Thousand-year-old family: its rise began with Shang Yang’s reforms

Chapter 486 Switching sides in battle
Meng Jie and the others were silent.

The smarter people are, the less they should participate in debates, because they can easily and even uncontrollably think about whether what the other party says is correct.

This is also the reason why the more you debate, the clearer the truth becomes.

During the debate, both sides are thinking about the arguments made by the other side with their brains thinking at a rapid pace. If their own views are tenable at this time, it would be good. If not, it would be a very tragic thing.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, there was a debate between the New Text School of Confucianism and the Old Text School of Confucianism. It was a debate between He Xiu, the "Ocean of Learning", and Zheng Xuan, the "God of Confucianism". At the end of the debate, He Xiu knew that he was defeated, so he claimed to be defeated, and the title of God of Confucianism fell on Zheng Xuan.

The situation today is not much different from that time.

But there is a difference.

That is, the two parties in the debate were not evenly matched. Chen Yu's strength completely surpassed Meng Jie and others - more importantly, the principles Chen Yu talked about were true thoughts that transcended the times and all current thoughts.

"Science and truth-seeking", this idea can blow up all other ideas no matter what era or time it is placed in.

In the face of this idea, Confucianism is nothing but a castle in the air, nothing more than that.

Meng Jie and the others sighed, then bowed and said, "We lost, but Confucianism did not lose."

Chen Yu also bowed and saluted. There was a hint of emotion on the faces of people on both sides. They all understood that, so-called, we have lost, but Confucianism has not lost. It was just that both sides gave each other an excuse to save face.

We still have to move forward on this road.

When Chen Yu's carriage was carrying him slowly away into the distance, Meng Jie and the others stood on the dusty road with a slightly sad look on their faces. He said softly, "The strangulation of Confucianism that the politicians failed to complete back then has finally come, almost a thousand years late."

Yes!

Apart from being a little stubborn, Meng Jie has a very useful brain and is a very intelligent person.

He saw at a glance that the so-called "scientific and realist" ideas were nothing more than the inheritance of the "politicians" of the past, or in other words, Chen Yu's implementation and summary of the ideas of "Chen Ye", the ancestor of the Chen family.

This is a stranglehold that has lasted for thousands of years, a stranglehold on Confucianism, a stranglehold on people's thoughts, and a stranglehold on the many schools of thought in the world.

Chen Yu did not want to become the first Zi besides Chen Ye after the era of the Hundred Schools of Thought. He wanted to elevate the already high and mighty "Chen Zi" Chen Ye to a higher altar and make him a saint. Then he would thoroughly perfect Chen Ye's thoughts and complete the strangling of the Hundred Schools of Thought that Chen Ye had failed to complete at the end of the era of the Hundred Schools of Thought.

This is the stark reality.

Xun Jie and Yan Ting had a deeper understanding. After all, they were younger and were actually in charge of many affairs of the two families: "It is not only about strangling the various philosophers from thousands of years ago, but also about completing the great purge that was not completed back then."

Xun Jie sighed softly, then turned his head, looked at Yan Ting and said, "Your Yan family has not violated Yan Hui's ambitions over the years, and has always been on the right path. It is very likely that your family will not be included in this purge."

He laughed at himself and said, "Our Xun family is different. We have abandoned the path of our ancestors and are now on a path that makes people struggle."

Meng Jie turned around, looked at Xun Jie who was smiling bitterly, and said softly: "Who is laughing at whom? Who is not like this?"

He straightened his back: "But for us, perhaps we still have a chance to correct it for the time being."

Meng Jie had a slight smile on his face. He pointed at the billowing smoke and said, "Didn't that person give us a hint? He told us that as long as we are ruthless and cleanse ourselves, we can still preserve a part of ourselves during the great cleansing."

"In that case, what is there for us to struggle about?"

He said frankly: "Let's go. Since we have already failed, we can retreat and wait for the results of the battle ahead."

"Yuzi, we are not the only ones that you will encounter along the way."

The carriage continued to move forward slowly. Before arriving at the next city as Meng Jie and others had said, several middle-aged men were sitting in the middle of the road with frank expressions.

