The Marquis Mansion's Elite Class-Chapter 235

Wei Xinglu quickly responded, "This shows that the imperial court is paying less and less attention to the Child Scholar Examination. Even though Jin Cheng mentioned that two eight-year-old child scholars eventually became prime ministers, the court is still reducing the emphasis on the Child Scholar Examination. This means... this means that apart from those two, many other child scholars who became officials at a very young age were not competent enough to hold their positions. Jin Cheng is deliberately avoiding the main issue!"

Jiang Yan nodded approvingly, "Exactly."

Shen Yibai felt as if a light had been lit in his mind, and he suddenly became enlightened. He felt incredibly powerful at that moment and stood up with a loud clap, saying, "Come on, Jin Cheng, let's debate another three hundred rounds!"

Jiang Yan: "..."

He's already getting carried away.

Wei Xinglu, being slightly more rational, grabbed him and said, "Don't be impulsive, Yibai. The declining trend of child scholars was something Teacher Jiang explained to us. It's not our own knowledge. We still have too little understanding of these matters. Even if we manage to argue this point, Jin Cheng will definitely have other ways to counter us."

Shen Yibai understood but was still impatient. His competitive spirit was very strong, and he was always thinking about defeating Jin Cheng.

Jiang Yan picked up the book on historical figures again and said with a smile, "Children, let's study this book carefully. Once we know all the key points, it won't be so easy for Jin Cheng to catch us off guard by avoiding the main issues."

Wei Xinglu nodded, "That's right. We lost yesterday because we didn't understand the imperial examination system well enough. Otherwise, we could have debated with Jin Cheng for a while longer."

Shen Yibai sat back down with a loud thud, "Come on, give me the book. I'm going to memorize all these famous officials and good officials. Let's see how Jin Cheng can spout nonsense the day after tomorrow."

Wei Xinglu added, "Then I'll study the bad officials, so we don't get fooled by Jin Cheng again."

"Alright, brother, let's get started!"

When Zong Wenxiu arrived with the book, he saw the two new teammates already studying together. Before he could smile in relief, he heard Shen Yibai reading about Elder Bao's life: "Appointed as a Scholar of the Dragon Circle Pavilion."

Wei Xinglu kindly corrected his brother, "It's Scholar of the Dragon Round Pavilion."

Jiang Yan, feeling exhausted, corrected them both, "It's Scholar of the Dragon Diagram Pavilion."

Zong Wenxiu: "..."

Forget it, I'll rely on myself.

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Little Wenxiu held the book and quietly flipped through it. He had a particularly strong sense of empathy. When he read about Elder Bao's unwavering integrity and his efforts to rid the people of evil, he felt a warm surge in his heart. When he read about Zhao Gao forging an edict to kill Fu Su, he felt heartbroken and regretful. When he read about Zhuge Liang's brilliant strategies to save the nation and its people, he felt inspired. And when he read about Yue Fei's loyalty to the country being betrayed by Qin Hui with false charges, he was filled with grief and anger.

Zhao Yin saw his fluctuating emotions and sat down beside him, asking, "Wenxiu, are you having trouble understanding anything?"

Zong Wenxiu shook his head, "No, I just feel sad that some good officials were harmed so badly by bad officials. It's heartbreaking."

Zhao Yin sighed, "History cannot be changed. All we can do is try our best to prevent such tragedies from happening in the future."

"Mm," Zong Wenxiu said seriously, "I definitely won't go easy on my younger brother the day after tomorrow. Good officials shouldn't lose to bad officials, no matter the circumstances."

Zhao Yin smiled, "Good, I'll help you study too."

On the other side, the two brothers from the "bad officials" group sat far away.

Zong Jincheng was practicing independent thinking and deliberately didn't call Pan Hongzhi over to help. He Zheng, while reading his book, waited for his older brother to come over. When he looked up, he saw Zong Jincheng holding a biography.

He took a closer look—it was a biography of Yue Fei.

He Zheng: "..."

Suddenly, he remembered they were supposed to defend the notorious villain Qin Hui.

This realization made him feel extremely uneasy.

He Zheng asked timidly, "Big brother, are we really going to defend Qin Hui? He's the one who caused Yue Fei's death, a traitor despised by the people for generations."

Zong Jincheng didn't even turn his head and decisively replied, "Of course not. Who would defend that scoundrel? I'm just trying to understand why he wanted to harm Yue Fei, to find some ideas for the debate."

"Ah?" He Zheng perked up at this. "I remember when we studied this before, it was because Yue Fei threatened Qin Hui's personal interests. It was Qin Hui's selfish nature and his desire for power that led him to kill Yue Fei."

Zong Jincheng looked over and asked, "But are selfishness and self-interest innate?"

"Ah?" He Zheng scratched his head. "Some are innate, some are learned, I guess. Why do you ask, big brother?"

Zong Jincheng frowned, "I'm wondering, are all traitors born that way? Xunzi said human nature is inherently evil, while Mencius said it's inherently good. But I think human nature has both good and evil. Some traitors are born bad, while others become bad over time. So, what causes those who become bad officials later in life to turn out that way?"

He Zheng's eyes widened as his older brother's new line of thought opened up a whole new perspective for him.

He Zheng quickly added, "Maybe bad officials were very poor as children? Maybe they were often bullied or looked down upon?"

The little devil thought for a moment and said, "Although being bullied is tragic, it shouldn't make someone lose their moral compass and become a bad official. But this is a good angle for the debate. When faced with a conflict between personal interests and collective interests, we often choose to sacrifice personal interests. But what if the same person is always the one being sacrificed?"

He Zheng was also enlightened. He muttered, "If I were a bad official, if everyone wronged me, if I was always the one being sacrificed... then why should I care about anyone else?"

Zong Jincheng held the book and continued to think deeply, putting himself in the shoes of a bad official: "If I were a bad official, I would want to survive, I would want to climb higher. And anyone who opposes me, anyone who wants to kill me, must die. Only then can I rest easy, with no one left to threaten my position or my life. So, how do I kill these good people, these ones loved by the people? Openly killing them won't work. I need to find a powerful ally, someone in a high position who is on my side. I need to sow discord between them and the loyal officials, make the ruler act against them... But how do I sow discord? What does the ruler fear the most?"

He Zheng, listening beside him, was wide-eyed and stuttered, "B-big brother, what are you saying? Have you gone mad? Are you... possessed?"

Zong Jincheng, interrupted, hissed, "You're too noisy."

He Zheng, shrinking back, said, "I just think you're getting a bit carried away. Why are you putting yourself in the shoes of a bad official trying to kill good ones? Aren't we just here for a debate competition?"

The little devil snorted to himself: You don't understand.

This debate topic was specially designed by my mother to train me. It was tailor-made for me. To win, you must know your enemy as well as yourself.

He patted his younger brother's shoulder and said, "Go look up the biographies of other notorious traitors and bring them to me. I need to find their common traits."

He Zheng shook his head like a rattle, "Big brother, maybe you should take a break. I'm afraid you'll really start acting like a bad official and come out wanting to kill us all."