Gao Yuan said: "What the husband said is just a matter of sentencing, in my opinion, the rule of law is just different in name, and the principle is the same." Confucianism reveres the system of etiquette, but also does not refuse punishment, and although Legalism establishes the rule of law, it also emphasizes benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom, which is nothing more than to formulate a set of systems that regulate the behavior of the people, and violators must be corrected, but Legalism is a little stricter, while Confucianism is a little lighter, but it is the same in essence. ”

This time, Tian Xiaokai couldn't find a rebuttal for a while, but Shen Shen was thoughtful, and Gongsun Long didn't know what to do now. At this time, Chun Yubo smiled and said: "It's so difficult that the doctor thinks that Confucianism and the rule of law are actually the same, and the Qin State governs the country with legalism, which is actually equivalent to Confucian governance?" ”

Gao Yuan shook his head and said with a smile: "Of course not, just now I just said that there are many similarities between Confucian Legalism, but I didn't say that the two schools are the same, since Confucian Legalism has formed two schools, of course it will not be exactly the same." ”

When Tian Zikai heard this, he couldn't help but say: "So what is the difference between Confucianism and Law?" ”

Gao Yuan said: "The biggest difference between the two schools of Confucianism is the word 'change', the law of the Legalists is changed with the times, according to local conditions, so the changes in various countries are not the same, and they cannot be interconnected, the law of Qin cannot be used in Zhao, and the law of Zhao cannot be used in Qin. Confucianism, on the other hand, is based on the etiquette handed down by the previous kings, and the way of the previous kings cannot be changed. For example, the three husbands and daughters of Kong, Meng, and Xun all abide by the Zhou etiquette. Therefore, change and unchanged are the essential differences between Confucianism and law, not in the rule of law. ”

In fact, the difference between Confucianism and Confucianism has been very clear in the later period, and to put it bluntly, Legalism belongs to the reformers, while Confucianism belongs to the conservative school. Legalism advocates change, while Confucianism advocates maintaining the existing order unchanged. It is not a matter of "etiquette" and "law" or "rule of virtue" and "rule of law", Legalism advocates strict punishment and strict law, and it is true that it is true that Confucianism is full of benevolence, righteousness and morality, and when it is time to move the knife, it will never be soft.

However, from the point of view of later generations, this kind of reform thought of Legalism that keeps pace with the times is of course more advanced than Confucianism, but Confucianism is not without merit, and the excellent things in it are not necessarily less than those of Legalism, and from the perspective of dynastic rule, Confucianism is more useful, because it is in a great unified dynasty. Because Confucianism advocates not changing the order, this is also in the interests of the rulers and the vast majority of vested interests, who of course do not want to change. Legalism itself also has many shortcomings, so after the fall of the Qin Dynasty, Confucianism became the orthodoxy of ancient China, which is also an inevitable result.

However, after the fall of the Qin Dynasty, although Legalism disappeared in name, it did not actually perish, but was incorporated into Confucianism. The Confucianism of later generations is very different from that of the pre-Qin era, and it is Confucianism after the integration of the ideas of other schools. Although Confucianism became the orthodoxy of ancient China, the actual statecraft policy was actually more Legalist, but it was only covered with a layer of Confucianism.

In the body of many Confucian scholars, they have the shadow of Legalism, advocating change with the times and not following the old ways, so the debate between change and immutability has also become an eternal topic within Confucianism. On the one hand, the rulers of successive dynasties focused on conservative forces from the perspective of maintaining their own rule, and on the other hand, it was also determined by the innate conservative characteristics of Confucianism itself, and ancient China also tended to be more and more reserved, leading the world, and finally lagging behind the development of the times.

Shen Shen let out a long breath, stood up and bowed deeply to Gao Yuan, and said: "The student has studied the study of Legalism for 20 years since he was a child, and he thinks he is proficient in the study of Legalism. ”

Although Shen Shen is not very old, he is also a well-known scholar in Handan, otherwise Zhao Jia would not have invited him to this gathering. And he expressed this to Gao Yuan, which shows that he sincerely admires Gao Yuan.

And Tian Zikai also said: "The adult is indeed in a word, change and unchanged are the fundamental differences between the two schools of Confucianism and Law, and the old man has just figured it out, thank you for your guidance." As he spoke, he also arched his hand to the plateau.

Gao Yuan returned the salute and said: "The master is too talkative, in fact, he is only a spectator." Although the debate of several people just now was very fierce, they all accused themselves of being within the scope of academics, discussing things on their own merits, reasoning with their own facts, and saying whatever they wanted, and did not carry out personal attacks, nor did they give each other a big buckle, this kind of atmosphere is not common in modern society.

