When the banquet was approaching, more and more scholars were in the Mingtang. What was supposed to be a happy and harmonious atmosphere now turned into a situation where people from the Southern Zhou Dynasty were besieging Pei Yue.

In fact, they knew very well that although Pei Yue's words were sophistry, Zhang Ji's questioning was also untenable.

The two countries have been fighting for decades, and right and wrong have long been unclear. Even if the time is pushed back to the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, Emperor Taizu at that time was still nominally the king of Zhou named by Emperor Ling of the former Wei Dynasty. Emperor Ling's Zen location

Liang Gaozu, everyone knows what is going on, but in this era, the Northern Liang succession to the former Wei Dynasty is completely legal and unimpeachable.

Territorial disputes like this are ultimately supported by national strength. The reason why Pei Yue dared to face an enemy at the Donglin Cultural Conference without changing his face is that Daliang is now stronger than the Southern Zhou Dynasty, and the hundreds of thousands of troops on the border are his confidence.

.

Whether in terms of strength or legal principles, Pei Yue has a natural advantage. This is the reason why he can talk eloquently. It is not that the literati in the Mingtang are far less capable of thinking and eloquence than him.

But after all, a person's life depends on his position in the world. The so-called unreasonableness has to fight for three points, not to mention the national justice. When many people discovered that Pei Yue was not a crude martial artist who knew nothing about it, but had a good study of history books, they could only

Change the topic and just look for loopholes in his words.

For example, at this moment, the target of the attack is turned to the young scholar who Pei Yue himself learned from.

Knowing that the other party was messing around, Pei Yue still looked calm and said calmly: "A wealthy family cannot represent the people's hearts, and naturally I cannot represent it either."

That person obviously didn't expect Pei Yue to be so calm. Didn't he mean that he was domineering, arrogant and willful?

Another middle-aged scholar asked: "In the eyes of Zhongshan Marquis, who can represent the people's hearts?"

Pei Yue looked around at the crowd and said calmly: "You and I cannot be represented. The people's hearts cannot be represented by some kind of force. They are the simplest wishes of the people in the world. Life, old age, illness and death, food, rice, oil and salt, all these can be turned into concrete manifestations of the people's hearts. In other words

In other words, if you make the people well fed and clothed, have enough food and clothing, have children taken care of, old people have someone to rely on, diseases can be diagnosed and treated, and people can be buried when they die, then the people will support you. This is the true support of the people."

At this moment, he thought of the orphans in the heavy rain in Lingzhou, the victims in the scorching sun in Qinzhou, and the old woman in the winter snow in Kyoto. There was a dignified look in his eyes, and he said slowly: "I once said to your majesty, the king's boat,

The people's hearts are filled with water. Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it."

This sentence was like that of Huang Zhongdalu. Although his tone was not high, it was deafening and enlightening to the ears of everyone in the hall.

Zhang Ji, a highly respected scholar, suddenly stood up, raised his wine cup towards Pei Yue and said, "I just made a mistake, Marquis of Zhongshan, please don't be surprised."

Pei Yue also stood up and said: "The old gentleman is serious, today is just a casual conversation."

The two drank and then sat down.

The atmosphere in the hall became very strange. Xu Xi recited the words "water can carry a boat and also capsize it" over and over in his mind, and couldn't help but reveal a wry smile. Xu Churong looked at the strange look on his brother's face and couldn't help but worry.

, because she knows that Xu Xi is easy to get into trouble and is essentially a simple-minded scholar, not a deep-seated old fox like Pei Yue.

She has now determined that Pei Yue came to the literary society for another purpose. It was not to prove his literary talent, but to promote the reason why Beiliang was powerful in a subtle way.

If Pei Yue was facing a group of military nobles or important officials of the imperial court today, what he said would not have the slightest effect, because people who are really in high positions will definitely understand the reason why the people are opposed to each other, but they will not change because of this.

The benefits obtained are precisely obtained by exploiting the people.

