My hotel is full of emperors throughout history.

Zhu Biao and Fusu exchanged a glance.

Zhu Biao organized his thoughts and spoke first.

"Speaking of Brother Chen, his breadth of knowledge and his extraordinary thinking are truly beyond the reach of ordinary people."

"The other day, Fusu and I discussed the principles of governance with him. He did not cite any classical texts, but he said a few words that made Ling Biao suddenly understand."

"Oh~!"

Li Shimin immediately became interested.

"Does that kid even understand the ways of governance?"

"I couldn't tell!"

"Tell me what you have to say, let me hear it."

Zhu Biao nodded.

"Brother Chen said, 'No one has the right to speak without investigation.' No matter what the issue is, we need to investigate before we can speak; otherwise, it's just empty talk."

Upon hearing this, Fusu looked ashamed.

"I listened to those Confucian scholars before, and went directly to advise my father without doing any investigation. I became someone else's scapegoat for no reason."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin nodded to himself.

If a ruler or a minister cannot understand the situation of his subjects and distinguish right from wrong, and makes rash decisions based solely on memorials, public opinion, and rumors, how is he any different from a blind man feeling for a candle or someone who is groping for a candle while tapping on a plate?

"and then?"

Li Shimin continued to ask.

"Then comes the unity of knowledge and action, which means that knowledge is the beginning of action and action is the completion of knowledge."

"Reading and understanding principles is important, but if it cannot be put into practice to solve real problems, it is just a castle in the air and empty talk."

"Everything must be put into practice before conclusions are drawn, and then those conclusions are applied to practice, leading to new and more advanced conclusions."

"Without practice, one cannot arrive at true principles."

Li Shimin sat up straighter, a serious expression on his face.

"This kid..."

He glanced at the kitchen subconsciously, his eyes darting around.

"He has this kind of talent?"

"Brother Chen's talent is indeed beyond the reach of ordinary people."

Zhu Biao spoke up, and Fusu nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Li Shimin remained silent.

He recalled Chen Mo's various behaviors: he was neither humble nor arrogant when facing him, the emperor, or even other emperors; he analyzed things incisively; and he had his own insights on economics and governance.

This kid...

If he were in his Tang Dynasty, he could probably have achieved great things.

Fortunately, Chen Mo was unaware of his thoughts; if he had known, he probably would have just laughed it off.

It's not that amazing; it's just standing on the shoulders of giants.

People in ancient times weren't stupid, and modern people aren't as smart as we imagine.

But modern people stand on the shoulders of countless geniuses!

Putting everything else aside, the ideas and ways of thinking of those individuals alone are enough to place you in ancient times.

That's why Chen Mo always recommends that others read more of Mao Zedong's Selected Works.

Because each time you read it, you truly gain a new understanding.

Most of them are difficult to understand without considering their historical context, but works like "On Practice," "On Contradiction," and "Reform Our Study" are unparalleled masterpieces.

Isn't this way much more impressive than the experiences of some other successful person?

"So what do you think of this kid... his character?"

Li Shimin asked the question.

Zhu Biao and Fusu exchanged a glance, their gazes both somewhat strange.

Asking about someone's abilities is one thing, but now they're asking about their character too.

It didn't seem like I was asking for their opinions, but rather like I was inquiring about my own future...

"Ahem~!"

Zhu Biao composed himself and prepared to answer.

But then Chen Mo came out carrying a little girl named Sizi, whose face was flushed and who was playing with a big smile.

Li Lizhi followed behind him, a smile on her face.

"What are you talking about?"

Seeing that Zhu Biao and Fusu's expressions were a bit strange, Chen Mo couldn't help but ask with a smile.

"us……"

"I was discussing with them what you said before, 'No investigation, no right to speak,' and 'unity of knowledge and action.'"

Before Fusu could finish speaking, Li Shimin interrupted him.

Then Li Shimin continued to ask questions.

"Shopkeeper Chen, besides those two sentences just now, I would like to hear if you have any other insightful opinions?"

Chen Mo pondered for a moment and then sat down in the chair.

After a while,

"Let me think about it. What I said before, whether it was investigation or the unity of knowledge and action, actually points to something more fundamental."

Chen Mo paused, and admiration reappeared on his face.

"A great man summarized this into a fundamental method for understanding the world and solving problems, which we call..."

Chen Mo looked at Li Shimin and said, word by word.

"contradiction!"

"contradiction?"

Li Shimin raised an eyebrow slightly.

Zhu Biao and Fusu immediately sat up straight, looking serious.

"good."

Chen Mo nodded.

"Everything in this world, whether it's the political situation in the imperial court, military campaigns, people's livelihoods, or even the hot pot we just ate, is full of contradictions."

Chen Mo paused.

Simply put, it refers to two opposing yet unified aspects within a thing.

"Opposing yet unified?"

Li Shimin was puzzled.

Chen Mo thought for a moment and gave an example.

"For example, when you, Lao Li, govern the Tang Dynasty, there are conflicts between the court and the local governments; between civil officials and military generals; between imperial power and aristocratic families! Even the emperor and the crown prince may sometimes be in conflict."

Li Shimin's eyes flashed, and he fell into deep thought.

Chen Mo looked at Fusu and gave two more examples.

"For example, the Qin state was founded on law, which created huge conflicts between the nobles and the lowest-level peasants. There were also conflicts between the Qin people and the people of the other six states. These conflicts accumulated little by little over time, and eventually, all it took was a fuse to ignite them."

Chen Mo snapped his fingers.

"The Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising was just like that. Although it was quickly suppressed, anti-Qin forces began to emerge continuously."

"Or perhaps we should look at the Ming Dynasty."

Chen Mo looked at Zhu Biao.

"Zhu Xi wanted to use the vassal kings to form a shield to protect the royal family, which did indeed play a protective role for the royal family, but it also brought about the consequence of the vassal kings becoming too powerful to control, which led to the conflict between the vassal kings and the central government."

"Some contradictions are invisible, such as the ones I just mentioned, but there are also some contradictions that are visible."

Chen Mo thought for a moment and then spoke.

"Hot and cold, offense and defense, advance and retreat, victory and defeat—these are all things that can be seen."

"Almost everything has contradictions; this is the universality of contradictions."

"And the essence of the contradictions within the research object—"

Chen Mo paused.

"We call it—dialectics."