Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1618 Only those who endure the most hardships can become the best!

Jingren, who was sitting quietly in a chair, stood up reluctantly after hearing his father's question.

Facing his father's gaze, Jingren thought for a moment and said:
"My feeling today is that the Ye clan has been treated preferentially. Ye Yu was able to become the fire gun instructor and get a job as a T, but Li Shuai has made greater contributions than him, but he cannot be transferred to civilian work and can only leave the army by buying out!"

After saying this, Jingren looked at Ye Mingsheng, and seeing this, Ye Mingsheng also spoke:
"That's it!"

Jingren hesitated for a moment, but nodded.

Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng said:
"Jingren, do you think this situation is fair?"

After hearing this, Jingren was stunned for a moment, and then his expression was a little tangled. After hesitating for a while, he seemed to want to say something, but in the end he did not speak. He just shook his head and said to Ye Mingsheng:

"Dad! I don't know!"

Hearing this answer, Ye Mingsheng also said anxiously:

"Jingren, just tell me what you really think. You can say whatever you want!"

Seeing his father say this, Jingren hesitated for a moment but still mustered up the courage to say:

"I think it's fair! After all, Ye Yu is a member of our Ye family, and Li Shuai is an outsider!"

Ye Mingsheng had a complicated expression when he heard this answer. Feeling his father's expression change, Jingren quickly added:

"Dad! Did I say something wrong?"

Ye Mingsheng adjusted his mood and taught:

“Jingren, if you are an ordinary person, it’s okay for you to think this way. It’s also okay for most people in the world to think this way. Blood is thicker than water. If you encounter problems, your family will be able to help you…”

"But if you are the crown prince, you can't think like this!"

Jingren asked with some doubt:
"Dad, why can't I think like this?"

"Because the prince is the heir to the throne, the future emperor, and the people of the world are all the emperor's subjects. You must be as fair and just as possible, and treat everyone equally!"

"If you do things like discriminating based on closeness, then those who get more will feel happy, but those who get less will feel unbalanced and even resentful. This is the truth. It's not the lack of money that is worrying, but the inequality of money!"

"Jingren, let me tell you a story!"

"During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the State of Song and the State of Zheng were at war. The two sides fought each other. The commander of the State of Song was named Hua Yuan. He was a relative of the Song Dynasty and held great power. In order to win the war with the State of Zheng, Hua Yuan slaughtered a lot of sheep the day before the war to feed the soldiers of the State of Song!"

"Having a good meal before going to the battlefield can boost morale, rally the troops, and make them more combat-ready. This is normal behavior!"

"Hua Yuan distributed the mutton to the soldiers of Song State. The soldiers were very happy to eat it, but Hua Yuan forgot to give it to his coachman. The coachman didn't say much and didn't complain to Hua Yuan!"

"However, when Hua Yuan led his troops to fight against Zheng the next day, this driver actually drove the chariot with Hua Yuan straight to the Zheng army camp!"

Hua Yuan was immediately shocked and asked his driver why he did this, but the driver said a famous saying that has been passed down through the ages.

“In the past, Yangzi was in power, and today, Yuwo is in power…”

Ye Mingsheng paused for a moment and asked Jingren:
"Jingren, do you know what these two sentences mean?"

Jingren hesitated for a moment, but still shook his head honestly. Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng looked at Jingxuan and said:
"Jingxuan, do you know what this sentence means?"

Jingxuan said without hesitation:
"My teacher told me this story. What it means is that you had the final say over your sheep yesterday, and I have the final say over your car today!"

Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly and continued:

"It was only then that Hua Yuan realized that the driver was resentful that he had not been given any mutton yesterday, but it was too late. The driver drove him into the Zheng army camp and Hua Yuan was captured. The Song army lost its backbone and suffered a great defeat!"

"After this battle, the Song State's fortunes declined, and it suffered repeated defeats on the battlefield. It was eventually annexed by other countries in the Spring and Autumn Period, and the Song State also disappeared in the long river of history. The root cause of this was actually just because Hua Yuan gave the driver a portion of mutton!"

"Jingren, do you understand what I mean?"

Jingren nodded as if he understood, and Ye Mingsheng repeated the question again.

"Jingren, do you think the situation between Ye Yu and Li Shuai is fair?"

Faced with this question again, Jingren shook his head naturally and said:
“It’s not fair…”

"Is there absolute fairness in this world?"

Facing this question, Jingren looked a little confused, as if he didn't know whether to answer yes or no. Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng did not ask Jingren any more questions, but looked at Jingxuan on the side and asked:

"Jingxuan, please answer this question. Is there absolute fairness in this world?"

Jingxuan was also in hesitation, but thinking back to the story Ye Mingsheng had just told him, he tentatively answered:
"Have!"

"You are wrong! There has never been absolute fairness in this world. There is no fairness from the moment a person is born!"

"Some people in this world are born with a silver spoon in their mouths, and they can eat delicious food, drink spicy drinks, wear fine clothes and eat delicious food in this life, but some people are destined to work hard all their lives. They have never had enough to eat or warm clothes since they were young, and they work like cattle and horses, but they can only get a meager reward!"

"Do you think this world is fair?"

Perhaps Ye Mingsheng's words were too profound for the two ten-year-old children. The two children looked confused. At this time, Ye Mingsheng also became emotional and said:

"Life is not fair from the moment you are born into this world. If you have many things when you are born, you will have them. If you don't have them when you are born, you will not have them in this life!"

"But as emperors and rulers, we must seek fairness in this unfair world. This is also an important value of the existence of a court!" "If a court completely loses fairness, it will be a disaster, and the court will be not far from destruction!"

