The sky gradually became colder, and many places in Zhao State had already started to fall. The winter in Zhao State was still as cold as usual. The people did not dare to come out again. Lian Po did not dare to let the people continue to dig out because they did not have enough winter clothes. If Zhao State came to provide winter clothes for these gathered people, Zhao State would not be able to provide so much, so the corvee service could only be suspended in winter, and the people hurried back home.

A ox cart was slowly rushing towards the horse suit.

The person driving the ox cart was a young man with a tiger back and a bear-back and handsome face. His body became more burly because he wore thick clothes, which made him intimidated. Along the way, he always attracted the attention of others. But behind him was a young mother holding a curious child. The mother looked petite and didn't look like she had given birth at all. The child also looked like four or five years old. She sat in her mother's arms, with a runny nose, fiddling with her wooden sword, muttering words.

"Father...Why didn't Gong Ge come to drive?"

"It's too cold outside. Your Gong Ge's legs hurt a little, so he didn't let him drive."

"Then why do you need to ride a ox cart?"

"You are stupid enough. If I were running wildly in a carriage, wouldn't you be even more stupid to be frozen?"

Zhao Zheng was stunned and suddenly looked up at Yi. He said aggrievedly: "Mother, he said I was stupid!" Yi took out the cloth and wiped his snot, and then coaxed: "Don't listen to him nonsense, he is stupid, Zheng'er is the smartest..." Zhao Zheng nodded and continued to play with the wooden sword in his hand, waving the wooden sword, and he still wanted to dubb the wooden sword? "Swish~"? "Swish~~"

"Don't say that Zheng'er is stupid anymore. Who can learn so many words at his age? He can even recite "The Book of Horse Costume"... Zheng'er? He will memorize a paragraph for your father..."

"What are you memorizing? He has been growing up in the school room since he was a child? Even if you throw a pig into the school room for four years, you should be able to hum something...Oh!"? Zhao Kuo was just talking? Suddenly, Yi pinched his back hard, and Zhao Kuo then shouted: "I knew you were in the same group! Wait! When I have a daughter, I will pay attention to you and I will be a pig!"

The family of three rushed towards the horse suit happily. Zhao Kuo was probably bored? Suddenly he asked Zhao Zheng again? "Zheng'er? Han Fei said you like to listen to historical stories very much. Then let me ask you, what happened between Duke Huan of Qi and Guan Zhong?"

"I heard that Guan Zhong once wanted to shoot and kill Prince Xiaobai... Later... Prince Xiaobai succeeded to the throne and became Duke Huan of Qi..." The little guy shook his head seriously? The story told by Han Fei intermittently.

"Oh, you know a lot? Then I ask you, Guanzi once said: The state has four dimensions? A lack of one dimension, the country will be tilted; a lack of two dimensions? A lack of the country will be dangerous; a lack of three dimensions? A lack of the country will be subverted; a lack of four dimensions? A lack of the country will perish... What does this four dimension mean?"

"Wow~~I don't know~~", Zhao Zheng cried out with a wow.

When the ox cart arrived at Mafu Township, he was staring at the prison gate at the door for a moment. Then he was startled. He hurriedly opened the door, walked forward with a smile, and greeted Zhao Kuo. Zhao Kuo nodded. He looked at the direction of the school room and then entered the village. As soon as he entered the courtyard, everyone hurried to pay homage to Zhao Kuo. Zhao's mother was also very happy. She had not met her son for a long time. After asking about her well-being, Zhao Zheng came over and told her eldest mother that her father had been bullying him along the way.

Sure enough, Zhao's mother frowned and pretended to hit Zhao Kuo. Zhao Kuo shook her head: She had a clearer understanding of her status at home.

Zhao Kuo then went to visit Ge. Ge was depressed and was driving the car for Zhao's father and son for the rest of his life, but now he can only sit at home and cannot leave his mansion, which makes him very disappointed. After seeing Zhao Kuo, he didn't even laugh at him. He just shook his head and sighed. Zhao Kuo sat aside and talked about the canal.

"Zheng Guo rushed to Xinpingjun's mansion, Zhan followed him. I had nothing to help, so I came back."

