Taiping Inn

The Earth Master waved his sleeves, and a rectangular portal appeared in front of the two. Then the Earth Master grabbed Li Xuandu's shoulders and walked into the portal, as if passing through an invisible boundary, rippling layers of water ripples, and disappeared in a flash.

The other side of the portal was far away from Loulan City, and there was no green at all, only yellow sand Gobi and vast desert.

Li Xuandu knew in his heart that the Earth Master used the "Yin Yang Gate" technique to forcibly take him away from Loulan City. The "Yin Yang Gate" is not a difficult Taoist technique. The Taoist priests in the Xuanyuan Realm can use it initially, and even a warrior like Li Xuandu can use it after entering the Creation Realm. As for the immortals in the Changsheng Realm using this method, the biggest difference from the Taoist priests in the Xuanyuan Realm is the word "distance". The Xuanyuan Realm is at most tens or hundreds of miles away. If there are treasures or secret methods, it can be farther, while the immortals can easily reach thousands of miles.

Since the geomancer had no intention of killing him for the time being, Li Xuandu calmed down and asked, "I'm curious, what exactly is the geomancer going to do?"

The geomancer glanced at Li Xuandu and asked, "What do you think I'm doing?"

Li Xuandu pondered for a moment and said, "At first, I thought the geomancer had old grudges with several generations of emperors of Wei and wanted to fight for his own emperorship, but later I found that the geomancer was not very interested in being an emperor, so I later came up with an idea that the geomancer seemed to prefer to be the emperor's teacher."

The geomancer smiled but said nothing.

Li Xuan hesitated for a moment and continued, "But after I met Geng Yue, I changed my mind again. From the 'Eight Divisions', Shangguan Wan, Geng Yue, Shang Xi and others, we can see some traces that the geomancer can always make people's cultivation progress greatly, far exceeding the normal cultivation speed. Obviously, the result of a normal person going from the solid state to the immortal state is unpredictable. Whether or not you can make it to the end really depends on chance. In other words, hard work may not be rewarded, just like a gamble. The geomancer seems to want to change this rule and turn the gamble into a buying and selling transaction. How much money you pay can buy back how much. If the geomancer succeeds, it is foreseeable that a sufficiently powerful court will control the entire world. Unlike the current Wei court and the courts of previous dynasties, the court, as the nominal master of the world, will definitely control the most resources and can also create the most immortal earth immortals. Then, with a strong military force, The imperial court will certainly sweep away all local tyrants and strengthen centralization, which will really make the world's talents all in our wheel. However, this is just my guess. It is still unknown whether the geomancer has such a plan. In addition, I have another guess, that is, the geomancer has no intention of the rise and fall of dynasties, but wants to establish a sect that coexists with the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, so as to continue to be a model for future generations. Geomancer, I wonder how much I guessed right? "

The geomancer showed an undisguised admiration on his face, "Although it is not right, it is not far off."

Li Xuandu said: "I would like to hear the details."

The geomancer smiled faintly, "You have been to the Wanxiang Academy, and you must have heard of Sikong Daoxuan's theory, that is, the theory of rise and fall. At the end of each dynasty, there are too many people and too little land, and the land is annexed. The land cannot support so many people, and a great chaos will inevitably break out, reduce the population, redistribute the land, and then there will be another peaceful and prosperous era. "

Li Xuandu nodded.

"This statement is not wrong, but it has some limitations." The geomancer was like a teacher answering questions for his students. "Since ancient times, when money was in short supply, the only means of dealing with it were to increase revenue and reduce expenditure. The rise and fall of dynasties also depended on these two ways. To increase revenue is to conquer foreign countries and expand territory. However, this has a disadvantage. If the territory is too vast and too large, the court will be unable to reach it, which may lead to the independence of border areas and break away from the control of the court. This is something that many dynasties do not want to see. Moreover, once the dynasty weakens, these lands are also easy to lose. The 19 states of the Wei Dynasty are almost the limit now. Saving money means rectifying the administration, implementing new policies, and curbing land annexation. This move also has disadvantages, that is, it touches the interests of the powerful at all levels, from cabinet members to scholars, all of whom hate it, so it is difficult to move forward, and if you are not careful, you will be backlashed. This is also the reason why Zhang Suqing and others wanted to do it but failed. "

Li Xuandu nodded again, indicating that he agreed with what the geomancer said, and then asked: "Does the geomancer have a solution?"

The geomancer did not answer directly, but said: "Confucianism For so many years, what I have been thinking about is the great harmony of the world. The way of the great way is that the world is for the public, the virtuous and the capable are selected, and trust and harmony are emphasized. Therefore, people not only love their relatives and their children, but also ensure that the elderly have a place to live, the strong have a place to work, the young have a place to grow, and the widowed, the lonely, the disabled and the sick are all taken care of. Men have their share, and women have their home. Goods that are abandoned on the ground do not need to be hidden for oneself, and strength that is not used by oneself does not need to be used for oneself. Therefore, conspiracies are not raised, thefts and robbers are not committed, and the outer doors are not closed. This is called great harmony. "

"How to achieve the great harmony of the world? The solution proposed by the Confucian school is benevolence, righteousness, morality and propriety. Confucius said that Benevolence, Mencius said, is about righteousness. Confucianism believes that everyone in the world has high morals, and the world is for the public, which is the world of great harmony. Not to mention the complexity of human nature, the ancient sages said: "When the granaries are full, people know etiquette, and when they have enough food and clothing, they know honor and disgrace." If the people can't even eat enough, how can they talk about observing etiquette and benevolence and morality? Therefore, the world of great harmony of Confucianism will always float in the sky and never fall on the ground. I wonder if Zifu agrees with me? "

Li Xuandu said in a deep voice: "Master Geomancer is right."

