"What does Aiqing mean?" King Zhou Jing asked in disbelief: "The Zhou system and Zhou rites are not outdated?" ”

"Yes! Lord! ”

"Aiqing, please get up! Mr. Fang, please get up! Have a seat! Sit down and talk! King Zhou Jing stopped sighing and beckoned Lao Tzu and Fang Jishi to sit down.

The gaffe just now made him lose his dignity. But! No outsiders were present. Lao Tzu and Fang Jishi are not outsiders, and the eunuchs, eunuchs and maids around them are also not outsiders.

Lao Tzu and Fang Jishi both got up and sat back in their seats.

The eunuchs, eunuchs, and maids who were so frightened that they knelt down also got up and stood aside in fear. In this case, the temperamentality of the Son of Heaven is very easy to kill.

"Aiqing, please speak? Since the weekly system and weekly rites are not outdated, why have they lost their effectiveness? Why didn't anyone keep it? Why is society so chaotic? ”

After Lao Tzu and Fang Jishi sat down, King Zhou Jing asked again.

"Return to the Lord! Chaos on it, not below! Lao Tzu replied.

"Messing around with it?" Zhou Jingwang's face changed drastically, and he asked, "Then how can you do it?" ”

After Fang Jishi heard Lao Tzu say "chaos on it, not below", he was so frightened that he couldn't do it and worried about Lao Tzu.

This Lao Tzu! Too bold, right? Directly put the responsibility on the Son of Heaven, do you want to die?

"Return to the Lord! This 'above' is not the Lord! Lord! Lao Tzu said, and stood up again and came to the front to kowtow to King Zhou Jing, the son of the Great Zhou Dynasty, to apologize.

Seeing this, King Zhou Jing hurriedly waved his hand at him. He said, "The widow forgives you your sins!" Excuse me! Isn't this asking you for advice? Ai Qing said it was okay! ”

"Thank you, Lord!" Lao Tzu said, arching his hand towards King Zhou Jing.

Seeing that King Zhou Jing did not blame Lao Tzu, Fang Jishi was relieved.

This King of the Week! It's not a faint gentleman yet!

"Below the Son of Heaven and above the commoners, especially the princes, kings, and hereditary nobles of various countries, they are the root cause of the troubled times. It is their failure to follow the weekly system and weekly etiquette, and to use the weekly system and weekly etiquette to restrain and restrain others, that the root cause of social chaos is ......"

"Hmm!" King Zhou Jing looked at Lao Tzu and nodded.

"The princes and kings do not respect the Son of Heaven at the top, and they do whatever they want, but they do whatever they want. The hereditary aristocracy also only cared about themselves and did whatever they wanted, and the people living in the lower classes were left to rebel except obediently.

When the people have no way to live, if they don't resist, they will die, and if they resist, they will die, and it is better to die anyway.

In order to survive, they can only figure out ways to keep themselves alive. Therefore! There is a chaotic situation of 'policies at the top, countermeasures at the bottom'. It's not that the world has become bad, but the world is changing, the living environment has changed, and everyone is forced.

The Zhou system and Zhou Li cannot give the people food and cannot ensure the survival of the people, so what do they want the Zhou system and Zhou Li to do? Isn't it? So! In order to survive, you have to do whatever it takes. It's as simple as that, and society is in chaos. ……”

"Isn't that right? The weekly system and weekly rites have lost their effect? Zhou Jingwang asked.

"Only when everyone abides by it, the weekly system and weekly etiquette are useful! In the old days, at the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, everyone obeyed it, and no one disobeyed. Society still needs etiquette, like this! Only then will society become orderly.

And once someone doesn't comply, and others can't do anything about them, society begins to be chaotic. When most people don't comply, society is in chaos. In order to survive, everyone has to do whatever it takes, and that's it, and the reason is very simple.

But? After the society is in turmoil, how do you tell this simple truth to others, but no one listens. Others say: I understand the truth! But reason can't solve my survival problem. So! I just had to go with the flow. ”

"That? Then there is no way? Zhou Jingwang asked disappointedly.

"There is a way! But it takes time! ”

"For how long?" Zhou Jingwang asked.

"I don't know?" Lao Tzu replied honestly.

"You don't know?"

"I don't know! Anyway! It depends on the intensity of propaganda and the ability of the world to accept it. And also! It takes power and strength to promote. In a word! It's a multi-factor, not as simple as you might think. The formation of a social atmosphere is not formed in a year or two, but is generally formed in decades or even hundreds of years......"

"You mean? At least a few decades to change? Hundreds of years? Or even longer? ”

"How was the beginning of the week? What is happening now? How has the social climate changed and formed? This can be seen from this. There is a process from the weakness at the beginning of the Zhou to the strength of the Zhou, and then to the chaos now.

So! The reality we face is that either Zhou will decline and change the dynasty. Either? It takes tens or hundreds of years or more to change. So much for! ”

"So how do you change? Aiqing? Lear! You said! You say the result directly! Zhou Jingwang asked eagerly.

"In any social environment, there is a need for a social system and a code of conduct. We are now using the weekly system and weekly rites. The weekly system and weekly rites are the social system and behavioral norms of this period.

It was only in troubled times that everything was broken.

So! In troubled times, don't stick to the past social system and behavioral norms. If you still stumble, you will tie the hands and feet of the world, and you will not be able to break the pattern. In troubled times, they behave as the world is conducive to their survival. In order to live, you must do whatever it takes! This is in line with the instinct of human nature! Everyone wants to live, so they have to do whatever it takes.

To solve this social problem! In fact, it is very simple to do, tell them: 'Everyone is going to die', what are you tossing? You'll be tossing and turning for decades. No matter what the quality of life is, it is only a few decades of life, and it will not grow long.

Such! Those princes, kings, and hereditary nobles, there is no need to toss. They pursue a life of luxury, and they can only live for a few decades. Although others have a harder life, they can still live for decades.

And also! Teach the world not to hoard possessions and superfluous things. Don't squeeze other people's living space and create social chaos. How much can you eat in a day and how much can you use in your lifetime? Isn't it? What do you want so much to do?

And also! Teach the world not to pursue vanity! Don't pursue fame, don't pursue those outward things. Those things don't mean anything in life, they just feel satisfied in their hearts.

After being taught in this way, don't people in the world feel that life is boring? Or? They said, "Why should I listen to you all this?" So! Let us preach the Word to them again......"

"Dao?" King Zhou Jing was surprised.

"Dao?" Fang Jishi was also surprised in his heart! It turned out that Lao Tzu had said so much, and finally turned to his "Tao".

"Let us then teach the world, tell them the origin of humanity, the origin of all things, and the origin of heaven and earth, the universe, and the starry sky. Man, like all things, comes from the union of heaven and earth, and returns to heaven and earth after death. Everything comes from the Tao and returns to the Tao. Aren't humans unable to live? Then we'll follow nature's example! Imitate all things! Emulate the sun, moon and starry sky......

Other words! We must tell the world that we have a correct outlook on life, and only when we have a correct outlook on life, know what people live for, and know how to live, will society become orderly. At this time, the society still needs a system and a ...... of behavioral norms."

(End of chapter)