Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 502 Jia Buqi, Too Reckless
The saying "One should not meddle in matters that are not within one's jurisdiction" does not apply to Jia Lian.

At the beginning of the new year, Jia Lian received a secret order from the capital, asking him to write a report on the current actual situation in Western countries and provide reference for the Honglu Temple.

Since the French and British representatives visited and signed friendly treaties, the Great Zhou Dynasty, which had begun to open its eyes to time, had a certain global vision, and the status of the Honglu Temple was greatly improved.

But how can I put it? Despite the inspection records of Western countries brought back by the envoys, domestic diplomatic officials still lacked the necessary knowledge.

Various problems arose in the exchanges between the Honglu Temple and the British and French envoys, and in the exchanges between foreign envoys and local countries.

The news sent back by the two ministers stationed abroad at this stage shows that many Western countries are willing to establish diplomatic relations with the Great Zhou, but they do not know how to do it specifically.

As the Celestial Empire and the actual decision-maker in Asia, the Central Plains Dynasty was accustomed to a tribute system where others took the initiative to pay tribute.

As a result, some unnecessary disputes arose. For example, when the Holy Roman Emperor of the Habsburg dynasty sent people to contact the Chinese ambassador to France, the ambassador acted superior.

Let the other party come to see you, and don't go out to greet them. This will cause the other party's envoy to leave in anger.

This move was very rude from a diplomatic perspective, but it indirectly raised the status of Britain and France. Both Britain and France made a big fuss about it, and the media kept boasting that the Eastern Empire only recognized Britain and France as countries of equal status. Well, from the perspective of the officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the other party was the one who came to pay tribute first. The act of sending envoys was to facilitate the reception of envoys from Western countries.

Emperor Chenghui's understanding of sending envoys is to add a channel for dialogue and a means to observe the West. In essence, there is no meaning of equality. Is it equal to a country the size of a palm?

The news was reported back to the country before the New Year, and it was a message sent by special courier from the British and French envoys. This made Emperor Chenghui realize that things might not be quite what he thought.

When you are worried about affecting the pace of future outward expansion and you are a little confused, you naturally have to call for help and cast the summoning spell.

In response to this, Jia Lian made a serious report, giving a detailed introduction to the status of the Habsburg dynasty in Europe, and also made some analysis on the European powers.

In terms of comprehensive strength, Britain and France are still the top countries at this stage, and Russia should be ranked third. In the next fifty years, these three countries may become the biggest enemies.

At this stage, Britain is constrained by the North American independence movement and the development and stabilization of South Asia. The relationship between the two countries should be relatively stable within ten years. The profit-seeking Anglo-Saxons, who bully the weak and fear the strong, are determined by their pirate nature. They will not be hostile to the Zhou Empire. France's interests are mainly in North Africa and North America to disrupt Britain and restrict Britain's development. The contradictions between the two Western European countries can be used, but don't take sides. There are barbarians on both sides, so who cares if they can fight each other? Finally, there is Ross. This country has a strong desire for aggression and a desire for an outlet to the sea. As a result, for a long time in the future, the country will focus its main experience on the West and the war against the Ottoman Empire.

With the above analysis as a premise, how diplomatic work is carried out and how the expansion strategy is promoted are supported by facts.

Towards Britain and France, we should remain neutral and focus on friendly trade. Towards Russia, we should accelerate the development of Anxi while its attention is on the West. In order to delay its turning back to the East, we can adopt the strategy of proactively contacting the Ottoman Empire and providing assistance.

Countries other than the above four will not see much change in the next fifty years, so normal exchanges are sufficient and there is no need to pay special attention to them. However, the attitude must be equal. The advantage of doing so is that the country does not appear to be aggressive, which reduces a lot of unnecessary troubles, and can also unite some small European countries. When necessary, it can also trip up Britain and France. After all, these two countries are aggressive by nature. If they cannot fight now, they will fight sooner or later in the future.

On the contrary, the Ottoman Empire, although in decline, can be one of the best trading partners due to its vast territory and population. And through trade, it can support Russia and even the whole of Europe to contain it.

