The hermit, sitting under the tree playing the zither, one hand caressing the strings and the other resting on a straight sword, seems to be watching a white bird flying through the clouds, exuding a carefree air.

This is a letter from the Mohists.

Duanmu Ci opened the envelope and took out the letter inside. The style was very old-fashioned, unlike modern craftsmanship, and the words on it were written in black ink.

"Qin Huali, a descendant of the Mohist school, bows again to you and says: Heaven gave birth to the Yellow Emperor and Yan Emperor, thus creating the Central Plains. The Three Sovereigns ruled the world, and the Five Emperors established order, thus distinguishing the Chinese and the barbarians. Then came Fuxi, who produced the Yellow River Map and the Luo River Writing, which the sages followed. From these came the Eight Trigrams, and from them came writing, from which rites and ceremonies arose, and the literary tradition was passed down. Thus, our ancestors were distinguished from birds and beasts, and established as human beings. This was passed down to Yao and Shun, and then came the rule of Yu. The vast traces of Yu divided the land into nine provinces, and he convened the feudal lords at Mount Tu, where ten thousand states presented jade and silk."

"King Yu was born divine, taming the great floods and carving mountains, causing all rivers to flow into the sea, from which the people still benefit today. Our ancestor Mozi inherited Yu's virtues, establishing his own school of thought, different from Confucianism and Legalism, advocating universal love and mutual benefit, braving fire and blades, and enduring extreme hardship, as you surely know. The Mohist school has stood for a thousand years, benefiting the people greatly, though not to outsiders, but you are also my fellow believer, how could you not know? The Duanmu family has long been in seclusion, and since the Jia Shen Incident, their voices have gradually faded from the world, originally thought to have perished under the iron hooves of the Tartars, which we deeply grieve for. Our ancestor once personally went to Yangzhou, Jiading, Jiangyin and other places to offer sacrifices to you and recite Qu Yuan's poems."

"However, I recently heard news of the Duanmu family. Overwhelmed with joy, I can only offer a cup of wine to reminisce about our friendship that has lasted for a thousand years. Since a letter cannot fully express my feelings, I have only briefly stated my humble opinion. I bow again with deepest respect."

Duanmu Ci read the letter word by word, and even after he finished reading it, he didn't put it down, but held it tightly in his hand.

So many years have passed, and they... are still here.

This letter, though short, is rich in content, mainly divided into four parts. The first part praises the ancient sage kings of China, saying that without them, there would be no us today. This is also the consistent style of ancient academic schools of thought: no matter what they say or do, they always start by waving a big veneer before speaking or acting.

The second part is the introduction of themselves. The Mohists were an extremely prominent school of thought in ancient times, and their name is still widely known today. The Mohists admired the politics of the Xia Dynasty and advocated learning from Yu the Great's diligence and self-discipline. Therefore, they held Yu the Great in particularly high esteem.

The third part was about building ties, saying that their friendship had lasted for thousands of years, and that after everyone thought they had disappeared, their ancestors had even gone to those battlefields to offer sacrifices and summon their souls—a testament to their deep affection. Then, they concluded by saying that if they had time, they should find a place to have a drink. It would be like a long-awaited reunion.

The person named in the letter is Qin Huali, a favorite disciple of Mozi, the founder of the Mohist school during the pre-Qin period. His status in the Mohist school was almost comparable to that of Zigong, a disciple of Confucius. However, this "Qin Huali" is not the same as that "Qin Huali." According to Duanmu Ci, each generation of outstanding disciples in the Mohist school would have a name that inherited the name "Qin Huali." In addition, there were "Geng Zhuzi," "Gong Shangguo," "Gao Shizi," "Guan Qian'ao," and so on.

Students with a normal high school diploma or above who didn't sleep in history class should know that the Mohist school, as an academic sect, was an extremely prominent school of thought during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. Scholars throughout the land at that time were "either Confucian or Mohist." This means that scholars across the nine provinces of China were either Confucianists or Mohists, ultimately unable to escape the influence of these two schools. The fact that the Mohist school could stand shoulder to shoulder with Confucianism and surpass all other schools demonstrates the breadth and influence of its influence.

Mencius once said, "The words of Yang Zhu and Mo Di fill the world. If the world's words do not belong to Yang, then they belong to Mo." This shows the popularity of the Mohist school of thought at that time.

Unfortunately, this golden age was short-lived. When Qin Shi Huang conquered the six states and unified the country, he issued an edict in Xianyang to burn books, known as the "Law on Possessing Books"—"All historical records not from Qin shall be burned. Anyone who, except for officials of the Imperial Academy, dares to possess the Book of Poetry, the Book of Documents, or the writings of the Hundred Schools of Thought, shall be brought before the local officials to be burned. Anyone who dares to discuss the Book of Poetry or the Book of Documents in private shall be executed in the marketplace. Anyone who uses the past to criticize the present shall be exterminated. Officials who know of such matters but fail to report them shall be punished equally. Anyone who fails to burn books within thirty days of the order's issuance shall be tattooed and sentenced to hard labor on the city walls. The only books not to be removed are those on medicine, divination, and agriculture. Anyone wishing to learn the law shall take an official as their teacher."

This decree stipulated that all historical records of other states, except those kept by Qin historians, must be burned, thus eliminating the historical records of Jin. Anyone in the realm who dared to possess books, except for those holding the title of Erudite Scholar, was to be punished. Consequently, all schools of thought were severed, and even Confucianism became highly controversial.

Duanmu Ci has always believed that the "Law on Possessing Books" was second only to the Five Barbarian Invasions and Emperor Qianlong's compilation of books in terms of its harm to Chinese civilization. All of Qin Shi Huang's mistakes combined could not compare to the heinousness of this one event!

However, culture is ultimately very vital in this world, especially Chinese civilization. Although the Qin Empire was extremely aggressive and wanted to destroy the Hundred Schools of Thought, it ultimately failed. The demise of the Qin Empire was not only due to the self-destructive actions of those in Xianyang, but also inseparable from the vigorous efforts of these various schools of thought.

The official mainstream school of thought in the Qin Empire was Legalism, but Legalism was not the only one. In addition, there were Confucianism, Mohism, the School of Military Science, and many others. These "opposition parties" pushed the Qin Empire into the abyss one after another.

An autumn rain in Dazexiang blocked the road for a group of laborers, and they then "cut down trees to make weapons and raised bamboo poles as flags" to "raise a great righteousness." When Sima Qian, the Grand Historian, described this event, he characterized it as an accident under the circumstances of inevitability. This means that Qin was bound to perish, but it was not necessarily destined to perish at the hands of the people in Dazexiang. Even without Dazexiang, there would still be Xiaozexiang!

This is precisely where Sima Qian made a mistake. The events at Dazexiang were far more complex than they seemed, and they were not a coincidence at all. They were orchestrated by the various schools of thought.

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