The younger brother of the First Emperor

Chapter 196: Li Tonggu, the Son of No Child, Li Si Questions Ying Chengjiao
It has been three days since Li Si returned to Linzi.

During these three days, he and his junior fellow apprentice Zhang Cang never walked far when they went out, no matter how close they were, and relied entirely on a carriage pulled by two horses.

There are six types of carriages:
The emperor drives six.

The princes drove five carriages.

Your Excellency, please drive four.

Doctor three.

Scholar two.

A commoner.

Although the rituals and music of other countries were in decline, Qi was an exception, as its ritual system was still perfect.

It wasn't that Li Si didn't have the money to hire a more advanced carriage, but because of his and Zhang Cang's status, they could only ride in a two-horse carriage.

If he could add more horses by spending money, he could add eighty!

He and his junior fellow apprentice Zhang Cang hired the eight most famous beauties in Linzi City to stay at Fan's Beauty House. They slept so well that their legs became weak and their knees limp.

He also spent a lot of money in the casino controlled by the Qi royal family behind the scenes, not for winning but for losing.

The lavish consumption of the two alarmed many dignitaries in Linzi, who began to investigate the visitors' background.

Even the most extravagant princes and princesses had never appeared so lavish.

Not to mention others, even the person involved, Zhang Cang, was shocked.

The fat man, who was originally just thinking about eating and drinking, thought of his senior brother Han Fei.

When Senior Brother Han Fei was here, he was never so extravagant. This is totally not treating money seriously.

"Brother, I know your ability, but you..." Zhang Cang said worriedly, "Can all of Lü Buwei's followers spend money like you?"

In the fat man's opinion, even if Lu Buwei, the leader of the Lu Chamber of Commerce, came here in person, the display would be just like this.

"Of course not." Li Si explained with a smile: "Relax, I know what you are thinking, and you won't bring me any trouble. The Lord wants to investigate the money of Qi State, and the Lu's Chamber of Commerce will completely withdraw from Qi State. I, your senior brother, am the one who is doing it for you."

Zhang Cang understood it immediately and suddenly realized it.

As one of the seven major chambers of commerce, the Lu's Chamber of Commerce has incalculable assets.

If they wanted to evacuate Qi completely, most of the items would have to be sold - transportation also costs money.

With such a large amount of goods flooding into the market at once, the price must be far lower than the market price.

Compared with the losses caused by the low price of goods in Linzi, the huge expenses incurred by the two brothers in these three days are like a speck of dust compared to the water of the East China Sea.

"Hiss..." The fat man took a breath of cold air.

His round head was completely confused and he couldn't calculate how much wealth the Lu's Chamber of Commerce would lose this time.

"Why would Prime Minister Qin do this for no reason?" Zhang Cang felt extremely distressed, because those were all yellow gold!

Li Si smiled but said nothing.

Zhang Cang immediately realized that this was something he shouldn't ask about, so he smiled awkwardly and didn't bother to argue.

Teaching hall.

The largest hall in the Jixia Academy had five hundred seats.

Ying Chengjiao chose this place to give his first lecture.

Li Si, led by Zhang Cang, arrived at the teaching hall an hour earlier, which he thought was very early.

But he didn't expect that he couldn't even get a seat and could only stand in the house.

Li Si looked at the dark crowd and thought of the scene when his teacher Xunzi was giving lectures nearly ten years ago.

Although the immediate scenery is not as good, it is not far away.

"Yingzi...zi..." Li Si muttered, still unable to believe it until this moment.

Becoming a Li Sizi was once his highest pursuit, and he really wanted to hear the name "Li Sizi" from other people.

This idea was shattered when someone called out the three words "Han Feizi".

He thought that his knowledge was not inferior to that of his senior brother Han Fei, but obviously others did not think so.

Han Fei was a son before him.

Li Si took a deep breath, and a competitive look appeared in his eyes.

Although he was not happy about his senior brother Han Fei being his son, he strongly agreed with it.

