Young Master Gao? Call me Little Grand Secretary!

Gao Zhao returned to Biyong and boasted to people all day long with a reserved air. It felt pretty good!

He's already considering whether he should try to extract more information from the old man, write a book, and then try to piggyback on Confucius's legacy!

Now that the Five Masters of the Northern Song Dynasty have all passed away, all that remains are their disciples. No successor has yet been born. This is the perfect opportunity to make a name for yourself!

I'll stage an accident to get a position as the executive vice president, isn't that a bit much?

This can be considered as continuing the lost learning of the sages!

With a valid reason, he went to see the old man as usual early the next morning, wanting to persuade him that since he was already nearing death, he should stop hiding his secrets and quickly hand over all his unique skills!

The old man arrived early today. When he slipped out of class, the other person was already waiting for him in the corner.

"Seeing your beaming face, you must have been the center of attention yesterday, right?"

"Haha...Is it that obvious?" Gao Zhao couldn't hide the itch in his heart, trying his best to suppress the upward corners of his mouth, and waved his hand, saying, "The limelight and all that is just empty fame, I personally don't really care...haha..."

Gao Zhao couldn't hold back any longer and burst into laughter.

The old man sat there, quietly watching him, a smile playing on his lips, but a hint of melancholy in his eyes.

Only after Gao Zhao finished laughing did he speak and ask, "Wasn't that quite a shock to everyone present?"

"Mmm-hmm!" Gao Zhao nodded repeatedly. Since he had already lost his composure, there was no point in worrying about it anymore!

With a wave of his hand, he said smugly, "More than four people! I debated with a group of scholars, leaving five outstanding students from the Imperial Academy and five top talents from the Imperial College speechless! Those inner disciples of the Imperial College were also completely impressed and sincerely convinced of my superiority..."

"I wasn't asking about them!" The old man waved his hand to interrupt Gao Zhao's boasting, and smiled, "I was asking about the officials!"

"Oh, them..." Gao Zhao tried hard to recall the scene from yesterday, and said hesitantly, "They seemed quite shocked too... The Emperor praised me a few times, and Grand Tutor Cai also agreed. It's just that my master probably didn't expect my progress to be so great, and he seemed quite surprised..."

"Heh, your father's surprise isn't just simple!" The old man chuckled, then shook his head and said, "Now that you've made a name for yourself, our time together is coming to an end!"

"Ah!" Gao Zhao was so startled that he stood up abruptly. Putting aside the fact that he had to deceive the old man about his knowledge in order to impress the sage, he was also somewhat reluctant to part with him after spending so much time together these past few days!

"Sit down!" The old man waved his hand and said, "Do you remember me telling you not to mention me if you cause trouble in the future? Now you've used the argument of combining righteousness and profit to gain attention, which will naturally draw people's attention to you, and then implicate me!"

"No, you should have said so earlier! I didn't need it!" Gao Zhao was very anxious, thinking that this old guy was crazy. You're afraid of being noticed, and you still want me to use this to argue? Isn't this just asking for trouble?

"All good things must come to an end. It's only a matter of time. We can't just give up all our limelight over something like this!" The old man was quite nonchalant.

Upon hearing this, Gao Zhao found it quite reasonable. After all, there would be a time when they would meet again, but once you miss an opportunity to show off, it's gone forever!

Seeing his silence, the old man smiled again and said, "Do you know why I taught you those principles from the book?"

Gao Zhao thought for a moment and said, "I skipped class, you were bored, and we were like dry wood meeting a raging fire... it all happened by chance!"

The old man shook his head and said, "There are no coincidences or chances. I deliberately chose you!"

"You deliberately chose me?" Gao Zhao's eyes lit up, and he said excitedly, "You saw that I have exceptional talent and will surely achieve great things in the future!"

"No, that's not it!" the old man quickly denied. "I chose you because you're uncouth enough, unlike the other students who revere the classics like gods!"

"What kind of logic is this!" Gao Zhao was furious, thinking that the old man was trying to trick him.

"As I told you before, Mr. Cheng from Luoyang once said: 'Scholars today suffer from three ills: they are obsessed with literature, entangled in textual exegesis, and misled by heresies! Do you know the reason for this?'"

The old man glanced at him, saw his blank expression, and answered himself: "The teachings of sages and worthies are all the ultimate truths of the world. Scholars who study them are inevitably influenced by them, thus losing their true selves!"

Seeing that he still looked completely bewildered, the old man said helplessly, "If a butcher were to learn from Mencius, develop a sense of compassion, and follow the gentleman's principle of staying away from the kitchen, he would lose his livelihood!"

Gao Zhao suddenly realized: "You mean, while we should study the classics and understand the principles of the world, we should also uphold our own principles!"

"More or less!" The old man nodded and continued, "A friend of mine once said: 'A child's reading is like walking into a deep mountain. Looking around, one sees towering peaks, all of which are the sages of the past. Therefore, the first step in reading should be to establish a righteous mind and sincere intentions under the gaze of all the sages, clarify one's aspirations, and only then can one proceed with reading!'"

"So complicated!" Gao Zhao thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Who can establish their own principles right after starting school? This is too difficult!"

"Indeed very difficult! Only those with extraordinary talent can accomplish this!" The old man smiled slightly and continued, "Therefore, there is a second method: those who have no reverence for sages will naturally not become addicted to it!"

"Oh...this doesn't seem right," Gao Zhao said疑惑地, "There are many people in this world who don't respect sages and saints!"

"That's because they don't read books and only have a superficial understanding of the words of the sages!" The old man sighed. "Actually, such people are very hard to find. I've only met one in my entire life! And he was an exceptionally talented individual!"

Gao Zhao, somewhat unconvinced, retorted, "What do you mean by exceptional talent?"

The old man recalled the past and smiled slightly, saying, "He was well-versed in the Six Classics, knowledgeable in both ancient and modern times, and understood all the principles in the books, but he only believed what he himself understood!"

Gao Zhao was about to say, "It's just that he's good at memorizing, what's so great about that!"

Before he could speak, the old man said, "He completed all of these when he was ten years old!"

Gao Zhao was speechless. He hated dealing with these geniuses! It made him look like an idiot!

For example, even if someone is not very smart, could they not learn calculus by the age of fourteen?

After thinking for a moment, he asked expectantly, "So you chose me because you think I can do that too?"

"Who knows!" the old man said, scoffing. "I'm just guessing!"

Gao Zhao: "..."

"So I'm the date?"

"No, you're the pole!"

Gao Zhao: "..."

I'm done playing, I'm going home!

If I weren't outmatched, I would never have let this go today and would have given him a good beating!

As soon as he got up, he immediately remembered his purpose for coming here: to swindle something from the old man and write a book to extort Confucius!

Gao Zhao went straight to the point, "We're about to part ways, do you have any secret techniques you'd like to pass on to me?"

"Yes, there are some, but they're not suitable for you to learn right now!" The old man shook his head, then added, "How about I give you one last lesson?"

"What class?"

"Su Qin's alliance!"