Aristotle IV was a wise man, and it was natural that a wise man could quickly grasp the core of different doctrines. Previously, he only knew Shang Ying and Han Fei, but in the past few days, he had a brief understanding of Zhuzi - not so much understanding as sniffing, as long as he did not avoid briefly mentioning the ideas of these doctrines or even just translating some sentences, he could classify them.

After sniffing, he was sure he knew what kind of civilization he was facing. In this civilization, only Yang Zhu, Gongsun Long and others are outliers, and most of the rest are of the same kind, which is why he suggested that only Yang Zhu's books should be burned and his followers expelled. However, he had no way to explain the reason to Zhao Zheng, and there was no way, and certainly no need to explain the reason to those barbarian scholars he despised, he could only tell his students that they were not jealous.

"Barbarians are barbarians, but it can't be said that barbarians won't have beautiful boys." In the dead of night, in the Zhiyang Palace, where Zhao Zheng rewarded Aristotle IV, the teacher and student were talking. The temple maid was waiting by his side, but the two of them spoke Greek, and no one could understand it except for the Persian governor and the Greek entourage.

"Once upon a time, the Greeks, like the barbarians, felt that they were inseparable from the whole world, and at the same time they believed that all things in nature were animists, and that everything in nature was a god, and that they bowed down to them, sacrificed to them, and prayed to them. If this goes on and on, and you don't know what 'I' is, then the Greeks are also barbarians. ”

Aristotle IV sincerely sighed, he has studied many barbarian tribes, and has seen many civilizations, and he fully knows the value of 'me'. It's a pity that Wuji doesn't seem to understand this very well. He shook his head and said regretfully: "I have seen different languages and different countries, but I have not found any difference between them. ”

"If you suddenly become a Qinni now, will you bring your armor and weapons to the battlefield?" Aristotle IV asked.

"Me?" I didn't expect the teacher to ask such a question, he just hesitated slightly, and then shook his head firmly, "No." ”

"Why?" Aristotle IV asked again.

"Because I don't have any rights, I'm just a slave of the government." After reading through the Book of Shang Jun, it is not afraid to know what kind of method was used to rule within the Qin state. "I can't find a reason to go to the battlefield unless I am forced to do so."

"According to the orders of King Qinni, you can become a nobleman by cutting off the heads of your enemies." Aristotle IV laughed.

"The analysis in the Chuni newspaper, this is only a very small minority, and no one has ever exceeded the fifth estate." Needless to say. "Qinni's army has been defeated one after another, and from the accession of King Chuni to the present, Qinni has lost at least 500,000 or more people on the battlefield."

"These words and thoughts of yours are all thinking about yourself, not for the country of Qinni." The question was asked for the sake of discourse, and Aristotle IV got the answer he wanted. "You know what 'me' is and what 'not-me' is, and maybe some of the Qinni people know it, but they don't understand it clearly enough. Importantly, few scholars have argued about what 'I' is, why 'I' is 'me', and why 'I' is not part of the whole world, but exists independently of the world. ”

Aristotle IV finally said what was wrong, and he looked at Wu Ji, who was still thinking: "Son, this is the difference between a high civilization and a low civilization. The barbarians could not distinguish between 'me' and 'not-self', so they were barbarians, and the Greeks knew what 'I' and what 'not-me' were, so they were noble. ”

"But ...... is still confused." But what's the point? There is not much difference between Chini and Bactria, they have the same king, the same officials, the same army, the same ......"

"The reason why you do not want to go to battle with armor and weapons is because you, like all Greeks, know that the state or city-state exists because of my needs; The reason why those Qinni people are different from you is because they see themselves only as a necessity for the needs of the state or city-state. This is the difference between you and the Qinni, and the difference between the Greeks and other barbarians. Aristotle IV interrupted.

"You have a free spirit and an independent will, but the Qinni and barbarians don't, and even if they are generated, they will be forcibly erased, because they only exist for the whole, and if they don't conform to the whole, they will be erased. Doesn't that make sense? This is the root of all meaning.

Only when there is an independent 'me' can we pursue the wisdom that belongs to 'me', and chasing wisdom is philosophy. Are the writings of those scholars philosophy? No, no, they're not wisdom, they're just a summary of the experience of wizards.

Only when there is an independent 'me' can we study the world outside of 'me', and this kind of research is science. Are the writings of those scholars science? No, no, they're not science, they're just the work of jewellers;

In the same way, it is only when each 'I' is independent of the whole that laws and contracts are needed to get along with each other. Are those things inscribed on the copper tripod now law? No, no, they're not laws, they're not contracts, they're just punishments.

