Lu Ya wrote on the blackboard:
The people can be made to obey, but they cannot be made to understand.
He pointed at this sentence and smiled.
"The principles left behind by the ancestors are naturally in line with the principles of heaven and earth. However, there are also people who have another understanding of this sentence.”
As he spoke, he wrote a few more words on it with chalk, mainly changing the punctuations of the sentence to:
If the people are willing to do so, let them do so. If they are not willing to do so, let them know.
Liu Ji and the Zhu kids couldn't understand the few punctuations Lu Ya wrote.
In this era, there was no such thing as punctuations.
Lu Ya didn't explain this as it wasn't the main point. He just said,""Duke Liu, someone once explained this sentence. No, let him know."
Lu Ya smiled and said,
"What this means is that poetry, etiquette, and music are the foundations of educating the people.”
"If the people have mastered poetry, rites, and music, let them play freely. If the people can't play these things, we have to educate them and let them know and understand these things.”
Liu Ji's expression changed slightly.
Lu Ya ignored him and continued,"
"Duke Liu, look. It's the same sainthood, but why are there different explanations? Who was distorting the words of the Sage?”
"No one knows who it is, and no one cares about this. What they care about is whether the Holy Word is suitable for their own enlightenment.”
"Just like what Duke Liu said, if someone dares to say such nonsense, then they are taking themselves seriously. After all, there is no reason in this world to let stupid people speak.”
Lu Ya looked at Liu Ji and smiled."
"If we let the people speak, the world will only collapse faster. Duke Liu, do you think so?”
Liu Bowen's expression was cold and he did not speak.
Lu Ya ignored him and continued,"
"Smart people rule over stupid people. In this, there's no need to talk about human feelings. When encountering a problem, smart people knew how to analyze it, how to find the pattern to solve the problem, and even how to find a way out.”
"As for the foolish ones, they can't do anything. They can't even see the path ahead. How can they let them interfere?”
Liu Ji said,"
"This is inevitable. The world belongs to the wise.”
"Yes, you're right." Lu Ya nodded and continued,""During the Spring and Autumn Period, there were a hundred schools of thought contending.”
"This includes the Confucian school, which teaches the people, hoping that one day, the people will understand reason and that everyone will be a gentleman and a scholar.”
Lu Ya asked himself,"
"Cangjie created the characters to record the comprehension and wisdom of generations of people, and then passed it on to the later generations. "In this way, future generations do not need to explore from scratch. The ancestors have already helped them explore. They only need to continue the wisdom of their ancestors, pass it down from generation to generation, and accumulate so that humans can become the spirit of all living things..."
"Therefore, scholars are people who pass on wisdom. However, there is a problem here. Can wisdom really spread throughout the world?”
"History tells us that it is impossible.”
"Because there aren't enough books, the children's aptitude is also divided into high and low. Some are suitable for reading, while others aren't.”
"In addition, transmitting wisdom is different from transmitting words. It's more complicated.”
"Therefore, wise people grasp the truth, control power, and then assist the emperor to rule the world. They no longer pass on wisdom..."
" Gradually, people began to feel that farming, corvee, and serving as slaves had become an 'orderly' division of labor. They just had to let it be. If they couldn't control it, they would kill it.”
Lu Ya erased the previous punctuations and separated the sentence again.
This time, he wrote:
If the people can be used, let them do so; If they can't be used, let them know.
The meaning of this sentence was:
If the common people could be used, let them obey. If they can't be used, let them understand.
Lu Ya smiled and continued,"
"Duke Liu, look, this is another way of saying it.”
"If they were to 'find out', how much chaos would the world be in? There were many things that those wise people could not understand even after seeing them for their entire lives. How could they let the people know? This rule did not conform to the rules of the circle.”
Lu Ya's words were ordinary, but in people's ears, they were as cold as ice.
He was silent for a moment before he continued,
"For thousands of years, people have found many ways, but it seems that this circle is the only feasible path.”
Lu Ya pointed at the circle and said,"
"The Confucians and those in power have set many rules in this circle. In this circle, those ignorant people, whether they know it or not, or whether they do it or not, can't twist the circle.”
"This rule has long been set. Therefore, it was not a matter of innocence. The so-called innocence was just a statement. It was meaningless.”
Lu Ya stared into Liu Ji's eyes and said word by word,"
"Duke Liu, the thing that you guys approved of, the circle that you drew, has been messed up many times, and the result is corpses everywhere.”
"I'm not criticizing anything. That's meaningless. We often say that if you do something wrong, you have to pay the price. Confucianism is just a concept. There are only useful and useless concepts, but Confucianism is a circle.”
[PS: This chapter is very boring. I wrote it too, but I had to write it. It's for Liu Ji, and also for Zhu Biao and the other princes.]
Everyday, he asked for tickets and flowers!
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