There is an ulterior motive hidden in Jia Lian's report, which is naturally for the resources of the Middle East. At this stage, the Middle East has no resources except sand. In the minds of the Chinese people, it is a real barren land. Therefore, Jia Lian did not say anything about resources. Of course, if there is a chance in the future, Jia Lian would be very happy to get an enclave in the Middle East.

After Jia Lian finished writing the report, he sent someone to deliver it to the capital and then left it alone. After all, it was a secret report. If the emperor adopted these ideas, then they were the emperor's thoughts and had nothing to do with Jia Lian. If he didn't adopt them, there was nothing he could do.

At this stage, the most important thing for Jia Lian is to make full use of the superior geographical location of Guangzhou and its surrounding areas as soon as possible, quickly develop industry and commerce, and achieve the economy of a province, so as to support his goal of governing Southeast Asia.

There was another incident at the beginning of the year that surprised Jia Lian. He felt that for officials, face is really worthless when facing powerful superiors.

What happened? The newly appointed prefect of Huizhou submitted a charter to the governor, suggesting that all prefecture and county schools should add content on Jia's practical learning, and advocated that starting this year, all examinations from the county to the provincial examinations should include content on this aspect.

Logically speaking, there is a reason why this memorial should be sent to the Governor first. It is like forcing the Governor, and I am asking you whether you will follow my request or not.

What else can the governor do? He can call a meeting of the officials from the three ministries and the education commissioner. Isn't this just coercion? Who can't do that?

So, without Jia Lian's knowledge, the regulations were unanimously passed at the meeting chaired by the governor. The Guangdong Provincial Education Commissioner even flattered Jia Lian at the meeting, saying that he was "the most virtuous and talented man in the world." This "liang" was, of course, Zhuge Liang. Such flattery coming from the mouth of a provincial education commissioner was simply jaw-dropping.

It is said that everyone at the meeting was speechless and their faces were wavering, except for the education official who remained calm and composed, as if what he said were all true words.

When the Governor's Office passed the meeting minutes and resolutions to Jia Lian, his soul was sublimated after reading them. I didn't know I was so great.

By the way, Zhuge Liang was defined as a perfect man in the feudal dynasty era (this definition is borrowed from the West and some scholars say it is inaccurate).

How widely is this definition accepted? After the episode "Autumn Wind at Wuzhangyuan" in the TV series Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the ratings plummeted. Eighteen hundred years later, people still hold the prime minister in high esteem. Being praised as Jin Liang, Jia Lian's face really burned, and he accepted this title with all his heart.

Jia Lian was relatively in agreement with the collective opinion of the meeting resolution. Promoting Jia's practical learning and utilizing the power of the government were paths that Jia Lian had thought of before, but had not succeeded.

It’s all that old man’s fault in the Imperial College!
Now the people below took the initiative to propose. After a brief blush, Jia Lian picked up his pen and annotated the meeting resolution, "Take Guangdong Province as a pilot, first see the effect and then decide whether to promote it." After adding this sentence, he turned back to the governor. When he saw this addition, he was immediately overjoyed. Lord Jia accepted the gold, and it was really refreshing. It was settled, and the past was over.

The governor immediately prepared a document and submitted it to the capital. Unfortunately, it did not contain any military information or disaster information, otherwise they would have wanted to send it quickly within 800 miles.

Well, there is one detail that must be noted. This resolution was made by the whole of Guangdong Province under the leadership of the governor, and was submitted to the court for approval and implementation.

There is no doubt that this kind of thing cannot be carried out by oneself. One must consult the court. Otherwise, what is the difference between this and rebellion?
Although the imperial court had not yet responded, local officials in Guangdong had already taken action. The series of textbooks on Jia's Practical Learning became the best-selling books almost overnight.

Anyway, in Jia Lian's opinion, this matter still has certain risks, after all, it is easy for others to catch him and attack him for using public resources for personal gain. So, Governor Jia, who is also the acting governor, has been pretending that he didn't know about this matter, and that everything was done by the governor's office.

In this case, it is hard to blame these officials for being flattering and losing the integrity of scholars. A governor, who had been in office for less than a year, was appointed acting governor-general.

Let me ask you, are the officials below confused? Can they still stand firm?

In other words, Jia Lian still had some dignity and did not start to brag about himself. So now it was just a bunch of officials who were much older than him who were praising him on various occasions.

