Section 2 Confucianism and Law

Zhuge Liang sat on the hill with his knees in his arms, looking at Deng Sai in the distance and felt lost. When he saw Deng Sai, he remembered Wei Yan. Wei Yan left his first impression on Cao Chong was because of the ambush at Deng Sai, which was a failed ambush. Not only did he not ambush Cao Cao, but he was almost ambushed by Cao's army. Although Wei Yan fled as soon as he found something wrong and returned, he successfully left a good impression on Cao Chong and now he has become a general under Cao Chong's tent.

Wei Yan is just a martial artist. By chance, he was able to achieve this achievement. He had the talent of all kinds of things, but he stayed in Longzhong to study and live a life of a group of children. God was really not surprised. But thinking about his father-in-law Huang Chengyan, his teacher Mr. Shui Jing, and Mr. Pang Degong, it is not surprising. It seems that the general Zhennan is not interested in the talent, but is very interested in doing business. Even this time, he seems to be doing business. He relies on his strong strength accumulated in Xiangyang over the past few years and plays Sun Quan and Liu Bei in his palms.

What made Zhuge Liang most depressed was that part of Cao Chong's reliance was the result of his efforts. Wuling and Lingling's military farms were all his efforts, but Cao Chong took away and became his strength. The culprit for the loss of Lingling was another surprise attack by Wei Yan.

Zhuge Liang was both ridiculous and terrified. He seemed to have an inexplicable entanglement with Wei Yan. Now that Wei Yan was the commander of Jiangnan, who ended his career, he was here to see where Wei Yan became famous.

"Brother...Brother..." A hurried cry came.

Zhuge Liang turned his head and saw Zhuge Jun trotting from the mountain road, shouting with his arms raised all the way, running to him, gasping for breath, with joy on his face.

"What's the matter so happy?" Zhuge Liang quipped: "Cao Cangshu is here to invite you to Xiangyang?"

"How do you know?" Zhuge Jun was stunned and continued, "But it wasn't for me, but for you and your sister-in-law."

This time, Zhuge Liang was stunned. He was about to reach out and pat Zhuge Jun's hand, which was stuck in the air. After a while, it fell on Zhuge Jun's shoulder. His face returned to normal, his tone was very calm, with a hint of disbelief: "What did you say?"

Zhuge Jun said excitedly: "Brother, Zhongyu brought General Cao Zhennan and his wife. They said they were here to invite their sister-in-law, but General Zhennan talked to me in the bamboo forest for a long time. I heard what he meant, and he was very dissatisfied with the behavior of the Xiangyang families and was trying to cure them. He came to ask his brother for the questions of the Legalists."

"Does he still need to ask me for advice?" Zhuge Liang curled his lips and smiled helplessly: "Since he asked me for advice, why didn't Zhongyu say that last time?"

Zhuge Jun pulled Zhuge Liang back and smiled and said, "Brother, it's not that I said you, it's your fault. Last time in Changsha, General Zhennan came to invite you, but you had to test his sincerity and let others be turned away. Of course, he had to change his words this time, so that you would not lose face by you again. Let's go quickly, don't let General Zhennan wait for a long time."

"What's wrong with waiting? King Wen also carried Taigong eight hundred steps." Zhuge Liang shook Zhuge Jun's hand and said unhappily.

Zhuge Jun was happy. He let go of Zhuge Liang's hand. The two stood on the mountain road and stared at each other. Zhuge Jun smiled and said, "Brother, there are no outsiders here, and there is no need for us brothers to say those things in the scene. If you really don't want to become an official, I will go back to General Zhennan, saying that you are determined to be in the mountains and forests and have no intention of government affairs. Let him go back to Xiangyang early. But if you still want to make achievements, I advise you not to pay too much attention to these false articles. General Zuo came to invite you three times, but what's the result? You have been in Wuyang for several months and helped him guard the retreat. Didn't he still ask you to go back to Quanling to escort grain? Liu Zichu did not ask Cao Zhennan to invite him, and took the initiative to enter the curtain, but now Liu Zichu is the prefect of Nanjun, and General Zhennan's official seal is sometimes kept in his hands. Have you ever heard of General Zhennan's doubts about him?"

