The Great Wei Music Bureau

Chapter 158 Breaking into Zhujiazhuang at Night

Last time, we talked about Li Yi asking Shen Lu a question before leaving. Will Shen Lu answer it? Let's read on.

Li Yi turned around and asked Shen Lu why he wanted to make trouble at Zhuzi's wedding, but the latter did not give an answer. Li Yi shook his head and smiled, turned back and prepared to leave, Shen Lu suddenly said: "Actually, there is nothing to hide. I wanted to make such a scene myself. First, I wanted to improve my reputation; second, I wanted to suppress Zhu's school; third... Your Majesty also has some complaints about Master Zhu."

Li Yi nodded and said with a smile: "Thank you for telling me the truth, sir. I have one more thing to say. Don't move around when you return to Jiankang. The Northern Wei delegation is coming soon. I'm afraid they will cause trouble. If someone takes advantage of the chaos to harm you, there may not be anyone who will help you."

Shen Lu immediately asked, "What do you mean, Taoist priest? Are you saying that someone wants to harm me?"

Li Yi shook his head and said, "Worldly affairs have nothing to do with me. I have said enough today. If you see Miss Su again, remember to tell her that she asked me for help. I did it!" After saying that, he left, leaving Shen Lu at a loss...

On the way back to Zhujiazhuang, Li Yi thought: Shen Lu must have been instigated by his father Shen Yue to come to Zhujia to cause trouble, but why was Emperor Liang dissatisfied with Zhu Zi? Was it because Zhu Zi refused to serve as an official in the court, or was he afraid of the large number of Zhu's disciples? I'm afraid it was both, but Emperor Liang couldn't have a falling out with Zhu Zi, could it be that he heard some slander or was bewitched by someone?

Hiss... Liu Hong? The Zhu School of Confucianism and Taoism in the Southern Liang Dynasty was the only one that dominated, and it was difficult for other schools to recruit students. Liu Hong was almost at the time to be promoted to a great scholar and accumulate literary energy, so he needed students even more! Well, that should be it, even if there are some deviations, they are not too far off.

Speaking of literary energy, I also need it, but whether it can be accomplished or not, Old Silver Coin, Brother Fang, and my wife, I am placing all my hopes on you. How much literary energy the Imperial College can help me accumulate depends entirely on you.

As for Liu Hong, I have to disrupt his plan, but the status of Zhu Xi's Confucianism and Taoism must also be changed. However, Zhu Xi still has to take the lead in the matter of the incarnation of the Shura King! Oh! It's really too troublesome. I have to think of a way to have the best of both worlds.

When Li Yi returned to Zhujiazhuang, the banquet had already started. The guests were eating, drinking, talking and laughing, and they all seemed to have forgotten Shen Lu's farce just now.

When he entered the inner courtyard, his seat was gone. Fortunately, Zhu Ye saw him coming back and immediately stepped forward to greet him, saying, "Master Li, you are back. My father is waiting for you! Come with me and let's talk in the study."

Li Yi followed Zhu Ye out of the inner courtyard and came to the study. Looking at Xiao Yujiu eating happily at the table while he was still hungry, Li Yi could only say silently in his heart: Baby, you are feeling so miserable!

Arriving at the study, Zhu Ye bowed in front of the door and said, "Father, Taoist Li is back and is just outside the door."

Zhu Zi's voice came from inside the room: "Come in!" Zhu Ye pushed open the door and made a gesture of invitation.

Li Yi asked in a low voice: "Master Zhu, won't you accompany me in?"

Zhu Ye shook his head and replied, "We can't just enter father's study. Besides, father must have something to discuss with the Taoist priest, and there are many guests to entertain in the courtyard, so the Taoist priest should go in by himself."

Li Yi scratched his head and stepped into the study. As soon as he entered, Zhu Ye closed the door.

Li Yi muttered in his heart: What is going on? What is the story behind this study? It's so mysterious! They don't allow people to enter casually! It's just a Confucian and Taoist extraordinary realm! It's not like I haven't seen it before. Old Silver Coin is not that impressive! Oh, that's not right. I have never been to Old Silver Coin's study. Is there really something going on?

Li Yi muttered to himself as he walked, and now he had reached the desk. From the time he walked, he could tell that this study was very large, and Li Yi also realized this. He glanced around and found that this study was not only large, but also had no unnecessary furnishings.

