The moment those words were spoken, an uproar broke out everywhere.
No one had expected Kong Rong, a descendant of Confucius, to disregard the Sage's teachings.
To be honest, Kong Rong himself was quite controversial, but at least he dared to speak out.
Historically, he had been executed by Cao Cao after claiming that parents did not truly have the grace of giving birth to their children, giving Cao Cao the leverage he needed.
One had to know that the Confucian School had always regarded loyalty and filial piety as its foundation.
Filial piety meant being devoted to one's parents, and from there it extended to loyalty toward one's ruler.
The ruler was said to be the parent of all under heaven, nurturing the people, and thus the people had to honor the ruler as they honored their parents.
That was why filial piety was fundamental, the cornerstone upon which many dynasties governed.
It was the basis for winning people's hearts.
The posthumous titles of many Han Dynasty emperors contained the character for filial piety: Han Emperor Xiaowu, Han Emperor Xiaowen, Emperor Xiao-this and Emperor Xiao-that.
They used it to prove their legitimacy.
The emperors of the later Ming Dynasty did the same. Ming Emperor Xiaozong presided over the Hongzhi Restoration and was regarded by Ming scholars as an emperor for the ages, so he received what they considered the finest possible posthumous title.
For Kong Rong to publicly deny the foundation of filial piety undoubtedly shattered the basis of people's previous understanding.
From this, one could see that regardless of Kong Rong's moral character, the fact that he could say such things showed that thought in the Three Kingdoms era remained active. People still dared to question fixed, core beliefs.
Kong Rong gained not a single coin from saying