Chapter 25

Li Tai's expression stalled, and a look of confusion appeared on his face:

"Why? Is Big Brother really an immortal or Buddha?"

Following that, Li Tai choked: "Why? Why every time he hits me, I have no reason to hate him, and no way to hit him back?"

"If you want to hit him, go hit him; Father won't stop you."

"He helps me, and I still hit him; then am I still a human? Kongzi taught me to repay grievances with uprightness, not to repay virtue with grievances."

Li Shimin shook his head secretly: "A gentleman can be deceived by the right way! If you don't want to retaliate, don't go looking for a beating; he is not afraid of anyone now."

'Governing with Dao, convincing with virtue—Gaoming seems to have a different understanding of Laozi; I must find a time to talk to him.'

'Forget it, let Zhinu go ask for advice first, and by the way, test if his magnanimity is as great as I think.'

Regarding whether to abolish Li Chengqian, Li Shimin was also very conflicted; the ability Li Chengqian showed had already exceeded his expectations.

However, the two sides had different philosophies of governing the country; he was really worried that Li Chengqian would become the second Emperor Yang of Sui.

In fact, Li Shimin was purely overthinking; Li Chengqian was prepared to use force to conquer the surroundings, but it wouldn't be now.

Everything he did now was to prepare for reforming the Great Tang system; the right to speak was like this, the aristocratic families were like this, and Buddhism and Taoism were also like this.

Just like the Equal-Field System, everyone knew its drawbacks, but no one dared to propose changes; that was because of the aristocratic families and Buddhism and Taoism.

There were also the Fubing System, the Imperial Examination System, etc.; these were not things that could be changed in one sentence.

Without state affairs to handle, Li Chengqian lived a very leisurely life every day, fishing, reading, and teaching his sons.

Until the day Li Zhi arrived, breaking the peaceful days.

"Big Brother, I want to ask you something."

Li Chengqian held the finger-sized fish he had just caught with both hands, grinning:

"Speak! Big Brother is happy today; from the past five thousand years, astronomy and geography, to the hundred schools of thought, there is nothing Big Brother won't say."

"Laozi advocates governing the country with non-action; what exactly does non-action mean?"

"It means the sage handles affairs with non-action and carries out teachings without words; it means the sage never talks nonsense and directly makes the enemy disappear; this is non-action."

The corners of Li Zhi's mouth twitched, and he had the urge to hit someone. After taking two deep breaths to calm his mood, he continued:

"Big Brother, Zhinu is asking sincerely; stop teasing me!"

"Fine!"

Li Chengqian gently placed the small fish in the bucket:

"Wang Qi, make a pond to raise this fish; whoever steals it will be thrown directly into the manure pit."

"Yes!"

After handing the small fish to Wang Qi, Li Chengqian sat opposite Li Zhi and smiled:

"Non-existence is the beginning of heaven and earth; the whole Laozi non-action has several meanings. Which one do you want to ask about?"

"Even if we know what non-action is, it is very difficult for us to do it; this is human nature."

"Several meanings? Isn't there only one meaning?"

"The sage handles affairs with non-action; in front, there is 'the high and low incline toward each other'; this is one meaning, talking about those who regulate their families by cultivating their bodies; people are biased toward those they love and biased toward those they despise; a monarch cannot act based on love and hate."

"The Dao is always non-action and yet nothing is left undone; this is another meaning, talking about the court system, which no one can see but achieves everything invisibly."

"I am non-action, and people transform themselves; this is another meaning, talking about the atmosphere. Today, the court values benevolence, righteousness, ritual, wisdom, and trust; in the future, the whole world will also value benevolence, righteousness, ritual, wisdom, and trust. This is the same principle as 'what the superior likes, the inferior will surely follow'."

"So, I said which kind of non-action are you asking about?"

Li Zhi lowered his head in thought; he originally just wanted to see if Li Chengqian would tell him. Now Li Chengqian's answer made him involuntarily start thinking about the meaning of non-action.

A quarter of an hour later, Li Zhi slowly raised his head: "How to interpret 'always make the people have no knowledge and no desire'?"

