荔枝影院

Edited by: Michyrr

“To not know of propriety, to not understand benevolence... if everyone respects only strength, then how are men any different from birds or beasts?”

“A good saying! What is this ‘might makes right’? A crooked way, a wicked path! Someone should have stood up a long time ago to teach him a lesson!”

In the southern part of the capital was a bamboo forest. Here was a small bridge crossing a gurgling stream, and many illustrious Confucian scholars had gathered in this forest.

They held the two books Li Junxian had published, ‘Benevolence and Righteousness’, and ‘Doctrine of Birds and Beasts’, their expressions brimming with excitement.

They had waited for so long, but the Confucian counterattack was finally here. It came fast, vicious, and sharp beyond compare.

“Who cares about the King of Foreign Lands!? What can he do, even if he’s the Son of Heaven’s disciple? Anyone who dares to espouse such heresy must have their reputation ruined and be disdained by all!”

“Let’s use this ‘Might Makes Right’ as a chance for all of us to join together and make sure he doesn’t get out of this in one piece!” several Confucians excitedly said.

At the same time, elsewhere in the capital, a general who had taken off his armor walked into a restaurant. There, another general wearing civilian clothes was waiting for him.

“This conflict is a chance. The matter of Khorasan from before was one thing, but this time, we must help the King of Foreign Lands no matter what!”

“That’s right! We generals have always been quick to act but slow to speak, causing us to be constantly suppressed by the Confucians. Now that the King of Foreign Lands has published a book and spoken up for the militarists, we have to support him. Helping him is helping ourselves!”

The two of them stared at each other across the table, both of them seeing the same resolve in each other’s eyes. Since ancient times, the number of militarists who had been able to write a book espousing their theories was far too small. What authors there were would normally write about the art of war, which nobody other than generals would read.

As for things like ‘the strong eat the weak’, ‘survival of the fittest’, ‘law of the jungle’, and ‘the dark forest1’, these were things that no one had ever mentioned before.

Not even the most formidable War Gods and generals in history had ever used this method to distill the essence of militarist thought, expounding upon it in such a deep and open manner that even the common people could accept it.

“The Confucians have already begun their counterattack. ‘Benevolence and Righteousness’ and ‘Doctrine of Birds and Beasts’ are only the beginning, and there will probably be even more actions taken soon. We have to think of a way to embed the theories of the King of Foreign Lands deep in the minds of the people and spread them as much as possible!”

“Mm!”

The two of them shared a glance, clinked cups, and a few moments later, they left the restaurant.

......

Whoosh!

Countless birds were flying out of the capital at every moment, headed in all directions. From the moment Li Junxian had published his two books, two streams of thought had begun to fiercely clash in the capital. The storm they created earned them the attention of the rulers of all the surrounding countries.

Ü-Tsang, the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates, Goguryeo, Mengshe Zhao, Arabia, the Xi, the Khitans... the entire world was watching this clash of ideologies taking place in the center of the Great Tang.

“This storm in the Great Tang no longer concerns only itself. Our Goguryeo and all the other countries bordering the Great Tang are now involved. Send King Gogugwon2 over with one million taels of gold. Have him purchase as many copies as he can of Li Junxian’s ‘Benevolence and Righteousness’ and ‘Doctrine of Birds and Beasts’ from the book merchants and get them into the hands of every Tang person as quickly and as cheaply as possible. I want all the Tang to be able to buy these books for cheaper than it costs to print them!

“If the King of Foreign Lands and his ‘Might Makes Right’ are allowed to win in this war, not only will our entire Goguryeo be invaded by the Great Tang, the entire empire might never be able to recover again!”

Yeon Gaesomun stood on the high walls of Bisa, his six sabers on his back, his warrior aura unsurpassed by any other expert. He gazed toward the distant Central Plains with a look of unprecedented solemnity on his face. He had taken part in many wars, exchanged blows with Zhang Shougui many times, and defeated countless famed Tang generals.

But none of these wars had felt more dangerous to him than this clash of ideologies taking place in the capital of the Great Tang. The unseen blade... was often the fastest and sharpest!

Gallop!

With Yeon Gaesomun’s order, several hours later, a force of several hundred soldiers carrying massive quantities of gold quietly departed the Goguryeo Empire. Youzhou had been sealed off by Zhang Shougui and his Andong Protectorate army, making it almost impossible for the Goguryeons to get through.

But there was still a road called the ‘water road’. If one set out from Hwando and the wind was favorable, one could quickly get around Youzhou and reach the interior.

......

At the same time, on the distant Tibetan Plateau, the winds were howling as a vulture flew out of the clouds and landed in the royal capital.

“The Confucians... finally made a move! In order to deal with the Tang, we have to use the Tang!”

After reading the letter, Dalon Trinling breathed a sigh of relief.

“Tell the Eastern and Western Turks to start playing their arts! In the name of our three countries, we will inform the Great Tang that the King of Foreign Lands is a constant threat to the surrounding countries. If they can successfully deal with the King of Foreign Lands and minimize the influence of this affair, Ü-Tsang and the Eastern and Western Turks will become allies of the Great Tang. If Arabia attacks, our three countries are willing to aid the Great Tang in fighting against Arabia!”

“Imperial Minister, are we really becoming allies with the Great Tang?” a general responsible for taking notes said, his expression frozen in shock.

“Hmph!”

Dalon Trinling said nothing, only shot a cold glare at the general. The general trembled and his body paled. He immediately lowered his head and continued writing.

“The only person now who can deal with the King of Foreign Lands is that little Confucian. I trust that he will know what to do once he sees this letter!”

With these words, Dalon Trinling left the hall.

______________

1. The only reference I can find to the ‘dark forest’ is Liu Cixin’s science fiction trilogy, ‘Remembrance of Earth’s Past’. The ‘dark forest theory’ is founded on two axioms. The first is that the primary need of every civilization is to survive. The second is that while all civilizations grow and expand, the amount of resources in the universe is finite. This makes every other civilization a potential threat. In addition, because of the vast distances separating alien civilizations, communication takes immense amounts of time, building distrust and suspicion. As a result, each civilization is a silent hunter in a dark forest. Obviously, the latter point about vast distances hindering communication does not exactly apply to this setting. Wang Chong more likely emphasized finiteness of resources.↩

2. Gogugwon was historically the sixteenth King of Goguryeo.↩