Kingdom of Heaven and Han

"Casino?" Chen Xiaohui almost spat out the beef he just put into his mouth and looked at Yuanwai Mo in disbelief.

Yuan Yuanwai said firmly: "Yes, it is a gambling city, just for people to gamble there."

Chen Xiaohui said: "Xuanfu hates gambling deeply. If people play with more money than usual, the government will come to arrest them. Why would they set up a gambling city?"

Member Mo said: "I don't know the reason for setting up a casino. I just heard people say that there should be everything you need, only things you can't think of, and nothing that isn't there."

Chen Xiaohui shook his head: "I don't understand. Normally, Xuanfu shouldn't do such a thing. Are you interested in finding a job in the casino?"

Member Mo sighed: "Now the Xuanfu Division has informed me that they want me to open an inn including a casino in the gambling city. I came to Luoyang this time just to discuss this matter. Alas, I know it in my heart This is an opportunity, but I’m afraid I’ll screw it up and be implicated.”

Chen Xiaohui said: "It means that the imperial court is the owner, and the officials are the owners of the inn? This is a good thing!"

Member Mo smiled bitterly: "The imperial court is the master. If it's good, it's a good thing. Once it goes bad, can the master still escape?"

Chen Xiaohui thought for a while and shook his head.

"Come on, once this inn is damaged, I, the boss, will have nowhere to run." Mo Yuanwai kept sighing. "And this is something that has never happened before. There are no rules for how to run this inn. It's good that I can gain the trust of the court. If I lose the trust, then - well, let's not talk about it, drink!"

The two hadn't seen each other for a long time. They had a great time drinking and talking all night.

Early the next morning, Chen Xiaohui and Member Mo went out to eat a bowl of wontons. After sitting in the teahouse for a while, seeing that it was getting late, Yuan Mo came to the Xuanfu Department.

When he arrived at the gatehouse of Xuanfu Division, he asked about the purpose of his visit, and the soldiers immediately went in to report.

Wang He, who was doing business, got the report and immediately came to Wang Xiao's hunting office. Report to Wang Xiaolie: "Mo Qiong, a prisoner from Xin'an County, was summoned by Xuanfu and is waiting outside the door. It is said that Xuanfu wants him to build an inn in the gambling city and he came here to discuss it."

Wang Xiaolie looked at Wang He in shock for a while, then suddenly slapped his head and said: "Oh, I forgot about this. Ask him to wait in the concierge. We have important things to discuss here. Go call Chen Qiudao and Chen Yuyi Come in with Wang Ruohai and say I have something important to discuss."

Wang He agreed, turned around and went out.

The soldiers returned to the concierge and asked Mo Yuanwai to wait temporarily, saying that the Xuanfu Department was discussing matters.

Member Mo was sitting outside the concierge. Seeing the people around him busy and no one paying attention to him, he couldn't help but feel bored. Not long after, Chen Qiudao, Chen Yuyi and Wang Ruohai came to Wang Xiaolie's official hall and sat down respectively.

Wang Xiaolie sat down with a tea cup and said: "We said before that we would build a new city in the east of Luoyang City to house all kinds of gambling establishments. You should still have the impression. Now that the new city has been built, we are waiting for the people inside. The place is open for business, let’s discuss it with you.”

Chen Qiudao said: "I have also heard about the new city in the east of the city. I heard that the city has a circumference of twenty miles and is a very big city. Is Xuanfu really going to turn it into a gambling city?"

Wang Xiaolie nodded: "That's exactly what I meant. You can express your opinion whether you agree or disagree."

Chen Qiudao shook his head repeatedly: "Of course I disagree. Xuanfu banned gambling in various prefectures and counties, so why did he build a gambling city around Luoyang? If built, the people would inevitably doubt Xuanfu's determination to ban gambling. Furthermore, the so-called small gambling Yiqing, big gambling is harmful to health. How many people are going bankrupt because of gambling? How can we build a city to encourage it?"

Wang Xiaolie turned to look at Chen Yuyi and Wang Ruohai and said, "What are your opinions?"

The two shook their heads.

Chen Yuyi said: "Counsel Chen has made the reasons for his objection very clear, so I won't go into them again. Besides, after much thought, I can't think of any benefits."

Wang Xiaolie patted the tea cup with his hand, and after a while he said: "The characteristic of human beings is that they have both individuality and sociality. However, it is not appropriate to subdivide what is individuality and what is sociality. It is just that we know that people have These two characteristics are just fine. This is because individuality and sociality are inherent characteristics of human beings, rather than being combined with individuality and sociality and then integrated into people. The sages discussed whether human nature is inherently good or human nature is inherently good. Evil is often a mixture of individuality and sociality, and it is difficult to say it is correct. To be correct, when discussing human nature, we must discuss people's individuality and sociality, and it is difficult to describe it in terms of good and evil."

Over the years, when discussing issues, Wang Xiaolie often starts from philosophical issues such as human nature and the fundamental understanding of the world. Wang Ruohai and Chen Yuyi had long been tired of listening, but Chen Qiudao was the only one who listened with gusto. After listening to it for a long time, you can gradually understand it.

Wang Xiaolie continued: "Society is made up of people. We can't just study people and society. We also need to study how people form society. This is just like studying substances in nature. We can't just study what a substance is made of, but also what substances it is made of. We need to study how society is formed. If we don’t study how people form society, we will often just talk about it like chickens and ducks, and we won’t be able to make any sense.”

"People form a society. We say it is a random combination, but it conforms to statistical laws. If you don't realize this, it is easy to fall into a situation where you either let it go or die if you take care of it. Of course, we don't know why it conforms to statistical laws. But it doesn’t stop us from taking advantage of this.”

"The so-called ban on gambling is because banning gambling is in the interest of the majority of people. Everyone must realize that it is in the interest of the majority of people, but in fact it means that it is not in the interest of everyone. When conditions are difficult, we can It requires some people to give up their own interests and do things that are in the interests of the majority of people. Now that the conditions are not difficult, of course compensation must be provided, which is to build a gambling city."

"The reason why the gambling city was established is because there are indeed some people who like gambling. Don't use human nature to talk about things. Human nature is the most unreliable. Sometimes individuality prevails, and you think one thing is the same thing. Some Sometimes sociality prevails, and you see one thing as another. The swing between individuality and sociality is human freedom. There is no good or bad, and there is no need to distinguish between wrong and right."

Sociality and individuality, in the words of later generations, are often classified as socialism and capitalism. Socialism talks about democracy. In many cases, the minority obeys the majority, resulting in a society speaking with one voice. Capitalism's emphasis on freedom often results in exalting the status of individuality, thus damaging the social process.

Which is higher or lower, personal or social? There is no unified answer, let alone which one is naturally correct. This is an inherent characteristic of human beings, and they are forcibly separated based on experience. How can there be high and low?

(End of this chapter)