"Return to simplicity!"

Li Chengqian explained faintly: "The tea bowl on the table was originally just a pile of mud; it only became a bowl after the craftsman's kneading."

"But that is only a bowl; if it turns back into mud, after self-transformation, this mud may become something else, or fertile land, or part of a city wall."

"It's like an official in a high position; if one day he is dismissed, you can arrange for this official to go anywhere at will. At this time, no one will notice him because he has already failed!"

"I understand!"

Li Zhi nodded slightly: "Big Brother, you said last time that Fourth Brother was going to take action against Chu Suiliang; there has been no reaction for so long. Has Fourth Brother already given up?"

"He has already taken action!"

"What do you mean? Fourth Brother clearly hasn't done anything."

Li Chengqian picked up the tea bowl and took a sip: "You and Uncle didn't discover it; you lost this game."

"Qingque has the blessing of 'Kuo Di Zhi'; his status in the hearts of scholars in the world is different from ours. One word from him is worth a hundred of ours."

"If you want to oppose Qingque, you also need to be like Qingque; someone must speak for you among the people."

"Commoners?"

Li Chengqian didn't answer immediately, stood up slowly and walked outside. Only after exiting the Qingfeng Pavilion did he speak slowly:

"Zhinu, learn to think for yourself; Big Brother has already given you a reminder."

"If you still don't know what to do after Chu Suiliang is driven out of Chang'an, come ask Big Brother again that day."

Li Zhi curled his lip and muttered in a low voice:

"What reminder did you give? From beginning to end, you were talking about Laozi; it really is non-action, doing nothing yourself, letting Fourth Brother and me fight to the death."

Suddenly, Li Zhi's expression changed:

'No! Doesn't everyone say Big Brother likes martial arts and hates literature? Why does Big Brother know so much about Laozi?'

'What exactly does Big Brother's "convincing people with virtue" and "governing the country with Dao" mean?'

'Using the De Book to beat people into submission, destroying enemy countries; or using "gaining within oneself, gaining from others" to make people convinced, using the court system to govern the country?'

'Or both?'

Just as Li Chengqian said, Li Zhi had already lost; he had already lost the moment Chu Suiliang wrote the inscription.

At this time, Chu Suiliang was holding the inscription and came to the Ganlu Hall:

"Emperor, I have already written the inscription; please take a look."

Li Shimin took the inscription and looked at it, full of praise:

"Your calligraphy is getting better and better; it not only has the breadth and elegance of Lord Yu but also the sharpness and strength of Lord Ouyang."

"And this article is no worse than Lord Cen's. Just use this one; I believe Gaoyang will also be satisfied. Letting you write the inscription is truly using great talent for small tasks."

"Thank you, Emperor, for the praise; compared to Scholar Cen, I am just the light of a firefly."

Li Shimin waved his hand: "Why be overly modest? How old is Lord Cen, and how old are you? Your future achievements will inevitably be no worse than Lord Cen's."

"There are many court affairs recently; Zhinu's side has never had time to teach."

"It just so happens that you are free now, so go teach the Prince of Jin on my behalf; he has recently been troubled by problems with various classics."

"I understand; I will definitely not live up to the Emperor's expectations."

Li Shimin lowered his head and looked at the memorial in his hand, sighing secretly in his heart:

'I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse!'

Not long after Chu Suiliang left, Fang Xuanling walked in with steady steps:

"Emperor, the grain and grass have been counted; this is the specific number of granaries near Chang'an."

"No rush! Put it aside first."

Li Shimin picked up the inscription and handed it to Fang Xuanling: "This was written by Doctor Chu; you take it back and look at it. If it's okay, you can hand it to Gaoyang directly."

After Fang Xuanling took the inscription, he didn't open it to look, but looked at Li Shimin with a complex face:

"Emperor, do you really just pretend not to know anything?"

"I can't think of a way, and you can't think of a way; it can only be like this!"

Li Shimin sighed long: "I have already talked with Gaoming; he said that as long as I don't enter the game, the three brothers won't have any problems."

"Does the Emperor believe it?"