Zhou Lang has not appeared in the public eye for a long time.

Since more than 20 years ago, after the crown prince was transferred back from Assam, he began to delegate power, except for the troubles in the parliament, Zhou Lang has always let the crown prince handle government affairs.

On the one hand, because of the change in his mentality, as people grow older and their energy declines, their worldview will also change, and they will look down on many things.

And Zhou Lang's mentality almost changed suddenly, sending the crown prince to Assam, and not allowing him to return to China, not allowing him to interact with domestic officials, and not explaining the rumors of the abolished prince from the outside world, the purpose was to put pressure on the prince and make him mature faster.

This is a torment for the crown prince, but it is the biggest torment for another person, the crown prince's biological mother Chen Sanmei Si'er became ill, and the rumors from the outside world have made her anxious all the time, even if Zhou Lang explained it to her, but she was still scared all day long.

As a result, in that year, she died of illness, and for people in this era, Chen Sanmei, who was in her sixties, was not a short life, it could be said to be a good death.

But Zhou Lang couldn't accept this blow, he felt that it was precisely because of his wolf-like cultivation of the prince that this mother had exhausted her hard work, otherwise with Chen Sanmei's perennial martial arts practice and vegetarian habits, she should be able to live for a long time.

This kind of guilt made him recall the crown prince, but he still failed to let his mother see her son for the last time, but became even more guilty. Zhou Lang's heart is not very painful, birth, old age, sickness and death, people always have to face it. It's just that his feelings make him unable to let go, his pain is tormenting him, and he punishes himself.

So, he left the crown prince and let the prince take charge of the country, and he suddenly let go. Except when the industrial and commercial forces fought for the Constituent Assembly, Zhou Lang never interfered in the government's politics. Even if there was a war, he would not care. Because he knows that it is not easy to subvert an industrialized China in any war, but an internal revolution may destroy this empire.

Except for a short period of establishing a parliamentary system, Zhou Lang has been in self-exile, and he has been to famous mountains and rivers, famous temples and ancient temples, and Buddhist and Taoist holy places.

He was in the company of monks and Taoists, and an old monk told Zhou Lang that there are three major realms in life, which are to be broken, let go, and be at ease.

Zhou Lang's age and experience make him have a certain realm, he can calmly accept birth, old age, sickness and death, success or failure, but his realm is obviously not enough, he can't let go, and he is not at ease. If he really lets go, it is estimated that he will also become a Buddha.

On the contrary, in the Confucian worldview, Zhou Lang's realm may be higher, and Confucianism also has three realms, three immortals, virtue, meritorious service, and speech.

It is the most difficult to make a statement, and it is also the last pursuit of China's successful and famous people, so many great leaders who have achieved great achievements in the world will leave their writings. But unfortunately, Liyan is not immortal by leaving some quotations. There are few generations that can truly complete the three immortals.

Virtue is the easiest, to be able to self-denial and etiquette, self-cultivation, is virtue, the so-called quiet self-cultivation, thrift to raise virtue, virtue is mainly personal recuperation. As long as such a person really achieves the gentleman's behavior mentioned in the sage book, as long as he is an official and does not aim to make a fortune, and does good deeds not for the purpose of fame and fortune, he can be poor and keep the way, which is virtue.

It is more difficult to make meritorious contributions, or to teach and educate people, to become a miracle, or to be a slaughterer for officials, to make the country prosperous, or to raise troops to quell chaos and help the world, all of which are meritorious contributions. Such people are also innumerable. The founding monarchs and ministers of the past dynasties, the lord of Zhongxing, for thousands of years, there are not 10,000 but 8,000 such people.

Only words are the hardest. The standards may be different, some high and some low. Gao believes that in ancient times, only three people could be immortal, Confucius, Mencius and Wang Yangming. Some say that there are only two and a half, Confucius, Wang Yangming and Zeng Guofan, who is half. There are also four mentioned, Confucius, Mencius, Zhu Xi and Wang Yangming.

These belong to the highest standards, Confucius is undisputed, the moral standard is formulated by Confucius, meritorious service, Confucius also raised troops to quell the chaos, the most important thing is that Confucius widely recruited disciples, there is no class, and the merit is in the future. And most importantly, Confucius did what he said. For Confucius, this statement is to leave his quotations, but his quotations are not a red book, but the Analects. Mencius's achievements are slightly worse, so sometimes he is not recognized, or he is considered to be picking up the wisdom of Confucius and not having his own school.

Like Confucius, there is no controversy about Wang Yangming. Needless to say, Wang Yangming did not aim to be an official in his life, and he was not a high official until he died, but he was admired by the world. Emperor Jiajing, who inherited the throne as the nephew of the vassal king, even hoped to increase the influence of public opinion for himself by acknowledging that he had elevated his father's status to the emperor by Wang Yangming, and promised Wang Yangming the position of scholar. But Wang Yangming refused, and kept the nobility of his literati, which was already moral. Meritorious service, Wang Yangming, as a magistrate, quickly quelled the rebellion of the vassal king, served in the local area, and made achievements everywhere he passed, and it was able to set standard governance measures for future generations, such as the ten cards that systematized the armor protection system. The most difficult thing is to make a statement, Wang Yangming became a master by creating Confucian psychology.

