Great Ming Dynasty Wen Chao Gong

Chapter 156 The Charter of Tongwen Hall
"This story is quite novel. It happened to take place during the expansion of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty. The Assassin sect was also wiped out by the Mongols. If you write it down, it will be regarded as an unofficial history. But if you write it down, let me take a look at it before submitting it. Give it to Your Majesty, don't violate any taboos." Wang Xijue said.

"Your Majesty has learned a lesson."

"You don't need to worry about anything else. Let's write out the charter of the Tongwen Hall you mentioned these days. If the Tongwen Hall can really be built, I'm afraid the Ministry of War will also have to intervene. The Ministry of War actually lacks interpreters now. I will tell you which chapter of "History of the Yuan Dynasty" you will be responsible for at that time. Just write "The Rise of the Great Powers" slowly. In the days when you are not here, I have also ordered other people to search and collect information. You will also read it when the time comes. Take a look and see if you can use it. Work hard and you will have a lot of potential in the future." Wang Xijue patted Zhang Xiao on the shoulder.

"I obey your orders."

Zhang Xiao returned home and saw Li Zhizao there.

"Zhenzhi, is the Imperial College a holiday today again?" Zhang Xiao asked.

"Yes. The students congratulate Confucius on his reinstatement." Li Zhizao said.

"How's it going? How are you studying at the Imperial College these days? I'm really busy these days and I don't have a good chat with you."

"Students in the Imperial College are very good. I heard the story about Master in North Korea, and I just wish I could share the joys and sorrows with Master in North Korea. By the way, May is coming soon, and the Imperial College will have a month-long holiday for farming. Do you have any instructions then?"

"There are no instructions. You are now a supervisor of the Imperial College, not Zhang's personal staff. But where do you want to go this month, what do you want to be busy with, what do you want to tell me, or if there is anything you need help with, although Say it.”

Three days later, Wang Xijue took the school charter handed over by Zhang Xiao and fell into thinking. Zhang Xiao stood aside.

"Then you have to run this Tongwen Museum. Although it is a school in name, it is still run by the yamen. Logically speaking, it can be hung in Honglu Temple. But since you are the one who takes the lead in running it, then this Tongwen Museum will be run by the government. It's better to put it under the Hanlin Academy. If His Majesty agrees to the request, you will work hard to complete this errand. There is no one else suitable except you."

"I can speak English, French and French. Both Japan and Korea use Chinese characters. The language is somewhat similar to some dialects of the Ming Dynasty. My ancestors came from the south, so I can understand a little bit."

"It's okay. It's official business if I go over to see you. You can just go there as my follower."

"Is this okay?"

"Let's look for the farm. Let's see. Then I'll take you to Caihu Camp. I went there too hastily last time. I couldn't guarantee that there are other treasures in Caihu Camp that I haven't discovered yet. After all, they are tribute from foreign countries. Many of the seeds are planted in vegetable households. And there are Fanyu, Liangmu, Linheng, and Vegetable Departments over there in Shanglinyuan. If you don’t want to see vegetables, you can go and see other ones.”

Li Zhizao took the manuscript paper and read it.

"Having said that, I am afraid that some people will use this to criticize the Master, saying that the Celestial Empire has everything, so why invite foreign monks to teach the disciples of saints. Mr. Li is indeed knowledgeable, but the officials and scholars in the capital may not be able to accept it."

"Mr. Ge, many of them are long-term plans. The current short-term plan is just to learn languages ​​and characters. Other subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, etc. will be gradually set up later."

"Folangji people have arrived at the door of the house and even come in as guests. It is not polite to come and go without visiting. If you can't even speak their words or recognize their words, how can you find out the truth of others. The former Siyi Pavilion, There are some people who can speak Mongolian, Siamese, and Burmese, but not many people who can speak French, English, and French. Since Mr. Shangli, a foreign monk, has come, we must make good use of it. I believe that Li Matthew will definitely not let go of this opportunity to teach."

"But since you are willing to share the burden, I do have a job now. Please help me take a look at it." Zhang Xiao said as he handed over the manuscript paper with the idea of ​​establishing the Tongwen School.

"The student's home is really too far away, and I definitely won't be able to go back home. But since it's a busy farming holiday, I also want to find a farm to study and rest, and also see the differences between farming in the north and the south."

"Master, why do you want to open this museum? If this museum is opened, I'm afraid there will be a lot of criticism in Shilin. Master, you should be cautious." Li Zhizao said hesitantly.

"Zhang Xiao, you should know some Western Yi language, right?"

