Yuan Zong was speechless, and his face grew increasingly grim.
Li Yao sneered, "Even your Mohist guild members can't practice universal love, how can you expect others to do so?"
Yuan Zong's eyes flickered between light and shadow, and his expression changed several times.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he stood up, bowed deeply to Li Yao, and said sincerely, "The world is in chaos now. You are a man of great talent, and you must have a good way to save the world. Please enlighten me."
Li Yao was taken aback; he had just made it up on the spot.
However, since Yuanzong asked, he continued to deceive him: "First, we must stop war with war and achieve the unification of the world so that the people can live in peace. Then, the rulers must use the law to force and restrain the people's behavior so that they dare not do anything that violates the law. The rulers must also use morality to regulate the people's behavior so that they can consciously distinguish right from wrong."
Emperor Yuanzong pondered for a moment and asked, "The law only binds the people, so how can the people not feel dissatisfied?"
Li Yao smiled and said, "As long as we ensure that princes are subject to the same laws as commoners, and that everyone is equal before the law, we can quell the discontent in the hearts of the people."
Upon hearing this, Yuan Zong's eyes lit up. He suddenly knelt on one knee and said sincerely, "Sir, you are indeed a man of extraordinary insight. I, Yuan Zong, am willing to follow you to the death to achieve the unification of the world."
Chapter 37 The Mohist Guild, Obtaining the Grand Master's Token
"Mr. Yuan, what are you doing? Please get up."
Li Yao was startled by Yuan Zong's sudden action.
He never expected that his casual, fabricated words would actually fool Emperor Yuanzong, causing the emperor to bow down and say he would follow him.
Yuan Zong isn't joking, is he?
Li Yao quickly reached out to help Yuan Zong up, but Yuan Zong refused to get up.
However, Yuan Zong's strength was nowhere near that of Li Yao.
Li Yao pulled Yuan Zong up with just a little effort.
Unexpectedly, Yuan Zong was very stubborn. He had just been pulled up by Li Yao, but he knelt down on one knee again.
Li Yao, who came from a later era, was truly unaccustomed to others kneeling before him.
So he pulled Yuanzong up again and said:
“Mr. Yuan, if you have anything to say, we can stand up and talk.”
"You Mohists advocate 'universal love,' don't you? How can you claim to practice 'universal love' when you kneel before me like this?"
"In my eyes, everyone is equal, and there should be no distinction between superior and inferior, noble and lowly."
Emperor Yuanzong was visibly shaken, and at the same time, his respect for Li Yao grew even stronger.
He hadn't expected that Li Yao's ideas about equality were even more thorough and pure than his own.
This further solidified his resolve to follow and assist Li Yao.
So he stopped insisting on kneeling and said with a sincere expression:
"The world is in chaos and the people are suffering. The reason I joined the Mohist school is to eliminate the chaos and bring peace to the people by adhering to the principles of 'universal love' and 'non-aggression'."
"I never imagined that my lifelong ideal would turn out to be nothing more than a pipe dream, impractical."
"What you just said has enlightened Yuanzong."
"The principles of 'universal love and non-aggression' cannot eliminate the chaos in the world. Perhaps only by stopping war with war and unifying the world can we eliminate the chaos and bring peace to the people."
"Sir, your insight is extraordinary and your martial arts are superb. You must be a sage sent down by Heaven to eliminate the chaos in the world."
"I hope you will not despise Yuan Zong and will allow Yuan Zong to follow you."
In fact, what impressed Yuanzong with Li Yao was not only these things, but also Li Yao's saying that "if the king breaks the law, he shall be punished the same as the common people."
In this era of absolute monarchical power, this statement was nothing short of groundbreaking.
No one would have thought of it, and no one would have dared to utter such a shocking statement.
Therefore, in Yuanzong's eyes, as long as he supported and assisted Li Yao, allowing Li Yao to unify the world and become the monarch, he would be able to achieve his goal.
Then Li Yao would implement the legal principle that "the king is subject to the same laws as the common people," and the people would no longer suffer.
Yuanzong's thoughts were very pure and direct.
His ultimate goal was only one: to eliminate the great scourge of the world and realize the great benefit of the world.
Although Li Yao said that this ideal was impossible to achieve.
However, he believed that as long as the world was unified, the people would be at peace, and by practicing the legal principle that "the king is subject to the same laws as the common people," the great harms of the majority could be eliminated and the great benefits of the majority could be realized.
He could still accept this outcome.
Li Yao, of course, was unaware that Emperor Yuanzong already regarded him as a monarch.
However, Yuan Zong's words made him somewhat tempted.
In this turbulent world, possessing a powerful force can ensure one's invincibility.
The Mohist Guild, led by Yuan Zong, is a force to be reckoned with.
Before the Qin state unified the country, the Mohist guild was a highly sought-after organization by various states.
