Chapter 7170 Only a sliver of possibility

Chapter 7170 Just a sliver of a possibility

At this moment, the three of them stood facing each other, all somewhat silent. After all, these three guys were all young now. Even Sima Yi, who had the worst morals, now had some ambition for the world. As for Zhuge Liang, he was a moral exemplar. No matter what thoughts Cyprian had, he always felt some pity for the weak.

Therefore, when they reached this conclusion, the three of them stood facing each other, each appearing somewhat lonely, because when the topic was discussed to this point, they all knew in their hearts that there were truly no answers.

The smarter, calmer, and more far-sighted one is, the clearer one's understanding becomes. There is no perfect political system. For thousands of years, every strong person who has reached this level has been thinking about how to build a perfect, fluid, and infinitely sustainable system, but all of them have failed.

"Alas, no matter what system it is, it is actually rule by man." Sima Yi said with a hint of helplessness, "As long as we are human, it is impossible to completely separate ourselves from the four words 'closeness' and 'distance'. And all the systems in this world are helpless in the face of these four words."

As he spoke, Sima Yi looked at Chen Xi. He was well aware of why Chen Xi was willing to help him and give him a hand. In essence, this was a reflection of how close or distant they were. Chen Xi was more restrained in this regard, but in essence, he was no different from those people in the past.

“There is no road ahead.” Cyprian said with an almost unwavering conviction, “All the strong throughout history have realized this. Whether driven by morality or for their own benefit, they have all considered and tried to solve this problem, but in any case, it is unsolvable. There is no road ahead!”

Zhuge Liang nodded upon hearing this. Knowing many things doesn't mean you can solve them. Even comparing Rome and the Han Dynasty, the two most prosperous civilizations of our time, which can be considered terrifying beacons of the era, doesn't solve the problem. This is because they both have certain unavoidable flaws that no one can overcome; it's a problem inherent in humanity itself.

Or to put it more bluntly, systems can only mitigate these problems, not solve them.

"No matter how perfect a system is, it still needs people to implement it." Zhuge Liang looked at Sima Yi with a hint of regret. "As Chen Hou once said, even a terrible system can work if the people implementing it are good enough, fully understand the purpose of the system, and have enough morality. But even the best system is meaningless to people who are just looking to exploit loopholes."

“The problem is that there are many more of the latter in this world, and very few of the former. In fact, it should be said that the former, who are like saints, who seem to have been born for this position, have been very rare since ancient times.” Cyprian said with a hint of helplessness. “Everyone knows the shortcomings of human nature, so it is normal to choose the latter, to do simple and mediocre work, in order to gain some benefits for oneself.”

“Yes, those who choose the latter are normal people, while those who choose the former are saints born of the times. Even if they are not, they are pillars born for a certain link in this system. How many such people are there in an era? And even if most people are like this for a certain period of time, how long can they maintain it?” Sima Yi said with some emotion. When talking about these things, he finally realized that he could also chime in, and he could even speak eloquently.

“So everything has come back to its essence.” Zhuge Liang looked at Cyprian, who seemed lost in thought, while Sima Yi remained somewhat silent.

“Now I completely agree with what you said before, even though you went through such a long and roundabout way.” Cyprian said after a moment of silence, “Compared to the issues we were entangled in before, now that you’ve brought everything back to its essence, I’m increasingly convinced of what you mean by universal education. It’s true that it can’t solve all the problems, but it can certainly solve most of them.”

Cyprian fully understood why Zhuge Liang's roundabout approach ultimately failed to solve the problem: because the problem had no answer, no one could solve it, or to put it more directly, no human being could solve it.

Faced with this completely unsolvable problem, popularizing education and improving the quality of the population is the only way to come close to solving it, and the only way that we can see hope by relying on the wisdom of future generations and passing the torch from generation to generation.

"I didn't quite understand Lord Chen's approach before, because the investment in education is very large and continuous. The Han Dynasty's biggest investments are in roads, logistics, transportation, and education, while the investment in military affairs is relatively small," Zhuge Liang said with a hint of reminiscence.

Zhuge Liang understood the importance of education because, since ancient times, in the Central Plains, literacy and education, if not the most prestigious profession, were certainly first-rate and respected. Even in later generations, before the collapse of the social order, teachers were still a profession respected by most people. And frankly, most people's respect for teachers was more for the knowledge they imparted than for the teachers themselves.

Because I may not know the teacher's personal ethics, but since you are in this profession, I will naturally have some respect for this profession.

