"How do you govern the country? He replied: For those who are meritocracy, they are not promoted according to the order of rank! For those who are immoral and incompetent, they should be immediately dismissed without leaving for a moment! For the culprit, you don't need education to kill it right away! For the general public, education and probation are carried out without relying on administrative means. ”。 Xunzi said loudly: "The truth I know about governing the country is that the king governs the country through a moral gentleman, and rules the people not through power but through probation!" ”

"What a ridiculous thing you say!"

"Now if talents are selected according to reputation, then the subordinates will turn their backs on the monarch and collude closely below! If officials are recommended on the basis of their partisan connections, then the common people will devote themselves to collusion rather than to act according to the law. If a reward is based on a false reputation, and punishment is imposed on the basis of slanderous rumors, then those who like rewards and hate punishment will lose their legal duties of the state, play personal means, and shield and use each other! ”

Han Fei ignored Xunzi's anger, and continued: "You said that you want to govern the country through moral gentlemen, these moral gentlemen just have a false reputation, and I haven't seen a second one like my teacher!" The other gentlemen I have seen are unapologetic and like to win the king's reward with a false reputation! ”

"The Zhao State I know, there were teachers in Zhao State, Xin Lingjun, Xin Pingjun, Yu Qing, Dong Chengzi and others, which of them is not the gentleman you say?"

Therefore, the holy monarch uses the legal system to select talents, and does not use people according to his own will. Evaluate the merits of subordinates according to the legal system, and do not rely on their own subjective speculation. Talented people are not buried, bad people and bad deeds cannot be concealed, people with vain names cannot be employed, and those who have been slandered are not dismissed, then the monarch will be able to distinguish between the merits and demerits of his subordinates and the country will be easy to govern, so the monarch can do things according to the law! ”

Xun Zi snorted coldly and said, "It is precisely because of the affairs of Zhao Guo that I said this." ”

"Treat those who come with good advice, treat them with courtesy! Punish those who come with malice! If these two situations can be distinguished, then the virtuous and the untalented and virtuous will not be mixed together, and right and wrong will not be confused. If the virtuous and the talented and the virtuous are not mixed, then the virtuous will come! If right and wrong are not confused, then the country can be governed! ”

Gongsun Long shook his head and said, "What you said is not right. Xunzi said that the country is governed by a moral gentleman, and Han Fei is said that the country is governed by the rule of law, which is the classification of "the king depends" in the concept of governing the country, what should the king rely on to govern the country, the truth I know is: appointing a gentleman with a reputation and morality and promoting talented officials with the system, this is not a conflict, the purpose of these two things is to make the country strong, and there is no contradiction between them. ”

"This is something that can be separated from each other, and the king can appoint those talented gentlemen to carry out this matter. In this way, a concept of kings and talents, and a concept of selecting talents for the state? Separated from each other? You don't have to denigrate each other, you can do it at the same time. ”

Zhao Kuo shook his head and said, "Mozi said: For example, to increase the number of people in a country who are good at shooting? must they be made rich and noble? Respect them, praise them, and then the number of people in the country who are good at shooting will increase. If the king wants to increase the number of talented people who can govern the country? Then respect the talents? Education is the foundation? Education can produce more talents. ”

"King Qin exempts the disciples of the academy from taxes and servitude? A large number of officials have been trained, so the foundation of the bureaucracy system is still related to the importance of officials and education. ”

"Xunzi said that he wanted to appoint a benevolent and righteous gentleman to an official position? Then the definition of this benevolent and righteous gentleman, we can talk about it. Zilu said: Qi Huan Gong killed Gongzi Jiao and committed suicide to martyrdom, but Guan Zhong did not die. Guan Zhong can't be regarded as a benevolent person, right? Confucius said: Duke Huan has convened the princes and national alliances many times, and they do not use force, but they are all the power of Guan Zhong. This is his benevolence! This is his benevolence! ”

"A benevolent and righteous person is not necessarily a moral person, benevolence and righteousness are reflected in his actions, take myself as an example, everyone in the world says that I am a benevolent and righteous gentleman, but I have not been able to eliminate the war in the world, nor have I defeated the Hu people like Guan Zhong, so it seems that Li Mu is the true benevolent and righteous person who surpasses me! I don't know if the moral gentleman of benevolence and righteousness mentioned by Xunzi is what Confucius said. ”

"If this is the case, what Han Fei said about treating ministers without favoritism according to the system and promoting those with political achievements is the same thing as what Xunzi said."

