Chapter 306 As long as you are happy
The First Emperor said quietly:
"If I had Xunzi's assistance, I could also do this."
The first time he saw Xunzi, the First Emperor knew what his brother's solution was. Qin lacked a ruler, and Xunzi's thousands of disciples were scattered all over the world, enough to fill the gaps in the three worlds.
[Li Mu, Han Fei, Lian Po, and now even Xunzi is in his employ. What kind of magic did this fellow use to recruit so many talented people that I could not recruit? What is wrong with me? ]
The First Emperor, who ruled the world, was somewhat unhappy, and there was a hint of jealousy that had not appeared in his heart since he became king. He felt jealous that his younger brother was able to recruit so many talented people that he could not.
"Is it true?"
The old man asked back, his eyes were like one, two, thousands, or even tens of thousands of eyes, a bottomless pool that reflected the deepest part of the First Emperor's heart.
The old man clenched his fist and tapped his left chest.
"Your Majesty, there is no need to reply so hastily. Please consult your own heart before speaking."
The First Emperor remained silent, calm and thoughtful.
[If Xunzi assists me, will I remove the three great families from my name? ]
It didn't take long for the First Emperor to know the answer in just a few breaths: he couldn't.
The three great families had made contributions to the Qin State, and their behavior was not wrong in the eyes of the First Emperor. Today, the three great families have passed away, and their brothers have told them how to die, but the First Emperor still believes that the three great families have not made any major mistakes.
What does it matter if hundreds or thousands of slaves and concubines died? What does it matter if civilians were forced and seduced into slavery? Is it a fault to send a large number of trained slaves and concubines to the towers in Guanzhong every year? It should be a merit!
The building was a government institution, and all profits belonged to the government and were deposited into the national treasury. The First Emperor really didn't understand what was wrong with the three major families.
If there is any mistake, it is that his own brother determined that he was wrong.
If there was no Ying Chengjiao, even with the assistance of Xunzi, the First Emperor would not have done it even if he could have replaced the three great families peacefully.
The First Emperor would never do such a thing as killing the donkey after it has done its job, destroying the bridge after crossing the river, and killing meritorious officials for no reason.
Xunzi observed the changes in the Emperor's expression. Although he had guessed the Emperor's answer, he still asked:
"Your Majesty, will you kill him?"
Don't take speculation as the truth, this is what his lord said casually, and Xunzi thought it was absolutely right.
"No killing."
"This is the difference between the Lord and Your Majesty."
"...I see. I seem to understand why you all chose that bastard instead of me. It seems that Xunzi will not be admitted to the Qin Hall."
The First Emperor smiled.
"Can I have a chat with Xunzi? I'll help him solve some of my problems. I've been feeling really depressed since that bastard left."
Xun Qing nodded and said:
"Relaxation and tension are the way of civil and military affairs. Your Majesty, if you keep stressing for a long time, it will be like a bowstring that is stretched to the limit and in danger of breaking. I wonder what your Majesty wants to ask about, is it the "Encouragement to Study"?"
The First Emperor waved his hand and said:
"I consider myself to be a person of limited talent and learning, but I can still understand the article "Encouragement to Study" and there is nothing incomprehensible about it. What I want to ask is, you consider yourself a Confucian, but you are not tolerated by Confucianism, and your thoughts and teachings are also heavy punishments and condemn goodness. Your two most outstanding disciples, Han Fei and Li Si, are both great masters, how do you explain this?"
Xunzi said:
"Li Si, your inferior disciple, values utilitarianism, and he regards Confucianism and Legalism as means. If Your Majesty likes Confucianism, he will be a Confucian; if Your Majesty likes Legalism, he will be a Legalist. This utilitarian heart that sells to the imperial family is the nature of the Legalists. It is not you who taught him to be a Legalist, but he chose to be a Legalist himself."
He straightened his clothes and couldn't help but smile when he thought of his next proud disciple, Han Fei.
"As for Han Fei, you originally thought that he was a genius of the Legalists, born with a natural talent for this. But it was not until that night when you heard Your Majesty discussing the Dao with Han Fei that you realized that Han Fei was not a genius of the Legalists. Han Fei had no choice. The legal culture in the Kingdom of Han was flourishing, morality was corrupt, and people's hearts were evil. Only severe laws and torture could control it. In order to save the Kingdom of Han, Han Fei had no choice but to join the Legalists."
