The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

After Shusun Tong's flattery, two old Confucian scholars from Lu, Le Zhengli and Qi Diao Ran, looked at each other in surprise, thinking to themselves: "What nonsense is this guy talking about? How could Confucius praise Qin Mu Gong so much?"

"Zuo Zhuan" clearly records that when Qin Mu Gong Ren Hao died, he buried three sons of Zi Che, Yan Xi, Zhong Xing, and Zhen Hu with him. These three people were all outstanding figures in Qin. The people of Qin mourned for them and wrote the poem "Yellow Bird" for them.

After this record, there is another "Gentleman said", which is actually the words of the author of Zuo Zhuan: "Duke Mu of Qin never became the leader of the alliance in his life, he deserved it! Why? He abandoned the people because of his death, not only did he not leave virtuous people to govern the people and assist future generations, but also buried him alive. This is not what a wise monarch should do. After seeing this, a gentleman will know that Qin will never be able to march east again, nor will it be able to dominate!"

Although this is what Zuo Qiuming said, "Zuo Zhuan" is the earliest of the three Spring and Autumn Annals. Zuo Qiuming also met Confucius and listened to his words and observed his actions. This should also include Confucius' original intention.

As for whether Duke Mu of Qin could be king? Confucius respected Zhou, which is even more impossible! This statement was obviously made up by Shusun Tong, and it is full of loopholes.

Le Zhengli was trembling with anger. He was about to interrupt Shusun Tong and scold him for making up stories and slandering Confucius. Qi Diaoran, who was standing next to him, quickly pulled his wide sleeves and shook his head to indicate.

Because, the King of Qin, who was not very happy at first, laughed after hearing what Shusun Tong said.

This story is exactly the same as the prophecy made by Zhou Taishi five hundred years ago: "Zhou and Qin will unite five hundred years later, and a hegemon will emerge seventeen years later."

Although the King of Qin still believes in the prophecies of the book of prophecy, Shusun Tong is too young and his words are not credible, because the King of Qin often listens to people's words. Confucius and Confucian scholars mostly criticize Qin, and I am afraid that Shusun Tong's flattery is pretending to be Confucius' words.

So he was not happy about this passage, but laughed at Shusun Tong's knowledge of the times and cleverness. The doctor he needed was this kind of person who knew how to decorate the door lintel for Qin, not a corrupt Confucian who was conservative and inflexible!

So the King of Qin said: "I, with my humble body, raised an army to punish the rebellion. Thanks to the spirits of the ancestral temple, the five kings all confessed their guilt, and the world will be settled. The victory of the six generations of Qin is the orthodoxy, and I am the orthodoxy with the help of heaven. What does it have to do with Confucius' words?"

Shusun Tong bowed his head hurriedly: "Your Majesty is right! It was Qin that won the world first, and Confucius just saw it earlier than ordinary people!"

Although he said so, the King of Qin's anger because Kong Yu did not respond to the call also subsided. Instead, when leaving Shun Temple, he looked at Shusun Tong who was lying on the ground and said: "Since Kong Yu wants to mourn his mother, I will not force him. You are his disciple, so go to Xianyang to be a doctor for him!"

After saying that, regardless of whether Shusun Tong was happy or not, the King of Qin left with his entourage.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Shusun Tong's voice came from far behind.

Heifu also followed behind, but when Li You saw that the three Confucian scholars behind him did not follow, he asked Heifu to urge them to come over, as the king might ask them something later.

So, when Heifu returned to the temple gate, he found that the three Lu Confucian scholars were gone, and the temple of Yu Shun was empty. Only the doors and windows of the house in the side yard were closed, and there was a slight sound coming from inside.

After he walked over, he put his ear to the door and just heard the three Confucian scholars fighting inside...

...

After the King of Qin left, Le Zhengli immediately pulled Shusun Tong into the room next door, pointed at his nose and scolded: "You, a child, in order to flatter the King of Qin, you actually made up words that Confucius did not say. It's really treasonous. Did your teacher teach you?"

"What fabrication? I don't understand what Le Zhengzi is talking about." Shusun Tong began to play dumb.

"You said that the Kong family got Confucius' family letter, why don't we know about this?" Qi Diao Ran also questioned.

Shusun Tong still looked confused and said with a smile: "This is a secret of our sect. You don't need to tell Le Zheng and Qi Diao, right?"

Le Zheng was very angry: "How come Confucius' Confucianism has a disciple like you?"

