Li Nian formally said, "The hundreds of schools of thought, except for a few, have their own political ideas, that is to say, the ideas of governing the world. For example, the Confucianism restores Zhou's rituals; Daoism governs by doing nothing; Mencius advocates mutual love and non-aggression..."
During the Spring and Autumn period, people's thoughts were changing, and the various schools of thought sought better methods for governing the world, thus putting forth various propositions. There is nothing wrong with that. The problem lies in the fact that these propositions proposed by the schools of thought ignored certain factors. In modern terms, it would be: they neglected objective factors and were overly subjective.
"For example, Confucians advocating the restoration of the Zhou's rituals. Confucians believe that by restoring the ritual and music system of the Zhou Dynasty, the world could be too peaceful and prosperous. However, do people really want to return to such an environment?" Therefore, during the Spring and Autumn period, Confucius encountered many obstacles and his teachings were not accepted.
The same is true for Daoist and Mohist schools. Mohists advocate "mutual love and non-aggression." Is it good or bad? Of course, it is. It's like treating strangers as if they were your relatives!"
If I were a stranger and encountered a Mohist follower who believes in 'mutual love,' I would certainly be very happy. But if I were a relative of the Mohist disciple, how would I feel? I'm afraid I would even more hope that my relative could be closer to me.
After discussing Confucianism and Mohism, Li Nian went on to talk about Daoism: "Daoism, with the Dao and Lao school of thought's 'doing nothing and yet achieving everything,' is more commendable than Mohism and Confucianism. But when and what should we do nothing? When and what should we achieve something? To what extent and in what way should we do nothing?"
"The same goes for 'achieve everything'. When and what should we achieve everything? To what extent and in what way should we achieve everything?" Perhaps scholars who are well-educated and wise can grasp the degree of it, but how many well-educated scholars are there in the world?"
The Yellow and Old school of thought sounds very commendable, emphasizing respect for the laws of nature, opposition to the blind actions of kings and nobles, advocating for the subjective initiative of the people, and promoting the ideas of 'wait for the right time to act' and 'act according to the times'.
However, how should we grasp the 'time' and who should decide? Should it be the king, the people, the well-educated, or the common people?
And how do we know if the 'time' is grasped accurately? Is the 'time' that everyone and every level grasps the same? If not, what should we do?"
In simple terms, governing the world with the Yellow and Old school of thought lacks relatively unified standards and systems. Everyone is too free, which is not conducive to the stability of the empire and the consolidation of imperial power.
During the early years of the Han Dynasty, there were rebellions by feudal kings. During Emperor Wen's reign, King Jibei and King Huainan rebelled. During Emperor Jing's reign, there was the "Rebellion of the Seven States." Additionally, local warlords became more powerful, partly because the "govern by doing nothing" philosophy of the Yellow and Old school of thought provided conditions for the development of feudal kings and local warlords.
With his strong desire for power and great talents, Emperor Wu of Han could not tolerate this. Naturally, he adopted the self-transformed Confucianism, kicking away the Yellow and Old school of thought with one foot.
"If governing a country with the Yellow and Old school of thought, it could be suitable during the early years of the country's establishment when there were many things to be done, but as time goes on, disasters will inevitably arise."
People can only have relative freedom, not absolute freedom.
However, what Li Nian told Ying Zheng was: "The Yellow and Old school of thought's constraints on the world are too loose, and people's desires are endless. Disaster will naturally arise, which is not conducive to maintaining the stability of the world."
In fact, as the ruling dynasty stabilizes and the economy recovers, the Yellow and Old school of thought gradually cannot meet the development needs of society.
"If Confucian thought is to be achieved, it requires that the whole world be filled with gentlemen; if the governance methods of Mohism are to succeed, it requires that there be no distinction between people in terms of their relationships; if the Yellow and Old school of thought is to be realized, it requires that everyone observes laws and regulations, does not give rise to greed, and does not harbor delusions. If this can be done, then there will be universal harmony in the world!"
