I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 401: All the talents have arrived
“Since the Later Han Dynasty, the methods of alternating fields and dividing fields have gradually become widespread.”

"Du Shi, the prefect of Nanyang, invented the water-powered winnowing device, which he cast into an agricultural implement. It required little effort but yielded great results, making it convenient for the people. Some praised him, saying, 'Before him was Zhao Fu, after him was Du Shi's mother.'"

“Wang Jing, a native of Langya, built dikes, managed canals, cut off the water, and erected gates, thus diverting the river and Bian River and restoring their original course. North of Taoqiu, the land gradually became Rangfen, so that for the next several hundred years, the Central Plains would not suffer from major floods again.”

Liu Miao looked at Zhang Lu, hoping for a response.

Zhang Lu vaguely understood Liu Miao's meaning, but he was still a tiny bit short of understanding and couldn't quite grasp the point.

"I believe that the Dao exists and is the origin of all things."

"But how should one grasp the Dao? How should one understand the Dao?"

Liu Miao's words were already giving Zhang Lu a headache.

"For example, people know that the methods of alternating fields and dividing fields can increase grain production, but they do not know why this method can increase grain production. This is because they have not grasped the Dao."

"What Taoism aims to do is to explore and master this Tao."

Zhang Lu finally understood something at this point.

But he couldn't help but start to worry about this heavy responsibility.

Can Taoism really achieve such a thing?
Seeing Zhang Lu's panic, Liu Miao gave him another reminder—

“Zhang Cang, the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, revised and expanded the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art. From then on, the nine questions on land surveying, millet, distribution of grain, distribution of grain, commercial projects, equal distribution of grain, surplus and deficiency, equations, and right triangles were no longer difficult problems.”

"The reason for this is that Zhang Cang has mastered the Dao!"

Zhang Lu: "Uh..."

He glanced cautiously at Liu Miao: "Your Majesty, Zhang Cang is not a Taoist."

"Who said that?"

"what?"

Zhang Lu stared wide-eyed at Liu Miao, suddenly realizing that this Han emperor seemed to have reached the extreme of arrogance!
Zhang Cang was a student of Xunzi, and a classmate of Li Si and Han Fei.

These are all things recorded in history books! Even if Zhang Cang wasn't a Confucian, he should at least be classified as a Legalist. How could the Daoists possibly get a share of the pie?

Liu Miao retorted, unconvinced, "Who told you Zhang Cang was a Confucian? Huh? So what if you categorize him as a Daoist? Are you afraid he'll come looking for you for tea in the middle of the night?"

Zhang Lu felt ashamed.

Then, Liu Miao gave another example—

"For example, didn't Mozi point out that the reason why the scale beam is balanced when weighing an object is that the 'base' is shorter and the 'mark' is longer? In other words, the product of force and mark is equal to the product of force and base?"

"This is also because Mozi mastered the Dao!"

Zhang Lu was completely dumbfounded!

You can force Zhang Cang to belong to Taoism, but Mozi is the true founder of the Mohist school!

If we include them, wouldn't that be a bit too shameless?
But Liu Miao's indifferent expression said it all.

"What happened?"

"Could it be that some Mohist leader is going to come out and duel you now? To kill you with a sword sheath?"

"..."

Zhang Lu was taken aback.

Yup!

Mohism?

Didn't the Mohist school perish early?
If someone says you're a Taoist, then you are a Taoist!
A dead man.

A dead school of thought has absolutely no voice!
You are what you are!
After a brief period of adjustment, Zhang Lu quickly grasped the essence of the matter and finally understood what Liu Miao meant by the "Tao" that he had been emphasizing!
These are patterns derived from extensive experience and verified through summarization!

In short, it must be objective and universal.

For example, in "The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art," there are tools used to calculate the area of ​​cultivated land.

It's not accurate to say that one figure is calculated in Hebei and another figure is calculated in Jiangdong!
The "Tao" is one, not two, three, four, or five.

