The Ruler Leads His Ministers, and the Ministers Assist the Ruler

It flew into the sky from Shanglin Garden.

Piercing through the dark clouds, they traveled 1,800 li south, then turned back 200 li west, and finally arrived at Guangling City of Jiangdu Kingdom.

Zhang Xuezhou's first stop was not Guangling, but Gaoyou Shuifu.

With a fold of his jade wings, his body plummeted rapidly from the sky.

Before Zhang Xuezhou could even visit the Gaoyou Water Palace, he saw a man holding a feather fan gazing into the distance from the lake in the middle of the mountain above the Zhang Xuezhou Water Palace.

"Who do we have here? It's you who's come from afar!"

As they drew closer, Dong Zhongshu 'Dong Zhongshu face came into view, and his voice drifted over from afar.

"Did the Master foresee my arrival?"

Zhang Xuezhou landed steadily, somewhat surprised by Dong Zhongshu's abilities.

Dong Zhongshu's words did not reveal who was coming, but to be able to accurately predict someone's arrival was an extraordinary skill, a skill more than enough to avoid misfortune and seek good fortune.

"It was just a sudden whim," Dong Zhongshu said, pointing to the spot. "I originally thought they were coming for revenge, so I even invited some guests to help with an ambush!"

The waves parted at the foot of the mountain in the center of the lake, and the reflection of the Gaoyou Water Palace appeared on the emerald green water, after which someone stepped out from it.

With one step, the other person surfaced on the water.

"Master Zhenyuan has arrived as well?"

Zhang Xuezhou exclaimed in surprise and looked down at the familiar person who was bowing and greeting him.

If the guest invited is someone like Divine Lord Zhenyuan, even if Daojun arrives unharmed, he will inevitably suffer losses.

"As you suggested, I traveled eastward, searching for Confucian School were well-versed in the arts and sciences of all schools of thought. I also met with various Confucian School cultivators and finally engaged in discussions with Dong Zhongshu," Divine Lord Zhenyuan said. "Unfortunately, even today, there are still some aspects that remain unresolved, making it difficult to break with the old and embrace the new!"

"I'm exactly the same as you," Zhang Xuezhou sighed. "I'm still counting on Master Dong!"

"Don't be so modest, I'm counting on you too!"

Dong Zhongshu, standing on the hill in the middle of the lake, looked helpless.

Although Dong Zhongshu was somewhat arrogant, he had never been treated so politely by a cultivator at the True Self Realm. The other party's humility and eagerness to learn were rare, and his ability to comprehend and learn was extremely rare, almost no different from Dong Zhongshu's ability to learn anything when he was young.

As Dong Zhongshu grew older, his once-genius learning ability gradually declined, while Divine Lord Zhenyuan, despite his advanced age, still possessed exceptional learning abilities.

This contrast prevented Dong Zhongshu from feeling arrogant.

As for Zhang Xuezhou, let's not even talk about him. Dong Zhongshu watched Zhang Xuezhou climb from the bottom to the top. The fact that he reached this point without the support of any school of thought means that Zhang Xuezhou has extraordinary abilities and has his own unique path.

These are two master-level cultivators whose styles differ from those of their respective schools of thought. Dong Zhongshu dared not call himself their master, but instead hoped that they could help each other.

"You wouldn't come here without a reason, so you must be up to no good. Tell me what you need!"

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, the three of them glared at each other several times before stopping their pleasantries.

Dong Zhongshu pointed at Zhang Xuezhou first, indicating that Zhang Xuezhou could speak first and do the deed.

"The matter is not complicated. When the King of Jiangdu entered Chang'an City, he discovered that Han Yan was practicing magic. Han Yan has already been executed," Zhang Xuezhou said briefly.

"Hey!"

Dong Zhongshu's face turned red, and he seemed about to swear, but he ended up exhaling instead, which showed that Dong Zhongshu extremely dissatisfied with the situation.

"If everyone in the world were to be executed simply for practicing a certain type of Technique Method, that would indeed be absurd," said Divine Lord Zhenyuan. "That would be the act of a tyrant!"

"This shouldn't be taboo," Dong Zhongshu said. "The higher-ups fear that someone might cultivate magic to seize power, but through my continuous practice, I've discovered that as long as the ruler leads his ministers, the ministers will inevitably assist the ruler, thus achieving a powerful relationship between ruler and ministers, rather than a mutually destructive infighting!"

