On the twenty-third of the fifth month, outside the city of Fuzhou by the irrigation canal, early in the morning a crowd of passersby had already gathered, pointing at the muddy ground beside the water. Some took one look and gasped, then covered their faces and hurried away.

An old constable and a young one soon arrived, pushing through the pointing crowd, and saw the corpse stuffed into a sackcloth bag by the canal.

The body had been mutilated horribly, the sack stained a dark, dried red. The local warden who had arrived first didn’t dare get close, standing to the side looking unnerved. The old constable, however, had seen enough in his years and simply waved the crowd back, shouting, “Move along, move along, what’s there to gawk at, aren’t you disgusted enough?” Then he went down to the water’s edge together with the younger constable.

The body appeared to have been dumped sometime before dawn. The rope at the mouth of the sack had already come loose; whoever had thrown the corpse down from the roadside had crushed the grass and shrubs on the canal’s slope. Through the open mouth of the sack, ghastly viscera could be seen — the person had died a wretched death. The old constable frowned after a few glances, and the younger one fared even worse, crouching to the side and nearly retching.

Still, having been in the trade for some time now, the young man had built up a bit of resilience. Once things had settled somewhat, he went to find the old constable, who was speaking with the warden. “The mouth of the sack was opened deliberately. The body’s in bad shape, but the head and face are still recognizable. Boss, this stretch of ground is—”

He trailed off without finishing. The old constable nodded, told the warden to have the undertaker’s hall come collect and deal with the body quickly, and only then led the young constable off toward one end of the canal.

This stretch of canal, connected to the moat, wasn’t short, but over a hundred paces from where the body had been dumped stood a run-down house. A lame old man sat beneath a tree beside it, selling tea, also watching the commotion nearby. The old constable went over, bought two cups of tea, and exchanged a few pleasantries with him.

“Old Zhang, did you see anyone?”

“Whoever did it last night — I didn’t see. It happened in the deep hours of the morning, when sleep runs heaviest.”

“Right. One more account settled in the world of rivers and lakes… let us know if you remember anything.”

The old constable paid for the tea, and with that, the dutiful questioning came to an end. This stretch of canal outside the city wasn’t like other places — it didn’t run beside the busiest trade road, since a livelier official road served that purpose instead, so foot traffic here was ordinary on any given day. No one quite remembered when it started, but every so often a body would turn up dumped here.

Most of the corpses left here came from feuds and vendettas in the martial world. More precisely, they usually came from a certain kind of business — someone places an order, someone else does the job. Since the client who placed the order had no way of directly confirming that the task had been completed, the “collector” would, after finishing the job, dump the body somewhere conspicuous outside the city. That was the signal that the matter was settled, and it made it easier for the client to confirm the result.

For this sort of affair, the yamen generally took the attitude of “the officials do not investigate what the people do not report” — meaning the constables’ inquiries basically depended on whether anyone came forward to file a complaint. If someone died and no one reported it, that mostly meant the person had gotten what he deserved; it wasn’t that the court wouldn’t look into it, only that such cases were always lowest priority. But if someone did file a report, the matter would enter the formal process.

Since the court had taken Fuzhou, under the oversight of Tie Tianying and others, the Ministry of Justice had tightened its control over matters within the martial world, so a few more procedural steps had been added to this kind of case. For now, no one had beaten the drum to lodge a complaint. The old constable made his brief inquiries, had the body brought into the undertaker’s hall, and then it would be a matter of waiting for some sharp-eared informant from the martial world to come identify the deceased before the case was filed away — after that, whether to pursue it further became optional.

Fuzhou was sweltering, and with the new sovereign’s matter of taking a consort weighing on everyone’s minds of late, the atmosphere was tense and the yamen had no shortage of business. By the twenty-fifth of the month, with the body beginning to rot, an informant finally came forward to identify it.

Zhan Yunhai, known as “Tiger Shark.”

He was a young outlaw who had been active in Putian; no one knew why he’d come to Fuzhou, only that someone had hired a killer to do away with him there.

