Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 4994 Confucianism is a little girl

The next morning, officials and common people who went to Chengtian Gate to continue watching the execution found that there was nothing there. Li Siliang, who had been cut many times, had disappeared, and the frozen blood stains on the ground had been washed away. Only the imperial guards in helmets and armor were left standing at the Chengtian Gate, holding spears and glaring at him...

The people no longer had anything exciting to watch, and they were celebrating with regret. After all, no one wanted to have a bloody and cruel king.

Officials had a deeper understanding and felt the undercurrents beneath the calm, especially the fact that His Majesty had kept Ma Zhou's memorial in his palace without sending it out, which might mean that there was no turning back between the imperial power and the military power, and that they would come to blows...

A huge storm is brewing. Once it breaks out, it will not only sweep across the world, but will also linger for a long time.

……

After the beginning of spring, the weather becomes warmer, but the famous mountains and rivers surrounding Guanzhong are still covered with snow and ice.

A strange sight appeared in Mount Li: an ox cart with a carriage shed often wandered between the mountains and gullies, wandering around aimlessly. Once it encountered a warm greenhouse, it would stop, and then two old men in brocade robes with white hair and beards would get out of the cart and walk into the greenhouse.

The greenhouses on Mount Li are either owned by the Fang family or built by farmhands dependent on the Fang family. Each one is built according to the mountain terrain and faces the sun. Inside are either fresh vegetables, seasonal fruits, or rice and corn seedlings... The two old men will comment on them all. Before leaving, the farmhands will pick some of the best growing vegetables, fruits, and melons in the greenhouse and put them in the car, and see them off respectfully.

At this time of year, the vegetables and fruits from Mount Li are luxuries that the nobles and merchants in Chang'an City are eager to have. When the snow is falling outside the window, a plate of fresh and delicious vegetables and fruits on the table is such an honorable enjoyment. Therefore, the price of vegetables and fruits at this time is higher than gold, and there is no market for them.

However, these farmhands did not feel distressed, but were very happy and proud of it...

The ox cart reached a mountain stream. There was a simple pavilion on the side of a stone bridge. The two old men got off the cart. The two old servants who were accompanying them took out curtains from the carriage and surrounded the pavilion to block the cold wind. One of them lit a fire and made a stove, while the other carefully went to the stream, chiseled through the ice with an iron chisel, put a kettle under the ice, filled it with clear stream water, and carried it back to the pavilion.

The fire was lit, the kettle was placed on it, and some cakes and nuts were placed on the stone table in the pavilion. The two old men then waved them away and stood outside the curtain with their hands folded.

One of the old men washed the teapot and teacups with water, took tea leaves from an exquisite bamboo pot and put them into the pot, waiting for the water on the stove to boil.

Another old man sat down on a mat, picked up an almond and put it into his mouth to chew. The old man with white hair and youthful face had very good teeth, and he chewed it with a loud sound...

Watching the old man concentrate on taking the boiling kettle off the stove, pouring boiling water into the teapot, and washing and brewing tea meticulously, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "At seventy, you can follow your heart and not go beyond the rules, but why do I feel that my brother Shigu has become more and more particular about rituals and rigid in his actions in the past two years?"

The old man who made the tea was none other than Yan Shigu, the patriarch of the Langya Yan Clan. He sat upright and pushed a cup of tea in front of Kong Yingda. He picked up a cup himself and took a sip, savoring the sweet aftertaste of the tea. Then he slowly said, "Confucius divided life into different stages according to age. Each stage has different perceptions. In fact, in my opinion, we don't have to follow his words. Confucius was determined to learn at the age of fifteen. I could speak at the age of one, read at the age of two, and began to read classics at the age of three. Confucius said that one should be established at the age of thirty. I was a county lieutenant at the age of twenty. Yang Su also praised me for being mature at a young age. I was free from doubts at the age of forty when I was thirty. At the age of fifty, I believed that I had reached the state of doing whatever I wanted."

Kong Yingda was stunned: "So, you came back alive?"

"Alive" is not a good thing, it means "getting more and more useless"...

Yan Shigu rolled his eyes, took a bite of cake, and said slowly: "When I was fifty, I followed my heart and did not go beyond the rules. I ignored any rules. But when I turned seventy, I suddenly realized that what I thought was not going beyond the rules was actually never out of the scope of rules, and I never did what I wanted."

"Hmm? Tell me in detail!"

Kong Yingda became excited and wanted to hear more details.

Great scholars of the time like them have already transcended mundane learning, knowledge and insights. In a sense, they are infinitely close to the spiritual realm and it is difficult for them to make further breakthroughs. If they suddenly have different opinions, whether they agree or not, they will be eager to see them, hoping that it will trigger their own breakthrough.

"In the 17th year of the Zhenguan reign, Emperor Taizong led an expedition to the east and recruited me to accompany the army. At that time, I was in poor health and had little energy, but I could not retreat from participating in such a grand event, so I gladly followed his lead. However, before leaving, I suddenly became seriously ill and was bedridden. Emperor Taizong, mindful of my old age, could not bear to see me traveling thousands of miles away, so he ordered me to stay in Chang'an and assist the crown prince... After I recovered, do you know what I thought?"

Kong Yingda looked at him.

