Xinshun 1730

Chapter 1027 Fragmentation (V)

For a long time, Meng Songlu, speechless, let out a long sigh and smiled wryly.

Before he came to Haizhou, Cheng Tingzuo once talked with these disciples about one thing, that is, a huge crisis that Confucianism is now facing.

When Dashun was founded, Duke Yan Sheng was enshrined as a marquis, and he was also a son of a good family who practiced practical learning, which made it clear that he didn't have much trust in Confucianism.

However, in Cheng Tingzuo's view, this is actually saving Confucianism, and theoretically there is still a chance to save himself.

Daming fell to the world, and Dashun was pulled back. The pot is not too big.

So this is not too big, but certainly not too small, and "Song-Ming Confucianism" can completely memorize it.

Confucianism is right, what is wrong is that some people sing crooked scriptures, as long as we reverse Song Confucianism's blind interpretation of classics, it is still possible.

However, Cheng Tingzuo wrote a poem 20 years before Dashun went to Nanyang, arguing that the so-called "Island barbarians" must be the future enemy, and we must guard against Western aggression and prevent the story of Luzon from repeating itself.

This is not only radical when I was young, but also a kind of vigilance after seeing Western culture.

With the opening of Songjiang Port, the more Cheng Tingzuo came into contact with, the more fear and panic he felt in his heart.

Back then, Buddhism forced Confucianism to launch a full-scale counterattack. Countless great Confucianists took action to improve their worldview and block Buddhism. This also included the direct use of the imperial court's administrative power and violent machinery.

This also caused Cheng Tingzuo not to take Yangming School as orthodoxy, because they generally felt that "although they strongly promote Yangming, they don't take it as their sect, why? They use it as a miscellaneous Zen."

But now, Dashun's ban on teaching is getting tighter, but there are still revelations about private preaching, and what is often revealed is jaw-dropping.

Some would rather die than tell where the missionaries are hiding, and some still maintain a worshiping posture after being broken by a stick.

All these shocked Cheng Tingzuo deeply. What made these people so stubborn?
What is it that allows these low-level people to physically resist the imperial court, which is comparable to Japan's prohibition order?

After the outbreak of the teaching case in Suzhou, he went to see it. With his literary name in Jiangnan, he got a lot of news about the interrogation, and he also knew why the women in Suzhou were so determined.

The conclusion he drew is not necessarily correct. He only thinks that it is because the people are too miserable, life is worse than death, so they are easy to be deceived, and they would rather look forward to heaven after death.

In addition to being shocked, after he arrived in Songjiang Mansion, he also knew that what Liu Yu said on the issue of selling tea was only part of the truth. The "British tenant" farmers who encouraged Dashun Capital to expand westward had an average monthly salary of 32 shillings, equivalent to five taels of silver".

These words have different meanings to different people.

Liu Yu was telling part of the truth, deliberately borrowing the difference between "tenant farmers" in Dashun and British agricultural laborers, pretending not to know, and deliberately translating it into the very exciting word "tenant farmers", without mentioning the specific background.

From the perspective of the emerging class in Dashun, this was a vast market, and this vast market made them willing to go to war with the British East India Company to seize the profits.

To Cheng Tingzuo's ears, this was a deep shock.

If he is the group of Liu Yu's direct descendants, they will analyze the difference in food prices between the two sides due to the spread of the price revolution, the land situation on both sides, the per capita mu tax, the traditional feudal tax in the past, foreign expansion, wool trade, etc. question.

But he is not.

So this kind of shock, for Cheng Tingzuo, only felt a huge crisis.

Coupled with the shocking behavior of the congregation on the issue of banning religion, the shock in his heart quickly turned into a crisis.

The Ming Dynasty was destroyed, and Dashun was pulled back. The blame wasn’t too big, so the scapegoat wasn’t too big, but it was certainly not too small.

If the island barbarians invade in the future and the western barbarians become powerful, then "Song-Ming Neo Confucianism" has already been blamed.Not to mention that I have already recited it, even if I don’t recite it, if something happens in the future, if I put it all together, can I recite it?

If they can't carry it anymore, who will carry this cauldron?

Who can recite it?
Who can bear this prestige?
His teacher's generation was an extreme radical, and at most they shouted "a piece of Cheng Zhu, and a piece of Confucius and Mencius", and wanted to wipe out Song and Ming Neo Confucianism.

But if the thing he feared happened, who would a radical like his teacher destroy?

Dashun Confucian scholars like Cheng Tingzuo have experienced too many twists and turns. They have experienced the cruelest Dashun counterattack to protect the world, and they have also experienced unanimous reflections on Cheng Zhu's Neo Confucianism, and they have also experienced a peer-to-peer civilization that did not exist before. shock.

Then, in their own hearts, they had to have a circle that they couldn't get out of.

If.

Confucianism said that he only talked about self-cultivation and morality, so should he shave his hair and put it on the table, and join forces with the captives and flatten the bandits?
Even if this is put into the ideology of Confucianism, it is also a moral issue, right?How did you make it so morally dead?
How should the kingly way be done in order to truly educate the people and make them virtuous?

The problem now is that at the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was a group of people who were not the educated but the educated.Confucian scholars, as educators, are not as good as those who are educated. What should we do?
If.

Confucianism thinks that it is not a religion, it is something higher than the Western religions that are now invading, and it is not a low-level religion at all. It is not just about self-cultivation and morality, but has a whole set of political ideas.