Ever since Chen Shuangran, Pu Xingui, and other bandit figures had begun stirring in the fourth month, with various great clans responding in kind, martial-world figures from across Fujian had gradually started converging on Fuzhou. Yet among these outlaws, most killings were mutual slaughter rather than contracted hits aimed specifically at one person. There was something suspicious about the matter, but for now, there was no pressing need to investigate.

That afternoon, the young constable entered the matter into the daily report and submitted it up the chain.

……

On the twenty-sixth of the fifth month, a light rain fell in the morning.

Inside the Fuzhou Military Preparation Academy, the classrooms kept good order. In one room on the second floor, Li Pin stood at the blackboard writing in chalk.

“…As for this world, Confucius and Mencius speak of benevolence, while the Southwest speaks of the person. Look — ‘benevolence’ is written with the character for two people. Why emphasize two people? Because people differ from one another. Those who hear the Way sooner and those who hear it later, those skilled in one craft and those skilled in another — and so, when speaking of matters between people, Confucius and Mencius say: the benevolent love others, the benevolent act for others’ sake. Those who understand the Way first ought to help those who come to it later; those with greater ability ought to help those with less. For two thousand years, as the world has advanced, what scholars have done has always been this very thing — the benevolent loving others. What you study today serves that same purpose…”

“…And why does the Southwest emphasize simply ‘person’? It is a beautiful aspiration. For two thousand years, we Confucians have spoken of a Great Unity society. As for what that Great Unity actually is, everyone has their own idea. As the Western Han scholar Dai Sheng put it: when the great Way was practiced, the world belonged to all; the worthy and capable were chosen to lead; trust was cultivated and harmony pursued. Thus people did not treat only their own kin as kin, nor only their own children as children. The elderly were given a proper end, the able-bodied had employment, the young had upbringing, and the widowed, orphaned, alone, and infirm all had support. Such a society, we say, is a Great Unity…”

“…Yet Ning Yi of the Southwest says that to sit by while people remain unequal to one another is not Great Unity at all. Why does he emphasize ‘person’ rather than ‘two people’? Because he holds that spreading education so that everyone becomes equal is the true Great Unity — and once people are truly equal to one another, there is naturally no more need to emphasize the relation between two people. That is why what he speaks of is human rights, and of the people’s livelihood and the people’s wisdom…”

“…One cannot say his notions of Great Unity and equality are wrong. As the world progresses, it will surely be a process of moving from benevolence toward the person. And he is not merely talking — he champions the study of natural principles, works hard to develop papermaking, and in his Southwest, pushes for every child to attend elementary schooling, even girls made to learn their letters. This is, of course, a formidable effort. He says that Confucian learning has begun to blind people, wishing to lay down rules and regulations for people to follow their whole lives through, and that pursuing such a so-called Great Unity is, in his words, rather pointed criticism indeed…”

“…But at the same time — does teaching everyone to read mean the benevolent no longer need to love others? Does it mean there’s no longer any ‘hearing the Way sooner or later’ between people? That would be closing one’s eyes and speaking nonsense. Moreover, the Book of Rites also says: those young and fatherless are called orphans; those old and without sons are called alone; those old and without wives are called widowers; those old and without husbands are called widows. Even on the day when everyone truly is learned and well-informed — will that give the fatherless child a father? Will that give the childless elder a son? Those who are widowed, orphaned, alone, or infirm will still need the benevolent to love them…”

“…Those who hear the Way first helping those who hear it later, those with strength helping those without — this remains the unchanging virtue of the gentleman. Just as all of you here in your studies are on the path to becoming such benevolent men — even as far as Ning Yi has gone in promoting education, is what he does not also the work of a benevolent man? Among the people under him, is there no difference in ability and virtue? And so, learning against learning need not come to blows — the true question is only where the line of what to discard and what to keep should fall…”

A faint cool breeze blew through after the rain as Li Pin spoke eloquently, and the young people in the classroom all listened attentively.

