Chapter 1271 Dao
Chapter 1271 Dao (Additional chapter 10 for leader Yu Yuanchuyu)
If Wang Laodeng is asked to write articles on state governance, he probably won't be able to do well. But if he is asked to write repetitive sentences, it would be like the Yellow River flooding, out of control.
A few days later, the article was submitted.
In the Yingqiu Courtyard southwest of Cuiwei Hall, Shao Xun was half lying on a rocking chair, reading an article.
It took him a while to finish reading it, then he looked at Wang Huifeng and asked, "How is it?"
Wang Huifeng pondered for a moment, then smiled and did not answer.
"You are showing disrespect to the Prime Minister by smiling like this," Shao Xun said.
Wang Jingfeng suddenly laughed too, but not as loudly as before. After all, she was not young anymore.
Princess Mayi Shao Ni sat obediently aside.
Shao Xun glanced at his daughter and said with a smile, "Yaren is already sixteen years old, and has grown into a beautiful lady. I wonder which son will be so lucky in the future."
Shao Ni felt a little embarrassed and lowered her head slightly.
This daughter is 70% similar to Wang Jingfeng. She inherited her beauty and has a tall figure, but her personality is different from Wang Jingfeng. She is more like Wang Huifeng.
Many people have their eyes on her, after all, everyone knows what's good.
Some people say that the purpose of choosing a princess is to pursue a career, and that the princess's temperament and appearance are not important. But what if there is a very beautiful princess? That would be really popular, and people would be crazy about it.
Shao Xun looked back at the article in his hand and said, "After reading it, I really don't know whether the Prime Minister agrees with 'valuing nothing' or 'valuing something'."
"He actually preferred 'valuing nothing', but your majesty liked 'revering something', so he leaned towards that direction, and that's how it ended up," said Wang Huifeng.
"Not bad." Shao Xun said, "Hui Feng, I found someone who looks very similar to you."
"That's great." Wang Huifeng looked at Shao Xun quietly and said, "She can look after you for me in the future."
Shao Xun suddenly felt a little blocked in his heart.
He turned his head and looked at Wang Huifeng.
Wang Huifeng looked very calm, and said, "You can only tell me some of your things. When I am gone, there must be someone to accompany you."
Wang Jingfeng yawned and pulled his daughter away.
Shao Xun suddenly felt angry, not at anyone, but at himself because he was about to lose something.
Even though you are the emperor, you cannot have everything.
No wonder people yearn to become immortals, that is eternity.
Wang Huifeng patted Shao Xun's wrist and said, "Let her come here. I want to see her."
Shao Xun sighed and said, "I was wrong. She is only 50% similar to you."
"Let her come." Wang Huifeng said.
Shao Xun nodded and called Tong Qianjin.
A moment later, Shan Yinan arrived at Yingqiuyuan.
"Wang Jieyu." She bowed.
Wang Huifeng returned the salute and then looked at Shan Yinan carefully.
She is a good-looking person, with a slightly resolute look on her face, which is a trait common in men. It does seem strange to see it in a woman. No wonder the emperor said he looks a bit like her.
"Sit down." Shao Xun pointed to the bed beside him.
Shan Yinan sat down quietly and looked at the two of them.
"In fact, I have heard about the prime minister's early deeds. In the debate on the root and the branch, he believed in respecting the root and ignoring the branch. But when the situation came to this point, he also knew that he had to do something, so just as Wang Bi later proposed to respect the root and focus on the branch, he went with the flow and was extremely flexible." Shao Xun said.
This evaluation is not polite at all, and it fully reveals Wang Yan's contradictory and tangled psychology. To put it bluntly, Wang Yan had no ideas, and he became a famous scholar by talking. He leaned towards the popular doctrine at that time, and once the situation changed, he quickly changed his mind.
Wang Huifeng didn't feel offended at all. She just said, "People say that what you do is just fake talk."
"Oh? Where is the fake one?" Shao Xun asked with a smile.
"The fake ones dare not allow themselves to be questioned and always use their power to suppress others. They set the tone in advance and arrange many people to agree with it privately to create momentum, and then they never show up and always hide behind," said Wang Huifeng.
Shao Xun couldn't help laughing.
Shan Yinan was a little curious. She looked at Wang Huifeng first, then at Shao Xun, and was surprised at the way the two got along.
Wang Huifeng seems to be very favored.
But she had only heard of Empress Yu, Concubine Pei, and Madam Yang before. Almost no one mentioned Wang Huifeng, and when they did, it was in connection with the former Crown Princess.
Now it seems that Shao Xun is willing to talk to her about some more important things, which completely overturned her previous views.
"Among scholars nowadays, are there more noble people or more respected people?" Shao Xun asked.
"You can tell by looking at my father's reputation." Wang Huifeng said with a smile.
Shao Xun understood that most people still believed in the Guiwu faction.
Although this faction's arguments contain many fallacies, they are not completely without merit.
They believe that "everything in the world is born from nothing, and something is born from nothing."
"Wu" is another name for "Tao" because Tao is invisible and intangible, has no shape, no name, cannot be described, and has nothing, so it is called "Wu".
Tao existed before the universe and all things came into being. Tao has its own internal logic, which is not affected by anything. After the operation of Tao, all things in the universe were born. Therefore, Tao exists in everything, and people can calmly understand Tao.
It sounds reasonable and good, but the problem is that any theory is afraid of divergence, commonly known as blind thinking. If this theory is developed in depth, it means that all things in the universe rely on Tao to operate, have been endowed with the characteristics of Tao, and are in a stable state.
