Back to the Warring States Period as Zhao Kuo

There are a few bookstores in my brother’s house. After a while, my brother will send someone to send a cart of books. After you return to Seleucid, you can study and study slowly. "

It has been several years since the printing technique was invented and popularized. Nowadays, there are printed bookstores everywhere in the Han Kingdom, and the imperial capital is even more dazzling, covering almost everything in the world.

This also played an extremely important role in the popularization of knowledge. According to the feedback from the Academy, since the invention and promotion of printing, the scores of the students admitted to the Academy have increased year by year, which means that The average level of intellectuals at the bottom is constantly improving.

Of course, Zhao Kuo is very happy to see this. What he hopes most is to popularize knowledge among the people in the Han Dynasty, and completely eliminate blindness like the Huaxia of later generations.

It’s just that in terms of the current national strength of the Han Dynasty, the popularization of education is a long-term business that requires continuous high investment but low returns in the short term, so Zhao Kuo is not in a hurry, and slowly promotes it, planning to use it for ten to twenty years. time to completely solve this problem.

After hearing Zhao Kuo's gift of books, the second prince's eyes lit up, and he said with a smile: "To tell you the truth, Brother Zhao, I actually bought some books before, but most of those books were relatively ordinary books.

Brother Zhao, if you have connections and connections, can you find me books about the various schools of thought in the academy? "

Although the printing technique has been popularized and the academy has begun to recruit new students on a large scale, it is still relatively difficult to get in touch with the knowledge of the academy other than the academy.

Why is there such a reason?

That's because the various schools of thought in the academy still somewhat want to hide their private interests. They think that it's good to pass on learning to their own disciples, why should they pass it on to others?

So of course there are also books printed by the schools of thought in the academy, but these books are basically only allowed to be studied by the students of the school of thought, and it is strictly forbidden to leak them.

But this phenomenon is not without exception.

Zhao Kuo smiled at the second prince: "Actually, this is why you don't know the situation of the academy.

If you want to buy books from other schools of thought, it will probably be quite difficult to buy.

But if you want to buy Confucian books, ask a few more shops and there should still be some. "

Yes, Confucianism is the exception among all schools of thought.

Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, had a very famous educational principle, that is, "There is no discrimination in teaching".

The simple explanation of these four words is that anyone who wants to follow Confucius is fine, whether you are a nobleman or a commoner, whether you are a businessman or a slave.

It must be said that in the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius was able to put forward this educational principle of equality for all, which is definitely a shining point in human history.

Among other things, even in future generations, do ordinary students have the opportunity to learn from top famous teachers?

Don't even think about it.

However, Confucius, as the most famous university scholar at that time, was able to allow anyone to worship under him and educate them equally. This is the awesomeness of Confucius.

Indeed, from the perspective of later generations, Confucianism does have a lot of dross, but how can a school full of dross dominate China for more than 5000 years out of the 2000-year Ming?

Confucianism, in fact, still has a lot of merits, but later Confucianism was transformed by the emperors of the past dynasties, and became a tool for the emperors to fool the people, and it deviated from the original intentions of Confucius and Mencius and other saints!Speaking of the current Han Dynasty, Confucianism is also the only one among the hundreds of schools that is willing to publicize and sell the books of its own school in major bookstores.

No matter who you are, as long as you pay money to buy books, you can get in touch with today's knowledge, and you can learn about the writings and views of the two sages of Confucius and Mencius, as well as today's Xunzi, Han Fei, Li Si and other great scholars. It is very attractive to the thirsty lower class people.

Therefore, in recent years, Confucianism has rapidly expanded its base among the bottom-level scholars, and it has a tendency to become the school of speech for the bottom-level scholars.

In fact, other schools of thought have already noticed this situation, and have begun to debate whether to follow in the footsteps of Confucianism and open up the sale of books.

But in general, there is no second school of thought that has actively responded in this way. Therefore, when only Confucian books are sold in the market, Confucian books are basically sold out as soon as they are released.

The second prince has only been to the bookstore a few times and is a "foreigner", so it is normal not to know this situation.