In particular, the educational officials started to inspect schools throughout the province. Wherever they went, they did their best to promote Jia Lian's practical learning, wishing to praise Jia Lian as the greatest minister in ancient and modern times.

It was so shameless that Jia Lian had to send someone to scold him: Don't flatter me deliberately. Without your majesty's grace, we would have no chance to display our talents.

After being reprimanded, the school inspector did not feel ashamed, but made a big fuss about it, and continued to praise Jia Lian for his broad mind. Of course, he changed the order of praise, and first praised the emperor for his great talent and strategy, surpassing the Qin Emperor and Han Emperor, and being on par with the Taizu of this dynasty. Then he started to praise the governor. It must be that Wei Zhongxian's reputation was too bad, otherwise the school inspector would have wanted to suggest that schools in various places build a shrine for Jia Lian.

I thought this matter was quite outrageous, but Jia Lian soon realized what was truly outrageous.

It was clearly a memorial headed by the Guangdong Provincial Government, but shortly after it was submitted and before it was sent to the capital, a letter came from the Guangxi Governor.

The core idea is just one: Dear Acting Governor-General, how could you forget Guangxi? Hearing that the imperial examinations at all levels in Guangdong decided to promote the Governor-General's knowledge, Guangxi people were overjoyed and asked to follow the Governor's steps and include Jia's practical learning in the imperial examinations. The memorial was already on the way to the capital.

After reading the letter, Jia Lian didn't know how to reply. Should he write back to scold him or to praise him?

It all depends on how you understand this matter. If it were any experienced official, he would suspect that this is a case of flattery.

Jia Lian knew that this was not flattery, but that these officials wanted to improve themselves too much. You know, the governor of Guangxi has been in his second term, and his evaluation has always been average. It is difficult to improve under such circumstances. Faced with such a reply, Jia Lian thought about it again and again, and replied: I have read it!

What else can I say? As a provincial governor, he has the right to make a report. As one of the worst provinces in the country, the governor of Guangxi is a third-rank official. If he works hard, it will be difficult to advance from the second rank to a governor of a medium-sized province. The main reason is that in this area, the economy is backward, and it is too difficult to make a difference, so it is no wonder that he wants to use evil tricks.

I have learned a profound lesson from the saying that what the superior likes, the subordinates will follow.

How should I put it? This is a very risky matter, especially in the field of academic research. The so-called "great scholars" who do academic research all have dirty hearts. Even if they themselves have a clean heart, their disciples and grandchildren will do whatever they want to do for the benefit of their own school.

Well, in modern times, we no longer call them great Confucian scholars, but masters! People are not familiar with examples from too far away, so let’s take Hu Shi as an example.

This is a person who was classified as a comprador intellectual by both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and whose spiritual character is American, but because he has many disciples, he has been blown into a whirlwind in modern times.

The most famous representative of his disciples was a scholar named Ji. The first thing he did when he arrived on the island was to pay homage to his ancestor and sweep his grave. He was a truly filial son and grandson.

Could it be that these descendants don’t know that Hu Shi advocated giving up the three northeastern provinces? Don’t they know that he had other traitorous actions?

They know it, but for the sake of the right to speak and for their own interests, they have to go against their conscience and praise Hu Shi.

People say the entertainment industry is dirty, that's because everyone likes to see it, and the paparazzi dig it up more diligently for profit. As for the gossip in the academic circle, once it's exposed, it's always explosive.

Another point is that the Chinese people are generally very tolerant of the academic circle. Deep down, they look at people who do academic work through a filter.

In other words, in the Internet age, with more convenient channels for expressing opinions, people can more easily see the true face of certain people.

(PS: I was inspired by a video I saw on Bilibili yesterday, a video of a scholar who studies Russian history. At first, I was a little skeptical when I saw him boasting about his pursuit of fairness, rationality and objectivity. When he compared Lu Xun with Hu Shi and other literati, I knew my hunch was right. He really didn't intend to fart well. Looking at the time of his series of videos, he is really a high-quality fence-sitter.)
The memorial from Guangdong arrived in the capital. After reading it, Emperor Chenghui remained silent, cursing silently in his heart, "How dare you, you bastard? Didn't I just not support you in the beginning?"

