Chapter 109: Discussing Taoism with Confucius and becoming famous all over the world!
This time the options returned to four again. Su Che looked at these four options and couldn't help but frowned.
Except for the first one, the other four options provided sufficient information for Su Che to guess their existence.
As for the first one, Su Che had several guesses, but he was not sure which one it was.
But the second one should be Lai Junchen, the favorite of Empress Wu Zetian.
This guy is a rogue and is good at snitching.
After gaining Wu Zetian's trust, he successively served as Attendant Censor, Chief Censor, and Minister of the Imperial Household, and organized hundreds of scoundrels to inform on others.
He was the sharpest knife in Wu Zetian's hand. He invented all kinds of cruel torture instruments, set up prisons, adopted torture to extract confessions, and arbitrarily fabricated charges to kill people. Thousands of ministers and members of the Li Tang royal family were wrongly killed and their families were exterminated.
The final outcome is naturally self-evident. If the gloves are dirty, they will be thrown away. If they are of no use, they will be killed.
The third one should be Zhou Chu. Su Che had heard a little about the story of Zhou Chu eliminating three evils, which was exactly the same as the opening introduction.
As for the fourth one, Su Che guessed that he should be a sage from the Spring and Autumn Period.
Judging from the description, it might be...Fan (fàn) Li?
Fan Li was also born in Nanyang County and was known as the Saint of Commerce among the Five Saints of Nanyang.
Although Fan Li was born in a poor family, he was knowledgeable and talented, both civil and military.
He knew Chu Wanling Wen Zhong and they had a close friendship.
Because they were dissatisfied with the dark politics of the Chu State at that time and the fact that non-nobles were not allowed to enter officialdom, they fled to the Yue State together. Later, he was appointed as a senior official and prime minister, assisting Gou Jian of the Yue State.
He helped Gou Jian to revive the Kingdom of Yue, destroy the Kingdom of Wu, avenge the humiliation of Kuaiji, achieve hegemony, and was named general.
After achieving success and fame, he retired from the world, changed his name to Chiyi Zipi, and traveled among the Seventy-two Peaks.
During this period, he became a wealthy man through business three times, distributed his wealth three times, and wrote two chapters of "Fan Li's Art of War".
Later he settled in Taoqiu, Song State, and called himself "Tao Zhu Gong".
This is a legendary being.
He is also the one with the highest achievement among these heroic spirits...
Su Che didn't think much about it and immediately chose the fourth option.
Once the choice was made, the other choices disappeared, and the following sentence appeared in the Book of Spirit Contract.
"When the birds are gone, the good bows are put away; when the cunning rabbit dies, the running dog is cooked."
This sentence was written by Fan Li to his good friend Wen Zhong.
It is also a very classic saying that has been widely circulated in later generations.
Fan Li's intention was to warn Wen Zhong that although King Gou Jian of Yue was able to endure hardships and avenge his previous humiliation, it was easy to share adversity but difficult to share wealth and honor. After achieving success and fame, he would attack his advisers and meritorious officials.
Unfortunately, Wen Zhong failed to listen to Fan Li's advice and leave the State of Yue in time. As a result, he was killed by the suspicious King Gou Jian of Yue.
After reading this sentence, Su Che had a picture like this in front of his eyes: a figure, after achieving success, gave up everything he had before and turned away from the vortex of power. How cool and unrestrained he was!
For such a free and easy person, what regrets could there be?
Is it the legendary Xi Shi?
Or was it that he failed to save his friend Wen Zhong?
Or what?
Su Che frowned and thought for a while. At this moment, the words in the book had begun to evolve, and Su Che hurriedly looked over.
[You were born in Sanhuyi, Wandi, Chu State, into a poor family.]
[Your parents are both lowly commoners who have been engaged in farming all their lives and will never be able to make a name for themselves.]
[Because your mother gave birth to you by the Pengli Lake, you were named "Li".]
