It can be seen from the cultivation of the children of the Luoguo Mansion that Luoguo has always cared about the practical ability of the children, and thinks that sitting in the palace cannot govern the world.

Mencius was indeed a genius, but even Luo Hong, who liked his writings very much, thought he was still too immature.

In the past, Confucius was also famous in the country of Luo, but his real maturity of thought was after traveling around the world and educating countless students.

At that time, Confucius completely returned to his roots and became the sage.

There was a reason why Mencius wanted to go to the Wei state to preach the way of benevolence and righteousness.

Wei was the first country to reform the law, but the fruits of the reform had been lost in the wars of the past dynasties, so Wei needed a new path to recover Wei from its fatigue, and Confucianism was naturally stronger than Legalism in terms of recuperation.

The second is the existence of the Qin State, the Wei people call the Qin people a tiger and a wolf, and the continuous failures make the Wei people fear the Qin people, and the Qin State is just a country that is domineering, so Mencius wants to go to the Wei State to implement the way of benevolence and righteousness.

However, after a year in the kingdom of Luo, Mencius changed his mind a little, and he decided to go to the kingdom of Qi first.

Because although Mencius was not the unknown person he was when he first came to Luo, he was not a world-famous sage after all, and if he went directly to Wei, I am afraid that the king of Wei would not care at all.

But Qi Guo is different, although in order to prove itself, the Qi State Office has been secretly trying to get rid of Luo Guo and go it alone, but the relationship between the two sides has not been bad.

Mencius was the son-in-law of the Luo Kingdom, and if he went to the Qi State in this capacity, the King of Qi Shen would definitely see him.

Qi Wang Shen is the crown prince Shen who defeated the army of Yan before and recovered the lost territory of Qi, his prestige reached its peak after recovering Qi, and Yan invaded Qi, resulting in a large number of nobles dying in battle, and the power of the Qi State Office was much greater than before.

With Mencius, in addition to his wife Meng Ji, there was also one of the disciples of the Luoguo Prince, Gongzi Qiwen.

Gongzi Qiwen is Meng Ji's own brother, and he also likes Mencius's articles very much, so he took the initiative to ask Ying to travel with Mencius all the way and record Mencius's words, deeds and growth.

There is also a group of guards who were transferred to protect Luo Qiwen and Meng Ji.

Sure enough, as Mencius expected, King Shen of Qi warmly entertained them, showing great interest in Mencius's ability to win the favor of Luo.

How difficult it is to marry the concubine of Luo Guo, no one knows better than the Qi State Office, after all, he has an unknown amount of Luo's blood in his body.

Even if the Qi State Office wants to marry the daughter of Luo Guo, it still depends on the individual's character and talent, if the character is not very good or too incompetent, Luo Guo will not marry.

King Qi ordered his maid to present the wine lord and asked Mencius: "Mencius, Luohou and the crown prince both praised your talent in their letters, and Gongzi Qiwen was also full of praise for you.

The Six Kingdoms invaded Qi and caused the Qi State to wither, and the widow wanted to know how to restore the Qi State to its former strength? ”

A smile appeared on Mencius's face, and he said angrily, "It's very simple, as long as the king treats your people benevolently. ”

Qi Wang Shen said: "Isn't it good enough for the widows to treat the people of Qi State?

The law in the Qi State is not as strict as that of Qin and Wei, the nobles in the Qi State are not as rampant as the Chu State, and the extraction of soldiers is not as ruthless as in other countries, isn't this still a benevolent and righteous treatment of the people?

The country of Qi once prospered because of this, this is what everyone has seen. ”

There is a world of difference between the Qi Legalists who were born in Guan Zhong and the Sanjin Legalists who were born in the art of punishment, so the Qi State can indeed be regarded as a relatively mild one in the Legalist rule, and the effect achieved is not bad.

But Mencius didn't think so, and Mencius, who was good at making up fables, quickly said: "Great King, you may be right to think that the kingdom of Qi prospered because of the law.

But let me tell you a story.

There was a farmer in the Song kingdom who planted wheat in the first year and reaped a bumper harvest.

Then the next year, when he planted grain, his neighbor said to him, 'Growing wheat is different from growing grain, and you need to learn a new way of growing it.' ’

But he didn't listen, and continued to plant wheat in the same way, and in the end there was no harvest.

Your Qi country is like this, before the Qi country was strong and the people were rich, so your laws are not strict, and your taxes are not serious.

But after the Great War, the lives of the people of Qi have become difficult, and even your royal palace has not been repaired, and then using the previous law will make the people feel harsh.

Just like your hand, reaching out into the cold water, it may be bitterly cold, but it can still be endured.

But if you put your hands in hot water and then cold water, can you still tolerate it? ”

Qi Wangshen shook his head and said: "Soak in hot water first, then soak in cold water, this is a punishment used only for criminals, and the widow naturally can't bear it." ”

Mencius smiled: "It's obviously the same basin of cold water, why is there such a big difference?"

