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Chapter 154 The Vegetable Garden and Confucianism

With the status of the Cui family, it was a big event in the whole Qing Prefecture that Cui Keli would succeed to the home lord, so a lot of people would be invited to the ceremony and it would take time to prepare. Considering that the Convention of Penglai Immortals and Taoism was approaching, the final decision was that the ceremony would be held after the Convention of Penglai Immortals and Taoism ended.

Under the guard of some cultivators on horseback, a carriage drove out of the gate of Qing Prefecture along the official road to the east.

The carriage was quite spacious, and Cui Keli was sitting in it.

This Confucian scholar couldn’t keep himself idle for a second. He read in the carriage on his way. Although the carriage swayed, Cui Keli wasn’t affected because of his cultivation. When he was interested, he would also take some notes.

Li Ye, Su Emei and Wei Xiaozhuang were riding horses in front of the carriage.

Wei Xiaozhuang was very excited as he talked about the Taoist temple with Li Ye. “Although our Taoist temple doesn’t farm, there is a vegetable garden, which is tidied up by my senior sister. I remember when we were a kid, about seven or eight years old, we went down with our master for the first time and saw the villagers and fields at the foot of the mountain. From then on, my senior sister would alone go to the side of the Taoist temple mysteriously to tidy up the flat wasteland at every noon. Picking up stones and pulling up weeds, she finally managed to make a place, and then she transplanted the potherbs from the mountain into the field. She watched there with great anticipation, hoping to make a vegetable garden. In the evening, she got up to watch for a while, causing my master and me unable to sleep.”

“Guess what? Haha. On the next day, when we got up and went to have a look, they were all dead, for which my master and I both laughed at her, making my senior sister cry. Sitting next to the vegetable garden alone, she sulked for most of the day and ignored us. My master felt sorry for her, so he went to the mountain to find some potherb seeds and gave them to my senior sister. He also taught her how to reclaim the wasteland. But in fact, my master had never farmed before and he only saw someone farming, so he knew little about farming. As a result, the potherb seeds were planted, but nothing happened. It was winter at that time and the field was frosted, so the potherb seeds couldn’t grow up. Haha. I can’t forget the scene that my senior sister squatted beside the vegetable garden, looking and waiting silently. But it had just snowed, so there was nothing in the vegetable garden but thick snow.”

Li Ye was very interested in it and he had been listening carefully, so Wei Xiaozhuang was more excited. “Then my senior sister got angry again, but this time she was angry about herself and shut herself in the room without going out for most of the day. By the next spring, the potherb seeds had managed to grow a few, but there were really only a few, three or four, which was very pitiful. That wasn’t the funniest part. The funniest part was that the seeds weren’t potherb seeds at all. Guess what? They were not potherbs but petunias! Haha, laughed my ass off.”

“I laughed at my master for a long time. It was the first time for my master to flush from embarrassment, while my senior sister was depressed with tears in her eyes. Haha. You can imagine the scene that only I was happy among the three of us...”

Li Ye smiled and asked, “And then?”

“And then? Without a doubt, I was beaten. They beat me up together. In the end, I was the only one who cried, and they both laughed. Piss me off!”

Su Emei secretly gnashed her teeth and glared at Wei Xiaozhuang. Wei Xiaozhuang was so frightened that he shut up immediately. Li Ye saw her embarrassment, so he felt more interested. He asked Wei Xiaozhuang, “What happened later?”

Wei Xiaozhuang giggled. “Later, my master felt sorry for her because he gave her wild grass seeds as potherb seeds so that she wasted a winter and a spring. He felt sympathetic to my senior sister since she was so young at that time. And his omnipotent image was destroyed. In order to maintain his image, he took us down the mountain to consult the villagers at the foot of the mountain. In the end, we figured out the knowledge inside it. Later, the villagers gave my senior sister a large handful of potherb seeds from door to door because my master had a good reputation in the village and saved many patients. When she took the potherb seeds up to the mountain, she didn’t let us touch them at all, just like protecting her children. She was very fierce. Humph. When she was little, she was petty.”