We can't follow the Confucian idea of ​​the interaction between Heaven and humanity, where today we say Heaven belongs to the Han dynasty, and tomorrow it belongs to the Zhao dynasty; today it's angry, and tomorrow it's happy...

At this moment, Zhang Lu finally understood how Liu Miao wanted to reform Taoism, and he finally understood what Liu Miao meant by the "Tao"!
Zhang Lu's feelings were extremely complicated at this moment.

On the one hand, he understood that if Taoism wanted to gain Liu Miao's support and become a prominent school of thought, it had to make changes itself, obey Liu Miao's orders, revise its doctrines, and interpret the Tao in Liu Miao's current way.

On the other hand, he also knew that in doing so, there would no longer be a concrete person to represent the Dao and to gain great prestige and power.

Liu Miao did not intend to use Taoism to govern the country, but rather to completely separate Taoism from secular affairs, creating a pure academic school of thought.

If Emperor Wu of Han reformed Confucianism by dissecting its belly and stuffing it with all sorts of nonsense, then Liu Miao's reform of Taoism is like removing its brain, replacing it with a new one, and then letting Taoism devour the flesh and blood of others.

What about Confucianism, Legalism, Agriculturalism, Mohism...?

Once it's swallowed, it's all mine!

Perhaps in the near future, Taoism will achieve even greater dominance than Confucianism does today, but will Taoism still be Taoism at that time?
Zhang Lu hesitated.

Before he came to Chengdu, he had only intended to sell his body.

But what I didn't expect was that Liu Miao actually wanted his Dao essence!
after all……

If we were to truly reform Taoism according to Liu Miao's ideas, then Laozi, Zhuangzi, and other true founders of Taoism might one day be expelled from the "Taoist tradition"...

Is it worth it?
Seeing Zhang Lu hesitate, Liu Miao also reminded him—

"Gongqi, what you just said to me, does it stand or not?"

What did you say? What do you mean by "does it count" or "does it not count"?
Zhang Lu was taken aback, then realized that Liu Miao meant the phrase "unable to bear the suffering of the people"...

This should be the true essence of Taoism!
Zhang Lu's mind was completely in a mess at this moment.

"Your Majesty, there are too many things to do, I can't understand them..."

He was Zhang Lu, not Zhang Daoling.

Zhang Daoling was able to write the "Laozi Xiang'er Commentary", but he couldn't!
"It's alright, I'll help you!"

Liu Miao knew, of course, that doing these things would be difficult.

"First, we must start by changing the doctrines."

"Dao begets one, one life two, two begets three, three begets everything."

"What Taoism aims to do is to trace back from all things to the One. This 'One' is unique, which is the Tao itself." Liu Miao had already dissected the Taoist mind right from the start.

“The way to pursue the Dao can be done using Mozi’s Three Standards method.”

Liu Miao has laid his cards on the table, completely categorizing Mozi as belonging to the Daoist school.

If you're so capable, then let Mozi come out and fight you right now! If you're not, then just keep quiet!

"Every thought must have a basis, and every basis must have an origin."

This is the method for pursuing that "one".

We should not rely on our own speculation, but rather observe the facts as they are seen and heard by the people.

We have a reason, and we have a method.

What remains is the goal.

All schools of thought, all sects, and all philosophers share the same ultimate goal!

Whether it's the world returning to benevolence or ascending to heaven in broad daylight, what we ultimately pursue is always happiness and beauty!

For Taoism today, Liu Miao also wanted to set a goal and a pursuit.

"What the Way seeks is the Great Harmony!"

When the Great Way prevails, the world belongs to all!

This is a pursuit found in Confucian classics, but Liu Miao also took it without hesitation and devoured it!
Property is jointly owned, everyone should make the best use of their abilities, and the elderly and children should all be cared for!
Such a "Great Harmony" is destined to be full of twists and turns.

The road ahead is destined to be arduous.

Even so, we still need to touch that "one", that "Tao".