Not to mention antiques and the like, there weren't even any flowers or plants. The whole room was filled with bookshelves piled with various bamboo slips, silk books, and of course, most of the books were made of paper. There were also calligraphy and paintings and a lot of pens, ink, paper, and inkstones.

When Li Yi walked to the desk, he only saw an old man with gray hair and white beard wearing a Confucian robe. When he got closer, he found that the old man had four black moles at the corner of his right eye and three age spots below. This was Zhu Zi, who was concentrating on writing notes for a book.

Li Yi moved closer to take a closer look and found that Zhu Xi was writing chapters and sentences of the "Book of Rites" for Confucius. Because the ancients did not use punctuation marks when writing articles, later generations might make mistakes or misunderstandings due to sentence breaks when reading them. This chapter and sentence means sentence breaks.

In addition to the chapters and sentences, Zhu Zi also wrote his own thoughts on the side, which is the annotation. Li Yi did not disturb Zhu Zi, and Zhu Zi ignored Li Yi. Only after he finished writing a paragraph did he put down his pen and look up at Li Yi.

Li Yi immediately bowed and said, "Junior Li Jing greets Master Zhu."

Zhu Zi asked in confusion: "Why do you, a Confucian scholar, wear Taoist robes?"

Li Yi replied: "I am a Taoist priest, so it is normal for me to wear a Taoist robe."

Zhu Zi waved his hand and smiled, "I have practiced in Tianzong before, so I have some insight. You haven't even entered the Taoist level, how can you be a Taoist! Besides, our Confucian and Taoist cultivation cannot be hidden. You have more righteousness than many great Confucian scholars. You can fool others, but you dare to lie to me!"

Li Yi was not ashamed of being exposed. He condensed his Qi and transformed it into a brush. He imitated the ink master Wang Youjun and wrote the word "Tao" with the ink brush technique. Then he pushed it out with one hand. Perhaps because he did not master the ratio of talent and soul power, the word "Tao" dissipated before it flew far.

Li Yi slapped his forehead and shook his head, saying, "Alas, it still doesn't work. This ink painting technique is quite difficult to practice."

Seeing this, Zhu Zi stroked his beard and said, "You have injected too much talent and not enough spiritual power. The root cause is that your cultivation in Taoism is not enough, and your control of spiritual power is not as handy as your control of talent.

I believe that if you only use spiritual power, you will not be too bad, but it is not possible to use spiritual power and control talent at the same time. This ink painting technique can be said to be a two-in-one technique. Moreover, the requirements for spiritual power and talent are very strict. There are many people in the world who practice both Confucianism and Taoism, but only Wang Youjun can use this ink painting technique. "

Li Yi asked in confusion: "Wang Ru's son is not okay either?"

Zhu Zi waved his hand and said, "No, his two sons can write well and have enough Confucian and Taoist cultivation, but they are not suitable for practicing Taoism. Do you think anyone can practice Taoism? Why do you think I left Tianzong in the first place?"

Zhu Zi slowly stood up, walked to a bookshelf, reached out and took a scroll of silk from the shelf and handed it to Li Yi, who unfolded it and read it. It recorded several questions that Confucius, the third generation sage, asked Laozi, the second generation sage. The general meaning was:

Confucius: "Teacher, your teachings are profound and mysterious, and few people can understand their true meaning. So can everyone in the world practice this Tao?"

Li: "Of course, this Tao can be cultivated by everyone, but those who can truly attain it are rare. I have been meditating on it for my entire life, but I have only just begun to gain the understanding."

Kong: "If so, then can practicing Taoism bring peace to the old, trust to friends, and care to the young?"

Li: "Of course not. The path of cultivation is also a process of seeking truth, finding the truth, and returning to one's true self. A person should have three souls and seven spirits. The heavenly soul is granted by the way of heaven, which is destiny. However, this destiny can be good or bad, strong or weak. Only those with a good destiny and a strong heavenly soul have the opportunity to achieve the Tao."

Kong: "Sir, what you mean is that everyone is born different and their fate is already determined? Is there no way to change your fate?"

Li: "Defying the will of heaven? What nonsense are you talking about? If everyone wants to change their fate, wouldn't the laws of nature be disrupted? Look at the constant attacks and wars among the various countries now, isn't it because those princes want to change their fate against the will of heaven?"

Confucius: "I don't agree with your idea. I'm not saying that everyone should go against fate and change their destiny. I just want people to not put profit first, but be kind and loving. The ruler should win the people's support with virtue, the minister should serve the ruler with loyalty, and the people should treat each other with kindness, so that the old can be at peace, the friends can be trusted, and the young can cherish their youth."

