41: Chapter 41 The highest level of debate often uses the simplest ingredients.
"Have you all eaten?"
This question instantly shattered the tragic, solemn atmosphere that hundreds of students had cultivated, reminiscent of the line: "The wind blows cold, the Yi River chills; the hero goes forth, never to return."
Hanlin Academician Huang Zicheng nearly choked on his own breath; he had prepared a bellyful of classics, ready to cite authorities from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors all the way to the Founding Emperor of the current dynasty, just waiting to use morality and ritual to tear the newly appointed Prince of Wu to shreds.
Yet, he never expected that when the other party finally spoke, this was all he would ask.
"Your Highness, Prince of Wu!" Hanlin Academician Huang Zicheng trembled with rage. "We are here to die in protest for the sake of the nation's moral order and the foundation of the state! Not for the sake of our appetites! What is the meaning of Your Highness's words?"
Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong watched his face turn the color of liver, his smile remaining unchanged, even carrying a hint of genuine concern.
"Lord Huang has misunderstood." He waved his hand. "My meaning is that you have been kneeling since court dismissed, and the sun is already so high. You have had neither food nor water; if you were to ruin your health from hunger, would that not be a loss to our Great Ming? You are all pillars of the nation, after all."
As soon as he said this, the stomachs of some of the younger students kneeling behind let out an uncooperative "rumble," which sounded exceptionally clear in the quiet square.
That student turned beet red, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Hanlin Academician Huang Zicheng's face was even harder to maintain; he could only stiffen his neck and forcibly drag the topic back. "Your Highness, there is no need for silver-tongued sophistry! If the title of Prince of Wu is not revoked today, we are prepared to die of hunger right here without regret!"
"Die of hunger right here, without regret!"
Behind him, hundreds of students shouted in unison, though the sound seemed to lack a bit of the conviction it had moments before.
"Good, a very good 'without regret.'" Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong nodded, the smile on his face slowly fading. "I ask you, when you study the books of the sages, what is it that you learn?"
Before Hanlin Academician Huang Zicheng could answer, a young student standing beside Qi Tai rushed to shout: "Cultivate the self, regulate the family, govern the state, and bring peace to the world!"
"Well said!" Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong clapped his hands. "Then I ask you again, what does it mean to govern the state?"
The student was stunned; this question was too vast, and for a moment, he did not know where to begin.
Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong's gaze swept over the crowd, his voice suddenly rising. "To govern the state is to ensure that the common people have food to eat, clothes to wear, and land to farm! It is to ensure that the soldiers at the border have sufficient provisions and sharp weapons so they can protect our Great Ming's borders from the harassment of the Tatars! This is what it means to govern the state!"
"You kneel here for the sake of a hollow title, shouting that you will starve to death. But do you know that just last winter, during the heavy snows in Liaodong, tens of thousands of soldiers were lacking clothes and food? Do you know how many froze or starved to death? The memorial from Minister of War, Ru Chang, is still sitting on The Emperor's desk!"
"Do you know that the people in the fertile lands of Jiangnan pay the heaviest taxes in the world, yet the human tragedy of trading children to eat still occurs?"
"You speak of moral order and ritual at every turn. Can moral order and ritual be eaten as food? Can they be worn as clothing? Can they bring the frozen soldiers back to life?"
The barrage of questions left the young students, filled with aspirations to serve the country, speechless. The books they had read were filled with benevolence, righteousness, and morality, and filled with talk of the nation and the world, but when had they ever truly cared about the price of a grain of rice or the life and death of a border soldier?
Seeing the morale wavering, Hanlin Academician Huang Zicheng hurriedly shouted: "Your Highness, do not try to confuse the issue! The plight in Liaodong and the problems in Jiangnan are matters of national policy, which the Imperial Court will handle in due course! But the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate heirs is the foundation of the state! If the foundation of the state is not secure, the earth will quake and the mountains will shake! How can you speak of governing the state!"
"A fine 'foundation of the state' indeed!" Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong suddenly laughed, a cold laugh. "In your eyes, a title is more important than the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers. In your eyes, so-called rules are more important than the stomachs of the common people. Is this the 'foundation of the state' you have derived after a lifetime of studying the books of the sages?"
He slowly stood up, brushed the dust off his body, and stopped looking at Hanlin Academician Huang Zicheng, instead looking at the young faces behind him.
"Today, I truly do want to debate this logic with you all."
He paused, raised his voice, and it carried throughout the entire Meridian Gate square.
