Qi Guo recuperated and gradually recovered a little bit of vitality. At this time, Confucius, who was famous for later generations, came to the state of Qi and talked with the Duke of Qi Jing about etiquette, benevolence, and righteousness, the etiquette system of kings and ministers, and the rules of the aristocracy. However, Yan Ying scoffed at this, and deliberately admonished Qi Jinggong, denying Confucius's system of etiquette and music and the way of government, and sparing no effort to exclude Confucius from the core of Qi power. But Yan Ying insisted on persuading Qi Jinggong not to reuse Confucius, what kind of grievances are there?

It's not that Yan Ying and Confucius have a deep personal grudge, nor is it entirely for the purpose of suppressing and squeezing out potential political opponents. It's just that Confucius's implementation of the government of etiquette and benevolence is not suitable for the current situation. Once, Guan Zhong proposed to respect the king and the benevolent ministers and wise men, so that the Qi State reached the peak of the Spring and Autumn Overlord. However, with the death of Guan Zhong and other famous ministers, and the tragic lesson of the decline of hegemony due to the lack of a complete governing system, the major defects of "rule by man" have been proven. If the powerful courtiers lack self-restraint, the state apparatus will have a serious decline in its control over the entire political system.

And Confucius lobbied Qi Jinggong, apparently still hoping that the king would establish such a system again, and Confucius himself could gain an important position in this system. Although Confucius himself was virtuous and wise, it would cause the Qi State to return to the uncontrollable situation once again. Once Confucius's successors fail to restrain themselves well, those seemingly rigorous and noble etiquette systems will instead become a heavy shackle that Qi can hardly afford.

Confucius's concept of forcibly solidifying the concept of class will further limit and block the channel for different classes in the whole country to contribute to the country and change their own destiny. Complicated etiquette is also clearly not suitable for today's chaotic situation. Under the dangerous environment surrounded by wolves, no one will put down the butcher's knife in their hands because of the noble etiquette of the Qi State, and the thinking mode of interests first has long replaced the concept of governing the country with moral constraints. An army with a clear hierarchy and high etiquette can be the glory of the nation in times of peace, and its noble demeanor is enough to convince the heart. However, in front of the murderous tiger and wolf army that the princes of all parties had already sharpened their knives, it was obviously difficult for such a force to survive. The expense of maintaining such noble manners and grace cannot be converted into an inevitable factor in the victory of the war.

Only make use of everything that is available, light and dark. Only control everything that can be controlled, whether the means are good or evil. In Confucius's view, the will should be the sun, and the means to realize the will should also be glittering, graceful and elegant. In Yan Ying's view, the will is also the sunshine, and the means to realize the will should be knives and guns, whether it is bloodstained or the blade is like the first snow.

Based on this, the ideas of the two will inevitably have an extremely fierce conflict, because what Confucius admired was precisely what Yan Ying spurned; What Yan Ying used was not what Confucius despised. The two sages of the world, who also hoped to sow ideals and beliefs, stood resolutely and irreversibly on opposite sides.

It's not that Confucius's ideas are completely wrong, or that Yan Ying likes to play tricks. Their starting point and ultimate goal are actually the same, but on the way forward, the path is different and they do not conspire with each other. The reason why Yan Ying excluded and denied Confucius was because he understood that in the process of choosing and moving forward on the road, any behavior that might lead the way to this path needs to be completely eliminated, and there should only be one banner and one voice in a journey.

Whether or not the opinions on the way forward are correct and sacred, if these factors interfere with and delay the journey to its final end, then it is necessary to use light or dark, righteous or evil, all the means that can work, and eliminate it. Acceptance and tolerance, inclusiveness and inclusiveness, can only exist on the basis of being conducive to the end itself.

When the Qi country needs light now, then Yan Ying will make the means bright and open; When the Qi State needs blood now, then Yan Ying will let the means be cold and cruel; When the Qi State needs to fight bravely, then the fierce fanatics will also get their due effect; When the country of Qi needs a gorgeous and graceful demeanor, the mysterious and noble ceremonial music will also resound through Qilu.

Obviously, Confucius hated conspiracy, hated darkness, and hated conspiracy. In his opinion, it should be the work of a saint to let darkness, scheming, and killing disappear completely from this heaven and earth. Although Confucius admired Yan Ying's talent and wisdom, he despised and despised those who played with rhetoric and authority. As everyone knows, when everyone has enough cultivation and self-restraint, his ideas have value, and in the turbulent times, only bloody killings and treacherous tricks can calm down disputes.

