My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 155 The Way of the Sage
When Li Xuanba left his elder brother's place and returned to his own courtyard, he was in a daze.

He didn't even acknowledge Duan Niang's question, and simply walked into the study, picked up a book, and began writing something again.

San Shi was a little worried, but still stayed by his side.

She saw that Li Xuanba had his brows furrowed, had written a lot of things, and kept revising them.

San Shi didn't dare to disturb him, but simply stayed by his side in silence.

It was getting dark.

San Shi had already brought candles, and in the candlelight, Xuan Ba's profile appeared even more handsome.

As San Shi was watching, Li Xuanba suddenly raised his head and looked at her.

San Shi panicked and quickly got up.

"Sit down, sit down, I have something I want to tell you."

San Shi gently sat down in front of him again. Li Xuanba stared straight into her eyes. He hesitated for a moment and asked, "Would you like to learn some of the principles of the sages from me?"

"what?"

San Shi was stunned. Her eyes widened. "My lord, how can I learn the teachings of a sage? I don't even know how to read!"

Li Xuanba said, "I can tell you!"

"Okay, I'm willing to learn!"

Li Xuanba cleared his throat and began earnestly, "Do you know what benevolent governance is?"

"do not know"

"So-called benevolent governance is governance that loves the people, a way of governing that is good for the people. For example, not frequently imposing corvée labor and not making the people overworked. This is benevolent governance. Back in the Han Dynasty, in ancient times, the world was exhausted and the people were very tired. In order to deal with this situation, the government chose to let the people rest and recuperate, and did not impose corvée labor or increase taxes for a long time. The world was indeed well-governed. This is called benevolent governance."

Li Xuanba spoke very seriously, using the simplest and most easily understood words possible.

San Shi was increasingly surprised as he listened.

"Was there really no corvée labor for a long time back then?"

"Yes."

"There are others, for example..."

"So you see, the reason why sages advocate benevolent governance is because doing so can make the world a better place and make everyone's lives better, hence it is benevolence. There was a sage named Mencius who said this."

Li Xuanba spoke until his throat was dry, but Sanshi listened with great fascination.

For someone like her, who came from the lowest social class, the teachings of sages were far too distant for her. She could only keep her distance from such things and was completely unaware of them.

But after Li Xuanba's explanation, she seemed to understand something.

"After all this talk, have you understood anything?"

San Shi nodded emphatically, “Frequent corvée labor and excessive taxation are both wrong and do not conform to benevolent governance.”

Li Xuanba actually said a lot, not only about the pre-Qin period, but also about theories from the Han Dynasty, but San Shi only recorded this much.

Li Xuanba was not discouraged; instead, he laughed.

"That's right, that's right."

"This is enough."

The next day, Li Xuanba arrived at Dade Farm very early.

The craftsmen that Li Jiancheng promised would be sent here soon, but Zhang Du and the others were still a little worried. They wanted to send these craftsmen to Wild Buffalo Mountain, but would they agree to that? If they didn't agree, could they keep the secret?
We can't just arrest a bunch of craftsmen and send them up the mountain.

Compared to the worried crowd, Li Xuanba seemed quite happy. As soon as he arrived at the farm, he gathered everyone together.

After everyone was seated again, Li Xuanba cleared his throat and said seriously, "I have a preliminary idea about what we discussed yesterday. You can all listen to it."

Everyone looked very serious.

"This is what I think: we need to expand our influence and accept more people!"

"Whether farmers, merchants, soldiers, or artisans, we should accept everyone!"

“But by acceptance, I don’t mean directly inviting them to join us; it means expounding the teachings of the sages.”

“Those who depend on us should be told right from wrong, made to understand the principles of benevolent governance, made to know the mistakes of the sages, and made to understand what true great order in the world should be like!” Li Xuanba had just spoken when Zhang Du and the others were already dumbfounded.

Ah? ?

do what??