It's because the temperature of your hands is different.

The same is true of the Qi people, whose circumstances have changed, and you are still using the old laws, is it appropriate?

If you are now more kind to your people, exempt them from taxes and servitude, and let them farm freely, leaving a surplus of food, so that they can feed their families.

The old can live, the young children are supported, and the family can live a normal life, instead of being forced by the officials to break the house.

If you are able to do this, will there be anyone who does not miss your kindness?

If you can do what you can do like Luo Guo, even if Qi Guo doesn't have a strong army for the time being?

You'll get millions of soldiers willing to fight for you, and you'll have a rich country to back you up.

The stability of the country will never depend on the steep mountains and rivers and the strong cities and passes, but the people's hearts and minds.

This is what King Su said, those who have attained the Tao have much help, and those who have lost the Tao have little help. ”

For Qi Wang Shen, Mencius did not preach the royal way as soon as he came up, but first praised and secretly belittled the Qi Fa family, saying that they were no longer suitable for the Qi State and should be abandoned.

As for how to do it, listen to me, take the royal road like Luoguo, recuperate well, don't go down every day to collect taxes, the property in the countrymen's homes is not enough to pay taxes, and when the time comes, there will be money and food, and the people will be grateful for your kindness, so naturally they don't need to worry about other countries.

It may sound like a no-brainer, but it's all about time.

The cultivation of people's hearts is measured in ten years, and the reduction of taxes can be seen at that time, and more than ten years is enough for Legalists to complete the accumulation of a strong country, and the royal road has just begun.

Qi Wang Shen secretly said: This is a sage similar to Confucius, no wonder Luo will value him, but the way of benevolence and righteousness is not suitable for Qi State.

Qi Wang Shen did not adopt Mencius's political opinions, he still had the dream of hegemony in his heart, although Mencius was a little depressed in his heart, but it did not show it on his face.

Mencius lectured in the Qi country, debated with Qi Legalists and Qi Mo, don't look at Qi Mo is specialized in debate, but Mencius is an extremely rare debate genius, he is good at using various metaphors to prove his ideological propositions, and his writing is very beautiful, often using the Fu Bixing technique of the Book of Poetry to enhance the persuasiveness.

In just a few months, he threw away his armor from Qi Mo, who specialized in debate, and even more so Qi Fa, who specialized in practice.

The carload of books and slips of the people of Luo who came with Meng Ke finally came into use, began to record, and then immediately sent back to Luo Guo.

Mencius also said to Luo Qiwen in private: "Between Qi Mo and Luo Mo, it is like fireflies and Haoyue, these people have basically lost the good aspects of the Mo family.

Qi Mo's extravagance and waste of funerals is too amazing, completely deviating from the Mo family's festival funeral, with the name of the Mo family, but without the reality of the Mo family, it is not as good as Chu Mo, who fights and kills all day long, at least Chu Mo is sympathetic to the poor people. ”

Luo Qiwen who listened to these words is a pleasure, the Confucian disciples dislike the funeral of the Mo family disciples is too wasteful, this can be on the funny collection, but unfortunately it is not a Song person.

With Mencius's combat effectiveness, if Luo Mo is not counted, it is estimated that only the resurrection of Mo Zhai in the past can compete with Mencius, and the second-generation giant Yang Shengzi is most likely not good.

When Mencius and Luo Qiwen left the Qi Kingdom, Meng Ke, who was already well-known in the Qi Kingdom, and Qi Wang Shen naturally came to see him off in person, "Mencius has great talents, but the widow can't use it, it's the fault of the widow." ”

When the nobles of the Qi State left, Luo Qiwen smiled at Mencius beside him and asked, "Ke, you obviously have the talent to support the country, but you hit a wall in the Qi country, how do you feel?"

I saw you speaking freely in front of the King of Qi and debating in the Kingdom of Qi, not those pedantic Confucian scholars, who were well versed in affairs.

Don't you feel sorry that you don't use these practices and make royal words? ”

Luo Qiwen followed Mencius throughout the whole process, and neither he nor Mencius cared if they could be in a high position among the nations and get wealth and glory.

Luo's marriage of his concubine to him was to let him not give up his insistence for the sake of gold and silver wealth.

For Luo, the essence of wisdom that burst out of Mencius's mind was the most important.

For Mencius, the most important thing is to live up to the ideals in his heart.

Mencius smiled and said, "With benevolence and righteousness in our hearts, what is there to care about in the world?"

In the past, Confucius had the ability to slaughter the tomb, but he traveled to the world and could not achieve his ambition, but some of his students became ministers of the country.

Could this be that Confucius's learning was inferior to that of his students? It's just seven words, 'I follow the way of the king'.

Today, I have not been able to achieve what I want in the Qi Kingdom, but I am just 'I follow the way of the Luo Kingdom' and not submit to the king. ”

Luo Qiwen laughed, "Okay, that's how it should be."

If you don't have such courage, how can you become a generation of sages? ”

(End of chapter)