Chapter 224: Tyranny and Kingly Way, Flying Tigers versus Tyrant!
As the saying goes, there is a world of difference between hegemony and the way of the king.

Elaborate on it point by point, explaining it from the perspectives of starting point, means, essence and results, as well as values.

Starting point: The starting point of "kingly way" is "benevolence", while the starting point of "tyrannical way" is utilitarianism. The kingly way focuses on "heart submission", implements education and influence through moral education, and relies on its own moral appeal and personal charm to guide the people's hearts to submit. Tyrannical way values ​​"force submission", forcing the other party to submit by force, but this often makes the other party resentful in their hearts, rather than sincerely convinced.

Means: The kingly way affects virtue through moral instruction and education; while the hegemonic way affects force through coercion.

Essence and results: The kingly way promotes benevolence, is committed to developing production and culture, and makes every effort for the welfare of the people. As a result, it promotes production, develops human relations, establishes moral order, and wins the support of the people. On the other hand, the hegemonic way promotes power, with the purpose of realizing the personal ambition of the ruler, and the result is often that the ruler's regime cannot be maintained for a long time.

Values: Hegemony advocates the law of the jungle and the winner takes all. The rules it makes are mainly to constrain others, and it lacks the concepts of morality, fairness and responsibility. The kingly way respects the most simple values ​​of human beings, emphasizes being kind to others and living in harmony, and encourages everyone to work together. The successful ones will benefit the world, and great powers need to take on more responsibilities.

In short, being domineering means that no matter whether you listen to me or not, I will deal with you.

The kingly way is, if you are obedient, I will not punish you. If you are disobedient, I will punish you. Before punishing you, I will tell you and give you a chance. If you seize the opportunity and correct yourself voluntarily, I will not punish you. If you don’t correct yourself, I will still punish you. After punishing you, I will give you some candied dates.

Tyranny is pure stick, while the kingly way is carrot and stick.

Xiang Kunlun was a man who pursued tyranny. He took advantage of the moment when the hell monster Behemoth destroyed the sky wall of the spirit realm to secretly join forces with Yuling Shikan and Dumiya Dayutian to break through the spirit realm and trample on the underworld. After becoming the king of the spirit realm, he went against the trend and was obsessed with expanding his territory and turf. Those who obeyed me prospered, and those who defied me perished. He completely shattered the already shaky rules of the underworld. The underworld fell into chaos and war, with independent people emerging one after another and rebels showing up frequently. In Xiang Kunlun's eyes, there was only this world. He simply wanted to be the king of the underworld, regardless of the cost and consequences.

Although Li Ye is as ambitious as him, he has more compassion for the people of the world than Xiang Kunlun. Perhaps it is because he is a time traveler, he is born with a sense of responsibility towards the common people. Since he wants to be a king and obtain corresponding power, he must bear corresponding responsibilities. Power and responsibility are equal. The greater the power, the greater the responsibility. As the saying goes, the greater the power, the greater the responsibility.

As Lao Tzu said in the Tao Te Ching:

Nothing in the world is softer and weaker than water, yet nothing can overcome it when it attacks something hard and strong, because nothing can replace it.

The weak overcomes the strong, the soft overcomes the strong, no one in the world knows it, and no one can do it.

Therefore, the sage said: "To bear the disgrace of the country is to be the master of the country; to bear the misfortune of the country is to be the king of the world."

Among the ancient kings, Li Ye admired Li Shimin the most, not only because of his outstanding achievements in civil and military affairs that were recorded in history.

In terms of martial arts, at the age of sixteen, he led troops to rescue Emperor Yang Guang. He used the palace soldiers to set up a false formation to scare off the Turks. At the age of eighteen, he followed his father to raise an army, defeated Xue Ju and Xue Rengao along the way, pacified Western Qin, defeated Song Jingang and Liu Wuzhou, recovered Hedong, defeated Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, defeated one hundred thousand outside Hulao Pass with only three thousand men, captured two kings in one battle, captured Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande alive, fought an oriental version of the "War of the Three Emperors", pacified Henan and Hebei, basically unified northern China, was named General Tiance, had no more titles, defeated Liu Heita, recovered Hebei, made great military exploits for the establishment of the Tang Dynasty and the unification of the world, and was the first meritorious minister of the founding of the Tang Dynasty.

He expanded the territory, conquered DTZ and Xueyantuo, captured Jie Li Khan and brought him back to Chang'an to dance, avenged the previous humiliation, conquered Gaochang, Qiuci and Tuyuhun, established Anxi and Beiting Protectorates, and established the Four Anxi Towns. After many years, the central dynasty once again controlled the Western Regions, reopened the Silk Road, and severely damaged Goguryeo, laying a solid foundation for Tang Gaozong to destroy DTZ, defeat Tubo, make Tubo submit, and the four barbarians submit, respecting Li Shimin as the "Heavenly Khan".

