Chapter 16 The Child

The boy urged the ox cart forward, the old vehicle creaking and groaning.

As for why this boy was the driver, it was obvious that Master's ox was no ordinary beast, given its fiery temper and the fact that it had traveled through many states over the years without ending up as beef jerky in some bandit's lair.

Even Zilu had been kicked over by a hoof.

Nima rolled on the ground, clutching his stomach.

That night, he came with a knife.

And was kicked again.

Zilu, defeated, could not rise again.

The direct consequence was that the ox was only obedient in front of Master and this strange boy.

In Master's case, it was because Master would reason with it.

In all senses of the word.

As for the boy, it was unknown why.

Almost an instinctive fear.

The ox cart was not slow, but the other disciples were quick on their feet. Zilu soon began to sulk again. When the old ox stopped to rest and eat grass, the disciples went to find grass and pick branches to make a fire. The boy asked Zilu,

Zilu grumbled, "I don't like Lao Dan."

"Why?"

The brave and strong man raised an eyebrow and said, "I recognize this old gentleman's wisdom. His capacity isn't higher than Master's, nor is it lower. His wisdom is the same. What I dislike is his choice."

"The world is collapsing, rituals are breaking down, sons kill fathers, fathers kill sons, and situations like Nanzi's affair with her brother are not uncommon. Betrayal and mutual attacks happen constantly. This world is like a muddy swamp, and countless people are trapped in the mud."

"Master chooses to do everything he can to pull people out, to save them."

"To find ways to get more people to help pull them out of this swamp."

"But that Lao Dan chose to watch indifferently, to transcend the world, to treat it with detachment. How can I like that? No, I can't even say that, because the people of this world aren't qualified to read and learn. The so-called 'keeping the people ignorant' means they don't even know what kind of world they're trapped in."

"This world now..."

"Is like a square iron house, without windows and impossible to destroy. Inside are many sleeping people, unaware of their situation, soon to suffocate. Master angrily smashes this house, wanting to open it, to spread knowledge, to make more people realize that this world is wrong."

"But Lao Dan, and that Chu madman, those so-called hermits, watch coldly, neither joining the corruption of the world, nor waking people up. They till their own land, feed themselves, live in seclusion, even mocking Master, saying you can't open this cage anyway, and you'll only get yourself killed. How foolish! Better to live in seclusion, better to live in seclusion."

"No... Lao Dan is different from them."

Zilu sighed again, contradicting himself, and said with distress, "Different."

"If he were just that kind of foolish person, I wouldn't care."

"Indeed, many people don't understand Master, even writing poems to mock him, saying that the morals of this era are declining, and people like Master will inevitably attract disaster. Better to live in seclusion, better to live in seclusion; but in my opinion, these people who only care for themselves are just chattering sparrows."

"Content with rising and falling on branches, satisfied with rotten berries and rainwater on the ground."

"Searching for insects to fill their bellies on this decaying tree."

"Mocking the swan in the sky."

"Such people are not worth a smile."

The boy was surprised and thought for a moment, "Brother, do you think Master is a swan?"

"No!"

Zilu retorted without hesitation, "There is no bird in the world that can compare to Master. If I had to use a bird, only the phoenix could barely be compared. Those people can't even understand the swan's ambition, how could they understand the phoenix?"

The boy said softly, "Master's ambition is..."

Zilu was surprised, "Right, you weren't there then."

"It is the Great Harmony."

Zilu pondered for a moment, and explained, "Master said, the so-called Great Harmony..."

"When the Great Way prevails, the world is for all. Select the virtuous and capable, and practice good faith and cultivate harmony."

"Therefore, people do not only love their own parents, nor do they only care for their own children. They ensure that the elderly are cared for until the end of their lives, the strong are employed, the young are nurtured, and the widowed, orphaned, lonely, and disabled are all provided for."

"They hate to see goods abandoned on the ground, not necessarily to hoard them for themselves; they hate to see their strength not used, not necessarily for their own benefit."

"Scheming is suppressed and does not arise, and thieves and rebels do not appear, so the outer doors are not closed. This is called the Great Harmony."

Zilu repeated Master's words at the sacrificial rites with bright eyes, and then said sadly:

"But now I understand, and in fact Master understands, that the era of Great Harmony he hopes for is impossible in this era. Let alone the world being for all, selecting the virtuous and capable, and practicing good faith and cultivating harmony."

"In this era of collapsing rituals, states are at war. The blood brothers who had an affair with Nanzi back then have gone to Wei to become officials. Duke Ling of Chen had an affair with his minister's wife and even wore that woman's clothes to court to show off. The great families control the states, so what's the point of selecting the virtuous and capable?"

Zilu cursed rudely:

"Nanzi is the princess of Song, and her brother is the son of Song."

"This shows how far the rituals have collapsed in Song."

