Chapter 112: Confucianism

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Ning Yi sighed as he left the room.

Li Pin was still in the room, perhaps digesting those ideas, or even jotting some down. It didn't matter. Once something was said, Ning Yi didn't care if Li Pin thought about it or scrutinized it in the future; it would then become Li Pin's own thoughts and path.

Some ideas he expressed, others he didn't. As he'd said, "They were all just jokes." This wasn't merely a polite excuse to avoid suspicion; in his view, it truly was all a joke—an irresponsible one at that.

Fixing the flaws and loopholes in the current political system was almost a pipe dream. Of course, when it came to purely discussing the problems faced, he had naturally considered them. For instance, commerce was not a critical weakness needing urgent development in the Wu Dynasty; it was already a strength, longer than anyone else's. From a balanced development perspective, many other institutions were currently unable to keep up with commercial growth. Further developing commerce, even if it brought short-term benefits, would lead to deformity, and for a nation, such deformity was truly dangerous.

As for Confucianism, it had reached a point of saturation and overflow. If there were a real possibility of taking a proactive step forward, detailed division of labor would be an excellent direction—on one hand, it could reasonably reallocate overflowing educational capacity, and on the other, prepare for potential future industrialization. Of course, it looked appealing, but the problem was, it was all a joke.

The root of all this lay in Confucianism.

Ning Yi said he admired Confucianism, not as flattery or sarcasm, but with genuine, heartfelt reverence. He was accustomed to management and could clearly see the strengths and weaknesses of various management disciplines. In a company with thousands or tens of thousands of people, he could perfect systems and manage people effectively. Everyone would follow the rules, a cycle would be established, and everything would run smoothly. But life wasn't that simple, and a nation was certainly not that superficial.

Confucianism wasn't some pedantic, useless doctrine by "Old Man Confucius." Confucius's Analects simply taught principles of self-cultivation and life's regularities. Subsequent rulers discovered the key within these principles, finding ways to formulate rules, utilize, and guide these regularities. Then, generation after generation, they perfected and augmented it, making modifications, fine-tuning, and finding compromises when problems arose. For thousands of years, the brightest minds of every dynasty contributed to the refinement of this governing philosophy, like sifting sand for gold...

Stripping away its outwardly gentle and pedantic facade, this was a truly pragmatic and highly effective system of governance. In modern management philosophy, for instance, in a company, cultivating a corporate culture that fosters a sense of belonging already requires immense effort and is almost the ultimate goal. If modern management could be likened to an 8-bit computer program, Confucianism was an entire genealogical tree, managing the hearts and minds of tens of millions of people, yet people barely noticed its influence; they simply took it for granted.

Thousands of years of development and evolution, where the fittest survived. If the Han ethnic group were considered as a whole, this system was almost one of the gene bundles it had developed. Even for the next thousand years, anyone ruling this land would ultimately have to use Confucianism in a modified way. It wasn't about someone truly admiring Han culture, but rather that without this model, they would simply be eliminated. In terms of its intricacy and complexity, European constitutional monarchies, parliamentary systems, church rule, Japanese Bushido, or the Indian caste system, among others, were far inferior to Confucianism.

It was like a vast spiderweb: move one thread, and those nearby would pull on you, layer upon layer, interconnected. To reform it internally, no one knew where to apply force, or how much force would be needed to achieve results. It was like punching the surface of water; no matter how high the splash, the water would eventually push back. If one person sought to reform, they would face a giant web composed of tens of millions of people, a collection of the wisdom of the most brilliant minds from every dynasty and era over thousands of years—a colossal Tai Chi diagram. This was tantamount to a single person trying to play cat's cradle within such a system.

For Ning Yi, he would sit and contemplate, even admire, such a system, perhaps even trembling at its exquisite brilliance. He regarded it as a work of art. But to ask him to reform it from within, he lacked the confidence for such internal innovation. In some dynasties, exceptionally brilliant individuals found key points, but few could be confident whether those key points were truly correct. Wang Anshi's reforms in the Northern Song Dynasty, led by a genius with imperial support, persisted for many years but were ultimately crushed by immense feedback pressure. Shang Yang's reforms in the Qin Dynasty did find a crucial point and succeeded, but personally, he offended too many people and was eventually torn apart by five horses.

In Chinese philosophy, there is the concept of Tai Chi and Yin-Yang: the greater the force applied, the greater the feedback force. Those who attempted major reforms within the Confucian system often met a bad end. Of course, individuals with certain ideas could try to push the system with their own efforts. Li Pin had that qualification; if he wanted to do it, he should. That's why Ning Yi casually mentioned those things to him.

However, in Ning Yi's heart, internal reform was a thankless task. Even if he was skilled at scheming and power struggles, supported by modern theories, or could "play Tai Chi" to make a court run wild, he had no confidence he could withstand the backlash when that force returned.

Of course, why bother resisting? If he were truly to do something, Ning Yi would only consider becoming another Liao or Jin, overthrowing the entire Wu Dynasty from the outside. A governing system must rely on human existence; once the nation was defeated, the Confucian system would become rigid, and one could seize the opportunity to inject desired elements into it. Incidentally, the many redundancies accumulated from years of the system's operation could also be swept away. It would be like reinstalling a computer system, and then... watching how it slowly digests things as it starts running again...

