But it is completely wrong to apply this causal relationship to various schools of thought.
The reason why these Jianghu sects oppose the empire is due to ideological discord.
Although there are personal grievances between its internal members and the empire, they are not mainstream and the core is still conceptual.
In other words, opposing the empire is just a means to them, not an end.
Gu Xun wanted the ideas and concepts of various schools of thought to gradually fade away and merge into a unified thought just like the history he knew. The reason is that the divisions of a hundred schools of thought are not suitable for a unified dynasty, and it has nothing to do with whether they oppose the empire.
If you want to rebel, then rebel. I am not a loyal and loyal minister.
However, these ideas were generated by Gu Xun, a person of later generations, looking at this era from a perspective that transcends two thousand years. It is difficult to explain clearly to "modern people" like Xue Nu.
"Well..." Gu Xun thought about his words and explained in a different way, "I want to attack the Mohist family mainly because 'a chivalrous man violates the forbidden with force.'"
"I can also tell you the truth. I am not only targeting the Mohists and other anti-Qin sects. I will also attack those like Confucianism who do not oppose imperial rule."
"..." After hearing this answer, Xue Nu's eyes were full of complex and unspeakable meanings. After a long silence, she asked in an incomprehensible tone, "Do you want to destroy the entire school of thought?"
"Ha! It's not that outrageous." Gu Xun shook his head at Xue Nu, "What's more, do you think I can destroy all the sects at will?"
The snow girl couldn't help but be speechless.
This is true, the various schools of thought and the ordinary Jianghu sects are not the same concept. They involve far more than Jianghu, but also every corner of the court and the people.
Whether it is political power or people's livelihood, traces of the existence of various schools of thought can be found.
These spiritual meanings have transcended material entities and cannot be easily destroyed no matter how powerful the force is.
In fact, the Mohists did not believe that their actions against the empire would definitely succeed. They just believed that the Mohists might fail, but the Mohists would still be the Mohists no matter what.
This will not change - unfortunately, according to historical facts, the Qin Dynasty did not do anything to them, but the latecomers did indeed tear all the schools of thought into pieces.
Thinking of the particularity of Zhuzibaijia, Xue's gloomy mind cleared away some of the haze, and tried to suggest to Gu Xun, "In this case, why don't you try to use a more gentle way to deal with Zhuzibaijia?"
What about family problems?"
"Wouldn't it be better if conflicts could be avoided?"
"Ha!" Gu Xun couldn't help laughing after hearing this.
Yes, it is certainly good to avoid unnecessary conflicts and fights, but the problem is that if the Mohist giant knew his true purpose, the Mohist attitude would probably be even more radical and violent than it is now - the Mohist family would have suffered a heavy blow at most, but what Gu Xun wanted was to end the conflict.
The roots of the Mohist family!
Gu Xun didn't know how to respond to Xue Nu, and he didn't want to continue arguing with her about how to deal with the Mo family, so he changed the topic directly and asked, "Well, let me ask you a few questions."
"The Mohists are enemies of the empire, what do they want?"
"Uh..." Snow Girl couldn't help but be startled.
This sudden question made her a little confused.
Of course, it's not that she really doesn't know the answer, it's just that few people usually discuss this, so she was caught off guard.
After calming down, she pondered for a while and quickly replied, "I want the empire to stop its current tyranny and atrocities and restore peace to the world."
These four words can be said to sum up the brutality of the harsh regime very well.
It not only represents the hard work of corvee service in the empire, but also includes the fierce wars in the empire that strained people and cost money.
Is this too much to ask?
Not excessive.
Although the current national policies of the empire are not much different from those before the unification of the world, time has changed, the situation of the world has changed, and the rules of the imperial court cannot remain unchanged.
Gu Xun turned around, looked at Xue Nu with a smile, nodded and said, "The request is quite reasonable."
"Then let me ask you again, are the Mohists prepared to pay a heavy price to achieve this goal?"
Xue Nu didn't understand the purpose of Gu Xun's question, so she could only nod her head honestly and replied, "Of course, the Mo family is certainly prepared to bear all the costs."
Gu Xun turned back to face the bright moon of Jinghu Lake, and his voice became a little deeper and continued to ask, "Then...if the Mo family achieves this goal, but pays a heavy price, you will not hesitate to pay the price for yourself.
Will you continue to be an enemy of the imperial court?"
"This..." Faced with this question, Xue Nu couldn't help but hesitate for a moment.
Neither she nor anyone else within the Mo family seemed to have considered this issue before.
The Mohists and the Empire were enemies, and casualties were absolutely inevitable in the process.
In this way, resentment will inevitably accumulate in the process, just like the development of the relationship between the Mohists and the public losers.
In the beginning, it was just technical and conceptual differences, plus some disputes between the two founders. Later, during the friction between the two families, the conflicts continued to deepen and worsen.
Today, it has become a feud and a mortal feud, to the point where it is basically a matter of life and death.
Has the relationship between the Mohists and the imperial court developed to this point?
This is a difficult question to answer.
Because before discussing how the relationship between the Mohists and the empire will develop, there is another question - if the Mohists achieve their goals, in what way will they do it?
One is that the emperor Yingzheng changes his current governing style, reduces corvee taxes, stops wars, and allows the people to cultivate and live, or simply change the empire to another emperor.
One is to directly overthrow the rule of the empire and rebuild the world.
The latter is an ideal situation. In this case, there is no need to consider the development of relations with the empire.
But if it is the former, which is the case of Gu Xun's question, the Mohist position will be very embarrassing.
After much hesitation, Xue Nu followed Mohist teachings and replied, "No."
"As long as the empire stops its atrocities, the Mohists will naturally no longer deliberately provoke disputes."
"Very good!" Gu Xun's voice was mixed with a vague meaning, and he continued with a half-smile, "I'll ask one last question."
"If, in the end, the result that your Mohist family wants to achieve is achieved under the leadership of Liusha, but at the same time it is also under the leadership of Liusha that the Mohist family suffers heavy losses, will the Mohist family put aside their hatred and calmly accept their contribution to the peace of the world?
The price?"
"Ah, this..." Compared with the hesitation in facing the previous question, the snow girl was even more speechless when facing this last question.
Theoretically, this question is just equivalent to replacing the empire of the previous question with quicksand.
It’s the same for the world’s peace, and the Mohists pay the same price, but it’s not the empire that caused this result, it’s just quicksand.
So the answer of the snow girl should be completely consistent in theory - since you can put aside the hatred with the empire, you should also be able to put aside the hatred with quicksand.
But the question is, is it really the same?
The snow girl can’t tell.
It seems the same, but it seems completely different...
