The Moon in the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 81: Xunzi Offers His Discipleship (Seeking Follow-up Reading)

The day after the academic discussion, Ying Zheng sent someone to invite Xunzi early in the morning. After Xunzi arrived, Ying Zheng went to the front of the hall to greet him, bowed his hands, and said with a smile: "Master Xun, I am honored to have you here. Please come in and take a seat."

Xunzi bowed according to the rules: "Confucian Xun Kuang greets His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

When Ying Zheng heard the self-proclaimed name, he understood that this was a visit from a Confucian scholar. He knew what was going on and said with a smile, "Master Xun, there is no need to be polite. Please come into the hall and discuss in detail."

After the two of them sat down, Ying Zheng said, "Master Xun, I have long admired your great name. With your talent and virtue, it is really a waste of talent to commit yourself to a small position of county magistrate. As the saying goes: the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility for the country. With your ability, you should take on a greater responsibility to benefit the people. If you don't give up, I am willing to recommend you to be the prime minister of the Qin Dynasty."

"When my father first ascended the throne, he was eager to seek talents. If you can help me, I will be very happy. The Qin Dynasty is in urgent need of revising the laws and regulations of the people. We also need the help of people of high moral character like you. What do you think?"

Xunzi had not expected that Ying Zheng would poach people right from the start, but this little trick was easy to deal with, although the treatment offered was really tempting.

Xunzi smiled and said, "I am a foreign minister after all, and I am old now, but I am looking for a place to retire. Chunshen Jun is my old friend, and I cannot abandon him. I am grateful for your kindness, sir. The Qin Dynasty is in its heyday, and there are many talented people. I am not in need of one more person."

Ying Zheng laughed and said, "Master, you are not saying that. Master, you have already returned to your original nature. You may look a little old, but in fact, you are full of vitality. You have already reached the state of unity between man and nature. The vitality of heaven and earth connects the two bridges of heaven and earth and circulates endlessly. Your cultivation is astonishing. Now you are only sixty years old, so how can you say you are old? Even if you are sixty years old again, it should be no problem."

People in the world have never seen Xunzi use force, and they all think that he is just a literati. They don’t think about whether it is possible for Confucians of this era to be pure literati.
Xunzi respected Confucius the most. You should know that Confucius was the author of "The Analects" in one hand and "Lun Yu" in the other. His martial spirit and personal fighting skills were no worse than those of Mozi.

Xunzi never thought that Ying Zheng could see his own cultivation, while he himself could not see Ying Zheng's cultivation at all. The Ying Zheng in front of him was just like an ordinary young man with no cultivation. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart that it was really terrible. Even though Xunzi did not believe in gods and ghosts, he couldn't help but have some doubts.

But for someone like Xunzi, being exposed for a lie was not a big deal at all. He could even pretend not to hear it. It was easy to solve by just changing the subject.

Xunzi turned a deaf ear to him, looked at Ying Zheng and said to himself: "Your Highness is indeed extraordinary, but I wonder if Your Highness knows that Your Highness's fate is already very different."

Ying Zheng's smile froze for a moment, but he regained his composure in an instant, and asked with a smile, "Don't Confucians always say that one should not talk about strange things, supernatural powers, or gods?"

"Zheng once read Master Xun's works. I remember that Master said that the sky can create life but cannot distinguish things; the earth can carry people but cannot rule people; the stars rotate, the sun and the moon shine, the four seasons change, yin and yang transform, wind and rain are generous, all things are born in harmony, and grow. We can't see the work, but we can see the work. This is what we call God. Everyone knows how it is achieved, but no one knows its formlessness. This is what we call the work of heaven. Only sages do not seek to know heaven. How can you talk about human destiny now?"

He jokingly said, "Master, do you also want to know the heavens and judge people?"

Xunzi said calmly, "Your Highness has read the theory of the common people. The common people are very lucky. Then Your Highness should also know another saying: It is better to think about the great heaven than to control it with things! It is better to praise it from heaven than to control the destiny of heaven and use it! It is better to wait for it when the time comes than to use it when the time comes! It is better to increase it according to things than to use your ability to transform it! It is better to think about things and make them things, than to manage things and not lose them! It is better to wish for the reason why things are born than to have the reason why things are formed! Therefore, if you mistake people and think about heaven, you will lose the feelings of all things."