One level after another, if you want to fight from south to north, you must face enemies from south to north. Some of these enemies were Chen’s friends in the past, but now... they either have other purposes, or simply come to discuss Taoism.

But in general, they all stood against Chen.

Chen Yu slowly walked down from the carriage. He looked at the middle-aged men sitting opposite him and bowed.

This is inevitable.

Chen Yu might have to perform many formalities along the way just to save face, but this time was definitely not the case. This ceremony was performed on behalf of the ancestor Chen Ye.

"Meet Mr. Gongsun."

Gongsun Ming!
Or you can call him Shang Ming, Wei Ming, or even Ji Ming.

He is the descendant of Shang Yang, who presided over the "Shang Yang Reform" during the reign of Duke Mu of Qin. He is also the descendant of Chen Ye, the ancestor of the Chen family!
He is also one of the most outstanding representatives of Legalism today, besides Chen’s disciples.

Shang Ming slowly opened his eyes and looked at Chen Yu standing in front of him with a serious expression and also bowed politely.

The confrontation between the two was extremely brief, so brief that most people didn't even notice the "struggle" between them. They just heard the two men exchange a few brief words before Shang Ming bowed and retreated.

"What is the so-called truth-seeking?"

“Use what you need when you need it.”

"Won't such changes confuse people's minds?"

"Laws have laws, morals have morals, why is there confusion? There are many kinds of people in the world, so to govern people in the world, we should use laws that suit all kinds of people."

"Are scientists the Mohist theory of mechanism?"

"Science is the study of the principles of heaven and earth. The so-called method of gunpowder and the so-called principles of the operation of heaven, earth and all things are all science, not Mohist."

After just a brief exchange of words, Shang Ming retreated directly.

When Chen Yu's carriage continued to move slowly forward, the young man who was serving beside him walked up to Shang Ming with a look of curiosity and hesitation on his face. "Uncle, what are you talking about? You failed after just a few words?"

"Isn't this too embarrassing for us merchants? Will people in the world look down on us Legalists?"

Shang Ming had been watching Chen Yu's departing carriage with an admiring look. After hearing this, he looked at his nephew with a very complicated look, with a helpless and tired look on his face. Finally, he could only say, "No wonder your father didn't let you study or serve as an official. With your brain, if you serve as an official, wouldn't you be a disaster to the people? If you were allowed to study, I'm afraid you wouldn't understand anything."

But no matter what, this is his own nephew, so Shang Ming could only break it down and explain the reason to him.

"My first question was, on the surface, asking Chen Yu what a realist is, but in fact, asking whether a realist would pose a threat to other schools of thought, such as Dong Zhongshu's desire to "abolish all schools of thought and uphold Confucianism". Chen Yu's answer was, on the surface, telling me that a realist would use whatever is needed when it is needed."

"In fact, it was to tell me that the realists would not let the various schools of thought perish, because the ideas of the various schools of thought are all useful, just like the realists are people, and the various schools of thought are tools used by people."

“If the various schools of thought have disappeared, it is only a superficial disappearance. In fact, they have already been integrated into the flesh and blood of the realists.”

"I also asked, if we don't stick to one school of thought, will the people confuse the various schools of thought?"

"Chen Yu's answer told me that each school still governs the people of the world according to its own ideas, but when targeting different people, different schools are used, and each type of person can also divide different ideas."

"This is to appease the hearts of the various schools of thought and tell them that their ideas will not die out in name only, because as long as the core of their ideas remains unchanged, they will remain the same in the hearts of the people."

"I asked Chen Yu again if the so-called science was the study of the mechanical arts of the Mohist school, because this belonged to the craftsmen. Although the reputation of the craftsmen had been vindicated in the late Han Dynasty and the early years of the Dayu Dynasty, there were still some people who looked down on the craftsmen."

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"Chen Yu explained that scientists study the principles of heaven and earth. They study the reasons for the existence of all things, while craftsmen study repetitive mechanisms. Perhaps craftsmen are scientists at a certain moment, but when they sink into repetitive work and stop studying new things and relying on heaven and earth, they can only be craftsmen."

"This is the thought of science and realism."