"I call on the nobles of the counties on the banks of the river to do their best, but they are not stingy..."

Ge listened carefully and then said to Zhao Kuo helplessly: "Ma Fujun, you have to go out a lot, but I am old and can't drive for you anymore. Please find another driver... If you drive yourself, it will make you lose the decent behavior of the noble. Even the minor officials in the countryside will find reliable confidants who can drive for themselves. As Fengjun, you cannot drive yourself..."

"No problem, I won't go out during this period. I'd better wait for you to recover. Di said he wanted to drive for me, but he almost threw me away. If I hadn't grasped the edge of the car, I would have run back from Handan..."

"Hahaha~~", Ge laughed, stroked his long beard, shook his head and said, "Di is afraid that he will say more things than he drives..."

When Zhao Kuo returned to the courtyard, he saw Han Fei arguing with an old man, and his face turned red. When he saw Zhao Kuo, he breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly paid homage to Zhao Kuo, then said to the old man around him: "My teacher is back. If there is anything, please ask him directly and don't ask me again!" Zhao Kuo then looked at the old man. The old man is very old, thin, but full of energy.

In such winter, you can still walk out of the inner room and look good.

Han Fei rubbed his forehead. This guy was even more capable than Di. Since he came to the horse costume, Han Fei was really... hard to describe.

Zhao Kuo naturally knew the identity of the old man in front of him. Zou Yan and Zhao Kuo had heard of him in his previous life, the sage of the Yin-Yang family. However, in order to wait for him, Zou Yan stayed in the horse costume for so long. He never thought that Zhao Kuo met the old man and then took him into the inner room. The two sat down. Zou Yan smiled and looked at the young man in front of him. The young man Kong Wu was powerful and kind in his heart. He specially pulled himself into the room...

Zou Yan nodded, but suddenly raised his face and said angrily: "I heard that the absurd ideas of foolish people in the countryside can make acre of cultivated land without harvest, the absurd words of county officials can make the people of a county suffer for it, and the absurd ideas of kings will destroy a strong country. So, how harmful will the absurd words spoken by a sage?"

Zhao Kuo looked at him calmly and said, "A sage's absurd remarks will cause endless civil strife. For example, someone said: The dynasty changes according to the law of the five elements, so someone will use this as an excuse to talk about the dynasty's virtues being eliminated, and they will struggle to realize their ambitions, and eventually let the people bear unrestrained disasters... What do you think?"

Zou Yan was stunned, pondered for a moment, and then said, "I heard that everything will run according to certain rules... I did not say this, but proved this. Even if I don't say it, things will proceed like this. This is the law. This is what I, or you, cannot change. The development of things will not change because of what I said. He has certain rules and never changes."

"You are right. The rules you are talking about, such as if you throw a stone into the sky, it will definitely fall on the ground. People will definitely be born, old, sick and dead, and everyone is no exception. Nothing is eternal. These are the rules you are talking about, but what does this have to do with the five elements? If you want to prove the laws of the world, you should think about why people will be born, old, sick and dead, why the stones will fall to the ground, why it will be dark, and why it will be dawn..."

"Hehe...this...this..." Zou Yan was stunned for a moment before asking: "Then why is this happening when you say that?"

"Because everything has gravity, and the earth we live in is even more so, so the stone will fall to the ground. Because there are cells in the human body, the cells will continue to grow and eventually die, so people will be born, old, sick and die. Because the sphere we exist is constantly rotating, so when one side of the sphere faces the sun, it will be dark here, but the other side is bright..."

"The reason why dynasties change is because of unfair distribution. The root cause of unfair distribution is the possession of the ownership of means of production..." Zhao Kuo said seriously. Zou Yan just widened his eyes and listened carefully to him explaining his views on world rules and his views on dynasty change. "Of course, this is only one aspect, and it must be explained from the system, from the privileged class, and from the economic perspective..."

Zou Yan was silent for a long time. He shook his head and said, "Then why do you want to explain the strange phenomena of Huangdi and Yushi?"

"Have you ever seen earthworms flying into the sky with your own eyes? Have you ever seen birds burning with flames?" Zhao Kuo said with a smile: "I will explain it to you when you let me see these."

