Chapter 146 Going to Qi
From the training of the royal children of Luo State, we can see that Luo State has always cared about the practical ability of its children and believed that one cannot govern the world by sitting in the palace.
Mencius was indeed a genius, but even Luo Hong, who liked his articles very much, thought he was still too immature.
Confucius was once famous in Luo State in the past, but his thoughts truly matured after he traveled around the countries and taught countless students.
Only then did Confucius completely return to his original nature and become the sage he was.
There was naturally a reason why Mencius wanted to go to the State of Wei to spread the doctrine of benevolence and righteousness.
Wei was the first country to carry out reforms, but the results of the reforms had been lost in the wars of successive dynasties, so Wei needed a new path to recover from its exhaustion, and Confucianism was naturally better than Legalism in terms of recuperation.
The second is the existence of the State of Qin. The people of Wei called the Qin people tigers and wolves. The continuous failures made the people of Wei afraid of the Qin people. The State of Qin was precisely a country where tyranny was rampant, so Mencius had to go to the State of Wei to practice the way of benevolence and righteousness.
However, after staying in Luo State for a year, Mencius's mind changed slightly, and he decided to go to Qi State first.
Although Mencius was no longer the unknown figure he was when he first arrived in Luo State, he was not yet a world-famous sage. If he went directly to Wei State, the King of Wei would probably not pay any attention to him.
But it was different in Qi. Although the royal family of Qi had been secretly trying to break away from Luo and go it alone in order to prove itself, the relationship between the two sides had always been good.
Mencius was the son-in-law of Luo State. If he went to Qi State with this identity, King Shen of Qi would definitely meet him.
King Shen of Qi was the Crown Prince Shen who had defeated the Yan army and recovered Qi's lost territory. His prestige reached its peak after he recovered Qi. In addition, Yan's invasion of Qi resulted in the death of a large number of nobles in the battle, and the power of the Qi royal family became much greater than before.
In addition to his wife Meng Ji, Mencius was accompanied by Prince Qiwen, one of the royal family disciples of Luo State.
Prince Qiwen was Meng Ji's elder brother. He also liked Mencius's articles very much, so he volunteered to travel with Mencius and record his words, deeds and growth.
There was also a group of guards assigned to protect Luo Qiwen and Meng Ji.
Just as Mencius expected, King Shen of Qi entertained them warmly and showed great interest in Mencius's favor from the State of Luo.
No one knows better than the royal family of Qi how difficult it is to marry the legitimate daughter of Luo. After all, there is countless Luo blood flowing in his body.
Even if the royal family of Qi wanted to marry the legitimate daughter of Luo, they still had to consider her character and talent. If her character was not good or she was too incompetent, Luo would not marry her.
The King of Qi ordered his maid to present the wine cup and asked Mencius, "Mencius, the Marquis of Luo and the Crown Prince both praised your talent in their letters, and Prince Qiwen also praised you highly. I think you are a wise man with great talent.
The six states invaded Qi, causing it to decline. I want to know how to restore Qi to its former glory.
Mencius smiled and said, "It's very simple. All you need is for the king to treat your people with kindness and justice."
King Shen of Qi said, "Hasn't my treatment of the people of Qi been good enough?
The laws in Qi are not as strict as those in Qin and Wei, the nobles in Qi are not as rampant as those in Chu, and the recruitment of soldiers is not as harsh as in other countries. Isn't this treating the people with benevolence?
Qi State once prospered because of this, and everyone has seen it.”
There is a world of difference between the Legalists of Qi who originated from Guan Zhong and the Legalists of the Three Jins who originated from the art of punishment. Therefore, Qi can indeed be regarded as a relatively mild legalist country, and the results achieved were not bad. If the six countries had not attacked Qi, Qi would have really revived its hegemony and become the number one among the nations.
But Mencius did not think so. Mencius, who was good at making up fables, quickly said: "Your Majesty, you think that Qi prospered because of its laws, which may be correct.
But let me tell you a story.
In the State of Song there was a farmer who planted wheat in his first year and had a bumper harvest.
Then when he planted wheat the next year, his neighbor said to him, "Planting wheat is different from planting wheat. You need to learn a new way of planting."
But he didn't listen and continued to plant wheat the same way, and in the end he got nothing.
This is the case with your State of Qi. In the past, Qi was strong and its people were wealthy, so your laws did not seem harsh and your taxes were not severe.
But after the war, the people of Qi have become poor. Even your palace has not been repaired. If you use the previous laws at this time, it will make the people feel that it is too harsh.
Just like your hand, when you put it into cold water, it may be freezing, but it is still bearable.
But if you put your hand in hot water first and then in cold water, can you still bear it?"
Qi Wang Shen shook his head and said, "First soak in hot water, then soak in cold water. This is a punishment used on criminals. I naturally cannot tolerate it."