This was what Ning Yi truly believed was the simplest method of reform. Of course, even in casual conversation, he couldn't tell Li Pin this. Li Pin sought methods for internal innovation, so Ning Yi offered his views on internal innovation. Li Pin wasn't someone who blindly followed without thinking; even if Ning Yi's words were alarming, he would be startled once, but thereafter he would gradually digest them and transform them into his own ideas. If Li Pin truly achieved something significant in the future, Ning Yi would probably watch the changes from the sidelines, finding it merely interesting.

It was nothing more than idle chatter, and it was only afternoon. He was just an idle, bored merchant's son-in-law. After finishing his empty talk, he put it out of his mind and walked out of the academy. When he reached the entrance of Yushan Academy, he saw two carriages parked by the roadside wall, with some attendants and guards seemingly waiting for someone. Carriages from the Yong Prince's residence. Ning Yi felt a slight flicker of doubt and looked back towards the academy.

Had that brother and sister duo come to challenge someone again, and missed him?

Good if they missed him. Ning Yi chuckled mischievously, shaking his head, and walked straight away. He hadn't had lunch yet and planned to eat something at an inn on a street near the academy. As he turned a corner, he saw Xiao Chan approaching from down the road, walking in the shade of a large locust tree. Seeing him, she smiled and waved, "Master!" Sunlight filtered down from above the locust tree.

Accompanying Xiao Chan was a house servant carrying some boxes. Recently, many disaster victims had suddenly entered the city. Although public order was generally maintained, the Su Residence still instructed its female family members and maids to always have an escort when going out, to prevent any incidents. This servant was probably dispatched by Xiao Chan to act as an escort and bodyguard. Seeing Ning Yi, Xiao Chan turned back and said a few words, then nodded slightly, bowed in thanks, and sent the servant back. The servant was somewhat flattered; when in a good mood, Xiao Chan was always extremely polite, appearing amiable and kind to everyone.

Meanwhile, at the entrance of Yushan Academy, where Ning Yi had just left, a brother and sister pair stealthily emerged. Only when they couldn't see Ning Yi did they become more open. Zhou Junwu looked at the streets on both sides, his shoulders slumped. "Sister, that Ning Yi is really impressive."

Zhou Pei was a little silent, frowning. After a long moment, she glanced at her brother. "I know he's impressive."

"So, are we still going to test him?"

"Of course, we'll ask him," Zhou Pei mused, walking towards the carriage. "But we'll come back when we're ready."

"Mm-hmm," Zhou Junwu followed behind, nodding in agreement. "He actually managed to make Li Pin admit defeat. He's incredibly impressive. Just how impressive is he... But I didn't quite understand what he said... Sister, sister, did you understand it...?"

"Shut up."

"Oh... But I think..."

The siblings' voices faded as the carriage started moving, disappearing down the street. It was an early autumn afternoon, with white clouds drifting lazily. On another street, Ning Yi and Xiao Chan were heading to a nearby inn.

That evening, Zhou Pei sat in a daze in the Kang Prince's Residence garden. No lamps were lit around her, and no maids came to disturb her. The young girl, a princess, always enjoyed pondering things in such quiet surroundings. She wore a long dress, her freshly bathed hair still damp. She had removed her shoes and socks and leaned against the pavilion in the garden. It was close to the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month; the moonlight was bright, and fireflies danced among the nearby flowers and plants.

Zhou Junwu wasn't home that night. After dinner, he had gone to play at his Grandfather Consort's place. At that moment, he was also sitting in the Consort's Residence garden, enjoying the cool air. While the other children ran around and played, he secretly recounted what he had heard that day to Kang Xian.

"Grandfather Consort, what Ning Yi said, does it make sense?"

Kang Xian frowned, his gaze as stern as a ten-thousand-foot abyss. His scholarship was always renowned for its seriousness, though it was a different kind of seriousness in front of children like Zhou Pei and Zhou Junwu. He rarely had such a look unless he was discussing truly important matters with Elder Qin and others; otherwise, among friends, he would not display such an expression.

"He... he only said this much?"

"Yes. Sister seemed to understand some of it, but she probably didn't understand a lot... I think he's really amazing! Even Li Pin admitted defeat. Grandfather Consort, can we invite him to be my tutor...?"

At the same moment, at the Su Residence. On the second-floor corridor of the small building, Ning Yi had long forgotten the jumbled things he'd said during the day. He was leisurely sitting in the pavilion, peeling and eating tangerines with Su Tan'er, Chan'er, Juan'er, and Xing'er. Of course, whether it was truly "leisurely" was debatable. After finishing one tangerine, Su Tan'er wiped her mouth and stood up. "I'm full, dear. Take your time eating."

"Hey, no need to rush."

Ning Yi's tone was casual, a style Su Tan'er was quite accustomed to. There were still many tangerines in the small bamboo basket on the table. Su Tan'er turned back, offering an apologetic yet helpless smile. "There's still work to do..."

"Need help?"

"No, dear, you just eat your tangerines."

Su Tan'er smiled sweetly and turned to go back to her room. She had indeed been quite busy recently. With the flood approaching and city gates soon to be sealed, she needed to make advance preparations for various matters. Then, she was discreetly withdrawing available funds to accumulate them for a major undertaking. Although she was tired, she seemed to be in good spirits, likely because there had been a genuine breakthrough with the imperial merchant dealings.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, just like life itself...

As for theories and ideas, I always approach them seriously. Some people like them, some don't. Perhaps these kinds of things always carry the risk of being thankless, but in a self-consistent world, what needs to be done must still be done.

Next, we officially enter the second half of the "Pool of Covert Warfare": the Imperial Merchant segment.

As always, I don't think I'll disappoint anyone.

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