I'm really not doing business

Chapter 1062 Transcending the Cycle
Li Yashi, in the Ming Dynasty, repeatedly used the astonishment of friendly nations to correct the Ming's mistakes. In addition to the well-known jokes, the high moral inferiority, and the Western feudal theory, Li Yashi also frequently wrote memorials to the throne, offering some suggestions for reference from the perspective of a Western barbarian.

Li Yougong felt that the Ming Dynasty should not lose such the ability to correct its mistakes, but with Li Yashi gone, it was really difficult. If someone else came to the Ming Dynasty, the same effect would not be achieved.

For example, Shah Maimaiti, despite living in the Ming Dynasty for so many years, still maintained the demeanor of an aristocrat, unlike Li Yashi who had completely transformed into a scholar-official of the Ming Dynasty.

Galileo and Kepler, on the other hand, were not very good at politics. They were focused on studying the boundaries of human cognition and the infinite principles of all things. They had an indifferent attitude towards politics and were unwilling to have too much contact with it, which is very similar to the style of Dean Zhu Zaiyu.

Before the Dinghai Education System, the Ming Dynasty faced a dilemma: the identities of scholars and officials were essentially the same.

The establishment of the Gewu Academy allowed scholars to choose to simply be scholars, but there was still no clear boundary. It was not until after the Dinghai Education System that the boundary between scholars and officials truly became clear.

Clearly, Galileo, Kepler, Kepler's mentor Michael, and others were all pure scholars who were deeply wary of Ming Dynasty politics and dared not participate in it.

“If I force him to stay, he will only go mad, won’t he?” Zhu Yijun shook his head and said. Li Yougong wanted to keep Li Yashi, and Zhu Yijun had also thought of this idea, but it was useless.

Li Yashi's heart has flown back to Taixi, to bring light and the sacred fire back to Taixi. Li Yashi also wants a perfect ending, not wanting to die with regrets. This has become an obsession that is enough to drive him crazy.

"Then let's think of another way," Li Yougong said helplessly after thinking for a moment.

His Majesty refused to keep him because there was no point in keeping him. Such a person can only be found slowly. As for Matteo Ricci, who read the Daoist Canon, Li Yougong felt that this person was not very capable.

Matteo Ricci came to the Ming Dynasty to preach Christianity, specifically Catholicism, not the Church of the Great Light. It would have been better to let him continue studying the Daoist Canon.

When the emperor granted his request, Li Ya was completing his final work on the Ming Dynasty, "On China".

This is his last book on the Ming Dynasty. He no longer wanted to limit his discussion to the Ming Dynasty alone, as that would be too narrow-minded.

He wrote this article from a Western perspective, discussing China. This was his last gift to the Ming Dynasty, hoping to bring some help to it.

Ricci was fully aware of the dangers of this return journey. He might die in towering waves, in a storm, in a plague, or in solitude, or he might successfully reach France and then die by the sword of Henry IV, that lion-like monarch.

But Rija did not regret it. A person can be as heavy as Mount Tai or as light as a feather. Death is the ultimate curtain call, and it may be the best farewell to the world.

Li Yashi's book was nearing its final stages, and in the last part, he hesitated for a long time before writing:
The incomparably wise emperor of the Ming Dynasty led the Ming Dynasty to greatness once again. He was so devoted to the world and as steadfast as a rock that even after being tempered a thousand times, his will could not be broken in the slightest. As a result, the most common tactic of the lowly scholars, which was to let disappointment accumulate into despair and ultimately become lazy due to despair, completely failed.

This is a trick that lowly scholars use, but tricks are just tricks and are of no use to a wise ruler.

But before I leave, I must say this: the Ming emperor's unreserved favoritism towards the poor and laborers may trigger a terrible upheaval that will affect the entire Ming Dynasty.

As the divisions intensified, the Ming emperors, immersed in the narrative of acting as rulers for the people, naturally regarded the opinions of those in power as mere noise in the governance process. This disregard, indifference, and indifference would ultimately only exacerbate the divisions.

The poor and laborers are powerless against the exploitation of the powerful, influential, wealthy, and corrupt officials. They always hope that a just and upright official will stand up for them. When such an official does appear, the poor and laborers will naturally rally around His Majesty and launch an attack on these powerful figures.

Just like the choices made by poor laborers when they had no other options for thousands of years.

The disagreements exacerbated the division, which intensified the struggle and conflict. The fierce struggle further clarified the differences, eventually splitting the country into two irreconcilable factions that plunged the entire Ming Dynasty into chaos until the other side was completely annihilated.

It is an undeniable fact that people are not intelligent. Those who are favored are always fearless and cannot even forgive the sacrifices and contributions made by others for them.