Zhuangzi said: When the world is in turmoil, the sages cannot be discerned, the moral norms cannot be unified, and most of the scholars in the world are self-righteous and self-righteous. Just like the ear, mouth, and nose have their perceptual functions, but they cannot be used universally. Just like hundreds of skills, they all have strengths and are useful from time to time. Even so, it is incomplete and not universal, and it is a one-sided person who sees the problem. The doctrines of each school are not necessarily hostile to each other, and if they can be used universally, future generations will not be unable to see the true avenue as Zhuangzi said. ”

King Qin sat on the ground obediently, watching the four scholars in front of him arguing, Xunzi pays attention to benevolent government, and in terms of the king's governance of the country, it is to appoint moral people and talented people. And Han Fei advocates the rule of law more, he hopes to stipulate all things through the law, rather than relying on any sage, Wu Chengjun's talent is really admirable, he seems to be proficient in the doctrine of a hundred schools, and always uses Mozi, Confucius, Zhuangzi and other schools of doctrine to debate with them.

As for Gongsun Long, King Qin didn't understand what he was talking about.... However, it seems to be very powerful.

"Take today's Qin State as an example." Xunzi said seriously: "The national strength of the Qin State is strong, no country is his opponent, the people are busy with the cultivation of the land, and the officials are also dedicated to their duties, which is why I praise the Qin system... However, if I want to say the shortcomings, that is, there are no Confucians in the Qin State, and the ability of Confucianism lies in benevolence and righteousness. ”

"The harsh and harsh system can only make the people follow for the sake of interests, and when the Qin State can't give this kind of benefit, even the people under the rule of the Qin State will also rise up against him, this is the reason why there is no benevolent government, if the people can respect the patriotic monarch from the bottom of their hearts and love their country, then even when the country is in the most danger, what these people want is to protect, not overthrow him."

"So I think that the Qin State can implement the system of benevolence and righteousness in the country he defeated, and be able to weaken its own harsh and harsh system...."

Han Fei thought for a moment, and then said: "What you said makes sense, but what I don't agree with is: the system you are talking about, the system is constantly improving, the current system of the Qin State is the most suitable system for the world, if this system is changed, the Qin State will have no way to deal with other countries, and the powerful system will be lost, and the people are unwilling to fight for the Qin State anymore, so what is the use of the benevolent government you are talking about?" The most powerful thing about Qin is that he has no Confucians! ”

"Actually, there is truth to what both of them said."

Zhao Kuo opened his mouth and said: "Xunzi is right, blind power will force the people to rebel, we should treat the people of all countries gently, reduce the harsh laws, and reduce some heavy punishments... What Han Fei said is also good, the military merit system of the Qin State is the foundation of the reason why the Qin State is strong, if this is changed in order to implement the system of benevolence and righteousness, the Qin State will definitely not be as strong as before, and the war will continue. ”

"Therefore, the current system is a wartime system, and in peacetime, it is possible to make the people everywhere understand the preciousness of peace, so that they will no longer complain, let them enjoy the benefits, value them, and give them a prosperous life."

The corpse said: There are four truths in governing the world: one is loyalty and benevolence, the second is public and selfless, the third is the appointment of meritocracy, and the fourth is the establishment of the law. The law can be used to be rich, the appointment of meritocracy can be more successful, public and selfless is the foundation of gathering wisdom for one's own use, loyalty and love are the qualities that parents must have... Take the Qin State as a distance, the king is benevolent, the ministers are selfless, can appoint talents, and use the most suitable law to govern the Qin State. ”

King Qin grinned.

These four people chatted until the evening, until the stars were all over the sky, and there were warriors standing around with torches, Zhao Kuofang reacted, they were all a little dry, King Qin immediately asked people to bring food and wine, everyone filled their stomachs, and drank some wine, it seemed that they were still unsatisfied, they had not talked about it like this for a long time. Xunzi has never found someone to debate with him.

Han Fei only now has the prototype of his own doctrine.

Gongsun Long had just come out of the path of sophistry and began to use debate as his own tool to think about the truth of governing the country.

And Zhao Kuo, in that worried and melancholy mood, had never been so happy to debate the matter of governing the country with others, this time, he put aside his emotions and rationally talked to everyone about how the Qin State should become stronger. The four of them were very happy, and the happiest was the King of Qin who watched them debate, this time the debate made King Qin gain a lot, and he finally understood why King Zhao liked to collect talents so much.

King Zhao suddenly sighed.

"If Uncle Fan is also here... This debate will be even more exciting. ”

In the distance, Lu Buwei, Cai Ze, and Li Si were standing on tiptoe at the moment, wanting to see what King Qin was talking about, King Qin didn't take them with him, and they didn't hear what they were talking about, they just saw Han Fei pointing at Xunzi and shouting something, seeing Xunzi waving his sleeves, almost spitting on Zhao Kuo's face, and seeing Zhao Kuo facing the three of them, stretching out his hand to point something.