"How can one seize power simply by cultivating magic?" Divine Lord Zhenyuan laughed. "If becoming an emperor only required cultivating magic, then there would only be one kind of Technique Method left in the world!"

"An emperor without the cooperation of his ministers is powerless and can only rely on himself to fight. The late emperor was a man of great talent but had difficulty exercising his abilities, and his situation proves this point," Dong Zhongshu said. "Even if the practice of cultivation techniques by his ministers has its dangers, it is not as great as the consequences of the feudal lords ruling independently. If the court can tolerate the feudal lords but not its ministers, it will inevitably weaken in the long run!"

"The Shang Dynasty lasted five hundred years, and the Zhou Dynasty eight hundred years. Neither dynasty perished because anyone practiced magic or fortune-telling. Rather, they fell because their people were incapable of adapting to change and stubbornly adhered to outdated rules, making them unbearable to others and ultimately leading to rebellions by various warlords!"

Divine Lord Zhenyuan spoke slowly, mentioning the past.

The emperors who establish a new dynasty may seem to have great fortune and ascend to the throne, but their fortune is merely a contributing factor. The real reason for their defeat lies in the corruption of the old dynasty.

"A country's development must adapt to the improvement of social productivity, and it needs to be pragmatic in order to seek development," Zhang Xuezhou nodded.

What social productivity?

Divine Lord Zhenyuan discussed the history of the destruction of ancient kingdoms, while Zhang Xuezhou summarized it based on modern experience. Dong Zhongshu nodded repeatedly, but then suddenly realized that he hadn't understood.

"What I mean is that times are changing rapidly, and a country must make timely adjustments in order to keep moving forward, rather than remaining stagnant and refusing to change," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"Then you've repeated what Master Zhenyuan said," Dong Zhongshu concluded.

"Being realistic is very difficult!"

Divine Lord Zhenyuan sighed.

Recognizing the changes of the times and then seeking to adapt to them inevitably requires sacrificing the interests of many people, including even emperors themselves.

You can't mess with a tiger's backside, let alone a group headed by an emperor.

Cutting off the interests of a subject only requires an imperial edict; cutting off the interests of a vassal king requires a righteous trial or a war; but when it comes to the emperor's own interests, it requires an extremely high level of understanding to make a decision.

In a dynastic system, emperors come and go, and it is extremely difficult to ensure that every emperor is a wise ruler, which inevitably leads to the dynasty's downfall.

It was precisely because it was so difficult to achieve that Divine Lord Zhenyuan felt so moved.

"If your Great Han Dynasty emperors are inflexible, Dong Zi can go to the Western Broken Soul Ridge to find me. My place is small, but not just anyone can come up here and trample on me," said Divine Lord Zhenyuan.

Thank you!

Dong Zhongshu cupped his hands in greeting, knowing that the great cultivator who had accompanied him for two months held him in high regard, which was why he had extended this invitation.

But he was destined not to go to the West. The roots of Confucian School were in the Great Han Dynasty, and Dong Zhongshu's roots were in Confucian School.

Dong Zhongshu's lifelong wish was to create the Confucian School system and then promote and develop Confucian School, thereby unifying the various schools of thought.

No matter how a dynasty develops, it ultimately needs a system of knowledge to maintain order and integrity.

This was a competition that had lasted for hundreds of years in the Southern Jambudvipa Continent. Times were changing, and one school of thought after another gradually disappeared. Now, there were very few schools of thought that could compete with each other. Dong Zhongshu did not want to leave at this time.

Dong Zhongshu was also curious about what would ultimately result from the competition among so many schools of thought, which resembled a hundred boats racing against each other and insects vying for dominance.

Before that, he needs to remain calm and avoid being discovered, and he also needs to use the benefits brought by the technique to move forward until he breaks free from his own constraints.

His spiritual practice was like a thin sheet of paper; Dong Zhongshu repeatedly tried to break through it, but always felt something was missing.

He wasn't without the opportunity to reach the True Self Realm, but Dong Zhongshu always felt that it wasn't the True Self Realm he wanted to pursue.

One thought can lead to mediocrity, another to transcendence.

Dong Zhongshu felt as if he were standing at a crossroads where he had to choose between the simple and the complicated.

The former is easy to navigate, while the latter is difficult to access yet possesses endless allure.