Zhuge Liang was a little angry. He snorted, turned his head and his eyes involuntarily fell on Dengsai. Zhuge Jun continued to smile and said, "Why are you here to see Dengsai every day? Wei Wenchang is a captive of General Zhennan. He was dragged and vertically before the general, but now he is a famous general. Brother, don't hesitate. I said to him for a while and felt that he was not the kind of person who values ​​fame, especially the Legal family who is good at brothers. If he still sticks to those rituals, he will probably miss the opportunity."

"What if you miss an opportunity?" Zhuge Liang said unhappily: "If you are successful, you will benefit the world; if you are poor, you will be able to protect yourself. What is wrong with the saints saying?"

"The saint also said that if a country has the power, it will be an official; if a country has no power, it will be hidden. Then my brother thought that Jingzhou is now in power or not compared to Jingzhou when General Zuo was the first general?"

"You..." Zhuge Liang said for a moment. Jingzhou is obviously much better than Liu Biao's rule. Not to mention anything else, the people in Longzhong have lived a lot more comfortable life in recent years. After working hard every year, not only do they have to worry about the seeds of next year, but they also have a little bit of gain. They can even buy some meat to come back to give the elderly and children a tooth sacrifice during the Chinese New Year. This is unimaginable when Liu Biao was ruled. As for the four counties in Jiangnan under Liu Bei, it is even worse. Ordinary people's family wants to have a full meal during the Chinese New Year. As for the meat, they can only go through the butcher's and chew it. From this point of view alone, Zhuge Jun's question is not difficult to answer.

"Okay, let's go." Zhuge Jun smiled and pulled Zhuge Liang forward: "My sister-in-law has arranged lunch. Your head of the family must go back to accompany the guests, but sit on the top of the mountain to drink the wind and roar. If your brother finds out, you will be a bit rude and will lose the style of the Ge family in Zhucheng."

Zhuge Liang was pulled forward by Zhuge Jun and asked as he walked: "You said he had an objection to the major tribes in Xiangyang, what did he say?"

Zhuge Jun said vividly what Cao Chong said to him, and then concluded: "I heard what he meant, as if he was saying that Liu Zichu is now responsible for the promotion of the new policies in the entire Jingzhou area. He was not energetic enough and did not care about rectifying those big families. Moreover, he was proficient in calculations and had good fortune, but was not good at practicing the law, so he had to find some people who were proficient in law enforcement to assist him in governing Jiangnan. My family's teachings of law are exactly what he liked. Although he did not say he wanted to hire his brother, I heard what he meant."

Zhuge Liang's ancestor Zhuge Feng was a famous person during the reign of Emperor Yuan of the Western Han Dynasty. He used Mingjing as the county literature. He once served as the Sili School Commander, but offended people for his strict law enforcement and was demoted to common people and lived in his hometown. However, the Zhuge Liang's legal tradition has been passed down continuously. Zhuge Liang's father Zhuge Gui was the governor of Taishan County and was also famous for Ming law. Zhuge Liang's uncle Zhuge Xuan also had great achievements in law. However, because the Confucian tradition in the Han Dynasty was very powerful, they all regarded Confucianism as the representative, and law as the source, and also studied Confucian classics.

