In the current Zhuangzi, the preaching is different from the last sermon in the lacquer garden, and the content of the preaching is very different.

This time it was to preach to the king of Qi, who was later King Qi Wei, and! The scene was not only King Qi Wei alone, but also Sun Bin, Tian Ji, and Tian Ying, who was famous in history later. There were also other adult princes and teachers of the princes.

In the past, when he preached to Qin Xiaogong and Wei Ying, Qin Xiaogong and Wei Ying were very friendly to him, and the two sides carried out happily under the condition of mutual trust. It is not so much that he preached to Qin Xiaogong and Wei Ying, but that he was communicating with Qin Xiaogong and Wei Ying.

When preaching to Qin Xiaogong and Wei Ying, the atmosphere was quite harmonious. He lived in the Xianyang Palace for almost a year, in addition to preaching to Qin Xiaogong and Wei Ying, he was meditating and cultivating, and then reading books.

During his time in the Qin state, Zhuangzi read a lot of books that interested him.

Living in seclusion in the mountains with Master Yang Zhu, he didn't read many books, but listened to Master Yang Zhu explain many books and mentioned many books. And when he was in Xianyang, he finally saw these books.

During his time in Xianyang, Qin State, he and Qin Xiaogong and Wei Ying were also teachers and friends, and they were friends for the year.

In terms of Taoism, he was the teacher of Qin Xiaogong and Wei Ying; In terms of life experience and behavior, Qin Xiaogong and Wei Ying are in turn his teachers and predecessors.

When he preached to the king of Wei, who later became King Hui of Wei, the situation was different.

King Wei Hui was a very practical king, the kind of person who was eager for quick success. Furthermore! When he preached to King Wei Hui, Pang Juan was also present. With Pang Juan, a person who is jealous of other people's talents, it is conceivable that it is impossible for you to fool people. If you say it wrong, you will be framed by Pang Juan immediately.

At that time, Pang Juan wanted to frame Zhuangzi. There is no hatred between the two because he is narrow-minded and jealous of others.

is even more jealous than Zhou Yu in later generations, and has the same mentality: "both Yu and He Shengliang".

When Wei preached to King Hui of Wei, Zhuangzi mainly talked about governing the country. The main thing is to persuade King Wei Hui not to take the initiative to use troops, not to invade other countries, and to "enrich the people and strengthen the army". Let the people get rich first, and then preach to the people the idea of protecting the family and defending the country. And then! in order to seek expansion.

Only when the people are rich will they fear that other countries will invade them, rob them of their property and destroy their homes. If someone else invades them, destroys their homes, and kills their relatives, they will risk their lives to defend their homeland and country.

In a poor country, the people can't eat, so they don't want to go to war and die. Even if you force them to go to war, they won't be able to fight. Even if you go to serve in the military, it's just to get a bite to eat.

But? If poverty is caused by persecution, such as the Qin State, which is caused by repeated conquests, they have fighting power. Because! They have hatred, and they want revenge.

At that time, King Wei Hui listened to his opinion very carefully and accepted it. But? King Wei Hui did not fully implement it. For King Wei Hui, attacking other vassal states and plundering property was faster than the hard work of the people of his own country in farming, doing business, and developing.

King Wei Hui was a king who wanted to make a fortune from war.

This time it was a sermon to the king of Qi, who was later King Qi Wei, and the background was also different. It can also be said that he was not invited to preach, but! was escorted by the king of Qi to explain the reason. If you don't explain clearly, Qi Jun will treat you as a dangerous person, a person who endangers the safety of their Qi country, and may kill you.

And also! If you explain to Qi Jun and the others unsatisfied, you also have hidden dangers. Once others regard you as a dangerous person, you will be in danger of your life at any time. People don't treat you on the surface, but they don't know how to do it to you behind the scenes?

For these! Zhuangzi is very well thought out!

So! This time, to preach to the later King of Qi Wei, Zhuangzi started from another point of view, mainly explaining the positive side of Taoism. From the perspective of the outlook on life, let's explain Taoism.

"That?" Qi Jun asked eagerly, "How can you keep people's hearts from being disturbed?" ”

Zhuangzi said: "Today's troubled times! All the schools of thought are preaching their own doctrines and views. In fact! Confucianism, Taoism, Moism, Yin and Yang and other schools are talking about how to govern the world and how to govern people's hearts.

Confucianism inherited the Zhou system and emphasized Zhou etiquette, mainly from the perspective of governing the country and society. He asked everyone to restrain themselves, restrain themselves, and act according to the etiquette of the week. From the point of view of managing the country, there is merit in appearance.

But? Let's think about it? If this method is feasible, how could our Great Zhou Dynasty come to this point of collapse and happiness? Isn't it? The shortcomings of Confucianism have appeared, but where are the mistakes? ”

"Where?" Qi Jun asked.

The other people in the hall also looked at Zhuangzi with a look of wishing to hear it.

Sun Bin was even more satisfied with Zhuangzi and kept nodding.

Rong'er sat beside Zhuangzi, listening to the sermon and acting as a protector.

As a soldier, Tian Ji did not study much on how to govern the country, Confucianism and other theories. But! I saw that the atmosphere at the scene was very good, and I also looked serious and listened patiently.

Zhuangzi continued: "The theoretical starting point of Confucianism is wrong: it is not from the perspective of individual people, not from the perspective of human existence. Confucianism requires us to behave as a human being, how to restrain ourselves, how to follow the Zhou etiquette, and how to behave for a future and a dream.

The premise of Confucianism is that if we all do this, the people of the whole country will be of one mind, and the future will become very beautiful.

On the surface, it seems like that's really the case? If we all do what Confucianism sets out, society will be better.

This beautiful setting is really tempting for those who are simple-minded.

But? Have we considered this issue? What if others don't want to do that? What if others don't cooperate? What if most people don't cooperate? So? I did it like Confucius, is the society beautiful?

A few of us did that, and became gentlemen. Or! A few people do it, or the majority do, is society good? Has reality changed?

Society is made up of countless individual people, and you can only ensure that you follow the rules of the game and be a gentleman, and you cannot ask or force others to do the same as you.

(In modern terms, if you ask others how to do so, you are violating people's rights.) ）

So! Confucianism is just a dream! The Confucian theory is just a wish! And we! It is also necessary to face reality!

We did that, and the reality of our environment has not changed. We are facing an existential crisis! What we are facing is how to survive in this troubled world. Only if we survive, the future is not a dream.

We can't even survive on our own, so what's the use of having dreams? Having a good wish or ideal, and living according to this dream, wish, and ideal, is not it suffering to ourselves?

Why can't we be practical? Be realistic! What about living in the real world, facing reality bravely, realistically, and correctly, and dealing with problems encountered in real life?

Why do we have to live in our dreams and ideals?

Don't? Don't you think Confucianism is impractical? Or? Are you fooling people?

So! We need to live in the real world, not in the world of dreams!

And we Taoists! It's here to teach survival! Teach others how to survive, how to survive in troubled times, how to survive in any environment. ”

"That? How do we survive? King Qi Wei, the later king of the Kingdom of Qi, asked.

"Taoism not only teaches us individual people how to survive in the cracks, survive in troubled times, and survive in any environment, but also teach our family members how to survive in our family. It also teaches our team how to survive, and also teaches our country, how to lead its own people to survive......"