Therefore, when Chen Xi started engaging in education, the major families didn't react much in the early days, because they also agreed that education was a kind of politically correct thing in the Central Plains. If you teach others knowledge and how to conduct themselves, you will naturally gain their respect. The major families were also doing this, but Chen Xi's scale was too large at the time.

However, even though the scale seemed exaggerated to the major families at the time, it was completely insignificant in Chen Xi's eyes. Chen Xi's goal was to popularize education. It was just that in the early days, there was a lack of books and teachers. Now, the books were in place, but the teachers were not. In short, there were quite a few problems. There were too many prerequisites for popularizing education.

Even so, Chen Xi continued to push forward with related education, because everyone who experienced China at the end of the 20th century knew one thing: education cannot solve the root problem, but it can at least suppress it, while other solutions cannot even suppress it.

“The Aegean civilization cannot do this,” Cyprian said, shaking his head. “It is impossible for them to achieve universal education. Their reality dictates that no matter how much they evolve, they will never reach the point where universal education is possible. The resistance is too great.”

"We do face some resistance here, but it's relatively better. Once we get education going, it's hard to find any direct obstacles. At most, they might add their own ideas to the textbooks." Zhuge Liang shook his head. In the Central Plains, it's very difficult to stop education. Even though the foundation of aristocratic families is based on a combination of educational rights and the right to interpret morality, as long as the country wants to promote education and has enough money and manpower, aristocratic families have no legitimate reason to obstruct it.

This is very important. The reasons are important, but the reasons that can be put on the table are even more important. Obviously, in the Central Plains, as long as the money and people are in place, and the country promotes education, no one can have a reason to obstruct it.

Confucianism has many problems, but no matter how much Confucianists misinterpret the classics of their ancestors, they cannot change the principles of "education for all" and "teaching according to aptitude." At most, they may not do it properly, but they cannot stop others from doing it. Therefore, the Central Plains has an innate foundation for this.

The civilization that originated from the Aegean Sea, even in its current state, with Rome being almost a dreamlike miracle, could not possibly provide universal education. Providing universal education for Roman citizens was not a problem, and Rome itself has always been promoting it. But to say that it was provided to everyone is nonsense. What makes Roman citizens superior to barbarians? Isn't it the systematic organizational ability brought about by their intelligence?

Essentially, the reason why millions of Roman citizens could suppress tens of millions of European barbarians was because of a systematic organizational structure, which systematically strengthened its own base and artificially created a division between Roman citizens and European barbarians, forming different classes.

These things sound simple because later generations have learned them, understand how these operations work, can interpret and deconstruct them, and clearly analyze how they work. They can even gradually realize how to dismantle them.

But in this era, these are all pieces of knowledge, and very important pieces of knowledge at that.

The reason why barbarians could be treated like dogs by Roman citizens, who numbered only a fraction of them, was because they lacked such knowledge. What if education were widespread? Once people were enlightened, they would be harder to fool. And once they could no longer be fooled, the innate human tendency to seek advantage and avoid harm would inevitably lead them to choose the path that benefits them.

This is a problem that no system can solve.

What will happen then? The collapse of Rome, of course.

Therefore, the Roman Empire would certainly not choose to popularize education. At most, it would choose to popularize education for its core population. Or to put it more directly, no matter how problematic a country's system is, if it is still willing to teach and popularize knowledge that allows you to see, understand, and solve problems, it means that the country still considers you a human being in its system.

Of course, this also applies to the system itself. After all, no matter how well a system is planned and constructed, it still has to face the erosion caused by the rule of man. If the system considers you a person, then whether the implementing level is truly human is questionable.

However, once you've been taught what you were supposed to be taught, how to use that knowledge and how to break through the barriers of rule by man is your own business. After all, there are only a few powers in this world, and only a few that can withstand the tides of time. The power of knowledge is one of them. Even if you haven't been given anything else, having this power and mastering it will be enough to dominate the world.

Although from a certain perspective, this approach is somewhat self-destructive and relies on the natural talent of those who come after, in truth, it is the right path no matter what, a path that predecessors could not block no matter what they tried.

"So, the next step for the Han Dynasty should be to increase the population and then improve the quality of the people through education?" Cyprian was somewhat conflicted, having seen everything but finding himself powerless to do anything about it, and in the end, he even seemed a bit resigned to his fate.

“No, why does it sound a bit self-deprecating in your words? That shouldn’t be the case. Aren’t you usually so arrogant and proud?” Sima Yi clearly heard the desolation in Cyprian’s words and said with a strange tone, “Didn’t you always say that you would defeat the entire Senate by yourself? How come you’re so easily defeated by such a small setback?”