What Zhuge Liang himself studied the most was of course the Legalism. He was different from his brother Zhuge Jin's knowledge of Confucianism. He did not value the study of chapters and sentences. He believed that in this end, he should use the emphasis on the principles, and the Confucian benevolence and righteousness would not work. Because of this, he could not talk to Liu Biao, who had a deep level of Confucianism. He thought that Liu Biao was pedantic and useless. Liu Biao believed that he did not follow the right path, had skills but was not righteous, and did not enter the elegant hall. Even when he came to Liu Bei's curtain, he only exerted his ability to govern civil affairs and had no chance to show his idea of ​​governing with law. Liu Bei's subordinates were either Guan Zhang and Zhao who were close to his brothers, or Jian Sun Mi who followed him very early, and no one could be managed by him. What's more, Liu Bei himself did not value the rules, and he took the time to talk about the rule of law and just hummed and haha.

Now he suddenly heard that Cao Chong was quite interested in the Legalists, which made Zhuge Liang unable to be moved at all. He walked silently, but his heart felt like a pool of stagnant water was rising, but he didn't listen to Zhuge Jun's chat and laughter.

"Zhao Zilong became the prefect of Zhuo County, and Xu Yuanzhi also went to Zhuo County as the chief minister to assist General Zhao." Zhuge Jun suddenly said.

"Yuan Zhi went to Zhuo County?" Zhuge Liang was shocked.

"Yes." Zhuge Jun nodded and said, "He has been a free official in Pengcheng. This time, General Zhennan personally requested the transfer order from the Prime Minister's Office."

Zhuge Liang's eyes lit up. Just as he was about to speak, he had already arrived in front of his own bamboo forest. Zhuge Jun pulled him into the bamboo forest, but Zhuge Liang stopped. He looked at his clothes, then he slowed down and slowly entered the forest.

Cao Chong was living in the bamboo forest. He saw Zhuge Jun leading a tall middle-aged man about 1.85 meters above, and he couldn't help but look carefully. Because of the technique of sitting and forgetting, his eyes were amazing - far from comparable to myopia in his previous life - he saw Zhuge Liang, a well-known celebrity from afar. Zhuge Liang was very beautiful, with a crown of jade, with a handsome face, and a handsome young man in his arms. He was very clean, with three strands of short beards, two thick eyebrows, and a pair of bright eyes, but a little thin. Cao Chong had seen so many celebrities, that is, Zhou Yu, the handsome man in Zhou Yu, could compete with the person in front of him. If there was some difference, it was Zhou Yu more heroic, while Mr. Wolong was more arrogant, with a slightly raised chin, and his eyes always looked down on people condescendingly.

"Mr. Wolong, I have been revered for a long time and I only saw him today. I am very lucky." Cao Chong was indeed saying psychological words. Compared to the artistic image of middle-aged and elderly people wearing gossip robes in my impression, and the appearance of Tang Guoqiang's always having some illness, the handsome guy in front of me who was just over thirty years old is more attractive. In the later acting circle, he is definitely a heartthrob. The job of those cool little white-faced guys has to be ruined.

When Zhuge Liang saw Cao Chong far away, he stood up from the stone couch and stood beside him. He felt very comfortable. He smiled reservedly and bowed back: "Liang is just a commoner, how dare you do this great gift?"

"Hahaha..." Cao Chong laughed loudly, and he came forward and took Zhuge Liang's hand, walked to the opposite side of the couch and sat, waved his hand, pointed to the small teapot that was bubbling on the stone table and said, "Mr. Wolong, when the beautiful scenery of Longzhong is here, why should you stick to the common etiquette of the officialdom? I have prepared some tea and waited for Mr. to come and give advice. Fortunately, Mr. Hunter is not far away, and the tea soup is blooming at this time, which is a coincidence."

Zhuge Liang was a little embarrassed and looked at Zhuge Jun. Zhuge Jun smiled and said, "The general is right. Fortunately, I chased him so hard that my brother didn't go too far, so I caught up with him. With the elder brother, please sit down. I will prepare some meals. The mountains are rough and sparse, and there is no delicacies in the sea. There are still some wild game. Please try it a little, maybe it has a different flavor."

