Seeing that Zhuangzi fell into the river and was about to be swept away by the current, Meng Zhong was so frightened that he couldn't care about anything else, so he hurriedly rushed over and dragged Zhuangzi up from the water.

During the rescue of Zhuangzi, Meng Zhong saw the fish basket net made by him, Meng Hu and Meng Sui, there were still a few fish in it, but now the fishing net is empty, it is obvious that the fish in the fish basket net can only be released by Zhuangzi - and Zhuangzi himself is probably also to let go of those fish accidentally fell into the river.

"Master, what are you doing here?! Did you know that you almost ......"

For the first time, Meng Zhong said to Zhuangzi in a more stern tone.

It's not that he doesn't respect Zhuangzi, but he really feels afraid, you know, if he is one step slower, maybe Zhuangzi, who is already seventy years old, will be washed away by the current.

From the bottom of his heart, Meng Zhong definitely didn't want any accidents in Zhuangzi, otherwise he would regret it for the rest of his life; And from the perspective of interests, if Zhuangzi unfortunately died here, the entire Song kingdom and even the entire world may blame Meng Zhong for this—after all, Zhuangzi was in danger while traveling with him.

At that time, although the world is big, I am afraid that there will be no place for Meng Zhong.

Zhuangzi didn't care about the sternness of Meng Zhong's tone, because he could see the worry on Meng Zhong's face—even now, Meng Zhong's face was still pale, obviously frightened by this turn of events.

Although Fang was in danger, although he was wet and a little chilled by the autumn wind at the moment, Zhuangzi's face was still calm, and he pointed his finger at Meng Zhong and then at himself, and immediately raised two fingers.

Then Zhuangzi pointed to the two fish on the river beach and raised two fingers again.

Then he pointed to the net of the fish basket that had been dragged ashore with him, and shook his head.

Seeing Zhuangzi's action, Meng Zhong was stunned, he could understand the meaning of what Zhuangzi wanted to express, that is, there were only two of them, and it was more than enough to satisfy their hunger with two fish stomachs, and they didn't need other fish caught in the net, so why not release them back into nature and free them from the shackles of the nets?

Meng Zhong stopped talking a few times when he heard this, and finally he sighed and said helplessly: "Master, even if you want to let those fish go, why do you want to do it yourself? This matter can be done by the boy......" Speaking of this, he saw that Zhuangzi's face was pale and his whole person trembled slightly, so he changed the topic and said: "Let's not talk about this first, the boy will help you to the forest in front of you, and light a pile of fire to roast your wet clothes, now the weather is gradually starting to get cold in September, and the boy is worried that the master will catch a cold because of this." ”

As he spoke, Meng Zhong immediately took off his shirt and draped it over Zhuangzi, although he was young, because the clothes of the present day were already loose, and some of the clothes of the brothers were changed by their mother Ge Shi from the old clothes of his father Meng Qu, so Zhuangzi could also be draped on his body.

Although in this way, Meng Zhong only had a close-fitting coat left on his body, but he was young and strong, and he didn't feel any chill.

During this period, Zhuangzi saw that Meng Zhong immediately took the initiative to take off his clothes and drape them on him, although he never spoke, but his heart had a good impression of Meng Zhong.

After getting Zhuangzi's permission, Meng Zhong helped the former, and the old and the young slowly walked to a forest in the north.

When he reached the woods, Meng Zhong found a windy place for Zhuangzi to sit down and rest, and he immediately found a way to light a bonfire so that Zhuangzi could dry his wet clothes.

As for the props for ignition, the most convenient contemporary is flint, which is one of the necessities for every family and going out.

Otherwise, Meng Zhong may only be able to drill wood to make fire - if he has this time, he might as well rush back to Zhuangziju and let the people in the house help rescue Zhuangzi.

With the help of the two flints, Meng Zhong quickly lit a bonfire and burned it so vigorously that Zhuangzi, who was still wet and wet, could sit close to the fire.

Then he built a simple shelf with a tree branch and said to Zhuangzi: "Master, wear the clothes of a boy and hang your wet clothes on top of them, otherwise the moisture will enter your body and you may hurt your body." ”

Zhuangzi nodded, then took off his coat, leaving only a close-fitting little coat, wrapped in Meng Zhong's clothes, and sat by the campfire.

Seeing that the old man was still trembling, Meng Zhong secretly shook his head.

He really couldn't understand why Zhuangzi risked falling into the river to release the fish in the basket nets.

However, just like the secular consensus, Zhuangzi's ideas have always been unpredictable, as if he once said to the envoy who asked him to go to the state of Chu to be the minister of the state of Chu (the state minister of the state of Chu), "I would rather roll in the quagmire than be the minister of the state of Chu", which is incomprehensible.

After settling Zhuangzi, Meng Zhong returned to the river beach again, but unfortunately at this time, Zhuangzi's crutches and the gourd on the crutches had long been washed away by the current, so Meng Zhong had to take the bamboo basket and the two fish back to the woods, and then he skewered the two fish on two branches, and then inserted the two branches upside down on the ground next to the campfire, intending to roast them by the temperature of the fire.

It may be that there is really nothing to do during the roasting fire, or it may be that Meng Zhong is still apprehensive because of what happened to Fang Cai, and he can't help but say to Zhuangzi: "Master, please don't do such a dangerous thing in the future. ”

Zhuang Zhou blinked his eyes and looked at Meng Zhong with his beard, probably feeling a little embarrassed to be accused by a junior like this, but in the end, he still nodded slightly—if Meng Zhong hadn't looked carefully, he might have ignored it.

