On the ninth day of the ninth month, it was originally scheduled to be the second class that Zhuangzi taught today, but because Zhuangzi accidentally fell into the water while traveling the day before yesterday, he suffered some wind and cold and was also frightened. Therefore, when Zhuangzi was about to teach Meng Zhong alone like the previous time, he was dissuaded by Zhuang Bo and Meng Zhong at the same time.

After all, compared to the course that delays one day, of course, Mr. Zhuang’s physical condition is more important.

But unfortunately, Zhuangzi is stubborn. Since he was originally scheduled to teach his students today, he must fulfill his agreement - no one can beat this old man.

But then again, what should we teach today's courses? You should know that Zhuangzi rested on the couch all day yesterday, but he didn't teach Meng Zhong separately in advance.

After thinking about it, Zhuangzi decided to let Meng Zhong tell Zhuzi the story that happened when they went out yesterday, especially the fish basket net that "unlikes the way of heaven". Using this personal experience, Zhuzi can have a deeper understanding of the way of heaven.

So, while Zhuangzi was sitting aside with a bowl of medicine, he drank the soup, Meng Zhong told Zhuzi in detail about the passing of the day.

It is worth mentioning that when Meng Zhong vividly talked about how Zhuangzi struggled in the water after falling into the water, the philosophers below wanted to laugh but didn't dare to laugh, which was really uncomfortable. Even Zhuangzi couldn't help but look at Meng Zhong frequently, and his eyes seemed to be blaming Meng Zhong: What did you do if you say this in such a detailed way?

After listening to the conversation between Zhuangzi and Meng Zhong in the story, the philosophers below fell into deep thought.

From the conversation between Zhuangzi and Meng Zhong, it can be seen that Zhuangzi did not resist "killing", just as he did not stop Meng Zhong from killing the two fish to fill his master and disciple, because Zhuangzi felt that "people eat fish to fill their stomachs" was also in line with the way of heaven - after all, man is one of the things that are born under the way of heaven.

Unlike the Confucianism that emphasizes "a gentleman stays away from the kitchen", Mencius, a Confucian sage, once said, "When a gentleman sees his life, he cannot bear to die; when he hears his voice, he cannot bear to eat his meat. Therefore, a gentleman stays away from the kitchen."

But let me ask, how many Confucian gentlemen have been vegetarian all their lives?

In other words, although Confucian gentlemen cannot bear to kill, they still need to eat. No wonder Zhuangzi once criticized Confucianism for its "hypocrisy".

At this point, Taoist thought is very frank and simple, believing that no matter whether people eat animals or animals, they are under the operation of the law of heaven, and there is no saying of good or evil. The view of good or evil is just proposed by people themselves. There is no saying of good or evil under the law of heaven.

What Zhuangzi really wanted to resist was to continue to harm creatures under the "surplus". Take the example at that time. Zhuangzi thought that he and Meng Zhong would be enough to fill their stomachs after eating the two fish. Why did he let the other fish lose their freedom and die?

From this point of view, Zhuangzi also opposed the war. He believed that as long as the monarchs of various countries were as wise as those of Yao, Shun, Yu and Tang in ancient times, encouraged the people to work hard and relaxed the tax quota, the people would not be hungry, and even if the country did not plunder other countries, it would become prosperous and strong.

"Teacher, the student is confused about the fish basket net."

When Meng Zhong mentioned that Zhuangzi wanted him to destroy the fish basket net, Meng asked in confusion: "The Master believed that the fish basket net was a 'not-do' and hoped that Ah Zhong would destroy it. However, with this object, students and others only need a short time and energy to catch enough fish for everyone in the house to eat. In this way, students and others will have more time to learn the thoughts of the ancestors..."

Mengsui means to keep some fish basket nets and not to be abused.

Beside him, Hua Hu, who used to be responsible for fishing, nodded repeatedly when he heard this.

I have to say that after seeing the convenience of fishing in fish basket nets, he really doesn't want to use a fishing rod to fish like he used to do. He doesn't even spend energy, but he may not be able to guarantee his harvest.

Zhuangzi thought for a while and planned to write an explanation on the bamboo plaque, but after taking a look at Meng Zhong, he changed his mind - he wanted to hear what Meng Zhong thinks about this.

After all, although Meng Zhong did destroy the fish basket net in front of him at that time, he was not convinced.

After receiving Zhuangzi's instructions, Meng Zhong pondered for a moment and said, "I'm not hiding the Master, in fact, I think Asui's words are not unreasonable. However, I can guess the Master's concerns more or less... The Master must not want to change the original "fisherman fishing". In the past, fishermen were not easy to catch fish, so he would cherish every fish he caught, and the fish he caught would most likely not have a greater impact on the fish in the river. But if a more convenient method appears, let alone the fisherman may not cherish the fish he caught as before, first talk about the nature of "driven profit" by the world, or will

Some people used fish basket nets to catch river fish, which led to the extinction of river fish... I heard that Jin State once banned "betting (gambling)". The offenders were responsible. There were few gamblers involved in betting, but why did Jin State still enact severe punishments? I think this may be because the people who made this law think that betting will encourage people to "try to get something for nothing". It is like all countries value agriculture and resist business, which is simply because business profits are quick. If everyone goes to business because of profit, no one will be willing to farm in the fields steadily... The truth of these two is the same."

At this time, Zhuangzi had already put down the medicine bowl in his hand. After listening to Meng Zhong's explanation, he nodded in surprise.