After Shang Ming finished explaining, he looked at his nephew's still confused expression, wiped his face, sighed, and said with regret: "Why don't you have a bit of Chen Yu's intelligence?"

"Chen Yu is a contemporary talent. He is the most outstanding talent of the Chen family in the past hundred years. He can even be counted as one of the top talents in the entire Chen family for nearly a thousand years."

"I don't ask you to have one in a hundred of his, but one in a thousand or one in ten thousand will do."

Shang Tong just chuckled and scratched his head, looking extremely honest.

He just listened to his uncle's nagging, but there was a hint of indifference in his eyes. He was indeed not cut out for it, but that didn't mean he couldn't do anything.

In that case, why bother with him so much?

After Chen Yu got off the carriage, he straightened his clothes and was about to debate with the man in front of him when he suddenly laughed and asked directly, "May I ask, Mr. Yu, does the thought of the Realists include some of the thoughts of Confucianism, Taoism, or even Dong Zhongshu's ancestors?"

Chen Yu was stunned, then nodded.

There is nothing that cannot be acknowledged. The thought of scientists and realists is to draw on the strengths of many schools of thought and take the essence of various schools of thought for their own use.

Although some of Dong Zhongshu's ideas are not very good, they are still very good overall, because what did he absorb from Dong Zhongshu's ideas?

Seeing Chen Yu nod in agreement, Dong Rui suddenly felt relieved.

Then this gentleman looked at Chen Yu in front of him and said directly: "Our ancestors also learned from many schools of thought and integrated the essence of hundreds of schools into Confucianism, so they created Dong's Confucianism. Now you can learn from many schools of thought and create new ideas. This is the greatest blessing in the world."

"Our ancestors left us a will, telling us not to become obstacles to new ideas, but to become helpers of new ideas. Now is the time to do so."

He bowed slightly and said, "We will not obstruct you any more, sir. However, we have a request."

Dong Rui looked at Chen Yu and said, "I have read your classics and I am considered half a realist. So I want to be your vanguard and meet the person who is blocking me."

"Please sir, please grant me your permission."

what?
Even Chen Yu was shocked by Dong Rui's words. He never thought that Dong Rui would be such a person.
He felt helpless and held his forehead with his hand and said, "Sir, why do you have to do this?"

His original intention was to advise Dong Rui that there was no need to do this, but Dong Rui started to play dumb and just looked at Chen Yu and said, "What's so shameful about being a pawn for the new saint?"

"Please help me, sir."

Chen Yu nodded helplessly and said, "In that case, I'll trouble you, sir."

京都
Since Chen Yu came here, every time he encountered someone blocking his way, every debate he had would quickly spread to Chang'an and to all parts of the world.

When people heard Chen Yu debating with Meng Jie and others, they were excited and indignant. When Meng Jie and others were defeated, everyone felt as if their necks were being strangled, but they were also happy for Chen Yu.

When Chen Yu was debating with Shang Ming, just a few words were enough to make this contemporary master of Legalism bow his head. They felt that Chen Yu was already on the path to becoming Chen Sheng.

This is still true today.

But when people heard that the Dong family, the Confucianist who was second only to Kong An and Kong Yingda among the existing Confucianists and the largest Confucian family besides the Kong family, not only did not argue with Chen Yu, but also directly turned against him and helped Chen Yu attack the Confucian disciples he met along the way.
There was a strange look on people's faces.

After a long time, someone sighed.

"As expected of the Dong family."

Everyone laughed at the same time.

The fourth year of Zhenguan, autumn and winter.

When the first snow of the fourth year of Zhenguan slowly fell, the sound of horses and carriages could be heard outside Chang'an City.

The world-famous Chen Yu has arrived in Chang'an.

PS: Some accidents happened. Tenosynovitis and acute gastroenteritis attacked me at the same time some time ago, which used up all my accumulated manuscripts. Moreover, I got into a plot that was not easy to write, so it was not easy to start writing 10,000 ten thousand articles a day. So the promised 10,000 ten thousand articles a day this month had to be delayed for a while, to next month or February.

This month, I will do my best to save manuscripts to ensure stable updates while leaving enough for next month.
I kowtow to my readers.
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(End of this chapter)