Handan, Longtai side hall.

Zhao Dan stared at Zhao Heng, the prince of Zhao State in front of him, standing in front of him, reciting the assignments assigned by the teacher, with a look of relief on his face.

After more than a year of study, Zhao Heng, who is still a teenager, has obviously grown taller, and thin fluff has begun to grow on the corners of his mouth. He looks a bit like an adult.

As for the lessons assigned by these teachers, Zhao Dan actually didn't take them too seriously.

After Zhao Heng finished reciting at Zhao Dan, Zhao Dan asked Zhao Heng a few more questions and confirmed that he had indeed understood the lessons assigned by the teacher. Then he nodded with satisfaction and said to Zhao Heng: "Stay here later and have a meal with your father."

Zhao Heng seemed very excited about being able to have dinner with his father, which made Zhao Dan feel a little moved. He seemed to be too "obsessed" in government affairs and had not had a good chat with his eldest son for a long time.

Perhaps it was because of this faint guilt in his heart that Zhao Dan did not have strict requirements for Zhao Heng as he had always been. Instead, he was looking for some topics to chat with Zhao Heng. The whole atmosphere was very relaxed, and even a few laughs occasionally sounded.

Zhao Heng obviously gradually adapted to this chat atmosphere and began to tell Zhao Dan some interesting things that happened between the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"Father, I think you don't know that since the Mohist school entered the Chinese Academy, the relationship between Confucian scholars and Mohist schoolmen has been very tense. A while ago, I often saw Mohist who was beaten to the point of blue-faced face being thrown at the gate of the school. The Mohist school seemed to have made a counterattack, and Confucian scholars also began to appear at the gate of the school."

When Zhao Dan heard this, the smile on the corner of his mouth gradually disappeared, he raised his voice slightly, and called out to the outside of the palace gate: "Mao Sui!"

Mao Sui immediately appeared in front of Zhao Dan: "I wonder what the king summoned?"

Zhao Dan briefly retelled what Zhao Heng said to Mao Sui, and then said to Mao Sui: "I really didn't expect that the public security in the Chinese Academy of Sciences was so far away. Isn't even able to protect several scholars? If this is the case, then if there are any ill-hearted people who want to enter the Academy to assassinate those Qing families, wouldn't it be difficult at all?"

Due to the importance of the Huaxia Academy to Zhao State, Zhao Dan did not let others take charge of the Huaxia Academy, but directly asked Mao Sui and the Supervisor to take responsibility.

Mao Sui hesitated for a moment, then said to Zhao Dan: "King, there is actually another hidden truth here, so please report it to Rong Chen."

"Secret information?" After hearing these words, Zhao Dan felt a little funny: "Isn't it just an ordinary fight? What else can be hidden? "

Mao Sui replied very respectfully: "King, this is true. I originally planned to strengthen my vigilance against the Chinese Academy of Sciences and to isolate the courtyards between the Mohist and the Confucians, but this proposal was jointly opposed by the Mohist and the Confucians."

"Oppose?" After hearing Mao Sui's words, Zhao Dan couldn't help but be stunned for a moment and said, "Why do they have to object?"

Mao Sui replied: "The Mohist school believes that Confucianism is just a mob and vulnerable; while the Confucian school believes that the number of Mohist schools is far inferior to that of its own, and it will definitely win over time. Therefore, for their own face, they are unwilling to let their ministers stop it. The fight between the scholars."

"Face?" Zhao Dan shook his head and said to Mao Sui in front of him: "I don't remember any options for fighting among the gentleman's Six Arts, and I don't want to see anything that Confucius killed Shao Zhengmao. After you go back, you will arrange a warning immediately. I don't want any fighting incidents in the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the future."

"If such messy things happen in the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the future, then all the scholars involved in the fight will be expelled from the academic palace! This Zhao State is my territory, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences is not a lawless place!"

Mao Sui agreed loudly.

After Zhao Dan gave this instructed him, he turned his gaze back to his eldest son Zhao Heng, and suddenly found a hint of regret on Zhao Heng's face.

After a little pondering, Zhao Dan came up with the answer: "Heng'er, have you also participated in these fights?"

Zhao Heng turned red when he heard this. After a while, he said aloofly: "Father, my son and minister have lost his etiquette, please forgive me."

As the future Zhao State, Zhao Heng has always had a dedicated person in secret to protect and monitor him in the academy, so Zhao Heng’s actions were not hidden from Zhao Dan.

According to the secret reports submitted, Zhao Heng has been mixed with many Confucian scholars and descendants of the Zhao nobles who supported Confucianism in the Chinese Academy of Sciences over the past year, and is said to have become the leader of this group of people.

