Chapter 495: Li Si: Stupid emperor, what do you think? Have you changed your mind? Are you going to kill me?
Fuqiu Bo was a man of profound knowledge and great reputation, and all the aristocratic families in Xianyang were proud to have their children become his disciples.
Fuqiu Bo, who could make the children of nobles rush to come up to him to pay homage to him, was a disciple in front of Xunzi.
Unable to change his teacher's mind, he shed tears, bowed deeply to the haggard old man, and ran out to find the tyrant for his teacher.
The worst thing about Fuqiu Bo's impression of Qin II was not that he was arrogant and blocked people's opinions, but that Ying Chengjiao had been back in Xianyang for so long and had never visited his teacher in bed.
He scooped the black medicinal soup dozens of times with a spoon, and the ceramic spoon and bowl collided with each other from time to time, making a clinking sound.
After drinking the bowl of medicine in one breath, Xunzi put the bowl back on the table and lay down slowly and meticulously.
He rested his head on a linen pillow filled with wheat husks, lay flat on his back, crossed his hands on his abdomen, and then closed his eyes.
He was very weak and tired.
But as long as he still had a bit of strength, he would never allow himself to sleep with his clothes in disarray.
He is a disciple of Confucianism.
If one is poor and humble but likes to learn etiquette, his ambition will not be frightened.
After an unknown amount of time, Xunzi opened his eyes slightly, and in his hazy vision, he saw a person who was so familiar that he couldn't be more familiar.
Based on just a vague shadow, Xunzi could conclude that this was his monarch, the current emperor of the Qin Empire, Qin II, Ying Chengjiao.
The young man in front of him had many more titles, but his temperament and appearance were no different from when he met him in Lanling seven or eight years ago.
"You came secretly and left secretly. Your Majesty is the owner of this mansion, why do you live like a thief?"
Xunzi said this with a smile as he struggled to sit up by his own strength and refused the help extended by Ying Chengjiao.
“You have no shame.”
Ying Chengjiao sat on the edge of the bed with a wry smile on his face, full of apology.
Since returning to Xianyang, he has actually seen Xunzi many times, but always when Xunzi was fast asleep.
When Xunzi was awake, Ying Chengjiao was busy looking for a young deer that looked like a thousand-mile horse, busy discussing with Lao Zongzheng whether it was appropriate to take seven or eight concubines at a time, and busy asking Zhang Han to pick up his sword to fight him...
He always has something to do.
"Your Majesty cannot be blamed for Lanling's incident. Your Majesty does not need to blame yourself for it."
The old man took a slight breath, but his smile remained on his face.
"Even if it was really done by Your Majesty, it is nothing compared to what Your Majesty has done and will do."
Ying Chengjiao said softly:
"If scientists heard this, they would definitely find trouble with Xunzi. The strong should not command the weak, the many should not rob the few, and the rich should not insult the poor. This has always been the code of conduct for the Mohists."
"That's not necessarily true. The scientist personally participated in the Han Di incident, but he didn't say anything. He believed that the two articles "Heavenly Will" and "Knowing Ghosts" written by Mozi were both meant to make people fearful and act in moderation. If he had fully expressed his true thoughts, he would have been denounced as a heretic like you."
Xunzi sat up straight and habitually reached out to straighten the treetops above his head, but found nothing and put his hand down silently.
"What Xunzi said is that if one can achieve the goal, it is okay to make some sacrifices in the process."
"If sacrifice is necessary, yes."
Ying Chengjiao handed over a bowl of water.
"This doesn't sound like Confucianism. Confucius probably didn't interpret 'benevolence' this way."
Xunzi lowered his head, accepted the gift and thanked him. He drank the slightly hot water, and some energy was injected into his dry body, allowing him to speak more.
"At this time last year, you would have denounced this view. You would have called it heresy, an unhealthy trend, and anyone who holds such a view is unworthy of being a son.
"No more this year, Your Majesty, you are dying."
When talking about his own life and death, the old man's face was very calm. He was not frightened at all by the great terror between life and death.
"Today, I will not talk to Your Majesty about any fancy theories or doctrines. I want to speak to Your Majesty from the bottom of my heart."
Ying Chengjiao was in a heavy mood, but pretended to be angry and said:
"Xunzi, are you blaming me for not telling the truth before?"
"Your Majesty's previous truth is just like what you just said. It is not the original meaning of the words, and you have to guess the meaning. Suddenly I remembered that you don't seem to be qualified to criticize Your Majesty, and you are the same."
The old man cupped his hands, put his four fingers together, and bowed slightly.
