There are accidents and inevitable things in Zhao Qi's writing of "Mencius Chapters". It is inevitable that Mencius' status in the Han Dynasty was always improving. Before Zhao Qi, there was a tendency to be called Confucius and Mencius. Wang Chong was already like this in "Lunheng". With the implementation of using classics to select scholars, the influence of Confucian scholars in politics has become increasingly higher. Mencius's spirit of taking the world with his own responsibilities, even if millions of people have gone, is more in line with the appetite of scholars. Party members are the ultimate manifestation of this trend. Under the influence of this trend, it is natural that "Mencius" is taken seriously.

It was accidental that Zhao Qi's personal experience. His life was similar to Mencius. He was straightforward, but his career was not going well. He was chased and killed for opposing eunuchs. He fled for several years. Later, he came back and suffered a disaster in the party and was imprisoned for more than ten years. The idea of ​​writing chapters for "Mencius" originated from those years of escape. It was Mencius' spirit that supported him. He did not bow to anyone and walked all the way to this day.

In terms of achievements, he is not considered successful, but in terms of personal morality, he has kept his bottom line and can be called the unity of knowledge and action.

It is precisely because of this that he overestimated Mencius and focused on comparing Mencius with the Analects of Confucius, and tried his best to promote Mencius to the status of sub-saints. It was not his first initiative to call Mencius a sub-saint, but he played a very important role.

The problem is that once a person becomes paranoid, he will inevitably exert too much force. Zhao Qi is no exception. Not only did he deliberately raise Mencius, he also did not tolerate others to criticize Mencius. The critical spirit like Wang Chong has no room for him. However, in this way, he revealed his flaws and was pulled by Yu Fan.

"Lunheng" is not a perfect work, and there are many logical flaws in it. However, Yu Fan is neither the author nor does he intend to cover up Wang Chong. If he is wrong, he will be wrong. He will admit it openly, take its essence and discard its dross, which is different from Zhao Qi who has to forcefully argue and make arbitrary arguments in order to defend Mencius.

The victory and defeat were determined from the beginning. Yu Fan took "The Assassination of Meng" as the basis and asked Zhao Qi to make him feel overwhelmed and quickly fell into a contradictory dilemma. Yu Fan quickly lost his interest and was ready to end this unchallenging debate.

"Mencius said: The people are the most important, the country is the second, and the king is the least. The way of the previous king is to protect the people. If the people are protected, the king will be unable to control the world. I wonder if the Duke of Zhao, the Duke of Wu, and the government of the court are more close to the way of the previous king?"

Zhao Qi's face was red and red. "Each person has his own merits, no equal."

Yu Fan snorted and did not refute. "Since that's the case, can the Marquis of Wu be the king?"

Zhao Qi was speechless and subconsciously glanced at Lu Yi next to him.

Lu Yi wrote the four words "Tai Pu Shu Mu Ran".

Seeing that Zhao Qi did not answer, Yu Fan continued to ask: "Dong Zhuo was in rebellion, the emperor was moved, the Central Plains was in chaos, Yuan Shao planned to rebel, Wu Hou personally attacked Xu Rong, defeated Nanyang, attacked Yuan Shao in Guandu, and pacified Gongsun in Liaodong. Can it be said to be safe in the country?"

Zhao Qi looked at Sun Ce. Sun Ce smiled. Zhao Qi was embarrassed for a moment and said, "Wu Hou is good at fighting, and everyone in the world knows it."

Yu Fan sneered: "Mr. Zhao has been in the capital for a long time and has devoted himself to writing about Mencius's intention to take the people as the basis, but he does not know what the people in the world want? Even if he does not know that the people in the Central Plains return to the world, he should also know that many people in Guanzhong have fled to Nanyang. Mr. Zhao, Mencius said: It is better to have no books than to believe in books. If you do this in your studies, you will betray Mencius's original intention, and you will lose the roots and chase the ends. Even if you are not sensitive, you will not take it."

Zhao Qi's face was red and red.

Lu Yi waited for a while, and saw that Zhao Qi did not speak for a long time, his face turned red and white, and he picked up his pen and wrote the four words "Taifu was embarrassed".

Yu Fan said again: "Mencius said: If a king treats his ministers as his hands and feet, then the ministers regard him as his heart; if a king treats his ministers as dogs and horses, then the ministers regard him as a countryman; if a king treats his ministers as earth, then the ministers regard him as a gangster. The marquis of Wu have made contributions to the court, so the court should treat Wu as his hands and feet, like a dog and horse, or like a earth mustard?"