"Hahaha..." Cao Chong laughed and bowed to Zhuge Jun: "It's a blessing." Zhuge Jun returned the courtesy, gave Zhuge Liang a wink, and retreated. Cao Chong waved his hand to repel the Hu Guard, leaving only Cao Yu and Sun Shao to serve.

"Mr. Wolong, I heard that Shiyuan mentioned his master's talent for a long time and was eager to see him. But the chance was a coincidence. It was a great regret. Today, I finally saw the princess." Cao Chong bowed again, sat up straight, and said respectfully: "I have some questions, I want to ask Mr. for advice, and I would like to ask Mr. for good advice."

He was so respectful to Zhuge Liang, on the one hand, because the reputation of this handsome guy was so famous, not only was it thunderous, but almost deafening. On the other hand, Pang Tong told him that Zhuge Liang wanted to save face and wanted to invite him out, he was not the kind of person who came in one move, but he had to make some excuses. If the general really wanted to invite him, he should accommodate him a little, otherwise it would be bad to leave someone with a reputation of being rude and a ruling person.

Seeing Cao Chong was so respectful, Zhuge Liang couldn't take the title any longer, so he owed his body and returned a gift: "The general has been too much. Since the general has something to say, Liang will be arrogant and do whatever he wants. If there is any inappropriateness, please forgive me."

Seeing him say this, Cao Chong smiled in his heart, but his face was still very respectful: "I have gone to see Mr. Wolong's military farm in Wuling and Lingling. I have to thank Mr. Mr. Wolong here first. If it weren't for Mr. Jiaozhou and Yangzhou, I would have to transport grain from Jiangbei, and it would take a lot of trouble." He raised his hand to stop Zhuge Liang who was about to speak: "Sir, don't be humble, I'm talking about the truth. Fa Xiaozhi and Mr. Fa were confronted in Wuyang for several months and praised Mr. He for his abilities. Later, when he accompanied me through Lingling, he saw Mr. Weng's military farm. He also said the same thing. If Mr. Weng had been under my General Zuo, I'm afraid we would not be able to unify Jiangnan so smoothly. Losing Mr. Zuo's assistance would be a misfortune of General Zuo, but a blessing for my great Han Dynasty."

Zhuge Liang's face was a little embarrassed. Cao Chong said this, but he put Liu Bei in the opposite direction of the court. Of course, this is also a fact. Moreover, Cao Chong is now very powerful and favored by the emperor. He is not wrong at all, but he still feels a little unhappy when he says this in person. However, the admiration for him in Cao Chong's words made him very useful. He said a few words and felt sour and sweet in his heart, and he didn't know how to deal with it for a while.

"The general was awarded the award. Liang's military farming in Lingling was just learning about the military farming in Xiangyang. It was the general's work. The general did not need to thank me. He took all of Jiaozhou and Yangzhou, which was caused by the general's outstanding martial arts."

"It's better not to mention this martial arts. Jiangnan was originally the territory of my great Han. If it weren't for the treacherous acts, how could Dong Zhuo launch another war on the territory of my great Han?" Cao Chong smiled and said, "If you want to talk about great martial arts and expand your territory, that is the honor of the general. Now such martial arts are really a bit like..." He smacked his lips, shook his head, picked up a cup of tea, signaled to Zhuge Liang, put it to his mouth and took a sip: "It makes people feel a little uncomfortable."

Zhuge Liang glanced at Sun Shao who was pouring tea for him, picked up the tea cup and took a sip, and looked at Cao Chong who shook his head and sighed with a little surprise.

"If you want a safe country in your country, you must stabilize your country. If you are a civil minister, you must govern the country to make the country rich and the people strong, and the people live and work in peace and prosperity. If you are a military general, you must naturally defend your country, expand your territory and expand your territory, and use the knife in your hand and the blood in your chest to protect the glory of our great man. How can you say that your own family kills your family? "Cao Chong turned around and pointed to the north and west, and was passionate: "There are Xianbei in the north and Qiang in the west. We have not yet been able to recover the territory of Emperor Xiaowu, so how can we talk about any martial arts? If one day we can go out of the Sunset Land, we will welcome back the remains of tens of thousands of soldiers, drink horses in the North Sea, seal the wolf's servants, and take them back to the Western Regions to the west. When all countries come to pay tribute, the gentleman said that I had some martial arts, and I should be happy to accept it."

