Confucian self-cultivation: Scholars start from Daqin

The next day, the four of them got out from under the snow, washed themselves in the icy snow water, and then continued on the road.

When it was close to noon, I came across a small town.

After inquiring, the four of them looked at each other in blank dismay: They actually deviated from the direction!

Going further north will enter the land of Donghu.

With a wry smile, the four replenished their food, adjusted their direction and continued on the road.

Finally, after more than half a month, they arrived at the capital of Yan Kingdom:

Jicheng! .tongue.

Chapter 76 The Gentleman Stays Away from the Kitchen

Jidu, the Beijing of later generations, is probably in the area of ​​Guang'anmen.

Of course, nothing can be seen now, it is just a small capital city, not as good as Daliang, not as good as Xianyang, not as good as Linzi, Handan and Yingdu, and it can even wrestle with Xinzheng.

The Yan Kingdom is considered to be the orthodox descendant of Ji Zhou, and the New Year is approaching, and Jidu also has a bit of a New Year's flavor.

Continuing the custom of the Zhou Dynasty, on New Year's Eve in Yan State, "on the day before the year before, drums are played to drive away the ghosts of the epidemic, which is called expulsion, also known as Nuo".

The New Year is to sacrifice to the heavens and pray for good weather in the coming year.

The peddlers were also pulling their goods to the capital in carts, and the four of Gao Jing waited in line to enter the city.

In addition to merchants, there are also many woodcutters who sell dry firewood and charcoal, which made Gao Jing think of "The Charcoal Seller" inexplicably.

After finally entering the city, Yan Lingji was obviously a little disappointed while walking and watching: "It's far worse than Handan."

Xinzheng still has "extravagance" at any rate, and Jidu really has nothing, not to mention the weather is so cold.

Now the country bumpkin's vision has also been opened.

Gao Jing thought for a while and asked, "Do you know what Jidu is most famous for?"

Yan Lingji was curious: "What is famous here?"

Gao Jingdao: "I heard that there is a Feixue pavilion in Jidu, and there is a splashing jade and flying flower platform in the Feixue pavilion.

It is said that only the most famous 400 dancers in the Seven Kingdoms can dance on it.The entire stage is made of jade, the dancers dance, and the water drips down like jade flying flowers, so it is called splashing jade flying flower stage. "

Yan Lingji's beautiful eyes lit up: "Then let's go and have a look!"

Black and white Xuan Jian and Dian Qing both looked indifferent.

Gao Jing nodded and waved his hand: "Then go and have a look!"

He also wanted to see how beautiful Lingbo Feiyan, who had amazed the Seven Kingdoms, was.

It's easy to inquire about the location of Feixue Pavilion, it's on a street not far from King Yan's Palace, but Gao Jing and the others couldn't get in.

Ten gold tickets!

Plus the money for wine and food inside... If you want to dance, at least a hundred gold will be prepared.

And the number one Snow Girl in Feixue Pavilion, the only dancer who can be on the Splashing Jade and Feihua Stage, once every fifteen (bhdj) days, the ticket is [-] gold.

Gao Jing brought a hundred gold with him when he went out from Xiaoshengxianzhuang, and now he has spent almost all of it.

The four poor ghosts naturally couldn't enter such a lofty place as Feixue Pavilion.

……

I found an inn to stay temporarily.

Gao Jing gathered the three of them together, and said seriously, "We have to find a way to get some money."

Black and white Xuanjian held the two swords at his waist: "Who is the richest in Jidu?"

The other three all squinted at him: "..."

Ignoring Black and White Xuanjian's words directly, Yan Lingji thought for a while, opened her hand, and the flames ignited in the palm: "I can perform tricks!"

Dianqing also said in a muffled voice: "Didn't you say that many people like to see the boulders on their chests?"

"..."

Gao Jing was a little embarrassed, thought for a while, and said, "Maybe we can set up a stall and sell some food and snacks. I'm pretty good at it."

This time it was the turn of the other three to squint at him.

Black and white Xuanjian said silently: "Didn't it say that "a gentleman stays away from the kitchen"?"

"People in the world misunderstand Confucianism very much!"

Gao Jing sighed, and said: "If you want to understand the original meaning of Mencius's words, you can't just look at these words, but also contact the scene when he said them!"

Yan Lingji thought for a while, and recited: "Seeing his life, he can't bear to see him die; hearing his voice, he can't bear to eat his meat. So a gentleman stays away from the kitchen!"

Gao Jing shook his head.

Yan Lingji was stunned: "Is there any other explanation?"

Gao Jing explained: "At the beginning, Mencius traveled to various countries to promote his idea of ​​"benevolent government and kingly way", and the last stop was Qi State.

Mencius is a bit upright, although he said he was promoting his own ideas, but he actually scolded him all the way, scolding the king, scolding the ministers, scolding the powerful, scolding a hundred schools of thought..."

