Heirs of the Seven Swords of the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 1280 The debate between elder and younger
  "Scenery. The person with the light is as warm as a shot. Those who are below are also high; those who are high are also below. The foot blocks the light below, so the scenery is above; the head blocks the light above, so the scenery is below. There are things far and near. Duan, with the light, is inside the scenery library."

"Haha..." Xunzi rubbed the copper plate in his hand, looked through the window pane, looked at the clouds in the sky that were dyed by the gradually dimming sunlight, and smiled, "The ancestor of the Mohist family observed meticulously. Truly extraordinary!”

"Well... Zi Ming's words are indeed good!"

After the words fell, Xunzi stopped talking and turned his attention back to the chessboard, silently conducting review analysis.

Turning his eyes back to the outside of the bamboo forest, Zhang Liang was also continuing his conversation with Yan Lu.

"...It's also inside the old scene library."

Coincidentally, what Zhang Liang said was the same as what Xunzi said.

"This is...the content of "Mo Jing"? What does it mean?" Yan Lu guessed the source of this passage, but he didn't know the meaning clearly.

As a disciple of Confucianism, it is natural to be familiar with the classics
  "Mozi discovered that indoor or outdoor scenes can be projected to the other side through light through small holes. The up, down, left, and right sides of the object will be reversed in the process, while the other features will not be affected. This phenomenon is called 'small hole imaging'."

"I see..." Yan Lu nodded with a smile, suddenly enlightened, and praised at the same time, "The Mohist's ability to investigate objects is indeed second to none!"

"You are beating around the bush so much just to make Uncle Master owe Zi Ming a request." Yan Lu sighed and then asked, "So...are you planning to let him use this request to obtain Uncle Master's asylum?"

"Well..." Zhang Liang pondered for a moment and then replied, "You can say that, but it's not that direct."

"Oh?" Yan Lu raised his eyebrows and looked at his junior brother.

At this time, a Confucian disciple came over, bowed and said:
  "Second Senior Master, Third Senior Master, Master Master, please come over immediately."

This episode interrupted the two senior brothers who were chatting. Yan Lu asked first, "Do you know what happened to the senior brother in charge?"

The disciple shook his head, "I don't know this disciple, but... the master looks very angry."

Upon hearing that Fu Nian was angry, Yan Lu and Zhang Liang immediately looked at each other and had some guesses in their minds.

Even though they knew something was wrong, they both couldn't escape and had no choice but to go see their senior brother to see what was going on.

However, before Zhang Liang left, he asked the disciple who was delivering the message to go to Shao Yu quickly and tell him what happened.

Although this disciple was confused, he still ran his errands honestly.

………………

"Hmm... Okay, I understand everything, and I would like to thank my senior brother for sending the message." After hearing what the disciple who sent the message relayed, Shao Yu's expression changed for a moment, then returned to normal, and he thanked the other party with a smile.

Shao Yu has always been very popular among his disciples, so he was naturally polite to him.

After the two exchanged some pleasantries, Shao Yu left in a hurry.

He went to find Tianming.

After walking quickly and asking questions all the way, Shao Yu easily found his way out of the Sansheng House in the morning when he was about to take a rest.

Tianming, who looked confused and exhausted, was naturally dissatisfied with this. He struggled and shouted, "Oh! Young Master... What are you doing, Ziyu!?"

"I'm exhausted today, please let me rest!"

Shao Yu, however, dragged him away regardless and said, "The weather in the village is bad today. Go out for a walk and I'll treat you to something good."

Tianming looked up at the dusky sky and scratched his head in confusion, "Is the weather... bad?"

But in a flash, he remembered being tortured by clouds while playing chess in the afternoon, and immediately gritted his teeth and nodded, "Yes! The weather is absolutely terrible!"

These words made Shao Yu, who was making up excuses at random, a little surprised, because the weather was actually quite good, but now was not the time to dwell on this, it was better to leave quickly.

"Uh... let's go anyway."

…………

On the other side, Zhang Liang and Yan Lu had arrived at the guest room of the conference, and the leader Fu Nian was waiting for them inside.

When I entered the door and took a look from a distance, I saw Fu Nian standing at the top, with his back to the door.

The two looked at each other again, then stepped forward.

Fu Nian turned around immediately when he heard the sound, his already serious face now even more gloomy.

Anyone can tell at a glance that he must be extremely annoyed at this time.

When he saw the two junior brothers arriving, Fu Nian was not polite and immediately asked in a low voice:
  "I think you should know why I'm looking for you, right?"

Fu Nian's tone was mixed with a hint of trembling, which was because he was trying his best to suppress his anger.

Zhang Liang, Yan and Lu stood below and immediately lowered their heads, no one dared to answer.

Seeing the two of them pretending to be stupid, Fu Nian snorted, waved his sleeves and continued to question, "Humph! Can any of you tell me the true identities of Ziming and Ziyu? What are they!?"

