Hu Hui thought about it for a long time. Etiquette is very sacred in Hu Hui's heart. It is the great etiquette that he has been pursuing tirelessly all his life.

He smiled and asked: "Your Majesty, are there any saints in this world?"

Zhu Qiyu thought for a moment and asked: "What is a saint?"

Hu Hui said seriously: "Xunzi said: Water and fire have energy but no life, vegetation has life but no knowledge, animals have knowledge but no meaning. Humans have energy, life, knowledge, and meaning. Therefore, they are the most noble in the world.

."

Zhu Qiyu tasted these words carefully.

People are noble and everything is light, which is an important symbol of the humanistic thought of the Central Plains Dynasty.

Being alive, having life, having knowledge, and having righteousness is why we are human beings; being ignorant and without righteousness is not a human being.

To regard water, fire, vegetation, animals, and all things as more important than human beings is obviously less important than the ancients two thousand years ago. This is an atavism.

This is the inevitable result of the vigorous development of humanistic thought from the emphasis on ghosts and gods to the emphasis on people in the late Spring and Autumn Period.

Ji Lu once asked Confucius about ghosts and gods. Confucius said: If you can't even care about people, how can you care about ghosts and gods? Isn't that stupidity? The righteousness of managing the people is to respect ghosts and gods and keep them at a distance, which is wisdom.

Zhuangzi said: Don’t talk about unnatural things outside the world.

Mozi understood the theory of ghosts and gods, but Mozi gave a very clear answer as to why he pursued the theory of ghosts and gods, saying: I have heaven's will, just like a wheel and a man's rules, and a craftsman's rules.

Using the theory of ghosts and gods to realize one's own political ideas, this idea of ​​explaining ghosts and gods caused Mozi's theory to encounter great troubles in its subsequent development.

Yi said: The sage teaches according to the Shinto way.

The way of ghosts and gods is nothing more than a means of enlightenment by saints.

After the class of ghosts and gods is eliminated, there will naturally be a need to fill in the gaps. Who will assume the original responsibilities of ghosts and gods?

saint.

This is a true portrayal of the vigorous development of humanistic thought during the period of great speculation in the Spring and Autumn Period, when emphasis was shifted from focusing on ghosts and gods to focusing on people.

Human beings are more valuable than all things, so what exactly is saint?

Hu Hui knew that this question was difficult to answer because there were different opinions. He bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty, this is just a family conversation. Your Majesty will listen to it for the time being."

"Holy, the sound enters the heart, enters the ears, and comes out of the mouth. Holy, it is connected."

"Laozi said that hearing the sound and knowing it is connected; Confucius said that it is connected through consistency; Mencius said that it is connected when it is large and transformed; Zhuangzi said that the equalization of things is connected; Mozi said that adhering to the same is connected; Guanzi said that observing from above is in the sky, and observing from below is in the earth.

This is the connection; Shang Yang said that knowing the essence of all things and observing the changes in the past and present is the connection."

"The sage who understands everything."

Laozi and Zhuangzi are Taoists, Confucius and Mencius are Confucianists, Mozi is Mohist, Guanzi is Guanzi, and Shang Yang is Legalist.

As early as the Warring States Period, they had already conducted in-depth research on what saints were.

The story of Hu Shangshu’s family.

"Yi said: Fu Yi, the reason why the sage is very profound is to study a few things." Seeing that His Majesty had understood the meaning of Tong, Hu Hui said in summary.

In the narrative of the Book of Changes, "ji" refers to "--" Yang Yao, and refers to "--" Yin Yao. It refers to the essence of things.

Tai Chi generates the two rituals, the two rituals generate the four images, and the four images generate the Bagua.

Yin and Yang are the roots of all things. The sage has a profound study of the roots of all things in the world. This is a thorough understanding, and he can understand it to the extreme.

The characteristic of saints is the basis for understanding the operation of all things in heaven and earth.

China has a very strong culture of worshiping saints. Laozi, Zhuangzi, Confucius, Xunzi, etc. are all revered as saints.

In a few words, Hu Hui explained clearly what a person is, what a saint is, how a saint is born, and how he is defined.

That is to say, the sage has insight into the principles of the operation of all things in the world, which is called understanding.

Zhu Qiyu thought for a long time and said: "No one in the world can understand the truth of the operation of all things in the world. There are naturally some incomprehensibility, so there are no saints in the world."

From the perspective of political culture, the concept of saints is not only a common concept system about people, but also a fully idealized political model.

But obviously, saints do not exist.

No one understands xx better than me. It’s just a way of talking, but it doesn’t mean I really understand it.

There is no understanding king in the world.

The ancients never talked about reason away from the facts, and always based it on real life as the object of understanding and practice, so that humanistic thoughts can flourish.

It is not difficult for Zhu Qiyu to admit that he is not a saint, but just a monarch.

Hu Hui was full of smiles. His Majesty was always a practical person and was not just a talker. This was a blessing for the Ming Dynasty.

He continued: "Your Majesty, Guanzi said: The heart is in the body, which is the position of the king. The nine orifices have their duties, which are the divisions of officials."

Hu Hui continued to explain the etiquette by himself. Your Majesty doesn't like Confucian classics very much. It doesn't matter. The etiquette is not an inconvenience.