[You are born smart and have shown your extraordinary talent since childhood. Your parents have been looking for people to teach you. ]
[You are making rapid progress, have a photographic memory, and gradually master all the knowledge you have seen. ]
[At such a young age, you are already full of literary talent, both civil and military, and are well-known in Wandi. ]
[But you are of low status and cannot enter the government in Chu State, which makes you dissatisfied. ]
[Your decision is...]
[One, continue to hone. Two, run away. Three, travel around. Four, intervene personally.]
When Su Che saw the options appear, he couldn't help but smile.
According to past practice, he should intervene personally without thinking twice.
Just be reckless and it will be over!
But this time, Su Che was not in a hurry to intervene directly, but planned to observe first.
He looked at the first few options and thought about it for a moment.
1. Continue to hone your skills. This should mean continuing to study literature, practice martial arts, and hone yourself. This is a very neutral choice.
Second, it was a bit too early to run away. Fan Li fled to the State of Yue with Wen Zhong after he met him.
Third, traveling around is a good choice.
As the saying goes, reading ten thousand books is like traveling ten thousand miles.
If you cannot apply what you have learned in life and increase your knowledge at the same time, that is, combine theory with practice and apply what you have learned.
All that knowledge is nothing but paper talk - oh, the idiom "paper talk" had not come out at this stage, but this is roughly the meaning.
Although Fan Li is currently unable to enter the officialdom due to his low status, he is already somewhat famous and should not be short of money, so this option appears.
Su Che didn't think much about it and directly chose the third option.
【Travel around】
Once a choice is made, other choices disappear, and the words in the book continue to evolve.
【You decide to travel around and put what you have learned into practice. 】
[You said goodbye to your parents and set out on a journey, traveling around, studying, working, and visiting different countries to increase your knowledge and experience.]
[At this time, the battle for hegemony in the Central Plains had ended. The war lasted for hundreds of years, and after several generations of monarchs fought fiercely, it ended with the victory of the State of Jin.]
[However, the price paid by Jin State for the victory in this battle was extremely painful, and the power in Jin State inevitably shifted downward. ]
[Duke Dao of Jin, who was originally a man of great talent and strategy, died young, causing Jin's dominant position to plummet. ]
[His death also marked the beginning of the decline of the Jin State and its gradual demise.]
[Not only the once powerful Jin State, but also many vassal states throughout the world inevitably saw the transfer of power downwards, and it was not uncommon for the nobles to overthrow the monarchs.]
[One era has ended, and another era is about to begin. 】
[You look at this brand new era that is about to begin and are extremely excited! ]
【You met Confucius, who traveled around the world and gave lectures. 】
【Kong Zhongni started the trend of private teaching, advocating benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness. He had 3,000 disciples, among whom 72 were wise men.】
[You have heard of his travels around the world, and now that you have seen him, you can see that his reputation is well-deserved! ]
【You were at the bottom of the class, and you listened to several lectures given by Confucius, and you gained some insights. You also asked about various questions, and they were answered one by one.】
[You feel admiration and decide...]
[One, follow Confucius, two, continue to travel, three, return home, four, intervene personally. ]
Su Che watched the lines of text in the book evolve continuously, and scenes flashed before his eyes one after another, as if he was there himself.
Confucius……
Su Che never expected that when he asked Fan Li to travel around, he would actually meet Confucius, who was traveling around the countries and giving lectures everywhere.
Su Che had long heard of the great name of Confucius and he admired this sage. As for the fact that his teachings were misinterpreted by later generations, this was also inevitable.
Confucius had no intention of discriminating against Fan Li, a scholar from a low-income family, and patiently explained to him all his confusions and problems.
After listening to only a few lectures, he was so shocked that he had the idea of following Confucius.
This is the personal charm of a saint.
Look at these four options.
Su Che couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
Follow Confucius?
If you really want to follow Confucius, it is not a bad choice.
only……
In this case, is this still the story of Fan Li?
I'm afraid I don't know where it has gone.
After hesitating for a while, Su Che shook his head and looked at the other two options.