Seeing that the two of them were still silent, Fu Nian couldn't suppress his anger and yelled angrily, "Speak!"

Yan Lu saw that Fu Nian was really angry. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Elder brother, I did this."

He didn't answer Fu Nian's question and directly took all the blame.

Hearing someone speak, Fu Nian calmed down a little, knelt down and then continued to ask, "Why? Why do you want to protect the rebels!?"

"Senior brother..."

boom!
  Zhang Liang tried to interrupt at this time, but was interrupted by Fu Nian slapping the table:
  "I didn't ask you, it's not your turn to speak!"

"Tell me! Why on earth!?"

Naturally, Yan Lu had no reason to say, so he simply said, "In short, everything was done by me on my own initiative. If I deserve the punishment, I will bear it."

Although the culprit of this incident was Zhang Liang, in Yan Lu's view, he knew that his junior brother had done such a thing but did not stop him or report it, so he was also responsible. In addition, as a senior brother, he should take more responsibility, so he simply All accepted.

"You're going to take the responsibility!?" Fu Nian laughed angrily, pointed at Yan Lu and shouted, "You put the entire Little Sage Village on the fire to roast, and mixed Confucians and rebels together. What do you mean? How can you bear the responsibility!"

"Why are you so worried!?"

As soon as Yan Lu reached the end, he knelt on the ground with his upper body lying on the ground, "Yan Lu is willing to be punished by Confucian law."

"Family law?" Fu Nian was even more annoyed when he saw this, because he felt that Yan Lu's behavior was clearly unrepentant, "Well, you guys come and tell me..."

"Disregarding the teachings of the sages, colluding with traitors, forgetting ancestors, having no king or father, and violating moral norms, what should be done according to family law?"

Yan Lu straightened up and replied in a low voice, "Should... be expelled from the school."

"Huh... ok!" Fu Nian nodded angrily, and the fire in his eyes was about to burst out.

Although in his opinion, Zhang Liangyan Lu had made a big mistake this time, he was his own junior brother after all, and there was no way he could kill him. As long as the two of them admitted their mistakes and turned back in time, he would take advantage of them. It rose and fell gently.

Who would have thought that these two people had an attitude of not intending to cooperate and fighting to the end with themselves.

This completely pissed off Fu Nian. In his anger, he ignored the friendship between fellow apprentices and brothers and really decided to get down to business.

"I really didn't expect that you, who practice the Zuowangxin method, would practice it to the point of forgetting your ancestors!"

"Come here!"   "Wait!" At this time, Zhang Liang forcibly interrupted Fu Nian's call for people and argued, "The sages and ancestors once said: Do what is right and act bravely when you see justice!"

"How can this be said to be forgetting one's ancestors!?"

"Zifang, there's no need to say more." Yan Lu winked at Zhang Liang, indicating that he didn't need to argue.

Fu Nian didn't mind Zhang Liang's quarrel and retorted with a cold face, "Assist the empire to rebel and disrupt the empire's rule. How can you be benevolent!? How can you be righteous!?"

"A benevolent person loves others; a righteous person is altruistic." Zhang Liang argued calmly and dissatisfiedly, "As a disciple of Confucianism, when you see someone in danger, you should step forward and lend a helping hand, instead of standing aside and watching alone!"

"The Master said: He who can do the five things will be benevolent in the world."

"Gong, generosity, trust, sensitivity, and benefit."

"Be respectful where you live, be respectful when serving, and be loyal to others."

"If the people don't know how to be courteous, if the officials don't know how honest they are, and if the ministers don't know how to be loyal, and if the people all want to murder their king and commit crimes, then won't the whole country fall into turmoil, and the people won't be in danger!?"

"If you don't care about the indisputable facts and just ask the people to be loyal to the emperor, can the world be at peace and the people can live and work in peace and contentment!?" Zhang Liang responded tit for tat, not giving in at all.

"There is a saying in "Mencius Gongsun Chouxia": Those who have attained the Dao will receive many help, while those who have lost the Dao will receive little help. When few help come, they will be surrounded by relatives; when many help come, the world will obey them."

Fu Nian was unmoved by this and responded with a cold snort, "Humph... It's rare that you still remember the classics of the sages!"

"In the chapter "The Analects of Confucius·Yan Yuan", Confucius said: The beauty of a gentleman is not the evil of a man. The villain is."

"The Little Sage Village is a Confucian holy land and a model in the hearts of scholars all over the world." Fu Nian stood up at this time, walked back and forth, and continued with a serious tone, "If we don't spread the peaceful way of the sages, but instead incite the people to rebel and cause trouble, To shake the foundation of the country and slander the king's ways, isn't it just the evil of an adult and the behavior of a villain!"

"Confucius said: People do not do anything, and then they can do something."

“The way of a gentleman is to do something by refraining from doing something!”

