In the west courtyard of Zhao Jin's house, Zhao Hao debated with Hai Rui for another whole day.

On this day, the two started their discussion from the Han Confucian theories of "Heaven's Way" and "Heaven's Will", and the topic was much deeper and bolder than yesterday.

Hai Rui believed that the emperor was appointed to rule the country by Heaven, that is, "the king acts in accordance with the will of Heaven." Therefore, when a wise ruler appears, there will be good weather, peace and prosperity; when a foolish ruler appears, there will be floods, droughts, locust plagues, earthquakes and solar eclipses.

Zhao Hao said decisively: "The way of heaven is constant. It does not exist for the sake of Yao or die for the sake of Jie. "The way of heaven is the change of seasons, the rising and setting of the sun and the setting of the moon, the prosperity of spring and the decline of autumn, the ebb and flow of the tide. It is the natural movement, not a personal god. How can it reward merits and punish misfortunes in the world? As the saying goes, 'the merits are due to the merits, and the misfortunes are due to the misfortunes'. These are the actions of human beings themselves. They cannot be blamed by heaven, nor by earth!"

After a pause, Zhao Hao boldly revealed that "Han Confucianists personified the Way of Heaven only to please those in power and advocate the idea that the king's power is granted by God."

“But in the Spring and Autumn Annals, Confucius clearly recorded all solar and lunar eclipses and other celestial events, and implied or even explicitly stated that this was related to the virtue of the emperor.”

"We are back to yesterday's topic. That was Confucius's statement to scare the princes, and then the shameless Han Confucians fabricated it into a supernatural connection between heaven and man, as if there were gods in heaven watching over the world." Zhao Hao's words silenced him.

"These people seem to be supporting Confucianism, but they are actually traitors to Confucius. Don't forget that Confucius was extremely cautious. He felt that the will of heaven was unpredictable, but he couldn't figure out whether it had anything to do with the human world, so he chose not to say anything. This is what Confucius meant by 'Confucius does not speak of strange things!'"

"Even Confucius doesn't understand it, so how dare you, a little kid, talk nonsense?" Hai Rui seized the loophole in Zhao Hao's words.

"Although I only know a little, at least I know more than anyone else in the world today." Zhao Hao smiled faintly. Although this sounded very modest, the implication was extremely arrogant, as if he knew more than Confucius in this regard.

The two students who were taking notes nodded repeatedly, but Hai Rui laughed and said, "You are too arrogant!"

"There's nothing to be proud of." Zhao Hao said as if it was a matter of course: "Confucius's greatness lies in philosophy. He was not good at natural science. Moreover, the predecessors planted trees for the descendants to enjoy the shade. The younger generation should stand on the shoulders of the predecessors and continue to seek upward. He has been dead for more than 2,000 years. If he knew that the later generations would still cower in his shadow and dare not take a step forward, I'm afraid the coffin lid would not be able to hold him down."

"Good!" The two students couldn't help but cheer.

Hai Rui was so angry that his nose was crooked.

He wanted to say that Zhao Hao was talking nonsense, but the other party's argument was rigorous and well-reasoned, so he couldn't refute it, which made him even angrier...

But getting Hai Rui to change his granite head and accept Zhao Hao's theory, especially the theory that directly challenges social ethics such as the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues, is naturally extremely difficult.

So Hai Rui fought back. He had a solid foundation in science and was extremely good at debate, especially in the use of syllogism. He was very skilled in using it. He always refuted Zhao Hao from unexpected angles and almost left him speechless.

Fortunately, Zhao Hao had the support of four hundred years of Chinese and foreign sages, and he had many weapons in his hands, as well as the dialectical system established by Hegel and Marx. Whenever Hai Rui deviated from logic and wanted to refute with sophistry, Zhao Hao would discover and point it out in time.

Hai Rui naturally disagreed and said that this was not sophistry, but at most "a white horse is not a horse".