"Your heavenly duty has been established, your heavenly achievements have been accomplished, and the laws of nature are constant. Your Highness's fate is also in the natural order of heaven and earth. Why can't the common people observe and comprehend it?"

Ying Zheng's smile faded slowly, and he said expressionlessly, "I am appointed by Heaven, and the destiny is in my hands. The Zhou Dynasty has run out of time, and the emperor's power is in Daqin today."

"Although you are knowledgeable, you are only a minor official. How dare you talk about destiny?"

"You know that because of what you said today, I can kill you."

Xunzi said: "The common people are not talking about the will of heaven, but the way of heaven."

Ying Zheng snorted coldly: "Humph, quibbling, deliberately confusing the way of heaven and destiny, adding crime to crime."

Xunzi stood up and bowed: "If your highness says so, please kill me." Ying Zheng looked at Xunzi for a few breaths, and suddenly laughed: "Master Xun, you must be scared by me, haha, please take a seat, I am just joking."

Xunzi sat down calmly, and Ying Zheng asked with a smile: "I wonder what Xunzi meant by your words that your political destiny has changed?"

Xunzi replied, "Your Highness, I have studied the way of nature and have some insights. Twenty years ago, I saw the aura of Ziwei in Qin and the destiny of the emperor must come from Qin, so I went to Qin to observe. At that time, I said that Qin had four generations of victories, which was destiny. However, I have another sentence to say, which is that the emperor must come from Qin. Your Highness said that the destiny of the Zhou Dynasty has come to an end, and I agree with it."

"Ten years ago, a flying star streaked across the sky, disturbing the stars. My knowledge of the Way of Nature was superficial, and I could no longer see clearly. When I heard that Your Highness was blessed by heaven, and thought of Your Highness' age, I thought that it might be because of Your Highness that I came to Qin to seek an audience."

Ying Zheng asked, "Oh? Then Master, what do you think of meeting Zheng today?"

Xunzi praised respectfully: "I have seen Your Highness today. You are truly like a dragon and a phoenix, a sun and a sky. Your destiny is extremely noble and precious. No one in the world can match you. It can be said that there has been no one like you before, and there may not be anyone like you in the next thousand years."

"Your Highness's appearance is so noble, but the celestial phenomena are so chaotic. It must be Your Highness who will change the world."

Ying Zheng smiled and said, "Zheng is the crown prince of the Qin Dynasty. He is blessed by heaven and has a noble status. Naturally, he can change the world."

Xunzi shook his head and said, "That's not what I mean. Before the chaos of the heavens, everything had a destiny. After the chaos, there is no destiny anymore."

Ying Zheng asked: "Isn't this a good thing? Man can conquer nature."

Xunzi stared at Ying Zheng and said, "The five elements rotate and eventually reach the Great Harmony. Now that they have changed, will they still reach the Great Harmony?"

Ying Zheng looked directly into Xunzi's eyes. The two looked at each other for a long time. Suddenly, he laughed and said, "If Dang Zheng comes to this world, there will be more good stories and fewer regrets."

He stopped smiling and said, "No matter how it changes, or whether it changes or not, this is the inevitable result."

"Master, these are not things you should think about. You just need to be my helper. If you don't want to, let your disciple come."

Xunzi bowed and said, "I understand. I just hope Your Highness will think about the people of the world."

Ying Zheng had a blank expression on his face: "It is God's will, this is natural."

Xunzi bowed and left. Ying Zheng said loudly to Xunzi's back: "Master Xun, remember, the destiny is with me."

After Xunzi left, Ying Zheng sneered, "Old man, you almost scared me."

Looking forward to tomorrow, Yin-Yang School, Zou Yan.

　Thanks to @顺流而下666666 for your support

　　Thanks to @始皇*天下 for your continuous support

　　
　
(End of this chapter)