Yan Ying can do whatever it takes to achieve his goal, but Confucius cannot. However, what Qi needs most now is to continue to achieve one goal after another, and try to shorten the time and distance to achieve it. So when Yan Ying met with Qi Jinggong and advised him to distance himself from Confucius, this king, who had experienced too many ups and downs in life, immediately understood the different roles of Yan Ying and Confucius for the country. And through Yan Ying's resolute attitude, he immediately understood that for him and Qi Guo, this was obviously an either/or choice, and it was impossible for the two to coexist.

As a result, Confucius was defeated in this confrontation with Yan Ying's scholars, not only failed to be recognized and reused by Qi Jinggong, but even his plan to lobby Lu was seriously interfered with and affected. Later generations also had sharp comments on Confucius's lobbying of Qi and being denied by Yan Ying, and then being alienated by the king.

Prime Minister Shi said: "Yan Zi said: 'Confucianism is gorgeous in words and few in truth, prosperous in pleasure and comfortable in the people, long-term mourning to harm life, thick burial to hurt karma, etiquette and difficult to do, the way is tortuous and difficult to follow, called the ancient and the world, cheap to see and hear. This man is in vain, and he is self-serving. This Yan was deposed, and Di Shan died by the Huns. In his position rather than his dynasty, born in the world and despised on it, and finally killed and lost his body, who is the only one who suffers from it? ”

- "Salt and Iron"

Therefore, when Qi Jinggong summoned Yan Ying again to have a final discussion on Confucius and his ideas of governance, Yan Ying not only denied Confucius, but also criticized the Confucianism represented by Confucius from beginning to end.

The Confucian is funny and unruly, arrogant and obedient, and cannot be inferior; Worship mourning and mourning, bankruptcy and heavy burial, can not be vulgar; Lobbying for begging for loans, not for the country. Since the breath of the great sage, the Zhou room has declined, and there is a lack of etiquette and music. Today's Confucius is decorated, the gift of ascending and descending, and the festival of detailing, and he can't learn from it for many years, and he can't investigate his etiquette back then. If you want to use it to move the customs, you have to do it first.

- "Historical Records"

Confucius's political life in Qi came to an end. Yan Ying once again skillfully stood on the position of maximizing the interests of the country, and completely kicked the most difficult political opponent on his way out of the inner circle of power in Qi State. Even if Qi Jinggong admired Confucius, he would not make up his mind to harm his own interests for the sake of an illusory appreciation.

Yan Ying's victory was not because his talent and wisdom completely surpassed Confucius, nor was it that all the ideas and concepts put forward by Confucius were completely contrary to the times, but Confucius did not see clearly that what he wanted had come into conflict with the fundamental interests of the country he lobbied. Yan Ying just pushed hard and hard in the process of Confucius falling.

Confucius's theory of the hierarchy of kings and ministers that first impressed Qi Jinggong certainly aroused a strong interest in this emperor, who had a strong desire to control power and his own status. However, he didn't notice that if there was no stable foundation, even if Qi Jinggong reused and accepted him, the huge ship of Qi State, which had been weathered by storms, would not be able to ride the wind and waves according to his thinking, and would eventually decline step by step. At that time, under the nest, will there be no eggs?

As a well-known sage, Confucius may have been able to calmly rise from the ruins of the failed state of Qi, and may even continue to move forward spotlessly, looking for new backers and providing him with a platform to realize his ideals, but Yan Ying and the Qi royal family will no longer have the opportunity to be reborn in Nirvana. In this way, Yan Ying's denial and even exclusion of Confucius is completely a desperate battle to defend the chance of survival, without gunpowder smoke but sinister and abnormal.

All people have their own ideals, and they all have the right to work hard to realize them. However, when the ideals of the individual need to be realized at the expense of others, or even at the expense of others, the struggle begins. Of course, the power of the ministers, the selfish desires of the villain, interpret this state to the extreme. The so-called benefiting others and achieving oneself is surprisingly upright. Now it seems that Yan Ying's resistance to promoting his ideas was precisely the process of Confucius promoting his ideas, and vice versa.