Zhao Dan shook his head and said to Zhao Heng: "The Confucianism and Mohism are a dispute over knowledge, but whether it is Confucianism or Mohism, it may help you to govern the Zhao country by yourself in the future. So you must remember that you should not show any position or tendency between these two schools."

"Otherwise, your tendency will make one of them bigger and the other weaken. In this way, the bigger one will naturally want to limit your power, and the weakened one will not help you."

Zhao Heng thought carefully for a while, then said to Zhao Dan: "Father, my son knows that he is wrong, so he will definitely not participate in these factional disputes in the future."

Zhao Dan nodded and said to Zhao Heng: "If I remember correctly, since I entered the academy, you have been studying under Xunqiu, right? From the end of this rest, the monk can choose another school to study."

Zhao Heng was just a man when he heard this, and couldn't help but say, "Father, this move seems to be inappropriate."

Zhao Dan waved his hand and said, "There is nothing wrong with this move. You should know that you have taken turns to teach in the palace. Now you have been studying Confucian theory for a year in the Huaxia Academy. This is what I have given Xunzi face."

Zhao Heng hesitated for a moment, but still couldn't help but speak, "Is Father planning to suppress the life and death of Confucianism?"

"Yes." Zhao Dan nodded slightly and said to Zhao Heng: "Now in the Huaxia Academy, only the Confucian school is the dominant faction, which is obviously not conducive to the development of the Huaxia Academy."

"The reason why I want to establish the Huaxia Academy is not to make it a holy land of Confucianism, but to give the various schools of thought a soil for development and survival. As the prince of Zhao, you can actually use your identity as a prince to do some things in it. If possible, I hope to see the results of these things you have done in the near future."

Zhao Dan did not tell Zhao Heng what he needed to do, but hoped that Zhao Heng could experience it himself.

Zhao Heng seemed to have understood what Zhao Dan meant and did not continue the Confucian topic. Instead, he began to actively talk about other situations in the subsequent dialogue.

"Father, I said that I encountered something very interesting yesterday. But I said that the farmer opened a recipe in the academy to grow dishes. As a result, when I passed by, I found that the peasant students were scolding the Guo family, saying that the farm tools produced in the Guo family workshop were too useless."

"Guo family?" Zhao Dan's heart moved slightly, and suddenly remembered someone, and couldn't help but speak out: "Is it the Guo family where Guo Kai is the head of the family?"

Zhao Heng replied: "Go back to Father, that's right."

Zhao Dan nodded thoughtfully and suddenly remembered something.

Speaking of which, when Zhao State was destroyed by Qin State in history, Guo Kai seemed to have played a very disgraceful role in it.

Whether Lian Po was unable to return to Zhao State or Li Mu was unjustly killed, there was Guo Kai in it.

Moreover, the Guo family, which was founded by Guo Kai, was the largest iron smelting merchant in Zhao State since his ancestor Guo Zong. At its peak, almost half of the iron tools in Zhao State were from the hands of the Guo family, and even some of the ordnance business of the Guo family were involved.

In other words, after Zhao Dan started operating the iron smelting blast furnace in Datong, the official smelting level and output of Zhao State have been constantly increasing, so it gradually reduced its cooperation with the Guo family.

Now the Guo family basically only has private business and can no longer participate in the official business of Zhao State. However, even so, the Guo family is still very large in scale. It is the only top wealthy family in Zhao State that can be compared with Lu Buwei before entering the officialdom.

When Zhao Dan thought of this, he called Mao Sui: "What actions have the Guo family made recently?"

Nowadays, Wangxian has basically retired, and both the Hu Yiwei and the Supervisor were handed over to Mao Sui. The surveillance of the large family of the Zhao family, such as the Guo family, is the duty of the Supervisor.

Mao Sui thought for a while, then replied to Zhao Dan: "By the king, judging from the information coming from the Supervisory Guardian, the Guo family should not have made any special moves."

Zhao Dan nodded and said to Mao Sui: "You have sorted out a piece of national intelligence these days and sent it to my desk as soon as possible. By the way, send some more people to keep an eye on the Guo family. If there is any abnormal movement, report it to me immediately. Do you understand?"

Mao Sui looked a little puzzled, but he still bowed respectfully to the promise.

After Mao Sui stepped down, Zhao Heng, who had been listening quietly, couldn't help but speak, "Are your father preparing to attack the Guo family? However, as a wealthy family, the Guo family is engaged in business, and is indeed despised."

Zhao Dan couldn't help laughing when he heard this: "The Guo family is also a family with a surname in Zhao State, and there has been no violation of discipline and law. How could I take down such a family without any basis?"

"But Heng'er, you must remember my words here today, that is, this Guo family, especially this Guo Kai, is not trustworthy at all!"

Although the history of this era has been changed, Zhao Dan is still instinctively wary of the treacherous officials who have made public this history.
Chapter completed!