Seeing that the two old men had gradually begun to reach a consensus, Shao Xi thought that he had made a great contribution and had temporarily resolved the dispute between Confucianism and Legalism.
At this time, Liu Xingzhai asked Shao Xi: "Young man, you advocate the integration of various schools of thought to innovate ways to govern the world. However, there are many theories and they are extremely complicated. How should we distinguish which ones are useful and which ones are useless or even harmful?"
Shao Xi put his thumb on his chin, pondered for a moment, raised his head and said: "The thoughts of various schools are indeed fragmented and complex, but the main ideas are very clear. Take the strong points and avoid the shortcomings. Eliminate some redundant parts and choose the main points to complement each other. Integration, after creating a new method, then refine it. In addition, the most important thing is that everything should be adapted to the situation and not static. All ideas and theories must be suitable for the present and beneficial to the future, and can be adjusted at any time to adapt to changes in the situation."
After hearing what Shao Xi said, the two old men nodded in agreement, and were even more impressed by his idea.
Shao Xi continued: "Take the two gentlemen's ideological theories as an example. The student gave the two gentlemen a passage he had heard before, 'There are two foundations for governing a country, punishment and virtue. The two go hand in hand. , treat each other to achieve success. Heaven uses yin and yang to form a year, and people use punishment and virtue to form a rule. Therefore, although a saint is in charge of government, he cannot use partial methods. The first quality of the person who governs the world is to sincerely love the people and lead by example. The original meaning of criminal law is to prevent crime , cannot be abused; the foundation of peace in the world is the people's heart, so benevolent government must be implemented. This is the combination of virtue and law, complementing each other, using law to act, and virtue to nourish the heart, all things can grow together without harming each other, and the Tao can run together without harming each other. Contradictory.”
The two elders were quite shocked when they heard this. In particular, this was the first time Liu Xingzhai heard that virtue and law could be combined to complement each other.
"I didn't expect that we two old guys have been fighting for decades, and now a young youngster has said something about it. It's really a waste of time to be a teacher. I'm really ashamed."
When Bai Dinggong saw what Liu Xingzhai said, he hurriedly came out to smooth things over and said: "There is no need to be persistent in Xingzhai. For learning, there is no age or priority. Since you and I are both scholars and preachers, why should we stick to this?"
Liu Xingzhai adjusted his robes and bowed deeply to Shao Xi and Bai Dinggong. Shao Xi hurriedly knelt down and returned the bow, complaining in his heart, "Why do these old men like to salute people so much that I always have to kneel down."
After helping Shao Xi up, Liu Xingzhai turned to Bai Dinggong and said: "We have benefited a lot from our talk today. In the past, you and I were really too persistent. I have an idea. I wonder if you are willing to tell it, Mr. Ding? You and I will share it." What do you think of collecting the knowledge from hundreds of schools of thought and compiling a true work on world governance?"
When Duke Bai Ding heard that Liu Xingzhai wanted to cooperate with him to complete a work on world affairs, he was naturally overjoyed and immediately clapped his hands and praised him.
Seeing that the purpose of his trip had been accomplished, Shao Xi suggested, "Why don't the work written by these two gentlemen be called "On the Governance of the World"?"
Liu Xingzhai clapped his hands and said with great joy: "Very good, very good! I will devote all my life's learning to work with Ding Gong to complete this work that will be passed down to future generations, so that it can benefit the people of the world for all generations."
Bai Dinggong laughed heartily and said: "I didn't expect that you and I have been fighting for half our lives, but now we have to work together. Life is so unpredictable!"
Liu Xingzhai was also filled with emotion, "You and I have wasted half our lives arguing. We must not waste the remaining time. We must complete this work in our lifetime."
"Exactly! However, there is another important thing that I am here to do this time, and it is about our descendants."
"I wonder what Duke Ding is talking about?"
Duke Bai Ding turned his head and called out: "Jin Qing! Why don't you come over and kowtow?"
