiwei and the others listened carefully, yet none of them asked Meng Qi how he knew that.
“Anyway, don’t separate, just in case we run into someone with Heavenly Knowing, special skills, or secret treasures. Even if we have to separate, each of us should have one defensive secret treasure,” Meng Qi said with emphasis.
“Exactly,” Zhao Heng agreed.
Jiang Zhiwei nodded slightly. “In this hierarchical system and when people are suffering, the thoughts of the School of Mo are definitely not popular among the aristocrats. We’re likely to be expelled.”
A fight seemed to be inevitable.
“Not necessarily.” Zhao Heng seriously shook his head. “From the description, the thoughts of the School of Mo or the Confucian school have just developed in the Apotheosized World. They yet to officially emerged. We can revise them without betraying their main principles and make them acceptable to the aristocrats in the first place. Moreover, the given information is really short. It’s just an outline, with no details. Maybe the Dominator of Samsara in Six Realms wants us to improvise.”
Both Jiang Zhiwei and Qi Zhengyan looked at the sheets of paper. It went like this: Love with Impartiality, Non-aggression, Honoring the Virtuous, Moral Harmony, Adherence to the Will of Heaven, Belief in the Supernatural, Against Fatalism, Disapproval of Extravagant Entertainment, Frugality, and Disapproval of Extravagant Burial Rituals. Below them, there were simple explanations without any instructions. They could totally improvise on it as long as they did not contradict each other.
“In that case, this task is easier than I thought.” Meng Qi thought it over and agreed.
Though the five of them more or less had learned the thoughts of the School of Mo, they never had actually studied them. After all, the thoughts were both old and too idealistic.
With their limited knowledge of the thoughts, it was natural for them to improvise a little using the main outline as a base.
“It’s hard to improvise on Love with Impartiality,” Ruan Yushu said suddenly.
The Ruan family from Langya unearthed many old pieces and had great knowledge of zither skills and ancient ma.n.u.scripts. Thus, Ruan Yushu knew the School of Mo better than the rest.
Qi Zhengyan looked at the paper and said, “Love with Impartiality, Mutual Benefits. They call for equality: the officials don’t despise the common people; the rich don’t bring down the poor; the strong don’t embarra.s.s the weak; the majority don’t bully the minority. One won’t be held back by fate, by his family background, or by the hierarchy. One can succeed if he works hard. Qi Saint was indeed a Saint in medieval times.”
He was thinking that Love with Impartiality was indeed hard to improvise on while Against Fatalism struck him. Then, he was full of emotions and could not help sighing.
Zhao Heng frowned. “Can we say that a ruler should Love his people with Impartiality?”
“That is Confucianism, we can’t go that far.” Jiang Zhiwei shook her head in objection.
“Then we’ll drop it and preach the other ideas first. We’ll act as examples, and then the aristocrats will follow!” Zhao Heng compromised.
“Wait.” Meng Qi said with a frown, “Old Zhang, are you saying that we have to preach them from the top?”
However, the thoughts of the School of Mo seemed to be more fitting at the bottom. A single spark could start a prairie fire!
Zhao Heng answered without hesitation, “Yes, the aristocrats are the immortals, the G.o.ds, and the devil descendants. They possess a great power that common people can’t ask for. We can only start with them if we want to preach anything.”
“Right…” Meng Qi nodded slowly.
Indeed, in the supernatural world, everyone had his own power. Maybe 10,000 common people could not compete with one aristocrat and one scholar-official. Without their endors.e.m.e.nt, it was nearly impossible to get the state to accept the thoughts of the School of Mo.
That being said, the ma.s.ses had great power. Even the Human Sovereign did not take the common people lightly… Meng Qi, Jiang Zhiwei, Ruan Yushu, and Qi Zhengyan looked at each other and all read the same things in each others’ eyes.
However, it would be time-consuming. It could not be done in a year or two. Thus, they would use Zhao Heng’s proposal.
Given their circ.u.mstances, the five people discussed how to improvise. They tried to make it moderate, more realistic, and practical.
In the afternoon, the resourceful Meng Qi went to search for information: They were in the city of Bole in the Land of the Han, where Lord Bole of the Four Lords of the Various States was. He was talented and powerful, and he had been accepting protégés. Apart from the feudal prince, he was the best person to preach to.
“Since that’s how it is, we should be meeting him soon.” Thus, they decided to use the feudal prince’s brother as a stepping stone.
…
The platform of rammed earth was high and the pavilions were towering. Meng Qi was the “leader”. He led Jiang Zhiwei and the others in front of the manor of Lord Bole.
Seeing the five people’s imposing aura, a porter hurried over to greet them. “How may I help you, dear visitors?”