"The sage said that when three people travel together, I must be my teacher. Learning other people's languages ​​is just for work needs. Let's set the framework first. Zhenzhi, can you and Wenhua also help me improve this framework?" Zhang Xiao Still the final word.

"You have such a big deal with civil servants? This is simply setting up a new school and establishing a new policy." Wang Xijue said after reading it.

"Mr. Ge, there is nothing we can do about this. There are really not many officials who can master the Western Yi language and writing. We can only use those who are masters as teachers."

"Even so, the initial planning is not small. It is difficult to find teachers in so many languages. Moreover, you let missionaries and even overseas businessmen serve as teachers, and the students are famous people and even officials. These teachers and students Can I have a good class in the meantime?"

"I would like to thank Mr. Ge for your trust."

"After all, this is also a preliminary charter. There is nothing to change on my side. Since it is in the name of the Hanlin Academy, I can help you report it to His Majesty."

"Then it's hard work." Three days later, Zhang Xiao received the summons, and the emperor asked him to find out more about the articles of association of Tongwen Hall.

"Zhang Xiao, I asked you to write a book. It's good of you. You actually have to run a special school for this purpose, and you want to make it so big." The emperor said.

"Your Majesty, if you want to compile other chapters on the rise of great powers, supplement the history of the Yuan Dynasty, and write books such as Land Power Wheel and Sea Power Theory, it is necessary to establish this Tongwen Museum."

"There are indeed very few people in the imperial court who know the situation of the foreigners, not to mention the few officials who know the situation of the western barbarians. Even in Japan, which is so close to the east, the imperial court does not have many officials who are familiar with the situation. The one Shen Weijing sent as an envoy , was originally a commoner, and was temporarily assigned a guerrilla position because he was going to Japan as an envoy. It is not bad to cultivate a group of translators and officials who are familiar with foreign affairs. But Zhang Xiao, are you sure you want to let him Do foreign monks come to be lecturers? I just rejected Matteo Ricci’s request to build a temple in the capital and enter the school. It would be better for you to just think about inviting him to the school."

"Your Majesty, as the ancients said, Taishan does not allow soil, so it can become big; rivers and seas do not choose small streams, so they can be deep; kings do not exclude the common people, so they can understand their virtues. Since it is Tongwenguan, it must be Recruiting talents widely,”

"Zhang Xiao, I have memorized Li Si's "Book of Remonstrance and Expulsion of Guests", so you don't need to use this article as an example. I don't treat officials from various provinces favorably. You are still from Nanyang. Aren’t you being reused?”

"Your Majesty forgive me."

"I have a memorial here. It was submitted by an official in Guangdong. You can take a look." The emperor signaled with his eyes, and Chen Ju handed Zhang Xiao a memorial on the emperor's desk.

Zhang Xiao opened the memorial and read it. The memorial mainly reported on the situation in Macao. This official was very worried about the activities of the Francois in Macau. He mentioned that the Francois were based in Macao and spread Catholicism vigorously. Now they have tens of thousands of believers. Missionaries represented by Matteo Ricci are roaming all over Guangdong. , used some strange tricks to swagger through the market, make friends with officials, deceive scholars, and incite the people. Fearing the disaster of White Lotus, the court quickly ordered the expulsion of Catholicism.

"I observe that Matteo Ricci and other Western barbarians, in the name of spreading knowledge, actually intend to preach. The so-called technique of self-ringing bells is the skill of Mo Zhai and Gongshu Ban of our Celestial Dynasty. The Western Barbarians accidentally acquired it and used it to confuse people's hearts. Your Majesty must not ignore the corruption of the orthodoxy." When Zhang Xiao saw this sentence, he also called him a good guy. It seems that pseudo-historical theory has existed since ancient times. But it’s not surprising. This is the Ming Dynasty. The officials and people of the Ming Dynasty still have a somewhat curious and even hostile attitude towards European countries. They don’t think that these red-haired barbarians and yellow-haired barbarians are more advanced. Even if these western barbarians have some novel knowledge, who can I wonder if it was borrowed from some lost Chinese classic. It is quite normal to have such thoughts.

"Zhang Xiao, I have something to ask you, and you have to answer truthfully. You have lived in Nanyang for a long time, and you don't believe in the Cross or the Crescent Church, right?"

"Weichen does not believe in these two religions. Weichen still believes in the knowledge of saints, but because he has to deal with people from the West, he knows more about this area."

"Then what do you think of this memorial? I can tell you that this memorial was not published in recent days. Officials in Guangdong have been reporting to the court about Macau, but this one is more detailed."