Emperor Chenghui directly sent this memorial to the cabinet for review. Naturally, there was a quarrel in the cabinet, and Guo Yan even became ferocious and scolded Jia Lian for using public resources for personal gain and intending to undermine the foundation of the country.

This crime is quite serious.

What is the foundation of the country in the minds of Confucianists? At present, of course, it is Confucianism, and its specific form is the imperial examination. It was Taizu's decision to mix the arithmetic classics into the imperial examination, and no one dared to interfere. In the past, the struggle between Neo-Confucianism and Mind-learning was mainly reflected in the personal academic inclinations of the examiners. Everyone had a chance. Mind-learning was also a school derived from Neo-Confucianism, and it was all in the Confucian pot.

What's going on now? Jia's practical learning, what the hell is this? What is it for? Is it going to be included in the imperial examination? You are here to mess things up!

How can you tolerate this?
How can I put it? Even Zhang Tingen and Lin Ruhai thought Jia Lian was too reckless. How dare he tamper with the imperial examination? How arrogant must he be to dare to do such a thing?

Don't say that this is the Guangdong Provincial Governor's Office, not the Governor-General's Office. Who would believe it if you told others that you are still the Acting Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi?

Zhang Ting'en was not able to speak, so Lin Ruhai jumped out to refute Guo Yan, saying that the foundation of Jia's practical learning was the study of things, which could be called the study of things. It was also a branch of Confucian learning. Lord Guo insisted on talking about the word "wenjue" and tradition, so where are the six arts of the past? Apart from anything else, can Lord Guo shoot arrows? Or can he drive a car or ride a horse?

Ning Keze jumped out to refute Lin Ruhai, saying that he should not confuse the concepts. Jia's practical learning is just a little selfishness of Jia, and it can never be considered a lineage of Confucianism. As a disciple of a saint, one must get back to the original source.

The current cabinet is structured like this, with Lin Ruhai often fighting one against two others, while Pan Jixun sits as a neutral observer and watches the show.

But today is a little special. I don’t know what’s wrong with Pan Jixun’s brain, but he stood up and said Yin Yang Ning Ke.

The general meaning is that according to Mr. Ning, Zhu Xi wanted to restrain himself and restore the rituals. Mr. Ning, do you want to restore the Zhou rituals? Do you want to implement the well-field system? Oh, Wang Mang did it, and he was recognized as a traitor. In addition, whether it is Neo-Confucianism or the School of Mind, everyone has read history books. Let me ask you, have Neo-Confucianism and the School of Mind incorporated the thoughts of Buddhism and Taoism? I just want to ask you whether you have?

Ning Ke was so directly asked that he broke down and started to curse Pan Jixun, saying that he was betraying his teacher and ancestors.

Zhang Tingen, who had not expressed his opinion, spoke up when Ning Ke said Pan Jixun "disrespected his teacher and destroyed his ancestors", and reminded him: "Sir Ning, stick to the facts and don't make personal attacks. Don't think you are the only one who puts labels on others! We are all from the Confucian lineage, and we all read the books of sages and entered the official career. We have reached the cabinet, and our minds are still on the world. Don't put personal interests first and the country second."

Zhang Ting'en's words are very implicit. Anyone who has read history books knows the development process of Confucianism. Since the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Confucianism has been at a disadvantage in the face of Buddhism. If it were not for the fact that Buddhist disciples did not engage in production and personnel affairs, which threatened the secular imperial power, leading to several large-scale periods of Buddhist destruction, coupled with the subsequent frequent changes of dynasties, Confucianism would not necessarily have dominated. In the Tang Dynasty, the Li family still called themselves descendants of Laozi, and Taoism also jumped out to make trouble. In other words, Taoists emphasize self-cultivation, unlike Buddhists who clamor to save the world, Confucianism received a more severe attack.

Some of Han Yu's remarks, one of the Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song, are all recorded in history books. As for Neo-Confucianism, it was once regarded as a school of thought in the Song Dynasty, and Zhu Xi was also blamed for many things. Well, it was also written into novels in the Ming Dynasty. Feng Menglong was probably a disciple of the School of Mind.

