A carriage set off again from the inn and returned to the official road.

As the wheels of the carriage turned, the red-faced arguments in the station gradually became blurred, and the sounds that came into the carriage slowly died away and returned to silence.

Li Sicheng took his head back from the carriage and couldn't help but exclaimed: "These scholars only talk about this debate. I didn't expect that even the Korean barbarians who came to Beijing to express gratitude for the imperial edict could say this."

Come up with one, two, three."

Li Chunfang was leaning in the carriage, putting a blanket on her legs. She held her glasses with one hand and held the newspaper in front of her with the other hand. She seemed to be reading it carefully. After hearing her grandson's words, she just nodded and remained indifferent.

Li Sicheng saw that his grandfather ignored him and looked at his uncle again.

Li Maonian was thinking about something. After he came to his senses, he touched his nephew's head and replied casually: "What does it mean to be a scholar? Your Majesty allowed the newspaper to have its own way, just to invite the world to join in the fun."

"You see, when we come here, scholars from Nanzhili, Shandong Provincial School, and all over the country are all talking and arguing about this matter."

"It has been many years since there has been such a grand event. This is called a hundred flowers blooming."

"As for the Yi people..."

He shook his head: "There is a word called incredible."

"Xue Yingqi is a great Confucian of the time, and Li Zhi is one of the most talented figures in the Taizhou School today. The debate between the two is not something that Yi people can understand."

Li Sicheng is fifteen years old this year and has a bit of a wild temper. Hearing this, he joked: "It's unbelievable to have wild thoughts."

"Otherwise, how could I have the confidence to go up to debate, and then be refuted by those few scholars who turned red in the face?"

Li Maonian smiled and asked curiously: "Didn't Sicheng support Li Zhi? Why didn't you speak out to help the hesitating Korean barbarians just now?"

When you go out and take your children with you, you just want to see the world.

Debating this kind of thing, whether it is courageous or eloquent, is helpful.

Li Sicheng showed a bitter look after hearing his uncle's question: "It's not like my uncle didn't see something before. Master Xue's argument this time was really powerful. Those scholars took advantage of it to argue with overwhelming force."

"My nephew would like to support Master Li, but he has little talent and knowledge. He can't even understand what he's saying, so he can only be speechless."

Li Maonian laughed.

My nephew is still young and is not an emperor, a child prodigy like Zhang Juzheng or Shen Shixing, so this is normal.

He patiently explained: "The last time Xue Yingqi discussed heavenly principles and human nature, Li Zhi caught the flaw, and then Li Zhi began to discuss the ontology of human nature, whether it is transcendental... or whether it is innate."

"In particular, Mencius's theory of good nature and Xunzi's theory of evil nature were pulled out and tortured."

"The fundamental reason is to overturn the foundation of the innate theory of ontology."

Speaking of this, Li Maonian couldn't help feeling that Li Zhi was so bold.

He continued: "But Xue Yingqi was a great scholar in the world and had a profound foundation, so he responded immediately."

"The nature of a gentleman is that although his great deeds will not increase, and even if he lives in poverty, it will not be damaged, it is determined. The nature of a gentleman is that benevolence, justice, etiquette, and wisdom are rooted in the heart, and his voice and appearance are also serious, visible on the face, abundant on the back, and applied to everyone.

Four bodies, four bodies are self-evident.”

"He used Mencius' point of view to explain that 'human nature' is just a metaphor for 'nature'. What Li Zhi said is biased and not comprehensive."

“‘Human nature’ is metaphorically expressed through body parts or behaviors, but it does not simply ‘live in’ or ‘causally depend on’ with ‘nature’.”

"Talking about 'nature' from the acquired environment can only explain its cause and effect, but cannot explain the origin and meaning of the ontology."

"Instead, we can only focus on specific people. People are born with "nature"; and the so-called human nature is just a symbol of it, and its identity is acquired."

"This is the so-called understanding of one's mind and one's nature."

"Nature and nurture are divided into two parts from beginning to end. Nature must be innate."

Li Maonian simplified a large section of the discussion between the two of them and tried to use straightforward words to explain the recent debate on the Bible to his nephew.

Li Sicheng was thoughtful after listening to his uncle's explanation.

He looked at Li Maonian curiously: "Who does uncle think is right?"

Li Maonian shook his head: "There is no right or wrong in this kind of thing. It just depends on who is more knowledgeable. I can't say specifically."

When the two uncles and nephews talked about this, they wanted to continue talking.

At this time, a snoring sound suddenly sounded in the carriage carriage.

The uncle and nephew coincidentally looked at Li Chunfang.

My father-in-law suddenly tilted his head and fell asleep with his mouth open!

