You can't have a heart for benevolence and righteousness, and naturally you can't have a heart for interests, let go of your heart to look at problems, and work together with benevolence, righteousness and interests.

In the past, Mencius said that the character of today's people is not as good as that of the ancients, so the ancient sages changed the law and everyone praised it, but today's people change the law because they complain. The fundamental problem is that the ancient sages were in the pioneering era, so there were enough benefits to distribute, so everyone was happy and peaceful. And there is very little room for the Warring States to open up, and there is very little room for interest growth, and the change is to cut the meat, so it is natural to complain.

To put it simply, the Warring States Reform is definitely inferior to the Sage Reform, because the Sage Method can bring huge benefits, and the Warring States Reform is a redistribution of benefits. It's like an exam, with a full score of 100, in the past, the Chinese civilization could only test 50 points, but there was a huge room for improvement, but the Chinese civilization in the Warring States Period took the test to 80 points, and the room for improvement was not so big. The further you go, the more difficult it becomes.

Therefore, we must let go of our hearts in order to see the truth.

However, although he saw the truth, Mencius would not say it, nor would he promote the theory of all things, after he knew his enlightenment, he said: "Although I know my own enlightenment, I still have to continue my original proposition, and I still have to oppose Legalism." ”

Zhuang Zhou couldn't help nodding when he heard this, although Yun Yao flexibly used his own theory of Qi and discovered the usefulness of the theory of all things, but Zhuang Zhou actually didn't like to listen to Yun Yao's proposition of opening his mouth and closing his mouth, after all, now the expansion has reached the limit, and all countries have to go to other countries to grab profits. I'm afraid that the world will be even more chaotic.

Zhuang Zhou said: "Although what you said is sonorous and powerful, it is more terrible than my 'thief of the hook and the prince of the thief'. If the world knows it, then the world is afraid that there is no more false benevolence and false righteousness, anyway, even the ancient sages are the first to grab profits, and then talk about benevolence and righteousness. Now that we can't expand, we can only tear our faces and rob each other, and we don't even need to be hypocritical. ”

Mencius nodded, sure enough, Zhuang Zhou was very similar to him, they all wanted peace in the world, so they would criticize the world, and what Zhuang Zhou pursued in his heart was also benevolence and righteousness, but the Warring States was really not satisfactory, so the two of them chose two diametrically opposed paths, and they actively entered the world, while Zhuang Zhou was as world-weary as a hermit.

"Indeed, the benefits of the world are in others. If I don't work hard to promote benevolence and righteousness, then benevolence and righteousness will disappear completely. Therefore, I can't let others learn the truth through the theory of all things, and I will continue to preach benevolence. "Even if it is self-deception, even if it is powerless, but knowing that it cannot be done, Mencius is the same as Confucius.

In order not to let benevolence and righteousness disappear completely, in order not to make the environment worse, Mencius must continue to preach benevolence and righteousness, even if he is doing useless work.

"It's just to stay as it is." Yun Yao said: "It's okay, anyway, the change hasn't happened yet. "In the future, everyone will know that expansion is not only geographical, but also social, and when the power of the landlords is mobilized, new forces will explode. At the same time, everyone will also know that large-scale projects can stimulate the power of the land, and no longer just look at the sky for food, but expand food production through various large-scale projects.

In the past, it was only intensive cultivation, but after that, national projects such as Dujiangyan and Zhengguoqu will be launched, even if the geography is not expanded, the transformation of existing land alone can also expand production.

Therefore, expansion is not only about land, but also about organizational and technological strength. That is to say, it is not necessary to go abroad to grab territory, but if the law is not changed, the organizational strength will not improve, and the scientific and technological strength will also be sluggish.

Therefore, the change that Yun Yao said is the improvement of the organizational power brought by the Qin State, and before that, the Seven Kingdoms maintained a delicate balance, no one could eat anyone, and of course no one would really cooperate with other countries, and this status quo would be maintained for a long time.

"Aren't you worried that the world will completely abandon benevolence and righteousness for the sake of profit?" Meng Ke asked Yun Yao.

"Don't worry, whether it is one country alone and annexing the world, or the seven countries fighting back and forth, no one can help anyone, in the end there will always be negotiations within the framework of benevolence and righteousness, after all, no one wants to fight forever, right? If it continues to be consumed like this, the nobles will not be able to stand it the most, and their strength will be exhausted in repeated wars, and they will become weaker and weaker, and there will inevitably be such a thing as a riot of the countrymen. After all, there are countrymen riots in front, and there are thieves and thieves to learn from the rebellion, once the power of the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms weakens, then their position will be unstable. At that time, they will inevitably think about change when they are poor, and they will definitely not fight, but will find ways to protect themselves, and when the time comes, they will naturally promote benevolence and righteousness. Yun Yao said that it is impossible to fight forever, and when everyone can't stand it, all countries and all walks of life will pursue peace.

"You're so calm." Mencius couldn't help but shake his head and said sadly: "How many people will die before this." ”

"A lot." Yun Yao said: "But the way of heaven is more than enough to make up for the deficiency, if the human race has too much selfishness, the way of heaven will naturally consume the selfishness of the human race, and finally restore peace to the world." It's just that when it's peaceful, whether the prince and general can still guarantee their position is not certain. "In short, benevolence and righteousness will not disappear, because Huaxia has already determined the idea of benevolence and righteousness when the Zhou rites were formulated, and everyone's wish is the same, they all live and work in peace and contentment, as long as this premise does not change, benevolence and righteousness are the standard of Huaxia."

"Taoism is always so cold. A sentence of the way of heaven is more than enough to make up for the deficiency, but how many lives. Mencius didn't know what to say.

"This can't be helped, the human race was born in the Three Realms and was not here to enjoy it. In fact, I also hope that the Terrans can be happy, but the Terrans have too many flaws. For example, if you have a heart, everyone has a heart, and if you have a heart, you can't think about others, and if you have these defects, you will eventually encounter all kinds of suffering. "Yun Yao had thought about helping before, but the human race couldn't rely on the immortals, it had to rely on itself. Because relying on immortals can't last long, and if the human race is flawed, it is destined that the human race can only rely on itself to achieve long-term.

Mencius also accepted this explanation, the suffering of the human race was ultimately caused by the defects of the human race, but in the end, the human race would definitely be able to make peace under the framework of benevolence and righteousness, and with such an answer, Mencius could also feel at ease, and his efforts were worth it.

Mencius saluted Yun Yao, Yun Yao returned the salute, and then Mencius went home first.

Zhuang Zhou asked Yun Yao: "Don't you like the Mo family?" I thought you would criticize Confucianism fiercely, but I didn't expect you to be so gentle in the end. ”

In fact, the love of the Mo family is also for the final peace and contentment, but the Mo family does not agree with the extravagance and waste of Confucianism. Confucianism is the distribution of profits, and the Mohists are dissatisfied with the Confucian way of distributing profits, which is the biggest difference between them. Yun Yao said that Confucianism wants to maintain the existing profit-sharing model, while the Mohists want to change the status quo, so there is a big contradiction, but the goal of living and working in peace and contentment is not different, but the Mohists live and work in peace and contentment include more people.