Wang Yinglin seemed to feel something when he listened to His Majesty's words. He thought that Zhu Xi also realized that "the worldly style of Buddha seeking immortality, withering the people's spirit, dissipating national strength, and hindering the country's rejuvenation." He planned to embark on the road of seeking a teacher again, and decided to take Li Tong as his teacher, so he inherited the orthodoxy of the "Luoxue" of the two Chengs. Did Your Majesty also understand the great way of governing the country from worshiping the mountain?

"What the fifth brother-in-law said means that the monks in Jiuhua Mountain have forgotten the roots, so that it is difficult for Buddhism to improve their practices and will eventually follow the Taoist footsteps?" Xie Fangde asked for a moment of thought.

"Not only Buddhism, Tao, Yin and Yang, Mo, name, law, and even Confucianism, in the early development, all use the purpose of "universal" to promote their own ideas, but why do some still exist, some have disappeared, and some have to be integrated into other sects, and Confucianism can be the only one? The world is consistent and has a hundred thoughts, and they return together and have different paths." Zhao Bing asked first and then answered.

Wang Yinglin knew that what Your Majesty said, "The world is consistent but has a hundred thoughts, and the same ends but has different paths." Sima Tan quoted "Yi Da Chuan" on Confucianism and Law in "The Essence of the Six Schools". The meaning of his words is that the Confucianism and Law schools are just different in perspectives and different in concepts, but the goals are consistent, and from the perspective of results, they are also complementary.

From the perspective of the ruler, there are only some emphasis in different periods. In chaotic times, in order to govern chaos, we must pay attention to the Legalist thoughts and magic. In governing the world, we focus on Confucianism and emphasize people's moral cultivation. All of this varies from time to place. Going to extremes is only a temporary need, and it will return to the right after passing.

The aforementioned is also what Sima Tan said in his article "On the Essentials of the Six Schools". His analysis comes from an important academic school since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and also reflects the theory that the Hanwu period mainly uses Confucianism, using Yin-Yang School, Legalism and Taoist "Huang-Lao", which is the so-called "Han School owns its own system, originally mixed with overlords and Taoism", but is not "purely moral education". The theory of the Six Schools not only provided important inspiration and reference for Sima Qian's biography of the pre-Qin philosophers, but also laid the foundation for the classification of pre-Qin philosophers in the late Western Han Dynasty.

"Fifth brother thought that Taoism had lost its original heart and declined, and Buddhistism rose to the world because of its entry into the world. Confucianism is also declining now, because it has forgotten its original heart?" Wang Yinglin said.

"That's right!" Zhao Bing nodded, "Our dynasty advocates Confucianism, governs politics with scholars and officials, but at present they have forgotten the purpose of "people-oriented", and they have lost their original intentions. Now that the scholars are declining, they have all pursued personal gain as the key, and regarded the people as the grass, and have lost the foundation of existence. If they do not think of change, it will only be a matter of time."

"What are the opinions of fifth brother?" Wang Yinglin was silent for a while after hearing this. He knew that this was already very serious since the young emperor said it, and he also understood that His Majesty was very dissatisfied with the current performance of scholars, otherwise the situation in the capital would not have been so serious. He also knew that since the young emperor said it in front of others, he was hesitating and giving them a chance.

"How do you view the theory of righteousness and profit?" Zhao Bing asked.

"A gentleman values ​​righteousness, while a villain values ​​profit. This is what the saint said. What does the fifth brother have to do with it?" Xie Fangde said.

"This statement means that a gentleman values ​​great righteousness, and a villain values ​​interests. So what is great righteousness?" Zhao Bing asked again.

“…”

"What is great righteousness? I think great justice is only relative, and there is no absolute righteousness. It depends to a large extent on everyone's position and vision!" Zhao Bing said without saying a word.

"For example, when the Mongolian Yuan invaded Jiangnan, some officials resisted resolutely, regardless of the city was destroyed and the people were killed. The people in the city decided to die for their country. They were the interests of the country, but we regarded them as righteousness; but some officials protected the soldiers and civilians in the city from being slaughtered, offered the city to welcome surrender, and surrendered to the Mongolian Yuan. They also claimed that they were doing great justice. However, they betrayed the country and the king, but were despised by the world and called them traitors. However, the people who survived and the Mongolian Yuan regarded them as benevolent and righteous people. Therefore, righteousness is different in the eyes of the world."

"That is why villains value profit!" Chen Shishi said softly.

"Well, this is because there were no parents, children, and children among the people trapped in the city at that time. If you were to do it yourself, would you still think this way?" Zhao Bing heard it and asked in a twisted face.