This made them look very curious, and they really wanted to go over, but without King Qin's order, Cai Ze had no way to go over, although Lu Buwei was curious, he didn't dare to approach, and Li Si and Xunzi didn't call him, so he naturally couldn't get close. Just waiting, suddenly, Cai Ze saw a few officials, rubbing their hands, and walking down with thick bamboo slips, Cai Ze hurriedly asked, "What did they say?" ”

The officials smiled bitterly and lifted the bamboo slips in their hands.

"Here, show me."

Cai Ze was the minister of state, and those officials naturally didn't dare to say anything, so they gave him the bamboo slips, and Cai Ze opened the bamboo slips.

Han Feizi said: The ministers heard it, and it was unwise to say that they didn't know it. Knowing without saying anything, being unfaithful. If you are disloyal to a minister, you should die. If you don't speak properly, you should die. Although, the minister is willing to hear what he says, but the king will judge his guilt... The minister said: Those who attack and rule with chaos will die, those who attack the righteous with evil will die, and those who will counterattack will die..."

Xun Zi said: The punishment is positive, Jin Ximei, the craftsmanship is skillful, the fire is all right, and the punishment is not evil. But if you don't peel off, if you don't stiffen it, you can't break the rope..."

Gongsun Longzi said: Two is one? None of the two. Two have right? Two no right.... Tyranny is the king's and minister's contention. Those who are clear are dim, and they are not righteous..."

“武成子曰：昔者纣为天子，将率天下甲兵百万，左饮于淇溪，右饮于洹溪，淇水竭而洹水不流，以与周武王为难。 The warrior king will have three thousand armors, fight for one day, and the country of destruction will be fowled..."

Cai Ze's eyes widened, and he let Lü Buwei take the bamboo slip from his hand, Li Si and Lü Buwei got together and looked at it seriously, Lü Buwei couldn't help but shake his head, and said: "With such a virtuous person in the Qin State, the Qin State must be strong... I must gather people to compile the words of these people, so that future generations can benefit from them...", Li Si squinted, he looked at Han Fei's words, and the more he looked at them, the more surprised he became.

Han Fei has a lot of ideas, which coincide with him, and are even more mature than he thinks.

This will undoubtedly make him a little frustrated.

They rested in Taoshan for one night, and continued to hurry the next day, Xianyang was in front, and the king of Qin got on the ox cart again, and there were four great sages sitting on the ox cart, the attitude of the king of Qin became more and more humble, even to Han Fei, he didn't dare to be rude, sitting on the ox cart, he couldn't help but ask about the laws of Qin again, sure enough, everyone sat on the ox cart and started arguing again, Li Si and the others would rather not take the cart, they rode horses, followed around the ox cart, and listened to their debate.

It is to afflict the officials who recorded their words and deeds.

Everyone expressed great agreement with the laws of Qin, Xunzi thought that the laws were too harsh and should be relieved of some crimes, but Han Feizi thought that the laws were not comprehensive enough and could involve more aspects, and Zhao Kuo simply said that he wanted to limit the monarch's power through the law, and the king of Qin immediately changed color, and when Zhao Kuo said that the faint monarch might bring destruction to the country, one by one, and said that the law to restrict the king is to protect the faint monarch and not destroy the ancestral foundation, the king of Qin couldn't help but nod his head.

Gongsun Long believed that the law should be clearly elaborated, and it should be classified in more detail, and there should be no self-contradiction or omission, so he put forward several gaps in the law of the Qin State, for example, the law of the Qin State has no accurate concept of intentional homicide and unintentional homicide, and there is no exact standard for being held hostage to do evil, although the Qin State has the crime of abetting, but it is aimed at minor children.

For King Qin, the journey also became a pleasure.

And what he was thinking about now was how to keep these people, and what kind of title he should give them.

In the Qin State, except for the King of Qin, everyone has a title.

Zhao Kuo is the Wu Chengjun of the Qin State, and he is already a nineteenth-level knighthood of Guannei... The others did not have titles.

ps: Recently, there have always been people blowing about the king in my place, and they want me not to slander him... Big brothers, now that the "History of the Shang Dynasty" has been revised, you can go and take a look, increase some knowledge, don't listen to other people's nonsense, everyone is the same. You have to believe in historical materials, don't believe those folk historians.

Although I am a scumbag, I was born in a professional class, there are many teachers and classmates who are engaged in archaeological work, and there are also those who do dynastic history, and in some of the papers they published on the reasons for the demise of the Shang Dynasty, I don't see anyone advocating the merits of King Xu... God overthrew slavery....