Continuing to travel is a good option. With these days of traveling, Fan Li's knowledge is constantly increasing, enough to be described as learning to apply.
As for returning home and getting back on track together, this is also a good choice.
As for the fourth option, intervening personally, that is even more tempting.
It would allow Su Che to personally meet the famous Confucius, talk to him, and exchange his thoughts and ideas...
Su Che closed his eyes, thought for a while, and finally chose the fourth option.
[Personal Intervention]
Su Che opened his eyes again, and saw a tall and burly man sitting in front of him. It was Kong Zhongni.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, surnames and clan names were separate, surnames were surnames, and clan names were clan names.
After the Qin and Han Dynasties, surnames and clan names were combined and no longer differentiated, and were collectively called surnames.
Strictly speaking, most of the surnames today were clan names at that time.
For example, the "Kong" in Confucius' name is his surname.
His surname was Zi, his clan name was Kong, his name was Qiu, and his courtesy name was Zhongni.
For example, Qu Yuan, Qu is his surname.
His surname was Mi, his given name was Ping, and his courtesy name was Yuan.
Qu was the fief of the ancestors, hence the name Qu.
You cannot call him Mi Yuan, you can only call him Qu Yuan - because men can only be called by their clan names, not their surnames, and surnames are used to address women.
So there is no such name as Mi Yuan at all.
For example, Qin Shi Huang Ying Zheng, in this era, absolutely cannot be called Ying Zheng.
The Ying surname is Zhao. According to the Zhou system, men do not use their surnames, so he should be called Zhao Zheng or Qin Zheng.
Zhao Zheng was the name he had when he was in Zhao State, and Qin Zheng was the name he had when he came to Qin State.
This is off topic.
Confucius's face was not handsome; it could even be said to be ordinary and somewhat peculiar.
He had protruding nostrils, bulging eyes, crooked teeth, large ears that hung down to his shoulders, hands that went past his knees, and an uneven body.
However, such a person has an indescribable personal charm, and anyone who comes into contact with him will be deeply infected by him.
Confucius had a gentle personality, was very easy-going, had a righteous character, was dignified but not fierce, and at the same time was very humble and good at winning people over with his virtue.
At the same time, he is tall and strong, with amazing arm strength.
For example, not long ago, a carriage got stuck in the mud and the horses could not pull it forward. Confucius got off the carriage and pushed it out with one hand.
In addition, Confucius's alcohol tolerance was unfathomable. He could drink with dozens of people, one against ten, but he never got drunk.
"Do you have any other confusing questions?" Confucius looked at Su Che and asked with a smile.
"The student has another question." Su Che nodded.
"Please speak." Confucius waved his hand.
"Then the student said..." Su Che slowly raised his head: "The student wants to ask, how can we make the world a harmonious place?"
When these words were spoken, Confucius showed a look of surprise.
The many disciples around, Zilu, Ran You, Zigong, and Zigao, were looking at Su Che in surprise at this moment - what kind of question was this?
Are you here to cause trouble, kid?
This question is indeed a bit excessive.
Too general, too vague, too big!
this problem.
It also depends on the person.
If he was facing someone else, Su Che would never ask such a question, but facing the legendary Confucius, he couldn't help but ask his own question.
In the past few worlds.
During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Su Che pursued universal peace, but that goal was so far away.
Eventually he achieved his goal with a constitutional monarchy.
But the question is...is the world really united?
As long as people are different, there will be no equality.
Where people have desires, differences will arise.
From the very beginning, this concept was simply a castle in the air, an illusory existence.
Even though constitutional monarchy was successful later, it was only a short-lived success.
But there is still a long way to go before the world becomes a harmonious place. Strictly speaking, Su Che has not achieved his original goal.
so.
When imitating Zhang Zhongjing, Su Che changed his path. He no longer rebelled, but instead took control of the country's lifeline through business. He then frantically developed science and technology, expanded overseas colonies, transferred domestic conflicts outward, and made the country strong by being a sage inside and a king outside.
And this has indeed been successful, but the problem is that this is not the so-called universal peace, and oppression still exists.