Zou Yan did not continue to speak. He still had a lot of confusion and many things he wanted to ask, but he didn't know how he should ask. His face changed constantly, and he repeatedly said what Zhao Kuo said just now. Zhao Kuo knew that Zou Yan must be seriously thinking about what he said. Among so many schools, it is rare for this scholar who has begun to study the laws of the world's operation.

Zou Yan is a person who loves to think. He not only thinks about the laws of the world, but also thinks about the land under his feet and the land overseas. However, due to the limitations of the times, Zou Yan was unable to take the right path. He probably heard the strange phenomena that occurred when the dynasties changed from rumors, and summarized the structure of the world, thus formulating a world constructed by the five elements.

There is wood, water, fire, earth, gold, everything in the world seems to be classified among these five attributes. Zhao Kuo suddenly thought of something and said, "Maybe you are right, the world is indeed composed of many elements that cannot be seen... hydrogen... helium..." Zhao Kuo recalled seriously, but this time has passed too long, but he has never been able to remember the periodic table he had learned...

Zou Yan raised his head, his eyes flashing, and he was still thinking about something, "Element? Then what would it be if it weren't for the five elements I mentioned?"

"This..." Zhao Kuo shook his head and said, "I can't tell you clearly..."

Zou Yan muttered to himself and left the inner room. When such a person fell into thinking, it was obvious that no one could interrupt them. His disciples were a little scared. Zou Yan looked like he had some disease. The next day, when they saw the teacher throwing the stone into the sky, they were all shocked and rushed to Handan in a panic and invited a doctor who specialized in treating the elderly for Zou Yan.

However, the doctor could not cure Zou Yan. In the eyes of his disciples, Zou Yan's behavior became more and more strange. He even asked his disciples to smash the stones, constantly knocking them, and even knocking the stones to ashes. Then he lay on the ground and looked at the powder seriously, even dipping them on his fingers to taste them... Sometimes he had to take out the burning ashes, not knowing what he was exploring.

Until Zou Yan cut his arm open and observed his blood, the disciples could no longer help. They hurriedly met Zhao Kuo, crying and begging Zhao Kuo to help him cure their teacher. When Zhao Kuo heard that Zou Yan was self-harm, he hurried to the courtyard where Zou Yan temporarily settled. In the courtyard, Zou Yan squatted on the ground with distant hair, holding the water in his hand, aimed at the sun, and was watching seriously.

Seeing his appearance, Zhao Kuo did not disturb him.

"What exactly is water composed of... Why does it flow? Why does it disappear? Where does the rain come from? Why does it fall?" Zou Yan kept asking himself. Looking at the white-haired old man in front of him, Zhao Kuo couldn't help sitting next to him and said with a smile: "It's really hard to understand... Recently, a group of ink masters found me. Why do they have any machinery that can make people see more clearly, and use the machinery to discuss these issues..."

"Just look at it with your eyes, I'm afraid I can't see anything. The laws of dynasty replacement I mentioned are actually what you can think of. The nature of nature and its operating rules are not as simple as you see..." Zou Yan looked at Zhao Kuo, and he smiled. Zou Yan was not crazy. On the contrary, he was very rational. He just wanted to know the answers to the doubts in his heart.

He explored his life and finally came up with the theory of the Five Elements. However, after staying in Mashu for a while, he also became suspicious of the theory of essential laws he insisted on. Many things were unexplainable by the laws he said. If he forced them to explain them, it would be just a useless sophistry for the theory as he said. Zou Yan slowly stood up and said to Zhao Kuo seriously: "I will definitely understand it."

Zhao Kuo suddenly felt a little guilty. Isn’t his denial of his theory a bit too cruel?

An old man who has been exploring his life and thought he had gotten the answer, but when he was old, he knew that he had got the wrong answer... He seemed to have not much time to continue exploring, perhaps, this is really cruel.

The old man looked at Zhao Kuo in front of him with his shrewd eyes, and he seemed to understand what Zhao Kuo was thinking.

He said gently:

"Thanks."
Chapter completed!