This kind of favoritism from the sage ruler will make the poor and laborers increasingly unscrupulous, and will also make the powerful increasingly fearful. The great turmoil caused by this division is definitely not a situation that everyone wants to see, but this situation keeps happening again and again.

If turmoil was the final end of the Wanli Reforms, then the wise ruler probably wouldn't have chosen to begin it.

Humans are so foolish, endlessly repeating the same mistakes.

After writing his final suggestion, Li Yashi was imprisoned again in the Zhenfusi Yamen on the banks of the Huangpu River.

This time, the detention lasted for a full two months. Clearly, His Majesty was very dissatisfied with his words. He even deleted the last paragraph from "On China" before allowing it to be printed and distributed.

These words from Li Yashi stung the Ming emperor.

"That Li Yashi, a barbarian from the West, dares to point fingers at me! He's gone too far! A stray dog ​​abandoned by his monarch, barking like this! Nobody takes him seriously! Even if he wanted to be like Bigan, he couldn't!"

"Commander!" Zhu Yijun grew angrier as he read the last paragraph, slammed his hand on the table, and shouted angrily.

"Your subject is here," Zhao Mengyou and Luo Bingliang stepped forward and bowed.

At this point, the chief eunuch should have stepped in to pull him aside and persuade him, but Li Yougong was not very skilled in his craft and his acting skills were not as good as Feng Bao's. Li Yougong was also frightened at this moment and was trying to figure out the real reason why His Majesty was angry.

"Never mind." Zhu Yijun looked at the two commanders and finally restrained the urge to kill the man.

Li Yashi was, after all, a barbarian. When the emperor wanted to kill someone, no one would stop him, not even the Ministry of Justice's warrant.

Any decision made in anger will lead to lifelong regret. The emperor repeated this phrase dozens of times before he finally calmed down completely.

“Li Ya is truly a man of great character! I admire him!” Zhu Yijun slammed his hand on the heavy book “On China” on the table again, sighed, and leaned back in his chair.

Li Yougong poured His Majesty a cup of tea and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, anger is bad for your health. It's not worth getting angry with a barbarian, nor is it worth getting angry with a lowly scholar."

Li Yougong grew up with His Majesty, and Li Yashi's words were not a reason for His Majesty's fury at all; the words spoken by the Ming Dynasty officials were even harsher.

Li Yougong analyzed that the root cause of His Majesty's rage was that His Majesty saw the words "bone-necked" in Li Yashi, which was what made the emperor somewhat vulnerable.

Scholars of the Ming Dynasty spent their entire lives reading books and reciting the virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness, yet when it came to doing things, they were afflicted with greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt—all five vices.

Uprightness, integrity, benevolence—even a barbarian could learn these virtues! Yet most of the scholar-officials of the Ming Dynasty couldn't! His Majesty was angry at the scholar-officials of the Ming Dynasty, furious at their lack of ambition.

"Lock him up for two months! Give him simple meals so he can get used to life at sea and not die there!" Zhu Yijun gave the two guards a strange order. Although he wouldn't kill Li Yashi, he wanted him to eat something to eat at sea. The black bread he had brought out himself was the most suitable.

If it were a different ruler, Li Yashi wouldn't have said these things. In fact, Li Yashi had long since figured out the emperor's pulse. As long as he spoke the truth and it was beneficial to the Ming Dynasty, even if His Majesty was furious, he would calmly consider whether his words were right and whether they should be adopted after his outburst of anger.

Accepting wise and commendable advice is a mark of a wise ruler.

The emperor was really simple; he loved the Ming Dynasty more than himself and truly embodied the phrase "I am the world."

The two ends of a seesaw cannot be tilted too high on one side and too low on the other, otherwise you will twist your ankle. This is a lesson learned from history.

Li Yashi's meaning was very clear: if His Majesty continues to show favoritism, he will turn from a wise ruler into a foolish one and lead the Ming Dynasty astray.

Li Yashi was telling the truth. Zhu Yijun had long noticed this phenomenon, and many ministers had also seen it. However, under the political correctness that the people are the foundation of the state and the state is secure, no one dared to speak out. Since no one spoke up, Zhu Yijun pretended not to know.

What Li Yashi was talking about was an unsolvable choice problem.

Zhu Yijun was well aware of the divisions and problems caused by this favoritism, but he had no choice; it was a struggle over policy, and he had no other option.

If he were to abandon his favoritism towards the poor and laborers, these powerful figures would only exploit the people even more relentlessly. If he loosened his grip even slightly, it would be a devastating blow to the poor and laborers.

