Xu Fenglei looked at the four newly admitted students in front of him and said in a deep voice:
"As a teacher, I don't have much knowledge, only the Book of Changes."
"The Book of Changes, the first of the group of scriptures, was written by ancient sages who observed the world and combined it with their own understanding. It contains the principles of the movement and development of all things in the world."
"Of course, it also contains the way to be a minister and the way to be a king; what a gentleman does, what a villain does."
He paused for a moment, and the children all listened attentively.
Li Shimin and Changsun Wujia also listened attentively to the lecture.
Although they believed that Xu Fenglei was indeed an expert, they also wanted to see his teaching level.
This "first lesson of school" started so casually.
"In the past, Confucius once wrote a biography of the "Book of Changes". He also liked divination very much. In his later years, he said very proudly that after so many years of divination, 70% of his predictions came true."
Xu Fenglei sat down peacefully and said seriously,
"As a teacher, I will not teach you divination or fortune-telling. I will only teach you how to be a king and a minister, how to distinguish between loyal and traitorous people. The most important thing is to learn to think independently."
"The ability to think independently is the dividing line between mediocrity and talent. I hope that my disciples can develop their own insights in the process of learning and become talents, rather than mediocre people who follow the instructions and follow the instructions of their teachers."
"Do you understand everything?"
All four disciples nodded.
Even the youngest Li Lizhi nodded her head in confusion.
"This teacher is the right one."
Changsun Wugou blinked at Li Shimin and whispered.
Li Shimin smiled slightly.
"How could my vision be so bad?"
He was a little proud,
Just saying "to serve the emperor and his subjects, to distinguish between loyal and traitorous" is enough to qualify him as a teacher for his children.
And the four words "independent thinking" at the end made Li Shimin even more excited!
Yeah!
This word is so precise, this is what I want!
At this moment, Li Shimin was already halfway relieved.
"It's still early, so I will explain to you the first hexagram of the I Ching."
Xu Fenglei glanced at the sky and said immediately.
"The first hexagram is the Qian hexagram, and the stem is the sky."
"Here, bring me pen and paper and a drawing board."
He waved, and Li Qingquan stood up immediately and brought him three things.
Xu Fenglei fixed the paper on the drawing board, and with a swipe of pen and ink, he wrote from bottom to top on the drawing board:
-(Positive)
--(Negative)
"One horizontal line is yang, and a break in the middle is yin. Just remember this, and you will use it often as a teacher in the future."
Xu Fenglei said,
“The I Ching is easier to explain using images.”
Li Qingquan gave pen and paper to several children.
"Qingquan, give us some too."
Li Shimin waved.
He has nothing to do at the moment, so he might as well listen to the class.
Since he joined the army at the age of sixteen, he has been either fighting or on the way to war. He has not read or studied for a long time.
Taking this opportunity, Li Er also wanted to enrich his brain.
"good."
Li Qingquan presented pen and paper to Li Shimin and Changsun Wugou.
The two of them also copied the notes obediently and became good students.
Xu Fenglei nodded slightly, and then drew six horizontal strokes from bottom to top on the drawing board:
—
—
—
—
—
—
"This is the Qian Gua, also known as Qian Wei Tian."
Xu Fenglei threw down his brush and explained,
"Why do these six horizontal lines represent Qian and Heaven?"
"When we want to look at the sky, we always look up at the sky, but our ancestors were amazing. They would substitute themselves into the 'sky'."
"What are you doing when you yourself are God?"
Li Shimin was stunned, and Changsun Wugou also fell into thinking.
"Looking down!"
Li Chengqian answered without thinking.
Li Shimin glared at him, making Li Chengqian shrink back in fear.
"correct!"
Xu Fenglei snapped his fingers and praised,
"Cheng Qian's mind is very bright!"
"Yes, if I were the sky, I would be looking down! The nature of heaven is to look down."
Li Chengqian's eyes suddenly lit up when he praised him like this.
He suddenly looked at his father. Although he did not speak, his meaning was already obvious——
Father, I am right! Master said I was right!
Li Shimin: "..."
"For example, you are an older brother now. Looking down, you take care of your younger brothers and sisters."
Xu Fenglei said,
"As a father, you take care of a whole family; as a county magistrate, you manage the people of the county."
"If you are the governor of a state, you will rule the people of a state; if you are a minister, you will manage everything in the world; if you are the emperor, you will be in charge of all the nine states."
"If you do this, you will look down and be consistent, and you will have the nature."
The students all nodded after listening to these easy-to-understand words.
Li Er and his wife nodded.
"But people nowadays often go against nature."
Xu Fenglei said again,
"You are the county magistrate, so you just want to climb up and become the prefect."
"When you are the governor of the state, you want to be in the center of the imperial court; when you become an important minister, you want to have all the power in the government, and even become the emperor! And when you become the emperor, it is even more outrageous. There are people who want to be immortals and immortals. "
"If you keep looking up, you will never look down again. This is the source of pain and self-destruction. Once people fall into it, their desires will be endless, and they will lose their nature and escape. Without the masses below, everything they have is just a castle in the air."
Li Shimin's mind was shaken, and the pen in his hand hovered, and a drop of ink fell on the paper.
He was shocked by these words and felt waves in his heart.
"The nature of 'Heaven' is strong and firm."
Xu Fenglei didn't pay attention to Li Shimin and continued,
"When you are in your position, you seek your position, do not ask for help from others, and concentrate on your purpose. This is chastity!"
"Master, I hope you will understand the word chastity well. If you can be chaste, there will be nothing you can't do in the world."
Swish, swish, swish.
The students took notes quickly.
They may not be able to fully understand it at the moment, but if the concept is instilled and the framework is set up, as they grow up, they will naturally understand it more and more.
"Zhen..."
Li Shimin murmured and fell into the long test.
"'Nature' is substantial and all-encompassing."
Xu Fenglei said again,
"The first sentence of the Book of Changes says, Heaven moves in a healthy manner, and a gentleman strives to constantly strive for self-improvement."
"What does self-improvement mean? In fact, it means always learning, always making progress, and never being complacent."
"To sum it up in six popular words, it is 'live until you are old and learn until you are old'."
He said, pointing at Li Shimin with a smile.
"Look at your father, he has mastered his nature. He is obviously teaching you as a teacher, but he is also humbly listening and taking notes."
Xu Fenglei joked,
"Even His Highness King Qin, a great general with unparalleled achievements in both civil and military affairs, has never stopped studying."
"You, you must learn from your father!"
The children all turned their attention to their father.
Changsun Wujia also put down his pen and stared at Li Shimin.
Li Shimin's old face turned red: "..."
I feel embarrassed to be praised...
