My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 448 Mohist School?

After the new three-minister team was officially confirmed and most people realized that this team was "too Confucian", Liu Rong did not forget to raise his head unnoticeably and take a general look around the hall.

——The main thing is to see how the ministers from various schools of thought react after they realize this.

For example, the most representative ones: Zhao Yu of Dali;
As the only representative of the Legalists in the court, Zhao Yu's face was very solemn at this moment!
Just like just now, the Han family decided on two prime minister-sub-prime minister combinations with deep Confucian roots;

It was more like Liu Rong had just issued an edict, ordering the abolition of all schools of thought and the promotion of Confucianism alone!

Moreover, the part of "abolishing all schools of thought" emphasized that the Legalists must be severely punished and completely eliminated from the world!

Zhao Yu's concerns are not without reason.

——The prime minister is a great scholar of the time, which is difficult for the Legalists to accept;
There was also the Grand Censor, who was a military man but hated the Legalists and the School of Diplomacy and had strong emotional leanings towards Confucianism.

For the Legalists, this means that in the next ten years or so, the difficulty for scholars from the Legalists to enter the court will increase by at least three or five levels.

It is not that Dou Ying and Wei Wan would deliberately do something bad and suppress the caution of the scholars who came from the Legalist school;

Rather, the ideas of Legalism and Confucianism are inherently diametrically opposed.

The former advocates high-pressure governance, controlling every detail, and even intervening in the cell division of ordinary people;
The latter advocated that the gentry should govern the country, and the government should not interfere in anything, leaving everything to the landlords and powerful people - they advocated that the government should "rule by doing nothing" even more than Huang Lao.

These two types of people don't need to state the identity of their academic doctrines - they don't even need to introduce themselves. As long as they strike up a conversation, they will immediately start arguing with each other.

In such a situation, if a young talent from the Legalist school gets an opportunity to be promoted in the court, how would Dou Ying and Wei Wan react?
The two may not raise any objections because of academic labels such as "I like Confucianism and he comes from the Legalist school."

But the same thing is: both of them will give some negative opinions that seem objective but are actually more subjective because they subjectively hate this person.

For example: I think this kid is not very stable and needs to calm down;

For example: I think this person is a little impatient and needs to calm down.

Even more direct: What a cruel official!
Your Majesty, please think twice!
That's what he said, but if you really want to dig deeper, it's nothing more than one sentence: I really can't like this cruel official of the Legalists...

Compared to Zhao Yu who was facing a powerful enemy, the reactions of others were relatively calm.

——Old officials who were born in Huang-Lao school, I wonder if they have self-awareness, knowing that Huang-Lao school is powerless to save the world, and will sooner or later be replaced by legalism, Confucianism and other schools;
Still they arrogantly think that it is "just an accident" and feel that Huang-Lao school of thought is still a lean camel that is bigger than a horse.

At least in Liu Rong's vision, among the officials or meritorious officials from the Huang-Lao background, apart from Ji An who seemed to be lost in thought, there was no other face that showed a sense of crisis.

Like numbness;

Like arrogance;

It was as if he had expected it and was willing to take the appointment.

It's like knowing nothing and living in a dream.

Liu Rong shook his head in disappointment.

People in later generations always talk about the "Hundred Schools of Thought", just like in the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period, and even in the post-Warring States Period, there were really hundreds of schools of thought in the world that could be used by those in power.

But in fact, among the hundreds of schools of thought, only three or five can be used - at least can be used by the current Han Dynasty.

The camel that is about to die of thinness: Huang Lao;
The culprit for the fall of the tyrannical Qin Dynasty: Legalism;

The originator of the human wave tactic that teaches everyone without distinction: Confucianism.

Basically gone.

The rest - the almost lost Mohist school - can only be used in industry, and not a single word of it can be used in governing ideology;
The Nong family had long been in name only and had become the group of agricultural officials of the current Han Dynasty.

The generalists who claimed to 'combine the strengths of a hundred schools of thought' were like the handsome men and beautiful women in later generations who paid tuition and miscellaneous fees - the tuition and miscellaneous fees were indeed not paid in vain, because they truly learned a lot of different things.

The tradition of the School of Diplomacy is still there, but it is basically a "diplomatic talent training institution". The talents trained there are extremely limited and can basically not be used for other purposes.

Novelist is more of a noun than a school or doctrine: novelist…

If we count on our fingers, there are actually only four comprehensive university schools: Huang-Lao, Confucianism, Legalism, and Miscellaneous Schools - the Miscellaneous School is not yet useful.

Of the remaining three schools, Huang-Lao had half his neck buried in the ground, leaving only Confucianism and Legalism confronting each other.

As we all know, Liu Rong has never liked confrontation between the two sides.

To be precise, almost every qualified feudal emperor prefers a three-legged tripod rather than two legs on stilts.

