Chapter 511 Chen Ping: Jing Ke, my dagger is better than yours, right? I'll give it to you.
It was a long time after the Second Emperor finished speaking, and the whole place was still silent, with everyone looking thoughtful.
From the Yu and Xia dynasties to the Warring States period, no country's laws were ever designed for fairness and justice, and no king or prince ever established laws from the perspective of the people.
The existence of law itself is to maintain the rule of those in power. This is true for the three schools of Legalism: law, technique, and power.
"Hearing your Majesty's words, I can finally rest in peace."
Xunzi said with relief.
Many of his disciples became successful, but not one of them inherited Confucianism.
The knowledge of saving the world, in the ears of Han Fei and Li Si, became the Legalist doctrine of maintaining the rule; in the ears of Zhang Cang and Lu Jia, it became the pursuit of immortality and debate.
Xunzi did not blame his disciples. He even encouraged them to have their own opinions. Disciples did not have to be inferior to their teachers.
But deep down in his heart, he inevitably felt a little regretful. Where were his successors, the people who could walk on the same path with him?
It was not until the young man traveled across mountains and rivers from Qin to Qi, visited the academy three times and took the trouble to invite him to sit and discuss philosophy with him that he made up his mind.
But so many years have passed, and Xunzi is still Xunzi, while that young man has transformed himself into the emperor of Qin, and their status and position are no longer the same.
Xunzi was unsure whether the second emperor's heart was still the same as that young man's.
Now it seems that he is still the same boy.
The second emperor lowered his head and pretended to be sincerely seeking advice.
People have two eyes, Xunzi can only close one, what about the other one? There must be a lesson for the future!
Xunzi claimed to be the successor of Confucianism, but in fact he was well-versed in all schools of thought. He was the only outstanding person of the time who was favored by Guiguzi.
How could Ying Chengjiao not listen carefully to the most important teachings at the moment of death?
This boy often speaks without a purpose, but Xunzi never speaks nonsense or empty talk without a beginning or an end.
"Your Majesty has expressed what I am thinking, the Confucian thought. If so, why don't you announce Chen Ping's crime according to the Qin Law and deal with him publicly?"
Ying Chengjiao kept silent.
How could this be dealt with publicly? The one who ordered the massacre was his own brother.
The conspirator was exterminated with his entire clan, but what about the First Emperor who gave the order personally?
It was certainly impossible to exterminate the three tribes, but Ying Chengjiao was unwilling to add charges to the "deceased" First Emperor.
He has always been a selfish person and he never denied it.
"It's probably because of the previous king."
Xunzi no longer troubled the second emperor and asked himself questions and answered them again.
"Publicly announcing Chen Ping's crimes and executing him would mean that the order issued by the late king to massacre Lan Ling was wrong. Your Majesty does not want to add even the slightest blemish to the late king's reputation, even if he ruined it himself."
Ying Chengjiao looked ashamed, but he did not pretend to be deaf and dumb anymore. Instead, he said calmly:
"In the past, Wu Zixu attacked the State of Chu to avenge his father. He dug up the corpse of King Ping of Chu and whipped it to vent his anger. Xunzi is a great scholar and would never do such a thing as whipping a dead person. But if my brother has committed a crime, I can take it on my behalf and whip him until he is dead. I know that no matter how many times I take the whipping, the people of the two cities of Lanling County will not be able to rest in peace, and I cannot repay this blood debt. But if the reputation of the former king is ruined, I will never allow it. I can only disappoint Xunzi."
"I am not disappointed. It is human nature for relatives to protect each other. What is there to be disappointed about?"
Xunzi pointed at Chen Ping, who was lying on the ground and had given up struggling.
"Your Majesty's point is that if the trial is open, the punishment must be severe. The death penalty is to let the people know the price of doing so, to let the people learn from it, to be afraid of it, and to form a spirit of justice. But now that the trial cannot be open, why does Your Majesty want to torture him? Is it to avenge your grievances? Your Majesty, have you ever thought about whether it is right to let the reckless man torture Chen Ping?"
Ying Chengjiao never expected that Xunzi was so concerned about this matter. He sneered and clasped his fists.
"I have heard of a truth: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and evil must be dealt with by evil. To deal with such evil people, the most cruel means should be used. My ideological realm is not as high as Xunzi's. I think my behavior is correct. I even think that this punishment is too light for him! I still can't get rid of my hatred!"
In an instant, everyone immediately looked at the Second Emperor in a much more pleasing way. The gnashing of teeth on his face was exactly the same as when they were angry.
The second emperor who stepped down from the platform was completely changed. He lost the emperor's superiority and was filled with the seven emotions and six desires of a mortal.
That’s right, this thief deserves this kind of torture!
If Xunzi had not died soon, his disciples including Zhang Cang, Lu Jia, Han Fei and others would have applauded and cheered.