He was very familiar with Han Fei's knowledge, and learned the true teachings of his teacher, and often taught on behalf of his teacher.

But an eight-year-old child, a son?

Why?!
Mind learning.

Sanctification.

It’s really...what a profound knowledge!
Li Si's teacher, Xunzi, was known as the best teacher, but he did not dare to say that the knowledge he taught could make him a sage.

He lowered his head, hid his face, and hid in the crowd.

Waiting for Yingzi, who was eight years old, to be his son.

An hour later, Ying Chengjiao came to teach as usual.

He didn't feel there was anything wrong standing on the podium, as there were still so many people coming to listen to his lectures.

This proves that he is becoming more and more popular in the Jixia Academy, which is good.

He smiled and glanced at the whole audience, holding up the brush and said helplessly:

“I know that other professors often write down important points when they are teaching, which I simply call key points.

“It’s not that I don’t want to write for you, it’s just that Qiwen is too difficult to learn.

"It would be great if there was a language that was easy to learn and could be easily learned in two or three days."

The Jixia students who came to listen to the lecture all laughed kindly.

Many familiar students whispered:
"Haha, Mr. Ying said the same thing last time and the time before that. He still hasn't learned Qiwen."

Li Si listened to Ying Chengjiao's fluent Linzi accent and could not hear his Xianyang accent at all when he closed his eyes, so he immediately noticed something was wrong.

Being able to speak Linzi dialect fluently is much more difficult than writing three or five Qi characters.

None of the Jixia scholars focused on long speeches.

Li Si looked for someone wearing different clothes among the sea of ​​blue student uniforms.

Those who wear strange clothes are mostly scholars from Jixia School.

He saw many familiar faces.

Shen Zhi of the Shenzi School, Chunyu Yue of the Confucius School, Xiangfu Xi of the Qi-Mo School...even Zou Yan, the founder of the Yin-Yang School who replaced his teacher as the chief priest, was there.

These people looked normal, nothing unusual.

[Am I overthinking, or are you gentlemen too cunning...]
[Saying that Qiwen is difficult to learn…what does this change?]
Li Si's mind turned for a moment, and it was too late to think about it.

On the stage, Yingzi began to talk about the study of the mind:
“Today, the focus of my speech is the unity of knowledge and action.

“To know is to know.

“To walk is to act.

“Knowing and doing are closely related.

“Knowledge is the beginning of action, that is, knowing is the beginning of action.

“Those who do are the fruit of knowledge, that is, action is the fruit of knowledge.”

The boy stretched out his palm, turned it over so that the palm was facing up, and then turned it back over so that the back of the hand was facing up:

“Knowledge and action are like the two sides of my palm, interdependent and inseparable.

“Although I have separated knowledge and action, this is to make it easier for you to understand.

“In fact, knowing and doing are one.

"Hearing this, do you have any questions?"

A student from the Yin-Yang School raised his hand, expressing doubts.

Ying Chengjiao nodded to him:
"please say."

The student bowed first, then said:

“Can I interpret what you said about knowing and doing as yin and yang?
“Without Yin there is no Yang, and without Yang there is no Yin.”

Ying Chengjiao thought for a moment and shook his head:
“You can’t understand it this way; there is a huge difference between the two.

"Yin and Yang are opposites, each proving itself through the other.

"But knowing and doing are not opposites...Oh, I see."

The boy looked apologetic:

“I know you’ve made a mistake.

“You misunderstood me because I used the example of the front and back of the palm. It was indeed an inappropriate example.

"It was my fault, I apologize."

Ying Chengjiao nodded and apologized.

The students bowed their heads to show their respect to the teacher.

This time, bowing your head was not the rule of the Jixia Academy.

They are voluntary and spontaneous.

Ying Chengjiao organized his words and thought about how to give a speech. Ever since that time when he gave a public lecture to almost all the students in Jixia Academy in front of the gate of the Imperial Court.