Yan Shigu knelt on a mat, drinking tea, his eyes clear, "One day I suddenly had a realization. If I had not been seriously ill at that time, I would have followed Emperor Taizong on his journey eastward, and I would have died on the way. I could sense my fate at that time."

Kong Yingda nodded slightly.

It sounds very mysterious, how can people sense their own destiny? If they can sense it, doesn't it mean that they can change their fate?

This goes against the core of Confucianism.

But the strange thing is that when the spirit reaches a certain high level, one can indeed feel at a certain moment the sense of touch that penetrates the heavens and the earth and spans the past and the present.

It can only be understood but cannot be expressed in words.

Yan Shigu knew that Kong Yingda could understand his feelings, and continued: "But that serious illness changed my fate."

Kong Yingda frowned.

Yan Shigu put down his teacup and leaned forward slightly: "Since then, all my chronic illnesses have disappeared and I am in good health." He fiddled with his hair under his crown and gestured: "Look, the roots of my hair have turned black..."

Kong Yingda laughed and said, "So, you want to show off to me that you have regained your youth and will live longer than me?"

Yan Shigu shook his head, his face solemn: "My fate is predetermined by heaven. I am already at the end of my life, but I have regained my vitality. The fate of one person has changed, and the fate of a country must have changed as well!"

The universe, the grass and the tree, all are connected by energy and fate, and a single move can affect the whole body.

One person may be insignificant, but he can affect the destiny of a country.

On the contrary, the fortune of a country can naturally affect the fate of an individual.

"That means... the country's fortune has improved?"

Kong Yingda asked hesitantly.

Yan Shigu laughed and said, "That's unknown. If I, Yan Shigu, am extremely evil and have committed a crime against the country, and my life span is over but I am reborn, then the country's fortune will deteriorate. If I, Yan Shigu, benefit the country, and my life, death, honor and disgrace can be tied to the country's fortune, then naturally the country's fortune will improve."

Kong Yingda nodded: "Although you have not achieved much in your life, and have never made any contributions or established a career, you still have a little positive influence on Tang Dynasty literature."

Yan Shigu was dissatisfied: "You are partial to some and mean to others. This is why you are wasting your time and showing disrespect to your elders!"

Kong Yingda was in no mood to exchange sarcasm with him. He raised his snow-white eyebrows and asked, "So what do you want to say?"

It's both human destiny and national destiny, it can't be aimless, right?

Yan Shigu said solemnly: "The world today is facing a major change that has not happened in a thousand years. Domestically and internationally, the world is changing with each passing day. The Tang army is marching across the world, and money from all over the world is flowing into the nine provinces. We cannot miss this opportunity and hesitate!"

He pointed to the greenhouse vaguely visible on the hillside in the distance and said: "In the past, have you ever thought that such high-yield crops would be planted everywhere? When the granaries are full, people will know etiquette. As more and more people have enough food, more and more people will naturally pursue spiritual enrichment. If we Confucians cannot keep pace with the times and make positive progress, perhaps one day we will be like those schools that gradually declined after the Hundred Schools of Thought, and be washed away and annihilated by the rolling waves."

During the Warring States Period, there were hundreds of schools of thought contending with each other. Why was it that in the end only Confucianism was left to shine while the rest were either completely annihilated or barely surviving?

Is it true that Confucianism is unique and unrivalled in the world? No.

The reason why we are so advanced and invincible is because of momentum.

The world will eventually unite after a long period of division, so the King of Qin swept across the world and unified the nine provinces, and the King of Han cleared the world and regained control of China.

At that time, Confucianism's self-castration and flattery of superiors just matched the king's strategy of ruling the world and stabilizing people's hearts, so it was sold to the imperial family.

Thus, throughout the dynasties, if one wanted to appease the people's hearts and consolidate the rule, Confucianism was the only choice.

Kong Yingda pondered for a long time and asked: "How can we keep pace with the times and be proactive?"

Yan Shigu said: "In the past, China was about unity, so the core of our Confucianism is nothing more than 'rulers are rulers, ministers are ministers, fathers are fathers, and sons are sons'. But in the Tang Dynasty today, the whole country is fighting and spears are pointed outward, and everyone is actively exploring the interests of foreign countries, so the core of our Confucianism should be 'sages within and kings without'!"

When the country was unified, Confucianism adapted to the situation and became the leader among the hundreds of schools of thought.

When the country was expanding, Confucianism had to follow the trend and change its core doctrines in order to help the country's cultural hegemony and tame foreign nations, so that Confucianism would always occupy the righteous position and ensure its own status.

Whether it is Yan Shigu or Kong Yingda, these great scholars who have studied Confucianism to the pinnacle, are deeply aware that the so-called Confucianism is nothing more than a flashy little girl, and they will dress this little girl up according to the aesthetics the country needs.

Emperor Taizong summoned me to Liaodong, and when I was about to go, I suddenly fell ill and was bedridden. Emperor Taizong heard about it and gave up, asking me to take good care of myself and serve the country in the future. At that time, I suddenly realized that if the disease had come later, my condition would have worsened by the time I went to Liaodong, a bitter and cold place. I might not be able to return to Chang'an. This shows that perhaps the destiny of life is not necessarily unchangeable.