They were the “progressive-minded” students the academy had specially recruited — since the main criteria for selection had not been the old moral classics but rather “loyalty to the court, concern for the common people, clear thinking, and liveliness” — so their grounding in Confucian learning varied in depth. Of course, compared to the Southwest, these students could still be counted as more or less orthodox students of Confucianism, which made Li Pin’s lecturing all the more vivid.

While the class was in session, near the door at the front of the room stood a desk set apart from the others. Seated there was a Daoist nun in a grey robe — this was Luo Shouwei, styled “Immortal of Pure Ripples,” sent by the Princess’s residence to watch over Li Pin’s safety. These past days she had followed Li Pin to and from his classes. Whenever he lectured, she too listened with rapt attention, at times wearing a thoughtful expression, her eyes flickering with unspoken thought.

The Military Preparation Academy was, in effect, the core stronghold of the new sovereign. Though Li Pin had his own enterprises and students, he came to lecture for half a day every other day. Midway through this day’s lesson, a bespectacled, narrow-eyed man in his thirties happened to pass by, listening for a while outside the window. When the lesson ended and the students were dismissed, Li Pin smiled toward him, and the man came over to pay his respects.

“Greetings, Master Li.”

“What brings Wenxuan by today, with time to spare?”

The visitor was none other than Zuo Wenxuan, the core figure the Zuo family had entrusted to be trained in the Southwest. As one of the core members of the team Ning Yi had established, the general impression outside was that his temperament leaned introverted, that he excelled at strategic calculation but was not smooth in dealing with others, and so he often handed off representative and public-facing duties to his deputy, Zuo Wenhuai. He did not teach at the academy either, and people rarely saw much of him.

The two exchanged greetings, and Zuo Wenxuan adjusted his glasses, thinking for a moment. “There’s a matter… I came to discuss something with Wenhuai, and happened to pass by. I heard Master Li’s lecture, and it brought some thoughts to mind.”

“Oh? And what does Wenxuan make of it?”

“Master Li… has rather sidestepped the crux of the matter.”

“How so?”

“The core of Confucius and Mencius’ teaching lies in benevolence, but the true divergence between the Southwest and Confucianism does not lie in the benevolent loving others.” Zuo Wenxuan paused. “…It lies in the resonance between Heaven and man.”

Zuo Wenxuan’s words came out unhurried, always giving the impression that each one had been carefully weighed. The phrase “resonance between Heaven and man” came out lightly enough, but Li Pin’s expression darkened slightly at it, his gaze growing somewhat clouded. He fell silent for a moment before saying, “…Go on.”

Zuo Wenxuan considered his words.

“When matters of this world are traced to their highest point, what concerns people most is the legitimacy of the principle itself. Why do rules exist as they do, why does morality take the shape it does, why can officials command the ten thousand people, why does the emperor’s word settle all things? To an ordinary person it looks like naked force, and the justification for it seems like a mere pretext. But only once you reach the highest point do you come to understand — it is precisely that justification which truly determines whether the realm remains stable, and whether the ambitious can be made to restrain their hunger for power.”

“Confucius and Mencius arose during the Spring and Autumn period — theirs was, in the end, only the teaching of one school, the thoughts of two men on how to bring great order to that age. What truly laid the century-spanning foundation was Dong Zhongshu’s doctrine of the resonance between Heaven and man. He said that Heaven possesses will, that Heaven is always correct, that Heaven possesses great benevolence, and therefore rules the world through the pretext of the emperor. Master Li, precisely because Heaven possesses will, all correctness flows from Heaven — even should you harbor doubts about certain matters, because of the order of superior and inferior, there can be no questioning it. And it is only with this truth established that the people of the world can truly explain everything in it through scholarship.”

Zuo Wenxuan spoke slowly, his face showing little expression.