Yan Lingji couldn't help wondering, "Then why wasn't he killed?"

Gao Jing "coughed" and said, "Being upright is powerful! Those people were scolded, not only did they not kill Mencius, but instead offered gold and sent Mencius away respectfully, because Mencius scolded him justly!"

Dianqing was also curious, and asked, "Then what happened next?"

Gao Jingdao: "The State of Qi was Mencius' last stop, and it was also the last chance to promote his ideas. In addition, King Qi Xuan had just succeeded to the throne at that time, and he was relatively humble, so it was rare for Mencius to say something good."

Yan Lingji became interested: "What did he say?"

Gao Jingdao: "Mencius said: I heard that one day the king was sitting in the hall and saw someone leading an ox passing by. When the king saw it, he asked where to take the ox.

The man who led the ox said: "I'm going to kill and sacrifice to heaven."

The king said: Let it go!

The man who led the ox asked: Then don't sacrifice to heaven?

The king said: Use sheep instead.

After telling this story, Mencius said: The people misunderstand that the king is stingy and reluctant to part with a cow, but I know that the king cannot bear to see the cow trembling in fear, as if he was sentenced to death for no crime. kind heart! "

After Gao Jing finished speaking, Yan Lingji blinked: "This is... Mencius' good words?"

"To Mencius, this is flattering!"

Gao Jing continued angrily: "Anyway, King Xuan of Qi was very happy to hear it, and said modestly: Don't blame the people for misunderstood me.

Then Mencius went on to say: "Seeing the death of the ox with my own eyes, but not seeing the death of the sheep, people are like this, and they only have a heart of kindness for the things they see."

Even a gentleman is like this. When he sees them alive, he can't bear to see them die, and when he hears their wailing, he can't bear to eat their flesh. That's why a gentleman stays away from the kitchen.

Ordinary people can be kind to themselves, but as a king, they can't do this. The kindness of a king can't be limited to what you see, but should be extended to everyone...

After that, Mencius began to promote his benevolent government and kingly way to King Xuan of Qi... Finally he scolded King Xuan of Qi and went back to his hometown to teach. "

"puff!"

Yan Lingji couldn't help covering her mouth, and suddenly said: "So that's how it is!"

Dianqing also nodded, and finally understood the true meaning of "a gentleman stays away from the kitchen".

Black and white Xuanjian said silently: "What does this have to do with how we got the money?"

Three people: "...".

Chapter 77 Making Money

People in later generations are used to commenting on Confucius and Mencius together. In fact, until the Song Dynasty, Mencius was not liked by the kings, let alone a "sub-sage".

Mencius' thought can be said to be the "enemy of life" of all kings!

Something like "the king treats the people like grass, and the people treats the king like a bandit" is good, even Mencius said it even more.

"If you have a serious mistake, you will be admonished, and if you don't listen to it repeatedly, you will change your position."

If the king makes a mistake, he will advise him. If he does not listen and commits the crime again, then change the king.

Mencius dared to say such words.

The entire book "Mencius" is full of all kinds of tyrannical kings. After reading it, Zhu Yuanzhang felt too substituting, so angry that he wanted to remove Mencius from the Confucius Temple.

Therefore, from the end of the Warring States period, Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, Sui, Tang, Song, and Mencius' ideas have not been accepted.

In terms of traffic, he is not as good as Xunzi, at best he can be regarded as a second-rate star.

Taking "supreme Confucianism" as the watershed, before it was the "Zi Xue Era", and after that it was the "Confucian Confucian Era", and Mencius did not belong to either party.

Later, through the unremitting efforts of Confucianism, the "Mencius Promotion Movement" was carried out. Han Yu discussed orthodoxy, Wang Anshi vigorously promoted it, and Zhu Xi annotated the "Four Books", linking "Mencius" with the imperial examination...

It was only then that Mencius' thoughts spread slowly, and finally in the Yuan Dynasty, he entered the Confucian Temple and became a "sub-sage".

In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to move Mencius out, but Confucianists sacrificed their lives to fight for it, and finally deleted "Mencius" reluctantly.

But the spirit of Mencius has always influenced Confucianism.

"Give up your life for righteousness"!

"Although there are thousands of people, I will go on"!

"Wealth and honor cannot be promiscuous, poverty and lowliness cannot be moved, and might cannot be subdued"!

Zhuge Liang's "Dedicate yourself to death and then die", Wang Anshi's "If you can't do your best, you can have no regrets"...

The saying "Long live the people" by the great men of later generations originated from Mencius.

……

Yan Lingji held the wordless book in her hand, and the pages were opened.

Gao Jing's hands were full of mud, and he used mud to paste a strangely shaped "stove".

While blurting, he turned his head to compare the pages of the book.

Dianqing and Black and White Xuanjian came back with a bag of sand each, and when they saw the strange "stove", they were taken aback for a moment.