Chapter 294 Let's Give It a Go

Shang's appearance added a little episode to this sermon.

But everything is still proceeding in an orderly manner.

After thinking it over for a while, Shang did not leave.

After all, this is the world's academic palace, and the leader of Confucianism and even Emperor Chengping of the Xia Dynasty are here. No major chaos will be allowed to occur. His voice instead proves the fairness of this sermon. Anyone who can come here is qualified to raise questions.

So he was not worried about being torn to pieces by those angry Confucian scholars.

It was nothing more than waiting for a while. Even if these two people were really liars, could they still trick him away in Tianxia Academy? He was no longer a three-year-old kid! With a quick thought, Shang Bian also stayed. Looking at the handsome but somewhat old man in a green robe, he asked, "May I ask who you are?"

"An ordinary citizen of the Xia Dynasty."

Gu Dan replied.

Shang naturally didn't believe it.

How dare ordinary people call Mr. Xun by his name?

However, Gu Dan was too tight-lipped. No matter how he tried to inquire indirectly, he was always blocked and could not get any useful information.

Although he was young, he thought he knew countless people. Although Gu Dan almost didn't answer his questions, the lack of answers did give him some clues.

For example, after he mentioned the late emperor's majesty, the other party's face actually showed a hint of nostalgia, while ordinary people mostly expressed admiration and regret.

It is very likely that this person has really met the late emperor.

If we speculate based on age, that would be even more likely.

Could he be an unknown national guardian master of the Xia Dynasty? ! Judging from his appearance, he is indeed older than Xun Ke on the pulpit.

After thinking it over, Shang could only come up with this answer.

He vaguely remembered that before the sermon began, this person seemed to be sitting next to Emperor Chengping, and Emperor Chengping even took the initiative to talk to him. However, he was struggling fiercely with his conscience at the time and seemed to be a little inattentive to the attention from the outside world, so he was not very impressed.

After all, challenging Confucianism today is even more outrageous than Confucianism challenging Mohism in the past.

When Xun Ke challenged the Mohist school, he was already a master and a disciple of Mozi.

Who is he? He has no family background, no elders to rely on, and he has never even practiced martial arts.

It's all thanks to my extraordinary courage that I'm taking this gamble.

It would be great if I could be appreciated by the Grandmaster.

If Gu Dan could know what Shang was thinking, he would definitely be amused and confused.

When they were on the pulpit, Emperor Chengping did have a few words with him, but he wanted to invite him to sit in the main seat. Gu Dan naturally declined, as he no longer cared about these things.

"You are already so old, why don't you spend your retirement in peace, but come here instead?"

Since Gu Dan couldn't get any more information, Shang targeted the envoy from Dayue.

"You're not right."

The Dayue envoy shook his head unexpectedly and said, "It is not my age that allows me to live out my life in peace and contentment, but the people here. So, even if I can't walk anymore, I still have to come here to thank them."

"The Xia Dynasty is indeed strong now."

Shang did not understand the deeper meaning of Dayue's envoy, but just nodded in agreement, and then said: "However, such a powerful Xia Dynasty still bears the humiliation of decades ago! Times have changed, and the world is very different. Why does the Xia Dynasty now have to recuperate instead of seeking revenge?

When I came here, I saw that many places in the grain storage warehouses in Yuzhou had begun to mold. The government was still expanding the granaries. I'm afraid that the grain would not be used for more than ten years and would eventually be thrown away. What a waste! The Mohist school advocated universal love and non-aggression, which is understandable; but the Confucian school has the concept of "sage kings", so why not let the Xia Dynasty become the sage king of the world?"

Shang's tone was high and intense, and he was full of confusion when he mentioned these things.

The Xia Dynasty was rich and there was so much grain that it became moldy and had to be thrown away.

With such wealth, any monarch with a little ambition would be tempted to expand his territory, not to mention that the Xia Dynasty had a natural reason.

How did the four countries bully Dayue, the predecessor of the Xia Dynasty, sixty years ago?

Now that the Xia Dynasty has been reborn, the offensive and defensive positions have changed. Why not let the four countries see if the Xia Dynasty's swords are sharp? That is a great achievement for the ages! Now that the Mohist "burden" is gone, it is reasonable for the Xia Dynasty to launch a large-scale war to achieve a great cause for the ages.

The soldiers would be rewarded, the people would get more and richer land, and the king would be able to achieve unprecedented achievements. With so many reasons put together, Shang could not find even a single reason not to start a war.