If a major upheaval were to occur, or even if the Wanli Reforms were to end in turmoil, Zhu Yijun would accept it. He would use his accumulated strength to quell the unrest as quickly as possible and minimize the damage caused by the turmoil.

Li Yashi's book "On China" is written from the perspective of a Westerner, and his perspective is very interesting.

For example, in his view, China has no starting point, and because it has no starting point, it has no ending point.

From ancient times to the present, China has existed as an eternal natural phenomenon throughout the long river of time.

Every civilization goes through a process: origin, development, growth, decline, and then slowly decays in its decline until nothing remains.

Legazpi knew of many civilizations that had similar experiences, such as Rome; the legendary Mesopotamia, also known as Babylon; Egypt; the Inca civilization; and the maritime superpower, the British Empire, Spain.

Even though Legazpi was Spanish, he had to admit that Spain was losing its crown as the British Empire. Regardless of who would own that crown in the future, the fact remained that it no longer belonged to Spain.

Felipe's senility and insistence on expeditions are causing Spain to lose its sea.

Legazpi was absolutely certain that once Spain lost the sea, it would never be able to regain it.

But China has broken free from the predetermined cycle of origin, development, growth, and decline, and instead has become another cycle of order, disorder, and then restoration of order.

The scourge of God lashed across the land; the Mongol hordes destroyed countless nations and civilizations, which have vanished forever into the annals of history, or transformed into something else entirely.

But after the Mongols came to the Central Plains, they established the Yuan Dynasty and became part of China.

After the Yuan Dynasty finally collapsed, order returned to the world and lasted for two hundred years. Although there were minor cracks, it remained strong and stable.

This transcendence of cycles is just like the first sentence of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms": "It is said that the general trend of the world is that after a long period of division, there will be unity, and after a long period of unity, there will be division."

Order, disorder, and the re-establishment of order—this seemingly absurd, impossible, and detached cycle is taken for granted by the Chinese.

This is a completely different cycle. If China loses its crown as the Celestial Empire, even if someone can temporarily take it away, they will eventually return to this land because China's cycle is completely different from the cycles of other civilizations.

"On the matter of why the Ming Dynasty is the Celestial Empire, it seems that Li Yashi understands it better than those scholars in the Hanlin Academy." Zhu Yijun felt that those scholars in the Hanlin Academy were really a bunch of idlers!
A barbarian, in just twenty years in the Ming Dynasty, was able to so clearly demonstrate why the Ming was the Celestial Empire—his rambling explanation was both logical and well-founded. The "Civilization" series written by the Hanlin Academy scholars, while not bad, always felt somewhat lacking in effort.

It sounds shameful, and it is indeed a shameful fact: even the scholars of the Hanlin Academy are no match for the barbarians in their ability to flatter.

“After all, Li Yashi has always been a believer, and he is indeed more professional in religion than the Hanlin scholars.” Li Yougong pointed out the reasons, not that the Hanlin scholars were incompetent, but that everyone has their own expertise, and the Westerners are indeed more professional in interpreting scriptures.

To understand why the Ming Dynasty was considered a superior nation, one must interpret its scriptures. Ming Dynasty scholars and officials always tended to find practical and concrete examples to prove it.

But Li Yashi completely broke away from this way of thinking. Putting aside everything else, just this one transcendence of the cycle alone puts him to shame, doesn't it?
Another reason is that the Hanlin scholars themselves were people of the Ming Dynasty. They saw more problems than brilliant achievements. When they tried to explain things from different angles, they often fell into the trap of self-justification. Their articles were indeed very solid, but their flattery was not quite strong enough.

Li Yashi wasn't trying to ingratiate himself, but rather summarizing his past twenty years. He then put forward another important theory following the high moral disadvantage: transcendence of the cycle.

Transcending the Cycle: Unlike the predetermined fate of other civilizations' origins, development, growth, and demise, it transcends fate, exhibiting a transcendent cycle of division and unity, disorder and order, repeating itself endlessly and rolling forward.

Therefore, the most fundamental cornerstone of this transcendence of the cycle is only one thing: to punish the immoral.

The earliest recorded mention of punishing the wicked is the line from the story of Tang of Shang attacking Jie of Xia, a line that has resonated for thousands of years and is truly thought-provoking: "When will the days end? I and you will both perish!"

The practice of punishing the wicked gave birth to the ability to transcend the cycle of reincarnation, and the practice of punishing the wicked originated thousands of years ago.

“He really knows a lot.” Zhu Yijun felt that it was not an exaggeration to give Li Yashi the title of Great Bright Envoy. He really knew a lot, even more than Marion.