In contact with Su Emei’s murderous gaze, Wei Xiaozhuang awkwardly scratched his head. He cleared his throat and continued, “Later, my master and I wanted to help her with the vegetable garden, but she waved her hand to drive us out. She didn’t trust us at all. She worked very hard in the vegetable garden alone with a big hoe which was up to her chin.”

“Finally, a few spring onions grew up. Those days, she was very happy for seeing the spring onions growing up. She went many times to have a look at them every day. She was as swift as a cat. She prevented us from pulling out the first spring onions and eating them. No matter how my master and I tried to persuade her, she stood in the way of the vegetable garden, stubbornly shaking her head, like a hen guarding her young. Those were vegetables for eating, but she refused to let us eat them.”

“In the end, my master and I could do nothing and felt hopeless, so we sighed for our miserable life together. It wasn’t easy for some spring onions to grow up, but we could only look at them and couldn’t eat them, which was unreasonable. Until one night, when my senior sister brought out the steamed patty, my master and I were surprised to find that there were countless green points on the steamed patty, which smelled and looked good. It turned out that my senior sister had pulled out the spring onions and cut them up to mix with the steamed patty. My master and I enjoyed that meal very much. It was very delicious, like the roast chicken that you made. Haha.”

Li Ye was amused and looked at Su Emei. She ducked her head, too shy to see anyone. He asked Wei Xiaozhuang, “Why did your senior sister suddenly think through it? Didn’t she refuse to let you eat them?”

Wei Xiaozhuang giggled. “She didn’t think through it, but it was because the spring onions were going to turn yellow. If we didn’t eat them, they would die, so she had no choice but took them out!”

Su Emei glared at Wei Xiaozhuang murderously as if she was going to kill him with a sword. “Wei Xiaozhuang!”

“Okay, I stop talking!” Wei Xiaozhuang raised his hand to surrender, but he laughed so hard that his eyes couldn’t be seen on his round face. Only a wide-open mouth could be seen.

Li Ye couldn’t help but look at Su Emei. He thought she was so lovely when she was little. Indeed, little girls were lovely, while little boys were naughty and couldn’t rival the little girls in attraction. As long as little girls didn’t cry all the time, they were cute when they were little.

Su Emei was very charming and more beautiful than a peony, but her temperament was graceful and restrained and she was introverted. Aware of Li Ye’s gaze, she dared not to look at Li Ye, like being caught doing something wrong. But she couldn’t keep her head down all the time, so she turned her head slightly to look at the other side of the road, leaving her soft and beautiful profile as well as her delicate and small ear to Li Ye.

At this time, the setting sun was on the side of Su Emei’s head. In the setting of the red sun, her charming and quiet face made Li Ye lose concentration for a while. Perhaps she could feel Li Ye’s gaze, Su Emei was a little bit embarrassed, so she flushed and her red face was just like this season’s ripe white peach. She unconsciously pressed her lower lip. This little movement made Li Ye’s heart beat faster, so he quickly withdrew his eyes.

Wei Xiaozhuang saw Li Ye’s look and giggled in a low voice on the side.

Seeing Li Ye looking over, Wei Xiaozhuang excitedly continued, “My master also raises two fish in the Taoist temple since my senior sister and I have memories, one in each fish tank. One is black and one is white. But so many years have passed, the two small fish haven’t grown up and they are still very small.”

He showed the length with his thumb and index finger. “I said to my master that since the fish couldn’t grow up, why didn’t we cook it? My master beat me immediately at that time. Perhaps because he was afraid that I would eat the two fish on the sly while he was away, he beat me so hard that my ass was badly injured.”

Li Ye smiled. “So you really didn’t eat them on the sly?”

“Of course not. Am I such a coward?” Wei Xiaozhuang shouted loudly. Then he felt frustrated and unhappy. “On one occasion, when my master went down the mountain, I went to catch the fish, but I couldn’t catch it at all. The fish was in the fish tank, but I couldn’t touch it. My fingers could pass through its body as if it hadn’t existed. I also asked my senior sister to catch it with me. She was sensible, so she refused at the beginning. But after I said to her that I couldn’t touch the fish at all, she didn’t believe me, so she came to try, however, she didn’t succeed either.”

