30 The Feast of Philosophers05
◎This is the time when the stars of humanity shine◎
"Well said!" Mozi laughed and applauded.
He stood up and walked to the door, opened it a crack, and tilted his head to Zhu Heng: "Come, please follow me now to witness the feast of the philosophers."
Zhu Heng raised his eyes and saw that the scene outside the door had changed completely.
On the other side of the door was neither the tree hole meeting room at the beginning nor the room where they played chess when they came.
It was white outside, and the mist was swirling, drifting into the door frame.
The white mist wrapped around my body, bringing a slight chill.
Mozi at the door was nowhere to be seen.
Zhu Heng took a few quick steps to catch up. A red light flashed in the mist, and two metallic mechanical sounds came into his ears along with the red light. The mist became a little thinner, and Zhu Heng saw Mo Zi waiting for him in the cockpit of a flying car.
"Get in the car." Mozi said.
Zhu Heng got into the spaceship and closed the hatch.
The flying car was controlled by Mozi and rose into the air, rumbling out of the white fog.
Six groups of giant ink-colored statues appeared in Zhu Heng's field of vision, three on each side, and there were also slightly smaller statues filling the gaps between the six groups of large statues. Clouds floated in between like white ribbons, forming a fairy-like black and white ink painting.
"These are..."
Mozi replied, "The humanoid computers of the various schools of thought, the statue of Confucius you saw in the previous instance, are also computers, though of a gentle type."
mild?
Zhu Heng raised his eyebrows as he thought of the statue of Confucius that almost went completely out of control.
Mozi smiled. "At least, it didn't act out of control before you barged in and interfered."
There were many other aircraft floating in the air, flying towards different statues. I think they all belonged to the major families and schools of thought.
Mozi parked the car on a platform above a group of giant statues, pressed a button to open the door next to Zhu Heng, and looked up at him: "We're here."
They got off the car here and entered the control room inside the statue through the skylight above their heads.
Zhu Heng looked up and saw that the other five groups of statues, including the group they were in, had formed a circle. The other five people, like him, each occupied a human-shaped computer.
Wang Kunshu stood next to Zou Yan, a Yin-Yang scholar; Xie Shen was next to the Confucian twins Mencius and Xunzi; Tao Ran sat with the Taoist Zhuangzi; Xu Wenjun followed the Legalist Han Fei; and Helan Dao was with the famous scholar Gongsun Long.
Those human-shaped statues slowly "wake up", turn their eyes, and look at the sons of various families around them.
"I can't count how long it has been since I saw so many young humans." Yin-Yang School's Zou Yan laughed heartily.
"The meteorologist is wrong," said the renowned scholar Gongsun Long, glancing at Helan Dao. "They are not the people of our time. They cannot be considered human beings."
The twin stars of Confucianism, Mencius and Xunzi, sighed in unison: "Shit stirrer, shit stirrer, you are about to start your sophistry again."
Gongsun Long retorted, "You two idealists, that's not very kind of you. A horse is a horse, but a white horse specifically refers to a horse with a certain color. So a white horse can't really be considered a horse. Similarly, the humans we can see are those of our time, while these little kids below are humans of the future. Unless we time-travel, we won't be able to see them. Since we can't see them, they can't be considered humans in our sense of the word."
"Alright, stop arguing," Legalist Han Fei said. "After all, this is the first time an outsider has arrived in our world. I imagine it's related to the theme of the upcoming feast. We're gathered here today because this world only has daytime, never night. We have to convene an unprecedented conference of philosophers to discuss relevant matters."
Except for Zhuangzi and Mozi, several statues nodded in agreement with the judge's remarks.
Han Fei looked at Xunzi, one of the two great Confucianists, and bowed respectfully. "I wonder what your opinion is on this, Master?"
"First," Xunzi stroked his beard, "the direct cause of this strange phenomenon must be that our teacher, the sage Confucius, has found the sun. However, none of us anticipated that the sunlight there would be so strong that it would affect the world here."
This time all the statues nodded.
"So, what do you think, should we interfere with celestial phenomena?" Han Fei asked the philosophers again.
Gongsun Long said, "Let the meteorologist Zou Yan come. He knows the most about astrology, calendar, astronomy and geography."
Zou Yan quickly waved his hands: "No, no, even if I could do it, I don't want to interfere."
Wang Kunshu frowned: "Why not?"
Zou Yan: "This is history. We cannot change history."
Wang Kunshu: "I disagree. We should restore a normal and orderly world. Only in this way can we restore the historical truth."
Zou Yan said, "How can you be so sure that a world with normal order is the real world? For example, in your world, Confucius exists, and Confucianism's philosophy of benevolence and propriety has benefited generations. But if Confucius didn't exist, a parallel world might develop. For the people in that parallel universe, the history without Confucius is their true history. And how can you tell the difference? So the best thing to do is do nothing."
Han Fei continued Zou Yan's words: "It seems that the Yin-Yang School belongs to the 'conservative faction'."
Zou Yan said, "Oh," "You can't say that. As for me, I don't take sides anyway."
The Taoist Zhuangzi smiled and said, "Laozi said, 'Blessings lie where disasters lie; disasters lie where blessings lie.' There are strange signs in the sky today, but how can we know whether they are blessings or disasters? Everything should be left to nature."
Han Fei looked at Zhuangzi and asked, "Can you say a few more words about Taoism?"
"There's nothing much to say. Our current perception of the celestial phenomena is like placing a bug on a horizontal piece of paper. Since it moves freely, we believe the world is flat. But when we bend the paper, the bug becomes horrified, feeling as if a mysterious force is pulling at it, changing its course. The world becomes incomprehensible. Perhaps somewhere, unseen by us, someone is also bending and folding our world. In fact, we could be considered the bug on the paper, right?"