The First Emperor didn't know whether he understood or not. He looked thoughtful and quickly continued to ask:
"Mencius said that human nature is good at the beginning, which I think is absurd. Xunzi said that human nature is evil at the beginning, which I think is extremely correct. Han Fei and Li Si have both told me that Xunzi advocated the use of punishment to suppress evil thoughts in people's hearts."
He shook the book that Xunzi had just handed to him.
"Xunzi praised the people of Qin in his book. It can be seen that Xunzi highly recognized Qin. However, Qin ruled the country by law, which is why it has such a grand atmosphere. No matter how I look at it, Xunzi should be a legalist."
The First Emperor said so much, discussing whether Xunzi was a great Confucian scholar or a great legalist, but his purpose was to recruit Xunzi.
The First Emperor already admired Xunzi's disciples Li Si and Han Fei. After seeing Xunzi through a filter and talking to him, the First Emperor really didn't want to let this great talent go.
No other country valued Legalism as much as Qin did. No other emperor in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period loved talents as much as the First Emperor.
Xunzi understood what he meant and sighed deeply.
[Your Majesty and I have different paths, so how can we make plans together...]
The First Emperor thought that Xunzi's attitude had softened, so he struck while the iron was hot:
"Why is Xunzi sighing? Do you think I am just talking big like Huang Xie, and I am only willing to give Lanling a county? As long as Xunzi comes to the court today, I can reinstate Zhou's Grand Master to reward Xunzi!"
Xunzi's expression immediately became serious.
"To take credit for merit is the mind of the Legalists. The law is what the people do, not what the Confucians want. Your Majesty governs the country by law, and invites talented people to Qin based on merit and benefits. You have implemented the Qin Xiaogong's order to recruit talented people to this day. You can gain the world, but you cannot keep it safe."
The First Emperor retorted:
"Chun Yuyue, who once studied under Xunzi, was determined to seek a high position in order to realize the ideals of Confucianism..."
Xunzi interrupted the Emperor before he could finish his words:
"He is not a Confucian, but a fake Confucian!"
The First Emperor was not angry and immediately said:
"King Zhao of Chu invited Confucius and promised him a great reward, including a land of 700 li and a corresponding population. Confucius immediately took his disciples to Chu. On the way, Chen and Cai trapped Confucius in the wild. Confucius sent Zilu to Chu for help, and King Zhao of Chu finally rescued him and brought him to Chu. But when King Zhao of Chu regretted not using Confucius, Confucius left Chu. Such behavior is completely contrary to what Xunzi said about Confucianism. Xunzi would never say that Confucius is not a Confucian."
These words of the First Emperor include most of his views on Confucianism.
He agreed with Confucian benevolence and allowed Chunyu Yue to be the teacher of his eldest son, teaching him that being harsh and cruel was not enough to make one an emperor.
But he would not allow Confucian scholars to hold high positions. Because from what he read in the classics, Confucius could not even practice the theories he proposed. He said that being rich and noble without justice was like floating clouds to him. But when the barbarian Chu State offered him an olive branch full of fame and fortune, he went there without hesitation. How could a doctrine that even its founder could not practice govern the country?
The First Emperor originally thought that this question would make Xunzi feel ashamed, or stump him, or at least make him speechless for a while.
However, as soon as he finished speaking, Xunzi immediately said:
"Confucius was a Confucian, but his behavior was not Confucian. Confucius was wrong."
“…”
The First Emperor didn't know what to say.
He didn't expect that Xunzi, who claimed to be a Confucian and the successor of Confucius' thoughts, could even deny Confucius.
"You wrote in "Encouraging Learning": Crabs have six legs and two claws, but in fact, crabs have eight legs and two claws. Life is limited, but learning is limitless. The more you learn, the more you realize how insignificant you are. The words of sages may be heresy thousands of years later. You can make mistakes, Confucius can make mistakes, and all the classics today may be wrong. Unrighteous behavior and wrong reasoning are not Confucianism."
