Chapter 30, Enlightenment
Xi Xingchen handed the Lingchi knife to Dai Andong again, and the cold air on the Lingchi knife spread through the blade to Dai Andong's face.
Dai Andong seemed to be frozen, the muscles on his face twitched involuntarily, and goosebumps rose up.
Xi Xingchen stopped the tip of the knife less than one centimeter away from Dai Andong's eyes, and said softly: "It also has its rules. It should not be used unless it is a treacherous and evil person, it should not be used unless it is a person who commits a heinous crime, and it should not be used unless it is a person who brings disaster to the country and the people. Lord County Magistrate , you cover up murderers, help the Yao family traffic people, occupy the land, bring harm to the fish and meat village, do you think you are worthy of it? "
Before Dai Andong could come to his senses, Xi Xingchen suddenly spoke the truth and shouted: "Dai Andong, you just released the murderer Yao Yuanbin privately, why did you kill Dong Liangce and silence his entire family?"
Xi Xingchen's mantra suddenly sounded in Dai Andong's mind like spring thunder, and Dai Andong almost blurted out: "I was forced by Yao Guoping."
I was forced by Yao Guoping.
I don't know when this sentence started to weigh on Dai Andong's heart like a curse. Every time he helped Yao Guoping occupy people's land, Dai Andong would say this to himself.
Dai Andong would also say the same to himself after helping Yao Guoping sell "piglets" once.
After taking over the money from Yao Guoping, Dai Andong would still say this to himself.
Over time, this sentence became Dai Andong's habit of excusing himself, and became his best excuse for being an aide.
Dai Andong was also an excellent scholar. He was admitted as a scholar when he was eighteen years old, but his achievements did not stop there. In the next twenty years, he studied hard in the hope that one day he would be able to win the gold medal. Guangzong Yaozu, but at the age of twenty, he failed to even pass the exam.
The exam is the lowest threshold for entering the officialdom. Failure to win the exam means that he can only be a poor scholar for the rest of his life.
When Dia Andong was forty years old, he succumbed to his fate and became a private school teacher in the village.
For a scholar who once determined to cultivate himself, manage his family, govern the country and bring peace to the world, it is a bit cruel, but it is also a good destination.
Just when Dai Andong was most frustrated, Yao Guoping came to him and said that he was willing to help Dai Andong donate 20,000 taels of silver to a county magistrate, on the condition that he would take care of Yao Guoping's business in the future.
Dai Anton had no reason to refuse such a good offer.
Dai Andong also knew that heaven would not drop a pie out of thin air. He knew very well that the conditions proposed by Yao Guoping were essentially an exchange of equal value, each getting what he needed, which was quite fair.
Although Dai Andong was mentally prepared, he still underestimated Yao Guoping's humanity. By the time he saw Yao Guoping's true face clearly, he had already lived in the way he usually hated the most and could not look back.
When Xi Xingchen broke through his last psychological defense, Dai Andong was relieved.
"Once the psychological defense line is breached, it is like water flowing out of a missing embankment, flowing thousands of miles away." Xi Xingchen said in the Discipline Hall.
"Next, Dai Andong confessed all the crimes he had done to help Yao Guoping over the years. The moment I inserted the knife into his heart, I clearly felt that he felt a sense of relief, and in the end he only said two words."
"Which two words?" Zhou Zhenhai asked in a deep voice.
"Why?" Xi Xingchen replied.
I don’t know why, but when Xi Xingchen said these two words, everyone here seemed to have countless things to say in their minds, as if they had touched something mysterious and mysterious, and for a moment they didn’t know where to start, so they He looked at Zhou Zhenhai, who was best at debating.
"What you planted yesterday will bear the same fruit today." Zhou Zhenhai said. "That's why!"
"But I don't think Dai Andong was asking about cause and effect!" Xi Xingchen shook his head.
"Then what do you think he asked?" Zhou Zhenhai showed an unexpected expression.
"When a person is about to die, his words are kind; when a bird is about to die, its song is sad. I feel that the question Dai Andong asked before he died was not for himself, but for the entire world." Xi Xingchen said .
"Then what does he want to ask?" Zhou Zhenhai's chest rose and fell violently, and his hands and feet trembled slightly. Everyone could see that Zhou Zhenhai was trying to control his excitement.
As a world-famous debater, how could Zhou Zhenhai not hear the flavor of "Tao" in Chen Xingchen's words.
The great road is invisible, giving birth to the heaven and the earth; the great road is ruthless, moving the sun and the moon; the great road is nameless, nourishing all things; I don't know its name, so I call it Tao.
This is Lao Tzu’s definition of Tao in the Qing Jing Sutra, which refers to the origin of all things.
Zhou Zhenhai did not seek fame or profit throughout his life, but devoted himself to studying the laws of social development. His purpose was to one day be able to see through the origin of social changes and obtain the "Tao" in his mind.
Therefore, anything related to "Tao" will make Zhou Zhenhai excited.
"Dia Andong wants to ask, why do we have dignity and inferiority when we are born as human beings?"
"Why are some people 'rich in wine and meat', while others are 'starved to death on the road'?"
"Why does this society always have a minority ruling over the majority?"
“Why do some people prefer to starve to death rather than be bullied by bullies?”
"Why is it that the emperor alone owns the whole world, but the people can only be enslaved?"
"Why are Mohism and Confucianism both prominent schools, obviously representing tens of thousands of people, and why can Confucianism be the sole leader for thousands of years?"
“Why is it that while dynasties continue to change, Confucianism remains strong and prosperous?”
Xi Xingchen's last two questions were astonishing and shocking.
This is a problem that Mohists have been unable to understand after thousands of years of research. It is the deepest pain in the hearts of Mohists in the world.
By defeating Dong Mo, Xi Xingchen hit Zhou Zhenhai's Achilles' heel this time.
"After killing Dia Andong, my mind was filled with questions like this, as if countless innocent souls were shouting and crying, telling what happened to the world? This incident has existed for thousands of years, why has it not been resolved yet?"
"During those days, I was in a state of confusion. I didn't know where I was, wandering around like a lonely ghost. Until one day, I had an epiphany."
"Did you find the answer?" Zhou Zhenhai asked cautiously, as if he was afraid of surprising Xi Xingchen.
"Actually, the root of everything is just one word."
"Which word?" Zhou Zhenhai asked hurriedly.
"'Profit'! Everything in the world comes for profit, and all the hustle and bustle in the world comes for profit. Things in the world start because of 'profit' and end because of 'profit'." Xi Xingchen said with emotion.
Zhou Zhenhai saw that Xi Xingchen's words were mysterious, and in the end he could only come up with the word "profit", and a hint of disappointment suddenly appeared in his eyes.
Regarding "profit", the Mohist sages have long put forward the idea of "loving each other and benefiting each other", which is also the driving force of every Mohist. Therefore, in Zhou Zhenhai's view, Xi Xingchen's epiphany cannot even be described as "new wine in old bottles".
Xi Xingchen expected that Zhou Zhenhai would have such an expression, so he didn't mind and asked with a smile: "Elder Zhou, can you tell me what is the biggest difference in the understanding of 'profit' between Mohism and Confucianism?"