It happens that the Mingtang is full of aloof literati. Although there are many children of aristocratic families like Xu Xi, there are still many who are from poor backgrounds and have strong resonance with what Pei Yue said. Didn't you see that even Zhang Ji has begun to change his attitude?

Pei Yue noticed Xu Churong's vigilant eyes like a kitten, and felt funny in his heart. He continued to fuel the anger of these scholars without changing his expression: "Daliang has two capitals, one government and thirteen states, the people live and work in peace and contentment, and the court is light on corvee and low on taxes. Although

No

I dare to say that the government is absolutely clear and honest, but His Majesty in our court sets an example and is very frugal in spending money in the palace. The people below naturally know how to care for the people. To put it bluntly, no one in our court has ever talked about the people's hearts and only kept one sentence in mind.

"

Everyone looked at him curiously, wondering how much insight this man had.

Pei Yue straightened his back and said solemnly: "The people are the most noble, the country is the second most important, and the king is the least important. Therefore, the princes become the great officials, the emperor becomes the princes, and the people of Qiu become the emperor."

No matter Zhang Ji, Xu Xi, or the hundreds of famous Southern Zhou literati in the hall, they all fell into deep thought after hearing this sentence.

Pei Yue did not bluntly state the differences between the two countries, but they were not stupid. Even if they only looked at the extravagant and lustful dignitaries in Jian'an City, they knew the weight of this sentence.

No one stood up and pointed out that Pei Yue was talking nonsense like before, because this kind of thing hardly needs verification. The power of Beiliang is obvious to all, as evidenced by the defeat of hundreds of thousands of Xiwu troops in the western border last year. What is even more commendable is that in recent years,

There has never been a large-scale civilian rebellion in Beiliang for decades. Isn’t this enough to explain the problem?

Just when the atmosphere in the hall was extremely solemn, a group of people walked into the Mingtang.

The leader was Shangguan Ding, the Minister of Rites of the Southern Zhou Dynasty, followed by a group of officials from the Ministry of Rites.

He was responsible for hosting today's banquet, so he was naturally aware of the debate taking place in the hall, but he did not rush into an argument with Pei Yue. After meeting with other great scholars, Shangguan Ding came to Pei Yue and said with a smile: "Pei Hou is saying

Zhuji, I learned a lot after listening to this."

Pei Yue said calmly: "Dazong Bo is full of praise."

Shangguan Ding said with a warm expression: "Now Zhou and Liang are friendly neighbors, and they should learn from each other's strengths. What Marquis Pei said is exactly what your Majesty is worried about. I will have to ask your country for advice in the future. I also hope that Marquis Pei will

I am willing to teach you without hesitation.”

The Minister of Rites held a very low profile, but his energy was strong, and his words soon spread throughout the entire hall.

Pei Yue's face remained calm, but he was slightly surprised. What he said before was naturally intended to provoke the minds of the literati, but Shangguan Ding defused his attack with a few words. Although he had already planted a seed in the hearts of the literati.

A seed, but Shangguan Ding's statement was enough to temporarily suppress those throbs.

He is worthy of being Xu Huiyan's right-hand man. He seems smooth and humble, but in fact he has reached an advanced level of understanding people's hearts.

But Pei Yue did not feel frustrated, because Shangguan Ding's words are easy to say, but it is harder to implement them. The reason why the Southern Zhou Dynasty fell into its current situation is that the power of the powerful and powerful people is deeply entrenched, and Xu Huiyan could not reverse it.

God changes destiny.

The seeds sown today will surely take root and sprout in the future. This is the fundamental reason why Pei Yue decided to participate in the Donglin Cultural Society. The remaining plots to dig holes for others are just following the trend.

Xu Churong next to him obviously couldn't bear to see him taking advantage of those aloof and caring literati, but for Pei Yue, the most important thing in the war between the two countries was to attack the heart, and to disintegrate the internal fighting spirit of the other side was the essence of the art of war.

As soon as he thought of this, he put aside his thoughts and chatted with Shangguan Ding, creating a harmonious scene where the guest and the host were enjoying themselves.

Suddenly, the banquet officially began.


Chapter completed!