"And that Duke of Wei..."

"The ruler of a state actually allowed Nanzi's brother, with whom she had an affair, to become a senior minister in his own state."

He hesitated for a moment, looked around, and met the eyes of his younger brother.

They said in unison:

"Damn coward!"

"Damn pervert!"

The boy grinned.

Zilu laughed heartily. He was the kind of person with a strong chivalrous spirit, and his reputation had already spread throughout the world. In the current states, because betrayals often occurred, when outsiders entered a new state to become officials, they needed to receive a pledge from that state, vowing to protect the life and safety of the newcomer.

But at that time, there was a senior official who said, 'If it were Zilu who wanted me, I wouldn't need a pledge!'

With just one word from Zilu, I could come here without a pledge.

One person's promise was even more important than a pledge from a state with a thousand chariots.

This was Zilu's reputation at this time.

And he was just one of Master's disciples.

But he still chose to serve his teacher, his voice paused, and said, "Knowing the great from the small, you can know what Wei is like now. Today, they can't even select the virtuous and capable, and practice good faith and cultivate harmony, let alone anything else? People do not only love their own parents, nor do they only care for their own children."

"To ensure that the elderly are cared for until the end of their lives, the strong are employed, the young are nurtured, and the widowed, orphaned, lonely, and disabled are all provided for."

"Will there be such an era a thousand years from now, two thousand years from now?"

"As for hating to see goods abandoned on the ground, not necessarily to hoard them for themselves; hating to see their strength not used, not necessarily for their own benefit, I can only say that this is just Master's ideal. Even I cannot understand and agree with it. Junior brother, how can there be such an era?"

Zilu said incomprehensibly:

"Everyone cherishes goods and wealth, but not for their own desires."

"Everyone in this world works hard, but not for themselves."

"No war, no conspiracy, not even thieves."

"The world is for all."

"This world is impossible, right?"

He sighed complexly, "I know it would be very beautiful, almost the best era, but I don't believe such a world will really appear. I just guess that perhaps Master saw the possibility of such an era, the possibility of the Great Harmony."

"That's why he can't tolerate this turbid world more and more, right?"

"Those so-called Chu madmen and the like only see the suffering that Master is about to endure and unknowingly mock him; while Lao Dan can understand the great dream that Master sees, but with the thought that this is impossible, he chooses to leave this era indifferently, unable to change it, so he simply watches coldly."

"Those so-called hermits who have seen through the world will exist in the era of the Duke of Zhou, and will exist in the future."

"But there is only one Master."

The other Confucian disciples also followed.

The boy thought for a while and asked doubtfully:

"In that case, why does Master still follow the Rites of Zhou?"

The disciples looked at each other and suddenly burst out laughing.

"The Rites of Zhou?!"

Zilu laughed so hard that he bent over. The gentle man next to him replied, "The *Zhou Li* (Rites of Zhou), *Di Guan Si Tu* (Officials of the Earth, Minister of Education), *Bao Shi* (Tutors) says, 'Nurture the sons of the state with the Way.' They are taught the Six Arts: first, the Five Rites; second, the Six Music; third, the Five Archery; fourth, the Five Charioteering; fifth, the Six Writing; sixth, the Nine Numbers."

"The so-called sons of the state are nobles and aristocratic families."

"And the world is still like this today. Only the sons of the state are qualified to learn the Six Arts. The common people only need to know how to farm and raise silkworms. The respected method of governing the country is mainly to keep the people ignorant. The people are difficult to govern because they have too much knowledge... We can only say that Master advocated the Rites of Zhou when he was young."

Zilu laughed again, pointed at himself, and then pointed at the boy: "I am a wandering knight, and you are even a nameless person. Among the brothers, many are poor. If we talk about following the Rites of Zhou, then Master, who teaches without discrimination, is the one who least believes in those Rites of Zhou!"

"He dares to widely teach the Six Arts of the noble sons of the state."

"Even the Duke of Zhou couldn't tolerate him!"

"The officials of the Zhou Dynasty heard Master say, 'He who first made funerary figurines, will he have no descendants?'"

"They thought Master was saying that those who used pottery figurines to replace the buried should have been extinct long ago. It was a kind of vicious curse-like slander. But what we heard was that Master said, 'He who first made funerary figurines, will he have no descendants?' Is it that the person who used pottery figurines to replace the buried and saved others is no longer appearing?"

"Okay, then I'll do it."

"It is the spirit of not shirking responsibility."

Zilu smiled triumphantly: "That old man Master is always like this."

"His words hide his true meaning."

"He is not a rigid, stone-carved sage at all."

The boy pondered, and it seemed that this was indeed the case.

For example, that time, a guy deliberately pretended not to know Master and deliberately misinterpreted Master's ideas.

