Our Time: Unswerving until Death

Chapter 25
You can't say that Professor Gu is a person who will report his flaws, because so many people scold him, and he mostly laughs it off, but you can't say that he is a generous person, because sometimes he is indeed a proud little old man.

When Tsundere met Gengzhi, there was an unexpected "war" today, commonly known as "Wen Dou". He Qi probably didn't understand the specific method of "fighting", so why Qi was terrified.

Professor Gu tidied up his manners, got up and took off his hat, bowed to the spectators below, and then said: "I was born in Nanyang, studied in the West, and served in Beiyang. Then talk about the East, if Mr. Qian is good at the West, then talk about the West, lest chickens talk to ducks and play the piano to cows."

Qian Xuan introduced He Qi, and said: "There is nothing wrong with discussing the West. My good friend, named He Qi, was born in Nanyang and studied in Western countries for dozens of years. Slack. (500 words are omitted here), I have returned recently, and I am determined to serve the country and the people."

He Qi was dumbfounded and couldn't believe it. She tried her best to suppress the riot in her heart. She quickly got up and bowed down cheekily to salute. In fact, she panicked and wanted to die.

This damn, opened his mouth at the beginning, and made up the rest, falsifying his proper resume, which really made He Qi feel ashamed.

Qian Xuan was full of confidence, and said again: "On the east, it's no problem at all."

Professor Gu was calm and composed, showing strong self-confidence. He shook his hands and said, "Western learning, there is nothing to talk about. If you talk about it, not everyone will understand it, and there is nothing to say about it. Since I am all Chinese here, I simply don't want to talk about it." Let me talk about the knowledge of the Chinese people. The knowledge of the ancestors is broad, profound, and exquisite. I am sorry that someone has studied both Chinese and Western cultures for decades, but he has a special liking for the knowledge of the ancestors. I dare not say that I understand it. Today , I will take this opportunity to talk about the knowledge of our ancestors."

Qian Xuan stretched out his hand and signaled, "Please!"

Professor Gu asked: "Master Qian, you just said that you hoped that the old man would die early. If that is the case, then let's talk about this 'death'. What do you mean?"

Qian Xuan replied, "Death deserves it!"

Professor Gu asked again: "What does 'live' mean?"

Qian Xuan replied again: "Vigorous!"

Professor Gu smiled, and said, "Master Qian only knows that he is either dead or alive, but does he know that he is not dead or alive?"

Without hesitation, Qian Xuan said: "In life, live vigorously, or die well, neither die nor live, linger on, it is better not to live, once and for all."

"No!" Professor Gu said: "Death is easy, just a rope, but living is very difficult. If you don't die or live, it's even more difficult. After all, death and life are a minority, and the vast majority of people are the same. It is not easy for ordinary people to have a hot meal without dying or living, with basic necessities of life, food, housing and transportation, natural disasters and man-made disasters.”

"If you follow Master Qian's words, it's better not to live than to die or live. Wouldn't you be going to die?"

Qian Xuan was choked upright.

Just a few opening sentences gave He Qi a lot of insight.

Reasoning and talking with you, if you are careless, you will be scolded, the key point is that you can't refute, tsk tsk!
Professor Gu went down to the city first, took a sip of tea, moistened his throat, and continued: "If you want to talk about the knowledge of your ancestors, I don't think you can avoid the word 'moderate'. Master Qian, what is 'moderate'?"

Qian Xuan replied: "The contrary is the movement of the Tao, and the weak is the use of the Tao." He also said: "Knowledge and action are one, and the mean is also!"

The previous sentence is taken from the "Tao Te Ching". "Fan" is the "cognition" of "Tao", "weak" is the "use" of "Tao", and "Tao" is the law of motion in nature, which is reflected in the extremes of things. "opposite".

Therefore, in order to achieve a neutral and peaceful state, it is necessary to artificially "weaken" and correct the extreme state. In order to achieve the "moderate" state, it is necessary to use the "middle way" to correct the unbalanced state when going to the extreme. .

Therefore, "The Doctrine of the Mean" is a methodology, which represents "knowledge", and "The Doctrine of the Mean" is a corrective action, which represents "action". Therefore, "cognition" and "action" are two sides of one body, a state of harmony and unity , is the unity of knowledge and action, and is also the core idea of ​​"Xue Xue".