It turned out that at that time, Confucianism was divided into eight major factions: Zi Zhang's Confucianism; Zi Si's Confucianism; Yan's Confucianism; Meng's Confucianism; Qi Diao's Confucianism; Zhong Liang's Confucianism; Sun's Confucianism; Le Zheng's Confucianism.

Among them, Yan's Confucianism is the way of poetry, and is a Confucianism of satire and remonstration.

Meng's Confucianism is the way of books, and is a Confucianism of communication and far-reaching.

Qi Diao's Confucianism is the way of ritual, and is a Confucianism of respect, frugality and solemnity.

Zhong Liang's Confucianism is the way of music, and is a Confucianism of changing customs and habits.

Le Zheng's Confucianism is the way of Spring and Autumn Annals, and is a Confucianism of using words to compare things.

Gongsun's Confucianism is the way of Yi, and is a Confucianism of purity and subtlety.

In addition, there are the Confucianists of Zisi (Yuanxian), who like to act like poor scholars and claim to be virtuous people; in contrast, there are the Confucianists of Zizhang, who are superficial and attach great importance to red tape.

In addition to these eight schools, and the Confucianists of Xunzi, who are regarded as heretics by Confucian scholars, there are also the "Confucianists of the Kong family" who are the direct descendants of Confucius. They are all familiar with poetry, books, rituals, music, and the Spring and Autumn Annals. Kong Yu is the most famous, and Shusun Tong is his disciple.

As the descendant of the "Le Zheng clan Confucianism" of the Spring and Autumn Period, Le Zhengli wanted to refute the fallacy that Shusun Tong had just said, so he started to quote scriptures and make a long speech, but Shusun Tong laughed and said, "Le Zhengzi, stop it. Since you think that the story of Confucius praising Duke Mu of Qin was fabricated by me, let me ask you first, is the other story true or false?"

"I heard that Confucius was besieged between Chen and Cai when he traveled around the countries. He had no food for ten days, and sometimes he couldn't even drink bean soup. He was really hungry. At this time, Zilu got a cooked pig from somewhere, and Confucius didn't ask where the meat came from, and he just ate it; Zilu also robbed someone else's clothes to exchange for wine, and Confucius didn't ask where the wine came from, and just drank it."

"However, when Duke Ai of Lu came to meet him, Confucius showed the demeanor of a gentleman. He would not sit if the table was not straight, and would not eat if the food was not cut properly. Zilu asked, 'Master, why are you different now than when you were trapped in Chen and Cai?' Confucius replied, 'I did that before to survive, but today I do this to teach justice!'"

"May I ask Master Yue Zheng, is this true or false?"

Yue Zhengli was even more angry: "This is the words of the Mohists slandering the sages, in order to slander us Confucians who, when hungry, do not hesitate to take things to survive, and when full, pretend to be good to dress ourselves up. You are a disciple of Confucius, how could you not know?"

"Although this is also false, it is so similar to our current situation."

Shusun Tong changed his previous smile when flattering the King of Qin, and suddenly said seriously: "Qin has always disliked Confucian scholars. Shang Yang once burned poetry and books, saying that if one person learns poetry and books and gets rewarded, ten thousand people will follow suit, and the country will always be weak. He denounced the rituals and music, poetry and books, filial piety, cultivation of goodness, honesty, chastity, benevolence, non-military, and shame of war advocated by Confucian scholars as six lice, and believed that the country must get rid of the six lice to become strong!"

"Although the King of Qin has recruited you as doctors today, it is just a vase decoration. In fact, the country is still governed by Shang Yang's law. Have you seen the eyes of the officials and generals around you looking at Confucian scholars? They are all contemptuous!"

Le Zhengli and Qi Diaoran felt the same way, so they stopped scolding and listened to Shusun Tong's thoughts first.

"Confucius said that when the southern barbarians and northern barbarians invaded, China would be on the verge of extinction. Now, it is also the time when Confucian scholars would be on the verge of extinction! Life and death depend on the King of Qin's thoughts. If the King of Qin is happy, Confucian scholars' poetry and books will live, and if the King of Qin is unhappy, Confucius' teachings will die!"

