Tang Dynasty Little Godfather

Chapter 176 Buddhism and Taoism
Wang family.

"I'm coming!"

Wang Xi rushed out with her violin in hand, slightly out of breath, and said, "I'm sorry to have kept Uncle Gao waiting."

Gao Lishi chuckled and said, "No rush, no rush. His Majesty is still handling official business. There's no need for you to be in such a hurry."

After saying that, he glanced at the instrument in Wang Xi's hand and asked, "Is this the instrument you made?"

"Ah."

Wang Xi nodded, "How about I play a tune for Uncle Gao first?"

Gao Lishi chuckled and said, "Thank you, Sparrow, but let's go to the palace first."

"Hey!"

The two boarded the carriage, and Gao Lishi said with a smile, "Que'er, you've really been making headlines this past month. Everyone in and out of the palace is talking about you."

Wang Xi asked excitedly, "Really? Is it something nice or something bad?"

Gao Lishi said, "Of course it's a compliment. Hehe."

Wang Xi's face lit up with joy, but then he said with a sigh, "It's a pity that the teacher always blames me for showing off, and he has scolded me quite a bit."

"is it?"

"Ah."

Wang Xi nodded and said, "The master said that if things continue like this, trouble will inevitably arise sooner or later."

Gao Lishi pondered for a moment, then smiled and said, "Then you still have to listen to the master."

Wang Xi nodded and said, "I know."

Gao Lishi glanced at Wang Xi, feeling a mix of emotions. This clueless brat couldn't possibly escape danger every time. It seemed that the nameless gentleman had been helping him a lot behind the scenes!
Little did he know that Wang Xi was deliberately testing Gao Lishi to see how deep his relationship with the Wu family really was.

Wang Xi already knew from Gao Lishi's hesitation that Gao Lishi was definitely on the side of the Wu family, but not so closely.

In fact, after the singing competition, Li Longji was very curious about the new musical instruments that Wang Xi had mentioned. Given Li Longji's personality, he would have definitely sent Wang Xi to the palace to demonstrate them to him as soon as possible.

However, it was only now that Wang Xi was summoned to the palace.

It's clear that Li Longji has been extremely busy lately.

Indeed, this year is a crucial one, involving fiscal reform, military and political reform, and even some administrative, cultural and educational reforms.

Li Longji had already completed the most difficult reform of the bureaucracy, which made him hold great power. Looking across the country, no one could threaten his imperial power.

At this point, implementing these reforms would be relatively easy, so Li Longji would naturally not be discouraged at this crucial moment and would definitely put in extra effort.

Of course, history also shows that after completing all this, Li Longji began his path of resignation.

He himself felt that he had nothing to do.

It is clear that sometimes, being too capable and too successful is not a good thing.

After a month of continuous work, Li Longji finally took a half-day break, and he had Gao Lishi summon his beloved nephew to the palace in advance.

This shows how diligent Li Longji is in governing.

Therefore, when Wang Xi arrived at the palace with his violin, Li Longji had not yet arrived and was still discussing state affairs with his ministers.

There was nothing Wang Xi could do; the other party was the emperor, so he could only wait patiently.

Fortunately, Li Longji didn't make him wait long.

Half an hour later, Li Longji, dressed in casual clothes, strode into the hall, looking energetic and spirited, which showed that Li Longji was in excellent health.

"Nephew Wang Xiaoque greets Uncle."

"No need for such formalities, Sparrow."

Li Longji first glanced at the object in Wang Xi's hand, his eyes lighting up. Pointing at the object, he asked, "Que'er, is this the musical instrument you came up with?"

"Ah."

Wang Xi nodded and said, "Nephew will now play it for Uncle."

"Don't be busy yet."

Li Longji waved his hand, went to the top, sat down, and said with a smile, "Recently, I've heard many people discussing Taoist thought, and this is all thanks to Que'er."

Wang Xi chuckled smugly and said, "Of course, I take my uncle's instructions very seriously."

"Good good!"

Li Longji laughed heartily: "Que'er has truly not disappointed her uncle. Come, come, tell your uncle in detail what happened?"

"Hey!"

Wang Xi immediately recounted the whole story to Li Longji in vivid detail. However, he made a slight change regarding Tao Mo, meaning that it was not Tao Mo who asked him to explain to everyone, but rather Wang Xi who acted on his own initiative.

This is the worry: Li Longji also values ​​Tao Mo's talent, which could be fatal for Coco.

"I see."

Li Longji nodded slightly and said, "In other words, it wasn't you who told me to say that, sir."

Wang Xi shook his head and said, "Master never cares about what others say, nor does he intend to promote Taoist thought. It was all my own idea, and I was scolded by Master a couple of days ago for it."

"Sparrow has really suffered a great injustice because of her uncle!"

Li Longji offered a comforting remark, then immediately asked curiously, "Since you admire Taoist thought, why don't you think about promoting it?"

Wang Xi said, "What you mean is that Confucianism is about teaching, which is a kind of promotion; Legalism is about control, which forces you to know; while Taoism is about non-action, which naturally does not need to be promoted."

Li Longji frowned slightly. "But if we don't promote it, how can we get more people to embrace Taoist thought?"

Wang Xi said, "Sir doesn't seem to care much about this, but..."

At this point, Wang Xi suddenly turned his eyes and chuckled.