Clad in a dark robe, Meng Qi wanted to look mature so he would be taken seriously and listened to.
“I’m Juzi now!” he thought to himself as he spoke slowly. “We heard that Lord Bole is discerning and accepting protégés. We have suggestions for the Land of the Han, thus we’ve come here.”
When he spoke, he turned the breath around him in a mysterious way that was hard to describe. The illusionary images, such as the Grand Sun, left the porter spellbound. The porter could not help thinking that these people were stronger than most of the protégés.
If he did not show his strength, they might only be regarded as bustlers and the like. However, after the showing off, they would be warmly received as approachable masters by Lord Bole in the fles.h.!.+
As expected, hearing the porter’s account, Lord Bole Ju Wu directly went to the door to greet everyone. It was a warm reception indeed.
He looked young, but his eyes were deep as if they had seen many things. He was well-dressed and wore a ceremonial hat. His breath was slightly revealing, attracting only the wind and thunder.
“A grandmaster…” Meng Qi’s group was stunned.
Although they had expected that there would be masters in the Apotheosized World, they did not expect that the first aristocrat they met would be a grandmaster.
Lord Bole was very enthusiastic. He walked with Meng Qi side by side and talked to Ruan Yushu, Zhao Heng, and the others actively. He made them feel warmly received.
Walking among the palaces, Meng Qi felt more than two dozen Exterior breaths, both from the subordinates and the protégés.
“In just an aristocrat’s house, you can see Exterior experts who are almost as many as that of the main stream martial arts.” Meng Qi was in awe.
“What an Apotheosized World!”
Entering the room, they sat on their heels behind a table. After exchanging greetings, Lord Bole cupped one hand in the other before his chest as he said, “You’ve come a long way to see me, what do you want to enlighten me on?”
“We heard before that you want to clean up the society in the Land of the Han. We have some ideas that we think might help.” Meng Qi sat up with a straight back.
Lord Bole said seriously, “I’m all ears.”
Meng slowly spoke, just as they had prepared. “The first thing is Honoring the Virtuous. We should entrust people with talents regardless of their family backgrounds or statuses. Indeed, aristocrats and scholars are powerful, but they are fewer in number; the common people are weak but they are large in number. The talented among the common people are much more plentiful than those among the aristocrats. Thus, we must entrust the common people as well.
“As long as long you choose talents regardless of their statuses and provide them with Kung Fu training and other help, over time, you’ll have many more talents and will have successfully cleaned up the society.”
Lord Bole thought for a while and said, “Mr. Scholar is right, this is exactly the problem. But if I choose talents from the common people, I might be called treacherous. Furthermore, compared with aristocrats and scholars, it takes a lot more effort to pick one talent from a million common people, doesn’t it?”
Meng Qi immediately answered, “That’s why we’ll apply Frugality and Disapproval of Extravagant Burial Rituals.
“How many more soldiers can we keep if we don’t build such high palaces and pavilions? The afterlife is illusory, why should we waste money on it?”
Just as Meng Qi finished, Lord Bole’s countenance changed. “I’m a progeny of King Wen, a descendant of immortals. When I die, I’ll surely go to heaven. What’s so illusory about that? Now, will you excuse me?”
Meng Qi was stunned. He did not even mention Love with Impartiality or Non-aggression, which were the ones most likely to be rejected. Even Disapproval of Extravagant Burial Rituals was strongly objected to. It was really hard to preach the thoughts of the School of Mo from the top.
Lord Bole did not want to talk anymore. He called the butler to send them away to be protégés.
Meng Qi, Jiang Zhiwei, and the others exchanged glances and immediately stood up in courtesy.
“Since you can’t accept our ideas, there’s no need for us to stay. We shall go back home.”
Lord Bole asked them to stay. “You five are knowledgeable and capable. You’ll find yourselves useful here.”
“Will you listen to our ideas?” Meng Qi seriously asked.
Lord Bole replied directly, “No, I won’t.”
Meng Qi laughed and cupped one hand in the other before his chest to say goodbye.
“Then we don’t have any business here.”
Lord Bole became sullen, but still, he did not stop them, lest it ruin his reputation.
Outside the manor, Meng Qi said to Jiang Zhiwei and the others, “It’s harder than I expected, the School of Mo is indeed the enemy of aristocrats.”
“They seem to be very concerned about the afterlife. We need to improvise on Disapproval of Extravagant Burial Rituals as well.” Zhao Heng frowned.
Someone caught up to them as they were talking on the way back.
“May the friends in front please hold on!”
Meng Qi’s hair stood on end. Luckily, it was not: “May the Taoist in front please hold on!”.