Ignoring their expressions, Li Xuanba continued, "Our master has taught us so much knowledge; we should let more people know about it."

"You don't need to worry. We won't say anything we shouldn't. We'll just spread some basic teachings of the sages. Even if outsiders find out, it won't matter!"

"Then, we can select trustworthy individuals from among our dependents and involve them in our important affairs!"

Li Xuanba said happily.

Zhang Du hurriedly said, "My lord!"

"If we are to accomplish great things, we should be careful and vigilant. How can we spread our teachings everywhere? Even if we spread the teachings of the sage, do those people understand them? My lord, you do not know this, but those farmers who depend on us cannot even read. They probably don't even know the sage's surname. How can we let them know the teachings of the sage?"

As the sage said, "In education, there should be no discrimination!"

"I don't want them to study the classics and become scholars in the imperial court. I just want them to know some principles, to know that Yang Guang was wrong, and to know what should be done. Only in this way can they join us and serve the right cause!"

Zhang Du was still somewhat confused after hearing Li Xuanba's explanation.

Not only Zhang Du, but also the other fellow disciples were at a loss for words.

I remember my husband saying he wanted to ask his teacher. Is this the advice his teacher gave him?

Should we promote the teachings of the sages and attract more people?

After thinking about it, everyone agreed that this did seem like something a teacher would do.

Seeing the silence of the crowd, Li Xuanba had no choice but to explain his thoughts again, "What we want to do is a great thing that will change the country. It is difficult to accomplish this by relying on just the people of us. We need more like-minded people, but there are not many people in the world who study the teachings of the sages and share our ideals."

"In that case, we should spread the word ourselves and let more people become our fellow travelers."

"What do you all think is wrong?"

Zhang Du felt something was wrong, but he couldn't pinpoint the problem, and everyone fell silent again.

Li Xuanba's face turned somewhat dejected, so Zhang Du had no choice but to step forward.

“Since it is Your Majesty’s idea, I think we might as well give it a try and consider it as a way to educate the local people. I have heard that during the Han Dynasty, there were three elders in the local areas who taught the common people the principles of the sages and helped them distinguish right from wrong. This is by no means a bad thing.”

Zhang Du took the lead, and the others had no choice but to follow suit, all agreeing.

Seeing that everyone had agreed, Li Xuanba finally smiled and said, "I believe we can definitely accomplish this important task!"

Just as everyone was discussing, the people sent by Li Jiancheng finally arrived.

The person he sent was Yang Wengan, who had just argued with Li Xuanba.

Yang Wengan led a group of ragged people to the farm. He looked around and then at the 'retainers' in the distance.

He didn't dare to force his way into the farm like the previous group.

Soon, Li Xuanba emerged, surrounded by the crowd.

Upon seeing that it was Yang Wengan, his expression froze and his smile vanished.

Zhang Du noticed something and stopped smiling. They walked up to Yang Wengan in a large group, placing their hands on the hilts of their swords, which seemed rather intimidating.

Yang Wengan didn't even glance at them; he simply bowed to Li Xuanba.

"I was wrong before, and I said some things I shouldn't have. The young master has already told me about this, and I hope that you will forgive me."

"Well, you are my elder brother's friend, so I can't say much to you. However, if you want my brother to be well, then don't say those things anymore. We brothers all respect our elder brother very much, and no outsider can sow discord between us."

I am not.

Yang Wengan wanted to say a few more words in his defense, but he only sighed and said nothing.

He pointed to the people behind him, "These are all newly recruited from outside the city. They are exactly the blacksmiths and the like that the lord needs. The young master gave them some food and money, so the lord doesn't need to worry about the cost of settling down. In addition, there are a few blueprints here, which the young master asked me to bring to the young master."

Yang Wengan handed the items to the other party and then said solemnly, "Young Master dotes on Lord Jun. I only hope that Lord Jun will be more careful in his actions and not implicate Young Master again!"

He bowed, then turned and left.

(End of this chapter)