When Ye Gong was in Yecheng, he asked Confucius about politics and was one of the powerful figures in the Chu State. After Confucius's arrival, he immediately sent a letter to the king of Chu Zhao, asking for instructions on how to treat this distant visitor, and at the same time immediately went out of the city to meet Confucius, and Confucius and his apprentice temporarily stayed in the negative letter.

Ye Gong is a virtuous doctor in the Chu State, surnamed Shen, named Zhuliang, and has a high character. Because his fief is in Ye, he is called Ye Gong. Ye Gong admired Confucius, a celebrity from the north, and visited Confucius from time to time.

Ye Gong "asked Confucius" about politics and asked how to do a good job in the governance of this city? Confucius said: "There is no other trick to politics, it is nothing more than those who are near are happy, and those who are far away are coming." "It means that all the people near will be pleased with you, and those who are far away will come to you."

Ye Gong thought about Confucius's words and said with emotion: "This is the program and the goal. It is not easy to achieve such a situation, but I will listen to your teachings, work hard, and heal the leaf field and live up to the grace of the teachings. ”

One day, Ye Gong said to Confucius: "There is a very upright man in my Ye Land, his father stole someone else's sheep, but he himself stood up and denounced his father, what does Mr. think about this?" "Confucius has always advocated filial piety, and after listening to Ye Gong's words about the son suing his father, he was very disgusted, but he can't hit the people who have the heart of justice in the world, right?

Confucius thought about it and said to Ye Gong: "In my hometown, the upright person does things differently from him, the father hides it for his son, and the son hides it for his father, and integrity is among them." ”

Ye Gong asked again: "Will this view of the sage be misunderstood by people, if everyone is destined to disturb social justice with his own private interests, how can this country regulate the behavior of people in the world?" ”

Confucius thought for a while and said: "The laws of the world also stipulate that relatives within a certain range cannot testify against each other, first, to prevent them from colluding with each other, and more importantly, not to want family relations to be destroyed because of this. The father-son relationship often represents the most basic ethics, and once the father-son relationship collapses, it often means that the ethical foundation begins to disintegrate. ”

Confucius then continued: "If the warmth of the world is gone, then what is the point of the legal system, no matter how strict it is? I emphasize that the consciousness of human order is not imposed from the outside, but comes from the heart. One of the driving factors is etiquette. Compared with the law, etiquette pays more attention to personal introspection, which can make people with criminal intentions feel ashamed and dare not violate the law. ”

"In order to maintain a stable social order, of course, we cannot do without the law, and the law treats the symptoms but not the root cause, and the intention is born from the heart, and to change people's criminal intentions, we must change their hearts, that is, brainwashing, so that they can consciously self-discipline. What makes people self-disciplined? In addition to the deterrence of the law, it is more necessary to rely on the restraint of morality, and the role of etiquette is to solve the problem of crime from the source. ”

After hearing this, Ye Gong realized that there is a kind of warmth of human feelings in Confucius's views, and there are certain similarities between heavenly principles, laws, and human feelings.

Another day, when Ye Gong was fine, he asked Zilu about Confucius's personality, Zilu didn't know where to start, so he didn't answer, and went back to tell Confucius about it, Confucius said to Zilu: "Zhongyou, why don't you say: 'This old man's man is a man, he doesn't get tired of learning knowledge, he doesn't feel bored with educating others, he works hard, he is happy to do this and forgets his sorrows, and he doesn't even feel that old age is coming, and so on. ’”

At this time, the lord of Cai Guo wanted to ask Confucius how to deal with this dispute between Wu and Chu, he was very sad in the middle, and he was angry everywhere, Confucius actually didn't have any good way, no matter what he did, it was wrong, this Cai State would disappear in the battle for hegemony sooner or later, it was only a matter of time, however, Confucius still returned to Cai Guo from Ye Gong's negative letter.

On the way back to Cai Guo, one day when passing through the old street of Xinzhou got lost, I don't know how to go, this mixed rivers and lakes are not very mixed, at this time I happened to meet two hermits, one is called Chang Fu, the other is called Ji drowning, these two hermits are a poor man, no money on them, so they can't afford to buy land, and they can't afford to get a wife.

So the two of them bought a piece of land together and plowed the land together, and when they were fine, they had a companion and bragged to each other.

At this time, Confucius passed by the two hermits and asked Zilu to inquire about the ferry with them. Chang Fu felt that this tall and big Zilu looked cool, in fact, this kid was rude, and he should ask someone to ask about the meaning, there was nothing, so after listening to Zilu's words, they didn't answer where the ferry was, and they still only did their own thing!

However, the two of them were thinking in their hearts: This goods are too poor, and if they are asking where they are, they will have to sell them for silver, so they went the opposite way and inquired about the road: "I said guest officer, who is the old man who drove the car?" Zilu replied, "That old man is my master Kongqiu. ”

Asked: "Is it the one from the Lu Kingdom?" Answer: "You are still very far away, and even know that my master is from Lu Guo, you are so poor, why do you still have the money to ask someone to inquire about my master." ”

Chang Fu said: "I said that after life, in fact, the old man Kongqiu himself already knew about the ferry. ”

"If my master knows, will I still come to ask you?" So he asked Ji Ji again, and Ji Ji said, "I don't know which one this little brother is?" Zilu had no choice but to reply: "My name is Zilu." ”

Ji Ji asked: "Is it the disciple of Kong Qiu of Lu State who wears a cockscomb hat and never washes it?"

Zilu: "Wow, even my Zilu knows wow!" Admiration, it is my sub-road. ”

Ji Ji said: "Do you still know that you have a pig's head sword?" Nowadays, the moral decay of society is like a surging flood all over the world, and who has the ability to change this bird's appearance? Instead of following the old man of Kongqiu running around, hiding and becoming a dodge, you might as well follow us here to avoid the places where the poison breeds and flows in society? ”

The two of them worked non-stop as they spoke, covering the seeds with soil.

Zilu didn't ask anything, so he walked back to tell Confucius, who explained abruptly: "These two old men said that we should leave the human race, and we must not go to the same group with birds and beasts, even if we hear that they are not with the people in society. If the world is not peaceful, I have to reform him, and if the world is peaceful, I will obey it. ”

The pair of cultivators, Chang Fu and Ji Zhu, understood the actions of Confucius, and it can be seen that the hermits at that time were also trying their best not to bury themselves!

He sighed in frustration: "Old man Kong just doesn't associate with some bad people, and the world is full of bad people, this old man can only be suitable for escapism. Confucius replied: "Two old men, we are human beings, we can't go to the mountains and forests to be with birds and beasts, since we are with the social crowd, we can't fail to fulfill the responsibility of one of the people, and it is precisely because the world is not peaceful that I will work hard to transform it." ”

Leaving the two hermits, Confucius said while standing at the Xinzhou ferry: "The deceased is like a husband, reluctant to give up day and night." ”

"Master said that time is like this river, day and night. It's not just about preaching the presence of a river, but also about the elegance of the next string? ”