Xunzi didn't need to look back to know what his disciples were thinking.
There is no forgiveness in Confucianism.
Confucius, who was strong enough to lift a city gate, taught that it is not okay to share the same sky with a mortal enemy. You should sleep with a shield as your pillow and a weapon in your hand every day, and kill the enemy as soon as you meet him!
"So, Your Majesty is doing this for your own desires, right?"
Ying Chengjiao nodded casually, but in his heart he thought he was doing justice for the people and avenging the people of the two cities in Lanling County who had died.
But there was no need to say this. He didn't want the old man to spend his last part of his life in a debate. It wouldn't kill him if he just said a few words.
You can't lack a competitive spirit, but it can't be too strong.
If you have nothing, you will be like a salted fish; if you have too much, you will hurt yourself.
"This is the eye that you cannot close. Your Majesty hates Chen Ping's cruel methods, but for his own desires, he also uses cruel methods. You think it is inappropriate, very inappropriate. I remember that in the novels written by your Majesty, there is a book called "Chu Liuxiang". Your Majesty gave Chu Liuxiang's practice of stealing money from the rich and giving it to the poor a nice name - robbing the rich to help the poor. Stealing violates the "Qin Law". If there is really such a Chu Liuxiang in the Qin territory, will your Majesty arrest him or not?"
Ying Chengjiao said puzzledly:
"I have discussed this issue with you long before you read Chu Liuxiang. Chu Liuxiang is a literary creation and cannot be reproduced in reality. Theft is theft, and it cannot be overturned in the name of justice because of the use of property. There is only one situation in which I will applaud Chu Liuxiang, and that is when the world is unfair. The rich use all means to squeeze the people to accumulate wealth, and the officials collude with them to favor one side. The people have nowhere to cry out and cannot get the most basic fairness. If the law is unfair, it has no prestige and there is no need to abide by it. We should unite to smash this damn world and dare to call for a new day."
Han Fei listened quietly without any expression. He had heard such remarks many times when he was in Chang'an Junfu.
But Zhang Cang, Lu Jia, Mao Heng and others opened their eyes wide. The fact that their teacher was about to die could not cover up their violent emotional fluctuations at the moment.
They had never seen such a ruler before.
You are the emperor, you should stand on the side of the superior, how can you say such a thing? How can you be more traitorous than a traitor?
Xunzi felt even more dizzy. He didn't have much time left, but he smiled more often.
Only such an emperor, an emperor who stands on the side of the people, can realize his vision and make the prosperous era of his fantasy come true.
The young have a place to rely on and the old have a place to look after.
If the people do not fear the officials, the thieves cannot appear in broad daylight!
The Second Emperor was just a little bit short of being the perfect emperor in Xunzi's mind.
He wants to make up this last point.
"Then apart from the difference in status, what is the difference between what Your Majesty is doing now and Chu Liuxiang's robbing the rich to help the poor? Cruel means should never appear no matter who is in their hands. Your Majesty once said to me, when you stare into the abyss, the abyss is also staring at you. No matter how much you hate sin in your heart, don't become sin itself."
Xunzi smiled and turned to look at the river flowing eastward.
"Your Majesty can see farther than we can. Wang Xu once said that this is the limitation of the times, and even he is not immune to it. The etiquette of fleeing and not being chased on the battlefield in the Spring and Autumn Period is a joke now. People today cannot understand the foolish behavior of the ancients. I hope that what you are saying now will not make your Majesty feel foolish. If your dying words become a joke, you will really not be able to rest in peace."
Ying Chengjiao took two steps forward and stood quietly beside Xunzi.
His thoughts followed the water of the Wei River and returned to his previous life.
Two thousand years later, should we fight evil with evil? Then what is the purpose of the law?
If the law cannot punish crime, then the law loses its meaning of existence.
But if the law can punish crime, then we should not use evil means to deal with crime.
The large-scale armed fight between Jinglan and Ma Tian, the coordinated combat between infantry and artillery, led to a comprehensive ban on guns. If Xunzi was wrong, then we should just sit back and watch the two villages fight to the death.
Two thousand years later, Xunzi was not wrong.
Ying Chengjiao rubbed his eyes that were blinded by desire, and when he put his hands down, he felt much clearer.
He raised his head and shouted to Jing Ke in the distance:
"Give him a quick death."
Jing Ke responded, squatted down, and the dagger kept jumping on his fingertips.
He looked at Chen Ping, whose face was ashen and who was breathing out more than breathing in, and sighed with a little admiration.
"He didn't even beg for mercy before he died. He was a real man. For this reason, I want you to be a wise ghost and ask me."
He could not hide the doubt in Chen Ping's eyes.
Chen Ping supported himself with his hands and struggled to get up, then knelt on all fours on the frozen ground like a downtrodden dog.
