Summer has passed, and the night wind has become cooler. There are no cicadas on the trees, only one or two birds chirping occasionally, and the night seems particularly quiet.

A crescent moon hangs in the western sky, accompanied by a few stars around it, looking a little sad.

Wang Xiaolie raised his glass and said: "We have been together for more than two years since we came to Xiangyang Mansion. Today, something happened to the cadre of Dezhi's family, and he was implicated and temporarily suspended his duties. As a colleague

, invite a few of you to have a drink together and calm down his mood."

Chen Qiudao, Chen Yuyi and Wang Ruohai had mixed tastes and raised their glasses and drank it all in one gulp.

Putting down his wine glass, Wang Xiaolie said: "Some of you may think that the job I keep getting is not a matter of my words? To be honest, it is really not something I can solve with a word. Today I let go of many things.

It would be difficult to do it.”

Chen Qiudao said: "Jie Shuai, I understand this. Once you have set the rules, you must abide by them."

Wang Xiaolie said: "That's right, but it's still not explained clearly. I have said before that in our Chinese world, the emperor represents the herdsmen, and officials handle court affairs. The key here is, first, the source of power.

Heaven. Another thing, except for the imperial court, the power of officials is unlimited. Whether they are Buddha or Tao, gods or ghosts, they are all under the control of officials. In other words, officials are originally gods under the way of heaven. Only officials who are gods can

There are no taboos, and everything in the world is in charge. Are we gods? We are not. There is no real god to perform these priestly positions. We can only do it by putting on official uniforms and appearing on stage to play the role of this god. Every official position, according to God's standards, is actually

There are requirements. It's not that I am the official and I can do whatever I want. If you understand it this way, you can understand that I don't have to abide by the rules if I set them. If I just set the rules, of course I can break them.

There are exceptions. But when I took this official position, I was determined to do it well. When I played this god, I was determined to do it well."

Seeing the three people looking at each other with strange expressions, Wang Xiaolie said: "Do you think that I am taking off my pants and farting, which is unnecessary? Thinking like this, what is the difference and what is the use? Of course there is a difference and it is useful.

Comparing official positions to divine positions does not mean that there must be a god to serve as the official. It means that if these officials want to do well, it is actually beyond the ability of today's people. The comparison to a divine position is actually illusory.

It is illusory to say that a god should sit in an official position. When we are officials, it is real. How to switch between emptiness and reality is a person's ability."

Seeing that the three people still didn't understand, Wang Xiaolie said helplessly: "Some people think that emptiness means nothing, that is, non-existence, which is incorrect. Void is emptiness, located between existence and non-existence. Things in the human world often have this.

Empty position. If you cannot understand emptiness, many sacred things will become vulgar. If you can do things well, you will not be able to do them well. Officials must know when it is imaginary and when it is real, and between virtuality and reality.

How should we change it? According to me, this rolling world of mortals is often like a Taoist temple. Being an official in a government office means practicing Taoism."

Speaking of this, Wang Xiaolie said to Chen Qiudao: "As a Taoist, how can there be smooth sailing and no difficulties? If you think about it this way, won't you feel better? Being an official is a sacred thing, don't be vulgar.

If in the officialdom, in the eyes of the people, Zhang San said that I can do the job in that position, and Li Si said that I can do better in that position, then it means that there is something wrong with the officials. Even dogs and cats can do it.

Official, what’s the point of being an official like this? Once we sit in this position, and when the opportunity arises, we have to do things that others can’t do.”

Chen Qiudao raised his glass and said: "Jie Shuai has become an official and practiced Taoism. We are just mortals, how can we do it?"

Wang Xiaolie said: "I am also a mortal. I just occupy Xiangyang. With this power, I can only do this after thinking about it. There are so many heroes in the past and today, and they have done so many earth-shattering things. But in this world, it is still

We have reached the point where we are today. To put it harshly, we cannot make the Northern Expedition to drive out the Jinlu and restore the Central Plains. It would be worse than the Jin Dynasty when we marched to the south in uniform! How can we do ordinary things when this is extraordinary! We should believe in ourselves,

You can do things that surpass your predecessors. If you want to do things that surpass your predecessors, you must change your thinking."

