Sky Curtain: My Great Qin must have an aircraft carrier!

The Weiyang Palace of the Han Dynasty.

The crisp sound of water dripping from the copper water clock was pleasing to the ear. Liu Che stared at the sky, lost in deep thought.

He chose Confucianism as the official ideology of the Han Dynasty, and naturally he had done his homework on Confucius, the patriarch.

But this in the sky—

Liu Che's lips twitched twice, and he turned to look at Dong Zhongshu, who was standing on the side of the hall.

"Minister Dong, haven't you Confucianists made a mistake?"

"Was that old scholar who was invited into the Confucius Temple actually Confucius?"

Dong Zhongshu looked up at the sky, and a layer of cold sweat seeped out of his forehead.

He opened and closed his lips several times before managing to squeeze out a single sentence.

"Your Majesty, perhaps there was a discrepancy when the portrait was copied in later generations."

"The Master won people over with virtue and accepted three thousand disciples. Perhaps this 'winning over' meant more than just persuasion..."

Liu Che pondered these words, somewhat speechless.

How can Confucianism be reliable if it can even get its own founder wrong?

Liu Che rubbed his temples. "Minister Dong, go back and revise the curriculum at the Imperial Academy."

"...Change what?"

"Add mounted archery."

Liu Che patted the armrest, "Since Confucius was skilled in both literature and martial arts, what kind of talk is it that you Confucian scholars are all talk and no action?"

Dong Zhongshu opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

Lu Li was unaware of the immense impact that Fan Ma and Confucius had on the ancients.

After watching the video of Muscle Confucius, I laughed so hard I rolled around on the bed, and tears almost came out.

"Okay, okay, is this how you play?"

Lu Li was overjoyed and casually gave the video a like, comment, and share.

Douyin's algorithm is indeed very sophisticated; it immediately pushed a new video up.

[Detailed Explanation of "Lunyu"]

The scholars, who had been despondent, had their eyes rekindled with hope upon seeing the new title.

"Here they come! They're going to recite the sayings of the sages!"

"That portrait of the brute was surely a hoax by later generations. Now that we're discussing the Analects, we should at least clear the Master's name!"

Scholars from all dynasties spread the word, calling out to passersby and children.

In the countryside, elderly people and children who had heard the news gathered on the ridges of the fields, craning their necks to look up at the sky.

Several literate students rubbed their eyes and muttered in low voices.

"Sir, those characters... don't seem to be from the Analects."

"Nonsense! How dare you spout such nonsense about the sacred texts?"

"No, sir, that character has the 'hand' radical next to it!"

The old scholars stared intently, their eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

What kind of language is this?

What's with this "hand radical"? Does it mean that in later generations, people started adding radicals when writing characters?

Inside Xianyang Palace.

Ying Zheng also noticed this character.

He turned his head and looked at Chunyu Yue, who was standing at the corner of the hall.

"Chunyu Yue, your Confucian school also has a book called 'Lunyu'? I've never seen it before."

His tone wasn't harsh, but sweat instantly beaded on Chunyu Yue's forehead.

He sensed the doubt in Ying Zheng's words.

This was a warning to him, implying that the Confucian school deliberately withheld its knowledge and did not offer its true learning to the Qin Dynasty!

Chunyu Yue bent his knees and knelt down.

"Your Majesty, I truly knew nothing of this book! Perhaps it was compiled by later disciples and has not yet been published!"

Ying Zheng nodded slightly and did not ask any further questions.

That explanation makes sense.

After all, if even Confucius's appearance could be misrepresented, it seems reasonable that one or two classic texts might be omitted.

"Fusu, you usually love Confucianism the most. Take a look at this sage's writings and see what's so special about them."

Fusu bowed respectfully: "Your subject obeys the decree."

The celestial screen unfolds.

Accompanied by a highly rhythmic and rousing melody, the image of Confucius reappears.

This time, however, Confucius was wearing a long black overcoat and sunglasses, with three thousand burly men holding clubs standing behind him.

As the president of a multinational corporation with three thousand followers, Confucius traveled around the states, and he didn't rely on reasoning.

This book, "Lunyu," is the set of rules that Confucius established for the righteous and the wicked!

The first sentence: If you have spare energy, then use it to study literature.

Upon hearing this, the Confucian scholars immediately perked up.

This is it! This is the Analects they are familiar with!

The old scholar eagerly stepped forward and loudly explained to the surrounding people, "What the Master means is that if you have spare energy in your daily life, then you can study knowledge."

"This teaches us that we should be down-to-earth and not neglect the essentials for the trivial."