"Your mind is already dull, and you cannot guess the hidden meaning of your Majesty's words. Please, Your Majesty, treat you as an illiterate farmer today. This is your last request."
Ying Chengjiao took a deep breath, sat up straight, and performed the same salute as Xunzi, meticulously.
"I dare not disobey the wishes of my elders."
After the greeting, the two men sat facing each other, and Xunzi spoke first:
"Your Majesty, have you made up your mind to be a tyrant?"
"That depends on who you are talking to. For the people of Guanzhong, I should be the best Qin monarch in history."
"But without officials who can manage the people, can Your Majesty carry out your will alone?"
"Of course I am not alone. The students in the Han school cannot become ministers or scholars and enter the court, but I don't think there is anything wrong with them being obedient and capable officials. The court will take care of major matters, and the Han students and their retainers will take care of minor matters. The Qin Empire has never had a Qin monarch who can control as much as I do."
"You are calling a deer a horse, and you want the loyal people to go north, while leaving the treacherous and flattering people in the court. What is your majesty thinking?"
Ying Chengjiao couldn't help but sneer.
"Loyalty and treachery, these two words are simple to say, but who can really tell the difference? The foundation of the Qin State is the word profit. How can the word profit distinguish between loyalty and treachery? Everyone is busy and toiling for profit, how many of them are wholeheartedly for the public? In this case, what's wrong with me leaving behind a group of obedient people with the argument of the deer and the horse?
"As long as he can carry out the orders I have given him, listen to my arrangements and do everything well, in this respect, the treacherous ministers mentioned by Xunzi are more than a little better than those so-called loyal ministers. What I want now is a capable official who is loyal to me without reservation. Whether it is a loyal or treacherous minister, that is something Fusu should consider."
Xunzi stared into Ying Chengjiao's eyes steadily, but Ying Chengjiao did not shy away.
After a long time, the old man suddenly coughed violently, covered his mouth with his hands, and could not speak.
Ying Chengjiao was very worried about the old man's health and wanted the conversation to end so he asked the old man to lie down and rest.
He had never seen the old man when he was conscious, not only because of the bloody incident in Lanling County, but also because he wanted the old man not to worry about state affairs.
But he didn't move and sat upright.
It's like a big bell, waiting to ring for the last time to fulfill the old man's wish.
"Ahem, you, you are too impatient, cough cough cough."
With his hands on his knees and a pale face, the old man swallowed back the half-drunk hot water on the table. Only then did he feel better and at least he could speak.
“Your Majesty’s original intention has not changed, but you act too hastily.
"If you continue like this, within a month, you will be the only one who has the final say in the Qin court. Whatever you say goes, and whatever you want to do will be done.
"The whole court is full of people like Zhou Qingchen, who only know how to sing your praises and carry out all your orders to the end. No one dares to stab you in the face.
"You know this is what your majesty wants. But your majesty, who doesn't make mistakes? Can your majesty guarantee that every decision you make is correct?
"If your majesty's wisdom does not require the advice of others, then why do you still have a court? One person's shortcomings are the same as everyone else's. There must be someone in the court who can speak.
“Even if their starting point is for their own benefit, as long as they try their best to find reasons during the narration, Your Majesty will be able to gain a new understanding of the matter from another perspective.
"Just like the feudal system and the county system, most of the officials chose the feudal system because they wanted land. But does the feudal system have no merits? Are the benefits they say about the feudal system all wrong? No.
"You have good intentions, and you want people to stop suffering. This is a blessing for the people, but you can't do this.
"When you were alive, you always asked yourself to be an upright gentleman who conforms to Confucian norms. But you know that a gentleman cannot govern a country.
"There is nothing perfect in the world. If you want to gain something, you must lose it. If Korea had not experienced war, it would still be the world of the Korean nobles. Where would we hear the sound of reading aloud and the smiles of the people? So people like you should not exist, right?
"You are now the Emperor of Qin. Everyone in the world must address you as Your Majesty. Everyone in the world is your subject, so you must be tolerant.
"There are Confucian disciples who always uphold a righteous spirit and are inviolable. No matter how dark and depressing this world is, there is always a ray of light shining.
"This beam of light is just a beam of light. It can be seen and touched, but it cannot nourish all things. You can't extinguish it just because it seems useless. Its greatest effect is to shine down.
"This world needs people who can do practical things, people who cannot do practical things but have high morals, and people who are extremely flattering and take the blame for you and do bad things for you.
"You have to be high and mighty in the court, and have fun with the people in the market. Most of the time, you listen to the advice of loyal ministers, and rarely, you are deceived by treacherous ministers, but in the end, you wake up and angrily kill the treacherous ministers..."