Upon hearing this, Bai Jinqing hurried forward, knelt down to Liu Xingzhai and kowtowed.
Liu Xingzhai was confused by the grandfather and grandson. He couldn't help but ask, "Ding Gong, what does this mean? Why do you worship me for no reason?"
"We two old guys only focus on fighting among themselves and ignore the feelings of the younger generations. My useless grandson and your granddaughter Liu Ling have fallen in love with each other without your knowledge. , but it turned out that because we two old guys were fighting back and forth, they were caught in a dilemma and they never dared to disclose the matter. I only heard about it two days ago, and it really made the two children suffer!"
"Oh? Is this happening? I really didn't know!"
Liu Xingzhai hurriedly ordered his servants to go to the inner courtyard and invite Miss Liu Ling to the front.
Not long after, I saw a young woman coming out from behind. Shao Xi looked over and saw this woman with curved eyebrows and beautiful eyes. She had an elegant temperament. He could tell at a glance that she was a well-educated and scholarly girl with an elegant temperament. She was even more delicate and lovely in a blue dress.
Shao Xi thought to himself: "No wonder Jin Qing is so obsessed with her. She turns out to be such a delicate and beautiful woman."
Liu Xingzhai asked Liu Ling: "Ling'er, Grandpa heard that you and Mr. Bai are in love with each other and love each other. It's just because Mr. Bai and I have been at odds with each other due to our different philosophy of governing the world over the years, so you two only dare to communicate in private. Is this possible?"
When Liu Ling heard Liu Xingzhai asked about this matter, he quickly knelt on the ground and explained: "Ling'er didn't hide it intentionally, but just didn't want to make his grandfather angry because of this matter. Ling'er knew that communicating with Mr. Bai in private was against the ancestral teachings, but Mr. Bai He has excellent character, extraordinary talents and learning, Ling'er can't help himself, I hope my grandfather won't blame Mr. Bai, everything is Ling'er's fault."
Liu Xingzhai said in his heart: "Good guy, it's true that women are not allowed to stay in college! Just when I mentioned this, this girl started talking to Bai Jinqing."
"How can you behave in private dealings with Mr. Bai? If outsiders find out, how can Mr. Bai and I lose our face? How can you do such sneaky things when you are both scholars? Don't interact secretly in the future, lest you be exposed by others. joke."
When Bai Jinqing and Liu Ling heard Liu Xingzhai's words, they immediately panicked. Is this meant to beat up the two lovers and break up a loving couple?
Bai Jinqing was so impatient at this time that he didn't care about etiquette and hurriedly said: "Mr. Liu, Miss Ling'er and I both love each other sincerely and have no dirty thoughts. The two of us have always been mad at each other. Emotions are more important than reasons, and I have never done anything that exceeds the rules. If sir agrees, I am willing to love and take care of Miss Ling'er for the rest of my life. If I violate this, I will be struck by thunder and will be punished by God."
When Liu Ling saw Bai Jinqing swearing a poisonous oath at the side, he ignored the woman's reserve and begged Liu Xingzhai: "Grandpa, Ling'er knows that as a woman, her elders should make the final decision on her marriage, but Mr. Bai and I have mutual feelings. I am deeply in love with you, I am sincere in love, and I hope that my grandfather will fulfill my wish and don’t try to separate the two of us."
Seeing this situation, Bai Dinggong also walked up to Liu Xingzhai and raised his hands and said: "Xingzhai, the happiness of the juniors is in the hands of us old guys. Sometimes it is cruel to think about it. We didn't even take good care of our own juniors. If the affairs at home have not been settled, how can we talk about governing the world? The second thing I came to do this time is to propose marriage! I kindly ask Xingzhai to agree to the marriage between my grandson Bai Jinqing and your granddaughter Liu Ling. I, Bai Dinggong, are here to do it. Zhai, you have bowed."
Shao Xi listened to Bai Dinggong's words and thought to himself, "This old man is really learning and applying it. What I said to him two days ago, he turned around and used it to others. He really applied what he learned!"
