Since coming to this world, Zhao Ji has been thinking about a question, what is the difference between the so-called Jianghu people and ordinary people?

The rivers and lakes should be from "Zhuangzi" at the earliest, and it is better to forget each other in the rivers and lakes. Instead of everyone supporting each other and waiting for death, it is better to wander freely in the rivers, lakes and seas, and have nothing to do with each other. It can be seen that the rivers and lakes were originally a realm, a pursuit, and a beautiful state of life.

And chivalry, the earliest record should be Taishi Gong's "Biography of the Assassins", which is about the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period when the royal law declined and the princes were divided. They may not occupy the righteousness, may not be in a high position, and may not have the grand desire to serve the country and the people. The husband is angry, the corpse is ambushed, the bleeding is five steps, and the world is vegetarian, which should be the best interpretation.

Of course, these concepts and feelings are too far away to describe the current rivers and lakes. If it is said that the rivers and lakes are a means for everyone to have unique skills and use violence to counter violence, this is actually a bit far-fetched. Ordinary people may not have the deeds of happiness and revenge, and the martial arts masters may not all ignore the royal law, such as Zhou Tong and other teachings of a group of their imperial boxing gyms, martial arts are more sophisticated than most people in the rivers and lakes, but they are still willing to serve the imperial court system.

The Jianghu sect that Zhao Ji found in Yuntai Mountain, the name is called Yuntai Sect, in addition to the head of the sect and a few deacons and elders, there are about fifty disciples under the sect, the number is not much, but the scale is not small.

Zhao Ji wanted to observe the daily life, social interactions, and attitudes of these people in the rivers and lakes. Therefore, for a period of time, he has been wandering around this sect every time, and his Ling Bo microstep is now small, if he deliberately avoids the disciples of these sects in this mountain forest from being seen, it is also very simple.

Through a period of observation, Zhao Ji also has some understanding of the origin of this sect.

This sect was founded a few decades ago, and the head of the first generation was originally a son of a gentry in Zhengzhou, but later the family declined, and the children of rich families became sons in distress, but relying on their past life experience, they were able to maintain their livelihoods as playmates for other rich children. Later, the master who served got into a fight with the restaurant people, and killed a person by mistake, and the master was afraid that he would take responsibility, so he simply gave the fallen son a sum of money, let him bear all the blame, and then let him run away.

The fallen son then left his hometown, worked outside for many years, and became more and more experienced, and in the process, he learned a good martial arts. After all, it was difficult to leave his homeland, and when he returned to his hometown after a few decades, the bloody case of that year had been forgotten, so he was relieved to live in his hometown. It's just that the family business has been ruined back then, and he always has to make a living. It happened that one year, a merchant in the city was robbed of his goods, and this person used his connections for many years to help get the lost property back, and the family was grateful, so they gave away a courtyard near Yuntai Mountain.

Later, this person helped deal with several such incidents, and his reputation gradually spread, and he became a chivalrous name. In the past, those down-and-out old friends on the rivers and lakes came to vote, and there were some young people in the local area who wanted to learn some self-defense techniques and means.

The identities of the disciples of this Yuntai faction are also different, there are those who have a similar background to the patriarch of the Nakai faction, there are also the children of local farmers and hunters, and some refugees who have left their homes. In addition to the martial arts taught in the sect, there are also a total of four or five kinds of moves, although they are not excellent, but when they are old, they can also boil out a good martial arts.

Among the many disciples, the children of some local squires are more valued. The endowment of these disciples to learn martial arts is not too high, but during the New Year's holidays, the family always gives some gifts to the sect, and this can also be linked to those gentry who have a permanent property, which is the main input for the daily expenses of the sect. The second thing that is valued is some truly endowed disciples, who are cultivated as the pillars of the sect and are also occasionally sent out to deal with some interpersonal exchanges on the rivers and lakes, which can be regarded as the existence of a façade.

As for the more ordinary disciples, they are more like the existence of miscellaneous servants, responsible for the food and clothing of the sect, taking care of the fields, and occasionally being sent to nearby villages to teach some idle men and bullies.

Zhao Ji observed for a period of time and found that although this sect was not very famous in the rivers and lakes, it actually had a lot of affairs. Sometimes it is necessary to assist the government in arresting habitual criminals who are wandering across the border, sometimes it is necessary to help the local gentry and wealthy families escort goods or protect their travels, and sometimes they have to receive friends from the rivers and lakes who visit in transit.