Therefore, even though he knew that Huang-Lao school of thought could no longer adapt to the development of the times and was destined to be crushed by the wheels of history, Liu Rong still gave Huang-Lao school of thought a certain degree of support - at least indulgence - over the past few years.

Because Liu Rong needs Huang-Lao school of thought to continue to exist for a while with a strong presence and a high academic and political status.

At least before the emergence of a third comprehensive university school in the Han Dynasty that could compete with Confucianism and Legalism and thus form a three-legged tripod, Liu Rong needed Huang-Lao School, this dying camel, to suppress Confucianism and Legalism a little.

But reality is always disappointing.

Huang-Lao philosophy completely failed Liu Rong's expectations.

Without Huang-Lao, the Legalists, who were already at a natural disadvantage due to the tyrannical Qin Dynasty, would have to face the Confucians, who believed in teaching everyone and had tens of thousands of students.

Liu Rong extremely did not want the Han Dynasty to go down the old path of abolishing all schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone.

But at this moment, looking at the extremely disappointing performance of Huang-Lao school and the congenital malnutrition and poor metabolism of the Legalists, Liu Rong gradually began to understand why the Emperor Wu of Han in history made such a choice.

——There is no choice!

Confucianism is the only one left who can fight!

As for the Legalists - let alone confronting the Confucians, they simply "join if you can't beat them" and play the role of Legalists in the guise of Confucianism without blushing or feeling nervous!
What else is there to say?

Anyway, whether the Hundred Schools of Thought are abolished or not, and whether Confucianism is the only one to be respected or not, the fact is already like this;
It would be better to go with the flow and unify the internal thoughts, so that no one can use the unpopular school of thought as a shield to find excuses for their own laziness, corruption, or excessive taxation...

"Huang Laoxue, I can't count on you anymore..."

"Ah;"

"I shouldn't have counted on these idiots in the first place..."

Thinking of this, Liu Rong's gaze unconsciously fell on the only hope of Huang-Lao school: Ji An.

As a new generation of outstanding figures in Huang-Lao school and a rare source of fresh blood, Ji An was still useful compared to other old pedants and old stubborn people within the school.

At the very least, Ji An would not say arrogantly: I, Huang Lao, am invincible in the world!
Confucianism and Legalism combined are not as good as even a tiny bit of my Huang-Lao philosophy!
On the other hand, Ji An, who was not overly arrogant, would not become disheartened after seeing the reality clearly. He would not be completely defeated by the reality and hide in the mountains and forests to practice Taoism and cultivate elixirs.

——Ji An had both academic and political pursuits.

What is even more commendable is that on this basis, Ji An also possessed quite clear cognitive abilities and extremely keen political sense.

Speaking of which, is there anyone within Huang-Lao School who is aware of the situation it is in today?
Ji An may not be the only one, but he is the only one among the Huang-Lao scholars who realized the fact that "Huang-Lao is about to decline" and did not intend to give up on himself.

As for the question, is there confidence in the future of the Huang-Lao school within the school?
Ji An was the only one among those who had confidence in the future of the school and who recognized the reality and understood the serious situation of Huang-Lao school.

To put it bluntly, there are actually two extremely polarized extremes within Huang-Lao School: the "Pu Xin Nan" who believe that Huang-Lao School can survive the country, and the prehistoric Taoists who believe that Huang-Lao School is powerless to save the country and that even gods and immortals cannot save it.

Only Ji An recognized the situation of Huang-Lao school and was still full of confidence in the future of the school.

As for the source of this confidence, it was not difficult for Liu Rong to guess.

Ji An, very confident.

In Ji An's view, the problems within Huang-Lao school had reached the point where they had to be broken down before they could be rebuilt.

However, those older generations who had the power of mentally retarded people within the school either did not realize this, or simply gave up completely and planned to retreat from the world and practice Taoism.

Therefore, what Ji An wanted to do was to first rely on his transcendent political status as "the current Liu Rong's confidant" to quickly regain some of the voice for Huang-Lao school in the court.

Then, he turned around and, relying on his own achievements in "gaining political discourse power for Huang-Lao school", he gained the right to speak within Huang-Lao school.

With the right to speak, Ji An could start to reform the parts of Huang-Lao school that were backward and not in line with the development of the times.

Ultimately, the reform could retain the Huang-Lao characteristics while adapting to the development of the times - especially the historical changes from the weak to the strong and the foreign strategy from defense to offense.

Liu Rong deeply admired Ji An's lofty aspirations.

But it is limited to personal feelings.

In the future, Liu Rong will neither give special treatment to Ji An and Huang-Lao school out of personal emotional inclination, nor will he affect the overall situation for the sake of Ji An, a potential national talent.

——The elimination of Huang-Lao philosophy is an established fact.

At the very least, Huang-Lao school of thought would be temporarily eliminated and expelled from the court.

