Fan Li knew Li Ran's temperament. Once he decided something, it was difficult to change it. Although the words were spoken out of sorrow at this moment, once they were spoken, it was useless for him to persuade her to give up.
Fan Li thought for a moment and decided to discuss the matter with Sun Wu later.
Later, Li Ran talked to Fan Li about what happened in the past two years.
Fan Li told Guang'er's growth experience, and Li Ran couldn't help but smile when he talked about the funny things.
…
Let’s talk about the other side.
Duanmu offered to redeem slaves without asking for ransom. As soon as this news came out, it spread like wildfire in the Lu State.
For a time, everyone in the Lu State praised Duanmu Ci's behavior.
After all, such good people and good deeds should be well publicized in any era.
It was unintentional for Duanmu to give him the gift, but being able to gain such a good reputation made him somewhat proud.
I felt that the reason why I was able to get out of the circle this time was inseparable from the "benevolence and righteousness" he practiced.
Therefore, he took it for granted that his master Confucius would also be very pleased.
It happened that at this time, Zilu also discovered a person who had fallen into the water in Yihe River. He immediately jumped down to save the person, and the person who was rescued was also very grateful. So, he gave Zilu a cow as a gift, but Zilu didn't think much about it and just accepted it calmly.
Duanmu gave Confucius his life back, but Confucius deliberately kept silent about his act of "sacrifice the ransom to save people", but he kept praising Zilu for his act of saving people.
Duanmu Cizi was extremely unconvinced. Seeing that his master was still reluctant to praise him, he finally lost his temper:
"Honored Master, if you go to Zheng this time and save one person besides the mission, can this be called "benevolence"?"
Obviously, Duanmuci longed for his teacher to praise him.
Unexpectedly, Confucius sneered and replied to him:
"Gi, since you rescued a Lu man in Zheng State, why don't you go and collect the reward?"
When Duanmu Ci heard this, he seemed even more confident. After bowing and bowing, he replied:
"It's just a small amount of money...what does it mean to Ci? If those ransoms were paid, wouldn't Ci's intentions be impure? How can he be kind if he has bad intentions?"
After hearing Duanmuci's reply, Confucius couldn't help but sigh and said:
"Gi...you did this wrong! And it's a big mistake!"
When Duanmu Ci heard this, he couldn't help but be puzzled. He glanced at Zilu beside him, and he didn't understand why the respected master was actually accusing him at this moment.
Confucius said slowly:
"My teacher often said: 'A villain is a metaphor for profit, a gentleman is a metaphor for righteousness!' The priorities here must not be reversed! You are amazing, you are noble, and you are indeed doing good to others. However, you, Duanmuci, have certainly become a gentleman. It’s a good name, but doesn’t it mean that he has elevated the ‘gentleman’s way’?”
"Righteousness means profit! If everyone practices the way of benevolence and righteousness without seeking profit, will there be more gentlemen in the world? Or will there be fewer? If the people of Lu encounter this kind of situation outside again in the future, will it happen? Is there no one willing to redeem the lives of the people of Lu who are in trouble?"
[The problem of slow update of new chapters is finally solved with an app that can change sources. Download it here
"What's more, how many gentlemen can there be in the world? All living beings are villains. If you do the villain's things in a gentleman's way, can you be blameless? Just imagine, if you, Duanmu Ci, accepted the compensation, then the rest would be the same. Everyone will follow suit, but if you don’t accept it now, wouldn’t it mean that villains who want to ransom people in the future will be unkind and unjust?”
"Don't use your own ability to violate such rules! Ci, these actions of yours may seem benevolent, but in fact they are very harmful!"
When Duanmu Ci heard the words, he was sweating profusely and unconsciously fell to the ground.
"It's because you didn't think it through well. Please punish me, Master!"
Confucius pointed to Zilu on the side.
"Zi Lu also saved a person who fell into the water before, but he was able to accept the other person's gratitude calmly. In this way, if there is a person who falls into the water in the future, there will naturally be more people who save people, and the people who are saved will also know better. Repay kindness with gratitude. Only in this way is it the best!"
When Duanmuci heard this, he couldn't help but bowed his head and replied:
"Please remember your respected teacher's teachings..."
Indeed, Duanmu Ci's mistake was that he raised the moral standards that everyone could achieve to a height that is difficult for most people to reach.
This will make many people shy away from the matter of "redeeming people."
Raise moral standards infinitely, or regard personal private morality as public morality, and then morally kidnap the benefactor, which will trigger a series of moral collapse, and eventually, ordinary people will deviate from morality!
Therefore, instead of agreeing with Duanmu Ci's approach, Confucius severely criticized him.
…
At the same time, Yang Hu stepped up his efforts to lead the army of Lu State to attack Zheng State. Facing the constant stream of internal and external troubles, Si Ming was able to bite the bullet and order people to defend.