The young man believed from the bottom of his heart that everyone can become a saint!
On that day, the young man suddenly gained a lot more insights into psychology and realized what it meant to attain enlightenment overnight.

Xinxue is not a tool to win people's hearts.

Rather, it is a doctrine that can eliminate chaotic thoughts and find the true self from the myriad trajectories of fate.

"Cause and effect! Knowledge and action are similar to cause and effect!" The young man suddenly clapped his hands and shouted excitedly, "Plant a grain of millet in spring and harvest ten thousand seeds in autumn. Because we know that we will get the seeds back after planting millet, we plant millet. This is the unity of knowledge and action! The unity of knowledge and action is an objective law. Do you understand?"

After a moment of silence in the classroom, most of the students nodded.

They felt that they understood, after all, Yingzi's metaphor was extremely simple.

But they also feel that this understanding is a bit vague, and they always feel that something is missing, but they can't find it.

The husband can be found.

This Mr. Jixia raised his hand like a student to express his doubt.

Li Si, who was about to raise his hand, saw Xiangfu Xi raising his hand, so he remained silent for the time being and waited for the situation to develop.

Ying Chengjiao nodded and said "please speak", as if he was treating an ordinary student.

Xiangfu Xi said seriously:
"Yingzi said that he knew that planting millet would give birth to a child, so he went to plant millet. I understand what he said.

“But Yingzi later said that the unity of knowledge and action is the rule and the two are inseparable, which makes me a little confused.

“Knowing is knowing, doing is taking action.

“To know and to act is to know and to act.

“I’ll use the example of Ying Ziju.

“I didn’t know that planting millet would yield fruit, but when I saw others planting millet and getting fruit, I followed their lead.

“If one does not know but acts, then does this mean that knowledge and action are not one?

"besides.

“I know that if you plant millet you will get seeds, but I don’t plant them.

“Knowing but not doing, isn’t this also a lack of unity between knowledge and action?
“Knowledge and action can be unified or not.

"Is this lesson, Yingzi, supposed to teach us the unity of knowledge and action? I made a mistake in what I said before."

The scholars nodded silently, this is the truth.

You can say that knowledge and action are unified, but you cannot say that unity of knowledge and action is an objectively existing law.

Most of the students suddenly understood, and Mr. Xiangfu expressed the unanswered questions in their hearts.

They smiled kindly at the young man on the stage, indicating that the slip of the tongue was no big deal.

The students are very tolerant of the youngest children.

Li Si sneered secretly:
"You made two mistakes in a short lecture. Can you be a good son?"

"Senior brother, Yingzi is only eight years old." Zhang Cang said quietly, unable to bear it any longer.

[Brother, why is your habit of competing for the first place in everything getting worse and worse? Is this almost like jealousy?]
"Since you call him Zi, I will naturally judge him by Zi's standards. Is there anything wrong with that?" Li Si retorted: "If he is not Zi, but just a child prodigy in Xianyang, I will only praise him as a true child prodigy!"

Zhang Cang snorted twice and said nothing more.

Cannibals have short mouths and short hands.

Using other people's money to sleep with beautiful women, everything is short except the bird.

The fat man looked at Yingzi and became a little shorter.

[If we trace it back to the source, it is true that Yingzi said something wrong again...]
"I didn't make a mistake." Ying Chengjiao said meekly.

These gentle words made Zhang Cang look up suddenly, made Li Si's eyes flash, made the scholars look serious, and made the students ignorant and confused.

“To know what you know and to know what you don’t know is true knowledge.” Chunyu Yue said solemnly, “Sir Ying, please don’t lose your wisdom just for unnecessary face.”

Young people value face above all else, and Chunyu Yue understands this.

He was young too.

But he didn't want Ying Chengjiao to lose his reputation because of the so-called face.

He had a great liking for Ying Chengjiao.

Ying Chengjiao's arguments and actions are very Confucian.

Xiangfu Xi also reminded seriously:
"Cheng Jiao, don't try to use your best debate skills to prove a wrong truth.