Zhang Lu's expression had changed from numb to somewhat devout, so he simply abandoned his own thinking and listened attentively to Liu Miao's words.

But he still had some doubts.

"Your Majesty, is there really anyone who would believe in Taoism like this?"

The path to pursuing the Tao is undoubtedly winding and arduous.

In comparison, placing a clay statue at home and praying to it would undoubtedly be much less expensive...

"some."

Liu Miao smiled slightly at Zhang Lu again.

"So, at this point, we need some stories!"

Liu Miao handed a stack of papers to Zhang Lu, who nervously accepted them, feeling that the contents contained some extraordinary information...

as predicted!

Many of the stories inside were so profound that they left Zhang Lu completely bewildered!

For example, Lu Ban.

The story of this great sage was written as him inventing the wood saw, which led to him being promoted, marrying a noblewoman, accumulating wealth, and reaching the pinnacle of life!

Besides profiting himself, Liu Miao also emphasized a serious matter: because of Lu Ban's inventions, countless poor people were able to live in houses, fulfilling the long-cherished wish of the Han scholars to save the common people!

For example, Zhang Cang, Fan Shengzhi, Du Shi, Wang Jing...

Liu Miao also created a similar short story for it!
"Your Majesty, isn't this a bit inappropriate? Many things in the history books probably can't be changed, right?"

"Really? Confucius traveled around the states and almost starved to death, yet he was still praised by later Confucian scholars."

"That's different."

"What's the difference? Back in Confucius' time, the Zhou emperor was still alive! Why didn't I see him go to serve the Zhou emperor?"

Zhang Lu was somewhat frightened: "If this gets out, I'm afraid it will cause a lot of criticism!"

"What do you take me for?"

Liu Miao was determined to take sides!

"Moreover, while the stories of the other people mentioned above may be fabricated, are the stories of Kongming and Ziyang false?"

The last few pages of the story describe Han Ji's promotion of water-powered looms, Zhuge Liang's improvement of looms, Liu Ye's invention of seagoing vessels, and the Zhen family's improvement of papermaking techniques.

It is a fact that these people reached the pinnacle of life by pursuing the "Tao"!

Water-powered looms and other equipment enabled the rapid development of handicrafts in Jingzhou!
Seagoing vessels enabled people in coastal areas to explore the deep sea and carry out fishing operations.

The Zhen family's improvement of papermaking techniques has transformed them from a once-powerful family that fled Hebei in disgrace into a well-connected in-law family in Jiangdong!
Aren't these all facts?

"Moreover, I will give money, and others will give money too."

No matter how nice the words sound, the people must first be able to hear your voice.

Just like Zhang Jiao used talismanic water to cure diseases, people must feel the tangible benefits before they are willing to join in.

But all benefits ultimately come at a price.

"I will allocate some funds and grain specifically for this purpose."

"Moreover, the wealthy people within the Great Han territory will certainly also give alms."

Many newly established workshop owners within the Great Han Dynasty have surely realized how technology helps them amass wealth.

In the process of exploring the Tao, Taoists naturally discovered many techniques.

The interests of both sides are ultimately aligned, so if this makeshift Taoist organization can be established, Liu Miao won't even need to allocate state funds; the wealthy people within the Han Dynasty will voluntarily support such a Taoist organization.

The Confucian school was able to rise to prominence thanks to the support of the wealthiest aristocratic landowners in the early Han Dynasty.

If Taoism were to regain its footing today, it would certainly seek support from the wealthiest workshop owners.

Coincidentally, the interests of both parties are aligned!
With such a powerful alliance, Liu Miao really couldn't imagine how the Confucian concept of the interaction between Heaven and Man in the Northern Zhao Dynasty could compete with the Daoist concept of "pursuing the Oneness" in the present day.

"I have already set up the framework for you."

"How you fill in the rest is your business."

Liu Miao reminded Zhang Lu: "Use whatever of the various schools of thought you want."

"Go ahead and make up stories! I'll take care of the rest!"

(End of this chapter)