“But according to the Southwest’s account, the corruption of Confucianism in this world stems from precisely this. Master Li, setting aside for the moment whether Heaven and Earth possess will at all — how could we ever truly know the will of Heaven and Earth? The rules and regulations of the Ministry of Rites, the mystifications of the Astronomical Bureau — these are no different from a shaman’s ecstatic dance; we all know it for the performance it is. Dong Zhongshu’s resonance between Heaven and man, through one particular claim, established the legitimacy of the emperor as Heaven’s representative, and then used that legitimacy to drive violence, sweeping away anyone who dared question it. But if all of this were merely us borrowing the words of Heaven and Earth as our own words, then on what ground does anything derived from it actually stand?”

Having said this much, Li Pin nodded, his expression not showing any great agitation. “And yet, in this way, the world has enjoyed several centuries of peace, in the end. If, throughout the dynasties, every emperor had declared himself not to be Heaven, Wenxuan — what would have become of things?”

“That is why the Southwest holds that Confucianism is a relatively successful model — even an exceedingly successful one.”

“Then why can they not proceed side by side? One need only bring the study of natural principles in alongside it…”

“It is precisely the study of natural principles that is not easily brought in, as things stand.” Zuo Wenxuan said. “The foundation of the study of natural principles lies in the small, in the provisional. It says: at a certain time, constrained by the means available to us, we observe such-and-such a result concerning a certain thing, and from that infer that it follows such-and-such a pattern, and then we consider what changes might follow from that pattern. The study of natural principles seeks, from the small — from what can be grasped and controlled — to find brief truths, and then builds a great structure from those truths, only afterward peering out toward Heaven and Earth. But Confucianism, from the very outset, established a great ‘truth.’ One moves from small to great, the other from great to small — both seek to explain this world, and sooner or later, they were bound to collide.”

Li Pin said, “Why not let them run in parallel a while longer? Would that not also serve?”

“Confucianism has already had a two-thousand-year head start.” Zuo Wenxuan said. “Heaven, Earth, sovereign, kin, teacher — Confucianism, moving from great to small, has already begun explaining everything in this world. By the time Lord Qin Siyuan annotated the Four Books, drawing human desire to drive out heavenly principle, that was in truth a most magnificent undertaking — he sought, in the name of Heaven and Earth, to hold that all the people of the world have a proper place they ought to keep to, and to have everyone live according to that place, so that great chaos would not arise between Heaven and Earth. As for his arrangement of the proper places for all the people of the world, we would of course say it was a benevolent design — but does Heaven and Earth truly recognize it? Does it truly hold such an arrangement for the human world? What if Lord Qin’s calculation were merely the guess of one old man who appeared to see through the affairs of the world? Heaven and Earth are not benevolent, and treat the ten thousand things as straw dogs — who is to say what chaos his arrangement might yet produce?”

Zuo Wenxuan paused here, then cupped his hands again. “Of course, I hold the deepest respect for Lord Qin’s painstaking labor of the heart, and the affairs of this world have always, in the end, relied on the accumulated conclusions of many who have seen through worldly matters. But at least where the study of natural principles is concerned, Master Li, the two have long since collided. Take the ranking of scholar, farmer, artisan, and merchant — where did that come from? At the outset, no doubt, it too arose from good intent. Only now, having seen papermaking develop, do you acknowledge its correctness — yet had Master Ning not pushed it forward, how far would it have developed at all?”

He continued, “Since ancient times, it has been said that clever, wasteful crafts encourage the people toward laziness, that the gentleman holds fast to poverty, that money is no good thing. Because of this so-called ‘heavenly principle,’ we determined the inclination of all things in this world from the very outset. Master Li — ‘people should not be lazy, people should not covet wealth’ — how correct these sound! And so Confucianism took them to be heavenly principle. But in the study of natural principles, Heaven and Earth are not benevolent, and the ten thousand things all have their own spirit — the Southwest holds only that all things in this world contain patterns within them, patterns with neither good nor bad, neither favoring one side nor the other. Only by approaching those patterns with the coolest, most detached attitude can we ever hope, in the end, to arrive at a good result.”

“Master Li. In the Southwest, they’ve built telescopes and looked at the moon… it’s still not very clear, but even so, one can tell the moon is an enormous stone sphere. They have also observed the earth, and found that we too stand upon an enormous round sphere — did you know that?” Zuo Wenxuan stamped his foot. “We live upon an enormous sphere.”

