Chapter 257: Heresy, the competition among the wise (please subscribe)
Twenty-fifth year of the Xia Dynasty, after the autumn harvest.
The most leisurely days of the year are definitely not the seemingly coldest winter days, but the days after the autumn harvest.
The weather at this time of year has not really turned cold yet, and the people who have been busy for a year will finish their work in the fields and get a year's harvest, with some money left over.
At this time of year, the hawkers' cries become especially louder, and business travelers begin to move around more frequently.
Most of the money in the hands of the people would be saved for use in the winter and later, but after all, they had just sold their harvest, so they were a little more wealthy than usual, so shopping was inevitable.
In addition to these obvious changes, the biggest difference is that people now have enough free time.
Originally, I could only pass the free time by chatting with neighbors about their daily lives, but this year is different.
Outside the imperial palace, not too far away, there is a palace of considerable size. Although it is not extremely luxurious, it still attracts a lot of attention.
This palace has a name that is not at all humble, Tianxia Xue Palace.
In the 23rd year of the Xia Dynasty, the Emperor of Xia issued an edict to recruit talents, inviting knowledgeable people from all over the country to come here to lecture and discuss the Dao, regardless of nationality, status, or age. As long as you think you have mastered the method to make the country strong, you can come and talk about it.
Although the Xia Dynasty court decided on its own to start this event after the autumn harvest, as soon as the news spread, wise men had already come and began to talk about their own ideas and morals.
If one can convince others, it is not impossible to confer titles on his wife and children, and to promote him to a higher position and give him a higher rank.
However, it is precisely these conditions that seem to have no threshold, are extremely broad, and can bring considerable benefits that make it extremely difficult to stand out.
Not to mention that there is a Mohist school suppressing them. No matter how much morality they talk about, can they be stronger than the Mohist school?
Many people think that this call for talents is just a way for the Xia Dynasty to demonstrate its national strength. It invites wise men from various countries to come here, and it would make a profit if it could keep as many as possible.
If that were the case, this event would be too boring.
Fortunately, there are people who dare to challenge the Mohists.
To be more precise, there are quite a few people who dare to challenge the Mohists! Even the Ten Righteousness of the Mohists can be seen, and there are many crazy people who refute them one by one.
The most outrageous one even prepared a long speech to directly attack Mo Qiu, but he was thrown into the cell before he could finish his words.
Before Mohist heard the news, the people who were originally listening to his story were almost drowning him with their spit.
As the saying goes, "Gossip can melt metal." Although this phrase usually has a somewhat derogatory meaning, today, the title of the Great Sage Moqiu has been deeply rooted in people's hearts. Many people in the Xia Dynasty grew up listening to the stories of Moqiu and will not tolerate insults or even slander.
This is a place to talk about morality and show one's own virtue, not a place to seek suicide.
Throwing him into jail is actually a form of protection.
Apart from those people who are crazy about becoming famous and will do anything to achieve their goals, there are also quite a few people who are truly capable and virtuous.
The real reason that made the sages of various countries confirm that the Xia Dynasty was not deliberately making a big scene, but was just playing it safe, was because the people who actually launched the fierce attack on the Mohist School were none other than the Xia Dynasty's own people.
Still two! One is Xun Ke, the other is Zou Dan.
In the summer of the 24th year of the Xia Dynasty, with the help of Qingmu Liquid, Xun Ke quickly solved the problem of Qi and blood, and was fortunately promoted to the level of Grandmaster.
After being promoted to Grandmaster, Xun Ke began to spread his ideas everywhere.
He chose the words "benevolence" and "righteousness", which are different from the morality of Mohism. His benevolence and righteousness are more in line with human nature and contain warmth. They are not as impartial as Mohism, but they are also quite promising.
According to an insider who refused to reveal his name, this master was once Mozi's last disciple! After becoming the master, the first thing Mozi's last disciple did was to defect from the Mohist school!
Even though the truth itself should not have so many twists and turns, and one should not pre-set a position, the people still have a strong interest in such matters.
Especially knowing that this person is also a master like the great master of Mohism.
The Grandmaster, in the eyes of many people, is second only to the Emperor.
The two masters have different ideas, but they are from the same school. I wonder how many people want to watch the fun.
But in addition to the core concepts of benevolence and righteousness, Xun Ke also advocated a concept that caused countless people to frown, which was even more troublesome than the Mohist concept of altruism.
Xun Ke said: Human nature is evil.