He Qi's eyes darkened when he heard this, and he stared blankly.

Professor Gu understood it, and said: "Master Qian is right. It is not necessary to explain it with 'heart learning', but it is too cumbersome. I will talk about my understanding."

"The beginning of the Four Books and Five Classics is the doctrine of the mean, why is that so?"

"Because there is nothing more brilliant than mediocrity!"

"It is the foundation of being a person and doing things."

"The spirit of Confucianism is to join the world, to have ideals, to have ambition, and to be persistent."

"However, the Confucian classics of the mean have incorporated the spirit of Taoism. Why?"

"It's because it's hard to do."

"When the old man was young, he worked under Zhang Xiangshuai, and he has a deep understanding of this. Just keep doing things aggressively, hit the south wall and don't look back, and it won't help if you die. Therefore, you have to have the spirit of Taoism."

"Do things with the spirit of being born into the world, with lofty aspirations, but don't stick to the trivial, trivial, and chaotic things in front of you, so that you can accomplish great things with an open mind. This old man thinks that this is the mean."

"Clap clap clap!"

There was rustling applause at the scene, and He Qi understood it this time, and quite agreed with it, thinking that Jiang is still old and hot, and explained it clearly in a few sentences.

Professor Gu took another sip of tea, and then said: "The old man talked about the golden mean in a superficial way just now. Some of you may disdain it, because throughout the ages, there are so many explanations for the golden mean. If this is the case, then the old man will talk about the golden mean."

"Back then, when Li Zhongtang learned that someone in the Beiyang Navy was using warships to smuggle, he went to inspect it himself, and found that the shells in the ammunition depot had been turned into stones, so he found Huang Ruilan's crime of corruption. At night, he went to the fleet station to inspect and found Fang Boqian, the commander of the Jiyuan ship, left his post without authorization, Liu Buchan, the leader of the Dingyuan ship, indulged his subordinates in gambling and smoking opium, and Deng Shichang, the leader of the Zhiyuan ship, was strict with himself and had strict military discipline. So Li Zhongtang executed Huang Ruilan, pardoned Fang Boqian, and stimulated Liu Buchan, Reward Deng Shichang. It not only condenses the morale of the army, but also inspires the loyalty and courage of the generals, and also gives the sergeants a warning.

"Sheng Xuanhuai then asked Li Zhongtang, why did he not mention a word when he came here for the smuggling case?"

"Li Zhongtang said that Dongyi is watching, and the Beiyang Navy must not mess up."

"However, Sheng Xuanhuai is a little confused. It is obviously a great opportunity to "kill people and establish prestige". Since his confidants and old subordinates can kill them at will, why can't they use the idea of ​​​​"warship smuggling" to "catch a group of people?" , kill a batch of "to achieve the actual effect of knocking mountains and shaking tigers?"

"Li Zhongtang said: It's easy to kill people. With Beiyang in hand and military power in hand, anyone who wants to kill with a wink will be killed. As the saying goes, an official who has a sharp weapon in his body and the intention to kill himself must not stop."

"It is true that "killing people to build power" is extremely effective in the army, and it has been tried and tested for thousands of years, but why did Li Zhongtang say to Sheng Huaixuan at this time, "An official must not stop"?"

"Li Zhongtang explained: If you have the power to kill, you will be bloodthirsty; if you have the power of administration, you will be domineering; For example, if the servants of the county government, the tax collectors, and the entourage of the officials use their power to the extreme, the country will be ruined by then!"

"When a person in power has power, the most important thing is not to use power, nor to abuse power, but to curb his own power. If water overflows, profit and loss will come, and when things are extreme, they will be reversed. The old man secretly believes that Li Zhongtang is well versed in the doctrine of the mean. road."

"Clap! Clap! Clap!"

There was a burst of applause in the courtyard, and it must be admitted that Professor Gu's speech was wonderful, and He Qi deeply appreciated it, but he couldn't figure out what the purpose of Professor Gu's talk about the doctrine of the mean was.

(End of this chapter)