If you intervene, it will cause all things in the universe to deviate from the regulations of Tao and cause chaos. So you should not exert influence. "Non-action" is the best.
So, what if we extend this doctrine to politics? Of course, we must follow the law of Tao! It is best to be quiet and do nothing, and let everything remain in its original state.
Don't think it's an exaggeration to involve the metaphysics of the universe into politics. In fact, no matter what kind of theory it is, it may be used to influence politics.
Darwin's original study of the origin of species was purely academic.
But once the phrase "survival of the fittest" is extended to society and politics, it becomes cruel social Darwinism.
Shao Xun felt that the "Guiwu School" was not completely nonsense, but their theory needed to be reformed.
The Tao may be unknowable, but people should pursue it rather than be indifferent.
******
Shan Yinan was still a little dizzy when leaving Yingqiuyuan.
"What does your majesty want to do?" she asked.
"I just want them to do something." Shao Xun said, "Look at those scholars. They believe that Tao creates all things in nature, so people should not destroy all things, but should be more 'natural'. As the saying goes, 'Go beyond the teachings of the world and let nature take its course'. It seems that only this is right. The most radical ones are Ji Kang and Ruan Ji. They believe that frequent wars, famines, plagues, and political corruption are all caused by people being out of touch with nature. Therefore, they all withdrew from the world and advocated ruling by inaction. But how can this really lead to great governance?"
"Ji Kang and Ruan Ji were relatively good. But now scholars seem to have forgotten the original meaning of 'going beyond the orthodox teachings and following nature', and simply enjoy 'nature', so taking drugs and indulging in alcohol has become a trend, and when they are sober they talk about everything, even gods and ghosts, and each generation is worse than the previous one. If you really retreat from the world, people will look up to you, but you insist on being an official to get benefits, and then enjoy yourself, making the world a mess."
"When you were in Jianye, were you surrounded by people like this?" Shao Xun looked at Shan Yinan and asked.
"Not entirely." Shan Yinan thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "After all, life in this world cannot be detached. If you really let nature take its course, what will you do when someone puts a butcher's knife to your neck? It's like—"
At this point, she glanced at Shao Xun and said, "You are attacking with your army. You can't repel the enemy by just sitting back and talking nonsense. If you can't repel the enemy, they won't even have their manors. I'm afraid they will have to work hard to make a living and won't be able to indulge in drinking and talking nonsense anymore."
Shao Xun laughed.
After all, people can't escape from reality, so it's better to be down-to-earth.
"What do you think of metaphysics?" Shao Xun asked.
"I am very superficial and don't quite understand these things." Shan Yinan shook his head.
"I don't understand either." Shao Xun said.
"So you still want to have a casual chat?" Shan Yinan asked in surprise.
"I am motivated by profit." Shao Xun said with a smile, "Let them stop talking about the invisible and intangible Tao and instead pursue the visible and tangible Tao. This will benefit the country and me."
"Forget it, there's no point in talking about this." Shao Xun shook his head again.
Shan Yinan remained silent.
The two walked by the lake, and the warm spring sun made the water surface sparkle.
The pond is surrounded by crabapple and peach trees, vying for beauty and filling the ground with fragrance.
Shan Yinan sighed imperceptibly and said, "This flower blooms every year, and my mood is different every year. I used to think the flower was beautiful, but later I thought it was just so-so. Perhaps the flower has not changed, only people have changed."
Shao Xun didn't say anything either, just listened silently.
"After becoming the Crown Princess, everyone told me to be virtuous. So I did needlework, planted vegetables, sorted books, copied articles, and was so busy that I didn't even have time to look at the flowers."
"I'm even more afraid of being accused of not being dignified enough to watch a falling flower alone, pick it up from the ground, and secretly put it in my palm. In fact -"
"When I was 15, I liked walking among the falling flowers. Is this the nature of letting go of nature?"
She looked up at the colorful flowers and actually made a joke to Shao Xun.
"This is not about being free and easy, but about worldly achievements," said Shao Xun.
Shan Yinan opened his mouth slightly and looked at Shao Xun, somewhat surprised.
Shao Xun suddenly kicked the peach tree, and in an instant, petals fell everywhere, as if it was raining flowers.
Shan Yinan subconsciously stretched out his hands, picked up the fallen petals, put them to his nose and sniffed them, then looked at Shao Xun with a smile in his eyes.
She felt that in all the years since she became the Crown Princess and even the Queen, she had not laughed as many times as in the last few months.
Shao Xun gently hugged her and said, "How can I win your smile if I can't do this?"
Shan Yinan turned his head slightly, his face flushed, the smile in his eyes became more intense, and he whispered: "You are really good at coaxing women."
After returning to Fanghuayuan where Yang Xianrong was, Shan Yinan still had a smile on his face.
Yang Xianrong was practicing calligraphy. After taking a closer look at her niece, she sneered, "If he asked you to sleep with him now, you probably wouldn't feel sad, but just shy."
Shan Yinan fell silent and blushed a little after hearing this.
"He has many ways of deceiving women, one after another." Yang Xianrong sighed, feeling uncomfortable.
Both the aunt and the nephew fell into his hands.
"What did he do?" Yang Xianrong asked after putting down his pen.
"Send envoys to all provinces in the world to invite scholars to come to the capital." Shan Yinan said.
"The states?"
"Yes." Shan Yinan nodded and said, "I just drafted an imperial edict for your majesty and sent it to the Ministry of Personnel, inviting scholars from Shu to come to the capital."
"Are there still scholars in Shu?" Yang Xianrong couldn't help but want to laugh again: "I'm afraid they are all in prison."
(End of this chapter)