At the same time, he also made a great name in the history of civil governance. He initiated the Reign of Zhenguan, which is one of the most famous reigns in ancient times. Only the Reign of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing in the Western Han Dynasty can be compared with it. He improved the system of military service, the system of three provinces and six ministries, established the Zhengshitang and Tongpingzhangshi, improved the imperial examination system, allowed "self-entry by throwing a disc" to give the imperial examination system its soul, formulated the "Tang Law Commentary", determined the norms of ancient Chinese criminal law, which had a far-reaching influence, initiated the official compilation of history, and compiled eight historical books, which was a large-scale cultural rescue movement for the Chinese nation. He initiated the respect for Confucius and unified the various Confucian schools that had been mixed since the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. He established the Hongwen Academy, created the four books of "Classics", "History", "Philosophy" and "Collection", created the official authentic Five Classics "Five Classics Definitive Edition", created the official annotation of the Five Classics "Five Classics Justice", which was highly praised by Confucianists in later generations, comparable to "rejecting all schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone", created the Imperial Academy, created the three-level official school system of county, state and central government, created the medical officer system, revised the "Five Rites", did not suppress commerce, created the Ji Mizhou system, used meritorious officials to replace aristocratic families, suppressed the gentry, created the official retirement system, created the "one platform and three courts" supervision system, and created the "chief concurrently serving as finance minister" system. He established the principle of "decentralization" and created the household registration system, and so on.

But in Li Ye's eyes, Li Shimin's "political way" thought was his greatest historical contribution.

The famous saying "Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it" was actually first coined by Xunzi, but most people regard it as a famous saying of Emperor Taizong of Tang. Why? It is not because of lack of reading, but only when people like Li Shimin believed in and practiced it, it changed from an ordinary motto in a corner of a book to a political principle integrated into the history of a nation-state.

"The way to be a king is to save the people first. If you sacrifice the people to serve yourself, it is like cutting your thigh to feed your stomach. Your stomach will be full but your body will die."

"If the emperor has virtue, people will support him and make him their master; if he has no virtue, people will abandon him and not use him."

"Those who succeed slowly but fail quickly are the foundation of a country; those who lose easily but gain hard are the position of heaven"

——Because of Li Shimin's existence, these concepts emphasizing equal rights and responsibilities have, to some extent, overwhelmed the theory of destiny and have become part of Chinese political thought since ancient times.

Li Ye has always believed that the most direct historical contribution is to do things well, so that people at that historical node can reap tangible benefits, and leave a platform with fewer conflicts and easier development for future generations. This is called contribution. Going a step further, you can leave some "paths and methods on how to do things well" to make it easier for future generations to do it. This is the system.

Furthermore, a glorious era has become a common memory of the ethnic group and has become cohesive. “Because light existed, even in darkness, we still believe that we can revive.” This is the influence on thought. Force, power, and system are only means, not ends.

"That's exactly what I want, Brother Kunlun. Let's fight it out and see who is worthy of being the king of this world!"

Li Ye was not afraid of Xiang Kunlun's pressure. Unlike Xiang Kunlun's tyranny, Li Ye seemed more noble and sacred. The two auras kept confronting each other. Even the soldiers guarding the door felt inexplicable oppression and dared not breathe. The few men who followed Xiang Kunlun into the hall, even those who were already masters of the Jiaore realm, also felt tremendous pressure under the confrontation between Xiang Kunlun and Li Ye.

Two domineering, ferocious, and ghost-like figures appeared behind Li Ye and Xiang Kunlun respectively.

A man exuding the aura of a tyrant, possessing the boundless power to dominate the universe and swallow up mountains and rivers, is none other than Xiang Yu, the King of Western Chu, one of the most powerful human martial spirits.

A figure was like a peerless ferocious tiger, with blazing dark red flames burning all over, emitting an aura like a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood, making people feel as if they were falling into an icy cave. It was truly the Tai Sui God on earth, and it was none other than the Flying Tiger General Li Cunxiao, one of the most powerful human martial spirits.

Two extremely powerful figures confronted each other in the air, a confrontation that spanned thousands of years, two heroes who were separated by thousands of years, met by chance and appeared in a hall at the same time. Both of them were invincible generals who dominated an era and were invincible in an era, and even had no close opponents in the same era. Now that they have met their rivals, they are naturally excited, with excitement flashing in their eyes, as if they can't wait to fight each other and decide who is better.

"Well, I'll wait and see. We'll see the result in a month!"

After saying this, Xiang Kunlun retracted his momentum, left after saying something harsh, and several of his subordinates followed him.

Xiang Kunlun restrained his aura, and Li Ye followed suit. In the empty and quiet hall, the tense atmosphere dissipated and calm was restored. The soldiers guarding the door also breathed a sigh of relief.

"How terrifying! Is this King Xiang and General Li? How terrifying!"