Although the governance ideas of Confucianism, Mohism, and Daoism differ, they all aim for the same ultimate goal of achieving a world of universal harmony, a utopian idealistic world.
But how can people have no desires, how can they have no selfishness?
Therefore, the governance ideas proposed by the various schools of thought may be good in theory, but they are not practical, at least not applicable to the current situation of the great Qin Empire.
Confucianism was later chosen by Emperor Wu because it had already transformed itself.
After listening to Li Nian's analysis of the three schools of thought, Ying Zheng said, "Legalism is not suitable for governing the Great Qin, and is it for the same reason as the three schools of thought?"
Li Nian said, "There is a well-known piece of knowledge from later times, 'All things in the world are in motion,' which can also be understood as 'All things in the world are in change.' May I ask Your Majesty, how does the Shang Dynasty compare to the Xia Dynasty? How does the Zhou Dynasty compare to the Shang Dynasty? How do the Six States compare to the Zhou Dynasty? And how does our great Qin compare to the Six States?"
Ying Zheng did not answer this question, but said instead, "Your meaning is that things are constantly changing, and the Great Qin is also changing. Legalism is no longer suitable for the current Great Qin."
Li Nian nodded: "For a certain period of time, Legalism was suitable for the Great Qin, which allowed the Great Qin to rapidly improve its strength and surpass the Six States in one move. But now the situation of the Great Qin is different from what it was in those days."
"In those days, the power of the Great Qin was low and it was not strong among the other countries. If we had not implemented Shang Yang's reforms, our country would have perished. But now, the Six States have been defeated, the world is unified, and there are no rivals to the Great Qin within the nine provinces. Can we still govern the Great Qin with Legalist methods as we did before unification?"
"My lord, you are no longer the king of Qin, but the ruler of the world. When considering strategies for governing the world, you can no longer think in the same way as before. You must look to the whole world. The people of the original six states are now also citizens of Qin."
Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang also encountered a similar issue—the South and North Examinations Case, but Old Zhu handled it well. He was very clear that he was the ruler of the whole country, not just the emperor of the north or the south.
Ying Zheng's heart suddenly shook intensely, even though he had already thought of it, but to be pointed out by Li Nian, it still had a stunning effect.
"Yes, I am not only the king of Qin but also the ruler of the world. Legalism can govern the Great Qin, but it may not be able to govern the entire world. The Great Qin now is different from what it was when my ancestors appointed Shang Yang. In history, there was no Li Nian, and I wonder if I have not understood this point, which has planted a disaster for the Great Qin's downfall?"
Ying Zheng asked himself in his heart, if Li Nian knew, he would tell him: In history, Emperor Qin Shi Huang realized that he was the ruler of the world, which is why he implemented 'uniform writing, uniform chariot tracks, and uniform morals.' It's just that you didn't realize that the Legalism of the past was no longer suitable for the current Great Qin. You were still using the Legalist methods that governed Qin on the whole world, which not only made the people of Qin unable to bear it but also caused great suffering among the people of the Six States.
Later, many people often equate Legalism and the rule of law. In fact, there are significant differences between the two. Legalism is specifically designed for the service of rulers and is very harsh and cruel to the people.
The five techniques of Legalism to control the people are: making people ignorant, making them tired, making them feel humiliated, making them weak, and making them poor. These techniques aim to weaken the power of the people in order to stabilize the ruling of the monarch.
This is not only the thought in the "Book of Shang Yang," but similar ideas can also be found in "The Book of Han Fei."
Ying Zheng implemented the "Burning Books and Suppressing the Scholars" policy, and Li Si played an indispensable role in it. Li Si used Legalist ideas to persuade Ying Zheng to burn books and suppress scholars. Li Si himself was a Legalist!
Over the past hundred and more years, the people of Qin could still endure the governance of Legalism. But now that they have unified the world, they still govern with Legalism and impose heavy-handed rule. Even iron strings have their breaking point, and despite the strong rule of Legalism, six-state citizens who were not previously treated in such a way are more prone to dissatisfaction and unrest.