After listening to Zhao Kuo's explanation, the second prince suddenly realized, and said: "So that's the case, then it seems that this Confucius is also a very remarkable person."

Zhao Kuo smiled slightly and said: "If it comes to governing the country, our Confucius sage is really mediocre.

But when it comes to educating disciples, he is indeed a very great saint. "

Many great Confucians taught by Confucius have profoundly influenced the progress of China's Ming Dynasty. For example, the famous Legalists actually have a very deep relationship with the Xihe School of Confucianism founded by Xia, a great Confucian under Confucius. Some people think that Legalism is what the Xihe School called itself after it established itself.

Another example is Mozi, the founder of Mohism, who also studied in Confucianism. Later, Mozi’s views were considered by Confucians to be rebellious, so Mozi’s Confucian teacher fired him, and Mozi was furious. He created Mohism himself, and has since become sworn enemies with Confucianism.

From a neutral point of view, the grievances between Mozi and Confucianism are actually not wrong, but from another point of view, if it is not for the Confucian principle of "There is no distinction between teaching and learning" inherited from Confucius, it is nothing more than a trifle. How could Mozi, a poor scholar, have the opportunity to enter Confucianism to learn knowledge?

Without the knowledge learned from Confucianism, the establishment of Mohism would be impossible.

The three schools of Confucianism, Legalism, and Mohism are hostile to each other, but they have a relationship that is constantly cut and chaotic. But no matter what, Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, is indeed a great man who has profoundly influenced the Chinese civilization.

After the second prince listened to Zhao Kuo's words, he also showed a leisurely and fascinated expression for a while, and said: "To tell you the truth, Brother Zhao, in fact, there are many such outstanding great men in our Macedonian civilization in Greece.

For example, Plato, Aristotle and other scholars, in my opinion, are enough to be compared with Confucius. "

The second prince was originally worried that Zhao Kuo would refute his remarks, but he did not expect that Zhao Kuo laughed very heartily and expressed his agreement: "What you said is not wrong at all, in my opinion, brother, The Greek civilization is the only civilization in this world that can be compared with our Chinese civilization."

In the history of the world, it is recognized that there are four ancient Ming kingdoms, namely ancient Egypt, ancient Babylon, ancient India and ancient China.

But apart from Gu Huaxia, the other three Gu Ming had already disappeared in the raging raids of the invaders.

The foundation of the Eastern Ming is the Chinese Ming, while the foundation of the Western Ming is the ancient Greek Aegean Ming.

The Romans conquered Greece and absorbed enough nutrients from the Greek civilization to establish a powerful Roman Empire.

After the decline of the Roman Empire, Western Europe was occupied by a group of Germanic barbarians. The Pope became the spiritual leader in people's hearts.

In the end, it was the descendants of the Romans in Italy who once again held up the torch of ancient Greek civilization, launched the "Renaissance" activities, and finally broke the shackles of religion on Europeans, and this ushered in the era of enlightenment in Western Europe , the Age of Discovery and the Industrial Revolution allowed the West to truly lead the world trend.

From this point of view, although the ancient Greeks have disappeared long ago, their civilization has been passed down like the Chinese civilization, which is why Zhao Kuo would admit that the ancient Greek civilization is as great as the Chinese civilization.

After listening to Zhao Kuo's praise, the second prince was quite excited, and said, "Unexpectedly, Brother Zhao agrees with my thoughts."

Zhao Kuo smiled and said: "Our sages once said that a stone from another mountain can be used to attack jade.

The meaning of this sentence is that the nutrients absorbed from other civilizations can also be used by our own civilization.

The Greek civilization is a great civilization, and so is our Chinese civilization.

If possible, I hope that you and I can become the initiators of the fusion of the two great civilizations, so that these two great civilizations will collide with each other to produce more brilliant sparks of thought, and finally bring together all human beings in this world! "

After hearing Zhao Kuo's words, the second prince felt as if there was a flame burning in his heart, and he jumped up: "Brother Zhao is really right, my brother will definitely promote China and Greece from now on. The exchanges between Ming and Ming will make our two countries a true state of friendship!"

Zhao Kuo smiled and raised his wine glass: "So, great kindness! Come on, let you and I drink this cup to the full for this bright future!"

