Chapter 580 - The Descendant of Li Lianying
Chapter 580 The Descendant of Li Lianying
Fang Helun was obviously short-tempered. At this time, he was so angry that his beard was jumping, his breathing became much heavier, and even his hands were trembling.
Li Mintae sneered and said, “We are having an academic exchange today. It’s neither a declaration nor a quarrel. If you want to refute my point of view then you can provide evidence.”
Fang Helun forced himself to calm down and said, “Chinese medicine has existed in Huaxia for thousands of years, since the birth of the nation. Chinese medicine emerged in the primitive society and during the Spring and Autumn Warring States Period of Huaxia, the theory of Chinese medicine was basically formed…”
As a professor of Chinese medicine, Fang Helun had a wide range of knowledge. From the origin of Chinese medicine to the present situation, his introduction was very specific and on point. After his explanation, the audience was applauding enthusiastically.
Li Mintae shook his head and said, “It’s all lies, empty talk. There’s nothing substantial. What you have said is totally empty talk. These empty words are useless.
“You kept saying that Koryo medicine was passed down from Chinese medicine. Do you have any substantial evidence?”
“I…”
Fang Helun replied with his face and ears red, “Do we need any evidence? Everyone knows it.”
After he said this, Alice, who was sitting next to him, began laughing. After laughing, she shook her head. Apparently, she didn’t agree with this statement at all.
In her opinion, every statement needs evidence. It was difficult to get her approval without evidence as a basis.
In contrast, Su Hongbo was much calmer. He looked at Li Mintae and said, “Professor Li, you just said Chinese medicine came from your country. What evidence do you have?”
Li Mintae said, “Of course I have evidence. In Huaxia, you regard Li Shizhen as the Medicine Saint, but Li Shizhen was from our country. This is my evidence!”
“Bullsh*t, Li Shizhen is a Huaxia man. How can you say that he was from your country?”
“Shame on you. How can you talk nonsense?”
“Li Shizhen comes from Huaxia and the “Compendium of Materia Medica” also belongs to Huaxia. They have nothing to do with you…”
The audience was so excited that they were condemning Li Mintae one after another.
But this old guy seemed to have expected the situation in front of him. He was unmoving and looked at Su Hongbo with a sneer on his face.
Su Hongbo suppressed his anger and said, “Professor Li, please don’t talk nonsense. Li Shizhen was a Huaxia man. How can you say he was from your country?”
“Li Shizhen was originally a Koryo man. To spread culture, he came to Hubei province of Huaxia for a period of time and taught you many medical skills.”
Su Hongbo countered, “Professor Li, you just said that everything needs evidence. You said that Li Shizhen is from Koryo, what evidence do you have?”
“Of course I have evidence.” Li Mintae proudly said, “The surname Li is very popular in our country, so Li Shizhen is a citizen of our country.
“The members of Li family to which I belong are Li Shizhen’s descendants. Because of the medical inheritance and excellent hereditary genes, the descendants of the Li family have today’s outstanding medical achievements and support the banner of doctors of Koryo.”
“Nonsense. You are talking nonsense”
Fang Helun, who was quick-tempered, almost jumped with anger and Su Hongbo was also flushed with anger. Although they were mentally prepared in advance, they never thought that Li Mintae would use this as an excuse.
Qin Haodong was also shocked by this excuse. Yesterday, he had heard from Kim Jihyun that the delegation wanted to make an issue of Li Shizhen’s “Compendium of Materia Medica”, but he didn’t expect it to be like this.
He had no idea how those guys were thinking. Last night, he saw a well-known scholar from Koryo raise three pieces of evidence to prove that Confucius was from Koryo.
The first evidence was that Jizi of the Shang Dynasty was their ancestor. Jizi was from Shandong of Huaxia, and Confucius was also from Shandong. Therefore, Confucius was their national.
The second piece of evidence was that the Koryo people often worshiped Confucius.
The third piece of evidence was even more absurd. It was said that the mysterious man Tangun, who was said to have lived to 1908 years old, had conquered the whole of Huaxia.
Last night, he was thunderstruck by these three pieces of evidence. He didn’t expect Li Mintae would now give such a statement. He said, “You said that the man surnamed Li is from your country?”
Since the cultural exchange also allowed students to speak, Li Mintae glanced at Qin Haodong and said proudly, “Of course, Li Shizhen’s surname is Li, and he is the ancestor of our Li family.”
Qin Haodong said, “Then there is another equally famous person in the history of Huaxia. His name is Li Lianying. Is he also your ancestor?”
“As long as he or she is surnamed Li, he or she is the ancestor of the Li family.”