Mozi raised his eyebrows and said to Zhu Heng, "Zhuangzi, what you said is good. I also learn from it."
Not far away, Helan Dao, who was standing next to Gongsun Long, had a serious expression on his face.
"System." He called with his mind.
【I am here. 】
He Landao glanced at the six philosopher statues and said calmly, "If things keep going like this, will they end the game? Are you going against me?"
The system immediately said: [No, please believe that this is not my intention.]
It then explained: "All historical figures are virtual forms simulated using functions generated by my mother body, a super quantum computer, by analyzing tens of millions of years of human historical data. If these philosophers are too self-aware, it's probably because they are the most intelligent people in human history. Combined with the computing power of computers, their conclusions have an accuracy rate of up to 90%. Therefore, I suggest you seriously consider their opinions."
He Landao pondered for a moment and nodded: "What you said does make sense."
[So your plan now is...] the system asked uncertainly.
Helan said: "Continue the game."
At this moment, Gongsun Long suddenly glanced at Helan Dao, as if he had guessed what he was thinking: "You don't have to worry about us old antiques getting in the way."
Gongsun Long's eyes became meaningful. "Because...if we really wanted to go against you, we wouldn't have come to this meeting today."
Helan Dao was stunned.
Gongsun Long just smiled and refused to explain further.
A sigh came from the opposite side, it was Mencius's sad sigh.
Han Fei turned his head to look at him: "What does the Sub-Sage have to say?"
Mencius: "I was just predicting the chances of civilization surviving millions of years into the future, and the results were quite surprising."
Han Fei: "What did the Sub-Sage calculate?"
"The chance is 0%. I guess I must have miscalculated."
Tao Ran staggered on the spot. With a zero percent probability, unless the universe was destroyed, there would at least be a little bit of civilization left, right?
Even Xu Wenjun's usually calm face showed a hint of worry, but she was not surprised.
Zhu Heng observed everyone's reactions one by one. He wanted to wait for other philosophers to come up with new answers, but none of the humanoid computers present refuted Mencius's words.
The first to break the silence was Zou Yan, but not to refute: "To be honest, I calculated the same number."
"So you are all the same? 0%, me too." Gongsun Long said.
"That's what I think too." The scholars said one after another.
Mencius's face became even more worried, and he looked towards the distant horizon.
This means that, far in the future, civilization is doomed to disappear.
It may have started with an insignificant choice, a thunder that did not start a wildfire, a river that did not flow through the plains, a flood that was not controlled, and a sun that did not rise again.
Therefore, our ancestors could not learn to use fire, the settlements could not benefit from the nourishment of the mother river, the struggle with nature was indefinitely postponed, and great ideas could not be developed.
Any cowardice, pedantry, compromise, and indifference on the part of mankind will affect the entire course of history.
Mencius slowly raised his head and looked at the dazzling white sun in the sky.
For example, without the Hundred Schools of Thought and the numerous contending schools of thought, there will never be darkness in the sky again.
The sun, representing the great sage Confucius, hangs high in the sky, but they can no longer see the vigorous morning glow, the brilliant sunset, and the magnificent starry sky.
He made a decision in his mind.
"Everyone," Mencius turned to look at the other scholars, "I believe you are all like me. Since you have agreed to attend the feast of scholars, you must have made your final choice."
Mencius said: "If the end of civilization is an inevitable outcome, then I accept it, but I will never give up saving ourselves."
He took a step forward: "For nothing else, but only for the continuation of our civilization, which has lasted for thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of millions of years."
"For the sake of humanity, I will go even if there are tens of thousands of people against me." Mencius said in a resounding voice.
Han Fei murmured softly: "For humanity."
Even though the probability of success was zero and the outcome was already certain, he was unwilling to give up.
When he came today, he was already prepared to sacrifice himself.
They are here today with the same heart.
The disciples followed suit and recited aloud: "For humanity."
"For humanity."
…
More and more statues recited these four words.
There are many voices and a hundred schools of thought.
It was the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, countless seemingly ordinary days.
That day, Mencius took some dry food and went to a dilapidated pavilion to shelter from the rain. After the rain stopped, he would continue his journey of lobbying the kings of various countries.
That day, Mozi packed his bags and prepared to go to the State of Chu to stop a war. Later, this game became the most typical case of his idea of universal love and non-aggression.
On that day, Han Fei became a disciple of Xunzi at the Jixia Academy, and Li Si, who later became the prime minister of the Qin Dynasty, also became his disciple.
That day, Gongsun Long was arguing with others at the city gate on the issue of "a white horse is not a horse" with his eloquent tongue. No one knew at the time that this would become one of the earliest sources of Eastern logical thought.
That day, Zou Yan enjoyed the care from monarchs of various countries. The theory of the five virtues he proposed would become popular in the vassal states. The changes of dynasties after the Qin Dynasty would complete one cycle and reincarnation after another through the theory of the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire and earth.
That day, Zhuangzi fell asleep in the countryside. He didn't know at that moment that a butterfly he would see in his dream soon would reveal to him the truth of the entire universe for thousands of years...
-
Various types of aircraft carrying various schools of thought flew out of the humanoid computers and soared into the sky.
Zhu Heng and his group quickly ran to the top of the statue and watched the aircraft disappear into the sky.
The sky suddenly changed, and the sun that never sets began to sink.
As night gradually fell, the aircraft that disappeared into the sky faded into darkness, turning into countless stars shining with the light of human wisdom.
The day was uneventful.
This is the time when the stars of humanity shine. Yan Shanting
【Author’s words】
The next chapter enters Volume 4 [The Death of Qin Shi Huang]
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