Upon hearing Sima Yi's sarcastic remarks, Cyprian's fists clenched, but in the end, he let out a sigh and did not make a move.

"Because some things are impossible to do due to the overall environment, or even the deeper cultural foundations. In the Han Dynasty, all you needed to do this was money and people. There was basically no resistance. Even if there was resistance, it wouldn't be open." Zhuge Liang explained to Sima Yi with a smile. He knew Sima Yi understood, but he still wanted to say it.

“The core issue is this: whether there are obstacles, whether they are overt or covert, these are the real questions,” Cyprian said helplessly. “Zhuge Liang has basically found a correct path that can be continued. It may collapse one day, but at the very least, continuing down this path is currently the most correct and most likely way to break free from the tide of time and enter a new possibility. And this path cannot be replicated by other civilizations.”

It's not that other civilizations can't be replicated, but rather that civilizations other than the Chinese can't be replicated, especially the Hydra of the Aegean Sea, which is absolutely impossible to replicate.

“To replicate this correct answer in Rome would be tantamount to destroying Rome,” Cyprian said with a wry smile. “Give this answer to Rome, and we can expect Rome to be destroyed.”

"And what about you? How do you view this issue?" Sima Yi understood this as well, but he was very curious about how Cyprian would view everything after hearing this answer.

"Actually, I did want to do it," Cyprian said honestly. It wasn't for entertainment or to see Rome collapse; it was more realistic. Cyprian also felt that promoting universal education, taking a gamble, might be the right thing to do to escape this predicament in the future.

After all, compared to other methods that are bound to fail, popularizing education at least offers other possibilities.

As for whether there's a way to survive or not, the choice is obvious.

The only worrying thing is that the Roman Empire chose this path of survival, meaning they didn't have to wait until that day in the future; they had to die now.

“Just like Zhongda told me before, one man’s meat is another man’s poison,” Cyprian said helplessly. “I’ll see if I have any other ideas later. That’s all for today. I’ll talk to you about it when I think of something else. The Roman Empire…”

After saying that, Cyprian left without lingering at all, without saying a single extra word.

"Did you do this on purpose?" Sima Yi asked Zhuge Liang with some doubt after Cyprian left. Zhuge Liang glanced at Sima Yi and then turned to leave.

At this moment, the resentment in Sima Yi's heart began to rise rapidly.

"How is it? Is Cyprian pretty good?" Chen Xi asked with a smile as he looked at Zhuge Liang, who was walking towards him.

“Celestial Being.” Zhuge Liang said after a moment of silence. This term was originally used to describe Chen Xi, but it was later changed to “Lonely Moon.” In other words, Zhuge Liang felt that Cyprian was roughly equivalent to Chen Xi in the first stage, not yet fully liberated.

"Pretty much. Your use of that word isn't wrong. That guy is indeed extraordinary, and unlike you, who excels in all-around abilities, almost all of his abilities are concentrated in organizational structure and operations. And you know very well that organizational structure and operations determine the normal power limit of a political entity." Chen Xi nodded upon hearing this, agreeing with Zhuge Liang's assessment of Cyprian.

“He has some minor personality issues, but compared to his abilities, they are nothing to worry about. In fact, compared to others, his personality problems can be ignored.” Zhuge Liang said with a touch of emotion, “There are always people more capable than you, and there is always something beyond your understanding. His understanding of the rules of social operation is actually more profound than mine.”

"Isn't this the normal situation?" Chen Xi said with a smile. "If he didn't have such a profound understanding, what would he be doing with organizational operations and structures? These things are all extracted from the laws of society and are a symbol of his own wisdom."

“He will probably stay with the Yuan family for good.” Zhuge Liang pondered for a while and then slowly said, “He has a high opinion of the Roman Empire, but his previous exchanges made him realize that the Roman Empire is not immune to cycles. Even if it has a period of prosperity, it will eventually collapse.”

"It's not like we can escape the cycle," Chen Xi said with a hint of sarcasm.

“We probably can’t escape either, but our answer made them realize that there’s at least a possibility of escaping.” Zhuge Liang said very seriously, “Between complete impossibility and possibility, someone like Cyprian would only choose the latter, because the latter represents a different future. In his eyes, he should already know the outcome of what is destined.”

Chen Xi nodded. Why are many top thinkers pessimistic about the times and human nature? Because they can see it for themselves.

It's very difficult to maintain your composure when you can see the situation clearly!

The more you learn, the more you realize that some things are truly inescapable, yet even the slightest possibility is captivating.