Because of this reason, when wise men from various countries besieged the Mohist school, they did not forget to curse him.
No matter how treacherous and sinister human hearts are, even in the Daqi sect that divided people into several classes decades ago, no one dared to loudly say that human nature is evil.
For a true ruler, it is enough to know it in his heart. Why should he stand up and tell the people what is going on?
Aren't you causing trouble for everyone by doing this?
As for those wise men who have a certain realm and aspirations, the ideal they strive for all their lives is to establish a peaceful and prosperous world. The saying that human nature is evil is simply digging up their roots, because their own philosophy is based on the idea that human nature is good.
To agree with Xun Ke would mean to deny all one's own efforts, which is something that is unacceptable in any way and is contrary to the universal concept at that time.
Everyone originally thought that the Mohist school in the Xia Dynasty was enough to make people put all their energy into dealing with it, but after arriving, they found that there were other big troubles waiting here!
The turmoil stirred up by Xun Ke seemed to attract more attention than even the Mohist school. Every day, new and knowledgeable people would form groups to argue with Xun Ke, and Xun Ke won all of them.
It is not really appropriate to describe the debate as a game of winning or losing. It would be more accurate to say that Xun Ke was often able to render those who disagreed with him speechless and make them walk away in anger.
Of course, even so, they absolutely disagree with the idea that human nature is evil, and they hate it! Compared with the heyday of Mohism and Xun Ke's heresy, Zou Dan seems much gentler, even more high-end and majestic.
Zou Dan divided all things into yin and yang, believing that they were two coordinated forces within things that grew and declined in response to each other, and were the generative laws that gave birth to all things in the universe.
The Five Elements are the five more concrete elements under Yin and Yang. Gold, wood, water, fire and earth are the five elements that come together to make up the whole world. No one can escape from them.
These concepts are collectively referred to as Yin and Yang and the Five Elements.
This still seems a bit abstract, even conceptual. If we want to apply it to the real world, rather than just a simple concept, we can understand it this way:
Yin represents women, weak characteristics, and things and phenomena with these characteristics, while Yang represents men, strong characteristics, and things and phenomena with these characteristics.
The basic contents of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements can be summarized in eight words: "opposition, mutual roots, growth and decline, and transformation."
As one grows stronger, the other declines. When yin is strong, yang declines; when yin declines, yang grows stronger. This cycle repeats itself over and over again.
What is good and evil in human nature, what is virtuous and treacherous, all of these are put aside a little. They are not things on the same track at all, but are directly focused on the underlying logic of the universe.
No one can say he is right, and of course no one can say he is wrong.
As long as Zou Dan can give a reasonable explanation and make it self-consistent, the theory will be established, unless irrefutable evidence is found, but no one has done this.
This is a technique of seeing the small from the big, from the whole to the parts. It is not something that ordinary people can understand, and it is not popular among the grassroots people. It is only widely circulated among students and wise men in various countries, but it does not cause any waves in the outside world - they cannot understand it, and naturally they will not discuss it.
In addition to the two surprises that Xia Chao brought to everyone, there was another person who stirred up a turmoil in the city.
To be precise, they were targeting the Mohist school with full firepower, as if they were mortal enemies. In comparison, even Xun Ke had to step back a little.
His name was Yang Zhu. He was neither from the Xia Dynasty, nor from Daqi, Dayong, Daqing, or Dayue. He was simply a Taoist priest traveling around the world.
After traveling here, he heard about Mo Qiu's deeds and that the Xia Dynasty was going to come and discuss Taoism, so he stayed here and promoted his own ideas.
What is the concept?
It can be simply referred to as "for myself", "valuing oneself", and "preserving one's nature and authenticity", which is completely opposite to the Mohist concept of universal love.
He advocated that people should only be responsible for themselves, in other words, be selfish.
Mind the snow in front of your own door, and don't worry about the frost on other people's roofs.
As long as everyone takes care of themselves, the world will become a beautiful place.
The Mohists want to love everyone, which is very difficult.
But it is easy to understand that people are born to love themselves, and I am afraid no one can refute this point.
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If this is the case, then why do we need to love all? If your love for all can lead to a world of great harmony, then can't everyone love themselves? That doesn't make sense! And no matter how you think about it, loving yourself is much easier than loving others.
So the Mohists should get out of the way! Wang Mang originally wanted to put some pressure on the Mohists to force them to change quickly, or at least stop being so rigid.