"The general's ambition is admirable." Zhuge Liang smiled, saying admiration, but there was no sign of admiration in his expression.

"Haha, it's too far to say that these are now." Cao Chong shook his head and said, "I have lived after the disaster of the Han Dynasty, and all industries have withered, and my household registration has been depleted, and I am devastated. How can I do this great battle? But these are really my wishes, so I want to ask a talent like my husband to help me, so that my people can have dinner and wear warm clothes first."

"The general thought, how can we do this?" Zhuge Liang smiled slightly.

Cao Chong glanced at him and calmed down and said, "I don't hide it from the Han Dynasty for four hundred years. Since the Han Dynasty governed the country with classics, especially after prophecies and divinations entered the classics, the way of governing the country was too grand and unreasonable, and the techniques of hundreds of schools of thought were overwhelmed. The classics themselves became rigid. Although Zheng Kangcheng's new classics emerged, they could not completely eradicate the problems. The so-called doctors do not treat themselves and want to rely on Confucianism's own improvement to solve the current problems. I encountered many problems in the implementation of the new policy in Xiangyang and attached importance to industry and commerce. Even many people around me did not understand it, thinking that this was to waste the roots and seek the ends, not the right way to govern the country. Now that Xiangyang is rich, illegal matters are gradually increasing, I want to introduce strict laws, and many people have taken the precedent of Qin's rule of law and died in the second lifetime and strongly opposed it. I heard that the teacher is good at the Legalists, so I came to ask for advice."

"Then... what does the general think of the Legalists?" Zhuge Liang put away his smile and asked seriously.

"Qin is strong with law, and also with law, and destroys the country." Cao Chong said cautiously. He knew a little about the things of various schools of thought, but his understanding was very limited, just some of the fur. Last time he talked with Liu Xianbingzhu at night, he found that he knew too superficially about Huang Lao's art. This time, in order to talk to Zhuge Liang about the Legalists, he asked Xun Yue and Wang Lang in advance, which was a bit of a secret, but after all, it was just a temporary lesson. If he wanted to talk to the Legalists in front of this Mr. Wolong, he was still a little nervous. "But it is obviously a bit biased to deny the Legalists because of the demise of Qin. Scholars like to attack one thing, but it is not appropriate to do anything else. Although Qin was destroyed by law, if it was not possible, how could he sweep the six countries and unify the world?"

"Hahaha..." Zhuge Liang smiled, "The general made sense. Most people in the world just follow the crowd and did not have much insight into it. Only when Confucianism was not yet supreme at the beginning of the Han Dynasty, Jia Changsha's argument was quite precise..."

When Zhuge Liang and Cao Chong were talking about Legalism in the bamboo forest, Xun Wenqian and Huang Yueying were chatting more and more happily in the house. Cai Ji and Cai Xuan couldn't interfere, so they had to listen. Liu Cong looked at some of the models Huang Yueying took out. When he saw Zhuge Jun walking in with a smile, he waved and said, "Zi Ping, are you doing these?"

Zhuge Jun hurriedly walked away and looked at it and smiled, "I made these bad things. My sister-in-law took them out. I saw it by everyone like Zhongyu, how dare I take action again in the future."

Liu Cong smiled and said, "Ziping, don't be humble. I think your level is no less than that of the engineering graduates of Xiangyang Academy. How about it? Don't stay in this mountain. Go to Xiangyang to find something to do. There are many workshops to recruit people during the Chinese New Year. With your ability, it's no problem to be a consul." He looked at Zhuge Jun and said, "But your knowledge is so good, it's a pity to be acquainted. Please follow your cousin to teach in the academy. Your eloquence is good and you will definitely speak better than me, so that Cang Shu can avoid this headache for my teacher."

