Below the platform, the heads of the great clans watched the scene unfolding above them, momentarily unable to believe it.
Cui Yan looked utterly dazed. He could scarcely imagine his own teacher conceding defeat of his own accord!
"Hmph! This is what you called a guaranteed victory?"
Dou Fu looked at Cui Yan and sneered, making no attempt to hide his mockery.
Then he turned and swept away with a flick of his sleeves.
The other clan heads looked no better. None lingered; they all took their leave.
This Debate at the Wei River, this old and new learning dispute, ultimately ended in victory for new learning, and its repercussions were destined to be far-reaching.
In particular, Zheng Xuan, a grand master of Confucianism, had publicly acknowledged the superiority of new learning and voluntarily conceded defeat, lending it even greater weight.
Both sides' statements during the debate were also recorded and compiled into a volume, which the Imperial Academy would soon print in large quantities for circulation throughout the realm.
The purpose was to help more people understand what new learning was, along with the Imperial Academy's future development and direction.
With the debate's conclusion, Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong also rose to great fame.
Zhuge Liang in particular had verbally battled the assembled scholars at the Debate Conference and berated Wang Lang until he vomited blood. His performance had been nothing short of dazzling.
Of course, the finest moment had been his speech, magnificent and commanding, which had reversed new learning's political disadvantage in a single stroke and allowed it to establish a foothold.
With those words of his, no one could henceforth make an issue of new learning "violating the Ancestors' established laws," nor could anyone call it politically incorrect.
The significance of political correctness was not