In Zhao Ji's view, although this Yuntai school is only one of the many small sects that are not outstanding in the rivers and lakes, because of this, many characteristics are universally representative. With his observation, he also had an impression of what kind of existence this Jianghu sect was.

First of all, this is an organization that has a system and can operate and maintain steadily, and the reason why it can exist and pass it on is that martial arts actually account for a very small proportion, and more importantly, it can assume the role of a supplement to the local government's functions and powers, and help local people deal with some things that the government cannot take into account or do not come forward. And the significance of martial arts inheritance is that the more intelligent the martial arts inherited, the greater the effectiveness that this sect can play in the responsibilities it bears.

The so-called rivers and lakes are actually people's daily interactions, such as a sentence that spread very widely for a period of time in later generations, where there are people, there are rivers and lakes. This is because where there are people, there will be contacts, and there will be trade-offs and collisions of interests, and the so-called rules of the rivers and lakes are the unwritten agreements to deal with these interpersonal exchanges. Then the Jianghu sect is backed by faith and martial arts, and exists as an arbitration institution to deal with these exchanges.

As a result, Zhao Ji has a deeper understanding of the so-called martial arts that Qiao Feng said before, in fact, there is no difference between them and the skills of hundreds of craftsmen, except that physical fitness is just a means of making a living.

The rivers and lakes are not a place to be happy and revenge, ignoring the royal law. The difference between the rivers and lakes and the mainstream society is that the mainstream society has clearly stipulated regulations and laws, but the rivers and lakes use unwritten, but customary rules, which are a supplement to the royal law. Wang Fa is like the brilliant sunlight in the sky that shines on the whole world, and the rivers and lakes are that the sunlight does not shine on the dark side, and the combination of light and darkness can be regarded as a complete world.

Zhao Ji has never understood why some martial arts people have been learning from the dream of dominating the martial arts, and they have this idle time, and they directly study hard in the middle of the Jinshi, isn't it better? Now that I have an understanding of the rivers and lakes, I gradually understand that the struggle for fame and fortune in the rivers and lakes is actually a struggle for the right to speak, and the words spoken by a generation of heroes are always much more convincing than those spoken by nobodies.

The word martial arts alliance leader is too subtle, which shows that this is a publicly elected leader recognized by everyone and willing to give him trust and arbitration power, and if it is replaced by "martial arts overlord", the charm will be completely lost. Because in the final analysis, the constraints imposed on people by the rivers and lakes are very small, and this determines that there can be no power, and no matter how arrogant and domineering you are, everyone will stand up and scatter, and it is always okay not to play with you, right? If you want to sweep the rivers and lakes with martial arts and force everyone to surrender by force, this is to dominate the martial arts? This is to plot rebellion! If you do not act according to the rules of the rivers and lakes, then you will be directly isolated by the rivers and lakes, and then you can only be greeted by the royal law.

In the past, Zhao Ji always felt that his identity in the rivers and lakes was not only not convenient, but a burden. However, when I gradually understood how the rivers and lakes existed, this idea also changed, and the rivers and lakes were not incompatible with the mainstream society, on the contrary, they were even more accommodating than the mainstream society. Don't say that it is a prince, even if it is an emperor, as long as he is willing to let go of the privileges given to him by the mainstream society, then the rivers and lakes can tolerate it.

In the mainstream society of the Great Song Dynasty, where scholars and doctors shared the world with the Son of Heaven, it was very difficult to change the atmosphere by explicit regulations. For example, when the current officials want to send troops to Western Xia this time, not only a group of officials of the old party oppose it, but even the hundred officials of the new party have also disagreed. Naturally, the ministers have enough reasons to do so, and the bitter cold and barren land is not enough to support our people, and the national strength and public funds are wasted, and it is easy to follow the old things of the Han Dynasty and the poor army, which is not beneficial to the country.

But many things are not simple pros and cons can be measured clearly, as large as a country, as small as a family, in addition to the country is rich and the people are strong to live and work in peace and contentment, but also need to have a kind of confidence and fierceness, proud from the heart, foreign enemies are not insulted!

Therefore, even if Zhao Ji takes power in the future and wants to reshape Jinou, difficulties are inevitable. If you ignore these difficulties, or if you force yourself to suppress them, you will be pushed back and pulled back.

The rivers and lakes are not just a small circle of these people in the martial arts, but also those unwritten conventions and codes in people's hearts.

Thinking about it this way, Zhao Ji Yifa felt that there was no substantial loss if he couldn't be a virtuous king, and it was really good to be a chivalrous king.