Because in this era, it was the most active era of ancient Chinese scholarship, and Confucianism was only one of the hundred schools of thought, and had not become the mainstream thought officially designated, so when communicating and debating with other schools, they all participated as equals with other schools, and did not later adopt the attitude of orthodoxy and heresy in the Song and Ming dynasties. It is also more conducive to academic development.

At this time, Tian Zikai said: "However, the reason why the first king is called a sage is precisely because the wisdom of the first king is beyond the reach of our descendants, so he can open a dynasty and establish a country, build a foundation and start a business, and set a model for us. The traces can be forgotten, and the country can last for a long time. ”

Shen Shen shook his head again and again, and said: "Master's words are wrong, the first king can become a sage, it is precisely because they do not stick to the ancient law, they can formulate the law and rites according to the different circumstances, the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties have different ritual systems, but they can all be kings in the world, the laws established by the Spring and Autumn Five Tyrants are different, but they can also command the candidates, but it is a pity that the descendants do not understand the painstaking efforts of the first king, and only know that they blindly abide by the etiquette formulated by the first king, and do not know how to be flexible, so they will destroy the country and destroy the world." Therefore, only by changing with the times is the way to govern the country. ”

Seeing that Legalism and Confucianism were about to fight again, Song Rongji smiled and said: "Okay, the dispute between Legalism and Confucianism has been fought for hundreds of years, and there has been no result, and the two of them have fought for enough today, but they are still fighting for those words, and they haven't even figured out what the difference between Legalism and Confucianism is. ”

Tian Zikai also felt that it was indeed a bit inconsistent with his identity to argue with a junior, and now Gongsun Long had not come out of the circle just now, and he looked like he was not keeping his mind, and it was unreliable to expect him to argue with Shen Shen. Therefore, they are ready to stop the truce.

But at this moment, Chun Yubo smiled and said: "Doctor Gao just said the difference between Confucianism and law, and I admired it deeply, but what the little girl asked the doctor was that the doctor thought that family was the right way to govern the country, and the doctor had not yet answered." ”

Chun Yu Zhongxiu also smiled: "Yes, I almost let the doctor mess up." ”

Gao Yuan also smiled bitterly, I don't know if the father and daughter like to get to the bottom of it, or deliberately can't get along with themselves, originally he wanted to be mixed up, but by the father and daughter, but he couldn't hide, so he had to say: "I think that the two families of law and Confucianism have their own strengths, and they are both good policies for governing the country, but it is difficult to make the country stable for a long time, if you can be proficient in the study of Confucianism and law, and learn from each other's strengths, it is the right way." Confucianism can be established in the Zhou Dynasty for 800 years, there must be its reason, although these hundreds of years, Legalism has the upper hand, but it cannot be said that Legalism must be superior to Confucianism, but it is just that at that time, this time and its own, so the two are superior or inferior, our generation may still be difficult to make a conclusion, only wait for future generations to evaluate it, if it is really the right way, it will definitely be passed on, this is in the next point of view, only for each reference. ”

These words are said without leakage, and neither side is offended. Because in the modern concept of Plateau, both ideas are deficient, but Plateau does not intend to express his own opinion. Although Gao Yuan used to read some online novels, after the protagonist traveled to ancient times, he talked about the modern **** legal concept to fool the ancients, and as a result, the ancients were worshiped as saints and other plots, but Gao Yuan knew that unless he was Qin Shi Huang, or a prince of a country, there was no problem in putting forward this concept, but if it was an ordinary scholar, he would not be able to mix in that country, and he would definitely die.

Although it is now an era of a hundred schools of thought, the atmosphere of learning is indeed very open, and there is little interference from the government, but it is not something that can be said, although the views of the hundreds of schools of thought are different, but none of them have denied the monarchy, on the contrary, they all advocate strengthening the centralization of monarchical power and maintaining the rule of the monarch. If there was no "republican system" like the ancient Roman Republic in ancient China, but in ancient times, the "Zen concession system" did exist, but none of the hundreds of sons proposed to restore the "Zen concession system".

In ancient times, it has always been recognized by scholars of various schools of Datong world, and Yao Shunyu is also recognized by scholars of various schools of sages. And so many schools of thought, so many scholars, of course, no one did not think of the popular "Zen concession system" in ancient times, but no one mentioned it, and it can be seen that even in this era, the openness of learning is relative, not absolute.

However, Gao Yuan's answer also made the scholars of Confucianism and Law present very satisfied, so they also had a good impression of Gao Yuan. And Chun Yu Bo smiled silently, and Chun Yu Zhongxiu only glanced at the plateau meaningfully. said with a smile: "The doctor's answer is the golden mean of Confucianism." ”