Li: "Then it depends on your ability. Since you have chosen a different path from mine, then go ahead and practice your path! But you have to think clearly about how you should practice your path."

Li Yi put away the silk book and returned it to Zhu Zi, who said, "I left Tianzong because I found that I was not talented enough. Even if I spent my whole life to understand the Dao, I was afraid that I would not be able to understand it. So I left Tianzong and continued to practice the Dao of Confucius."

Li Yi shook his head and smiled, "So that's why you devoted yourself to studying Confucius' teachings and annotating the Four Books and Five Classics? Then why did you bring the ideas of Tianzong into Confucianism?"

Zhu Xi replied: "Confucius once said in the Book of Rites:

"Human beings are born quiet, which is the nature of heaven; they are moved by things, which is the desire of nature. When things come to us, we know them, and then our likes and dislikes are formed. If our likes and dislikes are not controlled within, and our knowledge is induced by the outside world, and we cannot reflect on ourselves, then the principles of heaven will be destroyed.

Things can affect people endlessly, but people have no limit to their likes and dislikes. When things come, people become things. People become things, destroying the principles of nature and satisfying people's desires. As a result, there are rebellious, deceitful and hypocritical hearts, and there are lewd and rebellious things.

Therefore, the strong bully the weak, the many oppress the few, the wise deceive the foolish, the brave suffer and become timid, the sick are not cared for, and the old and the young are lonely and have nowhere to go. This is the way to great chaos.'

Thousands of years ago, the ancient sages had seen through the human heart and material desires. Human desires are the beginning of chaos. Only by keeping the principles and eliminating desires can we make it last long! "

Li Yi waved his hand and smiled, "Before this, you have always been self-disciplined, self-disciplined, and self-disciplined like a saint. I also respect you as a person, but now you are getting married in your old age, and I heard that you married a nun who has returned to secular life. Isn't it a joke to uphold the principles of heaven and eliminate human desires? Or did you marry a wife not because of human desires?"

Zhu Zi shook his head helplessly and smiled: "Is this what Wang Ru wants to ask, or do you want to know?"

Li Yi asked back, "Is there a difference? But I think I am not the only one who wants to know about this. The disciples of Zhu Xue may also want to know why the teacher they have always looked up to would do this."

Zhu Zi sighed and said, "Alas, I have a clear conscience for what I did, so I will not make any excuses. Let them speculate as they please."

Facing this extraordinary Confucianist Zhu Zi, Li Yi could feel the righteousness in his body. He was sure that Zhu Zi had a reason for his actions, so he bowed and said, "I believe in Zhu Zi, but I'm afraid not many secular people believe in Zhu Zi."

Zhu Zi smiled and said, "I only have ten years left, why should I care what they think? Let them be! You should talk about the ghost blade and the matter of Shura Palace."

Li Yi took out the ghost blade from the sack and handed it to Zhu Zi with both hands. Zhu Zi examined the ghost blade in his hand while listening to Li Yi's story, and then said: "This is the real reason why Wang Ru asked you to come to find me."

Li Yi nodded and said, "That's right. Although the Shura King is an incarnation, he has at least the strength of the second rank. It is difficult for the Earth Sect to deal with it alone, so Wang Ru went to the Heaven Sect to report the news and asked me to find you, and try to gather the strength of the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism to deal with it together."

Zhu Zi handed the ghost blade back to Li Yi and said, "I didn't expect the situation to be so serious that we have to gather the strength of the three religions?"

Li Yi replied, "The last time we encountered the Shura King's incarnation, if Master Bodhidara hadn't intervened, we would have been in great danger. I suddenly thought of something. As a Transcendent Realm master, didn't you sense the presence of the Shura King's incarnation? There are other Transcendent Realms who can sense it, so why didn't anyone take action? And Master Bodhidara arrived, but no one stopped him. Isn't it said that Transcendent Realms won't allow other Transcendent Realms to enter their territory?"

Zhu Zi shook his head and sighed, "The so-called extraordinary realm is nothing more than a person who can feel the changes of heaven and earth, who knows fate and reason. In the final analysis, they are still human beings, not gods! Knowing that the opponent's strength is far superior to ours, can we still go and die?"

Li Yi smiled and said, "Oh, so that's how it is. I thought that when you reach the Transcendent Realm, you won't be afraid of life or death."