Ying Zheng: My Path Is Not Solitary! Goddess Appears in Xianyang City.

"How can this be?"

"It is exactly as it is." Zhao Cheng continued, "Confucius, that venerable sage, possessed a sincere and benevolent heart just like you. He could not bear to see the various states warring against one another, leaving the people in such dire straits."

"But he was no longer a noble at that time and lacked the standing to govern. Thus, he took in many disciples, hoping to restore the Rites of Zhou and benevolent governance. He traveled to lobby the rulers of the various states, wishing to implement his policies."

"Yet, unfortunately, the true problem did not lie in the benevolence of his governance, nor in the collapse of the rites, but in the progression of the era and the increase in agricultural efficiency."

"The struggle for profit is impossible to halt. Even the threat of severe punishment cannot eradicate it, let alone the governance of the human heart."

Fusu's face turned slightly pale. "But... but if that is the case, does it not mean that warfare will be endless?"

"If only iron tools and oxen for plowing had never appeared."

Zhao Cheng shook his head. "Iron tools and oxen were bound to appear sooner or later. The tide of the era surges forward; no one can stop it."

"Is it not a good thing that more people can eat their fill and that the state can support more of its subjects?"

This is the same as the industrial revolution that would come later; the liberation of productivity often brings about the struggle for profit and the growing pains of the common people.

This is the trend of the times, which no one can stop, not even the Sage Confucius.

Fusu felt that the things he had always held onto were collapsing.

"Therefore, you must see that