Qufu, the capital of the country of Lu, known as the hometown of Confucianism in the world, has 72 large academies and countless small schools. For most Confucian students, they are already satisfied with being able to enter any of these seventy-two academies, and as long as they have completed their studies, it is not a problem to find an official position in any of the vassal states. And when it comes to the most famous of them, and the most desirable for students in the world, there is only one, and that is Qufu Academy.

At this moment, in a quiet small room in Qufu Academy, there are two old men who are already gray-haired, and one of them is the old physiognomist who is Chen Ziyou's face.

Sitting across from the old physiognomist was an old man who looked older.

The old master bowed his head respectfully and saluted the old man: "Hello teacher." ”

The old man known as the teacher nodded lightly and said, "How did the stall go today?" Are there any guests? ”

The old master nodded and said, "There is one." ”

The old man smiled, as if he was very content: "It's good to have it, I don't know what kind of guest it is?" ”

The old phase master looked hesitant and said, "It's a very young son. ”

The old man smiled: "Your complexion is not very good. ”

The old master said helplessly: "I still can't hide the teacher's eyes, to be honest, this son's face is very peculiar." ”

Then the old master told everything he had seen and heard today, and the old man listened with great interest, and after listening, his eyes were a little thoughtful, and he said: "Ghosts and gods are difficult to look at, and being able to be evaluated by you like this shows that this son is indeed very special." ”

The old physiognomy said: "The apprentice has met countless times in his life, and there are very few people who can't see each other, but there are only three people. One of them is Wu Anjun Bai Lang of the current Qin State, and the other is a teacher, and today there is such a son. ”

The old man pushed the freshly brewed tea slightly in the direction of the old master, and the old master was flattered and took it.

"Before leaving, this son said that he was silent and confused, which is actually not bad. I led you into the door of physiognomy, and it has been 30 years now, but you have not yet become a teacher, have you ever had doubts, but it doesn't hurt to say. ”

The old master shook his head when he heard this, and said respectfully: "Thirty years ago, the teacher taught me physiognomy, and I was full of joy; Twenty years ago, my teacher asked me to set up a stall on the streets of Qufu to meet each other, and I still have doubts; But today, I only feel that the teacher has good intentions. The boy said that the son was silent and confused, but Confucianism also said that there are gods and spirits in the three feet of the head, which is to teach people to be wholehearted and good. ”

The old man nodded with satisfaction and said, "You started late, and you were not confused when you came, but you were still full of doubts at that time. Now that your contemporaries have already gone out into various countries and are famous, but I have been letting you practice under me, will you resent me? ”

The old master shook his head vigorously: "It's a fool, so he can't be a teacher, and if he is a teacher, it will only insult the master's reputation." ”

The old man took a sip of tea and said with a faint smile: "I know that many people in the entire Qufu City are laughing at you and saying that you are stupid, but I don't think so." On the contrary, you are actually the most satisfying of my many apprentices. ”

The old master was stunned, as if he couldn't believe it, he raised his head and looked at the teacher who had taught him for thirty years.

The old man continued: "In my life, there are not many disciples, although there are 10,000 disciples in the academy, but there are only forty-nine people who have been accepted by me as registered disciples, and you are one of them, you should not look down on yourself too much, you are indeed the one I value the most." ”

The old master said hesitantly: "But outsiders say that the teacher is most proud of teaching the little junior brother Wu Kui." ”

As soon as the old master finished speaking, he shrank his head, the matter of Wu Kui's rebellion had just spread to the princes, which was a big blow to the old man's reputation.

The old man didn't care about it, he stretched out his hand and knocked on the old master's head, and scolded with a smile: "What are you afraid of!" Do you dare to say that you dare not admit it? ”

The old master shrunk his neck, looked at the old man and said, "The little junior brother has also been in a high position for a long time, and he was smoked by power, so he forked the way. ”

The old man sighed and said softly, "You don't need to explain to him, I expected this day."

The old master looked at the old man's regretful expression, regretted mentioning this matter a little, and hurriedly said, "If there is nothing wrong, the student will retreat first." ”

The old man said, "What's the hurry? I have something more to ask you. ”

The old phase teacher bowed his head respectfully and waited for the teacher's question.

The old man continued: "What have you learned in the past thirty years? ”

After hearing this question, the old master didn't speak for a long time, and the old man was not in a hurry, just quietly waiting for the old master's reply.

After a long time, the old master raised his head and said with a sad face: "All living beings are suffering. ”

The old man was stunned for a moment, as if he felt that this sentence should not come out of the mouth of the old physiognomy, and the memory in his heart was pulled to a long time ago.

The old master continued: "In the past 30 years, the apprentice has met countless people, and there are young people who have achieved ambitions, but in his later years, he has been living on the streets begging for a living. There are also poor and lowly people, who are rich and noble in their later years. The guests who come and go, but the people they ask are nothing more than fame, fortune and wealth, but after death, it is all empty. ”

The old man nodded approvingly and said, "Go on." ”

The old master said: "Confucianism pays attention to entering the WTO and governing the world, which is very different from Taoism's quiet inaction. But in troubled times, the princes competed for hegemony, the Son of Heaven lost his trust, and the people were struggling to make a living, and in the end they still suffered the people. Under such circumstances, even if we join the WTO, we will not be able to save the world, so how can we govern the world? Nowadays, the princes are called Confucian believers, but in fact, they are raising troops and the way of law. ”

The old man looked at the old physiognomy appreciatively: "I didn't expect you to think of this level." Yes, if there is chaos today, the situation is no longer like a hundred years ago, and it is not something that can be cleaned up by a few words of benevolence, righteousness and morality of Confucianism. ”

The old phase teacher just said what he had felt in the past 30 years, and only after he finished saying it did he feel rebellious, but he didn't expect the teacher to think so.

The old man smiled, "Don't be surprised. I am not pedantic, and I never thought that Confucianism would be dominant. Now that you have seen the current situation, how can you solve it? ”

A gleam flashed in the eyes of the old phase master, and he said without thinking: "Promote the Legalist!" The rule of law is brutal, but direct and most effective! ”

The old man stopped talking, lowered his head, picked up a book that was half-open at his side, and began to read.

The old phase teacher knew that he was speechless, and lowered his head in annoyance, and the teacher before meeting him didn't say anything, stood up, made a salute, and wanted to retreat first.

"Min Qiu, let's go." As soon as the old master walked to the door, the old man suddenly spoke.

The old phase master who was called by his name was stunned for a moment, and then seemed to understand, and quickly knelt down on the ground and said: "Teacher! It's a futile mistake! You shouldn't have said such rebellious things! Please punish the apprentice and don't drive him away! ”

The old man raised his head and looked at the old master who was at a loss, his eyes were extremely gentle, and he looked without reproach and anger: "Silly apprentice, I mean, you can become a teacher." ”

At a loss, Min Qiu stopped kowtowing, raised his head in disbelief, and looked at the teacher with a look of encouragement in his eyes.

Min Qiu, who was already over the age of old, gradually clouded his eyes with wide eyes, and for a long time, he kowtowed heavily to the old man and slowly withdrew from the door.

In the entire Qufu Academy, there are only two people who can be honored as a teacher in the past hundred years, one is Meng Fuzi, who founded the sect, and the second is Yan Ziyuan, the leader of contemporary Confucianism.

And today, the last disciple of Yan Ziyuan's sect who is still practicing has successfully become a teacher.