Zhao Qi asked back, "Why did the Chief Secretary say this? Your Majesty appointed the Marquis of Wu to control the eight states and marry the eldest princess, and treat him with his confidant heart."

"Since that's the case, why do all the ministers who followed Your Majesty to the West have rewards, but the Marquis of Wu have no rewards? Is it a courtesy to treat the ministers who are loyal to you?"

"Uh... Because the Marquis of Wu is very good, the rewards are particularly important, and you must keep it seriously."

"Is this what Mr. Zhao said, or is it a basis?"

Zhao Qi was at a loss when he was questioned. The court was thinking of dealing with Sun Ce, so how could he dare to falsely pass the imperial edict? "This... is reasonable, it should be like this."

"If the court does not reward you, but instead shocks the master with great merits and is suspicious of the Marquis of Wu, will Zhao Gong give advice?"

"this……"

"Don't be humble. You are a real man who Mencius said. If the king has made mistakes, he must advise him. However, if the court does not listen to Duke Zhao's advice, will Duke Zhao change his position or abandon him?"

Zhao Qi was startled and quickly denied it. "What the Chief Secretary said is inappropriate. Qi is not a noble family member, how can he change the throne..."

"I am making a mistake, and I hope Mr. Zhao will forgive me. Mr. Zhao is not a person who loves the house, so I must have abandoned him." Yu Fan laughed. "Mr. Wu is eager to seek talent and is eager to learn and be ambitious, so he will definitely welcome him."

Sun Ce immediately bowed and said with a smile: "Mr. Zhao, Jiangdong welcomes you."

Zhao Qi was so amused that he was laughing and crying, and said while returning the tribute: "Thank you for your good intentions. Qi is old and misses homesickness and doesn't want to stay away."

Yu Fan sighed in response, "What Mr. Zhao said is very much. Isn't there anyone in the court? He actually traveled to the world without caring about Mr. Zhao's age. What is the meaning of respecting the elderly? Mencius said: "It is really against filial piety to treat Mr. Zhao like this. Mencius said: Those who have achieved enlightenment will have many helpers, and those who have lost their power will have few helpers. It seems that the court has lost his power and few helpers, so he has to work hard on Duke Zhao."

Zhao Qi was stunned and didn't know how to deal with it. Yu Fan attracted Mencius to criticize the court everywhere, which made him unable to refute it. Moreover, Yu Fan's reaction was too fast, and he could not keep up with Yu Fan's rhythm at all, and he could not guard against it. He looked at Zhang Zhao, and Zhang Zhao smiled bitterly, helpless. Zhao Qi then understood why Zhang Zhao had winked at him just now, but it was too late to regret it.

Why are there so many talents around Sun Ce? Zhang Hong and Zhang Zhao are already rare talents, but in terms of sharpness, they are not as sharp as Yu Fan.

In terms of economy, the court is not as rich as Sun Ce, and the Western Expedition is supported by Sun Ce. In terms of force, the emperor defeated the Xianbei people only for a small victory, but Sun Ce is already a famous general who has been in battle for a long time and is invincible. In terms of talent, the emperor only has Xun Yu and Liu Ye’s limited talents, but Sun Ce is not only middle-aged wise men like Zhang Hong and Zhang Zhao, but also young people like Yu Fan. Even the young men who make records are heroic and will definitely be great in the future.

What are the advantages of the court? Is it really as Yu Fan said that the court has lost its power and has few supporters and has exhausted its energy?

"Mr. Zhao..."

Seeing that Yu Fan was about to ask questions again, Zhao Qi was panicked. It was impossible not to accept his old age. In terms of knowledge and eloquence, he was not Yu Fan's opponent. If he continued to argue, he would only humiliate himself. Zhao Qi sighed in his heart, decided to give up, rolled his eyes, and fell softly. Instead of being speechless by Yu Fan, it would be better to pretend to be dizzy. After all, Yu Fan is a scholar and he would not be able to keep this little face.

Seeing Zhao Qi falling, Sun Ce did not dare to neglect, so he immediately called the doctor forward. Zhao Qi closed his eyes, but could hear clearly. He knew that Sun Ce had prepared the doctor for a long time and could not say a word, so he had to let the doctor fiddle with it, pinching it made people feel painful, but he refused to open his eyes.
Chapter completed!