Liu Xingzhai looked at the actions of the people in front of him and couldn't help laughing so hard that he almost burst into tears.
"I just told them not to interact secretly in the future. I didn't say that they were not allowed to interact with each other. From now on, they can interact with each other openly. I also agreed to the engagement you proposed. From now on, our two families will be in-laws! "
Bai Jinqing "..."
Liu Ling "..."
Bai Dinggong shook his head and said with a wry smile: "I said you are already old. Can you calm down your breathing before you speak? Look at how you frightened the two children with your heavy breathing."
At this time, Bai Jinqing kowtowed his head loudly and kept saying: "Junior, I would like to thank Mr. Liu for your support. I will definitely live up to Mr. Liu's wishes and will only marry Miss Ling'er throughout my life." I will love and take care of her for the rest of my life."
"Get up! I know your intentions. It's not wrong for my granddaughter to marry you. If you can really do what you say, I will be relieved."
"This junior will not break his promise. Please rest assured, Mr. Liu. I will prepare the betrothal gift later, and the two elders will make the decision on the wedding. The junior will follow all the rules, and there will be no mistakes in etiquette."
Liu Xingzhai smiled secretly in his heart: "You are quite impatient. As soon as this was brought up, you started making plans to marry my granddaughter back."
"There's no rush, no rush, let's make the engagement first, and we can discuss the wedding later."
When Bai Jinqing heard this, he knew that he was too anxious and quickly kowtowed to say thank you.
Bai Dinggong was very happy at this time. His old enemy, who had been at odds with him over the years on governance, had now reconciled with him and planned to write a book on governance together. At this moment, he also agreed to the marriage of the grandchildren of the two families. It was really It can be said to be a double happiness. It is overjoyed and overjoyed.
"Xingzhai, I think it's better to choose a date than to hit it. You might as well change your banquet today into an engagement banquet! I will send someone to call Jingnian over. This is to welcome the New Year, and the second is to celebrate the new year. Celebrating the joy of engagement, the third time I come here is to wish you and me to write a treatise on governing the world as soon as possible, what do you think?"
"That's very good! But this banquet must be grand. I'm afraid the previous preparations are not enough. I will order my servants to prepare again. Today I will hold a grand banquet at my home and invite all my relatives and friends to celebrate these three joys. .”
"Okay, okay! I will also arrange a big banquet at the academy to celebrate this matter. At the same time, I will also invite scholars from all over the world to discuss this science of governing the world with you and me."
Liu Xingzhai stroked his beard and joked with a smile: "Ding Gong, from now on I will live in your Bailu Academy forever. I'm afraid my old bones won't be able to bear the tossing and going back and forth every day. You'd better treat me well." Otherwise, I will scold my mother."
Bai Dinggong curled his lips, "In these years, I'm afraid you've been scolding me a lot behind my back, right? Hahaha!"
"Each other! Hahaha!"
Shao Xi watched the two families happily, and couldn't help complaining in his heart: "You guys have got what you want. I worked so hard for a few days, and I even put a bead on it, but I didn't even get anything."
Just when I thought of this, I heard Bai Dinggong ask Liu Xingzhai: "Do you still have a granddaughter? Why don't you give me your disciple as well? Wouldn't it be better for us to have four happy birthdays today?"
"What the fuck...!"
————————————
"There are two foundations for governing a country, punishment and virtue. The two must work together and treat each other. Heaven uses yin and yang to form a year, and people use punishment and virtue to form a rule. Therefore, even if a sage is in charge of government, he cannot use it favorably. "The first quality is to sincerely love the people and lead by example. The original intention of criminal law is to prevent crimes and cannot be abused; the basis of victory in war is the people's support, so benevolent governance must be implemented. ——Quoted from "Shi Yao Lun" Three Kingdoms·Wei·Huan Fan
All things grow together without harming each other, and Tao runs parallelly without contradicting each other. ——Quoted from "Book of Rites· Doctrine of the Mean"