No one had expected that outsiders would come and dig up the roots of Mohism without leaving any room for them.
One is selfishness, and selfishness to the extreme is altruism. The other is altruism, and when everyone is altruistic it is selfishness.
There is absolutely no possibility of the slightest integration between their respective concepts. Although they have different paths to the same destination, their paths are polar opposites. Only the final state has some similarities.
What’s even more terrifying is, what kind of situation will this guy’s ideas put the country itself in?
This is not just a preparation to overthrow the Mohist school, but a preparation to abandon the imperial court as well.
Compared with Yang Zhu, even though Xun Ke's nature was evil, he seemed quite amiable, even gentle.
So a lot of firepower was turned towards Yang Zhu.
But Yang Zhu was not an ordinary person.
He himself is a master and has excellent eloquence.
One person debated with many wise men and did not lose.
What’s even more exaggerated is that when some Mohists were dissatisfied and went to argue with him, he actually convinced them and made them his followers.
It's not like there haven't been Mohists who left the Mohist School and returned to their own lives before, but it's the first time that someone has changed their affiliation and embraced a path that is completely opposite to the Mohist School! The smell of gunpowder has unconsciously filled the air.
However, the leader of the Mohist school, Qin Lisheng, did not take any action. Even when some Mohists surrendered to Yang Zhu, he never confronted Yang Zhu.
But everyone knew that sooner or later Yang Zhu would have to clash with the leader of the Mohist school.
How could it be possible that two completely different philosophies, which even attracted many Mohist followers, did not collide to create any sparks?
That is why, when the agreed day arrived, the gate of the Tianxia Academy was already crowded with people, shoulder to shoulder, and impenetrable.
Those who are truly capable and have demonstrated their talents are invited in.
However, some students who were not so talented and were not invited did not want to miss this event and would rather watch from outside the Tianxia Academy.
The debate inside will be transcribed by someone and posted as soon as possible. In order to be able to have a sneak peek, it is very important to grab a good seat.
"Emperor Xia has arrived~"
The crowd split up, and Wang Mang came riding in the emperor's carriage.
This was his first time to sit down and discuss the issue, and he made a special trip to observe to demonstrate his appreciation for talent.
Similarly, there are many guards wearing armor and carrying sharp weapons in the academies of the world. Their purpose is not just to ensure Wang Mang's safety. What they need to do more is to prevent those wise men from fighting each other.
Yes, it happens from time to time that people end up fighting while talking.
The better ones are injured, while the more vicious ones are willing to kill people.
It fully demonstrates that the fist itself is also a kind of truth.
After all, human emotions are not always rational. It is normal to feel hot-blooded after all the hard work of a lifetime has been refuted to the point of being worthless.
As long as everyone who disagrees with me is dead, what I say is the truth!
Of course, in addition to the guards, all the masters of the Xia Dynasty also came, as well as masters from other countries who came to watch the fun.
They were mainly responsible for keeping an eye on Yang Zhu and Qin Lisheng.
If the masters were to fight here, the impact would be too bad. It would be hard to say whether the Tianxia Academy, which was built with so much effort, could be preserved. There was no telling how many accidental injuries there would be, so we had to be on guard.
As for taking action against the disgusting Yang Zhu, it is impossible. This time we are discussing the Dao in order to explore the morality of the world, not to silence the gossips of the people.
If people are not allowed to speak and will be killed if they disagree, then what is the point of discussing this? Let's just have a life and death stage to decide who is better and who lives and who dies. The one who survives to the end is the one who is right.
It is precisely for this reason that they not only cannot harm Yang Zhu, but they must also ensure Yang Zhu's safety, otherwise this grand event will become a joke, which is absolutely intolerable.
With the arrival of Wang Mang, the atmosphere became noticeably more heated.
Countless cheers rose into the sky.
Wang Mang waved to the many students who were left outside and were not allowed to go in, then stepped in.
He was not sitting in the main seat, and he was definitely not the protagonist today. He sat on a chair beside many wise men, just as a pure listener.
Among the crowd, Wang Mang quietly nodded to a handsome man sitting nearby, wearing a green robe, as a greeting.
As soon as Wang Mang sat down, someone immediately ran to the stage and shouted loudly: "Next, please invite the Mohist master, Qin Lisheng, to explain the principles of Mohism to everyone. If there are any objections, please raise your hands."
This grand gathering, known in history as the Four Sages Discussing Taoism, has finally begun.
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(End of this chapter)