Only when each 'I' is independent of the whole can there be logic and debate in communication between people. Now are there logic and debates in those we are looking at? No, it's not, they're illogical, they're not really debated, they're just a bunch of gibberish.

Philosophy, science, law, contracts, logic, debates, these all exist because 'I' exists. This is the difference between a high civilization and a low civilization, and the difference between the Greeks and the barbarians. ”

Don't be afraid of sweating like rain. Just like a person who lives in the air, under normal circumstances, no one cares if the air exists, but once he is in a vacuum, he will immediately suffocate or even die. Aristotle IV had drained philosophy, science, law, contract, logic, and debate, and he immediately felt like death. Thinking about it again, the king of Qin had ordered the burning of Yang Zhu's books and the expulsion of believers who believed in Yang Zhuzhi's teachings, and he immediately sweated like rain.

"You understand?" Aristotle IV asked, then nodded with a smile, "It's good that you understand." ”

"Teacher," he hesitated, "if Qin Ni unifies this land, all of Yang Zhu's writings will be burned......

"If Qin Ni unifies this land and all of Yang Zhu's writings are burned, then no one will know what 'I' is in the future. Because without the 'I', there would be no more philosophy, no more science, no more law, no more logical ....... People will be as ignorant and superstitious as the barbarians, who will live forever in darkness. Aristotle IV said.

"I once said that there are some high-level civilizations here, such as Yang Zhu, but the rest are low-level civilizations, such as Confucianism, Mo, Law, Taoism, and the Zhuangzi who advocates freedom that you recommended to me, but unfortunately his freedom cannot see the will of man, that is not freedom, that is sleepwalking. None of them have the independent will of 'I'.

Now, the lower civilizations are exterminating the higher civilizations. In fact, if there is enough time, the higher civilization will defeat all the lower civilizations, just as the Greek city-states defeated the Persian Empire, the Greeks used science to invent the ballista, but the Persians could not do this. But in this land, it is a pity that the two parts of civilization are symbiotic, because the continuous war is constantly annexing the city-state, the advanced civilization has not yet shown its wisdom, and people like Jing Ke who are willing to die for their independent will have not been united, and they have been ruthlessly devoured.

This may be another confirmation of the gods' favor for Greece. Only the mountainous terrain of Greece, which was not conducive to war and annexation, could better preserve the advanced civilization. In plains like the East, even if advanced civilizations have been created, they do not have time to grow, because war has already come. ”

"What about King Chuni?" Don't hesitate to ask. "He made the ballista, he invented the waterwheel, he said 'give me freedom, or give me death,' ......"

"The craftsmen of King Chuni stole the wisdom of the Greeks, and the ballistas he made were Greek ballistas, and his warships were Greek warships. The principle of the waterwheel he invented was no different from that of Archimedes. "The Way of Aristotle IV." I once said that I brought civilization to him, but he rejected me. One of his current teachers is Confucianism, one is Taoism, and the other I don't know who they are.

Since he couldn't tell what civilization was and what was barbarism, how could he let the people of this land bask in the glory of civilization? If he defeats the Qinni and unifies these countries, even if he knows how precious 'I' is, the power will lose him, and his teacher will advise him to learn from the Qinni and destroy those advanced civilizations, he will not be any different from the Qinni.

And the ballistas, waterwheels, warships, and ...... he stole It was supposed to be the alchemy stolen from the Seris, because without the support of philosophy and science, they would soon degenerate. Someday, the Chuni will not be able to build ballistas, waterwheels, warships and sea-going ships, or the better iron of the Rhysians. ”

Needless to say, he was a student of Aristotle IV, and he knew what this student was worried about. He added: "Son, you are a Greek, Greece gave birth to you, why should you worry about the people of this land? They were originally barbarians. ”

"I'm just ......" Wu Ji was born in Sogdiana, but his father was a Qi man.

"Don't worry about them, there's no need to worry about them." Aristotle IV smiled slightly. "Before I taught you, you didn't think there was any difference between Chinny and Bactria.

Thanks to the efforts of many wise men, the Greeks became independent of the 'I'. Even if you tell King Qinni or King Chuni, they won't understand what 'me' is and what 'I' means. The Zhuangzi you are talking about, he once said, you should not describe the sea to the frogs in the well, nor should you tell the insects of summer ice and snow. Frogs can't imagine the difference between a well and the sea, and insects can't feel the cold of snow and ice.

The same is true of civilization. The difference is that the higher civilization can look down on the lower civilization; And the lower civilizations, even if they look up, cannot understand what they don't have, even if these things are right in front of their eyes. ”