"My Master did not want to surrender to Qin, and he has already angered the King of Qin! Today's matter is as dangerous as Confucius being trapped between Chen and Cai! In order to dispel the King of Qin's anger, to save the Confucian scholars of the Confucius family and even the Confucian scholars of Lu and the world, I had no choice but to flatter Qin. If I remember correctly, when the Chu and Wei countries were still in existence, you two also scolded Qin for abandoning rituals and music and becoming the first country to make contributions, and said that the King of Qin was cruel and was really Jie and Zhou reincarnated. Now you follow the King of Qin step by step, sing and sing the music of Da Shao for him, and compare him with the ancient sage kings Yao and Shun. What is the difference between you and me?"

Le Zhengli blew his beard and glared: "You kid, you actually compare us with you!"

Shusun Tong laughed: "What's the difference? You and I have been living for a while, but we are forced by the situation. We are in order to enter the Qin Dynasty and make Qin abandon its prejudices, reuse Confucian scholars and doctors, and prepare for the development of Confucianism."

"I heard that the Mohist of the South did not know how to adapt, and insisted on non-aggression and universal love, and he is dead. On the contrary, Qin Mohist helped Qin to destroy Chu and will be of great use. Therefore, in today's world, those who can change will live, and those who stick to the old ways will die. This is what is called changing with the times! Gentlemen, isn't it so?"

Although this sounded a bit wrong, the two had to admit that Shusun Tong made sense, but they still couldn't tolerate Shusun Tong's behavior. They sighed: "No matter what we do, we will not fabricate and tamper with Confucius' words. Your actions are not in line with the ancient meaning. Although you won't be attacked by people, we are different and cannot make plans together!"

After that, the two pushed open the door and left.

Shusun Tong stood there and shook his head: "What a despicable Confucian, who can survive but is ignorant of the times. This kind of behavior will sooner or later be disliked by the King of Qin. Most Confucian scholars are of their own generation, and there are many disputes among their sects. They cannot work together. I am afraid that they will really be reduced to a corner in the court of Qin in the future. People of our generation are really in the last days, and the night is long..."

He sighed to the sky, but unexpectedly, a round of applause came from outside the door.

Hei Fu walked in while clapping, and smiled to Shusun Tong: "Mr. seems to be flattering the king, but it turns out that he has such a deep meaning. He wants Confucianism to live in the court and inherit Confucius' unique knowledge so that it can be carried forward in the future. He has such ambitions at such a young age. It really makes me look at him differently!"

...

On the way back to his residence at night, Shusun Tong was a little uneasy.

I dared to say those words to Le Zhengli and Li because I knew their temperaments, but I never thought that a Qin official would hear them...

If these things were spread out, it would not cause a fatal disaster, but in this way, Shusun Tong would not be able to pretend to be ignorant after arriving in Xianyang.

And it would not be comfortable for others to know his state of mind.

The Qin official did not threaten Shusun Tong, but just asked him to follow the Qin King's carriage as soon as possible.

Shusun Tong asked his name nervously.

"Heifu, Anlu County, Nanjun."

"So he is Heifu!" Shusun Tong thought to himself, and when he looked up, he had arrived at the wine shop where he was staying temporarily.

Although Huaiyang had been occupied by the Qin army, it was still the seat of Chenjun and was heavily guarded. However, the reign was short, and neither the verification system nor the guesthouse post system was established in time, so the city life was still the same as before, except that the city gates were more strictly checked and there was a curfew at night. However, the Qin people could not sort out the mixed crowd and the undercurrent.

For example, Shusun Tong seemed to be a spineless Confucian scholar who flattered the King of Qin, but how could the Qin people find out about his secret social relationship with his teacher and his complicated relationship with the scholars and common people of the six countries?

Besides, in this seemingly ordinary wine shop, there might be fugitives from Qin hiding!

After Shusun Tong entered the door and closed it, a short sword quietly pressed against his lower back!

"What a Shusun Tong, claiming to be one of us to investigate the strength of the King of Qin's garrison, now he has become a doctor of Qin! What a person who deceives his teacher!"

Shusun Tong guessed who he was from the man's voice, but he was not panicked, and said with a smile: "Mr. Chen, please listen to my explanation..."

The man behind him was not polite, and pushed him to the ground, with a short sword across Shusun Tong's neck. Through the dim moonlight outside the window, the appearance of the visitor was clearly visible.

Like Shusun Tong, he was wearing Confucian clothes and a Confucian cap, with two thick beards on his face, and his sword-holding posture was very skillful, which showed that it was not the first time he killed someone. He was looking at Shusun Tong with anger in his eyes!

It was Chen Yu, a famous scholar of Wei State who escaped from Hei Fu's pursuit in Waihuang two years ago!