Chapter 147: Treasonous Remarks
Originally, she had slept for less than two hours yesterday and felt a little listless today. Mr. Fan kept talking about things that she didn't like to hear at all, so she would definitely fall asleep easily, so she fell asleep accidentally.
Mr. Fan walked over and tapped Qianhuan's head hard with a book. Qianhuan suddenly opened her eyes with a start.
Seeing Mr. Fan standing in front of her with an unhappy look on his face, Qianhua asked in confusion, "Sir, what can I do for you?"
"Shanbo, can you please tell me your understanding of a subject's loyalty to the emperor and patriotism?"
Qianhuan stood up immediately, lowered her head and said, "Mr. Fan, Shanbo doesn't dare to say it."
"Why wouldn't you dare say it? Just say it if I tell you to."
Qianhuan asked in a low voice: "Mr. Fan, do you want Shanbo to tell the truth or a lie?"
"Of course you are telling the truth. Did your teacher teach you to lie?"
"Sir, do you really want Shanbo to tell the truth? Shanbo would only dare to tell the truth if you guarantee that you will not be angry if the student tells the truth."
Seeing that he was hesitant and evasive in answering a question, Mr. Fan immediately said firmly, "Just tell me, I will never be angry."
Qianhua then cleared her throat and said seriously, "Sir, Shanbo believes that loyalty to the emperor and patriotism are two different things. Sometimes loyalty to the emperor does not mean patriotism, and sometimes patriotism does not necessarily mean loyalty to the emperor. There are officials who are both loyal to the emperor and patriotic, and there are officials who are only loyal to the emperor but not patriotic, and there are officials who are patriotic but not necessarily loyal to the emperor."
Mr. Fan was stunned when he heard this. This was the first time he heard someone say that loyalty to the emperor and patriotism are two different things. In their minds, loyalty to the emperor is equal to patriotism, and patriotism is loyalty to the emperor. How could they be different?
However, Mr. Fan did not interrupt her. He gestured for Shanbo to continue.
"Loyalty to the emperor means being loyal to the emperor, doing everything for the emperor's sake, and not disobeying the emperor's wishes. If you betray the emperor, you are not loyal to the emperor. Patriotism, on the other hand, means loving your country, defending it against powerful enemies, caring for the people, and paying attention to people's livelihood. Mr. Fan, do you think Shanbo is right or wrong?"
"Well, you're right."
"Now that we have figured out the meaning of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, Shanbo will get back to the point. Only with a country can we have a home. Only by loving our country can the people live happily on this land. Therefore, Shanbo believes that patriotism is the duty of every citizen of Dayuan. Like General Qian Da and Prince An Wang, the god of war in our dynasty, they led their troops to resist the invasion of foreign enemies regardless of their own lives. In Shanbo's eyes, they are all models of ministers who are both loyal to the emperor and patriotic."
"But there is another kind of ministers who obey the emperor's wishes and flatter him all day long, but secretly frame loyal officials, take bribes and pervert the law, oppress the people, confuse the emperor, and bring disaster to the country and the people. This kind of ministers are only loyal to the emperor, but not patriotic."
Mr. Fan nodded, agreeing with what Qianhuan said. He even thought to himself: What this kid said makes sense, why is he still worried about making me angry?
Unexpectedly, Qianhuan then talked about the real point.
"Shanbo believes that all subjects must be patriotic, but whether or not they must be loyal to the emperor depends on what kind of emperor he is. If the emperor is wise, then the subjects' loyalty to the emperor is patriotism; if the emperor is incompetent, and the subjects still swear allegiance to him until death, then it can only be called blind loyalty, and they are not loving their country at all. If the emperor's decision is not beneficial to the country and the people, and the subjects go against the emperor's wishes, you can say that he is disloyal, but you cannot say that he is unpatriotic."
Qianhuan's words were like a thunderclap out of nowhere, which made Mr. Fan's eyes widen and he stood there in a daze.
