Chapter 1292 - Shaking the World! (I)
Chapter 1292: Shaking the World! (I)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Wang Chong was dazed. He had never expected the situation before him. Ever since he had obtained a vast quantity of Destiny Energy in the war of the southwest, Wang Chong had not run into the World Constraint. As long as one had enough Destiny Energy, the World Constraints would have no effect on him, but this situation was clearly different.
But before Wang Chong could think too deeply about this, the door opened, allowing Su Shixuan, Xu Keyi, Cheng Sanyuan, and Xue Qianjun to rush inside. The four of them scanned the room before swiftly setting eyes on Wang Chong. They had been standing outside the door the entire night as Wang Chong was writing, all of them extremely uneasy.
“Your Highness, how are you doing?”
They stared with concern at Wang Chong behind his desk. Wang Chong’s face was pale and he appeared to have gotten much thinner. But even though he was extremely fatigued, his eyes were shining brightly. Yet this only made them even more worried.
Wang Chong only waved his hand.
“Su Shixuan, Cheng Sanyuan, Xue Qianjun, Xu Keyi, I have a task for you. Take the manuscript on the table and then have it typeset, printed, and bound into books as quickly as possible. In my name, have the book distributed throughout the entire empire. In three days, I want the entire capital and every part of the empire to be able to see this book!”
Wang Chong extended a finger and pointed at the thick stack of papers on the desk.
The study fell silent as everyone stared at the papers.
The moment they had entered the study, they had noticed the stack of papers in front of Wang Chong, thickly covered in writing, the ink still wet.
No one knew what Wang Chong had written, but they all knew that anything that Wang Chong had needed five days to write and that he spoke of so solemnly could not be simple.
“Yes!”
The four of them respectfully replied and stepped forward to take away the thick stack of papers. But the four of them had no idea that when they stepped out of the study, that thick stack of papers became destined to completely alter the Great Tang and the countries that bordered it.
……
The storm had quickly passed, and as the eastern skies slowly brightened, the capital regained its calm. For the people of the capital, the heavenly phenomena produced by Wang Chong as he wrote in his study were a mere illusion and had not affected their lives very much. It was just an additional topic of conversation. Within the capital, the number of people marching had not decreased at all.
The western part of the city, Li Zheng Meat Bun Store.
This steamed meat bun store was renowned throughout the capital. It was said that it was established by a couple with the surnames Li and Zheng, and had a history of seventy-some years, passed down from father to son. Its meat buns were known for their thin, flaky skin and thick, tender, and fragrant meat filling. Many of its patrons would even walk for two hours to eat the meat buns from this store.
In the early morning, steam was rising from the store while a fragrance filled the air. Many customers had gathered at the entrance.
“Shopkeeper, give me three meat buns!” said an azure-robed scholar of thirty-some years, at the same time placing three copper coins on the counter.
“Scholar, once you’re done eating the buns, are you still planning to head to the tea house?” the owner of the store asked as he grabbed the buns. It was clear that he was very familiar with this scholar.
“Heh, that’s right!” the scholar absentmindedly replied as he turned to the bookstall next door.
The bookstall was run by a bearded man of forty-some years. Every morning, this book merchant would come to this place to sell books. Unlike other countries, the Great Tang had a deep appreciation for books and learning. It wasn’t merely the scholar class, but also the ordinary people who enjoyed buying and selling books, either to collect them or pass them down through their families.
The azure-robed scholar happened to be fond of this hobby. Every day, he wanted to see if there were any newly-published books, and once he found one, he would regard it as a treasure and immediately buy it so that he could take it home and carefully read it. But the scholar had not found any new books at this book merchant’s stall for quite some time.
“Mm?”
Suddenly, the scholar’s eyebrow rose as he noticed an additional book on display.
“‘Might Makes Right’? What a strange name!”
The scholar was taken aback. He had been reading since the age of ten, twenty-some years of time, and he had seen all kinds of bizarre names for books. However, he had never seen one like this. And he was not able to determine what the contents of the book were from the title.
This book gave him a completely different feeling and had a completely different style from any other book he owned.
“Shopkeeper, what book is this? How come I’ve never seen it before? Which of the honored scholars wrote it?” the middle-aged scholar asked.
“Ah? Oh, Scholar Zhang! That’s not the case. It’s a new book that was sent over this morning. And the person who wrote this book is rather famous: our Great Tang’s King of Foreign Lands. I heard that he spared no effort to write this book. I’m planning to treat it as a treasure of my store and even keep one book for myself.”
The book merchant cheerfully smiled.