Li Longji asked curiously, "Que'er, what are you laughing at?" Wang Xi chuckled and said, "Uncle, you don't know this, but when the teacher scolded me, I actually managed to persuade him, so he didn't blame me anymore and even agreed with my actions."

Li Longji then hurriedly asked, "How did you manage to persuade the gentleman?"

"Explain!" Wang Xi said.

Li Longji was taken aback. "How do you explain this?"

Wang Xi said, "It's an explanation."

"Huh?" Li Longji was puzzled.

Wang Xi said smugly, "The reason why Taoism is non-action is because it follows the natural way and conforms to the way of Heaven. But what is nature, and what is the way of Heaven? These need to be explained clearly. Simply put, Confucianism is about teaching, Legalism is about governing, and Taoism is about explaining."

At the time, my nephew was only explaining the changes in social status and marriage at Zhang Baishou's shop; he didn't force anyone to believe him.

After hearing this, the teacher didn't scold his nephew. Instead, he praised him, saying he was very talented. But Uncle, this explanation is also a form of promotion. In this way, the nephew can help you and avoid being scolded by the teacher, hehe!

"Taoism is about explanation."

After pondering it carefully, Li Longji laughed heartily and said, "Que'er is indeed clever and quick-witted. This explanation is truly ingenious! Wonderful! Wonderful!"

“I think so too, nephew. You really are a genius.” Wang Xi chuckled.

Upon hearing this, Li Longji laughed heartily and said, "However, your master's explanation of marriage based on social class is indeed very unique."

Marriages based on social standing originated from the principle of matching social status, which was the reason for their prosperity. However, they gradually declined as people abandoned this principle.

Wang Xi nodded and said, "That's right."

Li Longji suddenly had a thought and asked, "By the way, didn't your father try to ask the teacher for help?"

Wang Xi blinked and said, "Yes, there is, but I was rejected."

Li Longji said with slight disappointment, "Is that so?"

"Ah."

Wang Xi nodded and said, "Sir, you don't like getting involved in politics."

He then changed the subject and whispered, "But did you discuss this matter with your nephew?"

Li Longji perked up. "What did the gentleman say?"

Wang Xi said, "This is something I wanted to do to help you, Father. So I tried to subtly bring it up during class, but the teacher saw through it and told me that the reason he wouldn't help was because Taoist thought couldn't help my father at all."

Li Longji asked, "Why is that?"

Wang Xi said, "The master said that natural selection and survival of the fittest are the laws of nature and cannot be violated."

Gao Lishi, who was standing to the side, was startled upon hearing this.

The principle of natural selection and survival of the fittest is fundamentally in conflict with the concept of divine right of kings.

However, Li Longji did not seem to care and even nodded slightly.

Then Wang Xi said, "If we consider the land, the strong will have more and more land, while the weak will have less and less land. Whether this is good or bad depends only on the length of time it takes for the change to happen. If this continues, the country will surely perish."

However, from a Taoist perspective, birth, aging, sickness, and death are natural laws that cannot be forced, and the rise and fall of a nation are also within them.

Li Longji's heart skipped a beat. "So, Taoist thought really isn't suitable for governing a country."

Which monarch would accept the idea of ​​a nation dying out naturally?

Are you crazy?

Thank goodness it's Wang Xi; try someone else.

Gao Lishi, standing to the side, was sweating profusely; this topic was really too exciting to discuss.

Wang Xi, oblivious to the danger, continued to shake his head and say, "That's what I asked you, sir. I said, if that's the case, then who would dare to use Taoist thought?"

Li Longji nodded. "Que'er's words make sense. How did you answer, sir?"

Wang Xi added, “As you said, using Confucianism does not mean abandoning Legalism. Similarly, using only Daoism is not enough, but if used properly, it can also achieve remarkable results.”

Li Longji asked, "What do you mean by that, sir?"

Wang Xi chuckled and said, "Sir, you used my explanation to explain it."

Li Longji looked at him with suspicion.

Wang Xi said, "That's the explanation my nephew just gave!"

After saying that, he picked up the violin in his hand again, "Uncle, do you know what this violin is made of?"

Li Longji said, "The body of the zither is made of wood, but as for the strings, Uncle, I haven't been able to tell yet."

“Just take this wood for example.”

Wang Xi said, "Those who make zithers from wood use the methods of the Mohists, but those who know that wood can be made into zithers use the methods of the Daoists."

Li Longji shook his head and said, "Uncle, I didn't quite understand. What does this have to do with Taoism?"

Instead of answering, Wang Xi asked, "Why doesn't anyone make a zither from stones?"

"Because the stone is hard and easily broken."

"Correct."

Wang Xi said: "Stone is hard and brittle, which is natural. Wood is malleable and very tough, which is also natural. If one understands Taoist thought, one can know all things in the world. Knowing all things, one can know the rise and fall, good and evil, and know how to deal with them."

To use my nephew's explanation, Taoism only explains the essence of things, but how to do it specifically requires finding another method.

Returning to the topic of marriage based on social class, Taoist thought explains the changes involved, but how to correct them, or whether not to change them, is beyond the reach of Taoism. However, if one does not understand the reasons for these changes, one is even less able to proceed.

Then there's my father's situation. From a Taoist perspective, it means that land annexation will inevitably worsen; it's almost irreversible. If the court wants a foolproof solution, it must intervene based on this irreversibility, either to slow it down or to find another way. If it goes against the will of Heaven, it will only bring about its own destruction.

(End of this chapter)