There was a small wooden house in a bamboo forest. This was where Xun Zi lived.
As the person with the highest status in the scholarly faction, Xun Zi rarely appeared in front of people.
Especially after teaching Han Fei, Ying Wei, and Li Si, Xun Zi stayed in the house most of the time, like an expert.
Other than his disciples, he didn't even see Fu Nian and the others.
Ying Wei followed the little boy to the front of the wooden house. He saw a small stream flowing through the courtyard, and there were flowers and vegetables growing in it. He cupped his hands and shouted,
"... Teacher, I'm here!"
"Come in." Xun Zi's hearty voice came from the room.
Ying Wei pushed the door open and walked in. He saw his teacher sitting in front of a chess table. The ceramic pot beside him was steaming.
"Sit, let's have a hand-to-hand chat."
Xun Zi raised his hand and pointed at the opposite side.
Ying Wei walked over without saying a word. He knelt down opposite Xun Zi and picked up the black chess piece.
The two of them played chess extremely quickly. It looked more like entertainment and did not have much of a desire to win.
In fact, Ying Wei's chess skills were very average. In his opinion, playing chess could be used as a pastime in his spare time, so there was no need to study it too much.
As for Xun Zi, his chess skills were actually quite average. However, he was still young and had a lot of experience. When it came to playing chess, he was a few levels better than Ying Wei.
"Teacher, why did you call me here?"
Ying Wei placed the chess piece down and asked.
"Have you been going to the library all this time?”
Xun Zi asked as he played chess with Ying Wei.
"Yes."
Most of the scholarly disciples knew about this, so there was nothing to hide.
Xun Zi held a white chess piece in his hand. He glanced at Ying Wei and said,"…But in the library, all you read were Daoist books.”
"From the looks of it, you seem to hold Daoism in high esteem.”
Xun Zi's words made Ying Wei's expression stiffen. He smiled awkwardly and said,"... This, teacher..."
Seeing this, Xun Zi laughed out loud."…There's no need for that. If you have anything to say, just say it. I don't mind."”
"I've already taught Legalists like Han Fei and Li Si. So what if I teach a Taoist?”
Speaking up to this point, Xun Zi smiled to himself.
Ying Wei's expression turned serious. He deliberated over his words and slowly said,"…The Confucianists pay attention to cultivating one's moral character, managing one's family, governing the country, and pacifying the world.”
"No matter how self-disciplined you are, in the end, your goal is to govern the country and pacify the world.”
"Although there are many disciples of the scholarly faction, and they seem to study knowledge, what they seek is to use their knowledge to obtain an official position.”
"The so-called ambition in one's chest is not contradictory to wanting to be conferred the title of marquis or general. Only by being in a high position can one display one's ideas of governing the country.”
"Even Teacher, didn't you also serve as the Lan Ling Token in Chu?”
As he spoke, Ying Wei glanced at Xun Zi.
Xun Zi had once been appointed as the Lan Ling by Chun Shenjun of Chu State, and was later appointed as the High Official of Zhao State.
Xun Zi nodded slightly and did not say anything. He continued to listen to Ying Wei's words.
"Therefore, both the Confucianists and the Legalists like to advise the monarch, because only the monarch can realize their ideas of governing the country.”
"Even the Confucianists and Legalists have some detailed rules of conduct that require the ruler to do something.”
"But in my opinion, how can a ruler completely obey the words of others? Is the ruler ruling the country, or is it the Confucians or Legalists?”
"Ruling a big country is like cooking a small fish. The king should have his own thoughts and considerations, just like how he should rule the present!”
When Ying Wei came to this pre-Qin era and saw the original version of the Tao Te Ching, he finally understood how much of a change the Tao Te Ching he had seen in the future had been.
For example, the phrase 'Hold on to the way of the present and use it to control the present' was the content of the Tao Te Ching of this era.
However, in the Future Tao Te Ching that Ying Wei had read, this sentence was 'To rule the present by following the ancient path'.
These two sentences had changed one word, and the meaning was already very different.
From the literal meaning of the words, it could be seen that this was a kind of attitude that was similar to seeking truth from facts.
Although the 'path of holding on to the ancients' could be interpreted as following the ancient path, the literal meaning gave people the impression that they had to follow the ancient method.
Therefore, Ying Wei guessed that this sentence might have been changed by a later generation of Confucians. After all, Confucians followed the ancient rites the most.
All the documents in the Pre-Qin period were written on bamboo slips, which were expensive to write, so the language had to be concise.
However, the consequence of this was that these simple words could actually be understood as many different meanings, which was why there was the saying of 'making bets' in the future.
Everyone could use their own understanding to make notes on these classics, which was why it was possible to tamper with the original text.
If this was the modern world, I could write a sentence and explain it in a thesis. None of you could change my true meaning!
"Whether it is Legalism or Confucianism, although there are many specific ideas and methods of governing the country, they all require a higher level of overall planning.”
"In my opinion, Daoism is the most suitable for this concept.”
"Because it doesn't require the king to do anything, but it allows the king to govern the country in a transcendent manner.”
"Therefore, the ruler should practice the Daoist school, the courtiers should learn the Confucian school of law, and the people should be governed by the Legalism school. This is the student's idea of governing the country.”
Ying Wei's words were sonorous and forceful. He spoke his true thoughts in front of Xun Zi.
This was the Confucian skin, the Taoist bones, and the Taoist heart!
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