“What?!”
The scholar was astonished by these words, his eyes flying open.
The King of Foreign Lands? He had long ago heard that the King of Foreign Lands was a farsighted strategist who could decide victory from one thousand li away, the Great Tang’s new War God. But he had never heard that the King of Foreign Lands had any attainments on the scholarly path, or that he had even written a book.
The scholar suddenly left the meat bun store and grabbed the book. He happily opened it, but after only taking a few glances, he suddenly paled.
“Shopkeeper, how much for this book?”
“Ten coins, but I’m not selling…” the book merchant subconsciously replied, but before he even got to ‘selling’, he heard the cling of ten coins being thrown on the counter. Scholar Zhang had taken the book and left without another word.
“Hey! Your meat buns!”
……
Thumpthumpthump!
A set of hurried footsteps resounded through the Secretariat Advisor Residence. After just four hours, a Confucian Sect disciple rushed into Li Junxian’s room. The weather was not particularly hot today, but the disciple’s body was drenched in sweat and he appeared extremely uneasy.
“Young Master, it’s bad! The King of Foreign Lands has written a book that’s selling like crazy. The entire city is astir over the book, and almost everyone in the capital has a copy. The situation is extremely bad!”
“Heh, is that so? Given the time that has passed, it’s about time for him to make his counterattack. But his way of counterattacking was to write a book pushing his theories?”
Li Junxian gently smiled and waved his hand, his expression composed and carefree. Given all the time that had passed since the reduction of the army and the start of the anti-war marches, if Wang Chong wasn’t planning to just sit around and wait for his death, this was about the right time for him to show some movement.
If Wang Chong had done nothing at all, it would have left him truly rather surprised.
“Young Master, that’s not it! The situation is different! Young Master, just take a look and you’ll understand!”
To Li Junxian’s surprise, the Confucian Sect disciple began to coldly sweat even more, his entire person even more overcome with anxiety. He apparently had thousands of words on his mind but didn’t know how to say them. His face red with agitation, he decided to just open the bag at his side and offer the book he had bought from the marketplace.
There was a sheet of paper laid out in front of Li Junxian, as he had been planning to do some writing. Li Junxian had originally not placed too much attention on the book presented, but when he saw the simple title, he immediately paled.
“Let me see that!”
Li Junxian’s expression became extremely grave. Even as the brush laden with ink dropped onto the paper and left a giant stain, he paid it no attention.
Flapflap!
When he took the book and flipped to the first page, Li Junxian felt like he had been struck by a lightning bolt, his face completely draining of blood. Gone were his composure, carefreeness, confidence, and grace.
“Impossible! This can’t be…!”
Li Junxian trembled as he read the book, his face growing paler and paler. For the first time in his life, Li Junxian was in complete disarray. He finally understood why that disciple had been so panicked and uneasy. This was no longer a simple book. This book shook the very foundations of the Confucian Sect and the Confucian school.
……
Boom!
Whether it was Li Junxian, the Confucian Sect, the Grand Preceptor, or King Qi, none of them had expected Wang Chong’s counterattack to be so vicious, so tyrannical, so terrifying.
Wang Chong had already been stripped of all military authority, and in the court, the combination of the First Prince, Li Linfu, King Qi, the Grand Preceptor, and Li Junxian had completely monopolized political power. They had originally believed that no matter how capable Wang Chong was, he wouldn’t be able to stir much of a storm. But contrary to their expectations, even without military or political authority, Wang Chong had still managed to create a storm that no military or political authority could have achieved.
Wang Chong had directly attacked the hearts of the people.
“‘Might makes right’, ‘the strong eat the weak’… In this theory, just where do the benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom of my Great Tang go!?”
In a bamboo forest within the capital, an old Confucian read the book in his hand, his body trembling in fury.
“Heresy! This is blatant heresy! The person who dared to say such words should be strangled to death!”
Elsewhere, an irascible and renowned Confucian of the capital slammed a palm against his table, his face twisted in rage.
“A mighty King of the Great Tang dares to expound such a theory! Even pigs and dogs are better than him!”
Elsewhere, four or five Confucians who had been criticizing Wang Chong in front of the marching crowds had gathered together, all of them wrathful.
……
Putting aside the reaction of the Confucians, once ‘Might Makes Right’ was fully distributed to the capital, it created an earthquake and impact that no one could imagine. In the thousands of years of history of the Central Plains, there was no previous example of a general publishing a scholarly treatise, and this one was written by the illustrious King of Foreign Lands. Its effects in the capital were particularly unexpected.