Sun Ce entrusted Xun Yu to sort out the history of etiquette and prepare etiquette for the new dynasty. This matter has been going on for more than a year and has not made any substantial progress.

This is not because Xun Yu is not knowledgeable enough. Xunzi's learning was passed down by Xun's family. The focus of Xunzi's learning was to be ritual and law, and ritual and law were equally valued. Li Si and Han Fei valued law and became a Legalist. Jia Yi inherited Xunzi's learning, set a precedent for Confucianism and Law, and laid the foundation for later Confucianism. It was undoubtedly appropriate to ask Xun Yu to preside over this matter. Moreover, even if Xun Yu himself lacked knowledge, he could find suitable scholars to help. His subordinate Xun Yue was a great scholar, and he also knew many people who specialized in ritual scriptures.

But Xun Yu made a directional mistake. He focused too much on sorting out the ancient system and did not understand Sun Ce's intention to look forward.

Why do we need to make rituals? It is for harmony, the monarch and ministers, the father and son, and the husband and wife. In one word, etiquette is to straighten the relationship between people. Etiquette is form, and harmony is the purpose. Just like the way of heaven and earth. Is there any ritual between heaven and earth? Obviously not. But there is a way between heaven and earth, and heaven and earth act according to the way, and even if it is rude, it can be harmonious.

The rituals are for harmony, not for form. If this requirement cannot be met, the rituals created will only have form and no one follows them. The rituals collapse and music will become an inevitable result.

Sun Ce had long said that he did not believe in destiny, but he valued Tao, so he spent a lot of money to build the observatory and support Xu Yue and others, so that they could study the way of heaven and earth without worrying about food and clothing. This Tao is not the way that is said to be spoken of, but the Tao that can withstand verification.

Building an observatory is a big event, and the academic lecture halls of Xu Yue and others are the most stylish gatherings in Jianye City. Xun Yu has time and I don’t know how many times he has attended or heard many lectures. He also feels that Sun Ce’s actions are somewhat inconsistent with his claim of not believing in destiny, but he has not really explored the mystery.

This is Sun Ce's respect for heaven and earth. It is both pragmatic and empty-minded.

Most of the reason why Ni Heng criticized Xun Yu was because the etiquettes created by Xun Yu were contradictory. On the one hand, these contradictions came from the contradictions of the etiquettes themselves, and on the other hand, they were from the contradictions between the etiquettes and the actual situation. Sun Ce had implemented the new policy for ten years, and many of his practices were not in line with the existing etiquettes. Xun Yu did not formulate etiquettes from the perspective of understanding the actual situation, but instead hoped to innovate from the established etiquettes and laws, and inevitably fell into a dilemma of being incompatible with the dilemma of being square and incompatible.

Attacking others is relatively simple, but it is not that easy to formulate etiquette. Ni Heng scolded Xun Yu and did not really understand Sun Ce’s intention, so he was stumped by Sun Ce’s two questions. He had been thinking about these questions for a long time, but there was still a layer of paper. Now that Sun Ce saw him at the observatory and broke the paper, Ni Heng suddenly realized, and Xun Yu also understood where he was wrong.

In fact, this principle was not created by Sun Cesheng. The ancients had long said that there was such a saying in the Spring and Autumn Period of the Lu family. However, Lu Buwei was a businessman and a powerful minister, and he ended up as a rebellion. He did not fall into the eyes of Confucian scholars, and there were very few people studying the Spring and Autumn Period of the Lu family.

In contrast, Confucianism emphasizes learning from the law and family law, and emphasizes that every word has its origin, so that they can abandon classics and formulate etiquette according to the Tao, which makes it difficult to turn their minds. Sun Ce thought that Xun Yu had implemented the new policy in Guanzhong and should be able to accept new affairs, but he obviously underestimated Xun Yu's ideological inertia.

Xun Yu was very ashamed.

"From the Three Emperors to the Five Emperors, from the Three Dynasties to the Qin and Han dynasties, the situation changes from time to time. How can etiquette remain unchanged?" Sun Ce let out a sigh, turned slowly, and his eyes swept across Xun Yu and Ni Heng's faces. "Doctor Xun, do you remember the fact that Gu and you used chess to describe the way of governing?"

Xun Yu quickly stepped forward and bowed. "I remember."

"The world of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors is just the county and county today. The world of the Three Dynasties does not exceed the Jiang in the south and does not exceed the Yan in the north. The territory is getting bigger and bigger. If the etiquette cannot keep up, what can we talk about expanding the territory and virtues in the world? Mr. Xun, Ni Zhengping, this is the time when the situation has changed dramatically over the past five hundred years. You are not only creating etiquette for the new dynasty, but also making etiquette for the new era. How can you be careless?"

Xun Yu bowed again. "I am stupid, please ask the king to choose another wise man."

Sun Ce frowned slightly. "As far as I know, the doctor is not satisfied, right?"

“It’s still a few months away.”

"Scholars must be broad-minded and resolute, and have a long way to go. Before they are satisfied, they want to retire. Isn't it too early?" Sun Ce's face was sunk. Although his tone was not harsh, his words were very rude. "If all the wise men in the world are as indifferent as you, there will be no one in the Great Wu court. How will Zhong Yuanchang deal with him? Have the doctor considered it?"

Xun Yu complained secretly, and broke out in a cold sweat, and did not dare to resign. He really angered Sun Ce. Sun Ce drove Zhong Yao out of the court on the grounds of his old age, and the Ru Ying faction would hate him to death.