Master Geomancer said: "The Confucian method doesn't work, so I started to think of a feasible method. "

"If you want to know etiquette, whether it is Confucianism, Taoism, Mo and Dharma, it cannot be separated from the words of the book. As today, among the hundreds of people, only one person can read and write. Why is this? Because the livelihood is difficult, scholars are not good at it. It is difficult to produce, not farming or working, and it is difficult to support such a scholar. Take rice fields as an example. If it is a tenant, under normal years, the yield of more than 300 kilograms of rice per mu will be given half of the rent, and it will also be rented. It is difficult to support a scholar who is left with one hundred and fifty kilograms of rice. How can one support a scholar who is not good at production? Therefore, poor families cannot produce scholars. The so-called poor families among scholars are for ordinary people. It is said that it is also a wealthy family, but compared with those wealthy families, they have become the title of a poor family after they are defeated."

"I can't do literature, so I began to think about going to the martial arts, training troops and conquering, and expanding territory, but it still doesn't work. Because elite soldiers are not allowed to do production and need others to support them, almost ten people can support one soldier. If they have been raised, they have never been able to support one soldier. There are many things, and the imperial treasury is overwhelmed, and taxes are bound to be imposed, and the people are in trouble and cannot be sustained. It would be fine if they continue to win the battles against the outside world. Once they fail, internal and external troubles will arise and they will be destroyed in an instant. Therefore, since ancient times, there have been poor soldiers. The saying of ousting Wu.”

"I put these two roads together. The reason why it is unsustainable is the same problem. I read historical books. When the Zulong unified the world, the population was about 30 million, while during the reign of Emperor Shizong of this dynasty, the population was about 6,000. Ten thousand, doubled, why is this? In addition to constantly expanding the land, the key lies in the development of farming technology. But this is not enough. In today's normal years, the yield per mu of rice is more than 300 kilograms. If you can double the yield per mu, you can get 600 kilograms, then all the problems I mentioned will be solved."

"But it cannot be solved, so all dynasties could only focus on agriculture and suppress commerce. The emperor personally plowed in spring, and the queen raised silkworms and relied silk, all of which were important to farming. The people were the most important, the country was the next, the king was the least, and the people took food as the most. Where does the food come from? From the fields, this is why scholars, farmers, industry and commerce rank second. The people who farm are the largest number of people in the world. No matter what they do, they must first solve the problem of farming and food and clothing. The extra farmer can work, go to business, join the army, and even learn from etiquette. I have been to Qiantang Mansion, where the silk is very good and the supply is in short supply, but Qiantang Mansion has less land and even less mulberry fields, which makes it produce every year Silk has a fixed number. If the agricultural problem can be solved, some rice fields can be converted into mulberry fields. The extra people can raise silkworms and reel silk, and then expand the silk production and sell it overseas in exchange for silver. But if the agricultural problem cannot be solved, , the rice fields cannot be converted into mulberry fields, otherwise the people will starve to death and stir up civil unrest."

Li Xuan was thinking, and after a while he raised his head again, changing his name, "Mr. Xu has any good ideas?"

The earth master smiled faintly and said, "Yes, I have been to Taiping Sect. The skills of the mechanism are developed. If the techniques of the mechanism are applied to water conservancy and irrigation, how much manpower can be saved? The ancient Zaoge Sect refines the "Indra Shitian" capital. No matter how you are, it is even easier to cultivate some drought-resistant and insect-resistant seeds. There are also various fertilizers. I heard that there are methods to ripen and increase production in Miaozhen Sect. It is never circulated and is only used to cultivate medicinal fields for alchemy. The use of the other sects also have similar means, but none of them have thought about starting from the root and only thinking about how to compete for the world and develop the sect."

Li Xuandu was silent for a long time after hearing this. He has been looking for a way out. Now the Earth Master has helped him find a way out. He couldn't help but sigh, "Since ancient times, Confucianism has been working hard and rarely considers practical things. If Confucianism is The saints are not always entangled in the principles of nature, human desires and morals. If you think more about these real difficulties in people's livelihood, you will not be hungry all over the world today."

Master Di said, "In this way, Zifu recognizes me."

Li Xuandu sighed lightly: "No matter what, I was fortunate to meet Mr. Xu. Being able to hear Mr. Xu's high arguments will benefit me a lot. If there were no such disputes, I would really be willing to have a chat with Mr. Xu. Listen to Mr.’s teachings. As for what Mr. said just now, I need to think about it carefully.”

"You really have to think about it." Di Shi said with a faint smile, "Just read the saint's book. It is better to cultivate oneself and manage the family. It is better to use it to govern the country and pacify the world."