If he did not use this to force Huang-Lao to carry out internal reforms, Liu Rong was afraid that he would never see the day when Huang-Lao school of thought would be revitalized and once again become an important political force that could not be ignored in the Han court.

As for Ji An, of course he must be kept.

But it was not to leave a single descendant for Huang-Lao school, but the current Liu Rong kept an outstanding confidant by his side.

As for Huang-Lao philosophy, if it can be forced to make progress by a sense of crisis, then everyone will be happy.

But if you can’t…

"Mohist~"

"hiss……"

"It's really hard to use..."

Confucianism and Legalism were in competition with each other, and Huang-Lao school was destined to be eliminated;

Liu Rong's imperial instinct made him subconsciously begin to consider a third academic force that could be supported and cultivated besides Confucianism and Legalism.

Among the hundreds of schools of thought, the four major comprehensive schools that still exist in the world, apart from the Confucianism and Legalism that have already been prominent in the court, only the Mohist and Miscellaneous schools are left.

Liu Rong naturally knew that jack of all trades was not useful - at least not reusable.

But the remaining Mohist School made Liu Rong's mouth dry and his heart beat faster just by thinking about the possibility of "whether to support the Mohist School" in his mind.

As a visitor from later generations, or a "later generation" in a sense, it is really difficult for Liu Rong not to have a strong interest in Mohism, this rather mysterious doctrine.

It can even be said that people in later generations who have some knowledge of the various schools of thought will find it difficult not to have an instinctive liking for the Mohist school.

the reason is simple.

——Among all the schools of thought, Mohism is the only exception that takes the poorest people at the bottom of society as its base.

Among other schools of thought, some flatter the powerful, some flatter the wealthy, and some, like the Legalists, are mechanistic egoists who only treat the emperor as a human being and all other people as fuel for the country's prosperity.

Only the Mohists neither cling to the powerful nor flatter the superiors;

That is, he neither recognizes the powerful nor approves of the aristocratic families.

In the view of Mohism, the best way to govern the world is to unite the power of the lowest class of people, so that they can eat, live, work and work together.

In order to practice this ideal and belief, the Mohist school developed a very distinctive clothing for its members: the coarsest and cheapest rough linen brown clothes, and a pair of handmade straw sandals.

Just like the ascetic monks in later generations who believed that "if I suffer a little more, people in the world will suffer less";
It is more like the countless heroes in the new era who are not afraid of life and death and are willing to leave the wars to their own generation for the sake of the happy lives of the next three generations.

As for later generations, why do they feel a natural affinity for Mohism?
Because among the values ​​advocated by various schools of thought, the ideas of Mohism are the closest to the new era of later generations, the party that makes the Chinese nation proud.

The ideal society that Mohists wanted to achieve and the ultimate achievement they wanted to achieve are exactly the same as the goals pursued by the Chinese nation in later generations!
But Liu Rong, in addition to being a "man of later generations" who lived his whole life in later generations, was also a feudal emperor who existed in this prehistoric era.

From the perspective of an emperor, it was really difficult for Liu Rong not to be extremely vigilant against the Mohist group.

Because the system is never absolutely good or bad.

Huang-Lao, which seems to be a hotbed of lazy governance and inaction, can also become the most suitable governing school to promote at the right time, such as when everything was in need of reconstruction in the early Han Dynasty.

Although the Legalists seem to advocate harsh laws and cruel laws against the people, at the right time - such as before and after the First Emperor unified the country, they can also become the value system that the Qin court should follow most.

A school of thought is never good or bad, but only "suitable or not".

How is Mr. Huang?
not good.

Lazy and lifeless, without any energy at all.

But in the early Han Dynasty, he was the only one who could be used.

Is Legalism good?

not good.

The common practice of collective punishment and heavy penalties has made the national law more stringent than military law.

But in the historical process of Qin's unification of the world, Qin still needed him.

As for what kind of school of thought and value system the Han Dynasty needs now, it may be worth Liu Rong's deep thought.

But Liu Rong was very sure: the Han Dynasty, which was still in the early stages of feudal civilization, could never use the Mohist theoretical system, which was a hundred or eighty streets ahead of its time - even in the new era more than two thousand years later, it was still extremely far from its goal.

If you take too big a step, you'll end up hurting your balls.

Just like the First Emperor Ying Zheng, he took too big a step and ended up bringing disaster to the mighty Qin Empire, giving advantage to Emperor Han of Han, Liu Bang.

As for Liu Bang, he only took a half step back on the basis of Ying Zheng's "one step", and immediately the 400-year Han Dynasty came into being.

As for the Mohist school, for the current Han Dynasty, the problem of "taking too big a step" is not at all.

It was a question of a primitive man wearing animal skins, holding a bone stick, and who hadn't even figured out how to make fire by drilling wood together, clamoring to develop a curvature engine, a star destroyer, a Dyson sphere for the sun, and to rule the entire galaxy...

(End of this chapter)