Zhao Bixia saluted: "Hello gentlemen, Xiaosheng Zhao Bixia Chu people, study tour here, greetings to all seniors"

One of the old men, half a hundred years old: "The little girl is polite, she traveled away at a young age, her courage is commendable, and in the next half an hour, we are in the lecture room to study, there are surprises, you can come early"

Zhao Bixia said with a smile: "Okay, more seniors to remind"

Another slightly younger scholar asked, "Zhao Bixia, can the girl know the Zhao clan of Chu State, Zhaoyang?"

Zhao Bixia: "Zhaoyang and my grandfather Zhao Minghui are cousins, and I specially bid farewell to my grandfather who came to study in Jixia"

The old man smiled and said, "Okay, good, the future is terrifying......"

Zhao Bixia looked at everyone and smiled, did they know Zhaoyang and his grandfather? can only look at them awkwardly.

The old man then said to the senior next to him, "Gongming, let's go, prepare for the lecture later."

It turned out to be Gong Mingxiu, and the man next to him who was over half a hundred years old was Mencius

The old man: "Little girl, let's go first, you can do it yourself, the Confucian Hall in the school palace has our writings, you can take this in and read it"

Then he handed over an invitation to Zhao Bixia, and Zhao Bixia stretched out her hands to catch it

"Greetings to seniors"

Then he looked at the invitation carefully. I looked up and saw that several gentlemen had already walked away.

I took the invitation card and stayed in the Confucian Pavilion for a while, which was filled with the classics and remarks of the famous Confucian scholars, and the year was marked on each shelf, and the speaker was very comprehensive in content, which made people stop and watch for a long time.

Time always flies quickly, a moment of reading, remembering what Mencius said just now, the most inconvenient thing in ancient times is not to be able to see the hour all the time, with the feeling of entering the lecture room in advance, the front row of the lecture room is sparse and sparse a few people, after reading the hour, someone has already arrived early, Zhao Bixia also picked a place to sit down, not daring to be too ostentatious, so sit in the middle of the front rows.

Slowly, there were more and more people in the lecture room, and the seats were slowly filled, and soon a white-robed man sat down in the seat next to him, and smiled politely after seeing Zhao Bixia's gaze.

Zhao Bixia nodded and smiled in return. Then he took out the pen and ink and silk cloth he had prepared.

The long-awaited lecture finally began, and as expected, the people he had just met were indeed Mencius and his students, as well as the gentlemen with whom he had worked.

One of the people in the front row asked, "Doesn't it seem too much to be followed by dozens of cars and hundreds of people, going from one vassal state to another to receive hospitality?"

Mencius pondered and said, "If it is unreasonable, even a basket of rice is not acceptable; If it is reasonable, it is not too much for Shun to accept Yao's world. Do you think that's excessive? ”

Peng Geng continued: "No, but it's not okay for a scholar to rely on others for support without doing things."

Mencius said, "You do not know how to exchange results for what is lacking; Then the peasants have surplus grain, and the women do not know how to exchange the surplus cloth. If you know all these things, then the people who make ritual vessels, the craftsmen who are in charge of civil engineering, the wheels who make wheels, and the people who make chariots can all get food from you. If there is such a person, who is filial to his parents at home, friendly outside, and able to keep the morality of his ancestors and kings, so as to support later scholars, but cannot get food from you, why can you respect the people who make ritual vessels, the craftsmen who are in charge of civil engineering, the wheel people who make wheels, and the people who make carriages, but despise those who run for the sake of righteousness? ”

Peng also said: "The purpose of their work is to eat; Is the purpose of a gentleman's pursuit of the path of life also to solve the problem of eating? ”

Mencius said, "Why do you care about motives and purposes? He has merit for you, and you can make offerings as you can, do you provide for people according to their motives, or do you provide for people according to their results? Peng Geng said: "According to the motive. ”

Mencius said, "There is such a man, when he is working, he breaks tiles and paints walls, and his purpose is also to beg for food, do you provide for him?" ”

Peng Geng said: "No. ”

Mencius said, "Then you do not make offerings according to man's motives, but according to his merits." ”

After this opening question and answer, Mencius began his lecture for the day

Mencius said, "To do your best is to realize your own true nature." When you realize your own nature, you understand the destiny of heaven. Preserve your kindness, preserve your own nature, and treat your destiny as a whole. No matter how long or short the life expectancy is, we do not change our attitude, but we just cultivate ourselves and wait for the destiny of heaven, which is the way to establish a normal destiny. ”

Everyone listened quietly, some taking notes, some discussing in whispers.

Seeing that there was no one to argue and question, Mencius continued: "There is nothing that is not determined by the mandate of heaven, and obeying the mandate of heaven is a normal fate; Therefore, those who understand the destiny of heaven will not stand under the dangerous wall. It is a normal fate for those who do their best to do the right thing and die; It is not a normal fate to die due to punishment for crimes. ”

Mencius said, "Pursuit can be gained, and given up is lost, and this pursuit is beneficial to gain, because what I ask for is in myself." There is a certain way to seek, but whether you can get it or not is arranged by fate, and this kind of seeking is not conducive to getting it, because what you are seeking is something outside the body. ”

One person asked, "If I want to preach my ideas, how can I get them to be accepted?"

Mencius said, "Do you like to lobby? I'll tell you how to lobby and promote your claims. People understand and can be leisurely; People don't understand, but they can be leisurely. ”

He replied, "How can you be at ease?" ”

Mencius said, "Respecting the law and being willing to adopt the best way of behaving can be leisurely." When a scholar is poor, he does not lose his righteousness, and when he is prominent, he does not deviate from morality. When you are poor, you don't lose your righteousness, so you can get your own nature. He does not deviate from morality when he manifests himself, so the people will not be disappointed in him. In ancient times, if the people had won the will, they would benefit all the people; If you don't have a will, you should cultivate yourself to appear in the world. When you are poor, you can take care of yourself alone, and when you are prosperous, you can take care of all the people in the world. ”

Another person asked Gongduzi and said, "When Teng Geng was under your disciple, he seemed to belong to the kind of person who treated people with courtesy, but you didn't answer his question, why is that?" ”

Mencius said: "I will not answer any questions because I am a nobleman, because I am a meritorious, because I am old, because I have meritorious merits, and because I have old friends." Teng even accounted for two of them. ”

After the lecture, Zhao Bixia was called away by Gong Mingxiu and came with them.

(Quote from Mencius. Dedication to the Heart" and "Mencius. King Liang Hui)