Because Yang Hu came in the name of Luhou and led the three Huans to attack with the whole country. Zheng State was not as powerful as Lu State, so Yang Hu achieved a great victory.
This big victory couldn't help but make Yang Hu feel a little complacent.
After all, this was the only battle in the past 100 years that Lu could win in a major foreign war. Moreover, this was under the condition that the Marquis of Lu personally conquered.
This contribution is unique to Yang Hu.
Over the years, the State of Lu has completely forgotten what the "joy of victory" is.
Yang Hu was proud of himself and gradually became more and more arrogant.
On the way back to the army, the Lu army had to borrow a road from Weiguo. Yang Hu, on the other hand, did not report to them in advance, but just walked back and forth in the Chidao of Weiguo, which can be said to be arrogant.
In fact, if Yang Hu's behavior was serious, it should have been treated as an invasion of Weiguo.
Because the Wei people also knew that Yang Hu's behavior was actually endorsed by the Jin people. Therefore, the Wei people had no choice but to swallow their anger.
Yang Hu saw that the Wei people were so cowardly, so he thought he was smart and had another plan.
On the one hand, he sent people to Diqiu, the capital of Wei, to express condolences to the Marquis of Wei. On the other hand, the armies of the Ji family and the Meng family entered without authorization from the south gate of Emperor Qiu, and then came out from the east gate, and stationed themselves on Douze not far away.
Yang Hu's meaning was actually very obvious. The reason for borrowing the road was because the war was critical, so he didn't have time to inform him in advance.
This is indeed an oversight by Yang Hu.
but? This arrogant army is not under my control at all, Yang Hu.
These troops all carried the flags of the Meng family and the Ji family. They were used to being domineering in the Lu country, so they broke the original rules.
On the other hand, what about the Lu army led by Yang Hu? Didn't go this route.
Just imagine, what kind of reaction will the people of Weiguo have after hearing his remarks?
Yang Hu thought that his coquettish actions were enough to arouse the people of the world to hate Sanhuan of Lu.
But actually? Yang Hu's smart move was just taking off his pants and farting, which was unnecessary.
After all, who in the world doesn't know that you, Yang Hu, are the real talker of the Lu Kingdom?
Therefore, Wei Houyuan was naturally furious after hearing this.
Not only because as the king of the Wei Kingdom, he was actually taken advantage of by the Lu Kingdom. It's even more because he deeply despises a villain like Yang Hu who "accompanies his ministers to carry out the country's destiny".
Therefore, he immediately asked his favorite Mi Zixia to lead troops to pursue Yang Hu.
The uncle of Wei Guoqing's doctor couldn't help but feel worried when he learned the news. Just because he was old and had difficulty moving, he had to have someone push him in a cart to Wei Houyuan.
When Wei Houyuan saw his uncle Fa arriving, he was very polite and said:
"Mr. Gongshu, you are old and have a lot of inconveniences. What happened that alarmed you?"
The uncle coughed, then sighed:
"Ahem... I came here specifically to borrow a passage from the State of Lu!"
When Wei Houyuan heard this, he couldn't help but became angry:
"Hmph! The Lu State does not take our Wei State seriously, and we are just trying to hold him accountable! Especially Yang Hu, who actually ordered to enter our Emperor's Palace! Is this intolerable or intolerable?!"
After hearing this, the uncle shook his head:
"Your Majesty, it is not etiquette to resent others and imitate them. I think back then, when Duke Zhao of Lu was in trouble, your Majesty planned to take out Duke Wen's Shu Ding, Cheng Gong's Treasure Turtle, and Ding Gong's Shao Jian, and declared that if anyone can bring Lu Zhaogong back to his country and restore his throne, he will choose one of them as a reward."
"And he also said that if there are princes who can uphold justice for Lu Zhaogong, they are willing to let the prince and the sons of several ministers serve as hostages!"
"Everyone in the world knows what your Majesty said back then."
"Your Majesty has such a virtuous reputation, are you planning to offset and cover up your past kindness to the Lu State just because of such a trivial matter? I'm afraid it shouldn't be? What's more, the Lu State is after Zhou Gong, and we, the Wei State, are After Uncle Kang, among Tai Si's sons, only the Lu and Wei families were the closest. Are you going to follow the villain and abandon the few family ties in the world?"
"By doing this, I am afraid that you will easily put yourself in the middle of right and wrong. Please think twice..."
These words from the uncle finally made Wei Houyuan calm down a little, but he still said angrily:
"It's just that... what the Lu State did is really too much! How can I tolerate it? This matter is related to the dignity of our country, and there must be an explanation!"
"Haha, please rest assured, Your Majesty. As a retainer, Yang Hu has been unwilling to abide by his duties since he came to power. For people like him, God is preparing to increase his crimes and wait until he is full before sending him down. He will be punished for his crime. Your Majesty, just wait a little longer! The State of Lu will definitely bring disaster upon itself, so Your Majesty, you don’t have to worry about this at all."