Mencius laughed and said, "It's obviously the same basin of cold water, why is there such a big difference?
It's because the temperature of your hands is different.
The same is true for the people of Qi. Their circumstances have changed, but you are still using the old laws. Is this appropriate?
If you treat your people more kindly now, reduce their taxes and labor service, allow them to farm freely, and leave surplus food, they will be able to feed their families.
The elderly can survive, young children have someone to support them, and the whole family can lead a normal life instead of being torn apart by those officials.
If you can do this, would anyone not be grateful to you?
If you can do what Luo did, what does it matter if Qi does not have a strong army for the time being?
You will have millions of soldiers willing to fight for you, and you will have a wealthy country to support you.
What stabilizes a country is never the precipitous mountains and rivers or the fortified cities and fortresses, but the support of the people.
This is what King Su said: those who have the right path have many supporters, while those who have lost the right path have few supporters. "
As for King Shen of Qi, Mencius did not preach the kingly way right away. Instead, he first praised the Legalists of Qi openly and criticized them secretly, saying that they were no longer suitable for Qi and should be abandoned.
As for what to do, listen to me. Follow the path of the kingly way like the Luo State, recuperate well, and don't go down to collect taxes every day, making the people's property not enough to pay the taxes. By then, you will have money and food, and the people will be grateful for your kindness, and naturally you won't need to worry about other countries.
It sounds like a no-brainer, but the key is timing.
The cultivation of people's hearts takes ten years, and the reduction in taxation can be seen at that time. More than ten years is enough for the Legalists to complete the accumulation of reforms to strengthen the country, but the kingly way has just begun.
King Shen of Qi thought to himself: This is a wise man similar to Confucius, no wonder Luo State values him, but the way of benevolence and righteousness is not suitable for Qi State.
King Shen of Qi did not adopt Mencius' political views. He still had the dream of dominating the world. Although Mencius was a little frustrated, he did not show it on his face.
Mencius gave lectures in Qi State and debated with the Legalists and Mozi of Qi. Although Mozi of Qi and Mozi were only debaters, Mencius was an extremely rare debating genius. He was good at using all kinds of metaphors to prove his own ideas, and his writing was very beautiful. He often used the techniques of fu, bi, and xing from the Book of Songs to enhance his persuasiveness.
In just a few months, Qi Mo, who specialized in debate, was defeated, and Qi Fajia, who specialized in practical matters, was even worse.
The cartloads of letters from the people of Luo State that followed Mencius finally found a use for them. They began to record things and then were immediately sent back to Luo State.
Mencius also said to Luo Qiwen in private: "The relationship between Qi Mo and Luo Mo is like that between a firefly and the bright moon. These people have basically ruined all the good aspects of Mohism.
Qi Mo's extravagance and waste in funerals is too shocking, completely deviating from the Mohist philosophy of frugality. He is Mohist in name only, but not in reality. He is worse than Chu Mo who fights and kills all day long. At least Chu Mo sympathizes with the poor common people. "
Luo Qiwen was very amused when he heard this. A Confucian disciple despised the Mohist disciple's funeral as being too wasteful. This could definitely be put on a comedy show. It was a pity that he was not from the Song Dynasty.
With Mencius's fighting power, if Luo Mo is not counted, it is estimated that only the resurrected Mozi of the past can compete with Mencius, and the second-generation giant Yang Shengzi is unlikely to be able to do so.
When Mencius and Luo Qiwen left Qi, King Shen of Qi, who had already become famous in Qi, came to see them off in person. "Mencius has great talent, but I cannot use him. This is my fault."
After the nobles of Qi had left, Luo Qiwen smiled and asked Mencius beside him, "Ke, you have the talent to help the country, but you have hit a wall in Qi. How do you feel?
I have seen you speak freely before the King of Qi and debate in the State of Qi. You are not one of those pedantic Confucian scholars; you are well-versed in affairs.
Don't you think it's a pity that these practical matters are not used, but the kingly words are used instead?"
Luo Qiwen followed Mencius throughout the whole process. Neither he nor Mencius cared about whether they could hold a high position among the nations and gain wealth and glory.
Luo married her daughter to him so that he would not give up his persistence for the sake of wealth and status.
For Luo, the essence of wisdom that burst out from Mencius' mind is the most important.
For Mencius, the most important thing is to practice his ideals.
Mencius smiled and said: "If one has benevolence and righteousness in his heart, what else in the world is worth worrying about?
In the past, Confucius had the ability to be a prime minister, but he traveled around the various states without being able to achieve his goals, while one of his students became a prime minister.
Does this mean that Confucius's knowledge is inferior to that of his students? It is just the seven words "I follow the way of the king".
I was unable to achieve my wish in Qi today, but that was just because I followed the way of Luo and did not obey the king. "
Luo Qiwen laughed, "Okay, that's right.
If you don't have this kind of courage, how can you become a sage?"
(End of this chapter)
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