Chapter 4 Scholars

Li Si is eager to find his own platform and use his ingenuity; And Ying Zheng is also eager to find outstanding talents to give advice to the Qin State. Li Si and Ying Zheng's goals found a convergence here, and they both wanted the Qin state to become strong.

Li Si knows the situation in the world well. He believes that among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States, Korea has the weakest power and the smallest territory, and it is between various powers, and there are constant wars. South Korea was like a shield blocking Qin's advance, acting as a buffer for other countries and restraining Qin's attack. If Korea is not eradicated first, it will be difficult for Qin to break through. Therefore, we should first take South Korea to fear other countries.

Ying Zheng finally agreed with Li Si's opinion.

South Korea panicked like a frightened bird and had to do everything in its might. Hearing that Ying Zheng liked the doctrine of the scholar Han Fei, South Korea once again sent its elite into the arms of the Qin State.

【Han Fei】

Han Fei, the son of the Han royal family and Li Si's classmate, once studied with Xunzi with Li Si in the Jixia Palace of Qi State. He was born in the Korean royal family, has superior educational resources, and has read poetry and books since he was a child. He is a typical scholar, and the theoretical knowledge in the books can be digested immediately after turning around in his mind, and become his own knowledge, and his comprehension ability is very strong.

As an aristocratic son, Han Fei did not keep a large number of diners in captivity like other sons, chatting and drinking all day long, such as Wei Wuji. He didn't like this hustle and bustle of life. He likes to read, likes to read books in the quiet middle of the night, thinks about the prosperity and loneliness of the world, and thinks about the ugliness and evil of human nature.

He was destined to be alone.

But it's a pity that Han Fei has a natural flaw, that is, he stutters and stammers. The people around him laughed at him, which added to his psychological burden and changed his view of human nature (he believes that all human nature is evil). What hurts him even more is that for a scholarly defender, this shortcoming is fatal. Because in these criss-crossing war years, a debater needs to be able to articulate his views and state his political program in order to impress others and listen to his own opinions. Stuttering means that a lot of knowledge in the mind cannot be expressed through words, and talent cannot be implemented.

Han Fei did not fall willingly, and did not give up his dream because of his own shortcomings. He turned to the pen as an endorsement and continued to exercise his political ambitions.

He chose the study. In countless silent and lonely nights, he carved his thoughts with a knife and pen, more than 100,000 words, marking the most glorious chapter in the history of human thought.

Although Han Fei's eloquence could not influence the king at that time, his writings influenced many people, and Yingzheng was one of them.

Ying Zheng likes to read Han Fei's works very much, because the techniques discussed in it are very consistent with the governance philosophy of Qin, such as the rule of law, strengthening the monarchy, and so on. (In fact, Ying Zheng was interested in all the books on governing the country, all the ideas that were beneficial to the development of the Qin state.) ）

Han Fei believes that the monarch must firmly grasp the power of punishment and reward. Because only in this way will the ministers be afraid of him. If power is delegated to the courtiers, then the whole population will only fear the masses and despise the monarch. The people will turn away from the monarch and become vassals. (The Lord of the Ming Dynasty directs his ministers, and there are only two handles.) Those with two handles are also criminally virtuous. ）

The monarch should not reveal his desires and intentions, or the courtiers will disguise themselves and hide their true nature in order to cater to the monarch. (You don't see what you want, you see what you want, and the minister will carve himself.) These theories of Han Fei's power are still influencing many Chinese.

The purpose of Han Fei's trip was to persuade the Qin royal family to stop its aggression against Korea. He suggested to Ying Zheng that South Korea had been paying tribute to Qin for more than 30 years, and had always regarded Qin as its master, often assisting Qin in attacking other countries, and Korea was like a county of Qin. The state of Qin should not attack Korea, but first of all the state of Zhao. Because Zhao is the biggest enemy of Qin, as long as Zhao is solved, everything else will be solved.

On the issue of attacking Han or Zhao first, Li Si's views are different from those of Han Fei. Li Si thinks about the problem completely from the perspective of the Qin State, as long as it is beneficial to the Qin State, other issues do not need to be considered; And Han Fei must also consider the interests of South Korea, and he must find the point of convergence between the interests of Qin and South Korea.

Li Si understands that on the road of academics, he is far inferior to Han Fei. Because Han Fei was born in the Han royal family, the conditions are superior, and he has been able to access all kinds of academic classics and all kinds of official documents since he was a child, many of which are even unheard of in the world. And Li Si was born ordinary, became a monk halfway, and did not read as much as Han Fei, and his understanding of academic classics was not thorough enough for Han Fei.

Li Si understood his own shortcomings early on, so he was very demanding of himself and worked hard. Due to his early exposure to the warmth and warmth of society, Li Si is more able to combine the knowledge in books with his own social experience, which is incomparable to other students and what Han Fei lacks.

When others learn, they may memorize every word of the book, but they don't know much about the knowledge of the book, which eventually leads to bookism. Li Si is different, he does not memorize by rote, he may not remember the sentences of the book, but he understands the content of the book, and can internalize it in his heart, combine it with reality, and apply it to practice.

Immersing himself in the study and studying academics is not Li Si's goal, that is not the direction he pursues. He knows what he wants and what he is after. What he pursues is power, and scholarship is just a means, just a platform. He's very purposeful,

Han Fei is very talented and understands a lot of truths. If you only understand Han Fei through Han Fei's writings, you will definitely think that Han Fei is a ruthless master. Because Han Fei's analysis of human nature and power is cold and almost harsh.

He can stand in the king's perspective and plan a whole set of plans for governing the country. These schemes can even be fraudulent, so-called foolish policies. But in fact, Han Fei himself is a very pure scholar. He looks at these national issues and thinks and discusses them from an academic perspective. Because he doesn't have as much political experience as Lees.

When dealing with real-life interpersonal problems, he is completely innocent. He could discuss the issue of governing the country with Ying Zheng in a heart-to-heart discussion, but he never thought about the danger that his words would bring to him. (Therefore, later Sima Qian said that Han Fei "knew that it was difficult to say, but he could not get rid of himself.") ）

Han Fei said that if the speaker and the monarch talk about the minister, it will be regarded as wanting to drive a wedge between the monarch and the minister; Talking to the monarch about the courtiers is considered to be trying to show off his worth. Talking about the people that the monarch loves will be considered to be a relationship; Talking about people who the monarch hates is considered to be tempting.

Han Fei's theories made the officials of the Qin State break out in a cold sweat, because they were worried that Han Fei would drive a wedge between their monarchs and ministers. As Han Fei's classmate, Li Si has worked together for so many years, and of course he knows how powerful Han Fei is.

In the end, Han Fei was unable to return to his country, and he was imprisoned in the Qin State. His life was forever fixed at the age of 48, because while in prison he was poisoned by Qin officials, supposedly ordered by Li Si. But his ideas are indelible, influencing generations of Chinese (Han Fei is teaching you to cheat).

Of course, Ying Zheng can see that Han Fei is a talent, but Ying Zheng also understands that Han Fei's theory is too dark. These theories can be seen but not debunked, they can be said behind their backs, but they cannot be said explicitly, just as magic is meaningless when it is debunked. The monarch must hide his preferences, and it is certainly impossible for Ying Zheng to publicly express his support for Han Fei, or to express his preference for Han Fei, because these theories will affect the relationship between the monarch and the minister. Ying Zheng felt very sorry for Han Fei's death, but he was helpless.

Neither Zheng nor Han Fei was able to complete their political mission and stop the pace of Qin's aggression. Soon, Korea was annihilated by the Qin state, and the Korean monarch was captured.