Li Ye was interested. “And then?”

“And then my master came back and punished us to kneel for all night.” Wei Xiaozhuang giggled. “My master later told us that we shouldn’t try to catch those two fish again because how many achievements that my senior sister and I would make in the future depended on the two small fish, which we thought was a lie. My senior sister and I didn’t believe his words, but we didn’t catch the fish anymore. However, they haven’t grown up yet.”

Li Ye was interested, but he was deep in thought.

He thought the two small fish were similar to the pool of green lotuses in Niushou Mountain.

Before Li Ye could figure it out, Cui Keli opened the curtain and greeted Li Ye to come in.

Li Ye went into the carriage and sat opposite Cui Keli. He couldn’t help but remember that before leaving the Cui family, Cui Shulin had a talk with him. At that time, Cui Shulin, who was kind, expressed his gratitude and appreciation to Li Ye and kept beating around the bush about Li Ye’s identity. Fortunately, before his transmigration, Li Ye had lived for a long time, so lying was a piece of cake to him and he didn’t reveal his secret. Of course, this was what he thought so.

Cui Keli asked Li Ye to come in to talk about Confucianism. At that time, when Li Ye entered Cui Keli’s room, he had expressed his admiration for the other side’s manuscripts, so Cui Keli felt delighted. To the scholar, a friend who had come from afar was always worth talking with.

“Since the Han Dynasty, the Confucian statecraft has been gradually accepted by the world and developed. It has had a brilliant time. However, compared with Taoism, Confucianism has too obvious shortcomings in the way of cultivation. People pursue power, so who isn’t eager for quick success and instant benefits? The cultivation system of Taoist sect is complete and concise and the other three sects can’t be compared with it. Most Confucian scholars will turn to cultivate Taoist methods as soon as they become Imperial Scholars, which is the evidence.”

Shaking his head, Li Ye said, “It’s very difficult for Confucianism to flourish.”

However, Cui Keli didn’t agree with Li Ye. He asked, “Confucian scholars take the achievement, the morality and the inheritance as their lifelong pursuit. They aim to share the burden of the emperor and save people from difficult situations. In the final analysis, they should govern the country well and let the people in the world have nothing to worry about so that the people will be well-educated and propriety-minded and then they will be loyal to the emperor and make contributions to the country. So why would the Confucian scholars need cultivation and powerful strength?”

“If there are thieves in the mountains and there are wars on the border, can cultivators solve these problems thoroughly? If they can, why should a country need the army? If they can, why couldn’t rebels be banned and why couldn’t wars stop on the border with so many cultivators all over the world?”

Li Ye smiled and said, “So what do you mean?”

Cui Keli said solemnly, “Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and Militarism must be controlled by the imperial court. In this world, there can be no Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and Militarism, but there can’t be no powerful imperial court. If the imperial court is powerful, the emperor can command the world with majesty and the three ministries and six departments can control all the places. In this case, no matter Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and Militarism or various trades and workers, they can perform their own functions and make contributions to the livelihood of all the people. In a word, the imperial court is the center, the governance of the world is the purpose, and Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and Militarism are just means.”

Li Ye said, “Confucianism worship the past and reject the present. Although there’re views of statecraft, most of them are generalized. In terms of moral articles and poetry, the other sects are inferior to Confucianism. But in terms of doing something practical personally, Confucianism is not as good as workers in understanding the various trades and Confucianism is not as good as Militarism in commanding troops and fighting on the battlefield...”

“I’ve heard such dialogue. The emperor asked how to govern a country? Confucianism answered benevolence, loyalty and etiquette; the emperor asked how to repel the enemies on the border? Confucianism answered benevolence, loyalty and etiquette; the emperor asked how the world can be pacified with so many natural and man-made disasters? Confucianism answered benevolence, loyalty and etiquette...”