Li Pin smiled. “I heard as much, years ago.”

“In this world, there stretches a boundless universe.” Zuo Wenxuan smiled as well. “The universe is empty on all sides, and scattered throughout it are spheres large and small — some are stone, some still burn with fire, and we are merely a coincidence upon one such stone sphere. We imagine that Heaven and Earth possess will, that there is a resonance between Heaven and man, but in truth, there is nothing there at all…”

“But if all the people of the world came to know this,” Li Pin said, “how would they go on living?”

“…Well said indeed.” This time, Zuo Wenxuan waited a long while before slowly speaking these four words, and then fell silent again for a spell, as if weighing his thoughts. “But I think, in time, they will find their own way. Master Li, the real question is this: whether it is Confucianism that must accommodate the study of natural principles, or the study of natural principles that must accommodate Confucianism, this so-called New Confucianism will, in the end, have to resolve the conflict between seeking truth from facts and the resonance between Heaven and man. How is that to be done?”

The two had reached this point in their conversation when Li Pin, looking at the other man’s slightly weary eyes, thought for a moment and then said, “Does Wenxuan come here today merely on a sudden impulse to debate?”

Zuo Wenxuan gave a restrained smile.

“Having come recently from the Southwest, I often heard talk of Master Li’s New Confucianism. At first I was somewhat puzzled by it, but now I think I largely understand your intent, sir. In speaking of these things today, I have no wish to argue for argument’s sake — only that seeking truth from facts and the resonance between Heaven and man, these lie at the very root of the matter. Whatever the final outcome, this kind of foundational question in scholarship will, in the end, have to be fought out. You must understand that much, sir.”

Li Pin nodded, weighing his words for a moment, then patted Zuo Wenxuan on the shoulder, and the two walked on along the corridor. “What Wenxuan speaks of is a matter of politics, a matter of governing men. Put that way, he’s certainly not wrong — the Way of Confucius and Mencius is a teaching on how to be a person; it was never truly equipped, on its own, to later banish the hundred schools and stand alone. It was only later, when the sage Dong put forward the resonance between Heaven and man, establishing Heaven and Earth and the sovereign as the foundation of all legitimacy, that the golden age of Confucianism thereafter came to be.”

He went on, “And it is for this reason, too, that people came to regard Confucian learning as a study for governing men, for governing the world — just as Wenxuan says. In this world, a person can only grow wise by drawing on the experience summarized by the generation before. If, before the age of twenty, one thinks only of one’s own ideas all day, one will never study well; and if, after the age of twenty, one has no ideas of one’s own and never asks why, one has read all those books for nothing. This is the proper Way of the world.”

“To call the experience accumulated over two thousand years the words of sages, to call it heavenly principle, can resolve a great many problems. But of course, Liheng has shown us, through the study of natural principles, that within this heavenly principle, in places we cannot see, errors have crept in — errors that have erased possibilities that might have been of great use, that were complex, that even the sages themselves could not, in their time, foresee. This is what Liheng wrote in a Southwest publication… he’s very nearly become a sage himself.”

“But Wenxuan.” Li Pin smiled at this point. “When you went to the Southwest, you were already no longer young, and had long since finished your elementary schooling. If I asked you to look at Confucian learning, what would be the very first thing that came to your mind about what kind of study it fundamentally is?”

Zuo Wenxuan frowned slightly. “Roughly speaking?”

“Mm.” Li Pin nodded. “Give me a rough answer, a simple thought.”

“Confucianism is vast, but if I had to sum it up…” Zuo Wenxuan considered. “Roughly… the study of self-cultivation, family order, governing the state, and bringing peace to all under Heaven?”