Chen Qiudao and the other three nodded, confused and unable to understand for a moment.

Putting down his wine glass and looking at the stars in the sky, Wang Xiaolie said: "Without the status I have today, I wouldn't think so about many things. Now that I have the status I have today, I have to think this way. I have learned a lot of truths and know a lot of knowledge.

I have seen successes and failures in ancient and modern times, but I still can’t figure it out. Why has it reached this point? Daojun, Emperor, and Yuan Sheng were at fault. They lost the capital and have nothing to say. But how can the people of the world be blamed? After several years of war, the most prosperous

The Central Plains has almost become a white land. How many people died unjustly, and how many wives were separated? What did they do wrong? If the Daojun Emperor failed to manage the government well, wouldn't the current Jurchens be even worse? Is there any justice in this world?

?”

Wang Ruohai said: "The Jurchens came from the poor mountains and rivers, and are vicious and brave by nature. The people of the Central Plains have been at peace for a long time, and they are weak by nature. How can they be their opponents? Only the imperial court can reorganize the government, treat the people well, and slowly make plans."

"Born to be cowardly? What do you believe?" Wang Xiaolie couldn't help but shake his head. "Look at the streets, where the government doesn't care and bullies are rampant. How can you see cowardice? When the Jin soldiers came, these people suddenly changed and defected to the Jin people.

He still acts as a power and a blessing. He is a coward by nature, but he just said it casually because he couldn't understand the matter. I think the reason why is not that simple. "

Wang Ruohai said: "Then according to Yijieshuai, what is the reason?"

Wang Xiaolie said: "I haven't thought about it enough to explain clearly at once. But I think the reasons why this happened are complicated and cannot be summarized in a simple sentence. The matter is so serious that even if the Jin people are

Get rid of it, and we have to figure out the reason. Otherwise, this kind of thing will happen again and again. If you escape once, escape twice, can you escape every time?"

Chen Yuyi said: "Manpower is sometimes poor. Not everything in the world can be explained clearly. So what if it is unclear? As long as politicians treat the people well and work hard in government affairs, this kind of thing will never happen again."

Wang Xiaolie shook his head and said: "Counsellor, things are not that simple. If you don't explain it clearly, someone will always jump out and say that they have figured it out. Because of this and that, it will cause confusion in the mind."

Chen Yuyi and Wang Ruohai looked at each other, shook their heads slightly, and did not answer.

In the history books of previous lives, people today discuss various theories as to why the Song Dynasty was so defeated. These theories sound reasonable, but Wang Xiaolie feels that they still do not address the fundamental issue.

No matter how corrupt the Song Dynasty was, it was still much stronger than the Jin Dynasty. How did the Jin army conquer Kaifeng Mansion? No matter how sharp the class conflicts in the Song Dynasty were, they were much smaller than those in the Jin Dynasty. The farmers in the Song Dynasty were poor, and most of the farmers in the Jin Dynasty were worse off than dead.

.How come the Jin Dynasty attacked everywhere and the Song Dynasty retreated everywhere?

The Song Dynasty’s army couldn’t fight, so why couldn’t they fight? There’s no need to discuss the joke of emphasizing civility over military force. Even if the Song Dynasty’s army couldn’t fight, there was still a vast territory and people who supported the Song Dynasty. The army was exhausted, and soon

It can be rebuilt. Why can't the rebuilt army still defeat the Jin army? If it weren't for a figure like Yue Fei, the Song Dynasty might not even be able to negotiate the conditions for peace with the Jin Dynasty in history.

What was the reason that made a powerful country like the Song Dynasty unable to fight back against the newly rising Jin Kingdom? Not only was it unable to fight back against the Jurchens, but when the Mongols destroyed the Jin Kingdom, it still had no power to fight back against the Mongols.
Chapter completed!