“Is there a clear theory for Confucian statecraft? The views of Confucianism are nothing but benevolence, loyalty and etiquette. Confucianism worships these, but regards merchants, workers, pedlars and servants as the people of lower social status and regards the study of enforcing the country and enriching the people as attending to trifles and neglecting the essentials. It seems that in Confucianism’s view, the study of mind, such as benevolence, loyalty and etiquette, is the best thing that it can solve all the problems in the world.”

“But the truth is that it can’t. Confucian scholars are good at the empty talk but short of concerning the current affairs. They talk about their concern for the country and people with high spirit and romantic words. But in fact, they can’t kill enemies on the battlefield nor cure a person. In a word, Confucianism aims at study and mind but doesn’t aim at current affairs. The person who can govern current affairs is not the Confucian scholar but the scholar who digests various kinds of knowledge.”

Cui Keli opened his eyes wide at first, and then he fell into deep thought. When Li Ye finished his words, Cui Keli sighed. “You’re wrong!”

After saying that, he looked up and sighed again. “The world misunderstood me! The world misunderstood ancient sages!”

After sighing, Cui Keli looked at Li Ye and said seriously, “What you have said is not groundless, but not all of them are the teachings of the ancient sages. Since the Han Dynasty, the imperial court has used Confucianism to govern the country most of the time. In order to meet the needs of the emperor’s governing the country, there are many places of Confucianism, which have been completely changed.”

Speaking of this, he said solemnly, “But the words of Confucius and Mencius and the six arts of a gentleman are the best wisdom at all time. The world misunderstands Confucianism because most of them don’t comprehend the words of Confucius and Mencius thoroughly but believe the world’s criticism of Confucianism easily!”

Cui Keli let out a long sigh. “Indeed, Confucianism isn’t perfect and there are many inconsiderate places. But how many things in the world are perfect? We, scholars, can only strive for perfection. In the early Qin and Han dynasties, a hundred schools of thought converged, and the scholars absorbed the essence of each other’s schools and constantly perfected their own theories. At that time, it was possible to produce a truly perfect theory.”

“However, since the Han dynasty, the world has only worshiped Confucianism, so Confucianism has no rivals. There is the need for flattering the emperor and echoing the emperor’s statecraft, so they have changed the words of ancient sages and go on the way of self-depravity. Time brings great changes to the world. Time is passing and the world is changing. Only by constantly absorbing the essence of others and improving itself can any school of thought become truly useful and cope with new situations and problems. However, Confucianism doesn’t do so. “Not only does it fail to do so, but also it continues to fall and constantly revises the essence in order to cater to the needs of the emperor and ensure the emperor’s absolute rule over the country, therefore, it is inevitable that the world will misunderstand Confucianism.”

Li Ye didn’t express his opinion and asked, “So, what’s your point?”

Cui Keli said severely, “If a person has no enemies, he will slack off; if a country is closed, it will decline, so if Confucianism has no rivals, how can it not fall? The words of the ancient sages aren’t perfect. And your word that Confucianism aims at study and mind but doesn’t aim at current affairs is valid. So because of this, we, scholars, should constantly strive to improve our own theory! If the ancient sages have done everything and if they are right about everything, what else should we current people do?”

Li Ye was stunned and he didn’t expect that Cui Keli would have such a speech.

Cui Keli sat up straight with a serious look. “The reason that the world would be chaotic was that people wouldn’t be well settled. Since our scholars take the world as our own responsibility, we should restrain ourselves before we restrain others. The words of the ancient sages are bound to improve, and the theory of governing the country also needs to constantly refine. Only in this way can we contribute a truly complete and useful theory of statecraft to the emperor and the people as soon as possible and live up to our identity, the scholar! If the world couldn’t be peaceful and the people couldn’t get out of suffering, and then scholars have no qualifications to call themselves scholars!”

Li Ye was filled with awe. He cupped his hands and said, “Talking with you for one moment is much better than reading books for ten years.”