Aristotle IV was a wise man, and he could naturally quickly understand the core of different theories. He had only known Shang Yang and Han Fei before, but in the past few days he had briefly understood the various scholars - rather than understanding, it was a sniff. As long as Wu Ji briefly mentioned the ideas of these theories or even just translated some sentences, he could classify them.

After sniffing, he was sure that he knew what kind of civilization he was facing. Among this civilization, only Yang Zhu, Gongsun Long and others were aliens, and most of the others were similar. This is why he suggested that only Yang Zhu's books should be burned and his followers should be expelled. However, he could not explain the whole story to Zhao Zheng, nor was he able to explain the whole story to the barbarian scholars he despised. He could only tell his students Wu Ji.

"The barbarians are barbarians, but they cannot be said to have no beautiful boys." In the middle of the night, Zhao Zheng rewarded Aristotle IV's Zhiyang Palace, where teachers and students were talking. The temple's palace maids were serving each other, but the two spoke Greek. No one could understand except the Persian chief and the Greek entourage.

"A long time ago, the Greeks felt like barbarians, and they felt that they were inseparable from the whole world. At the same time, they believed that all things had spirits, regarded everything in nature as gods, knelt down to them, sacrificed them, and prayed to them. If this continued, without knowing what ‘I’ was, then the Greeks were also barbarians."

Aristotle IV sincerely lamented that he had studied many barbarians and saw many civilizations, and fully knew the value of ‘I’. Unfortunately, Wu Ji didn’t seem to know this very well. He shook his head and said regretfully: “I saw different languages ​​and different countries, but I didn’t find any difference between them.”

"If you suddenly become a Qinni now, would you bring your armor and weapons to the battlefield?" asked Aristotle IV.

"Me?" Wu Ji didn't expect the teacher to ask such a question. He just hesitated a little, and then shook his head firmly, "No."

"Why?" asked Aristotle IV again.

"Because I have no rights, I am just a slave to the government." After reading the Book of Shangjun, Wu Ji knew what method to rule in Qin. "I can't find a reason to go to the battlefield unless I was forced."

"According to King Qinni's orders, you can turn into a noble by cutting off the enemy's head." Aristotle IV smiled.

"The analysis in the Chuni newspapers is only a very small number, and no one has ever surpassed the fifth level." Wu Ji said. "The Qinni army was defeated one after another. From the time King Chuni ascended the throne to the present, Qinni lost at least 500,000 people or more on the battlefield."

"Your remarks and thoughts are all about yourself, not about the country of Chinny." The question was for discussion, and Aristotle IV got the answer he wanted. "You know what 'I' is, what 'non-I', maybe some Chinny people also know, but they don't understand clearly enough. What is particularly important is that few scholars discuss what 'I' is, why 'I' is 'I', and why 'I' is not part of the whole world, but exist independently outside the world?"

Aristotle IV finally told the problem, and he looked at Wu Ji who was still thinking: "Child, this is the difference between high-level civilization and low-level civilization. The barbarians cannot distinguish between 'me' and 'non-me', so they are barbarians; the Greeks know what 'me' and what 'non-me', so they are noble."

"But..." Wu Ji was still confused. "But what's the point? There is not much difference between Qinni and Bactricia. They have kings, officials, troops, and..."

"The reason why you don't want to go to the battlefield with armor and weapons is because you, like all Greeks, know that the country or city-state exists because of my needs; the reason why the Qinnis are different from you is because in their opinion, they only exists because of the needs of the country or city-state. This is the difference between you and the Qinnis, and the difference between the Greeks and other barbarians." Aristotle IV interrupted.

"You have the spirit of freedom and independent will, but the Qinni and barbarians do not. Even if they are born, they will be forcibly erased, because they exist only for the whole, and if they do not conform to the whole, they will be erased. Is this meaningless? This is the root of all meanings.

Only when there is an independent ‘I’ can we pursue wisdom belonging to ‘I’, and pursuing wisdom is philosophy. Are the works of those scholars philosophy? No, no, they are not wisdom, they are just summaries of experiences of wizards.

Only when there is an independent ‘I’ can we study the world outside of ‘I’, and this kind of research is science. Are the works of those scholars science? No, no, they are not science, they are just the work experience of jewelry craftsmen;

Similarly, only when every ‘I’ is independent of the whole, people need laws and contracts to get along with each other. Are the things engraved on the bronze tripod now laws? No, no, they are not laws, nor contracts, they are just punishments.