Later, when he imitated Chongzhen, Su Che became even more extreme.
He directly launched a major purge and reshuffle, killing all the vested interest classes in the country, the gentry, the wealthy families, and the families of officials. This created a vacancy in the upper level of the pyramid for a period of time, allowing the country to be completely renewed and thus become full of vitality.
But the thing is, as time goes by, everything will return to the way it was before.
This is the fateful cycle of the dynasty, and it is a situation that is difficult to change.
Human heart.
After all, life is extremely complicated, desires are endless, and there are too many people who are always greedy for more.
The "universal peace" pursued by Su Che is actually Confucius' ultimate goal.
For this ultimate goal.
The path that Confucius followed was the path of benevolence.
He constructed a complete "moral" ideological system: advocating the virtues and behavior of "benevolence and courtesy" at the individual level.
The moral thought system is based on the theory of human nature being good, takes the establishment of human excellence as its goal, integrates human morality with the way of heaven and the way of earth, and is a complete thought system with the methodology of moderation and timely change of human morality.
All that Confucius did was to move towards his ideal world of "Great Harmony".
In Confucius' ideal world, the world of great harmony.
People in the world should not only regard their own family members as relatives, and not only love their own parents and children, but they should respect and love each other and love all people in the world.
The elderly have a place to live, the young have a place to work, children have warmth and care, the lonely and disabled have someone to rely on, men have their own things to do, and women have a satisfactory home.
There is no fraud or thieves in the world, no one picks up lost items on the roads, and no one locks their doors at night. Everyone is trustworthy and friendly, and selects virtuous and capable people.
How can all this be done?
When great virtue is practiced, the world becomes common to all.
It can be said that Confucius was an even more unrealistic idealist than Su Che. For this ideal, he took action and made efforts throughout his life, even though he knew clearly that his knowledge was not suitable for this era.
How can a saint be called a saint in vain?
Confucius shook his head and said, "I also want the world to be united, but the road to unity is so long and difficult to achieve. I practice benevolence for this , hoping to gradually move towards this goal..."
"So, I can't answer your question because there is no accurate answer to this question, or in other words, there is no achievable answer."
"Do you have any opinion on this?"
Obviously, Confucius saw Su Che's intention and realized that he had his own ideas and understanding.
Listening to Confucius' words, Su Che, who was sitting upright, straightened up slightly and said, "I have some superficial insights that I would like to share with you, Master. I hope you can give me some advice."
"Please speak." Confucius' expression became much more serious after hearing that. He also tried his best to sit up straight and act as if he was listening attentively.
Su Che said slowly: "I think your path is not wrong. The so-called 'Great Harmony' is just a vague vision. It is more like a spiritual nirvana than a reconstruction of the political system."
"You advocate benevolence, public spirit and fairness, and the world for all. This is not wrong, but I think it is difficult to do!"
“It is often difficult for vested interests to truly empathize and to act impartially.”
"The rich and those in power will never understand the plight and emotions of the poor. They will not understand why some people starve to death. If they can't eat grain, then can't they just eat meat?"
"Why are you poor? Isn't it better to rent out the unused mansion and let the servants pick up passengers with the unused carriage?"
"Even if they act impartially and for the public good, they would never have thought that there are people in this world who could be so miserable!"
As soon as these words were spoken, Confucius frowned, as if he was thinking about something. He didn't say anything and continued to listen to Su Che's words.
However, Confucius' disciples heard these words and their faces changed...
Su Che continued:
“Although all people in the world are connected, if their hearts are different, their voices are not in harmony, and their actions are not in sync, it will hinder their hearts and actions.”
"You believe that the emperor, the king, and the ministers are the core of the world's great harmony. You have always declared that your mission is to restore the rites in this society where rites and music have collapsed, and to restore the world to prosperity."
"But I believe that the true path to universal peace is not to return to the past, but on the contrary, to destroy and then rebuild."
"The old order cannot be maintained, which will lead to the collapse of rituals and music. This period is certainly bad..."