Then, for this whole set of political ideas, one must come up with a political structure that conforms to one’s own ideas. Land ownership, legal rights, industry and commerce, taxation, etc. must have a framework, and then try to practice it?
Why not mention the practice first, the blueprint must be drawn first, right?
It is very easy to expel Wang Mang's Confucianism and Wang Anshi's Confucianism.

But what about after the expulsion?

That's a new one.

It should be said that Cheng Tingzuo was aware of this and also aware of the huge crisis involved. After all, he was also the one who worried about Western aggression following the story of Luzon 20 years ago when Dashun went to Nanyang.

So he wants to engage in "new philosophy".

It is necessary to theorize and systematize the Yan-Li School, which emphasizes utilitarianism and disdains classics, and then guide reality.

Because of the death of Shunxing Ming Dynasty and the expulsion of the Tartars, the period was difficult and unprecedented.Song and Ming Neo-Confucianism has already been blamed, but now it is too late to break it and not establish it, and if it does not establish a new one, if similar things happen in the future, who will be blamed for it? Some radical Confucian scholars are very clear in their hearts.

The Yongjia Yongkang School is similar to the previous predicament of the Yanli School. They do not have a complete set of scriptures and can only "see things as they happen". They are too overbearing and it is difficult to stand up the scriptures.

Wang Anshi's new learning originally intended to "unify thinking", but it is generally believed within Confucianism that Jing Gong's new learning is obviously a technique for applying business.

This sutra is difficult to debate, and the standard of right and wrong has already been set.

A lot of new knowledge fundamentally touches on questions like "Do you eat pork" or "Do you eat fish on Fridays?"

The current situation of breaking but not establishing is here, making everyone want to be orthodox.

Then everyone can't be, because if you want to be orthodox, someone will point out that you don't conform to the scriptures.

The reason why there is a situation of breaking but not standing is also due to this.

When it breaks, everyone works together.

When standing up, everyone scrambled to be the first, but whoever runs fast will definitely be dragged by the people behind.

So far, we can only rely on the ancients to reform the system. Those who are ancient can stand firm, and those who are original can stand firm.

So a group of people picked up the ancient books of the pre-Qin period, directly bypassed the Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming Dynasties, and wanted to annotate the scriptures themselves.

However, the older it is, the bigger the problem.

What was the proportion of industry and commerce in ancient times?Was there a factory system in ancient times?Was the economic foundation in ancient times closer to the present, or was the economic foundation in the Song and Ming Dynasties closer to the present?

Furthermore, it is useless to annotate the scriptures by yourself. After annotating, you must get the approval of the world.Now the authority of Song-Ming Confucianism has fallen, and Confucius died 2000 years ago, and everyone has the right to interpret the scriptures.

That means, everyone has an article from 2000 years ago, saying that other people's solution is wrong.

It wasn't until he actually achieved this step that Cheng Tingzuo understood why his teacher said that sentence that sounded so weird.

[The ancient poems and books are just the spectrum of economic practice, but the path to get it, the authenticity is irrelevant].

Now that I think about it, it doesn't matter whether it's true or false, it's basically preparing to "fabricate" the saint's remarks.It's a pity that he died early, otherwise, taking advantage of the opportunity of Japan's opening and closing, I'm afraid I don't know how many "ancient books" "from the East to China" can be compiled.

Now, it has been passed down to Meng Songlu's generation. On the issue of equalization of land, Meng Songlu is directly speechless by these young people.

Now it is clear that expecting the court to equalize the land and the landlords to donate the land themselves is pure nonsense.

So, if you can't even take the first step, what else is there to talk about?
If you have to take the first step, and it is determined that it is impossible for the court to equalize the land and the landlords to donate the land, what should we do?

Continue to push down, but it's scary.

What did the Xiaoxiao School do in Cangzhou, recruiting disciples, teaching various cultures, astronomy and geography, martial arts art of war, horseback riding and firearms, strict discipline, determining the political program, and perfecting the social blueprint?
Meng Songlu was speechless, but Meng Tiezhu opposite him did not stop.

If you think about it in a darker way, maybe it’s because of the huge difference in status, maybe it’s because Meng Tiezhu is born a bad person and likes to mock others, or maybe it’s because the court’s separation of identities makes them self-proclaimed “scholars” who are not scholars and recognize the court. The envy and dissatisfaction of scholars.

In any case, Meng Tiezhu did not stop mocking, but continued to ask: "Even if you talk about equalizing the land, after equalizing the land, you only talk about farmers. What about businessmen? What about officials? What about officials?"

Meng Songlu was pushed to the corner, so he could only endorse at this time.

"Mr. Kun Sheng has already said this question..."

[It is clearly announced to the world to control the people's permanent property.It is said that those who cannot support the people will have no place to stand; therefore, those who have no place to stand will be annexed by the powerful...]

[The current law: Those who have land must cultivate it themselves, and do not recruit people to cultivate it on their behalf. 】

[The self-cultivator is a farmer, let alone a scholar, a merchant, or a worker. 】

[If you are not a farmer, you will have no land, and scholars and businessmen will have no land, what about officials? 】

[Officials, big or small, are not allowed to own land, but farmers are allowed to have land. 】

【In the world, those who own land without farming, if they are willing to dedicate it to officials, they will be rewarded with nobles and salaries. If they are willing to sell to officials, they will be rewarded with capital. 】

[The self-employment of farmers should not exceed a hundred acres. 】

It is impossible for Meng Tiezhu to be like Liu Yu, who directly rants that this is a "reactionary utopia", but said eccentrically: "Oh, it turns out that the perfect system in the world you imagined is just like the previous dynasty. Military status, business status, is it not easy? You serious 'students' can only think of this step, right?"

(End of this chapter)