“Cultivate the self, order the family, govern the state, bring peace to all under Heaven — this too is a formulation that only crystallized as far along as the Great Learning: ‘Those of antiquity who wished to make their bright virtue manifest throughout the world first governed their states well; wishing to govern their states well, they first ordered their families well; wishing to order their families well, they first cultivated their own selves.'” Li Pin smiled. “But if you said this to Liheng, I expect he’d criticize it too — he’d say this is metaphysics. Look, does a man who cultivates himself well truly manage to order his family well? Does a man who can order his family necessarily govern the state well? Or, put another way, does a family that governs the state well necessarily stay ordered? Does a man who governs the state well truly bring peace to all under Heaven? These words sound quite reasonable, and of course, for a person to cultivate the self, order the family, govern the state, and bring peace to the world is a fine pursuit — it sounds reasonable, but in practice the connections are tenuous. This is exactly what Liheng has long criticized as: metaphysics.”

He waved a hand. “And he isn’t wrong. Much of Confucianism is metaphysics — grand principles that sound fine but don’t hold up to what he calls scrutiny.”

Hearing Li Pin say this, Zuo Wenxuan’s eyes widened, growing more confused still — he hadn’t expected Li Pin himself to begin criticizing Confucianism at this point. But it was also at this moment that he noticed Li Pin’s expression had turned serious.

“But Wenxuan, as for what Confucianism fundamentally is, I too have my own thoughts on the matter. As Lord Qian Xiwen once said, having read Confucian texts his whole life, he felt that what a Confucian scholar ought most to do was defend the Way. I have studied for nearly fifty years now, and I have come to feel that Confucianism is the learning of the gentleman — it is a teaching on how to be a person, more than it is a teaching on how to govern people.”

His words were spoken with great calm, as though describing something quite simple. “Confucius and Mencius speak of benevolence, and the benevolent love others — this is the learning of how to be a person. Wenxuan, the teaching of how to govern people changes with the times and circumstances, but the teaching of how to be a person — Liheng cannot shift it. The study of natural principles insists on seeking truth from facts, on taking things one point at a time — but if he should gain the realm, will the world to come simply do without the benevolent loving others? Will adults no longer look after children? Will teachers no longer teach? Will the strong no longer help the weak? In our own lifetimes, will you and I never again meet with hardship and grief?”

“What is Confucianism? We speak of Confucius, of Mencius, of Dong Zhongshu, of Lord Qin — but in truth, it is simply the accumulated wisdom of old men across these two thousand years, wisdom that people, by and large, have found workable. Wenxuan, this wisdom was fought for and left behind, generation after generation. Liheng has now found certain flaws within it, has worked out his own ideas, and has produced the achievements of the Southwest — truly remarkable. He means to do battle with Confucianism, and that is the necessary path for any new school of thought. But to say that we should simply discard Confucianism entirely today, and have the whole world start living according to the experience one man worked out over a few decades — if it doesn’t go well, it is the people of the world who will suffer for it. He is but one old man — can he really defeat two thousand years’ worth of old men?”

As the two spoke, they left the school building behind and walked along the tree-lined path outward. Li Pin’s account had grown lively, and Zuo Wenxuan smiled too. “Master Ning is hardly old yet.”

“He’ll become an old man eventually, same as the rest.” Li Pin said with a laugh and a sigh. “Of course, disputes of scholarship carry the risk of overcorrection — and more often than not, that risk becomes reality. Liheng speaks of wiping out Confucianism entirely; it sounds like words spoken in anger, but really, there’s no other way to put it. It’s a new school of thought, and it strikes directly at a foundation like the resonance between Heaven and man — naturally he has no choice but to strike it down first and worry about the rest later. Win, and you can reflect at leisure; lose, and you have nothing left at all. This dispute of scholarship, in truth, is no different from a feud fought in the underworld.”

“Liheng has already, in the Southwest, shown the core of the study of natural principles, revealing at last the full breadth this school of thought can achieve. Wenxuan, back when he and I parted ways, I had my doubts about his views and methods. But having seen what he’s achieved in the Southwest, if I were still to cover my eyes and pretend not to see, I would have wasted all these years of reading, grown this head for nothing. Since then, having exhausted the old path and turned back, I’ve had to think hard about what Confucianism truly is, and what the study of natural principles truly is. Wenxuan, tell me — what, in the end, are these two things?”

