Hu Bin glanced at Liu Zhai, snorted coldly, and continued, "Your vision is far too narrow. Suppressing this rebellion is a matter of national importance; how can it be treated lightly? Even a talent as great as the Academician would find it no easy task. You and I have only seen the Academician lead troops and crush all before him like rotten wood, but only those of us who are generals can understand that when the Academician laid his plans, it must have consumed considerable time. How could he possibly have the energy to lecture others as well?"
Liu Zhai refused to yield. Facing him with the same cold expression, he said, "What you say is nothing more than a military man's way of thinking. Academician Qiu is a worthy talent of Confucianism. We Confucians speak of governing the state and bringing peace to all under Heaven. Once one has mastered the classics, one can naturally apply them to the world. The great difficulty the Military School sees can be, by the standards of the classics and their meanings, a broad highway stretching level and clear."
Hu Bin sneered. "Oh? If reading books were enough, why doesn't Lord Liu lead men to suppress the rebellion himself? Why wait until the Academician enters the Min Region before it can be put down?"
Liu Zhai himself was a renowned figure in literary circles, descended from a branch of the Liu Clan, one of Hedong's three great families. During the previous dynasty, his family had crossed the river south into Jiangnan and multiplied there to this day. His Liu-style calligraphy was quite famous in the south, and he had published poetry collections as well. Yet because he had never quite let go of his desire for rank and achievement, he had fallen short