Zhang Ting'en's meaning is very clear. Jia Lian is also a Confucian. If he is not, then I can't be one either. So can it be said that you want to be the Prime Minister? In order to achieve your goal, you directly expelled me from Confucianism? With your selfishness, do you really think that others can't see it?

The cabinet may quarrel, but it should not escalate to the level of fatal attacks.

Ning Ke calmed down immediately after hearing Zhang Tingen's words, and then broke out in a cold sweat. It was not difficult for him to imagine that Zhang Tingen would be suspicious, so Pan Jixun, a seemingly honest guy, was setting a trap for him. In fact, Pan Jixun really didn't set a trap for him, he just didn't like people like him. As a practical man, Pan Jixun didn't appreciate Jia Lian, but he recognized his style of doing things wherever he went. In comparison, Pan Jixun felt that Jia Lian was closer to those talkative writers.

"Let's discuss it later!" The small meeting between the cabinet ministers temporarily put this topic on hold with Zhang Tingen's words to calm things down.

The problem has not been solved, and we will still have to continue arguing in the future, but we must first determine the scope of the argument and not escalate it to the point of disrespecting the teacher and ancestors and expelling the person from the Confucian community.

If we really do this, it will be a fight to the death.

All the ministers present had read history books and knew the history of the development of Confucianism. They also knew that the imperial examination was just a stepping stone, not something that was difficult to accomplish.

Zhu Xi shouted: If Confucius had not been born, the world would have been dark forever. Out of their own interests, how could his disciples not follow suit?

Shouting is fine, but don't take it seriously. Reading is reading, and doing is doing. Confucianism is constantly evolving in the process of development. You know, the recent issue of "Shangshu" being falsified has caused a lot of controversy. Instead of shouting and killing Jia Lian, it is better to learn from the predecessors of Confucianism and incorporate various thoughts into the system.

Zhang Tingen went to see Emperor Chenghui and reported the quarrel at the cabinet meeting, where opinions could not be reached.

Emperor Chenghui sighed and said, "Jia Buqi has indeed been greatly influenced by Western learning, and he also recognizes some of the practical content of Western learning. In his bones, he is still a Confucianist and looks down on Western learning. I have heard him say before that Chinese learning is the essence and Western learning is the application, and I still agree with it. This matter should not be publicized, so as not to cause a stir in the world."

Zhang Ting'en was silent for a long time before he said, "Your Majesty, I think it can no longer be suppressed. This matter is bound to become a big deal. Jia Lian is still too reckless."

Emperor Chenghui shook his head and said, "Wang Yangming advocated the unity of knowledge and action, and Jia's practical learning advocated starting from practice and advocating the pursuit of knowledge through investigation of things. How can they not be part of Confucianism? Taizu even made the arithmetic classics part of the imperial examination. Are you going to drag Taizu out and criticize him too? Mr. Guo and Mr. Ning, you are exaggerating too much."

In a word, he expressed his dissatisfaction in a neither light nor heavy way, without criticizing Ning Ke and Guo Yan excessively.

Zhang Tingen also knows how to listen to the tone of the voice. Emperor Chenghui will definitely not target Guo Yan and Ning Ke. These two cabinet ministers are in the cabinet just to make different voices.

In order to avoid the expansion of the scope of the debate, Emperor Chenghui first defined Jia's practical learning in a private conversation between the two, and did not jump out of the Confucian lineage. If you insist on tracing back to the Northern Song Dynasty, there was also the so-called Qi Learning. Does it count as a Confucian category?

In fact, by the time Confucianism reached the Song Dynasty, it was just a hodgepodge. Did they really think that people had never read books? The reason why Confucianism could continue to be a prominent school of thought after the Song Dynasty was not because Confucianism was so powerful, but because it killed all its competitors and incorporated the essence of their thoughts into the Confucian system. Of course, the dregs of Confucianism itself were also preserved, and because they were in line with the interests of imperial power, they were incorporated into the system.

Do you really think that the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues advocated by Neo-Confucianism are just random slogans?
The real purpose is to establish a stricter hierarchy! If you don't believe me, ask Zhu Xi, is his interpretation of Mencius really what Mencius meant?

(End of this chapter)