"As for you," Sun Ce turned to Ni Heng, his eyes sharply. "Only by knowing politeness and being able to keep things in mind, you are truly polite. Just keeping it on your lips and making fun of offending others. What is the ability to do? When you meet someone who is polite, you should treat you as a favorable person. When you encounter someone who is not polite like you, what can you do if you cut you off with one knife? No matter how sharp your tongue is, can you still benefit from a knife or an axe?"

Ni Heng rolled his eyes and smacked his lips. He wanted to refute, but when he touched Sun Ce's sharp eyes like a sharp sword, all the sarcasm turned into a cold sweat and burst out from his body.

Sun Ce said earnestly: "People should have pride, not pride. You are calm and you should have something to do when the situation changes greatly. Don't be as good as a famous man, just talk hard, let your intelligence be disappointed, and you will laugh for future generations."

Ni Heng hesitated for a moment and bowed to accept the order. "Here."

Sun Ce breathed a sigh of relief and stepped forward. "Two, the scenery of Purple Mountain is very good, and the observatory is the best. Since you are here, you might as well visit. You can have a simple meal at noon. Although there are no delicacies in the mountains and seas, it is also delicious. Listen to Master Xu to talk about the way of heaven and earth, it may be helpful to you to prepare etiquette."

"I wish to follow the king for a trip." Xun Yu bowed and said.

Ni Heng turned his eyes and grinned, "I heard for a long time that Master Xu's arithmetic is unique in the world, and he can calculate the world. Today I will hear how he calculates human affairs."

Sun Ce glanced at him and wanted to say something bad to him, but then he thought, let it go. It will take some time to convince this person. Haste can't be achieved, and if you force it too much, it will be unbeautiful.

They walked along the way and talked about gossip, basically not leaving the foundation of etiquette. He didn't care about specific items, but only hoped that this set of etiquette could be based on balance and harmony, and it should be simple and feasible. Red tape does not have to be retained, and those who waste the people and money can be removed. The king and his minister should take mutual respect as the most important thing, and they should not be too defamed.

Xun Yu just listened quietly, responding occasionally to one or two sentences, but Ni Heng was quite excited and agreed continuously.

"The king is right. Now this ritual system is indeed a bit out of the past, and most of it comes from Dong Zhongshu's theory of heaven and man. It has been passed down for hundreds of years and the Han Dynasty has been destroyed. I really don't see any goodness. It has forced many common people to destroy their families and have no way to make a living."

Xun Yu couldn't help but retort: ​​"Zhengping, this is too much. Even though Dong Zixue's theory is a bit far-fetched, it still cares about the people. How can he force the common people to lose their family and lose their business?"

Ni Heng asked in response: "Dong Sheng thought that the king's power was granted by God, and the emperor should respect the heavens. This dynasty, no, the emperor of the previous dynasty sacrificed to heaven many times. Isn't it a waste of money to the people? A wealthy family has a strong financial resources. Whenever there are weddings and funerals, they often go beyond their rules. The common people follow their examples and often lose their money."

As soon as Ni Heng said this, he became excited, waved his sleeves, his face turned red and his saliva flew everywhere. Sun Ce and Xun Yu kept away from him, and even used their sleeves to block his face. Ni Heng was embarrassed and restrained a little, but after a short while, he became excited again, which was helpless.

However, what Ni Heng said was what Sun Ce thought. The reason why he wanted to reform the etiquette system was because the old etiquette was too complicated and wasted the people's power, and it had reached the point where it could not be changed. The custom of burying in the Han Dynasty was particularly obvious. Not only did the royal family bury a lot of financial resources underground, but the people also followed the trend. The stones in the Han tombs were famous works of art in later generations.

But these works of art are based on the serious division between the rich and the poor and the world is in chaos.

The result of the gap between the rich and the poor will inevitably lead to a decline in the world, and the tomb robbery in the Han Dynasty was also extremely strong. During the Three Kingdoms, Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao even set a precedent for official tomb robbery, with a very bad influence, which also led to the custom of burial in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Now Sun Ce dominates the Central Plains, and the tomb robbery is not strong, and the harm of burial is not as shocking as in history. He can only require it from the ritual system.

Different backgrounds and positions, Ni Heng was not as scruple as Xun Yu. When he spoke, he activated his mockery skills and mocked the hypocrisy under the dignity of the aristocratic family and the filth after the famous scholars. While talking about benevolence, righteousness and morality, he forced the monarch and the common people. What's more, he praised himself as a clean stream, but when he turned around, he colluded with the eunuch and colluded with the eunuch.

Xun Yu, who was beside him, was speechless. Sun Ce coughed a few times and finally stopped Ni Heng. Ni Heng disagreed and shook his sleeves as if nothing had happened. His face was calm, as if he was just talking nonsense.

After chatting for a long time, he had a simple meal at the observatory at noon. In the afternoon, he listened to Xu Yue personally talk about the way of heaven and earth that he had recently studied. After more than half a year of research, he had determined that the orbit of the earth around the sun was not a standard circle, but an ellipse of the double-centered hearts. Although this deviation was not large, it could better explain the observed celestial phenomena.

With the assistance of Kan Ze, Zhao Shuang and others, through various experiments, Xu Yue drew a new track map, discovered the changes in running speed, and was conducting accurate calculations. However, these calculations were relatively large, and they did not find a suitable formula, so it was a bit difficult to calculate. Xu Yue's son Xu Shu had experience in the morphology of the Western Regions and was trying to use new methods to calculate.

Ni Heng originally planned to debate with Xu Yue, but Xu Yue was not interested in human affairs. Faced with the aggressive Ni Heng, he only answered with one sentence, which made Ni Heng roll his eyes.
Chapter completed!