Xunzi, the great teacher who was not recognized by traditional Confucianism and called himself a Confucian but taught two French Ligue 1 giants, has been talking all the time.
Talking about the five consecutive bowls of lukewarm water in the bowl, and talking about the sky outside the window changing from white to dark.
During this time, he coughed countless times. Ying Chengjiao advised him seven times to wait until tomorrow, but the old man refused every time, citing his last wish.
Confucianism inside and Legalism outside, sage inside and kingly outside.
In the eyes of Confucian scholars, Xunzi's pragmatic learning is a thorough and profit-seeking Legalist doctrine.
However, Xunzi himself called himself a gentleman and set three ideal personalities: scholar, gentleman, and sage.
The three levels are progressive from low to high, and are differentiated according to the different levels of knowledge, ability, morality, etc.
This is undoubtedly a contradiction.
In the eyes of the Legalists, there is no such thing as morality. The first basis is the will of the king, and the second is the law.
In the eyes of Confucianism, there are laws, but the laws must give way to morality, that is, etiquette.
Ying Chengjiao had teased Xunzi about this issue countless times, but each time he succeeded in getting the old man to shut up and not be able to come up with any reason.
Listening to the old man's increasingly weak and labored voice, Ying Chengjiao, who finally got the answer, felt a bitter feeling in his heart.
The old man’s actions and knowledge are contradictory, and the old man knows it.
The old man taught practical knowledge at the Jixia Academy in order to enable his disciples to do practical things and change the world.
The old man calls himself a gentleman and has always regarded himself as the inheritor of Confucius' will. He wants to spend his whole life establishing a moral heart for the world.
The conversation ended at midnight.
Ying Chengjiao watched with his own eyes as the old man fell into a deep sleep with a hint of a smile on his face. He used trembling hands to check the old man's breath.
weak.
Ying Chengjiao breathed a sigh of relief.
With his martial arts skills, he had already noticed that although the old man's body was like a candle flame and could be blown out by the wind at any time, it did not go out in the end.
He sniffed the air tentatively, which showed his lack of confidence and fear.
The old general Wang Xi returned to Xianyang and was buried next to the tomb of Wu'an Jun Bai Qi. He left silently without even a chance to say goodbye.
After completing the conquest of the Wolf's Lair and fulfilling his last wish, he passed away suddenly.
Ying Chengjiao was very afraid that Xunzi was the same. He was afraid that teaching him how to be an emperor would be like hanging on to Xunzi's last breath, and after teaching him, he would leave.
Ying Chengjiao closed the door quietly. Outside the door were Xunzi's five major disciples, all of whom had made considerable reputations.
The ideal teacher of the Xianyang nobles, Fuqiubo.
After Dun Ruo and Yao Jia, there came Lu Jia, an unparalleled orator who dominated Xianyang with his eloquence.
Mao Heng was a poet who studied the Book of Songs in depth and made unparalleled interpretations of it. He created the Mao Shi, which was not recognized by the Qin people but became popular in Chu.
He first spent a large sum of money to buy human milk, and later kept eight wet nurses. He harmed many widows and took over the title of "scoundrel" from Ying Chengjiao, becoming a shameless sex-hungry ghost in Xianyang, Zhang Cang.
Standing in front of the crowd was Li Si, a giant of the Legalists who was expelled from Xunzi's school, but then returned to Xunzi's school, rose from a minor official in the State of Chu to the prime minister, the highest position among the civil officials in the State of Qin, but disappeared in one day and was exiled to the vast ocean .
Fu Qiubo, Lu Jia, and Mao Heng looked at Ying Chengjiao with complicated eyes.
They had been waiting outside since Ying Chengjiao entered, and had been listening to the two of them talking until now.
To be precise
They tried several times to rush in and ask the teacher to rest, but were stopped by Li Si.
Without Han Fei, Li Si, who shone brightly in the Jixia Academy and was still as brilliant as ever in the Qin State, would have been their leader.
There was a door blocking their way, and Xunzi spoke weakly, so they really couldn't hear what he was saying.
But as a teacher, Xunzi was willing to spend time and effort talking to Ying Chengjiao when his life was counting down, which in itself proved his high recognition of him.
For a moment, the three of them didn't know how to treat Qin II.
Based on what Ying Chengjiao did, they still believed that he was a tyrant, but this tyrant was recognized by the teacher...
Ying Chengjiao looked indifferent, nodded at the five people, then glanced at Li Si in front of him, nodded, and said in a cold voice:
"Come with me, I have something to ask you."
Walked past five people.
Li Si sneered, remained fearless, and followed quickly.
"What do you think, tyrant? Have you changed your mind? Are you going to kill me?"