After a moment of contemplation, Li Yao nodded and said, "Since you insist so much, it would seem pretentious of me to refuse again. Let us work together to eliminate the chaos in the world and bring peace to the people."
Yuan Zong was so excited that he almost knelt down again. He quickly bowed deeply to Li Yao and said, "Thank you, my lord."
Then, he took out a piece of brass from his pocket, with only the character '墨' (mo) on it, like a large seal.
He respectfully presented the brass to Li Yao with both hands and said:
"My lord, this is the Grand Master's Token of our Mohist Guild. With this token, we can command all Mohists in the world."
"I am a disciple of the former Grand Master Meng Sheng. My purpose in coming out of seclusion this time is to unify these three guilds."
“I thought that revitalizing the guild would be a piece of cake.”
"Who would have thought that when they found Zhao Mo's leader in Handan, he was chased and killed by the other side, which is why they escaped here."
"Now, if our lord were to become the leader of our Mohist Guild, I believe that with your talent, you would surely be able to unify the three Mohist factions, lead all Mohists in the world to unify the world, eliminate the great chaos, and bring peace to the people."
Emperor Yuanzong spoke with great enthusiasm, becoming more and more excited as he spoke.
It was as if he had already seen it: under Li Yao's wise leadership, the world would be unified and the people would live in peace.
Li Yao was not as excited or thrilled as Yuan Zong.
However, when he saw the imperial edict, a thought immediately struck him.
He knew that there was more to this precious token than met the eye.
It contains three supplementary moves to the military strategy and swordsmanship left by the first Grand Master Mozi, as well as the Mozi breathing method.
However, these things were not important to Li Yao.
Military strategy goes without saying.
Li Yao has already acquired the three supplementary moves of the Mozi Swordplay and the Mozi Breathing Technique through the system.
In fact, Li Yao learned the Mozi sword technique from Yuan Zong.
However, Yuan Zong did not know the three supplementary moves or Mozi's breathing method.
However, Li Yao can use the system to consume luck points to upgrade the martial arts skills he has picked up, thereby tracing back to their origins and obtaining all the moves of that martial arts skill, including those that have been lost.
Therefore, he had already acquired the three supplementary moves and Mozi's breathing method.
Prior to this, Li Yao had acquired the 'Wing Chun' from Ip Man and the 'Qi Family Knife Technique' from Jin Yichuan.
After upgrading these two skills, his Wing Chun was more varied, more complete, and more powerful than Ip Man's Wing Chun and his Qi Family Knife Technique was more powerful than Jin Yichuan's Qi Family Knife Technique.
Li Yao took the Grand Prince's Decree from Yuan Zong and carefully observed the two dots on the character '墨'. He gently touched them with his finger and felt the two dots rotate slightly, almost imperceptibly.
There really was a trap!
So he deliberately pretended to play with the token, stroking it with his fingers as he said, "This token is exquisitely crafted..."
Suddenly, his expression changed, and he pointed to the two dots on the character '墨' (mo), exclaiming in surprise, "These two dots seem to be able to move."
Yuan Zong quickly took the Grand Prince's Token, rubbed the two dots with his fingers, and exclaimed in surprise, "It really can move! But what is its purpose?"
Li Yao intentionally guided Yuan Zong, saying, "Try it and see if you can press it down."
Yuan Zong nodded and pressed down hard, but he couldn't move it.
Li Yao pretended to be deep in thought, and after a moment, he said, "Try again and see if you can pull it up."
Yuan Zong nodded and pulled hard.
With a "whoosh," the dot was pulled up.
Yuan Zong was taken aback.
Li Yao also pretended to be surprised.
Chapter 38 Sage Li Yao, Astonishing Swordsmanship Talent
Under Li Yao's deliberate guidance, Yuan Zong drew another circle.
Then, under Li Yao's guidance, he rotated the two protruding cylinders.
Soon, under Li Yao's deliberate guidance, Yuan Zong opened the mechanism of the Grand Prince's Decree.
Yuan Zong was astonished. He never expected that the Juzi Token he always carried on his person would have such a hidden meaning.
At this moment, staring at Li Yao with a mixture of surprise and delight, he said excitedly:
"My lord, this is indeed the will of Heaven!"
“Even my master didn’t know that the Grand Prince’s Token contained a hidden mechanism, and as soon as I presented the Grand Prince’s Token to my lord, he discovered the strangeness of it.”
"It is clear from this that our lord is ordained by Heaven to serve as the leader of our Mohist guild."
Li Yao was stunned.
He deliberately guided Yuan Zong to open the mechanism of the Grand Master's Token, only to retrieve the military strategy, the three supplementary moves, and the Mozi breathing method and give them to Yuan Zong, so as not to waste them.
Unexpectedly, Yuan Zong believed that his appearance was the will of Heaven and an arrangement of the gods because of this matter. Yuan Zong became even more convinced that he was the leader of the Mohist Guild and became even more determined to follow him.