"Why did the King of Qin kill me?"
"Because you massacred Lanling County, twice."
"impossible!"
Chen Ping raised his head and yelled at the Second Emperor, but when he saw that the Second Emperor wasn't looking at him, he looked at Jing Ke's face in despair.
"How could the King of Qin care about those untouchables!"
All the powerful people he had met, whether it was the three brothers of the Tian family, Zhang Liang of the Zhang family, the two sages Zhang Er and Chen Yu, or King Bao of Wei, not one of them cared about the lives of the people.
How could the King of Qin, whose status was more noble than anyone else, kill a wise man who had long proven his ability for the lives of those untouchables?
"Your Majesty does not like to hear the word 'lowlife'. The word 'lowlife' should not be used before any profession or person in the world, including merchants."
Jing Ke stated quietly.
According to Chen Ping, Jing Ke was a pariah, and the businessman Lu Buwei was a pariah merchant.
There is no noble person in Chang'an Jun Mansion!
"I don't believe it, I don't believe it! How can there be such a king in the world!"
Chen Ping shook his head frantically, his swollen face full of madness. The King of Qin must have a reason to kill him, and it wasn't because of that damn pariah!
With a burst of strength that came from nowhere, he threw himself on Jing Ke, grabbed Jing Ke's clothes, and asked loudly:
"You are a martial arts expert. You could have captured me and brought me back to Xianyang. Why did you show up outside Daliang and introduce yourself, saying that the King of Qin invited me to Xianyang? Don't say you like this. You are the best assassin in the world! If you can't make sense, it proves that something bad happened to me either on my way here or during the time I was in prison, and the King of Qin gave up on me! Did the King of Wei say that I was disloyal? This is a counter-espionage plan. The King of Wei wanted to kill me first, and I rebelled later!"
Jing Ke let Chen Ping go crazy with a look of pity in his eyes. Do smart people like to use their imagination so much?
"You have a rich imagination, I admire you very much. The reason why I showed up to see you and said that His Majesty invited you to Xianyang was because of His Majesty's order. His Majesty said that you have a very high IQ. If I take you by force, with your ability, something might happen along the way, and I may not be able to keep an eye on you. But as long as you say that His Majesty invited you, there will be no accidents. With your personality, you will happily fall into the trap. His Majesty said that this is called being too clever. I really don't understand, you murdered the people of Lanling City, how dare you come to see His Majesty? For a person like you, His Majesty can only invite you to die if he invites you to come."
Chen Ping opened his mouth, loosened his hands, and sat down on the ground with a deathly pale face.
Although what Jing Ke said was confusing, he understood it, and he underestimated the King of Qin.
First, he tricked the First Emperor into massacring the city, and did it twice, treating the First Emperor as a puppet.
Later, he got along with Wei Wangbao every day and played him around in the palm of his hand.
After these two experiences, he unknowingly began to look down on the new King of Qin, thinking that all kings were no better than him.
He raised his head and looked at the Second Emperor, Ying Chengjiao, who had never spoken a word to him from beginning to end.
What caused him to lose his soul was not the King of Qin's wisdom, but his heart. How could there be a king in the world who does not regard the people as inferior?
The wind was howling, blowing sand into Chen Ping's eyes.
He raised his hands and rubbed them hard! Rubbed them hard!
When his vision became blurry, the face of his father, whom he thought he had long forgotten, appeared in his mind.
The father who worked hard on the land to feed him lost the land.
It is useless to report to the authorities; power always only helps the powerful.
In the end, for that piece of land, he died at the hands of power, silently.
The death of a living person is worse than the killing of a pig in the village.
His nose twitched and his throat choked.
If the King of Qin had been in charge at the beginning, would his father not have died, would he have been able to get his good land back, and would his mother not have remarried.
He would not kill the pigs and divide the meat, and eventually he killed all the people in the village as pigs, and became Chen Ping, who was full of untouchables...
Tears washed away the dirt on his face, mixed with blood, and flowed down.
Jing Ke looked stunned.
How could Chen Ping, who refused to give in despite all the torture, be made to cry by just a few words?
Is it because you don't want to die that you shed tears of regret?
"It's no use crying. You'll die if you cry. Going on your journey as a conscious ghost is my last kindness to you."
Chen Ping put down his hand, his eyes were red and swollen, he looked at the Second Emperor and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"I regret not being born at this time, not being born under your Majesty's rule."
He reached into his bosom, took out the dagger that had killed everyone , and stabbed himself in the heart.
When he pulled it out and looked at it, blood was gushing out of his chest, but the dagger was not stained with blood.
Chen Ping smiled.
"Jing Ke, my dagger is better than yours, right? Here I give it to you."
He handed over the dagger, fell to the ground, and died.