Fu Nian turned around suddenly and looked at Zhang Liang angrily, "You don't do what you said, does that mean you are unfaithful and unfilial!?"

"Mencius teaches: The people are the most valuable, the country is second, and the king is the least important."

"The life and death of the people is the most important, and then there is the country and the king."

"Taking words out of context means knowing nothing!" Fu Nian rolled up his sleeves, "There is a saying in "Mencius Li Lou Shang": If you don't follow the six rhythms, you can't correct the five tones; if you don't follow the rules, you can't make a circle."

"If there is no ethical code and no social order, how can we talk about a socialist state? Without a socialist state, how can we protect the interests of the people? Without protection, how can we say that the people are the most important?"

"What Senior Brother said may be reasonable, but there seems to be one missing sentence... Without benevolent governance, the world cannot be governed peacefully." Zhang Liang replied leisurely, "Sages also have teachings: Only benevolent people should be in high positions. Being unbenevolent and being in high positions will spread the influence of others. It’s evil to others.”

"Allowing an unkind person to occupy the throne is just allowing him to harm innocent people in the world."

"Hmph..." Fu Nian couldn't help but shook his head when he heard this. Zhang Liang's idea was indeed stubborn, but he was not so angry at this time.

Sitting back on the couch, Fu Nian responded, "Quan, then you know the importance; degree, then you know the length."

"The Master said: If you are not in your position, you will not seek government."

"Zifang, you should have known this on the first day you entered Little Sage's Manor. We only focus on studying knowledge and do not talk about military politics."

"As a scholar, you should not judge your own king casually."

"Be sensitive to things but be cautious about what you say. You must know that there is no way to bring about blessings and misfortunes. People only take it for themselves. These are troubled times!"

"A gentleman does not blame Heaven, nor blame others. People will insult themselves, and others will insult them."

These few words were not so much a debate as Fu Nian's earnest advice to his junior brother.

He knew the blood feud between Zhang Liang and the Empire, but there were some things that must not be crossed, otherwise it would inevitably lead to irreparable consequences.

Zhang Liang asked excitedly at this time, "Then what have the people in the world done to harm themselves today to fall into such danger!?"

"The people you call in danger are because they are fighting against the empire and trying to drag more people into the war!"

"A country with a thousand chariots should be respectful and trustworthy, be frugal and love others, but now that the world is so big and has a territory of thousands of miles, what is the purpose of the empire!?"

"How can a king be qualified if he cannot care for his own people!?"

Fu Nian stared at Zhang Liang with burning eyes and did not rush to refute.

However, Zhang Liang was very excited at this time and continued to talk passionately:

"The Qin Dynasty merged with the six kingdoms. Millions of soldiers and civilians were killed or injured directly as a result of the war, and countless people were indirectly injured and displaced!"

"Perhaps, unifying the world and bringing peace to the world can bring greater peace. All this is just a necessary price."

"But...what happens after that?"

"Build the Great Wall in the north, conquer Baiyue in the south, build imperial mausoleums, build palaces, punish prisoners without reckoning, and engage in large-scale wars. How many people in the world can find peace!?"

"The emperor is unkind and cannot protect the world; the princes are unkind and cannot protect the country."

"I only know one, but not the other!" Fu Nian interrupted Zhang Liang, "Do you remember the last two sentences!?"

"If the officials are unkind, they will not protect the ancestral temple; if the common people are unkind, they will not protect the four bodies."

"You know everything has a price!"

Zhang Liang closed his eyes and replied slowly, "Life is what I want; righteousness is also what I want. You can't have both, and you have to sacrifice life for righteousness."

boom!
  Fu Nian slapped the table angrily again, and the solid wood table trembled suddenly, loosening and shaking visibly to the naked eye.

"enough!"

"Do you know what you are talking about!"

"You want to sacrifice your life for justice!?"

"If... you can't have your cake and eat it too."

This time, Lian Yan Lu couldn't accept it anymore and winked at Zhang Liang repeatedly, but the other party simply kept his eyes closed and refused to take anyone's fault at all.

"So you have to pay the price with your life!?"

"Is it your own life that you don't care about, or the life of the entire Little Sage Village?" Fu Nian's voice was filled with a hint of exhaustion and disappointment.

"..." Zhang Liang only responded with silence at this time.

"Heaven, earth, king, relatives, and teachers are the ethical principles that cannot be overthrown by Confucian disciples of our generation."

"There are differences between kings and elders, and there is order between elders and younger ones. But what you want to do now is to drag the entire Confucianism into the quagmire and bring disaster."

"Zifang, unlike others, you have already paid a huge price, why are you still stubborn?"

Zhang Liang opened his eyes at this time and asked, "I am not the only one who paid the price, and I am not the only one who is still stubborn. Have you ever thought about it, senior brother?"

"And Confucianism... if we do nothing, won't we be in disaster?"

(End of this chapter)