Meng Zhong was surprised that Zhuangzi actually accepted his request, after all, in the modern era of Confucianism, speaking to an elderly person like Meng Zhong, even if he was well-intentioned, could make the elderly feel unhappy.

However, Zhuang Zhou did not feel unhappy at all, which made people have to believe in the sage's unworldly mind.

Meng Zhong was also convinced by this, and while he was convinced, he couldn't help but ask, "Master, why did you take the risk of releasing the fish in the fish basket net?" Do you think they're pitiful? ”

Seeing this, Zhuangzi pondered for a while, and saw that there were still empty bamboo slips in the bamboo basket beside him, as well as pen and ink, so he bent down and picked up the bamboo slips and spread them on his knees, and then took the pen again, put the tip of the pen in his mouth and dipped it in saliva, and then wrote on the bamboo slips: The other thing hurts virtue.

"Something else?" Meng Zhong was stunned, and then asked curiously, "Master, is referring to that fish basket net?" ”

Zhuangzi nodded, picked up the pen and wrote on the bamboo slip: The way of heaven is to make up for the deficiency when there is more than is lost.

Then, he pointed to the two fish that were being roasted, and wrote: "It is in accordance with the way of heaven to make up for the shortcomings of you and me to lose the rest." However, if the fish dies due to sleepiness, it may not be able to make up for your shortcomings.

Meng Zhong frowned and pondered for a moment, and then he understood what Zhuangzi wanted to express.

Zhuangzi wanted to tell him that if you use a basket net to catch fish, there are only two endings for the fish, either because you lose your freedom and die in the net, or you are caught and eaten by him (the fisherman), the latter is in line with the so-called saying of the Heavenly Tao that "the loss is more than makes up for the deficiency", and the death of the fish is meaningful, it makes people live, and its essence is continued in the human body; But if the fish dies in the net because of the loss of freedom, the fisherman is likely to return the dead fish, so that the death of the fish is meaningless.

The fish died, but the fisherman did not have enough to fill his stomach and still had to catch other fish, so the loss of the fish and the fisherman's harvest could not maintain a balance, so it was against heaven.

Later, Zhuangzi used the bamboo slip in his hand to tell Meng Zhong that fishing with a basket net was too easy, because it was an easy benefit, so it was possible for everyone to follow suit and blindly catch river fish, which was likely to lead to the extinction of fish here after a while.

Once the fish are extinct, it may cause the original fishermen to starve to death, destroying the original law of "fishermen fishing for a living", so it is not in line with the way of heaven.

"What does the Master mean...... Let the kid destroy those fishing nets? ”

Meng Zhong asked hesitantly, and it was obvious that he was reluctant to do so.

Seeing this, Zhuangzi wrote a few more words on the bamboo slips: People do not do (wéi) themselves, and heaven and earth will be destroyed.

This means that if a person fails to restrain his desires, improve his cultivation, and wantonly harm other species under the Heavenly Dao, then he will definitely suffer 'revenge' from the Heavenly Dao in the future. [PS: This is the original meaning of this sentence.] 】

For example, a fisherman who overkills fry will eventually have no fish to catch; Large-scale deforestation may lead to flash floods and desertification.

The predecessors planted the 'cause' and the descendants got the 'effect', and it is impossible for people (human beings) to violate the laws of heaven all the time without punishment.

In this regard, Meng Zhong's feelings were even deeper, and he had to admit that Zhuangzi's vision and thoughts did surpass the vast majority of people in the world.

Moreover, Zhuangzi himself 'restricts' himself in this way.

Meng Zhong had heard an anecdote about Zhuangzi and his friend Huizi.

Huizi is Hui Shi, when he was young, he rushed to Wei to become the state minister of Wei, during the period of serving as Wei Xiang, Huizi returned to the Song State Mengbo, Shangqiu area, when his entourage was hugging each other, and countless Song people rushed to come to watch, which made Huizi who returned to his hometown in fine clothes appear to be high-spirited.

At that time, because of a rumor that "Zhuangzi may replace you as Wei Xiang", Huizi was frightened when Zhuangzi went to visit him in Wei, and then sent troops to search for Zhuangzi throughout Wei, what was he doing?

At that time, Zhuangzi was sitting by the river fishing in clothes made of linen.

During this time, he caught a large fish first, and then several smaller ones.

In the end, according to his appetite, Zhuangzi left a suitable fish, poured the rest of the fish back into the river, and then happily returned home with a fishing basket and a fishing rod.

Recalling this anecdote, Meng Zhong immediately returned to the river, put away the fishing basket net, took it to Zhuangzi, and destroyed it in front of the latter.

Seeing this, Zhuangzi showed a "teachable" expression on his face and nodded approvingly.

At this moment, Zhuangzi actually still feels that the kid named Meng Zhong in front of him is very scheming and very persistent in utilitarianism, but Zhuangzi does not deny the sincerity of this son, such as the eagerness and worry when this son rescued him, including the kindness that took the initiative to take off his clothes and put on him immediately after rescuing him ashore.

All in all, it's a pretty good kid.

Zhuangzi thought to himself in the bottom of his heart.