The First Emperor widened his eyes, pointed at Xunzi, and couldn't help laughing.
"Hahaha, interesting, interesting, really interesting. Today I met Xunzi and finally understood what the best teacher is. Today I know that the Confucianism that guy was talking about is Xunzi's Confucianism, not Confucius' Confucianism! May I ask Xunzi, how do you govern a country with Confucianism?"
If Ying Chengjiao had left ten days or half a month later and had seen what is happening today, he would definitely not have left.
He didn't expect that his brother, who he had tried his best to convince but was more stubborn than an ox and devoted to promoting Legalism, would actually take the initiative to ask Xunzi how to govern with Confucianism.
"Respect the rituals and the law."
Xunzi first read out the four words loudly, and then said softly:
"People are born with desires. Their eyes like sights, their ears like sounds, their mouths like flavors, and their hearts like profit. Where there are desires, there must be competition. At the beginning, human nature is evil. If a country has people, then it is the country. To govern is to educate and govern the people. To clarify etiquette and morality is to transform them, to establish laws to govern them, and to impose heavy penalties to prohibit them."
The First Emperor pondered over Xunzi's words for a long time before saying:
"Using propriety and morality to educate the people and reform the bad human nature is Confucianism. Using punishment and laws to subdue stubborn people is legalism. This is the first time I have heard that the Confucian and Legalist schools, which are mortal enemies, need to govern the country together."
The old man immediately became displeased and emphasized:
"This is not Dharma, this is just Confucianism!"
The First Emperor was unwilling to be outdone and said:
"Except from Xunzi, I have never seen any similar words from Confucianism."
The old man straightened his waist and was about to roll up his sleeves, and the big movement almost caused the green scarf covering his head to fall off.
The old man hurriedly supported him, and then continued to roll up his sleeves, showing his two muscular forearms:
"Let me ask you, what do the words and deeds recorded by Confucius in the Analects mean: If you govern people with laws and discipline them with punishments, the people will escape punishment but will have no sense of shame. If you govern people with virtues and discipline them with rites, they will have a sense of shame and will be able to behave themselves properly? "
The First Emperor's mouth twitched as he looked at the old man who did not address him as "Your Majesty", was furious, and rolled up his sleeves as if he was ready for a fight. This image was really far from his previous teacher.
[Birds of a feather flock together. This must be the influence of that bastard. This bastard really deserves a beating! ]
Cursing his brother in his heart, the talented Emperor Qin Shi Huang answered the questions honestly.
"It means that relying solely on punishment is limited. People will only try to evade punishment, but they have no sense of shame. Only by educating people with moral etiquette will they know shame and exercise self-discipline."
Bang~
The old man immediately slammed the table.
"Does what Confucius said mean the same thing as what I said?"
The First Emperor nodded helplessly and admitted that he had little education.
Naturally, the First Emperor had read "The Analects of Confucius", but since he never believed that Confucianism could govern the country, he naturally would not pay too much attention to Confucian classics.
Everyone has a favorite subject. The First Emperor liked to study law, and he liked Han Feizi and Shang Yangshu. He memorized every article and applied all the theories in Shang Yangshu.
The old man's breath was a little weaker, and his voice was a little softer than before, but still louder than at the beginning.
"Let me ask you again. Mencius also said: Goodness alone is not enough to govern, and laws alone are not enough to govern. What does this sentence mean?"
The First Emperor smiled bitterly and said:
"I already know that. I neglected it. The Confucian classics do say this. Xunzi doesn't need to give examples. Xunzi just said that Confucius was not a Confucian. He also said in previous years that Mencius was a fake Confucian. Don't you think it's contradictory to use Confucius and Mencius as examples to prove Confucianism today?"
The old man put down his sleeves and said slowly:
"Confucianism is the correct theory. Those who are right are Confucians, and those who are wrong are pseudo-Confucians."
The First Emperor held it in for a while, but even though he admired Xunzi's talent, he couldn't help it.
"Xunzi, has anyone ever said you are shameless?"
Xunzi took out the book written by the First Emperor, flipped through it a few times, and handed it over, pointing to a line of words on it.
The First Emperor looked carefully.