"But the ideal of universal peace can only be achieved in the short term after a long and painful process."
“The collapse of rituals and music does not mean chaos in the world, but rather an opportunity for the world.”
"The old order has collapsed and cannot be restored anyway, so why bother to repair it?"
"Instead of returning to the past and returning to the old ways, I think it's better to rebuild order and truly break down and then build up again."
"I think the 'benevolence', 'harmony', 'virtue', and 'the world belongs to all' that you preach may lead to spiritual enslavement of the lower classes..."
As soon as these words were spoken, the sound was like thunder out of the blue. The originally clear sky outside the house quickly became covered with dark clouds, strong winds howled, and heavy rain poured down.
The candlelight in the room flickered, and Zilu, Ran You, Zigong, Zigao and others who were originally sitting quietly stood up one by one.
Their faces turned pale, their eyes were wide open, and some of them couldn't help but draw their swords.
Swish, swish, swish!
A group of people drew their swords and pointed them at Su Che.
"Maniac! Do you know what you are talking about? Who are you saying this to?"
"Arrogant, what do you know about Confucianism? How dare you say such a thing!"
"Which school are you from? How dare you act so presumptuously here!"
"How dare you slander Confucianism like this? You deserve to be killed!"
They questioned Su Che and were going to kill him here if they disagreed with him!
Su Che's words almost negated everything Confucius had done in his life.
He even denied the entire Confucianism. To all his disciples, this was such a treason! How arrogant!
Who are you? You are a lowly commoner. Confucius did not despise you for your vulgarity and kept you by his side to learn from you. But after listening to you for only a few days, you dare to say such words. This is really lawless! There is no reason at all!
Confucius's teachings are about the great way of doing things, and the world is for all.
They believe this is the only way to lead the world towards universal harmony.
But Su Che said that this would become a shackle for ordinary people in the world, making them spiritual slaves...
Naturally, they cannot accept such outrageous remarks!
They will never admit that if people act impartially, everyone is benevolent, the virtuous and capable are selected, trust is upheld, and harmony is maintained, so that people not only love their own relatives and children, but also ensure that the elderly have a place to live, the strong have a place to work, the young have a place to grow, and the widows, the orphans, the lonely, and the disabled are all taken care of, this beautiful vision will actually lead to a worse society!
It's like saying that "as long as everyone is full of love" will lead to the destruction . What kind of crooked way and strange words are these! It's totally unreasonable!
Such outrageous remarks directly angered them! They simply couldn't listen to it anymore!
In fact, this is indeed Su Che's "result-only theory".
Because history will slowly prove that he is right, so he directly uses the results to infer that this is the wrong path. How can others accept this?
Who would have known at that time that the great scholar would slowly turn into a cheap or corrupt scholar?
They are all great scholars with public spirit and wise men who are dedicated to serving the world.
Naturally, Su Che's words could not gain their approval.
Confucius was frowning as he listened to Su Che's words. Suddenly, he heard his disciple scolding him. He couldn't help but frown and asked curiously, "What are you doing?"
"Master...he..." Zigong wanted to say something but was interrupted by Confucius again.
"I ask you, what are you doing?" Confucius asked calmly.
"This man is arrogant, I want to kill him!" said Zilu.
"This is a struggle of ideas and concepts, but you want to use swords. Is this an insult to me? Or is it an insult to this gentleman? If you want to kill him, then kill me first." Confucius said calmly.
As soon as these words came out, a group of disciples looked at each other in bewilderment. They could only glare at Su Che fiercely, and then sit down where they were.
Their usual personalities are not like this. It was because Su Che's words were too shocking and directly challenged their bottom line. It would be strange if they didn't get angry.
"Please continue, sir." Confucius turned his head to look at Su Che and said with a smile.
Su Che could feel Confucius' sincerity. His life's behavior was directly denied, but he did not get angry. Instead, he let Su Che continue speaking. What kind of magnanimity was this?