At this point Zuo Wenxuan seemed at last to understand, adjusting his glasses. “It is… the accumulated experience of a great many old men — set against the experience of one old man today?”

“Just so.” Li Pin said, smiling, and patted the other man’s shoulder. “Confucianism is the usable experience left behind by a great many old men — some of it good, some bad. Today, another old man has come forward saying you were all wrong, that he is right — well then, let there be a fight. Plainly put, this particular old man today is quite formidable and quite good at fighting. More importantly, his learning genuinely has its uses. His Majesty wants the study of natural principles — and why wouldn’t I want it too? I’m no fool.”

“As for Confucianism’s methods of governing the state and governing men — those shift with every passing year and month; they were never something fixed and unchanging. More than ten years ago, when I held Taiyuan together with Lord Qin, the world was in such disorder that I could hardly help but reflect on the limits of Confucian statecraft. And as things stand now, though people sometimes misunderstand it, this so-called New Confucianism was never born to stand against the study of natural principles. The one truly set to oppose the study of natural principles is old Dai Mengwei. Wenxuan, in some ways, old Master Dai is the true Confucian — he holds firmly to Confucian learning, and believes that over a span of two to three hundred years, only Confucianism’s method of keeping the people weak can guarantee peace to the greatest degree. As for the study of natural principles, or the many methods of strengthening the people, they might prove effective at first, but they will all leave behind enormous hidden dangers, such that a nation could never reach even two or three centuries of ordered rule.”

“Two to three hundred years of peace, interspersed with a few decades of chaos — in old Master Dai’s view, this is the limit that the rules of the human world can ever find. And so when chaos comes, he would rather yield to it, hoping only to turn from disorder back to order as quickly as possible. This is exactly the meaning of: the sage is not benevolent, and treats the common people as straw dogs.” Having said this much, Li Pin tilted his head back and laughed. “Ha ha!”

Zuo Wenxuan thought for a moment. “And does the master believe this to be so?”

“I don’t know.” Li Pin shook his head. “I’m not yet so old, nor so despondent. I still choose to believe that Heaven’s movement is ever vigorous, and the gentleman ceaselessly strengthens himself. Even though that old devil Ning Yi might well call ‘Heaven’s movement is ever vigorous’ mere metaphysics too, I still choose to believe that the gentleman ceaselessly strengthens himself. Just as I still choose to believe that the gentleman practices benevolence, and the benevolent love others. By Ning Yi’s account, such notions belong to the idea that all things possess spirit — he has no particular need to strike them down. And yet he might well strike them down regardless, sweep away everything Confucianism stands for.”

He sighed. “And so New Confucianism, in truth, is a rather despondent thing. We’re preparing for two outcomes at once. On one hand, should Liheng’s approach truly prove flawed, we hope that the Confucianism of the future will not brand all of his ideas as heresy, but will preserve what the study of natural principles has achieved. On the other hand, should Liheng one day truly seize the realm, we also hope he will not overcorrect, sweeping away even the benevolent loving others along with everything else. Such things have happened often enough in history. But of two thousand years, of the accumulated experience of hundreds upon hundreds of old men, sweeping some part of it away is tolerable enough. This, I think, must also have been what Lord Zuo hoped for, back when he sent all of you to Xiaocang River…”

Hearing this, Zuo Wenxuan fell silent for a moment, then cupped his hands and said quietly, “Then… the resonance between Heaven and man…”

Li Pin, still walking, lowered his voice as well. “His Majesty is already considering things like constitutional monarchy. As for the resonance between Heaven and man — when the argument comes, let it come. But scholarship is scholarship, Wenxuan. Fuzhou’s situation has reached such a point that this particular matter cannot be discussed openly for now. You and I can talk it over between ourselves, but should any of those court officials or old Confucian scholars overhear it, you and I would both — lose our heads for it.”

As he spoke, Li Pin drew a hand across his neck with a smile, and Zuo Wenxuan cupped his hands as well. “I’m well aware of that. Had I not come to understand something of your approach, sir, I would not have dared raise these matters today.”