The old scholar quoted extensively from classical texts, displaying the demeanor of a great Confucian scholar.

The surrounding people nodded in agreement.

"Oh, oh, oh, sir is right."

"Please continue, we're listening."

Just as the old scholar was about to elaborate further, the explanation appeared on the sky.

Confucius meant that if you still have the energy after beating someone up every day, you can go and read books.

After all, in this world, without education, you'll only ever be a lackey. Don't you have any dreams?

The audience was silent.

The crowd gathered under the sky fell into absolute silence.

The farmers stared in disbelief, their eyes filled with confusion.

A young man looked at the old scholar with a sincere expression: "Sir, this seems to be different from what you said?"

The old scholar's face turned purplish-red, but he couldn't utter a single word of rebuttal.

It's not that they didn't want to refute it, but when paired with that muscular Confucius, it suddenly seemed perfectly reasonable.

A boss with three thousand underlings, isn't his daily routine just beating people up?

Before everyone could even process this, a second sentence popped up on the sky.

Repay injustice with justice, and repay kindness with kindness.

Confucius meant: If someone annoys you, just take action against them!

You only need to talk to a truly moral and well-behaved person about morality.

In the video, Confucius swings his bamboo slips and smashes them hard on the head of an unlucky man.

Confucian scholars of all dynasties: ...

So you really interpret your "Lunyu" (抡语) literally, literally?

The "straightforwardness" in "repaying injustice with straightforwardness" inherently means honesty and directness.

But the problem is the context; you have to look at the context!

Translating it out of context is like throwing dirty water on a saint!

Before the pedants could react, the sky flipped down another sentence.

Besides these rules of the underworld, the "Lunyu" also contains many sentences full of great wisdom.

Confucius said: "Learning without thinking is futile; thinking without learning is dangerous."

"Oh?"

The Han Dynasty Confucian scholars were intrigued and wanted to see how the heavens would interpret this sentence.

The Han Dynasty was only a little over a hundred years after the Qin Dynasty. The martial spirit in the army was extremely strong, and even civil officials could draw their swords and kill people if they were pushed too far.

Therefore, while the Confucian scholars of the Han Dynasty were shocked, they did not feel that anything was wrong.

Many people immediately took off their loose outer robes, revealing their muscular arms, and began to spar with each other.

Although they were all Confucian scholars, the intellectuals of the Song Dynasty were on the verge of collapse.

Chaos erupted at the entrance of the Imperial Academy in Bianjing (Kaifeng).

"This is an insult to scholarship! An insult to scholarship!"

The elderly Tai Xue scholar collapsed onto the bluestone slab, covering his ears tightly with both hands.

"We scholars should persuade others with reason, not resort to violence at every turn."

"Stop talking! I don't want to hear it! No way!"

Let's take a look at what Confucius meant by this.

Confucius said: If you only learn my martial arts but not my thoughts, you will be confused.

If you learn my ideas but not my martial arts, you'll be beaten to death on the way.

Therefore, Confucius tells us that the purpose of learning martial arts is to make the other person sit down obediently and listen carefully to your reasoning.

"Hiss—Good! Well said!"

Zhao Kuangyin's eyes lit up; he felt that these words had struck a chord with him.

He didn't have much formal education; he built his empire solely through the use of the Panlong Staff. That's what learning martial arts is all about.

After conquering the country, Zhao Pu used reason to educate the people; this is the essence of thought.

This interpretation from Tianmu is even more refreshing than drinking strong liquor!

Zhao Kuangyin grabbed Zhao Pu and patted him twice forcefully.

"Zeping, wasn't Confucius referring to the two of us?"

"When the two of us get together, isn't that exactly what Confucius meant by combining learning and thinking?"

Zhao Pu opened his mouth, unsure how to explain to Zhao Kuangyin.

What was said on the sky screen was definitely wrong, but if the original meaning were to be expressed, would Zhao Kuangyin, that brute, understand it?

"What Your Majesty says is very true," Zhao Pu said through gritted teeth, squeezing out these words.

Zhao Kuangyin laughed heartily, his heroic spirit soaring to the heavens.

"From this day forward, the Imperial Guards of Kaifeng Prefecture will begin their training in archery, horsemanship, and horseback riding, with the addition of a new subject: 'Lunyu' (a type of classical Chinese poetry)!"

"I want them to know that we are not only highly skilled in martial arts, but also civilized people who value reason!"

The imperial guards outside the main hall looked at each other, then straightened their backs in unison.

So it turns out that being a soldier not only provides food, but also allows you to learn principles from sages. What a worthwhile deal!