Su Che took a deep breath and continued:
"Perhaps your starting point is good, but these ideas and doctrines will slowly become tools for the rulers and a means for them to control the lower classes."
"Your original intention was to educate the world, but the problem is... many things in this world are counterproductive, and the final result often leans towards another result."
“I believe that if we want to make progress, we must go through cruel lessons, overcome problems one by one, and establish a new order and a completely new social concept that is different from the past.”
“In this world, many things are contradictory, because the nature of this world is imbalance.”
“The so-called man conquers nature, which means turning all imbalances into balances, even though they may turn from balance to imbalance again later.”
"This is the way of heaven, and also the way of man."
"But as long as we keep repeating the cycle and making each cycle more advanced than the last, everything will develop in a good direction."
“Imbalance is constant and absolute, while balance is temporary and relative.”
"By restoring imbalance to balance over and over again, the ultimate destination is probably Datong."
Su Che's words were very general and obscure, and the disciples beside him were confused. But when they heard the word "balance", they guessed that this person was from Laozi's school and came to destroy their Confucianism! How abominable!
However, Confucius understood.
But just because he understood it, he was actually a little confused... What school of thought is this?
The way of balance is the way of Lao Tzu. In Chapter 77 of the Tao Te Ching, it says: The way of heaven is like drawing a bow? The high is suppressed, the low is raised; the surplus is reduced, the deficiency is supplemented. The way of heaven is to reduce the surplus and supplement the deficiency; the way of man is not the same, to reduce the deficiency to serve the surplus. Who can have surplus to serve the world? Only those who have the Tao. Therefore, the sage does not rely on his achievements, and does not stay after his achievements. He does not want to be seen as a virtuous person.
However, the balance that Su Che talked about is fundamentally different from the balance that Lao Tzu talked about.
Lao Tzu advocates governing by doing nothing. The balance he talked about and Su Che's balance are not the same thing!
So Confucius was not quite sure which school of thought this young man in front of him came from?
Confucius advocated that the world should be shared by all, but what Su Che said meant was "people-oriented", which coincided with some of Confucius' remarks. Although this theory was crude, it opened up a whole new world for Confucius.
Confucius asked, "What is balance?"
Su Che replied: "Balance means comprehensive balance."
"Comprehensive balance?" Confucius was a little confused: "What does this mean?"
Su Che continued, "There is an imbalance between the princes between the ministers, between the scholars, and between the people, because imbalance is a universal objective law."
“If we want to achieve a comprehensive balance, theory alone is not enough. We also need to make continuous efforts, make continuous progress, and make continuous changes to ultimately achieve a balance in the world.”
Confucius:"……"
What kind of ambition is this?
To balance the princes, the ministers, the literati and the people, this is even more difficult than his "the world belongs to the public".
Confucius shook his head and said slowly: "This is too difficult. It is not the power of one person or one country. Even if you are a hegemon, you can't do this. How can you do it? How can you do it?"
It is indeed difficult.
But Su Che is not one of those arrogant young men. He has the confidence to say these words.
He has gone through three worlds, and used different methods in the three worlds to make the originally chaotic world strong again and achieve a certain degree of "comprehensive balance", although this balance will still be broken before long.
But the problem is that there is no system in the world that can automatically solve all problems once and for all.
Being able to achieve a comprehensive balance for a short period of time is already the limit of what Su Che can do.
All he needs to do is summarize this idea and pass it on.
Let the flame never die.
"Whose way is this?" Confucius looked at Su Che and asked slowly.
"This is my way." Su Che said.
Confucius then asked: "How does your school achieve these things? What is the core of your school?"
Su Che replied: "Selflessness and altruism, seeking truth from facts, unity of opposites!"
As soon as these words came out, Confucius frowned. He seemed to see the scenery of a brand new world, as if he had entered it. He murmured, "I understand selflessness and altruism, and seeking truth from facts. But what is the meaning of unity of opposites?"
Su Che replied: "The law of contradiction of things, that is, the law of the unity of opposites, is the most fundamental law of dialectical materialism..."
