Chapter 68: Meeting Plato

Plato was stunned for a moment, and then smiled: "Lysias, it's nice to see you again! You've gained weight, and I almost didn't recognize it."

Indeed, at this time, Lycias had a good life and a successful career, and he was no longer the same as when he wrote defense speeches and earned money in Athens. He patted the prominent belly that was covered by the gorgeous Bolton, seemingly helpless, but secretly sighed: "The older you get, the more flesh you have, and you can't lose it. There is really no way."

Plato replied with a smile: "Because it is your experience and knowledge that grows with age!"

Being held by Plato, Lysias laughed, pointed at the person next to him, and said enthusiastically: "Let me introduce to you, this is Elder Dionia, the main organizer of this "All-Greek Scholars Conference"— —Ancitalos."

"Could it be Ancitanos who wrote "The Great History of Greece"?!" Plato asked with a look of surprise.

"The Great History of Greece was written by me, but I can barely read it." Ancitanos said modestly: "Unlike Plato's "Republic" that shocked scholars all over Greece, even ours King Davos also raved about your book, calling it a political marvel, and complimenting you on the great Plato!"

Ancitanos' praise made Plato a little embarrassed, and he said frankly: "This book was written by me after traveling in the Mediterranean for 12 years, using the knowledge gained by observation and thinking, and there are many flaws and drawbacks. , is constantly improving..."

In fact, when this book was written, it caused a lot of controversy and criticism in Athens, because Plato was very critical of the shortcomings of the democratic system in the book.

Plato turned to praise and said: "It's the "History of Great Greece" written by you, Lord Ancitanos. The hundreds of years of history in Great Greece are clearly and clearly described. I think it is no less than Thucydides' "History of the Peloponnesian War". The hundreds of years of hard history in southern Italy, I have kept three copies in my school's bookstore..."

"You two, stop praising each other first, we have to leave here quickly. Don't forget Ancitanos, King Davos is still waiting to meet Plato!" Lycias urged.

"Your king wants to see me?" Plato was surprised.

"Didn't I just say that King Davos respects you very much. The reason why I want to see you now is because the conference has not yet started, so it will not be too noticeable." Ancitanos explained.

Plato understood when he thought about it, and then smiled: "That's great,

I was just about to meet the amazing king who created the miracle of Dionia! "

Compared with the two scholars who came before, there were more bystanders who recognized Plato, not because he was more famous at this time, but because it had not been a few years since he completed his travels to the major countries and city-states in the Mediterranean. , Hippocrates and Democritus had entered their old age and rarely traveled far.

For example, Eulopes, a merchant from Agrigento, once met Plato when he was traveling in Sicily, and when he was doing business in Syracuse and Leotine respectively. At this moment, he looked at Plato's distant back and imagined: the famous Greek doctor - Hippocrates, the omniscient scholar - the student of Democritus, the famous scholar of Athens - Plato. In only half a day, Dionia invited three well-known scholars from the Greek world. The conference of all Greek scholars held by Dionia must be a gathering of scholars, and I am afraid it will be quite attractive. Does Turii want to replace Athens and become the academic center of the Greek world? !

………………………………

For this great philosopher and thinker who was called the "Father of Philosophy" by Westerners in his previous life, when Westerners talk about politics and philosophical research, they have even reached a consensus that "Plato is philosophy, and philosophy is Plato". Firth longed to see him.

And Plato also hopes to see this young king who can make a small city-state rise rapidly to become the most powerful Greek force in the Western Mediterranean, and ask him face to face the political mysteries of "making the country fast and strong", and believes that he will be able to improve his political system. Philosophical theories are helpful.

Both of them had an urgent desire to meet in the King's Office at the Dionysian Palace.

Plato's stature is not tall and his physique is strong, which is quite different from the traditional Chinese image of a handsome and handsome literati, and Davos, as a young king who created the powerful kingdom of Dionia, also has the word "handsome and martial". Can't touch too much edge.