He can quote more opinions from Guanzi, Mozi, and other schools of thought.

What he means is that the emperor is like the human heart, and the courtiers are like the nine orifices of the human body, each performing its own duties.

Zhu Qiyu nodded and said, "Yes."

"So it is the proper intention for a minister to assist Your Majesty, to advise His Majesty, and to formulate political decrees." Hu Hui paused for a moment, his eyes flickering, and finally said: "Your Majesty, those who have passed the examination for the imperial examination, or the world's literary education,

There are two types.”

"One kind is a dreamer. They are good at making up all kinds of dreams and calling them Datong. For example, Qiu Jun dreams, but he is unable to practice his ideas at all."

"One is a person who is down-to-earth and realizes this dream."

"For example, Xu Youzhen is in control of floods and people in Hetao; for example, Li Xian is in Nanya dealing with wind power; for example, Li Binyan is in Songjiang City's Shipping Department and is in charge of material matters for the nine provinces in the Yangtze River Basin."

After passing the Wen Jinshi examination, they will enter the Hanlin Academy. However, many Jinshis begin to dream after entering the Hanlin Academy, or we can also call them thinkers.

They are thinking about where the Ming Dynasty will go, and they will write articles for a lifetime. The imperial court selected them to let them think and dream.

Qiu Jun's thinking was ahead of the times and was exactly the same as Zhu Qiyu's decrees, but people like them did not have the ability to realize those ideals.

Zhu Qiyu nodded, Hu Xi's words were correct.

Ma Originator also pointed out that there are two types of people within the ruling class, one is the practitioner and the other is the thinker.

The thinker's task is to create illusions about society and his class.

There are all kinds of fabricated fantasies, the highest form of which probably belongs to the theory of the Utopia.

This kind of utopia is not born out of curiosity or originality, but the fruit of cruel, bloody, and disorderly contradictions in reality.

Almost every great speculation in the Central Plains Dynasty was accompanied by great pain.

For example, the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period were marked by unrighteous wars and the collapse of rituals and music. It was a time of great suffering for the common people, scholar-bureaucrats, and soldiers.

For example, Gongsun Yang's theory of grand unification, which was based on the Qin law, came into being based on the chaos of the Seven Kingdoms in the early Han Dynasty.

Every great thinking is promoting the historical process little by little.

In the narrative structure of the Central Plains Dynasty, the Utopia is called: the World of Great Harmony.

Hu Bi's thoughts seemed to fly back to the era when a hundred schools of thought contended. The dreamers of that era imagined a unified world of utopias, colorful and unique.

Although they are all different, in the end they all reach the same goal through different paths.

End the troubled times and bring peace to the world.

He smiled and said: "The world of great harmony built by the Confucian ancestors is: the ancestors told Yao and Shun, and the constitution was civil and military."

"In this world, there are distinctions between emperors and ministers, and there is harmony between superiors and subordinates. The emperor loves the people, the people respect the emperor, implements benevolent government, pays low taxes, provides education, light punishments, rescues the orphans and the poor, and cares for the old and the young, so benevolence and righteousness

More than profit."

Zhu Qiyu couldn't help but nod. This is the ancient Confucianism, not the rotten Confucianism. The ancient Confucianism talked about the world of great harmony, and the rotten Confucians stood drinking in long robes.

As we go along this road, we go astray. Specifically speaking, we talk about doctrines, but our hearts are all about business.

Hu Hui continued: "The world of great harmony constructed by Taoism is the release of heaven. There is no homeland, so there is a world of supreme virtue. Rule by doing nothing, and the world will be peaceful."

"Legalism's world of great harmony is one that is divided into three parts: the law."

"Although laws can only be enacted by the monarch, once the laws are enacted and made public, not only all officials and people must abide by them, but also the monarch who enacted the laws must abide by them. It is said: princes who break the law are guilty of the same crime as the common people."

"The Mohist world of great harmony is one in which people love and benefit each other, and on this basis, everything is the same as the emperor."

"In Mozi's world, you love me, I love you, relatives are as close as one's own, love others' wealth as one's own, and everyone lives in the sound of love."

Hu Hui clearly explained the utopia built by hundreds of schools of thought and the beauty of the world of great harmony.

Legalism is more like the world of social contract theory, Mohism is more like the world of fraternity, Taoism is more like the world of nature, and Confucianism is the world of the king's paradise.

Guanxue, on the other hand, has a little bit of all aspects, and does not belong to any party. It is more like a miscellaneous school. It emphasizes benevolence and righteousness above profit, and also emphasizes that benevolence and righteousness are based on profit.

These worlds of great harmony are the overall political design and strategic goals summarized by various schools of thought in the face of bloody reality.

Hu Bi said with emotion: "So, Confucius, Xunzi, Mencius, Laozi, Mozi, Wenzi, Han Feizi, and Shang Yang all have one pursuit for the people's displacement and the world's suffering, which is to hope that a saint will come out and the world will be ruled.

"

"They angrily denounced all the princes during the Warring States Period as being cannibals."

Zhu Qiyu understood what Hu Xi meant. The world of Datong was the dragon flag and banner of thinkers. They carried the dragon flag and banner to criticize the monarch and criticize current affairs. This was a kind of self-regulation by the court.
To be continued...