Compared with Wang Yangming of the Ming Dynasty, Zeng Guofan of the Qing Dynasty is a lower realm, Zeng Guofan's personal cultivation has no problem, he is not greedy as an official, and he is strict with himself. In terms of meritorious service, he is one of the few literati in history who has turned the tide and failed to appreciate his merits, and in terms of martial arts, compared with Zeng Guofan, there are not many generals, not to mention Wenchen, perhaps except for demonic figures like Zhuge Liang, there is no other way to find anything else. However, Zeng Guofan was poor in terms of words, he did not create a scholarship that could be respected by future generations and had a profound impact, and the family letters of Zeng Guofan left behind were difficult to enter the hall of elegance, and they could not get rid of the way of Confucius and Mencius.

Therefore, a figure like Zeng Guofan, the highest evaluation in history is only half a saint. And it is very well known to later generations to be a sycophant, otherwise Zeng Guofan's status would be much lower.

Even if the standards are lowered, and we don't ask for ancestors like Confucius and Mencius, or great masters like Zhu Xi and Wang Yangming, all the theories and theories that can be left to influence future generations are all considered to be true, and there are few people throughout the ages. Although these people are not saints, they can be called sages, and they have the qualifications to enjoy the Confucian Temple together with the seventy-two sage disciples of Confucius.

Who are such people?

The first Qin did not say, the Qin and Han dynasties did not mention, the most out of, in fact, in fact, the literati doctor culture developed to the peak of the Tang and Song dynasties, the Tang Dynasty had the decline of the eight generations of Han Yu, he made meritorious contributions to quelling the "Huaixi Rebellion", he revived the ancient literary movement, swept away the sound of the Wei and Jin dynasties, and made the article return to practicality and become the study of governing the world. In the Song Dynasty, there was Zhang Zai, who switched and switched, and proposed "to establish a heart for heaven and earth, to establish a life for the people, to continue to learn for the saints, and to open peace for all generations" to set the highest ideal for reading, and he also successfully made a statement and deserved to enjoy the Confucian Temple.

At the same time, it goes without saying that Zhu Xi of the Song Dynasty pioneered science and was the biggest figure in the innovation of Confucianism after Confucius.

There was a Wang Yangming in the Ming Dynasty.

Only in the Qing Dynasty, there was hardly any character who could be called a son.

It's not that Zhou Lang boasts of himself, the world recognizes that he has also stood among the top of the group of people in history. Meritorious service, he expelled the Tartars, restored the Central Plains, the ancient people who had this meritorious service, the Spring and Autumn Zun King Guan Zhong, the Han Dynasty horse on the Xiongnu Weihuo Douxian, the Tang Dynasty swept the Turkic Li Jing only. And he is an emperor, who can be compared with the Duke of Qi Huan served by Guan Zhong, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty who served Wei Qing, and Tang Taizong who Li Jing followed.

Virtue and meritorious service, Zhou Lang is already immortal, but he doesn't pursue Liyan anymore, he doesn't have the ability. At the same time, he is not interested in the three immortals that the literati and doctors are obsessed with, except for stones, there are no immortal things.

Similarly, Zhou Lang does not believe in Buddhism, and the teachings of Buddhism can be listened to, but there is no need to be superstitious. Therefore, he lived more in the Wudang Mountain, which was rare in the industrial age, and practiced boxing, climbed the mountain, breathed fresh air, tasted fragrant tea, ate coarse food and light rice, wore plain cloth and plain cloth, lived in a thatched hut and a house, and had few desires, but also was content.

Therefore, some people say that the emperor has gone to be an immortal.

However, what the monk said was right, Zhou Lang couldn't let it go.

Not only can't he let go of the old people, but he can't let go of the old country.

He has looked down on everything, but it doesn't mean that he has let go of everything, he can face life, old age, sickness and death indifferently, but he can't forget the joy of the old people, he can calmly choose to abandon politics and delegate power, but he can't be independent.

To say that he now has great power in his opponent, dominates everything, and is still greedy, it is not accurate, he has a trace of nostalgia for the old man that he can't let go, and he only has a feeling for his homeland that he can't forget.

Maybe it's an obsession, he is like those scholars who want to be sages, pursuing virtue and meritorious speech, like those who want to be high-ranking officials, pursuing a supreme minister, Zhou Lang also wants to climb that high mountain to have a look and see the scenery on his mountaintop.

But he no longer has the ambition to conquer the mountains, he can only go with the flow and hope that the mountains will come.

If you want to see your homeland climb to the top of the mountain, it is no longer something that can be done by manpower, Zhou Lang has already done it, for the sake of fate, fortune, these things that can be met but not sought, you can only wait.

Maybe on Wudang Mountain, he has a pure heart and few desires, misses the old people in the past, and looks forward to the old country in the future, and he has the opportunity to live to see the arrival of that day.

As for this war, Zhou Lang didn't bother to think about it too much. If it had been before, he would have seen this great battle as an opportunity, and he would have rejoiced in it, he would have been anxious about it, and he would have racked his mind for it. But now, he won't, it doesn't matter if it's war or peace.

He knew that victory was not enough for his homeland to climb to the top of the mountain, and defeat was not enough for his homeland to be damaged.

The opportunity hadn't come yet, so he had to wait.

There are advantages to participating in the war, and there are advantages to not participating in the war, and he does not force it.

So the crown prince sent a telegram asking him to decide on the war peace, and he wrote an edict, only a few words, "The war and peace matters are decided by the prince."

After receiving the decree, the crown prince received the final authorization and completed the final procedures.

Then the dust settled, and the Chinese Imperial Court officially informed the British and French ambassadors that China had to enter a state of war with Britain and France because of its alliance obligations to Germany.

Finally China has entered the war!