The disciples next to him did not understand what he said, but Confucius understood it immediately.
He truly deserved the title of saint. He nodded and said, "One is two, and two is one?"
"That's right." Su Che nodded.
"It's a very interesting theory. It has some flavor of Laozi, but it is completely different from his theory. Can you tell me about it in detail?" The Master smiled and nodded: "Let's sit down and discuss it?"
"I couldn't ask for more." Su Che nodded.
So, Su Che and Confucius began to sit down and discuss philosophy.
Su Che explained his path in detail.
Some of his teachings come from the essence of modern human cultural thought thousands of years later. They are the paths that great men have walked, and the experiences he summed up after experiencing three worlds. They are by no means empty talk or generalities.
The same is true of Confucius. Although his teachings are limited by this era, as a sage of this era, his teachings are equally profound and unfathomable.
The two of them discussed the Dao for seven days and seven nights.
During this period, countless great sages came to listen to the two men's discussion.
The disciples wrote down the entire conversation between the two and passed it down.
During these seven days and seven nights, Su Che benefited a lot. The saint was worthy of being a saint. His Tao was greatly improved, which made him more determined in his own path.
Confucius was also influenced by Su Che, but he did not completely deny his past path. Instead, he made corrections.
Confucius was not pessimistic and thought that his teachings were not worth mentioning. Instead, after getting Su Che's supplement, he became more optimistic. Then seeking truth from facts is very useful. To extend it a little, isn't this the "unity of knowledge and action"?
As for "selflessness and altruism", isn't it what he once said, "be generous to yourself and lenient with others"?
As for the unity of opposites, it is similar to his saying "Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you". Well... this is a bit far from the truth, but it can be corrected.
In theory, Confucius received a lot of additions, which made him very happy.
Seven days later, Su Che's fame spread throughout the world and some people called him "Fan Zi".
After his fame spread, Su Che returned to his hometown.
At this time, conflicts arose between the State of Chu and its neighboring State of Wu.
The two sides met and fought fiercely.
The reasons for the war are ridiculous.
On the border of Wu State, there was a small town called Beiliang.
On the Chu side, there is also a small town called Zhongli.
Beiliang City and Zhongli City are neighbors, but because they belong to different countries, they can hear the sounds of each other's chickens and dogs, but they have never had any contact with each other.
One day, two girls from Zhongli City and Beiliang City had an argument and started fighting because they were picking mulberry leaves from a mulberry tree on the border at the same time.
When the two women returned to the village and told the story, it immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of their family elders.
The two elders fought fiercely and for a while, they were evenly matched.
The two families asked for help from the village. After the news reached the village, people from both villages joined the battle and it turned into an armed fight between the two villages. In the final melee, a Wu man was beaten to death by a Chu man.
When the people of Beiliang City in Wu heard that their people were killed by Zhongli's people, the local chief secretly led the army to sweep Zhongli City and took severe revenge.
On the Chu side, the news that Zhongli City had been swept soon reached the capital of Chu. The King of Chu immediately ordered the Chu army to attack and capture Wu's Beiliang City! They took over this small border town!
When the Wu State learned that Beiliang City had been captured, it was equally unwilling to be outdone and also sent a large army to attack the Chu State. Not only did it recapture Beiliang City, it also captured Zhongli City of Chu and the important town of Juchao.
The quarrel between the two mulberry pickers directly caused the "War of the Century" and led to the beginning of the chaotic era of "the contention between Wu and Chu"!
After the turmoil began, Su Che, a "Fan Zi" from a low-class background, still did not receive an olive branch from the State of Chu, but instead received an invitation from King Liao of Wu. King Liao of Wu heard that Fan Zi had discussed Taoism with Confucius for seven days and seven nights, so he invited him to the country to serve as a senior official.
After receiving this news, Su Che couldn't help but laugh. He, Fan Li, actually received an invitation from the State of Wu because of his fame?
He, Fan Li, was the mastermind behind the destruction of Wu!