But neither of them are ordinary people, and they will not look at each other with the mundane attitude of "judging people by their appearance". After sizing each other up, Plato first said: "Dear Your Majesty Davos, I came here from the port, a On the way, I found that there is a big difference between the citizens of Dionia and the citizens of other Greek city-states--" He paused, seeing Davos' curious expression, and then said: "None of you have beards, is that on purpose? "

Davos didn't expect Plato to ask such a question when he opened his mouth, he subconsciously touched his bare chin and said with a smile: "This is because the people of Dionysius have realized that they have long beards in their lives over the years. It's not a good thing. During the battle with the enemy, our civilian soldiers found that the beard was too long and could easily be dragged by the opponent, resulting in injury or even loss of life. If it is too long, if it is not cleaned frequently, it will breed some small things that we cannot see and cause us to suffer from diseases, but frequent cleaning will cost us a lot of energy and time, it is better to scrape it completely.”

Hearing what Davos said, Plato also subconsciously stroked his bushy beard and said in a deep voice: "So, the Dionysians advocate practicality? For this reason, they are not even willing to follow the ancient Greek tradition?"

Davos smiled and said seriously: "We Greeks have a clearer and richer understanding of the environment and nature with the passage of time, and scholars in ancient times are definitely unable to compare with us now, so there are many of them. The views and understandings of the people are simple and even wrong... So of course we must inherit the good Greek tradition; but the bad tradition, why should we keep it! Just like other city-states lock women in their homes, and We Dionia gave the women of the kingdom more freedom and equal education, didn't you also call for equality between men and women in the city-state in "Utopia"?!..."

Davos's words made Plato listen and think, but he did not respond directly, but asked: "Since Your Majesty you said that you want to inherit the good Greek traditions and discard the bad ones, then you become a king and will Dionysian The sub-alliance has become a kingdom, is it because the royal government system is superior to other government systems?"

Davos also did not answer his question directly, but looked at him and said seriously: "I have read your "Republic", regarding your opinion that 'only philosophers are the best city-state rulers' , I don't agree. Even having philosophers in power will only make the city-state worse!"

Hearing this, Plato opened his eyes and quickly regained his composure. He asked in a serious tone, "Why does His Majesty think so?"

Davos said calmly: "We Greeks call philosophy 'the study of the love of wisdom', which is a profound knowledge that explores the evolution of heaven, earth, society, and the human world, and can be called a philosopher. A person must devote all his heart and energy to it in order to obtain his own incisive insights into the world. This is not an easy task, so where does he have the spare time to govern the country?! Look at me here— —"

Davos pointed to the mountains of letters, proposals, and materials on his desk, sighed, and said, "This is the kingdom affairs that I have to deal with in a day. In addition, I have to recruit officials to discuss and participate in The discussion of various proposals in the Senate... I have almost no free time on this day. Even meeting with you, I have to plan in advance, and only spare half an hour, and this will lead to today's I have to go home later, otherwise some resolutions cannot be approved in time and can only be postponed until tomorrow, which not only means a decrease in administrative efficiency, but also means that the lives of people in a city or a region of the kingdom will be greatly affected... …

You see, if he wants to be a good king, he has no time to study philosophy, and can only devote most of his energy to the complicated affairs of the city-state. The same is true of the city administrators in my kingdom. Their power is equivalent to the rulers of other city-states. They must be diligent and down-to-earth to solve the practical problems of the cities under their jurisdiction. Seriously, without me replacing him, the local councilors and tribunes will protest against him..."

"Your Majesty, your diligence amazes me!" Plato first praised, and then said calmly, "Since Your Majesty has said that philosophy is the study of the love of wisdom, then wisdom cannot be achieved by sitting there and dreaming. He has to extract it from practice. When you encounter difficulties in dealing with government affairs, you should think carefully, discover the rules, and finally find a solution, and even extract this method into a system, By extension, isn't this the result of applying philosophy!  …”

"It seems that all the chief executives in the kingdom and I are philosophers. It's too easy to be a philosopher." Davers retorted softly.