"We have now learned the theory of form and name, and know how to distinguish between reality and illusion.

"Even if Zibing were resurrected and stood in your position, he would not be able to say that something wrong is right in front of us."

The gentlemen of Jixia Academy all spoke up to remind the young talent, not wanting this promising young talent to be at risk of dying.

Li Si was a little surprised when he saw this scene.

[How long has this boy been in Jixia Temple? How come he is favored by so many Jixia masters?]
After waiting for the disciples to finish speaking, Ying Chengjiao first bowed his head in gratitude, then said in a loud voice:

“Unity of knowledge and action does not just mean knowing and then doing.

"Knowing and taking action is unity of knowledge and action. Knowing but not taking action is also unity of knowledge and action! Not knowing but taking action is still unity of knowledge and action!"

The school was silent for a moment.

Most people felt that they were listening to the study of form and name.

Such confusing and obviously contradictory words are very similar to Gongsun Long's saying that a white horse is not a horse.

The boy took a breath and said loudly:
“To know and to act is to unite knowledge and action.

“Knowing but not taking action is because you know something else, so you don’t take action. This is also the unity of knowledge and action.

“To act without knowing is the same as to not act without knowing.

"Let me continue with the example of planting millet and getting seeds, ok?"

Ying Chengjiao was stunned.

He saw someone raising his arm, but it was clearly not time to start asking questions yet?

Zhang Cang lowered his head and didn't pay attention to what was happening on the stage.

His fat face wrinkled as he couldn't hear Yingzi's voice, and he couldn't understand what Yingzi had just said.

I turned around and wanted to ask my senior brother to help me, but I was stunned:
"Brother...don't be like this..."

Li Si raised his arm high and uttered four words:
"It's ridiculous."

Ying Chengjiao suddenly stopped talking and focused his eyes on one spot, attracting everyone in the school to look at Ying Zi.

Li Si's face was exposed to everyone, and everyone shouted:

"Tonggu???"

"Is it Li Si? He's back!"

"Why is it Tonggu... This kid is always ruthless..."

"If Tonggu comes back this time and doesn't leave, should we call him Li Sizi?"

"What are you talking about? He is Li Tonggu, who is known as the son without a child?"

"..."

Ying Chengjiao, immersed in the lecture, ignored the comments of the students and scholars of Jixia.

He only wanted to make it clear that knowledge and action are one, so he pressed his palm down to quiet everyone down.

After the sound suddenly subsided, the young man nodded to Li Si:
"please say."

Li Si said in a deep voice:
"The example of planting millet and getting a seed is really hard for us to understand. Let me give you another example that we can all understand.

“We are in the Jixia Academy, and we know the importance of learning and that learning will change our destiny.

“But we still can’t help but have fun.

"We would go cockfighting, dog racing, play football, play the harp, the zither and the sheng.

"Every time we play too much, we feel bad for not studying hard, but we will do it again next time."

Before Li Si finished speaking, he had won the resonance of almost everyone in the audience.

The students of Jixia Academy nodded one by one, thinking that what Li Tonggu said was absolutely right.

That's right, they are!
Week after week, year after year.

"Sir." Li Tonggu raised his eyelids, his eyes somewhat indifferent: "Isn't this the incompatibility of knowledge and action?"

Ying Chengjiao was silent for a while.

In the slightly worried eyes of the scholars, in the expectant eyes of the students.

Applause, opening words:
"color."

When many people thought that the young man admitted defeat and cheered because he agreed with Li Si's words.

"An excellent example." The young man looked at Li Si with appreciation.

This look reminded Li Si of the look his teacher gave him when he was assisting him in teaching.

He felt very uncomfortable and his face looked slightly gloomy.

Ying Chengjiao didn't notice.

The young man had already looked away and scanned the school, his eyes falling on everyone in the school.

"Gentlemen," the young man said solemnly, "Are you really sure that you understand the importance of learning?"

(End of this chapter)