Chapter 45: A Letter of Intent
The students looked at each other in confusion. How could they continue the class now that Professor Xia was gone?
Xu Liancheng stood up suddenly, “Did you make Professor Xia angry and run away? Let’s see how this ends!”

After saying that, he quickly chased out of the classroom.

Zhao Zhizhong quickly asked, “Hongmin, what if Professor Xia reports this to the school?”

Liu Hongmin shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. As students of the new era, we must have the courage to get to the bottom of things. Especially for those of us who study history, we must question more, even if the questions are wrong. When we verify these questions, it is actually the process of our learning. After all, we don’t know the true face of history, but we can verify the closest thing to what happened.”

“History is not as rigorous as mathematics. Even mathematical formulas can be overturned. History can be overturned at any time when new evidence emerges. We must remember that history books are tools used by those in power to whitewash themselves, and we must be vigilant. All illogical history deserves to be doubted. We may have different views on the Shuihudi Qin Bamboo Slips, but as long as you can provide evidence, we can still have academic exchanges.”

“But this incident is clearly not normal. This shows that someone lied and wanted to conceal the truth, which we cannot allow.”

Most of today’s students are still naive. No matter what the reason they study history, they all want to figure out what the real history is.

The reactions of the world history professor and Professor Xia were obviously beyond the students’ expectations, forcing them to think about some “conspiracy theories.”

Professor Xia rushed to the dean’s office and said, “Dean, these students are really outrageous.”

“what happened?”

“That Liu Hongmin actually contradicted me in class.”

Professor Xia recounted what had just happened with exaggeration, almost bursting into tears.

The department head looked at him with a smile, “Old Xia! How old are you? Why are you still arguing with students?”

Professor Xia listened and said, “Director, does this Liu Hongmin have any background? Even if he does, he can’t do this!”

Department Head: “Didn’t you read today’s newspaper?”

As he spoke, the dean handed over a daily newspaper. Professor Xia took the newspaper and was stunned.

“Liu Hongmin was actually on the People’s Daily?”

“Didn’t you watch the international news during the Chinese New Year? Liu Hongmin’s novel is a big seller in Hong Kong, and the international news gave it a two-minute report. This is something that brings glory to the country, and Liu Hongmin has now been listed.”

Professor Xia frowned and asked unwillingly, “But we can’t let him do whatever he wants, right?”

The department head said meaningfully: “They just published a speculative paper, and their main purpose is to seek knowledge. You are overreacting. Academic conflicts should be resolved academically. This is the pure learning atmosphere of Kyoto University.”

Professor Xia’s face suddenly darkened. If the problem could be solved academically, would they still do this?
He said unwillingly: “Now the country has close relations with the United States and the West. If foreign friends knew about this, I am afraid it would have a bad impact.”

The department head spread his hands and said, “This is not something that Kyoto University should consider.”

Professor Xia had no choice but to get up and leave. Liu Hongmin couldn’t be touched now. The article in the People’s Daily was published by Xiyuan, and he couldn’t afford to offend Xiyuan.

This is all that can be done for now, but Liu Hongmin, just wait, this matter is definitely not over yet.

The dispute over academic status is like the dispute over the orthodoxy of doctrines. How can it end unless one side fights to the death?

Liu Hongmin waited for several days, but Professor Xia did not respond. Professor Xia also returned to class and did not mention Liu Hongmin’s thesis. However, Liu Hongmin was also ignored by Professor Xia, whether asking questions or communicating, as if Liu Hongmin did not exist.

Liu Hongmin was isolated by him.

Liu Hongmin did not comment on this. He really did not like Professor Xia’s level, otherwise he would not have chosen Professor Tao.

Professor Tao is a person with real knowledge. He is familiar with the records in various classics and knows what is written in many books without even flipping through them.

Liu Hongmin was very impressed by his ability to remember everything he saw. In addition, they had the same view on history, so Liu Hongmin decided to apply to be Professor Tao’s graduate student.

The classmates in the class also breathed a sigh of relief. They were really afraid that Liu Hongmin and Professor Xia would become mortal enemies. One was a teacher and the other was a classmate. They felt very uncomfortable being caught in the middle.

Many people complained about Liu Hongmin, asking why he went against his teacher. In response to such complaints, Liu Hongmin always said that the disciple is better than the master. If he did not dare to question his teacher, how could he be better than the master?
The students really had no way to deal with this stubborn guy. However, Liu Hongmin was only stubborn in academics, and he was a very gentle person in life.

He often invited his classmates to dinner, and since they were grateful to him, they could not say much. However, what they did not know was that during each meal, their thoughts were subtly influenced by Liu Hongmin.

As the saying goes, “Birds of a feather flock together.” Liu Hongmin’s academic thoughts are fair, and it is hard for students not to be influenced by him after being in contact with him for a long time.

Not to mention the students majoring in ancient Chinese history, even the students majoring in classical literature in the Chinese Department were influenced by Liu Hongmin.

Ge Chaoguang and Liu Hongmin wrote a paper together, and Liu Hongmin established the historical view of “everything depends on evidence”. His classmates majoring in classical literature were also gradually influenced by him, otherwise they would not have spoken out for Liu Hongmin.

After Cha Jianying learned about this, he came specially to express his condolences.

She said with regret: “Hongmin, we were two days away from meeting in Xiangjiang.”

Liu Hongmin smiled and said, “I’m sure we’ll see each other in the future. How was it? What new gains did you make from this trip to Hong Kong?”

“We have gained quite a lot.” Zha Jianying said, “In Hong Kong, the New Year atmosphere is stronger. They have preserved many New Year customs, which we have abandoned here…”

Liu Hongmin nodded and said, “We do have many traditional customs, but some bad customs should be discarded, and some meaningful customs should be restored.”

Liu Hongmin would not have dared to say these words a few years ago, but now he can say them without any problem.

According to the law of historical development, many traditions will gradually be restored. The country has also gradually attached importance to this aspect, and the launch of “intangible cultural heritage” is a good proof of this.

As they chatted, the two talked about “The Inspector General of the Song Dynasty”.

Cha Jianying said apologetically: “Hongmin, I want to apologize to you on behalf of Zhang Dening. She caused trouble to you mainly because of me.”

“for you?”

Liu Hongmin thought about it and immediately understood what was going on.

(End of this chapter)