A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

"The so-called Great Harmony."

Wei Sheng's voice began to rise with passion.

"When the world is united as one family, all within the seas are one nation. When the Great Way prevails, the world belongs to all. We select the virtuous and capable, and we value trust and harmony."

"Therefore, people do not only love their own parents and children, but ensure that the elderly are cared for until their end, the able-bodied are employed, the young are nurtured, and the widowed, orphaned, childless, disabled, and sick are all provided for. The poor receive government stipends, and the rich contribute to help the sage king educate the world. All children, boys and girls, receive nine years of education, funded by the state treasury; medical expenses for the common people are also covered by the state, without distinction between the noble and the lowly. Men have their roles, and women have their homes. People dislike seeing goods wasted on the ground and do not hoard them; they dislike seeing their strength wasted and do not work for themselves. Therefore, conspiracies do not arise, theft and rebellion do not occur, outer doors are not locked, and the king is free from the troubles of government affairs, only the trouble of the world being at peace! This is called the Great Harmony."

Is this utopian world truly achievable?

Emperor Wu of Han looked on with longing, as did the eunuchs around him.

This scene is truly breathtaking.

No one would not want to live in such an era.

A powerful figure like Emperor Wu of Han aspired to be the one who ushered in this era.

Compared to this, how utterly vulnerable was the so-called golden age of the past?!

Emperor Wu of Han felt that he had found the direction for his life's journey.

Towards Great Harmony.

He is determined to achieve universal harmony.

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. A great river is formed from countless small streams."

"Only by taking one step at a time and being down-to-earth can we achieve a prosperous and harmonious world."

Wei Sheng reminded them that they hadn't even reached the first two goals yet, and they were already thinking about a utopian world.

They haven't even learned to crawl yet, but they're already thinking about running.

"Wei Sheng was appointed as a Chamberlain, to serve at his side."

Emperor Wu of Han said that he wished he could sleep side by side with this young man and talk all night about how to achieve a prosperous and harmonious world.

He simply wanted Taoism to become the only school of thought in the world, unifying all other schools of thought.

That alone is not enough. The Hundred Schools of Thought copied everything. This is just a theory. The Hundred Schools of Thought can soon become our own.

Emperor Wu of Han suddenly remembered a doctrine he had forgotten: the study of things.

Is that why he is so confident?

As if sensing the doubt in Emperor Wu of Han's eyes, Wei Sheng began to introduce his study of natural philosophy.

"The so-called investigation of things is a means to explore the essence of physics, which is the Tao."

"The core of the study of things is that practice is the sole criterion for testing truth."

"There is nothing in the world that cannot be investigated, even the sun, to explore why the sun rises in the east and sets in the west."

"We can observe the moon to explore why it has phases;"

"One can explore the geography of the world and discover just how vast it truly is."

"One can investigate medicinal herbs to explore why they can cure diseases."

"One can investigate seeds; the Wei family's cultivation of superior varieties also utilizes the method of investigating things."

"This method can be used to improve farm tools; farmers can use it to improve their tools."

"It can also be about investigating things that are not physical objects, or about investigating principles. For example, the Legalists can use the method of investigating things to investigate the loopholes in the law and supplement it."

"The Mohists were able to investigate things and create all sorts of tools."

"In their pursuit of truth, the various schools of thought of the pre-Qin period were also seeking to align themselves with the truth!"

Emperor Wu of Han finally understood that "investigating things" was not a complete doctrine, but a means. According to Daoism, it was a kind of Dao, a Dao used to pursue other Daos.

It's a bit of a mouthful.

Or perhaps it's more accurate to call it teleology? Pragmatism?

I feel there are some of both, but none of them can be fully described.

However, Emperor Wu of Han could sense the great usefulness of investigating things, since grain seeds and farming tools were tangible benefits.

Limited by the times, Emperor Wu of Han could not understand the use of those sun and moon.

Do you know why the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and why the moon has phases? What's the use of knowing this?

It certainly makes people curious.

After pondering for a long time, Emperor Wu of Han asked the question solemnly.

"Can this method grant immortality?"

"Ge Changsheng, is it possible to find the true path to immortality?"

"No."

Wei Sheng decisively refused.

"Investigating things means investigating real and tangible things and principles, not those vague and nonexistent things."

Wei Sheng said against his will.

Emperor Wu of Han's eyes flickered; he didn't believe it.

Let someone try it.

"Someone, take today's memorial to the Crown Prince."

The theory of the Three Generations will surely become the governing strategy of the Han Dynasty for the next hundred years, and Liu Ju, as the crown prince, will naturally have to study it carefully.

Emperor Wu of Han also wanted to take this opportunity to spread his ideas. In front of Wei Sheng, who proposed the theory of the Three Generations, all the great sages of the Hundred Schools of Thought would have to bow down.

Unless he can come up with something more compelling.

When this memorial was sent to the Crown Prince's residence, several tutors whom Emperor Wu of Han had found for the Crown Prince learned of the matter.

After the couplet was read aloud, everyone applauded and cheered, and some even shed tears.

Having spent most of their lives studying, they had always dreamed of achieving the rule of the Three Kings, but only now did they realize what the rule of the Three Kings truly looked like.

This was their lifelong dream, so naturally they had to tell their old buddies as soon as possible.

Through the dissemination of these old scholars, the theory of the Three Lives deeply resonated with everyone.

This also put immense pressure on the various schools of thought.

The struggle for ideological unification brooks no mercy, and it is impossible to surrender simply because of the theory of three generations.

Why should your Taoism lead all schools of thought, instead of my Confucianism, my Mohism, or my Legalism?

The phrase "All schools of thought return to Confucianism" sounds quite nice.

This is what Dong Zhongshu thought.

But looking at the Three Lifetimes' Sayings and then at his Heavenly Man Sense, he casually tossed the Heavenly Man Sense into the stove and read the Three Lifetimes' Sayings word by word.

An attempt was made to introduce a three-generation system belonging to Confucianism.

After all, it also uses some of the sayings of Mencius, a Confucian scholar, and some of his ideas are very much in line with Confucianism.

This has both advantages and disadvantages for them, the Confucianists.

The advantage is that Confucian theories and the Three Ages theory are quite compatible, making them easier to adapt.

The downside is that the idea of ​​the Three Lives theory already lingers in their minds, along with some Confucian ideas, making it extremely difficult for them to find another way.

After all, the suitable ones have already been used, and what's left are not so suitable.

This made Dong Zhongshu want to curse.

People from other schools of thought were in similar situations, racking their brains to figure out how to decipher the theory of the three lifetimes or to propose a better theory.

Although the Taoists were pleased with the Wei family's actions, as a group of old-fashioned men, they did not have the habit of sticking together and simply let things take their course.

After all, a considerable number of high-ranking officials in the court believed in Taoism, and now even the most powerful Wei family supported it. Unless Emperor Wu of Han personally intervened to support them, it was unclear how they would lose.

Others, starting from the Three Ages theory, intend to supplement it and use their governing philosophy to achieve a prosperous and peaceful era.

Some ambitious scholars aimed directly at the ideal of a utopian world, hoping their theories could support the Han Dynasty through the periods of peace and prosperity and the period of moderate prosperity, and lead it to the ideal of a utopian world.