Marion's actions surpassed those of Li Yashi, but Li Yashi's understanding of the "wisdom of the Ming Dynasty" was truly more profound.

He really didn't waste those twenty years; he really learned something from them.

Of course, Li Yashi also believes that this detachment from the cycle is not all good. It is precisely because of this detachment that Chinese people always look down on everyone else.

The most prominent manifestation of this arrogant attitude is that every person in the Ming Dynasty applies traditional Chinese concepts to interpret and understand any matter.

This caused some difficulty for the Ming Dynasty in understanding the world.

For example, the Ming Dynasty court seriously underestimated the influence of the Great Brightness Sect.

From the emperor down to the common people, no one supported the Great Brightness Sect, because the Ming Dynasty did not need a religion to maintain order.

The world outside of the Ming Dynasty, not just the West, desperately needs religion to establish and maintain order, to alleviate inner suffering, and to find solace.

The people of the Ming Dynasty did not need religion by nature, because there were too many sages worth remembering. On the road ahead, there were too many sages who shone like the sun, illuminating all the darkness and piercing through all the confusion.

Why do people outside the Ming Dynasty, including Westerners, need religion, and why do they need a god to believe in? Because there aren't enough sages worth remembering.

For example, in France, Joan of Arc immediately became a saint and the hope of almost everyone after she appeared; now, with the appearance of Marie Antoinette, there is another hope.

In his book, Li Yashi emphasized that Marion's identity as the Holy Maiden of Light was something he bought from the supreme Emperor for a full million taels of silver.

"He's right. Back then, those fanatical believers who called themselves saints, a total of twenty people, including Marion, each paid 50,000 taels of silver for pilgrimage before I allowed them to enter the Ming Dynasty and pay homage." Zhu Yijun made a note here. This was not Li Yashi's slander, but the truth.

Zhu Yijun liked silver, but in essence, he liked power. He only reluctantly approved the pilgrimage of the Great Brightness Sect because of the one million taels of silver.

It wasn't about the million taels of silver; the Ming Dynasty's attitude towards the Great Brightness Cult was simply to stand by and watch.

Li Yashi believed that the people of the Ming Dynasty could be arrogant because they were beyond the cycle of existence, but this arrogance had turned into self-importance during the Wanli period, two hundred years after the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, this arrogance has blinded everyone, making it impossible for them to see the problem. Our great Ming Dynasty is invincible, what is there to fear!

This arrogance is leading the Ming Dynasty from order to disorder.

Everyone believed that with the Ming Dynasty being so powerful, minor problems were insignificant; if a small problem was allowed to fester, it would inevitably lead to the downfall of the empire.

Li Yashi wrote far too much. Zhu Yijun only read two chapters. He planned to keep the book with him and read it from time to time. Li Yashi is gone, but his book can still help the Ming Dynasty continue to correct its mistakes from the perspective of the astonishment of friendly nations.

At the end of May in the 22nd year of the Wanli reign, Li Yashi walked out of the Zhenfusi Yamen. His originally slightly plump figure had become much thinner and more wiry. He was now used to eating cold food.

"His Majesty asked me to ask you, the great ships from the West are coming, do you regret it? Do you still want to go back to that hellish West? It's not too late to regret it now, His Majesty said it can be considered that you did not request to return to the West." Zhao Mengyou was quite curious about Li Yashi's answer.

For two whole months, Li Yashi ate only black bread, the kind of bread that could be used as a hammer. He would saw it open, soak it in cold water overnight, and then he would be able to swallow it.

"Thank you for taking care of me, Zhao Tishuai, and for not mixing soil into the black bread." Li Yashi expressed his heartfelt gratitude.

"No way, you Westerners mix soil into your black bread?!" Zhao Mengyou frowned. He had already followed the recipe to make black bread, but he never expected that soil would be added.

He thought that the Taisi described by Li Yashi was already hellish enough, but he didn't expect it to still not be hellish enough.

With a bitter expression, Li Yashi said, "I always say that the Ming Dynasty really understands very little about feudalism. During times of great turmoil in China, people were treated worse than dogs, they even exchanged children to eat, and they even ate Guanyin clay. But overall, the period of stability was longer. The people of the Ming Dynasty today have no idea about the suffering of feudalism."

"You can think of the world outside the Ming Dynasty as a period of long-term turmoil where people were not even considered worthless."

Zhao Mengyou has resolutely carried out His Majesty's order, feeding Li Yashi black bread for two months. This may be the most unpleasant two months he has eaten in the past twenty years.

"His Majesty asked me if I had changed my mind. I do not intend to change my mind. I will return to the West by ship, to France, to Paris, and make the serfs of the West free people," Li Yaz said sincerely. In the past two months, he had thought it through very clearly, and he still wanted to go back.