The wine glasses in the hands of the two were raised high, and then they were drank down.

And at Zhao Kuo's next step, the young Zhao Zheng couldn't help shaking his head slightly as he watched this scene.

In Zhao Zheng's view, the so-called second prince of the Seleucid Empire was simply a fool, who was easily fooled by his father.

A fool like this can only become a stepping stone for our Great Han Kingdom to conquer the world in the future!Thinking of this, Zhao Zheng secretly made up his mind.

"If I want to be a courtier who satisfies my father, I absolutely cannot be as stupid as this person.

It seems that I will continue to work hard, and strive for one day, to be as easy as my father, to control everything in the palm of my hand! "

For the young Zhao Zheng, the adoptive father Zhao Kuo in front of him is the perfect idol in his heart!

Chapter 1155 New War Plan

This time the banquet can be said to be a joy for both the host and the guests.

But this was also the last banquet for Zhao Kuo and the second prince. The next day, the mission of the Seleucid Empire left the Imperial City.

Since the chief envoy of the mission, Doros, was only a court minister, it was of course impossible for Zhao Kuo, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, to condescend to come and see him off. Su Li, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Han Kingdom, was in charge of seeing him off.

Doros smiled at Su Li and said, "Thank you, Minister Su, for seeing you off. I will go back and convey the goodwill of your emperor to our honorable Seleucid Emperor."

Unlike the second prince, Doros obviously didn't plan to spend any more time in the Han Kingdom. Although he had lived there for several months, he basically didn't learn the language of the Han Kingdom.

After listening to the translation, Su Li also smiled and said: "I hope that this time our business group from Han Kingdom can carry out business activities in your country, and also realize the mutual benefit between you and us. I also hope that the envoy can return to China this time." Bon Voyage!"

Amidst such laughter, the Seleucid mission left.

Compared with only a few hundred people when they came, this time when the Seleucid mission returned, there were thousands of people and thousands of carriages.

These carriages basically come from various factories under Zhao Kuo's Shaofu, mainly producing high-profit commodities such as silk, ginseng, and porcelain.

Of course, in order to let other Han people see how profitable the trade in the Western Regions is, Zhao Kuo also forcibly ordered those ministers and giant merchants who have more industries in the Han Kingdom to participate in it, even if you only go to a carriage.

As the saying goes, it is better to see once than hear a hundred times.

I believe that after the end of this business activity, the ministers and giant merchants of the Han Kingdom will choose to take the initiative next time.

No way, in this world, who can refuse the temptation of money?

Use official positions to embezzle?

It might be feasible under the rule of other emperors, but under Zhao Kuo's rule, who dares to do this, then this person is really tired of life.

So, let's manage the industry honestly and according to His Majesty's words.

Next to the second prince was Miss Luliu, he watched the distant imperial capital through the window of the carriage, and sighed softly: "Brother Zhao, goodbye."

The second prince was still very melancholy. Antioch, the capital of the Seleucid Empire, was thousands of miles away from the imperial capital. Perhaps after leaving this time, he would never be able to meet Brother Zhao in this lifetime.

At this moment, the second prince's eyes suddenly froze because he saw Zhao Kuo's adopted son, Zhao Zheng, coming on horseback.

"parking!"

The second prince hurriedly opened his mouth and got out of the carriage.

Sure enough, the young Zhao Zheng stopped in front of the second prince, saluted, and then took out a long sword.

"Uncle Shi, my father said that it is necessary to see you off after a long distance, so in order not to cause feelings of embarrassment, he will not come to see you off today.

This long sword was the first steel sword that my father asked the craftsmen under his command to forge. It has accompanied my father through many ups and downs. Today, I will give this sword to Uncle Shi, and I hope that Uncle Shi The future can be as invincible as this sword! "

The second prince smiled, and after thinking for a while, he took out a token from his pocket and put it in Zhao Zheng's hand: "This is my return gift to your father, I hope that one day, I can meet your father again , listen to his teachings!"

Zhao Zheng took the second prince's token, saluted to the second prince, and then rode away.

The second prince also smiled when he saw Zhao Zheng's leaving figure.