As he said: Today we compete with strength.

The power of the Xia Dynasty far exceeded that of its neighboring countries.

If you don't attack them when they are strong, then when they are weak, they will be swept away by the enemy again? You should strike first to strengthen yourself! "A country may be great, but it will perish if it is warlike."

Gu Dan said simply.

This kid is a little too aggressive.

Not only was he unwilling to hold back when speaking to the Confucian leaders on stage, but even when discussing things in private, he seemed a little too radical.

Shang showed disdain on his face.

What is the saying that war will lead to destruction? That is just because the method is wrong.

If a country sticks to the old ways, even the most powerful one will eventually decline.

If we don't clean up the world while we are at our peak, are we going to wait for other countries to grow stronger and cultivate foreign enemies?

In his opinion, both Mohism and Confucianism were too "cowardly".

This cowardice is not in themselves, but in their own philosophy.

There is no need to say much about the Mohists. They advocate universal love and non-aggression, and their ears are so tired of hearing about it.

In comparison, Confucianism is not much better. It advocates benevolence, righteousness, propriety and law, but is unwilling to have even a little bit of blood.

They educated their people to be docile sheep, but forgot the time when they were ravaged by jackals and wolves in the past. Now, just because the Xia Dynasty was strong, those jackals all put on sheep's clothing and acted submissively.

If we want to eliminate future troubles, we should take advantage of this time to launch a fierce attack. Not to mention destroying them completely, we should at least make their lives miserable and give them no chance to threaten the Xia Dynasty again.

In his eyes, people outside the Xia Dynasty were not considered human beings.

Even among the people of the Xia Dynasty, some could not be considered human beings.

Without such radical or even extreme thoughts, it would be impossible to think of the path of "law".

After a few words of casual chatting, Xun Ke finally walked down from the pulpit and came straight here.

"Mr. Gu."

When he got closer, Xun Ke took the initiative to greet Gu Dan.

A simple greeting made Shang stay where he was.

Mr. Gu?

The word "Sir" is not a casual title in this era.

The meaning of "the one who achieves first" and "the teacher" means that there are things you need to learn yourself, or you may have learned from him.

Even if the other party is really a master, isn't Mr. Xun also a master? They are at the same level, and the other party is a Confucian leader. There is no need to be so polite and humble.

Then look at Gu Dan’s reaction.

He just nodded slightly, "Yeah."

That counts as a greeting.

It really is the way elders treat their juniors, and it even seems like they are too lazy to pay too much attention.

There was already an uproar in Shang's heart.

Then Gu Dan said, "This child is talented, but his ideas are a little extreme. It would be perfect for him to study with you. What do you think?"

Good fellow, he was so straightforward right from the start. Was he ordering Mr. Xun to do something? How could it be so easy to become a disciple?

Not to mention the other party's status, not bowing three times and kowtow nine times would be considered disrespectful. But if you can follow him and study for a period of time, others will look at you with higher regard and show you respect if you tell them about it.

Shang, who had just been speaking eloquently on the stage, was now silent and deeply shocked.

"That's what I meant."

Xun Ke nodded, of course not refusing.

Shang’s words can be shocking, but they can be too extreme, and even if he has talent, he can easily hurt others and himself.

What's more, he is still very young and really needs some polishing before he can start to do real things.

"Are you willing to practice with me?"

The two of them finalized the matter in a few words, and Xun Ke then asked Xiang Shang.

After all, at this point he still needs to agree.

Shang was shocked and immediately said, "I couldn't ask for more!"

Don’t think that he is not polite to Confucianists on stage. That’s because Confucianists don’t have many more than him. If he doesn’t take the opportunity to promote himself, how can he show his worth? If he can’t stand out, he will still be one of the countless mediocre people.

In times of difficulty, it is inevitable to take unconventional and risky approaches, and this is also a last resort.

"very good."

Gu Dan nodded in satisfaction and waved his hand gently, "Then I'll go back first, you guys can chat."

Nowadays, Gu Dan is paying less and less attention to the affairs of the Xia Dynasty.

Xun Ke is already the new guardian of the Xia Dynasty. As an old man, he should stay where he wants.

After saying goodbye to a few people, Gu Dan returned to the Gu family courtyard.

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There is someone in the Gu family courtyard.

It’s Xiaoying.