“Then you’ll have to go.” Zhao Mengyou thought for a moment and said, “Live well. I can’t go to Taixi and get you arrested and imprisoned.”

"Hahaha!" Li Yashi was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, then burst into laughter. Who said that the people of the Ming Dynasty were rigid, dogmatic, and incapable of humor? Even Zhao Mengyou, a cold-faced imperial guard, was quite humorous.

Li Ya was a famous figure in the Ming Dynasty, and being imprisoned was a well-known cultural phenomenon, but this cultural phenomenon has now disappeared.

This journey is uncertain, with no guarantee of survival.

"Knowing that the road ahead is hell, if I don't go to hell, who will?" Li Yashi gave his reason very clearly: "Even if there are thousands of people against me, I will go!"

On the second day of the sixth lunar month, the large sailing ships from the West successfully arrived in the Ming Dynasty. Three things happened that attracted attention.

The first thing was that Marion's ashes were returned to the light. The news from the Governor-General of Luzon had already reached the Ming Dynasty, and this matter caused widespread discussion.
The second matter concerns the establishment of the Western Merchants Alliance. Many envoys have come to the Ming Dynasty this time, all for this purpose.

The third thing is that Lou Hu and Luo Shangzhi will arrive at the Huangpu River Imperial Palace in Songjiang Prefecture on the seventh day of the sixth lunar month, and after meeting the emperor, they will go to the Nanyang Fleet to serve as the commander-in-chief.
The war horn has sounded. The news that the four major Annamite families failed to arrive in Guangzhou for the joint inspection as scheduled has spread throughout the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty has once again begun its conquest.

“Ma Li’ang is not a meritorious official of the Ming Dynasty. How could I possibly allow her to be buried in Jinshan Cemetery? These censors and officials, are they shooting arrows before drawing the target?” Zhu Yijun was so angry that he laughed at the dozens of memorials in front of him. These censors and officials had assumed the emperor’s position and thought that the emperor would bury Ma Li’ang as a meritorious official of the reform movement.

Li Yougong frowned and asked, "Um...where should we bury him?"

In fact, Li Yougong thought so too. He thought that the Great Brightness Cult led by Ma Li'ang was, in any case, a major achievement of the Wanli Reform of the Ming Dynasty. Ideological colonization is still colonization, and it is even more terrifying and deeply rooted than military colonization.

The Great Brightness Cult was one of the important means by which the Ministry of Rites carried out ideological colonization.

The conservative officials of the Ming Dynasty felt that it was inappropriate for a foreigner to be buried in such a solemn mausoleum as Jinshan.

Li Yougong felt that the ministers' opposition was somewhat too conservative.

"Let's bury him in the same place as that martyr Rui de." Zhu Yijun gave Marion a place. Rui had died for Malacca in the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Yijun felt that arranging a place for Marion there was a very appropriate choice.

Li Yougong said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, this is not a good idea."

Li Yougong has confirmed that the biggest conservative leader in the Ming Dynasty is His Majesty himself.

"What's wrong with that? She's just a barbarian. What more do you want? I granted her an official funeral because she died a martyr." Zhu Yijun felt that his arrangement was perfectly appropriate. Giving a barbarian an official funeral was a great respect in itself.

After careful consideration, Li Yougong said, "Your Majesty, Marion is the Grand Patriarch of the Great Brightness Church, appointed by our Great Ming Dynasty. To give her a hasty burial would be like cutting off our own arm in the matter of colonization."

The leader of the conservative faction is extremely stubborn and very difficult to persuade.

“That makes sense. The Ministry of Rites will discuss this in the next chapter and see what the officials there think.” Zhu Yijun felt that Li Yougong’s words made sense; military colonization was necessary, but ideological colonization was also necessary.

Giving Marion a proper burial was a way of giving her a final moment of dignity. By allowing Marion's soul to return to the light, the Ming Dynasty effectively secured the Great Brightness Sect in its grasp.

"The Holy Maiden of Light also possessed sacred relics." Zhu Yijun held a positive opinion that Antonio had left behind the Holy Maiden of Light's last piece of linen cloth.

This single piece of cloth was enough to make Lisbon the stronghold of the Church of the Great Light.

Zhu Yijun had never been particularly concerned about the investiture of the Portuguese king and Portugal becoming a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, because it was too far away and beyond his reach. Therefore, he treated Portugal as a friendly nation. Now, with the connection of the Great Brightness Church, he had strengthened his control over Portugal.

He has always been like this: only what he can eat is his own. He can't convince his ministers, much less himself, to care about things he can't fully enjoy.

(End of this chapter)