“…… In this life, the old man went through the three emperors of the Great Sui Dynasty, and served under Li Xuansui's account, Li Xuansui was defeated this time and returned to Luoyang. The pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info experienced in this life, which can be described as without twists and turns. The old man Xu Wenyuan sighed.

I didn't expect this old boy's resume to be so rich, Wang Mai was amazed in his heart, he can be called a living witness of history.

Zi said: For politics and morality, such as Beichen. dwelling in its place, and the stars arch over it. The old man said a word of discourse, but his eyes were full of confusion, "If you are in politics and morality, all the people will return to their hearts; When all the people return to their hearts, there will be long-term peace and stability. The words of the saint could not be wrong, but why are there so many dynastic changes? Since Dong Zhongshu in the Han Dynasty, the Central Plains Dynasty has all 'deposed the hundred schools of thought and respected Confucianism', and they will not understand the principle of governing and virtue. But why is it inevitable that there will be ups and downs? ”

Wang Mai thought for a moment: "I think what Sage Kong said is under ideal conditions. What are ideal conditions? It is the so-called Yao Shunyu, the rumored saints who ruled the country. But since the history of writing, which of these emperors of all Chinese dynasties meets the standard of a saint? Even if there will be an emperor who is close to a saint in the future, how can he ensure that his children and grandchildren will also produce the same saint to ascend the throne? In fact, I think that it is not difficult to govern the world well, only to let the people eat and drink enough, so that all children can study. Society can naturally be stable, and the moral atmosphere will naturally improve. If such a standard is met, even if the monarch is a little more extravagant, as long as it does not shake the country's foundation, it doesn't matter. But on the contrary, no matter how wise the monarch is, the people under his rule will still rebel if they don't have enough to eat every day. For example, Yang Guang, looking at his ruling policies, it cannot be said that they are wrong, and when they are implemented, there is not much opposition from the officials below. But he ignored that the basis of his rule lay in the people, and as a result, rebels everywhere rushed to kill him. Mencius said that the people are precious, the community is secondary, and the monarch is light. I forgot what was behind, but in the end, Yang Guang reigned for more than ten years, and he didn't know how to be thrifty and people's power, which caused the people in the world to be miserable, so they rose up to overthrow him. ”

"The people are precious,......" Xu Wenyuan muttered to himself.

"Lao Xu, can I ask you a question?"

"What's the problem?"

"Why do people always think that old things are good?" Wang Mai said, "For example, the way of Confucius and Mencius? You literati have been annotating these books for thousands of years, and have not thought of developing new ideas and writing a new book? ”

"The Way of Confucius and Mencius?" Xu Wenyuan was stunned for a moment, it was the first time he had heard someone juxtapose Mencius and Confucius, but he didn't ask about these verbal details, but carefully thought about the meaning of Wang Mai's words. There seemed to be a thousand things in my heart, but it was a mess, so I had to shake my head: "We can't reach the realm of a saint, so how can we question his claims?" ”

"Alas......" Wang Mai sighed, "Confucius once said that the future is terrible, and he knows that the future is not the present." Now that you are resting on your laurels one by one and do not want to forge ahead, how can you carry forward the thoughts of the saints? I think that anyone has the limitations of his time, and his specific ideas may only be suitable for the society of the time. The times are progressing and society is developing, and we should have the courage to eliminate those outdated views and make up for their shortcomings, so that we are fully worthy of the teachings of the saints. ”

"Yes, the remarks of the hundred schools of thought of the sons of the pre-Qin Dynasty have been lost to this day, and most of the descendants have misinterpreted their meanings. The old man was determined to use the power of his last years to write books and speak, and to expound the meaning of my Confucian scriptures and meanings, so as to leave a legacy to future generations. Xu Wenyuan said this, with a resolute look on his face.

"Alas......" Wang Mai shook his head in disappointment. No matter how well you do annotation, you are only the next Zhu Xi, and after all, you still haven't gone beyond those frameworks. Forget it, it's none of your business anyway, just let these people work hard.

"Why is Xiaoyou sighing?" Xu Wenyuan asked puzzled.

"No, I'm just casually emotional. It's not too early, so you might as well go to bed early. ”

Back in his room, Wang Mai turned around and couldn't sleep. After coming to this world, without the TV network, Wang Mai felt that the nights were so long. Pushing open the window, a shallow crescent moon hung in the sky, and the crescent sky was dotted with two stars, bright or dark, like a man smiling and winking at him.

The development of China's 5,000-year-old civilization to the Song Dynasty has reached its peak, and after another 500 years, finally, the giant ships and cannons of the Sun Never Setting Empire have opened the gate of this long-closed ancient country. The history that followed made countless Chinese people sigh, it was more than 100 years that could not be looked back. China's historical civilization led the world, but after all, because of its complacency, it was quickly caught up by the Western powers. Geographically, China's geographical location can be described as having its natural advantages and disadvantages. The southwest is bordered by plateau mountain ranges, the southeast faces the sea, and the north is the cold Siberian Plateau, and there is only one land route to communicate with other civilizations, that is, the Silk Road through Europe and Asia. The relatively closed geographical location protects the original Chinese civilization, but it also isolates the channels of communication with the outside world. What is culture? Culture is the sum of the experience and information that human beings have summed up for thousands of years, like a river. When the source of the river could no longer flow new water, the river dried up. In order to prevent rivers from drying up, one must restore the ability of the source to produce water, and the other must bring in water from other rivers. In later generations, when the ability of Chinese civilization to create new civilizations dried up, the flood waves of foreign civilizations came surgingly, directly washing the dry riverbed to pieces. Standing on the ruins of Chinese civilization, Wang Mai once fantasized about looking up at the magnificent shore of this building, but what he saw with his own eyes was always a ruined wall.