"Zhongyu, why don't you let him follow you?" Huang Yueying smiled and said, "Although Ziping has read a lot of books, he has insufficient experience. Will he grow faster after following you in the workshop for a while?"

Liu Cong smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. I meet often anyway. If my cousin is willing to ask him to help me, I will be reluctant to ask for it. By the way, how are Brother Kong Ming and the general talking to him?"

Zhuge Jun smiled and said, "I have a great time talking. I just went there again. I heard that they were talking about Shang Jun's Legal academicians."

"Is that true?" Liu Cong looked at Huang Yueying with a little strange and relaxed look at him, who was smiling: "So, is he willing to come out?"

Zhuge didn't say anything, and he couldn't say that Zhuge Liang was actually waiting for this opportunity. Not only did Xun Wenqian and others hear it, but even Liu Cong heard it, it was also inappropriate. He was about to think about what to say, but a maid hurriedly walked in, maybe because she ran anxiously, her face flushed. When she saw Huang Yueying, she said anxiously: "Madam, it's not good, sir and the general have a quarrel?"

Huang Yueying was shocked, even the sister Cai Ji next to her was a little surprised, and Liu Cong's face changed even more. Just as he was about to go out to take a look, Xun Wenqian smiled and said, "Don't panic, Cang Shu often speaks loudly with others. Maybe the two of them don't agree, and some arguments are understandable. It's not appropriate for you to go, so it will be better for them to argue for a while."

As she said, she smiled at Huang Yueying and said, "My husband often says that if they can argue without deciding, they can make arguing, which means that everyone is not hiding it, which is a good sign. I wonder what they are saying?"

The words she said before were Huang Yueying, but the words behind were for the maid. The maid blinked and thought for a while and said, "I seemed to hear the general say that the Legalists were too strict and were not good for the people. But the gentleman said that the people were ignorant and were strictly restricted by the law before they could follow the rules."

When Cai Ji heard this, he covered his mouth and laughed: "My husband must be saying that his cousin and his husband are not humane, right?"

The maid nodded repeatedly: "That's exactly what the general said that the gentleman's ideas were inhumane, and then the gentleman started arguing with him."

Cai Ji smiled proudly and said, "I guess, my husband has to talk about his people-oriented Mencius theory. This false Confucianism and the true method will probably have to be quarrel for a while."

"Fake Confucianism?" Huang Yueying was a little surprised.

Xun Wenqian quickly explained with a smile: "Mrs. I don't know that my husband has been busy with wars recently and has not put in much effort in classics. He does not like to cure the classics of the Spring and Autumn Period. Instead, he likes to read some books by Mencius. He believes in Mencius's statement that the people are the most important, but the chapters are not well-versed, so Xiao Yuer said that he is a fake Confucianism."

Cai Ji stepped forward and held Huang Yueying's hand and smiled, "Cousin, if you want to say something else, my husband and cousin may not be very similar. This reading does not follow the rules, but looking at the general principles, it seems to be taught by a gentleman."

When Huang Yueying heard this, she couldn't help laughing. She asked Zhuge Jun to go and take a look. After a while, Zhuge Jun came back with a smile: "Mrs. It's reasonable. The general and his brother have stopped arguing, but the two of them have settled the accounts again, took the paper and pen, and settled the accounts there."

Cai Ji had a bitter face and pouted and said, "I'll forget it now. My husband always has to count on the rise. I don't know when I can eat lunch. I'm so hungry."

Xun Wenqian and Huang Yueying looked at each other and smiled. Huang Yueying pulled Cai Ji and walked back, joking as she walked: "Xiao Yu'er, I think you have gained a lot of weight, right..."
Chapter completed!