【Ying Zi said: Science is an absolutely correct subject. Everything that is correct is science, and everything that is incorrect is pseudoscience. If scientific knowledge that was originally believed to be correct is found to be incorrect over time, then this knowledge is not scientific knowledge, but pseudoscience knowledge.】
【Your Excellency said: The world has not heard of scientific theories, please replace them with Confucianism. 】
【Ying Zi said: As long as you are happy. 】
【Your Excellency said: Good.】
The First Emperor originally wanted to go back and carefully study this book written by Xunzi, which recorded the words and deeds of Ying Chengjiao.
Even Xunzi, the teacher of the book, did not dare to call himself Xunzi, but called others "Zi". Aren't all the words in this book valuable and can be passed down as classics?
And now, the First Emperor still has the idea of taking the books back to read, but he does not study them carefully, but just read them as novels to pass the time.
The First Emperor pointed at the books and questioned the old man, who looked calm and unashamed, in an extremely suspicious tone.
"What did Xunzi remember? Is such a scoundrel's speech worthy of being carefully recorded? Is such a scoundrel worthy of being called a zi? Isn't the word zi too careless here? Xunzi is a retainer of that scoundrel, so is the gift a way of giving face?"
The old man looked at the body of the First Emperor wrapped in the crown and robes, and measured the difference in strength between the enemy and us.
Thinking about what the king once said, his brother's martial arts skills were mediocre and could only fight against the Qin general Meng Tian.
The old man, who was proficient in the six arts but was old, gave up the Confucian tradition of judging right and wrong based on martial arts.
"Your Majesty, seeing that you are not an official in Qin, you are not treated with courtesy. Your Majesty, have you forgotten that it is not important whether you enter the Qin court or not? What Qin needs are officials who can go deep into the people, not a high-ranking Tai Shi."
The First Emperor asked back:
"If I don't treat Xunzi with courtesy, will he not invite his disciples to Qin? Is this in line with Confucianism?"
Xunzi stared at the First Emperor for a long time, and neither of them gave in.
After a while, Xunzi spoke firmly.
"No matter what your majesty does, you should summon your disciples to Qin. This is Confucianism!"
The First Emperor grinned and laughed loudly towards the sky.
"Hahahaha, Yingzi is not worthy of being Yingzi, and Xunzi is worthy of being Xunzi."
The old man got up from his seat and bowed deeply to the First Emperor, who was kneeling and laughing at the side of the table.
"The people are the most important, the country is second, and the king is the least important. A king without the people is not a king, and a country without the people is not a country. Your Majesty, please treat the people of the world as your sons and abolish the slavery of servants and concubines!"
The First Emperor smiled and shook his head.
"If I had not said anything about this before, I could have promised you. But I have already made a promise with my own mouth and an agreement with that boy, so I cannot promise you. I can be wrong, but I cannot change my promise."
The old man looked sad. The First Emperor got off his seat, helped the old man up, and said to him:
"Xunzi, you won't stop summoning your disciples to Qin just because I don't agree with you, right?"
“This is not what Confucianism does.”
"Xunzi is a man of high moral principles. I think his teachings are similar to those of that bastard. Although I cannot agree with Xunzi to abolish slavery, I can do as that bastard said, ban towers and add the crime of obscenity to the Qin law. Is that okay?"
"Great kindness."
"If Xunzi has time, he can come to the palace to teach me. I don't listen to Confucius's Confucianism, but I can listen to Xunzi's Confucianism."
"Your opinion is not much different from your Majesty's. Your Majesty cannot listen to your Majesty's words, so you cannot listen to your opinion either."
"That fellow is far inferior to Xunzi in teaching and answering questions."
The First Emperor stayed in Chang'an Palace until the moon rose above the willows, and then he returned to the palace with a reluctant heart.
That night, all the pigeons raised in the Xianyang Palace were released.
Fortunately, it was night and the sky was dark, so the pigeons were not very obvious. If it was daytime, a large part of the sky would be blocked.
This large group of pigeons with paper tied to their feet flapped their wings so loudly that the sound of them startled countless nobles who were sleeping.
They take advantage of the cover of night and fly in all directions to all parts of the world.