"Uncle Gu, you're back? The meal is almost ready. How was the sermon today?"

Xiaoying poked her head out from the kitchen and asked curiously.

She has been back for over two years.

He also resigned from the position of Chief Physician in the Imperial Medical Service.

In Gu Dan's words, that is called an honorable retirement.

Xiaoying is no longer young. She is over 70 years old.

In addition, he has never practiced martial arts. Even if he has medical skills and knows how to take care of himself, he is old and weak after all. He can no longer run around, and his energy is not as good as before.

Even if you take too much Shengyanhua, only your appearance will remain unchanged, and the changes in your body are still irreversible.

So he simply resigned from his official position and returned to the Gu family courtyard, doing laundry and cooking for Gu Dan and fulfilling his filial piety.

Gu Dan now had a descendant here to chat with and relieve his boredom, so he didn't feel lonely at all.

"Not bad, met an interesting guy."

Gu Dan briefly recounted what he had seen and heard today, as well as the chance encounter with the Big Moon messenger.

Nowadays, when we talk about things that happened decades ago, not many people can understand.

At night, Xun Ke also came back.

Since Xiaoying lived here, Xun Ke also moved in. After all, the Gu family courtyard was not small and could accommodate a few rooms.

The three of them sat and chatted under the stone table under the willow tree that had been reborn and was growing strong again.

"That Shang, I did ask about his background."

Speaking of this, Xun Ke looked somewhat emotional.

Shang, no surname.

But he was not without parents. On the contrary, his parents were a fairly wealthy family.

But when he was four years old, Shang was abducted by human traffickers.

Finally, it was moved to several places and sold to a slightly remote mountain village in Yuzhou.

The four-year-old child has already started to remember some things, so naturally he cried and made a fuss.

So, of course, he was severely beaten.

Because his initial struggle was so severe, the family who bought him even tied a rope around his neck and the other end to the beam of the house.

In this way, even if the family went out to farm, he would not be able to untie the rope unless he strangled himself to death.

About a year later, the backbone of the family went swimming in the river and somehow drowned.

And he was sold to another family.

This is not the end. After being sold for the second time, Shang has learned his lesson. At least he knows not to cry and make a fuss in front of others.

He behaved very well and won the trust of the second family.

Two years later, Shang, who had secretly saved up some money due to his good behavior, ran away secretly.

But unfortunately, a seven-year-old child is too conspicuous. Where can he run to?

After running hard for a day and a night, he was found by people from the same village the next day, captured and beaten half to death.

I'm afraid only Shang himself knows what kind of experience he had during this period.

It was unclear whether his luck was good or bad, because in the third year, the second family who adopted him got an incurable disease and died.

Some people began to say that he was the one who killed someone.

After another severe beating, Shang was sold at a low price to a third family.

This time, it’s time for Shang to give up completely.

But he didn't.

He is growing up.

He became silent and observed everything and everyone around him.

This time he realized the ridiculousness of his original plan.

A small mountain village that is almost isolated from the world. There are only a few villages within a radius of dozens of miles, and most of them are familiar to them.

For children, running up the mountain roads is like waiting for death, and taking the small paths they usually take is just asking for trouble.

Come in here, the child still wants to run away? It's a fool's dream!

The people here are in collusion with each other from house to house. If there are merchants coming, they will all provide cover. These guys who have been bought are strictly prohibited from going out.

Yes, he was not the only child who was bought, just the unfortunate one.

According to the customs of the people here, he can only relax this supervision slightly after he gets married and has children.

Only when your children grow up can they be considered part of this village.

That would almost mean tying your life to this village, and you will be completely assimilated.

If there were no external factors, he would have no hope at all in his life.

But the opportunity still came.

It is such a remote and poor place that even merchants and travelers rarely come here.

But is there anyone willing to come?

Mohists! When Shang was eleven years old, a Mohist came to his small village.

At that time, he was working in the fields - if he didn't work, he would be beaten.

If an outsider comes here, according to past practice, he will be thrown into the room and not allowed to come out.

But at that time, Mozhe came suddenly and was only a hundred feet away from him.

At that time, he was already engaged at the age of eleven, and would marry a woman he did not know at all, at the latest next year.

You only have one chance, life or death, this is the only chance.

Shang tightly grasped the farm tools and beat to death the owner who wanted to capture him.

Shout out in anger.

"This is an injustice, can Mozi save it?!"

(End of this chapter)