Wang Mai's courtyard was very lively for a few days, and the endless stream of guests almost broke his threshold, but these people did not come to him, but to Xu Wenyuan next door. Through the closed doors and windows, Wang Mai could still hear the fierce quarrel next door, faintly, and sometimes he could hear the content of the conversation clearly. After asking Song Laosan, I found out that the old man Xu Wenyuan had asked him to hand over a letter to Wang Shichong, and after the letter was handed over, people walked into their small courtyard one after another. Some of these people were originally prisoners held here, some were former officials of the former dynasty who had been living in Luoyang, and some seemed to have come from other places.

"They're all learned people anyway." Song Laosan finally concluded.

"You've been busy these days, why do you live in my yard every day? What's all the fun here? Wang Mai was a little bored.

"The most learned people in the world are here, can't I follow the gentleness next to me?" Song Laosan muttered in a low voice. The two have been together for a long time, and they have lost their initial formality and politeness. Song Laosan likes to get along with Wang Mai very much, and feels that the young man in front of him does not have the problem of other scholars with eyes on his forehead, and he is easy to get along with.

"We are all laymen, laymen, there is a way of life for laymen, how to find a way to earn more money is the last word. Still a little bit of culture, do you want to take the top prize? Do your promising military career. ”

"It is said that literati are light, and I don't think this is true at all. I'm afraid that you can't keep up with other people's knowledge, and you feel uncomfortable, so you come here to be awkward with me. But Brother Wheat, you are still young, if you look at the old men in this room, the youngest ones are probably about the same age as my father, and it is not strange that they are not as good as others. Song Laosan looked at the group of people in the room and said.

"Am I not as knowledgeable as them? These people have been discussing crookedly and grinding and chirping for almost a month, and they are still pulling back and forth on these issues, which are all sophistry, in fact, it is just a blind man lighting a lamp in vain. Hey...... What do you think I'm doing? ”

Song Laosan pointed to the opposite window.

Wang Mai turned his head to see that the old men in Xu Wenyuan's room were all looking at him with fierce eyes through the window.

"I'm very sorry, I'm talking nonsense with this soldier, it's none of your business, you continue...... Continue to ...... "Wang Mai was a little weak-hearted and sloppy.

"Humph!" There was a man in the middle who sneered, a man in his mid-fifties, with a broad head and a chest-length beard. "I have just heard what Your Excellency said, and all of us have been groaning here without illness for a long time, and they are all sophistry. What do you think is sophistry? ”

"I'm just talking casually, you don't have to take it too seriously."

"Humph!" The man brushed his sleeves sideways, turned to look at Xu Wenyuan, and said, "Mr. Xu, I was invited to come here because I wanted to learn from you and make annotations for the words of the sage to pass on to future generations. Now there are different opinions, and there is no consensus, and today I am insulted by the little guy in your courtyard. I have heard that Mr. Xu had a master-apprentice friendship with Wang Shichong in his early years, and I dare to ask Mr. Xu, you will not be a lobbyist for this Wang Shichong, and force me to wait here, right? ”

"You old man," Wang Mai didn't wait for Xu Wenyuan to reply, he was already angry, "I have nothing to do with Old Man Xu, it's because he insists on staying here with me and not leaving, I see that he is old, so I take him in, not some of his subordinates." You people are coming into my house without my consent and talking at length, making it so noisy that people can't sleep well, and I have endured it. Now my master has been counted down by you, and one by one he still claims to be a scholar who has read poetry and books, whose etiquette is this? ”

All the elders were stunned when they heard this, and they all turned their heads to look at Xu Wenyuan. Xu Wenyuan smiled bitterly and bowed to everyone: "It is indeed the old man who is abrupt, and he has not told you that this place is Mr. Wang's elegant residence." But the old man is indeed not Wang Shichong's lobbyist, and what he said in the letter is all heartfelt words, and he has no intention of deceiving you. ”

"Oh?" The old man glanced at Wang Mai in surprise, "Mr. Xu must be called Mr. to Your Excellency, then Mr. Wang must also be a person who has learned the past and the present, and is young and old." I've been here for a long time, and I'm looking forward to your Excellency. I just don't know if Mr. just made a mockery of us and others, is it because he has real talent in his chest, or is it just the nonsense of a yellow-mouthed child? The old man spoke more tactfully at first, but when he changed his words, his face was full of arrogance.

"Well, didn't you just ask me what sophistry is? Then I'll tell you. Wang Mai looked at the man through the window.