He angered Master so much that he repeatedly stroked his chest and muttered to himself after returning.

'Is it not gentlemanly to not be annoyed when others do not recognize you?'

I'm so angry, so angry, don't be angry, don't be angry.

If you get sick from anger, no one will replace you.

Look, others don't know me, and I'm not angry, isn't that a gentleman?

Someone deliberately provokes you, and you don't punch that person into meat pie, that's a gentleman.

Another guest who was disliked by Master came to visit.

Master directly told his disciple to say that he was not there.

After that person left, Master played the qin and sang loudly on the second floor.

'I'm here, but I don't want to see you.'

'Alas, just playing around.'

'Nyah nyah nyah'

Another old friend deliberately spread his legs, in an indecent posture towards Master. Master was impolite and directly retorted, "Young and not filial to your younger brothers, old and without accomplishment, old and not dying is a thief," and then, old as he was, raised his wooden staff and struck his shin.

You old bastard insulted me.

I'll beat you to death.

The old gentleman covered his hat and ran away on the spot.

Master held the staff in both hands and chased after him.

Boy, stop for me!

At that time, there was also a younger brother named Hui who was stunned by this scene.

Master's speed was unrivaled!

And that time, Ran Qiu plundered the people's wealth for the great aristocratic family of Ji. Master directly smashed the bowl:

"He is not my disciple. Little ones, beat the drums and attack him!"

That kid is no longer my disciple, you guys just beat the drums and cut him down!

You don't need to talk about brotherhood with this kid, go together.

Beat the drums, advance!

In the end, Ran Qiu was still a well-behaved fellow disciple.

There were too many similar things. These disciples knew that he was not a saint who was revered as the "Heavenly Sage" or "Wooden Tongue of Heaven" in this era. If you didn't pay attention to his penetrating talent and wisdom, he was just an old man with his own little temper, picky eaters, liked to joke, and was generally very tough, incredibly vivid.

He liked Zilu, perhaps because only Zilu dared to confront him head-on.

Otherwise, Master would be too lonely.

Although, in the conventional sense, Zilu was rubbed the wrong way.

But that time Master met Nanzi, Zilu directly asked if he was moved, which angered Master so much that he swore to the sky, "May Heaven punish me! May Heaven punish me!" If I were moved by that woman, may I be struck by lightning. Zilu's expression at that time was as follows.

'Really? I don't believe it.'

Master was so angry that he couldn't eat.

"Master's dream of the Great Harmony..."

"It would be great to see it."

The boy came back to his senses from his past experiences, whispered with a smile, and then stood up, but when he returned to the ox cart, he had prepared the meal.

He also took out the jar of pickles from behind the ox cart.

Yes, Master carried pickles with him.

Just as the brothers were enjoying the food, a guest arrived. He was a tall man, handsome and majestic, like a divine general. He also brought several young women, as well as a little girl about eleven or twelve years old, about the same age as the boy at the moment. The boy was stunned, but Master seemed to have expected it, and nodded with a smile.

The divine general introduced the women, and finally introduced the pink and jade-like little girl, saying:

"This is Jue."

"She is not used to expressing her emotions, Master, please don't be offended."

"Double jade is Jue, is it?"

Master seemed to be lost in thought, and then, like greeting an ordinary child, squatted down to look at the little girl at eye level, with dried meat jerky on his chopsticks:

"Hello, little girl..."

According to legend, Master was born of a dragon, raised by a tiger, and fanned by an eagle.

The last person to have such a legend was Dayi, who was abandoned in the mountains by his biological mother.

When the burly Master squatted down, the little girl had to look up.

Then she saw the huge Master bending over, overlooking.

The powerful, god-like soul and heroic body, the steel-like will.

And then,

The burly Master stuck out his tongue and made a face.

"Hello, little girl."

At this moment, the pink and jade-like little girl with a cold face was stunned, and an expression appeared on her face.

Her eyes slowly widened, her mouth slowly opened, and her little face turned pale.

Her eyes quickly filled with tears.

"Wuwu..."

And then, the next second,

She turned around and ran.

Like a violent wind.

The divine general who had just said that this heavenly girl was cold-hearted: "…………"

The Master who was teasing the child had a stiff smile: "…………"

Duanmu Ci: "…………"

Zengzi: "…………"

Zixia: "…………"

Ziyou: "…………"

The disciples lowered their heads and ate.

Zilu said, "Master, I told you not to..."

Master angrily raised his hand, stuffed the dried meat jerky in his hand into the disciple's mouth, and slapped the stunned boy next to him, saying:

"What are you standing there for? Go chase her!!!"

The boy nodded woodenly, then got up and ran out.

He was picked up by Master by the collar and put on the ox cart.

"Drive!"

"Eh? Okay, okay..."

ps: Today's first update... 4,400 words~ Successful routine.