In the afternoon, Wang Buting came back to report that regarding the demolition of the Confucian Temple, the attitude of Kong, Cao, and Yan, the Kong family was fine, and the old lady said what the government did and what his Kong family supported; The Cao family did not express their position, and seemed to be a little dissatisfied; The Yan family had a clear attitude, saying that the Temple of Literature should not be demolished, which was against the ancestors. Liu Zhisi asked again, who donated the most when the Temple of Literature was built? Wang Buting said that the Cao family donated the most. Liu Zhisi ordered Wang Buting, you immediately ask people to verify the total amount of land contributions that the three families have concealed in the past three years, first calculate an approximate, and then go to visit the three families separately, and notify them of the tax amount they evaded, and say that the government is going to build a primary school, and the funds are tight, I hope they can donate, see how much the Kong family and the Cao family can donate? But for the Yan family, if you give a specific number, just say 1,000 yuan, and look at the attitude of the Yan family first.

Early the next morning, Liu Zhisi finished breakfast and cleaned up, and Wang Buting came to report: "After reporting the situation of Kong, Cao, and Yan to the three families yesterday, their attitudes have changed very well. Because the Kong family had just finished marrying, they asked for a forgiveness, and they would definitely donate 100 yuan after the year; The Cao family's attitude has changed a lot this time, and they actively expressed their willingness to take the lead in donating 100 yuan, probably because they were afraid that we would track down their Tianfu; Only the Yan family heard that they were going to donate 1,000 yuan, and immediately said that the difficulty was too great to donate, and although the Yan family refused to donate, their attitude was no longer as rigid as last time. ”

Liu Zhisi has already treated the three families differently, and sure enough, they each showed different hole cards, it seems that the Kong and Cao families don't need to worry, and the head of the Yan family, I still need to meet in person, so I asked Wang Buting: "What is the situation of the Yan family?" How much land, population, you probably talk about. ”

Wang Buting replied: "The old lady of the Yan family is named Yan Qing, she is an old talent, she has two sons, and she has no fame. There are two shops in the family, one is a tea business and the other is a restaurant, and the scale is not large. There are about 300 acres of land, and less than 100 acres of land are actually paid, and there are a few subordinates at home. ”

Liu Zhisi said: "Very good, you invite the old lady of the Yan family here in the afternoon, I want to see him." Wang Buting went as ordered.

After a little rest in the afternoon, Liu Zhisi got up and finished dressing up, and outsiders said that the old lady of the Yan family had been waiting in the front hall, and Liu Zhisi was accompanied by the maid Jinse and went to the front.

When Wang Buting saw Liu Zhisi coming in, he hurriedly introduced the old lady of the Yan family and said, "This is Miss Liu." ”

Without waiting for Yan Qing's greetings, Liu Zhisi stepped forward to greet him first and said, "Zhisi has seen Mr. Yan. ”

Yan Qing felt quite comfortable when he saw Liu Zhisi respecting himself so much, and when he saw Liu Zhisi's appearance and bearing, he suddenly sighed in his heart, the young lady of this big family is different, she is like a fairy, and she returned the salute and said, "Yan Qing greets the young lady." ”

The guests and hosts sat down, let the tea, Liu Zhisi said with a smile: "Today I dare to invite the old gentleman, Zhisi has no other meaning, because I have been in Shenzhou for a few days, I heard that Mr. is profound, has always wanted to visit, after all, it is a girl's house, it is not convenient, so I took the liberty to invite the old gentleman to come over, and I hope that the old gentleman will not be surprised." ”

Liu Zhisi's words were reasonable, and every sentence was polite, Yan Qing hurriedly said politely: "Where, Yan should have come over earlier to greet Miss." ”

Liu Zhisi said: "The old gentleman is too polite, I am young and have little knowledge, so I have a lot of questions to solve, and I want to ask the old gentleman for advice. ”

Yan Qing originally had a high level of reading, but Liu Zhisi had always expressed great respect, which made Yan Qing feel quite useful, and hurriedly hugged his fists and said: "Miss but there are orders, to put it simply, Yan is shallow in learning, and he is old and incompetent, where can he dare to speak and teach." ”

Liu Zhisi saw Yan Qing's humble attitude, and knew that people like him were all shun donkeys, hidden in the countryside, self-esteem, usually in front of everyone, taking a posture, after a long time, I really thought that I was eight buckets high, but in fact, I didn't have any real talent. Therefore, Liu Zhisi had already thought of a strategy to subdue Yan Qing, resonate with her first, and then persuade her, so he asked Yan Qingdao: "Li Bai has a poem 'Lu Su talks about the Five Classics, white hair dies chapters and sentences', I don't know what the old gentleman thinks about this?" ”

Sure enough, Yan Qing listened to Liu Zhisi's question, and sighed in his heart, he couldn't show his life's ambitions, and began to regret it, so he replied to Liu Zhisi: "This sentence is Li Bai mocking the stubborn people who eat the ancients, and he also hates that his talent can't be displayed. ”

"The old gentleman said it well." Liu Zhisi asked Yan Qing again: "Li Baisheng is not at the right time, and it is difficult to perform. But I heard that the old man has been diligent in his life, but what ambitions have not yet been realized? ”

Yan Qing sighed and said: "Yan's talent is limited, although he has studied hard since he was a child, he has never even been lifted. If you don't succeed in this way, where do you dare to talk about any ambitions. If there is an expectation, it is only looking forward to the day when the way of the saints will be great and the world will be the same. ”

After listening to this, Liu Zhisi first nodded in approval, and then said: "The old gentleman is benevolent and wants to be clear and virtuous in the world, which is already the heart of a saint." But the impermanence of the sage is always changed by time and events, so Mencius called Confucius 'the time of the sage', Boyi, Shuqi, and Yanagi Hui are all out of reach, and in this 'time' word, as the old man just said, Li Bai ridiculed those who do not know how to change. Therefore, the old gentleman must have grasped this 'time', which is really clever. ”

After hearing this, Yan Qing secretly admired in her heart, this young lady was so young and had such knowledge, and couldn't help but clench her fists and say: "Miss is ashamed to kill Yan, how dare Yan be compared with a saint." ”

Liu Zhisi smiled and said, "The old gentleman is bad! Each of us 'if we say what Shun says, do what Shun does', it is Da Shun, and the so-called everyone can be Yao Shun. Mencius's argument is that everyone can become a saint, depending on whether they are willing to do it or not, Confucius said, 'I want to be benevolent, and I am benevolent.' It's still a question of whether you want to or not, and it's the same principle that everyone in the Buddhist family can become a Buddha. From this point of view, how can the old gentleman not be compared with the saint? Is it that the old gentleman doesn't want to, or can't, or won't? ”

Yan Qing was stunned for a moment on the spot when Liu Zhisi asked, and then said with a look of shame: "In the final analysis, Yan doesn't want to do it, in fact, my will is not strong enough, so I have worked hard all my life, which is really embarrassing." ”

Liu Zhisi smiled and said: "The old gentleman is open-minded, why blame himself? Except for Yan Huineng, Confucius 'does not violate benevolence in March, and the rest of the sun is only in the moon', but it did not affect the seventy-two sages to enter the Confucian Temple and enjoy the incense of the past dynasties. ”

After Yan Qing heard this, he sighed and said: "Miss is only a profound learner, Yan is a rare person, but she is still confused, and I don't know what the destiny is, please give Miss some guidance." ”

Liu Zhisi saw that Yan Qing did not mean to compare, but sincerely asked for advice, so it seems that this person is a true gentleman, and he will not shrink in case of trouble, so it is better for me to hand over the Yan family.