Mr. Fan thought: If these words were to reach the emperor's ears, it would certainly cause an uproar, and at that time it would be a heinous crime punishable by the extermination of all nine generations of my clan.
But why did such a rebellious statement sound so reasonable? Even though he considered himself well-read, he could not find any words to refute the words of the person in front of him.
He could only scold: "Shanbo, how can you talk nonsense like this?"
"Sir, Shanbo is not talking nonsense. As the old saying goes, loyalty to the country is not loyalty to the king, loyalty to the people is not loyalty to the ministers. The ancient sages were able to have such awareness..."
"Shanbo, shut up."
When Mr. Fan saw that the child had said such horrifying words again, he immediately stopped her in a stern voice before she finished speaking.
When Qianhuan saw Mr. Fan’s panicked look, she immediately shut up.
Mr. Fan sternly taught, "Shanbo, do you know that what you just said is extremely treasonous? If someone hears it and it reaches the ears of the emperor, your family will be exterminated and your head will be cut off. Remember, never say such things again in the future."
Qianhuan certainly knew that saying such things was extremely treasonous, but wasn't it too far away from the emperor?
Besides, she had just asked Mr. Fan whether he wanted to hear the truth or a lie. It was clearly Mr. Fan who asked her to tell the truth. He said he would not be angry, but in the end he was mean to her.
Qianhuan could only nod and agree aggrievedly: "Yes, Mr. Fan, Shanbo knows about it, and he will never say it again."
"Well, it's good for you to know. I am doing this for your own good."
Mr. Fan was educating the person in front of him, when suddenly he caught a glimpse of a person standing at the door of the study. Mr. Fan looked up and saw that it was the prince.
Mr. Fan was immediately worried for Shanbo. He didn't know when the prince came and whether he heard what Shanbo had just said.
You have to know that this vast empire belongs to the Teng family!
Mr. Fan immediately shouted towards the door: "Rong Yu, how long have you been here?"
Teng Yu immediately suppressed the turmoil in his heart, pretended to be calm, and then answered in a voice different from his original voice: "Sir, Rong Yu just arrived."
When Mr. Fan heard him say that he had just arrived, he instantly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the prince didn't hear it.
Although Shanbo was a little unstudious and often said shocking things, Mr. Fan knew that he was not a bad person and had a sharp mind. Mr. Fan did not want such a good child to lose his head because of a few words.
Rong Yu glanced casually at Wen Jie and Qian Huan and asked, "Mr. Fan, are these my two junior brothers?"
"Well, these are the two new students I have accepted."
He quickly called two disciples over, "Shanbo, Wenjie, this person in front of you is Rong Yu, a former student of mine. He can be considered your senior brother. You two should quickly come over to greet him."
In fact, Qianhuan had already secretly turned her head to glance at the man who was talking to Mr. Fan. Because Rongyu was standing at the door with his back to the light, Qianhuan could only vaguely see that he was wearing a black suit and was very tall, but her face was not very clear.
Although she couldn't see his face clearly, she had to admit that Qianhuan liked the height of the man in front of her, and his voice was also quite nice.
In modern times, she is obsessed with looks, voices, and height. These three criteria must be met when looking for a partner, otherwise there is no point in talking.
Unfortunately, she had never seen such a tall man in Qingxi County. In the entire county, it was rare to even see a man over 180cm tall.
The only tall and slender person she saw was the man in black whom she had saved in the bamboo forest last time. Alas, she didn't know what had happened to that man. Was he dead or alive?
Rong Yu had also noticed that the people sitting in the seats were stretching their necks to peek at him. He thought: This disciple named Shanbo is really bold and presumptuous. His remarks just now were shocking enough, and now he is actually blatantly glancing at him.
The two men walked up to Rong Yu, bowed gently and said, "Wenjie (Shanbo), meet Senior Brother Rong Yu."