Su Che originally wanted to refuse, but then he changed his mind and thought that Gou Jian was a really ungrateful guy who could share hardships but not wealth. Why would he need to follow such a cold-hearted person?
Therefore, Su Che readily accepted the invitation of King Liao of Wu and took his whole family to the State of Wu to serve as an official.
It is worth mentioning that in this era, there was no concept of "great unification".
Don’t ever think that Su Che’s behavior is a betrayal of the Chu State that gave birth to him, which is so-called treason.
In fact, this behavior can be roughly understood as "working outside the province" - does going to other provinces to work mean "betraying the province"?
The same is true in this day and age, and this is a very normal situation.
After all, both the Chu State and the Wu State were just vassal states and belonged to the Zhou Dynasty!
Wu Zixu also went to the State of Wu with Su Che.
Wu Zixu's father Wu She was the tutor of King Ping of Chu.
Because of the slander of Fei Wuji, Wu She was arrested. The King of Chu demanded that Wu She's two talented sons enter the palace, otherwise he would kill Wu She.
This clearly meant that they wanted to wipe out Wu Zixu's family completely and leave no future trouble.
Wu Zixu's elder brother Wu Shang was influenced by filial piety and was willing to enter the palace and be captured and executed.
However, Wu Zixu decided to escape and take revenge later. Because of Wu Zixu's escape, the King of Chu killed Wu She and Wu Shang directly.
After his father was killed, Wu Zixu was determined to take revenge, but how could he fight against the powerful overlord Chu alone?
At this time, he turned his eyes to the State of Wu and followed Su Che to the State of Wu.
But unlike Su Che, the person who met him was not King Liao of Wu, but Prince Guang of Wu.
King Shoumeng of Wu had four sons: the eldest son Zhufan, the second son Yuji, the third son Yimei, and the fourth son Jizha.
Prince Guang was Zhufan's eldest son, and King Liao of Wu was Yimei's eldest son. The two were cousins.
Before King Yimei of Wu died, he decided to pass the throne to his younger brother Ji Zha.
But Ji Zha declined and was unwilling to ascend the throne, and he fled to the State of Jin.
Then, the Wu court established Yimei's son Liao as the King of Wu.
However, Prince Guang always believed that since the throne was passed to Ji Zha, if Ji Zha declined, then the throne should be his.
So he was very dissatisfied with King Liao of Wu who had already ascended the throne.
He took the initiative to show his talents, led troops to attack the State of Chu many times, and achieved some victories.
Gongzi Guang felt that only he could make the State of Wu stronger.
Therefore, he tried his best to expand the territory of Wu and win the hearts of the people.
On the other hand, he secretly made friends with talented people, hoping to find an opportunity to kill King Liao of Wu and seize the throne with their help.
This includes Wu Zixu.
Wu Zixu was eager for revenge, and he told Prince Guang the benefits of attacking the State of Chu every day, asking him to send troops as soon as possible.
After hearing this, Prince Guang said, "Xu's father and brother were humiliated by the Chu State, so he wanted to avenge himself. He has not seen the benefit yet."
What it means is that your father was killed by the State of Chu, and you are actually fighting just to avenge your father. There is actually no benefit in fighting the State of Chu.
After hearing this, Wu Zixu knew that Gongzi Guang was very smart and had a good eye for people. He also saw that this young man was very ambitious. In order to test Gongzi Guang, Wu Zixu introduced him to him, saying, "I know a man named Zhuan Zhu. He is a fisherman who often fishes near the Taihu Lake. His grilled fish is very unique. He is also tall and strong, and is good at assassination!"
When Gongzi Guang heard this, he was overjoyed!
In this era, for the sake of the throne, it is normal for brothers to be friendly and respectful to each other.
This man named Zhuan Zhu was the assassin who later assassinated King Liao of Wu.
He hid the sword in the belly of a fish and used it to kill King Liao of Wu.
And this sword is the famous Yuchang Sword!
When all these conspiracies are gradually beginning...
An accident, or rather, an uninvited guest, appeared.
Su Che found Wu Zixu.