It was Li Joongki, Li Mintae’s son, who was speaking. Obviously, this guy was not familiar with the history of Huaxia. He felt that it was definitely correct to say that such a celebrity belonged to his family.
But after he finished speaking, he found that the audience who had been angry suddenly burst into laughter. Some people were laughing so much that they even stood up straight. Even Feng Wu’s serious face was showing a smile.
Li Joongki realized that he had said something wrong. He turned to look at his father and asked in a low voice, “Father, am I wrong? Who is Li Lianying?”
“You shut up!”
Li Mintae was so angry that his face had turned livid. He couldn’t wait to strangle his stupid son. He often studied the history of Huaxia, so he naturally knew that Li Lianying was the most famous eunuch. How could an eunuch be the ancestor of their Li family?
He turned back and angrily said to Qin Haodong, “That’s an insult to our Li family.”
Qin Haodong said slowly, “But you just said that Li Shizhen was the ancestor of your Li family, which is also an insult to Li Shizhen.”
After he said that, there was another warm applause on the spot. Zhi Fubao and Tian Boguang in the front row began cheering. Their boss was really good. He changed the passive situation as soon as he started speaking, helping them vent their anger.
Li Mintae angrily said, “Li Shizhen is the ancestor of our Li family. There is evidence.”
After that, he waved his hand and said, “Bring the evidence here!”
Under the platform, a man sent an exquisitely packaged silk box to him.
The audience immediately quieted down, and everyone’s eyes were focusing on the silk box. They didn’t know what was inside, and what could prove that Li Shizhen was from Koryo?
Li Mintae opened the silk box and carefully took out an ancient thread-bound book from it. “Look, this is my proof.”
Qin Haodong and other people looked at the book. It was the “Compendium of Materia Medica” written in Huaxia language.
Su Hongbo said, “This is a Huaxia book. What can you prove by it?”
“A Huaxia book? Then why is it in my hands?” Li Mintae smiled sarcastically and said, “Li Shizhen was originally a member of our Koryo. He came to Huaxia to spread his medical skills in the Ming Dynasty. He brought the “Compendium of Materia Medica” here on purpose and this is the original inheritance.”
Fang Helun said, “Nonsense, this book was given to you by the Ming Dynasty. How did it become your book?”
Su Hongbo said, “Professor Li, can I have a look?”
“Yes, but this is the only existing one. You must be careful and not break it.”
Li Mintae said before carefully giving the book to Sun Hongbo.
Su Hongbo flipped open the book gently and saw that the yellowish pages were filled with ancient Huaxia characters.
“Professor Li, if this book came from your country, then why was it written in ancient Huaxia characters? Doesn’t this mean that this book was given to you from Huaxia?”
Li Mintae seemed to have been prepared for this. He shook his head and said, “Our country has had many talented people since ancient times and a few of them were well-versed in Huaxia characters. It is nothing strange for this book, which was used to spread the medical skills to Huaxia, to have been translated into Huaxia’s language.”
“You… ”
In the face of such a rogue, Su Hongbo had nothing to say for a moment.
Su Hui said, “This is not a good piece of evidence. The “Compendium of Materia Medica” also exists in Huaxia. How can you prove that it belongs to you?”
Li Mintae seemed to have been waiting for this question. He proudly said, “Your book is different from this book. This is the original one. After the appraisal of Mr. Choe, an archaeological expert of our country, this is an ancient book. It was produced in the 15th century, which is around the middle and late-stage of your Ming Dynasty.
“Now that this ancient book is in our Koryo, it proves that the “Compendium of Materia Medica” came from our country. Li Shizhen was from our country too. Thus, your medical skills were learnt from us.
“If you don’t agree with it, then you can take out the “Compendium of Materia Medica” which was produced at the same time. Of course, it must be verified by Mr. Choe.”
After he said this, everyone fell silent. Although Li Mintae’s views were still absurd, it was much more logical than before.
The most important thing was that after the later battles, although there were books of Compendium of Materia Medica in Huaxia, they were all copies. The original book from the Ming Dynasty didn’t exist anymore.
Su Hongbo and Fang Helun looked at each other and saw the complicated expressions on each other’s faces. They were nervous, helpless, and even a little embarrassed.
Although they had made adequate mental preparations before, Li Mintae’s move was still beyond their expectations. Everyone knew that the “Compendium of Materia Medica” belonged to Huaxia, but the original book was in their hands.
After five or six hundred years, this kind of an unsolved case was hard to investigate. How could they explain it clearly?
Looking at the cameras hanging in front of him, Su Hongbo became more and more nervous. He couldn’t solve this dilemma, so he could only look at Qin Haodong for help. He wondered if the young man known as the Medical Sage had any solutions.