radicalducati Chapter 42 Destroying the Tyranny of the Heavens
Chapter 42 Destroying the Tyranny of the Heavens
In real history, tea already existed during this period, but the tea at that time was different from the tea of later times, not to mention the tea-brewing method that Han Fei and Li Si were using.
This method of brewing tea had its beginnings in the Tang Dynasty, but it truly flourished and became mainstream in the Ming Dynasty.
Xunzi's tea has a remarkable origin; the water he used to brew it was dew collected from bamboo leaves every morning. Unfortunately, the bamboo in the forest at this moment is not the original body of Xunzi, so we cannot taste it.
Using lifelike robots as decoys in the Qin Dynasty world was, of course, for safety. They even used several layers of dolls: Cheng Yuan controlled Robot A, Robot A controlled Robot B, Robot B…
Cheng Yuan could control the simulation robot to go up himself because if he didn't go, no one else would.
For safety reasons, they naturally didn't use mind control. If a powerful being could track down the consciousness controlling the simulation robot, that would be terrible. Although there shouldn't be such a powerful being in the Qin Dynasty world, they still needed to have the necessary sense of survival.
However, Cheng Yuan and the three officials still pretended to taste it.
This caused Xunzi's expression to change almost imperceptibly: Could it be that he guessed wrong, and these four people were not mechanical puppets or corpses?
Xunzi then answered Cheng Yuan's second question: "In the current situation, there is nothing the people of the world can do but wait for Qin to win and see how many people will survive when Qin wins."
Cheng Yuandao said, "Didn't the old master once say, 'The ruler is the boat; the common people are the water; water can carry the boat, but it can also capsize it'? Why do you now say that the people of the world can do nothing but wait?"
Cheng Yuan didn't come to sit down and discuss philosophy with Xunzi. He simply asked Xunzi questions to reveal that the common people in the Qin Dynasty had another path to choose from, which was the path provided by the Trisolaran civilization.
Then they used this to recruit Xunzi.
Xunzi is a top talent in the Qin Dynasty world, and Cheng originally had the idea of turning the Qin Dynasty world into a talent training base. Now that a talent like Xunzi is right in front of us, shouldn't we recruit him?
Some might think that Xunzi was a Confucian scholar specializing in literature, so recruiting him wouldn't be of much use. However, a scholar like Xunzi could be transformed into a science student. As long as his wisdom remained, he wouldn't be bad at science either.
Recruiting Xunzi also had the effect of "buying a horse's bones with a thousand pieces of gold," which was conducive to the Three-Body Civilization taking root in the Qin Dynasty plane.
Moreover, Xunzi of Qin Shi was a top expert in the mortal realm of the Qin Shi world, with extremely high martial arts skills, which alone makes him very worthy of recruitment.
To recruit someone like Xunzi, you can't rely on money, beauty, or power. But you can deceive a gentleman by his principles. As long as Xunzi has a heart that cares about the common people, you can "deceive" him.
Xunzi said: "The common people are like water. The common people should know that they can become water, or that they can spontaneously become water under the pressure of circumstances. However, the common people in the world today neither know that they can become water, nor are there any circumstances that can force them to become water."
"When commoners unite their strength, they have the power to support or overthrow a ruler. If they do not unite their strength, they are like livestock tamed by the ruler. Their fate depends entirely on the ruler's will, and they have little control over their own lives."
Cheng Yuan nodded and said, "What the old master said is very true. It is indeed difficult for the people of the world to do anything on their own."
Xunzi glanced at Cheng Yuan, and Han Fei and Li Si also glanced at him, the two fellow disciples seemingly lost in thought.
This "relying solely on oneself"...
Xunzi continued, "You ask how to bring about great order to the world and prevent chaos from ever happening again?"
"In my opinion, the rule of law and propriety must be in harmony, the monarch must uphold benevolence, the princes and dukes must observe propriety, the common people must understand righteousness, and everyone in the world must live in peace and contentment. Only in this way can there be great order."
This is the moment we've been waiting for. Cheng Yuan said, "Forgive my bluntness, but the old master's intention is truly to entrust the great order of the world to the monarch and those princes and nobles."
Xunzi was not angry at Cheng Yuan's rebuttal. Instead, he asked, "Does Your Excellency have another plan? I would like to hear Your eloquent explanation!"
Cheng Yuandao said, "I wouldn't call it a profound theory, just a humble opinion. In my view as a member of the Three-Body School, there's only one reason why the world cannot be well-governed: it's not fair!"
"We are all born as human beings, so why do those princes and nobles have the right to ride roughshod over countless commoners? They don't farm or weave, so why do they get to eat the best food and wear the finest clothes? Why can they so easily decide the life and death of a commoner?"
"Why is it that when commoners are displaced by famine and forced to sell their children in the rain, the children of princes and nobles can leisurely sit in luxurious carriages, sheltering from the rain and eating delicious pastries?"