Only when every ‘I’ is independent of the whole, communication between people requires logic and debate. Are the logic and debates we are looking at now? No, no, they are illogical and not real debates, they are just a bunch of nonsense.

Philosophy, science, law, contract, logic, debate, all exist because of the existence of ‘I’. This is the difference between high-level civilization and low-level civilization, and the difference between Greeks and barbarians.”

Don't sweat like rain. Just like a person is immersed in the air, no one cares whether the air exists under normal circumstances, but once it is in a vacuum, he will immediately suffocate or even die. Aristotle IV took away all philosophy, science, law, contract, logic, and debate, and he immediately felt like death. Thinking of the fact that the King of Qin had ordered the burning of Yang Zhu's books and expel believers who believed in Yang Zhu's sayings, he immediately sweated like rain.

"Do you understand?" asked Aristotle IV, then nodded with a smile, "It's fine if you understand."

"Teacher," Wu Ji hesitated, "If Qin Ni unified this land, all Yang Zhu's works would be burned..."

"If Qinni unified this land and all Yang Zhu's works were burned, then no one would know what 'I' is in the future. Because without 'I', there would be no philosophy, no science, no law, no logic... People will be as ignorant and superstitious as barbarians, and they will always live in darkness." Aristotle IV said.

"I once said that there are some high-level civilizations here, such as Yang Zhu, but the rest are low-level civilizations, such as Confucianism, Mohism, Law, Taoism, and Zhuangzi, who advocates freedom that you recommend to me. Unfortunately, his freedom cannot see the will of people. That is not freedom, it is sleepwalking. They have not produced the independent will of ‘I’.

Now, low-level civilizations are eliminating high-level civilizations. In fact, if there is enough time, high-level civilizations will defeat all low-level civilizations, just like the Greek city-state defeating the Persian Empire. The Greeks invented the crossbows using science, but the Persians could not do this. But in this land, it is regrettable that the two parts of civilizations are symbiotic, because the ongoing war is constantly annexing the city-states. The high-level civilization has not yet shown its wisdom. People like Jing Ke who are willing to die for independence have not yet united, they have been ruthlessly swallowed up.

This may once again confirm that the gods favor Greece. Only the mountainous terrain of Greece that is not conducive to war and annexation can better preserve higher civilizations. In plains like the East, even if higher civilizations have been born, there is no time to grow because war has arrived."

"Where is King Chuni?" Wu Ji asked. "He made a crossbow and invented the waterwheel. He said, 'Give me freedom, or die for me'..."

"The craftsmen of King Chuni stole the wisdom of the Greeks. The crossbow he made was the Greek crossbow, and his warship was the Greek Sanji warship. The principle of the waterwheel he invented was no different from the Archimedes waterwheel." Aristotle IV said. "I once said that I brought him civilization, but he rejected me. His current teachers are one of the Confucians and the other is the Tao, and I don't know who they are.

Since he could not tell what civilization was and what barbarism was, how could he let the people of this land be bathed in the glory of civilization? If he defeated the Qinni and unified these countries, even if he knew how precious "I" was, power would make him lose it. His teacher would suggest that he learn from the Qinni and destroy those advanced civilizations, and he would not be different from the Qinni.

And the crossbows, waterwheels, warships, and... they should have been stolen from the Seris, because without the support of philosophy and science, they will soon degenerate. One day, the Chunis will not be able to build crossbows, waterwheels, warships and sea ships, nor will they be able to make better iron for the racers."

Wu Ji was a student of Aristotle IV. He knew what the student was worried about. He said again: "Child, you are Greek, and it was Greece who gave birth to you. Why do you worry about the people on this land? They were originally barbarians."

"I just..." Wu Ji was born in Sogdiana, but his father was a Qi person.

"Don't worry about them, there is no need for this kind of worry." Aristotle IV smiled. "Before I taught you, you still think that Chinny and Bactricia were no different.

Relying on the efforts of many wise men, the Greeks independently developed "I". Even if you tell King Qinni or King Chuni, they cannot understand what "I" is and what the meaning of "I" is. The Zhuangzi you mentioned once said that you cannot describe the sea to the frogs in the well, nor should you tell the insects and snow in summer. Frogs cannot imagine the difference between the well and the sea, and insects cannot feel the coldness of the ice and snow.
Chapter completed!