?
Honestly speaking, Qi Yuchang didn't want to entertain the Prince Of Qi Vézé of the Taiping Rebellion. Bibliophiles generally thought highly of themselves. What they liked was the feeling of others coming to their door. Bibliophiles knew that the princes thought highly of themselves. Coming to borrow books was already considered condescension. The two sides were not the same kind of people. There was no basis for them to pee in the same pot.
In Qi Yuchang's view, the Taiping army didn't have a bright future, so he didn't think there was anything special about this Prince Of Qi. However, his self-esteem as a bibliophile made him take out books related to his grandson. Liu Yin's Sun Tzu Zhi Jie, Zhao Benxue's Sun Tzu Shu Jie, Li Zhi's Sun Tzu Zhi Tong, Huang Xianchen's Wu Jing Kai Zong, Zhu Yong's Sun Tzu Zhi Jie, Gu Futang's Sun Tzu Zhi Jie, Huang Gong's Sun Tzu Zhi Jie, etc.
At first, Vézé couldn't read it at all. Qi Yuchang could see that Vézé obviously had something on his mind. This made Qi Yuchang even more unhappy. Why did he come here to read if he was in a bad mood?
After a while, Vézé seemed to calm down and began to read. However, not long after, Vézé sneered. It was obvious that he didn't like the contents of the book at all. This behavior didn't make Qi Yuchang feel so disgusted.
It was the most common reaction of scholars to look down on others. However, after having this thought, Qi Yuchang suddenly realized something. He really didn't know whether this Prince Of Qi Vézé was a scholar or not. Judging from his behavior, he seemed to be a young man from a big family. However, it was obvious that Vézé was a man of great power. His temperament of being able to make decisions was too obvious.
Vézé only read a small part of every book related to Sun Tzu's Art of War before putting it down. However, Vézé read the Art of War with great interest from beginning to end. After that, Vézé called Qi Yuchang in and asked, "Mr. Qi, do you have any books about the mind of an emperor?"
Qi Yuchang was left speechless by Vézé's question. It was absolutely impossible for a book to be published. If he wrote a bunch of nonsense, that would be deceiving the monarch, and it would be a crime of extermination. If he really wrote about the Emperor's Schemes, it would be a crime worthy of nine generations of his family being executed. Qi Yuchang could not figure out what Vézé was thinking. He laughed and said, "How could there be such a book? If Your Highness sees it, I hope that Your Highness will not be stingy to tell me so that I can broaden my horizons. "
In fact, Vézé did not really want to read such books. He was just depressed about Li Guangfei and wanted to find someone to talk to. He sighed and said, "I've heard of women's benevolence before, but at that time I only heard of it, but I didn't know what it was. Now that I've done some things, I feel that perhaps I've been too soft-hearted. It's probably that I've done bad things with good intentions. "
After listening to Vézé's words and seeing Vézé's disappointed expression, Qi Yuchang felt that he could understand Vézé's thoughts. He laughed and said, "If Your Highness wants to learn these things, why not take a look at the Analects of Confucius?"
Vézé laughed dryly and said, "The Analects of Confucius talks about cultivating one's moral character. For the time being, I have no way to combine cultivating one's moral character with governing a country. It is said that it was started by Prime Minister Zhao Pu of the Song Dynasty. I really can't do it. "
"Your Highness, this one has read a few books, but I really haven't seen any records of Zhao Pu ruling the world with half of the Analects of Confucius." Qi Yuchang couldn't help but answer. As a bibliophile, Qi Yuchang read a lot of books and knew far more about history than Vézé. Hearing Vézé mention Zhao Pu's matter, Qi Yuchang instinctively began to refute.
"Oh?" Vézé's interest was aroused. "If even this sentence is made up by later generations, then what's the point of reading the Analects of Confucius? The Analects of Confucius is a book read by scholar-officials. I don't have any scholar-officials under me, and I don't want to cultivate a group of scholar-officials. "
Qi Yuchang listened to Vézé's explanation of not using scholar-officials so clearly, and he also became a little interested. "Your Highness, if you don't want to use scholar-officials, who are you going to use? As the saying goes, to become a general or a minister. If you haven't read the Analects of Confucius, how can you become a general or a minister? "
"Haha," Vézé laughed and said, "There are people who become a general or a minister. We have to admit that there are indeed many people who become generals or ministers in history. When I'm on the horse to govern the army, when I'm off the horse to govern the people, I can be considered as a general and a minister. It's just that this one feels that it's extremely difficult to finish things, and this one feels like walking on pins and needles. But Mister Qi's words make it seem as if becoming a general or a minister is a happy thing. This one feels that such people are like poor farmers chatting in winter, asking what the emperor is doing at this time. Some people say that the emperor must be eating taro around the stove. Others say that the emperor must first take a golden axe to chop firewood. "
Vézé's words were sharp and unkind, and Qi Yuchang wanted to laugh, but he couldn't. He asked, "Your Highness, since you feel that becoming a general or a minister is like sitting on pins and needles, why don't you let go?"