"I thought they were going to fight! If they really did fight, it would be like a fire in the city gate, and everyone in the pond would be affected!"

"Thank God they didn't end up fighting."

After Xiang Kunlun left, Li Ye breathed a sigh of relief. The oppressive feeling from Xiang Kunlun was too strong. After all, he was the spirit possessed by Overlord Xiang Yu, and he had already entered the great scorching heat in the hell, and his realm was much higher than Li Ye's.

"It will be a tough battle in a month. Without exposing the Martial God Body, the outcome is still uncertain!"

Li Ye looked at Xiang Kunlun's departing back with a dim gaze, sighed, and then looked at one of the subordinates following behind Xiang Kunlun. He was an extremely strong man, tall and strong, with strong muscles, full of masculinity, standing like an iron tower, with short and capable hair, a firm face, thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a circle of wolf tooth pendants around his neck. He looked steady and dignified, but also a bit ruffian.

It was Xiang Kunlun's number one general, King Qin Gong!

The leader of the fast squad in the Licheng County government office is a fast horseman, holding a pair of copper maces and riding a yellow horse. His horse tramples on both sides of the Yellow River, and his mace hits three states and six prefectures, making him fearful of half of Shandong. The God of Fists rides a yellow horse, and after going to Wagangzhai, he rides a tiger-like leopard, holding a pair of tiger-headed gold-plated maces in his hands, and is good at using a golden lance. He is the former master and apprentice of the Four Treasures General Shang.
Qin Qiong, Qin Shubao, is like Mengchang in making friends, and as filial to his mother as Zhuan Zhu. He is also known as the Divine Fist Taibao!

Li Ye was very jealous of this man. After all, he was one of the two door gods under Li Shimin, one of Li Shimin's most capable and trusted generals, the human-shaped nuclear weapon of the Tang army, and a super warrior who could take the heads of enemy generals in the midst of thousands of troops as easily as taking something out of his bag. Moreover, he could use joint attack skills with Yuchi Gong, and could also combine to become General Qiansheng, which made Li Ye really jealous. However, Li Ye now had no good way to make Qin Wanggong surrender to him. After all, Qin Wanggong was also the number one general in Xiang Kunlun's eyes, and he could not give him a higher status. Moreover, Qin Wanggong had followed Xiang Kunlun for a long time, and he was a man who valued friendship and righteousness. Xiang Kunlun treated him well, and it would be difficult for him to give up Xiang Kunlun and surrender to him. In addition, if Qin Wanggong really surrendered to Li Ye easily, Li Ye would probably look down on Qin Wanggong in his heart. After all, a person who could easily change sides had no loyalty to speak of, so how could he make people admire and trust him from the bottom of their hearts?
It’s not easy, the road is long and arduous!

As the war was approaching, Li Ye decided to concentrate on practicing for a period of time to sort out and digest what he had gained during this period.

Li Qingmu is not good at leading troops, so Li Ye arranged her to the assassination department. Now the boss of the assassination department is Wuliangha Shanwang. It would be even better if Li Qingmu could suppress Shanwang and become the boss of the assassination department.

Wuliangha Shan Wang, his guardian spirit is Wuliangha Ashu, a famous general in the early Yuan Dynasty, a Mongolian, grandson of Subutai, a founding hero of the Great Mongol Empire, and son of the Grand Marshal Wulianghatai. During the reign of Mongke Khan, he followed his father to conquer the Southwest Yi, pacified Dali, conquered various tribes, and conquered Jiaozhi. In the third year of Zhongtong, he made great contributions in the expedition against Li Zhuo and was promoted to the Grand Marshal of the Southern Expedition with the title of General of the Guard. He conquered the two territories, besieged Xiangyang, and broke Fancheng. In the eleventh year of Zhiyuan, he attacked the Song Dynasty together with Bayan, Alihaya, etc., and served as the Provincial Minister of State Affairs. In the twenty-third year, he was ordered to fight against the rebel king Xilamu in the north, and then to the west. He died of illness in Kharakho Prefecture at the age of fifty-four and was posthumously named the King of Henan.

Shanwang appears very rarely in the comics. At the beginning of the plot, he was sent by Xiang Kunlun to Xuanlong Street to recruit Sun Zhantian, the Thunder Emperor, one of the three martial gods. However, he died unexpectedly and his body was sent back to the Hall of Heroes. His death was extremely horrible. He seemed to have experienced a fierce battle before his death, and some unknown symbols were engraved on his body. In fact, this so-called symbol is the "Divine Rain Seal", which is exactly the same as Sun Zhantian's "Divine Thunder Seal", but with different attributes. They are both symbols of stealing the power of God. He was killed by the Thunder Cannon in Huangfu Tiangang's Dragon Chess.

Shanwang is a man of extraordinary strength, but he has no principles. He will work with whoever gives him the most.

(End of this chapter)