Zhuangzi still doesn't know whether Meng Zhong is willing to destroy the fish basket net, but this person's opinion in this matter is indeed worthy of surprise to Zhuangzi - especially Meng Zhong pointed out the nature of "people seek profit", which is why Zhuangzi wanted to destroy the fish basket net, because he did not want this convenient fishing tool to spread, which made the fish in rivers and lakes unique skills because they were caught by the world, and eventually harmed the world themselves.

It is not difficult to see from this that Zhuangzi is indeed arrogant, and his views on the world often evolve towards the bad side - maybe it was because he thought that it was a "life of "destruction".

Immediately, Zhuangzi picked up his pen and wrote on a bamboo plaque: Will you fish when you have exhausted the lake? And there will be no fish next year.

The allusion of "Flying the Scene and Fishing" originated from "Yong Ji", an important official under the banner of Duke Wen of Jin in the Spring and Autumn Period.

At that time, the key battle between Duke Wen of Jin and King Cheng of Chu was at the end of the Central Plains war between the "Battle of Chengpu" - the "Jin, Qin, Qi and Song Four-Nation Alliance" against the "Chu, Cao, Wei and Zheng All-Nation Alliance".

At that time, although the national strength of Jin was still in the rising stage, it might not be able to defeat the powerful Chu State. So Duke Wen of Jin asked for advice and asked his confidant officials "Hu Yan", and the latter offered a deceptive strategy - the origin of the allusion of "retreat three abandons". The Jin army used the excuse of Duke Wen of Jin's promise to King Cheng of Chu that "If you are unfortunate in the future, I will retreat three abandons for you" to retreat three abandons (90 miles) to show that the enemy was weak and deceived the Chu army into the enemy's territory. In the end, he was defeated by the Jin army, thus laying the foundation for the great cause of Jin's domination of the Central Plains for a hundred years. [PS: I will mention it in detail later.]

When "Fu Yan" offered this strategy, Duke Wen of Jin also asked "Yong Ji". At that time, Yong Ji said this to Duke Wen of Jin: Will you not get it if you fish in the lake? Then there will be no fish in the next year; will you burn the trunk and the fields in the next year? There will be no beast in the next year. Although the deception and falsehood can be stolen now, there will be no restoration in the future, which is not a long technique.

Yong Jiyi was telling Duke Wen of Jin that if he wanted to defeat Chu and dominate the Central Plains, the most fundamental thing was to rely on the army and national strength. If he used fraudulent means, even if he could get temporary gains, the other party would not be fooled again next time.

Duke Wen of Jin agreed deeply, so after defeating Chu with the "Hu Yan" strategy in this "Battle of Chengpu", he was committed to developing Jin itself. This made it impossible for Chu to defeat Jin and become the overlord of the Central Plains in the century-long "Jin and Chu battle for hegemony" until King Zhuang of Chu emerged a hundred years later.

Although the allusion of "fishing when the lake is exhausted" is that "Yong Ji" used this to warn Duke Wen of Jin not to always place his hope of defeating the Chu State on the sidelines of conspiracy and intrigue, the words "fishing when the lake is exhausted" and "burning the pond and farm" contain simple truths, so it was later widely circulated and used to advise the monarch and the world not to only seek immediate benefits.

After listening to Zhuangzi's "explanation", the various scholars reacted differently.

Seeing this, Meng Zhong said: "If you have different opinions, you might as well put them forward and discuss the debate."

This proposal is actually very consistent with Zhuangzi's wishes. Unfortunately, the philosophers below still have little knowledge and know few principles, so it is difficult to explain their own views accurately and comprehensively.

Of course, the more important thing is that the philosophers' "level of thought" is too low - what they think about is the pros and cons of the fish net for themselves; what Zhuangzi focuses on is the pros and cons of the fish net for the entire world.

The levels of thinking about problems are different, so Zhuangzi naturally cannot be interested - this may be the real reason why Zhuangzi lamented that he could no longer debate the opponent after Huizi died.

During this period, Meng Zhong's views only made him interested.

For example, Meng Zhong proposed to make the mesh of the fish basket net larger so that the small fish can escape from the mesh and prevent the small fish and fry from still growing.

However, Meng Zhong did not have any good suggestions on the "world's nature of seeking profit", and believed that he could only start from the aspect of "strengthening moral constraints".

"Strengthening moral constraints" made Zhuangzi quite dislike this statement.

You should know that Taoist thought advocates actively improving one's own cultivation and strengthening moral constraints. This is actually Confucian's requirement for the secular world. Confucianism deliberately emphasizes etiquette. In addition to the class division of monarch, minister and minister, its essence is also to strengthen the benevolence, righteousness, rituals and virtues of the world, and then make the world better, or simply, more orderly.

Although Taoism also advocates making the secular world more orderly, the difference is that Taoist thought is to hope that the world will take the initiative to accept and understand the "order", while Confucianism uses etiquette to directly put order on the people of the world. Although the results seem the same, due to the big differences, there is a world of difference in "a slight difference, a thousand miles apart".

『…』

Looking at Meng Zhong who was still talking in front of the monks, Zhuangzi pursed his lips and stroked his beard as if he was thinking.

He found that Meng Zhong, a disciple whom he had not yet admitted to being a disciple, seemed to have a good impression of Confucianism.

Well...this won't happen!

Zhuangzi thought to himself.

He felt that it was necessary to teach Meng Zhong individually, so that the latter could fully recognize the true face of Confucianism so that this son could devote himself to the Tao.
Chapter completed!