Han Fei was a prince, and although he knew that Cheng Yuan was telling the truth, he still defended himself by saying, "This is naturally because their ancestors worked hard, while the ancestors of commoners did not."
A cold smile appeared on the face of the lifelike robot controlled by Cheng Yuan: "Does Young Master Han Fei mean it's because the ancestors of the common people didn't work hard enough? I think someone stole the efforts of the common people's ancestors and then disguised them as their own. This is essentially due to the unfair distribution of labor!"
"Furthermore, the efforts of our ancestors are not a reason for them to ride roughshod over the common people and suck their blood. It's amusing that bloodsucking insects cling to their hosts and blame them for not working hard enough."
Han Fei said, "Is your proposed method of great governance to eliminate all kings and nobles and grant fairness to the common people?"
Cheng Yuandao said: "If the world is to be well-governed, there is only one way: equality for all. There will be no longer any distinction between kings and commoners. Everyone will live fairly in the world and obtain what they need through their own labor. Then, great order will naturally be achieved."
Li Si said, "What you say is indeed a method, but it is absolutely impossible to implement. First of all, there is a problem: what power can be used to maintain fairness for everyone?"
Secondly, what kind of "fairness" qualifies as "fairness"?
"Furthermore, the kings and nobles of the various states will not allow commoners to be treated as equals with them."
Li Si only raised three questions and then stopped, because he felt that was enough, and that these three questions alone could not possibly solve the problem.
Cheng Yuandao: "What if we could do that? What if we could dismantle the rule of kings and nobles, so that all commoners would no longer be livestock tamed by kings or slaves under the rule of nobles? Would the old master join us for the sake of the commoners of this world?"
These words caused a significant change in the expressions of the three masters and their disciples.
Could this mysterious Trisolaran family really do something so impossible?
Cheng Yuan continued, "The reasons we have come to visit you, Master, are twofold: first, we wish to invite you to join us, for this world should not be like this; it can become better; second, we wish to inquire of you about some matters. Do you know of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden?"
When Han Fei and Li Si heard the words "Nine Heavens Mysterious Lady," they felt that the turn of events was quite abrupt. One moment they were discussing how to bring peace to the world, and the next they were talking about myths and legends.
Xunzi said, "I have heard some legends about the Nine Heavens Mysterious Lady, but they are only legends."
"In legend, the Nine Heavens Mysterious Lady was the first goddess in ancient times. She was born before the world was created. There was no heaven and earth, nor human beings. After the Nine Heavens Mysterious Lady was born, she created the heaven and earth, the sun and moon, and human beings from chaos."
"The Nine Heavens Mysterious Lady has helped mankind many times. It is said that when the Yellow Emperor fought against Chi You, the Nine Heavens Mysterious Lady helped the Yellow Emperor. However, after that battle, the Nine Heavens Mysterious Lady disappeared from the world."
Cheng Yuan asked, "Where did the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden go?"
Xunzi shook his head and said, "This, I do not know. If you are interested in this, you might as well visit the Daoist or Yin-Yang schools."
Cheng Yuan was not disappointed by Xunzi's answer. Xunzi came from a Confucian family and was not particularly interested in matters of gods and demons. It was quite remarkable that he knew these things.
Xunzi looked at Cheng Yuan and asked, "Does the Three-Body School want to find the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden and borrow her power to bring fairness to the world?"
Cheng Yuan shook his head and said, "No, we just want to find her, we don't mean to rely on her. I will give the common people of this world a chance, a chance for everyone to be equal."
Xunzi did not ask Cheng Yuan how he would do it, but simply said, "If you can truly do what you say, I will accept your invitation."
Xunzi longed to see a world where everyone was equal, even if he died the moment he saw it: "If I hear the Way in the morning, I can die content in the evening."
Han Fei said, "If Your Excellency wishes to accomplish this, you will have to wage war against the seven states. In doing so, the already chaotic situation in the world will become even more chaotic, and countless people will die."
Cheng Yuan said, "Young Master Han Fei, you can rest assured that not many people will die. Only the remnants of the old world will die."
Han Fei was puzzled by the man's confidence. He paused for a moment, then asked, "May I ask how you will deal with the princes and dukes of various states if things succeed?"
Cheng Yuan said, "Those who kill should pay with their lives, those who are guilty should be punished, and those who are innocent should be pardoned. If Young Master Han Fei wishes to protect certain people in Han, he can go back and inform them immediately."
From the very beginning, Cheng Yuan had no intention of keeping the nobles and royalty of this world, nor did he have any intention of cooperating with them.
If all the nobles and officials in the Qin Dynasty world were executed, there might be some who were wrongly accused. But if every other one was executed, there would definitely be some who escaped.
Han Fei said, "Thank you for your frankness!"