"This..." Chen Shishi was vague. He had experienced national chaos. His father and uncle gave up his family to fight against the Mongol Yuan. After his failure, he was chased by the Mongol Yuan army and had to flee everywhere and live a life of stagnation. It would be impossible for him to say that he had no idea at that time.

"In fact, righteousness and profit are not absolutely opposite, but have the same nature. Righteousness represents the interests of each of us on a large level, and is the most fundamental of interests. On the contrary, profit is relatively necessary for our interests." Zhao Bing continued, "From the overall situation, achieving long-term stability of the country is a great thing, and it is actually the most fundamental of our individual interests. Without these, there will be nothing we have, let alone those self-interests."

"On this level, the relationship between our selfish interests and righteousness is like the relationship between tree trunks and branches and leaves. Without the trunk of great righteousness, there will be no survival basis for the leaves of selfish interests. Without the realization of personal selfish interests, the trunk will also have no foundation for existence. A nation without righteousness cannot go long, and a nation without desire will also not have a long-term future, so righteousness must be before profit."

"Well, what the fifth brother said is not without reason!" Ma Duanlin said, and Wang and Xie did not say anything, obviously waiting for the following text.

"Of course there are differences between righteousness and profit. The specific point is that when the interests of individuals and the whole, the local and the overall situation conflict, harming personal interests will not bring any benefits to the individual's future, but will only bring benefits to the entire country and the people's future. And only this level of meaning is what we have said." Zhao Bing sipped and said.

"But not everyone in the world is a saint. Many people will have the idea of ​​retreating at this time. After all, everyone has only one life. It is not surprising to have such an idea. But if we imagine the consequences of doing this based on this premise, we will find that this nation will not exist for a long time in the world. In the end, it may only be bullied or even massacred by other nations. It has been verified many times in the three hundred years of our dynasty history, all of which are bloody lessons."

"Well, that's exactly that!" Wang Yinglin nodded.

"So, even at the level of difference between the two, we can still see the identity of the two. Simply put, the two are the interests of our future descendants and the conflict with our current personal interests. We are just choosing to stick to our current personal interests, or to fight for the interests of our future descendants, that's all." Zhao Bing saw that the two were already moved and said with a stronger tone.

"At this level, the main thing is the righteousness of the country and nation, for others, for the collective, and in essence, it is not for the present self, but for the interests of future descendants. The purest thing is also based on the sense of family and country identity, treating others as the interests of their own relatives. The unity of the two is just a difference between the appearance and invisibility, the present and the long-term."

"Of course, there is a purer righteousness, that is, to abandon all our own interests and still choose to sacrifice our lives for righteousness. Their own sacrifice will not bring any benefits to themselves, nor will they bring any benefits to future generations, but they will still be determined." Zhao Bing sighed again, "However, even so, we can still perceive ourselves from it, that is, our sense of identity with the collective, the country and the nation. They identify others as their own relatives, and righteousness is the common interest of the collective formed by all relatives in a special sense, that is, they are still their own interests, and they can be called saints."

"In terms of this, I have the world in my heart, save the world and the people, and do great justice; if you govern the country well, and have a peaceful life, you will do great justice; if you resist foreign enemies, and arrest stealing and protecting the people, you will also do great justice; if the people cultivate the land and pay taxes, they will also do great justice." Zhao Bing said.

"The fifth brother's words made us suddenly enlightened!" Xie Fangde said excitedly.

"You haven't understood yet!" Zhao Bing said bluntly, "On the surface, my army was to restore my hometown and save the people from water and fire, which can be regarded as a great thing. But on the deeper level, it is actually for profit. The population in Jiangnan is tens of millions, and the land is exhausted. Many people have no land to pay, or the land allocated is not enough to support the whole family. Only by expanding our territory can we meet the needs of land and the use of future generations."

"Well, that's exactly the reason." Wang Yinglin nodded, "If the people lose their territory, they lose the foundation of their survival, wander around and gather to cause trouble. The Northern Expedition can solve the problem of narrow and dense people, just in line with the fifth brother's words that "righteousness and profit are the same."

"But when I proposed the Northern Expedition, there were many opponents in the court, saying that I was bloodthirsty and warlike, and were armed and spent money and food, which was an unrighteous thing!" Zhao Bing said, "There are the gentry in Jiangnan who opposes the most, and they are just worried that the court will increase taxes and transfer the wealth of Jiangnan to Jiangbei, thereby affecting their own interests."

"Well, they put profits before the righteousness, so naturally they could not understand the profound meaning of the fifth brother. It was actually a villain's act!" Xie Fangde said.
Chapter completed!