“I have some idea, too, of what brought Wenxuan here to speak today.” Li Pin said. “Do come by my place more often, when you have the time.”

The power structure of the Fujian court, owing to its particular history, had its own distinct circles. Because of the influence of Qin Siyuan and Ning Yi, those whom Jun Wu and Zhou Pei naturally felt closest to were the old advisors from Qin Siyuan’s former faction — men like Cheng Zhouhai and Wenren Buer. As for Li Pin, because of his friendship with Ning Yi and his friendship with Qin Shaohe, he too had always remained at the core of this circle. But even so, those within the innermost circle were not necessarily close to one another by nature.

Having returned from the Southwest as the leader of his delegation, Zuo Wenxuan had, in fact, occasionally been met with a degree of suspicion — the core of that suspicion being whether his true loyalty lay with the court or with Ning Yi. Zuo Wenxuan himself was also reserved by temperament, letting his deputy Zuo Wenhuai handle most public matters, which left him seeming somewhat marginal. And yet today, after a long period of quiet observation, he had for the first time engaged Li Pin in a scholarly discussion.

It seemed, on the surface, rather heterodox, even somewhat reckless. In truth, it amounted to a signal of recognition — recognition of Li Pin, and of the “New Confucianism” he championed.

Their discussion had, by this point, brought them near the academy’s main gate. When Li Pin asked what had really brought Zuo Wenxuan to the academy that day, the latter shook his head. “I only came to find Wenhuai, to ask about something.”

The main gate of the Military Preparation Academy faced a long street inside the city that ran alongside the river. It was now nearly noon; bright sunlight filtered through the tree shade, and the street was alive with the bustle of carts and horses. A servant had already brought Li Pin’s carriage around this way. Luo Shouwei, whisk in hand, took a few steps forward, her gaze drifting sideways — and at that moment, the curtain of a grey carriage parked by the roadside abruptly stirred.

A flash of cold light shot forth!

A glint of cold steel flashed in Luo Shouwei’s hand as her soft sword left its sheath.

The moment the hidden weapon was struck up into the air, a figure burst from within the carriage’s curtain like a gathering storm, closing the distance in an instant, hurtling straight toward Li Pin.

Zuo Wenxuan pulled Li Pin back, while up ahead, the light of Luo Shouwei’s blade bloomed and collided with the figure rushing toward them at tremendous speed.

The assassin’s charge was extraordinarily fast, its momentum ferocious — an ordinary martial artist could never have withstood it. But Luo Shouwei’s swordwork was sharp and unforgiving; from the very first instant she struck straight for the eyes, the throat, the groin — the vital points — without giving an inch of ground, fighting as though trading her own life for the kill. In a heartbeat, a dense clatter of clashing steel rose up as the two collided head-on; unable to break through, the assassin was forced sideways together with Luo Shouwei.

The two figures bled off their momentum through the collision, blades and palms flashing as they were flung apart several yards in the clash. With a thud, the grey-clad assassin’s sleeve, lashing out, struck a roadside tree trunk, sending splinters flying everywhere. Luo Shouwei’s figure meanwhile bounded up the trunk in a few quick steps as if about to leap skyward, her soft sword still bearing down on the upper half of her opponent’s body. Zuo Wenxuan drew the short spear from behind his back; nearby, students just let out of class had already reacted, snatching up stones from the roadside and rushing forward, while in the guardhouse, soldiers seized their muskets.

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha——”

A wild burst of laughter rolled out across the street. The assassin’s figure fell back, then surged forward again at tremendous speed, in an instant sending a student flying and overturning a roadside stall, before hurling out several more hidden weapons. The projectiles exploded here and there along the street, bursting into clouds of smoke and dust; the horses pulling carts along the road bolted in fright, cries rose up on every side, alarm whistles shrieked, and Luo Shouwei’s figure and the assassin’s rose and fell, darting back and forth along the street. Then the guards charged out, pulling the triggers of their muskets in the middle of the road.

Chaos spread through the noonday street…