Li Maonian hurriedly stepped forward and straightened his father's head - the doctor had told him that sleeping with his neck hunched like this would make it easy for him to fall asleep.

When someone touched her, Li Chunfang's body trembled subconsciously.

Then he opened his sleepy eyes and sat up straight.

Li Chunfang blinked hard to wake herself up.

When he saw his children and grandchildren in front of him, they all looked at him and explained kindly: "I didn't sleep well last night and I feel a little tired."

Li Chunfang and his party went to Beijing. It is normal for them to be tired after running around and working hard.

Especially because of Li Chunfang's status, she could not enter the capital casually. When a court official returns to his hometown after taking up his official position, the edict must include the sentence "not allowed to live in the capital."

This is to prevent ministers who are overly powerful from planning some messy things after taking office.

However, Li Chunfang's reason for coming to Beijing this time was very legitimate and approved - to meet her parents.

Li Baiyang has been appointed as an attendant, so if his family wants to visit Beijing, there is no reason why he should not be allowed to do so.

Being allowed to enter Beijing is good, but it also means that his whereabouts on the road are open to the government.

Not to mention that the inn was shabby and I couldn't sleep well, the carriage couldn't use daily luxury, and it was really tiring to sit there.

Li Maonian rarely complained: "If you take the water route, you should be more comfortable along the way."

As he said that, he took out the silk quilt from the block under his body and handed it to Li Chunfang who woke up with both hands: "If you are sleepy, please curl up and sleep."

In order to show his poverty, he did not drive a very good carriage and could only curl up when sleeping.

Li Chunfang opened the curtain, glanced at the location of the road, and then pushed the silkworm back: "We are almost reaching the capital, I won't sleep anymore."

Then he responded to Li Maonian's complaint just now: "Didn't I say that I haven't left home for several years, and I have seen the suffering of the people in various states and capitals along the way."

Li Maonian took the quilt back.

He ruthlessly exposed his father: "I have never seen you inspecting the people of the state capital in the past years."

Li Chunfang shook his head.

His son was just a middle-aged man, so he thought over and over again and decided to explain.

He said kindly and patiently: "This is different."

"In the past, I was a minister. I only managed the cabinet's one-third acre for the emperor and took care of the overall situation."

"now……"

"Bai Yang has already sealed the appointment as a servant. If I don't see the strength of the Zhu family with my own eyes, how can I rest assured?"

There is nothing taboo about having three generations of grandparents in the car.

To put it bluntly, although he was a cabinet minister with great hopes in the world, he was still the steward of the emperor. The strength of the Ming Dynasty really had little to do with him.

After the Ming Dynasty fell, the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River became rich.

But now that he was optimistic about the emperor and sent his granddaughter to the palace, he had to worry about the fate of the Ming Dynasty.

Li Maonian was about to speak but stopped.

Only then did I understand why my father endured this bumpy journey.

Some blame themselves for the complaints just now, and don't know how to deal with them for a while.

Fortunately, at this time, his nephew Li Sicheng interjected out of curiosity: "Now, uncle, look at me all the way, how is my mood?"

Different from the detached perspective of his father's generation, Li Sicheng is young and still has a sense of belonging, taking care of himself one by one.

Li Chunfang looked a little solemn when he heard this: "Compared with when I was in power, I can only say that the deterioration of the world situation has improved slightly, but the improvement is limited."

The deterioration of the situation in the world has improved, but it is still getting worse, just not as fast.

Although Li Chunfang doesn't understand what the second derivative is, she is still very comfortable in using it.

"The situation of land annexation is becoming increasingly severe."

"Especially in the state capital, which has suffered from frequent natural and man-made disasters in the past two years, you can see that the cities and villages are in depression, and the towns of Zhenmang are deserted!"

“The poverty of its people is evident.”

"Shandong and Huaisi are fine. Most of the refugees are begging for food on the streets. The worst they can do is turn into bandits and rob the treasury and kill some county officials."

"I heard that the White Lotus Sect, Wuwei Sect, and Luo Sect in Henan and Shanxi are becoming more and more rampant. Their teachings are deceiving and clinging to them. Among the people, they are already an orthodox religion that can be compared with Buddhism and Taoism!"

"But local and state capitals turned a blind eye."

"Even a white lotus fugitive named Ma Shulinzi, accompanied by men and women, arrived at Xuan Mansion from Yan'an and fled for thousands of miles!"

"There were nearly a thousand people supporting the weapons, selling weapons, and making fortunes and medicines. It was unknown where they were cut off as they passed by. Why was there no one to cross-examine them?"

"The laxity of official administration is evident."
To be continued...