Seeing that the two children were still a little confused, Ye Mingsheng said directly:
"My point is actually very simple. No matter what you do, you can never achieve absolute fairness. Absolute fairness only exists in theory. It is unrealistic to pursue absolute fairness!"

“We live in this realistic world. We have to make realistic choices. We have to pursue fairness as much as possible under realistic circumstances, so that everyone can have the bowl of mutton that belongs to him, and avoid things like the driver pulling Hua Yuan towards the enemy camp...”

After hearing what Ye Mingsheng said, the two children became even more confused. Jingxuan looked at Ye Mingsheng and said seriously:

"Dad! I still don't understand what you mean!"

Ye Mingsheng smiled and said:

"You just need to remember your father's words now. When you grow up and have more experience, you will understand what your father means!"

After saying this, Ye Mingsheng took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and then asked with some anticipation:

"Jingxuan, what do you think about what you saw today?"

Jingxuan hesitated for a moment and said:
"Dad, I think everyone wants to be a G and eat the emperor's food that is guaranteed to be harvested regardless of drought or flood. Whether it is Ye Yu or Li Shuai, the G position is very tempting to them. In order to achieve this goal, they are willing to pay a lot, even if it violates the laws of Daqian!"

Hearing Jingxuan's words, Ye Mingsheng nodded with some emotion and said:

"Jingxuan, it is very rare for you to have such an understanding!"

"This kind of G-standard thinking has been passed down in the Central Plains for thousands of years. It is deeply rooted in everyone's heart. Everyone wants to be an official and be the boss!"

“It’s just like that: Only those who endure the most hardships can become the best…”

"Jingren, Jingxuan, do you know the essence of this sentence?"

Upon hearing this, Jingren was the first to answer:
"Dad, my mother told me this before. This sentence is to make people study hard. My mother told me this many times!"

Jingxuan also nodded. Apparently, in his opinion, this sentence meant the same thing.

Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng smiled and said with some emotion:
"What does it mean to suffer the most?"

"What this sentence means is that you don't consider yourself a human being!"

"The only way to be a superior person is to not treat others as human beings!"

"My biggest feeling over the years is that many of the soldiers who joined the Fengwu Army and fought with me were poor people, and a considerable number of them were long-term, short-term, and laborers working for landlords!"

"These people hated the landlords' actions so much that they wanted to eat their flesh and sleep on their skin. But when they made contributions and I gave them land and wealth and made them landlords, they turned into the people they hated the most, and even became worse!"

"Those scholars and military commanders are no less capable than them. Before they gained power, they hated the aristocratic families to the core. But when they had the opportunity to become aristocratic families, they did not hesitate at all!"

At this point, a smile appeared on Ye Mingsheng's face. However, for some reason, looking at the smile on their father's face, the two children felt sadness and helplessness...

"This situation is not unique to Daqian. It also exists in the far west. There is a saying in the West about this situation: A brave man who slays a dragon will eventually become a dragon. Do you two know what this means?"

The two children heard such words for the first time in their lives, so they naturally didn't understand what they meant. Ye Mingsheng also preached to himself:
'The culture of the West is different from ours. In our country, dragons are sacred, like the emperor wearing dragon robes and riding dragon sedan chairs, etc. But in Western culture, dragons are evil creatures! '

"Warriors are regarded as the embodiment of justice. The warrior who slays the dragon actually means that justice has defeated evil. But after that, the warrior of justice becomes a dragon. Do you know what this means?"

Jingren answered without hesitation:
"Justice has become evil!"

"Jingren, you're right! That's what I mean!"

"In our Central Plains, every dynasty was born in the ruins of the previous dynasty. The founder of every dynasty would claim to be righteous, saying that they were speaking for the people and acting on behalf of heaven, and would say how bad the monarch of the previous dynasty was!"

"The Great Zhou before me was also like this. All dynasties have been like this over and over again. Isn't it the same as the dragon-slaying warrior eventually becoming a giant dragon? You said this is the case with dozens of dynasties, or is it just one dynasty that has lasted for thousands of years?"

Speaking of this, Ye Mingsheng's expression became more self-deprecating.

Seeing their father like this, the brothers Jingren and Jingxuan looked at each other in bewilderment. While Ye Mingsheng was immersed in his own thoughts, Jingren lowered his head and whispered to Jingxuan:

"Fourth brother, you are smart. Do you know what Dad is talking about? I don't understand a word he says!"

Jingxuan also whispered:
"Brother, I don't understand either!"

"Jingxuan, don't lie to me, tell me if you understand!"

"Brother, I really don't understand. If I understood, I would tell you..."

Seeing that Jingxuan didn't seem to be pretending, Jingren's expression became more and more satisfied.

At this moment, Ye Mingsheng's thoughts returned to the present. He pondered for a moment and said:
"Actually, after saying so much, Dad actually only has one idea!"

"The idea is that because everyone wants to be a boss, we must insist on reform and layoffs to change people's mindsets!"

"When I was reading a book, I came across this view that people have many identities in this world. You can be a son, a father, a businessman, and so on!"

"But from a business perspective, this world can be divided into two types of people: those who eat sex, and those who take sex!"

"The people who pay taxes pay taxes to support the people who eat them, but once there are more people who eat them or the demand becomes higher, then the demands on the people who pay taxes will increase. At the beginning, the people who pay taxes may choose to compromise under pressure, but this kind of compromise has a limit. Once this limit is exceeded, the people who pay taxes will explode!"

"To put it more vividly, this is like adding gunpowder to a gunpowder barrel. When you keep adding gunpowder to the gunpowder barrel, the gunpowder barrel will explode as soon as it gets a little spark, blowing everyone to pieces!"

"This is how the Jiang family of the Great Zhou Dynasty was blown up. This is also the reason why I remain indifferent when people call me poor and mean. I don't want to add gunpowder to a powder keg..."