"A white horse is not a horse is just sophistry!" Zhao Hao also got excited and explained the famous logical problem 'a white horse is not a horse' to Hai Rui clearly on the spot. He also explained to him the connotation and extension of a concept, as well as the relationship between the general and the individual, and between commonality and individuality.

The last one pointed out incisively that this proposition is the result of subjective and arbitrary confusion and manipulation of concepts.

Hai Rui was speechless...

As a result, in the first half of the day, the two masters fought each other with great agility, citing a wide range of references and making the debate brilliant. In the second half, Zhao Hao seized the fundamental weakness of idealistic philosophy and pursued Hai Rui relentlessly.

By the time it got dark, Hai Rui was completely speechless.

But how could a sea warrior give up so easily?

He angrily said, "I will be back!"

After saying that, he refused Zhao Hao's invitation to dinner and went back angrily.

~~

As soon as Hai Rui left, the two students clapped their hands towards Zhao Hao and said excitedly, "Master, we think you have won!"

"But Hai Gangfeng won't admit it..." Zhao Hao leaned on the quilt as if he was exhausted, and said belatedly: "I think it was a mistake to debate with him. I shouldn't have provoked him from the beginning..."

The students nodded in empathy. Haida was extremely combative and stubborn. Anyone who debated with him would be beaten to a pulp...

"So, I'm just asking for trouble." Zhao Hao struggled to sit up, picked up the teapot and drank a throat-soothing tea made from Sterculia lychnophora and honeysuckle, looked at his two apprentices and said, "Master Hai should go to work tomorrow, right?"

"The winter solstice is a three-day holiday, and there is still one day left tomorrow."

"No, no, I will die if I continue to argue." Zhao Hao panicked and said, "Why don't we close the door tomorrow?"

"But given Lord Hai's temper, I'm afraid he will knock on the door himself." Wang Wuyang said.

"Yes, and they will keep knocking until we open the door." Hua Shuyang also agreed. After two days of listening in, they both understood Hai Rui's temper.

"Then I can just hide away, right?" Zhao Hao wailed.

~~

The next morning, Hai Rui came again as expected.

Hua Shuyang was waiting for him at the door. When he saw Hai Rui, he said politely, "Sorry, Master Hai, my master is out on business today."

"Oh?" Hai Rui was disappointed and asked, "When will he come back?"

"It's hard to say. If it's fast, it may take one or two days, and if it's slow, it may take five or six days." Hua Shuyang said vaguely.

"Is that so..." Hai Rui nodded reluctantly and said, "Then I will go back first."

"I'm sorry I can't see you off." Hua Shuyang breathed a sigh of relief.

"By the way, you are his student?" Hai Rui seemed to suddenly remember something, stopped, and turned back to stare at Hua Shuyang.

"Uh, yes..." Hua Shuyang felt uneasy when he was looked at.

"I have nothing to do anyway, so I might as well chat with you." Hai Rui said with a compromise look:

"Your master's knowledge is too vast and too diverse, and his ideas are too jumpy. I am too old to keep up, so our levels should be about the same..."

"Oh..." Hua Shuyang was flattered, and pointed to Wang Wuyang beside him and said, "This is my senior brother. He has been with Master the longest and has learned the most. Lord Hai should talk to him."

"While you guys are chatting, I still have to wash Master's calf-nose pants..."

Then, ignoring Wang Wuyang's murderous gaze, he turned around and tried to escape.

However, the eldest senior brother grabbed him and pushed him to Hai Rui, "Master Hai, don't look down on my young age. I know much more than I do..."

"No, he knows better."

“He’s very articulate.”

"He can also play the flute..."

The two men chattered and apologized to each other, which made Hai Rui feel dizzy. He simply grabbed Wang Wuyang with one hand and Hua Shuyang with the other and said:

"Then let's chat together..."

After saying this, Hai Rui pulled them towards his home.

"Help! I still have to do the laundry..."

“You deserve it!”

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