"Someone, come here!"
Eunuch Sanbao immediately stepped forward. "This servant is here!"
"Pass on my order to the Court of Imperial Entertainments; tell them that I, the Crown Prince, have said that today, outside the Meridian Gate, I am treating all the students who are petitioning for the country!" Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong's voice was filled with authority. "Get two large pots; use one to boil porridge—make it thick, dense, the kind where a chopstick can stand upright! Use the other to steam buns—make them white, soft, and fresh out of the steamer! Also, slice up several large platters of pickled vegetables and prepare some minced meat sauce!"
"In addition," he added, "bring over several dozen tables and several dozen long benches."
Eunuch Sanbao was left bewildered, but he still replied crisply: "This servant obeys!" With that, he scurried off.
Throughout the area inside and outside the Meridian Gate, there was a deathly silence.
Everyone was stunned.
What kind of maneuver was this?
Weren't they supposed to be debating? Why did it turn into hosting a meal?
Hanlin Academician Huang Zicheng, Qi Tai, and the others looked at each other in dismay. They had imagined countless possibilities: being dispersed by the Imperial Guard, being reprimanded by The Emperor, or the Prince of Wu flying into a rage and confronting them directly.
But they had never imagined that the other party would simply set up a feast.
Now, it was their turn to be uncomfortable.
To eat, or not to eat?
If they ate, it would be equivalent to accepting a favor from the Prince of Wu, and their "death protest" would become a huge joke. If word got out, it would be that hundreds of students from the Hanlin Academy and the Imperial Academy had knelt at the palace gate to "beg for food," only to be dismissed by the Prince of Wu with a single meal. Where would they hide their faces?
Not eat?
He had already prepared tables and benches for them, and the aroma of hot porridge and white steamed buns was about to drift over. If they stiffened their necks and refused to eat, it would be showing disrespect to the Prince of Wu; it would be "refusing a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit." Furthermore, they were genuinely hungry.
Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong watched with composure as the scholars' faces turned from green to white with a variety of expressions, inwardly sneering.
He sat cross-legged again, looking as if he intended to wait it out until the end of the day, and said slowly to Hanlin Academician Huang Zicheng: "Lord Huang, let us not be in a hurry to discuss the foundation of the state. Once we are full, our stomachs have stopped growling, and our minds are clear, we can sit down and have a proper discussion about how this Great Ming empire should truly be governed to be secure."
The Court of Imperial Entertainments acted quickly; before long, dozens of eunuchs and palace maids were pushing food carts and carrying tables and benches, arriving at the Meridian Gate square in a grand procession.
Two enormous military pots were set up, with high-quality silver charcoal burning underneath. In one pot, snow-white rice porridge was bubbling away, thick with rice oil and overflowing with fragrance. The steamer on the other pot was lifted, and with steam rising, large, white, soft, and fluffy steamed buns were revealed, their wheaty aroma assaulting the nose.
On the table nearby, several large basins of finely chopped pickled radishes and salted mustard greens, along with a basin of meat sauce made from diced pork belly and sauce, glistening with oil, were even more enticing, making one's mouth water.
That rich, fragrant scent, mixed with the hot steam of the food, seemed to grow legs and crawl into everyone's nostrils.
Many of the students kneeling on the ground found their throats moving involuntarily.
They were all scholars, accustomed to a life of comfort; when had they ever suffered like this? From the early morning until now, for over a dozen hours, they had not had a drop of water or a grain of rice, and they were already starving. Now, being enveloped by this aroma, their stomachs were rumbling like beating drums.
Yet, strangely, no one dared to move.
Hanlin Academician Huang Zicheng, Qi Tai, and the others had ashen faces, their teeth clenched tight.
Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong saw that the timing was about right, so he stood up from the ground, walked to one of the porridge pots, and personally took a large ladle to scoop up a bowl of piping hot rice porridge. He then added a pair of chopsticks of pickled vegetables and a ladle of meat sauce on top, and only then, holding the bowl, did he walk back to Hanlin Academician Huang Zicheng.
He did not hand it to Hanlin Academician Huang Zicheng, but instead squatted down himself and, at the rim of the bowl, took a large, slurping gulp.
"Mmm, not bad, this porridge is cooked authentically." He smacked his lips, looking satisfied. "Lord Huang, would you like a bowl too? Man is iron, rice is steel; if you don't eat until you're full, where will you find the strength to serve the country with loyalty?"