"Hmm …" Hearing this question, Vézé frowned. After a moment, he relaxed and said with a smile, "When I do these things, I feel like I'm sitting on pins and needles. If I'm not allowed to do these things, I feel like dying is better than living. Comparing the two, it's better to be sitting on pins and needles. "
Hearing Vézé's explanation, Qi Yuchang couldn't help but laugh. After laughing twice, he thought of what Vézé said before and couldn't help but laugh out loud. Vézé didn't care. He was originally in a bad mood, and now that he could laugh and laugh with others, his mood was relieved. Seeing Qi Yuchang laugh so happily, Vézé thought it was interesting and also laughed a few times.
This time, Qi Yuchang didn't know why, but he actually couldn't stop laughing. In the end, he even rocked back and forth with laughter. Fortunately, Qi Yuchang was in his forties, and he still had some basic shrewdness. Before he could laugh out loud, he finally restrained himself. Taking out a handkerchief to wipe the tears from his eyes, Qi Yuchang said to Vézé, "Your Highness, this one has been rude! I have been rude! But I have never heard a person of your status speak in such a pitiful manner, and yet you can make people believe your words. 'Sitting on pins and needles' and 'living is better than dying', this one admires you from the bottom of my heart. I've learned, I've learned. "
After saying this, Qi Yuchang was afraid that Vézé wouldn't understand, so he continued to explain, "With these books, this one truly feels like I have a mountain of treasures. But because of these books, when people make things difficult for me and worry that these books will be destroyed, I feel that these books are a scourge. Sometimes, I even have the thought of not having these books. But as Your Highness said, when I have these books, this one feels like sitting on pins and needles. If I don't have these books, this one would be better off dead. "
Vézé didn't care about this. He let Qi Yuchang sit across from him, "People say that different roads lead to the same destination, and people who do things are all the same. Just now, when I was reading Sun Tzu's Art of War, I saw a saying: Victory can be known, but it cannot be done. Thinking back to the 'Analects of Confucius' and 'Tao Te Ching', this principle is known, but it cannot be done. "
Qi Yuchang didn't expect that this prince of the Taiping Rebellion would be so knowledgeable. He could also see that this prince had done a lot of great things, and his understanding of many things was at a level that Qi Yuchang had never seen before. He directly talked to Vézé about his views on books.
In terms of professional knowledge, there were many people in this era who were far more knowledgeable than Vézé, especially those European mathematicians. But in terms of foresight and understanding of history, there were very few people in this era who were much better than Vézé.
Vézé casually threw out a sentence, "Chinese people have faith, and what we believe in is history." Then, he added, "Why do we believe in our ancestors? Because we are materialistic! " Finally, he threw out a sentence, "We can actually think about it. Since each of us has a son in our father's family and a daughter in our mother's family, and we all have to grow up to the age where we can marry and have children. Imagine those natural and man-made disasters, and each of our birth is a miracle! "
These reasons and these words meant nothing to Vézé. But for Qi Yuchang, the worldview behind these words and thoughts was far beyond the height and depth he could imagine. When Vézé described the world to Qi Yuchang, he also pointed out Qi Yuchang's foothold in the long river of history. Vézé's "kingly aura" made Qi Yuchang really want to worship him.
Of course, this was also because Vézé was the Prince Of Qi of the Taiping Rebellion. He had a high position and a strong army under his command. Without these facts as a foundation, Vézé's words would not have such a strong effect.
After talking for a while, Qi Yuchang also understood Vézé's troubles. He suggested, "Prince Wei, if you feel that your subordinates can't understand what you are doing, you might as well tell them directly. Moreover, I have read some books, and the books say that grace comes from above. Since Prince Wei knows the principle of knowing victory, but not doing it. Naturally, you know that playing with the city's grace is out of the question. But if there is no grace, it is even more out of the question. I would like to ask Prince Wei to think about the story of Duke Mu's loss of his horse and the Banquet of Severing Tassels. "
Qi Yuchang's reminder was quite standard. No matter what, now that Li Guangfei was dead for sure, Vézé could no longer punish his subordinates for this matter. What he needed now was to confirm the system, and also to appease people's hearts. After thinking about it, Vézé felt that this trip could be considered to have been fruitful.
Before leaving, Qi Yuchang couldn't help but ask where Vézé's official residence was. Vézé smiled, "If Teacher Qi wants to find me, you have to go to Lu Zhou. I don't live in Tianjing City."
Hearing this, Qi Yuchang didn't say anything else. After parting, Vézé didn't stay in Tianjing City for long. He simply set off at night, sailing under the moonlight, and headed straight for Lu Zhou.
Three days later, he arrived at Lu Zhou. Vézé immediately gathered all the generals of the General Staff. When Li Guangfei was dragged up with wooden shackles and leg irons, many people's faces turned ugly.
"Brothers, there's something I want to talk to you about. Do you know about lawsuits? "Vézé asked.
Everyone nodded, and some shook their heads.
Vézé nodded and continued, "When commoners go to court, they have to look for their masters to decide the case. In that case, us brothers are all masters! If someone among us violates military law, what should we do? "
Everyone looked at each other in dismay.
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