"Weichen believes that this memorial does have some truth. Although these Western monks teach astronomy, geography, maps, and bells, they are all for preaching. As for the cross The church will not be in danger of becoming the White Lotus Sect. This little minister can't say it well, but at least this is not the original intention of these foreign monks. These foreign monks still want to know the details of the Ming Dynasty, but they are not as confusing as the White Lotus Demonic Way. I have met Matteo Ricci several times. The knowledge Matteo Ricci taught, let alone whether it was taken from any lost Chinese classics, at least what he said was well-founded and well-founded. What kind of magic is happening in front of me. I also warned Matteo Ricci not to preach the teachings of Christianity at will, and he also promised me to speak less and read more."

"If that's the case, then you still want to let this Matteo Ricci be your tutor."

"Yes. After all, talents are rare, especially those who are familiar with both the Western language and the Chinese language. There are really not many people. I talked with Matteo Ricci. He also compiled a Portuguese-Chinese dictionary and talked about Buddhism. Langji text is compared with Chinese words, and the letters of Folangji are returned to Chinese characters for phonetic notation. Although it is not necessarily accurate and complete, if you want to learn the language and characters of Folangji, you can borrow these results directly, which saves a lot of trouble. ”

"Oh? Then talk to Matteo Ricci and ask him to give me that dictionary. What does it mean to use the French alphabet to notate Chinese characters?"

This question is a long story, but Zhang Xiao had to explain it in detail, that is, the difference between phonetic characters and ideographic characters, the phonetic notation method of alphabetic characters, and the general usage of pinyin.

"Your Majesty, in all countries around the world, except for Chinese characters which are ideographic characters, other characters are basically phonetic characters. Matteo Ricci's phonetic notation, to put it bluntly, is to use the so-called Latin alphabet to notate Chinese characters, making it easier for Westerners to learn Chinese characters." Zhang Xiao explained.

"Then I know. Since Wang Aiqing means to let you take the lead in the Tongwen Museum, if you want to invite Matteo Ricci to be your teacher, you can just invite him to give a few lectures. By the way, let him dedicate the dictionary to Let me take a look. As for the regulations for running this school, I don't have a big problem here, but let's start the language class now. We will talk about the other courses you listed later. I will also find a good place for you to run the school. , I will reserve a large enough place for you to expand the school in the future. However, since you want to run a school, you must run it well, and you must not mislead others. I will order the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites to select outstanding officials and scholars to be good students. Look. According to your regulations, the first batch of classes are for three months, right?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, we will only recruit fifty students for the first batch. We will be strict in entering and exiting, and we will recruit people at any time. I have asked Wang Cifu for instructions. After the first batch of training courses, outstanding candidates can take up a temporary position in the Hanlin Academy and participate in In the work of compiling and supplementing the history of the Yuan Dynasty, the Hanlin Academy can recommend those with outstanding performance to other yamen, and those with outstanding performance are not unable to stay in the Hanlin Academy. However, there is an age limit, and it is not easy for the elderly to learn language, so recruiting students is When recruiting officials and scholars under thirty, after all, Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty did not require people over thirty not to speak Xianbei dialect during his reforms. He said that they were over thirty and had been accustomed to it for a long time, so it was fine if they could not learn Chinese. So. Wei Chen thinks his age is stuck at thirty."

"You have a good idea. Once these conditions are met, I'm afraid there will be no shortage of people signing up."

"Weichen also wants to select suitable translators for the court so that some things can be done well." Zhang Xiao said. After all, if I run this Tongwen Library well, I will have some cover if I want to copy some books in this era, so that it won't be too abrupt.

Zhang Xiao said goodbye and left.

The emperor was still reading the memorial to the founding of the school handed over by Zhang Xiao.

"This Zhang Xiao can always give me some new ideas. I asked him to go back and compile and write books. He is very good. He wants to run a school and a school of such a scale. If the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial College know about it, they will not be afraid. I'm so happy. Chen Ju, what do you think of this matter?" The emperor looked at Chen Ju.

"The ministers thought that Zhang Xiao was willing to run a school, so he might as well listen to his words and watch his actions. If it can be run well, it would be nothing more than a new school. If it is not run well, the court will not suffer any big losses, but fifty students will be wasted. Time. Your Majesty doesn’t always want to see what other talents Zhang Xiao has. Since he wants to run a school, you can also see what his talents are like." Chen Ju replied.

"That's right. I'm a little curious now. Zhang Xiao is going to give a lecture to my son. What new things can he come up with?" the emperor said.

(End of this chapter)