Although Brother Zhao didn't come, in fact, he still came.

At this time, another familiar voice sounded beside the Second Prince: "It seems that you have not only married a sister, but also found a new confidant in our Great Han Kingdom during this period of time."

The second prince turned his head to look, and immediately laughed: "Li Baijiang, we haven't seen each other for a long time."

Li Jian sighed, and said to the second prince: "No way, who made my life miserable?

This time I will not only escort you back to the Western Regions, but also return to Seleucid with your mission. "

The second prince was slightly taken aback when he heard the words, but soon came back to his senses: "Are you a member of the Han Kingdom who is responsible for escorting your business group?"

Li Jian nodded, and patted the second prince's shoulder: "Actually, I can see that you have an unusual background, otherwise you wouldn't be so leisurely in the mission.

Let's talk about a deal. I took care of you a lot when I was in the Han Dynasty. When I go to Seleucus, if I have any troubles, you have to help my brother to some extent, right? "

The second prince looked at Li Jian in front of him and couldn't help laughing: "No problem!"

Li Jian looked at the second prince in front of him, and his smile was also very happy.

As the top leader of the "Nightingale Branch of the Seleucid Empire", which is about to officially start work, Li Jian felt that having the second prince as an introducer to help him break into the Seleucid Empire was simply a task for this time. Reduced to easy difficulty!The Seleucid mission left, and the spring plowing came.

When the farmers were busy with spring plowing, Zhao Kuo also summoned many important ministers of the Han Dynasty and began to discuss the goal of the next military campaign.

In this regard, Prime Minister Xu Li was actually somewhat hesitant: "Your Majesty, there are now two armies fighting in Lingnan and Southwest, which has already caused a certain burden on the treasury.

If there is an additional army to conquer, the expenditure on the treasury may be too large.

The veteran felt that it would be better to wait and see for two years, and wait until one of the Lingnan or Southwest roads has achieved a decisive victory and has been defeated before proceeding to the next conquest. "

Although Guo Zong, the Minister of Finance, is the one who is in charge of the money bag, as the prime minister of the Han Kingdom, Xu Li is undoubtedly the "big steward" of the Han Kingdom in the true sense. He has a very thorough understanding, and he himself is a very trusted confidant of Zhao Kuo, so he dared to raise such an objection in front of Zhao Kuo.

Xu Li originally thought that this objection would arouse Zhao Kuo's displeasure or even reprimand, but unexpectedly, after hearing Xu Li's words, Zhao Kuo laughed heartily.

"Prime Minister Xu's words are indeed very reasonable, but don't get me wrong, Prime Minister. I actually don't intend to send out a large army this time. I only need to send out [-] Musketeers."

After hearing Zhao Kuo's words, Xu Li, like many Han ministers present, was stunned: "Twenty thousand Musketeers?"

Zhao Kuo nodded with a smile: "Yes, I want to give it a try and see if [-] Musketeers can fight independently."

For Zhao Kuo, he knew very well in his heart that sooner or later the musketeers would replace the current pikemen, sword soldiers, and crossbowmen and become the real constituent arms of the infantry.

But it's useless for Zhao Kuo alone to know, everyone has to know.

Therefore, a small-scale war that is sufficient to prove the role of musketeers is Zhao Kuo's goal this time.

After all, Zhao Kuo is also very clear. It is true that 30 troops from the southwest and southeast are currently fighting. If there is another 20 to [-], it will indeed make the country a little unbearable.

In fact, Zhao Kuo can also promote it slowly, not playing this year, or even next year, but for Zhao Kuo, the pace of expansion will be a bit slow.

Zhao Kuo is now in his 30s. Although there are still decades to go, every time he thinks about it, he feels a sense of urgency.

Time is waiting!It is really reassuring to quickly let the Han Kingdom expand.

Moreover, since a large amount of wealth, captives, and supplies were just obtained from the Western Regions last year, the current Han Kingdom still has a great desire for expansion, and the whole people are in a relatively good state of seeking war.

If you don't take advantage of this moment to expand, when will you wait?

Big battles cannot be fought all at once, but small battles can be fought slowly.