Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 226: The beginning of the era of great law discovery
Matteo Ricci finally got the attention of the emperor he had always dreamed of, but the direction of attention was not what he had hoped for.

Jiao Hong, Xu Guangqi...all the people he knew came to Beijing.

Recently, Matteo Ricci has visited the Confucius Temple and Baijiayuan area many times.

Of course he could not enter the Confucius Temple, but he knew that the Taichang Temple, which was now located in the Confucius Temple, was said to be home to the most profound scholars of the Ming Dynasty.

But he was able to enter the Baijia Garden, and was always summoned by the emperor to participate in academic exchanges in the Piyong Hall.

Everyone in the Imperial Academy knew that the emperor was partial.

The emperor would go to Baijiayuan once a month.

Now, the emperor still holds imperial lectures, but once in the palace and once in the Taichang Temple of the Confucius Temple.

After the imperial lecture in the Taichang Temple where the scholars gave lectures on the great principles of learning to the emperor, he would go to the Baijia Garden next door.

In the Taichang Temple, Zhang Jian, Chen Jiru and some other Taichang scholars who were summoned had all arrived.

In the blink of an eye, it was the midsummer of the third year of Taichang. After the lunch banquet, they watched the emperor go to the Baijia Garden next door.

Li Zhi is in good spirits now. Although he is still not sociable, everyone is a sophisticated and well-educated person and does not exclude him.

The west wing of the front yard of Taichang Temple on the southwest side of the Dacheng Hall is actually no different from a row of study rooms or teahouses on weekdays.

Various Confucian classics are placed in the east wing.

The stele pavilion by the Yanshui Lake is an excellent place for rest and chat on summer afternoons. After the emperor left, everyone gathered in the pavilion again.

An important task in the Taichang Temple was the daily debates among the Taichang scholars.

But today there was no debate.

"The lecture is getting more profound now." Lu Kun said, "I wonder if Your Majesty can understand it."

"The spirit of Shujian's lecture today, and the heart of Daqing's lecture today are the best." Jiao Hong concluded, "Your Majesty is really thinking about the great path of knowledge. I think you should put aside your prejudices, sort out your knowledge first, and sort out these many subjects as soon as possible. Those who study the Tao should sweep away the straw dogs of the ancients and create a world in their own hearts. If you still believe that there is only one great path, it is nothing but arguing all day long."

Chen Jiru, Zhang Jian and others already knew the work that the emperor had assigned to the Taichang Temple.

But for several months, the people in Taichang Temple have not been able to work with the Ministry of Rites to carry out the emperor's will.

After all, the impact of turning pure and simple Confucianism into many disciplines by these "great Confucian scholars" and Taichang scholars was indeed huge.

What Jiao Hong expressed was exactly what he always advocated.

The so-called sweeping away of the ancients' straw dogs refers to the clay or wooden puppets made by the ancients for sacrificial offerings. During the sacrifice, they were regarded as sacred objects and discarded after the sacrifice.

Jiao Hong believed that as time went by, later generations would treat these useless things as treasures, which would only serve to conceal their own intelligence.

And now, he felt that at least the emperor's practice of dividing disciplines could be regarded as opening up a new world.

Li Zhi laughed and said, "It's useless for you to keep arguing. Your Majesty now goes to Baijia Garden every month, and even invites Westerners to brainstorm. In my opinion, the natural philosophy your Majesty mentioned is very good, and many of the subjects under it are practical studies. Even if Confucian scholars who are interested in learning the great principles are unwilling to study them and only dabble in them, they should not block the way for some people who are interested in this. As for the humanities and philosophy, it's a small matter for us so-called great Confucian scholars to argue endlessly. If your Majesty has some insights and comes back to express some profound ideas, are you ashamed?"

If we let these smartest people follow this line of thinking, they will certainly be able to come up with some disciplines.

But after being cut into pieces, those who specialized in government administration, financial planning, classics and history, poetry and prose... seemed not to be so transcendent anymore.

Sometimes sophistication is a style.

When the emperor was teaching in the Taichang Temple, he would not ask questions or express his opinions. He only said, "I will listen to your instruction."

But they were right next door, and when they knew that the emperor was in Baijiayuan, they often made thought-provoking remarks.

Although currently it only focuses on what the emperor calls "natural philosophy".

Zhang Jian nodded and said, "Your Majesty has been discussing the principles of force with the professors and students in the Baijia Garden for the past two months. After listening to them, I felt a little enlightened. If it is classified as a subject, and someone learns the principles in the future, I am afraid that many instruments will not only know how they are, but also why they are. With further improvements, there will be a reason to follow, unlike when I modified the military equipment in Datong, I just relied on thinking and trial making."

"Your Majesty is ruling the country at a young age. Everyone in the court knows that your Majesty has his own opinions on people's hearts, politics, and finance. Now your Majesty is devoted to studying. Who knows if he will become a great scholar again?" Jiao Hong nodded in agreement. "Your Majesty has something to say, and I quite agree with it. Knowledge should not be mysterious, but concise and clear."

At present, those who have a more open mind are the followers of the School of Mind, although they also have their own factions.

But they have the ideal that "everyone can become a saint", but the idea that this can be achieved simply by "cultivating the mind" has been criticized in the past.

Now the emperor seemed to have provided them with a solution: If they could pass through one of the many small paths, they could also be considered a saint, right?

The Taichang Temple was not urged by the emperor to complete the work quickly, but they were now feeling more and more pressure. In Baijiayuan, Zhu Changluo was also patiently spreading scientific thinking.

For example, the "experiences" I summarized after communicating with them today.

"That's right. This principle should not change because of people. As long as you follow this principle, you will get the same result as others. For example, if a ruler has a fixed scale, you will get this much when you use it to measure, and he will also get this much when he uses it to measure."

He looked at Matteo Ricci, Wang Zheng and others and said, "I think that we can no longer just quote the theories of our predecessors. For example, the eight points mentioned by Wang Zheng, Mozi, need to be sorted out and refined and recorded as laws. These laws are certain and will never vary from person to person or place to place. Didn't Matteo Ricci also talk about some discoveries made by Western ancestors? If there are differences, there must be other laws that play a role together."

After saying this, his eyes were filled with anticipation: "If you can find out all the laws of this world and explain them clearly, why worry about not being able to recognize the origin of this world?"

Wang Zheng muttered to himself: "...Law..."

"That's right!" Zhu Changluo said, "Han inherited the Qin system and Xiao He's law. I think this word is good, it means that the law cannot be violated. There are laws in the world that constrain people to abide by the law, and there should be laws between heaven and earth that constrain all things. The reason why they have various external characteristics is because they follow these laws. For example, as long as there is no external force, an object will not move!"

Isn't the reason why he spends so much time in Baijiayuan to help those who are interested and have basic knowledge to get on the right path?
Spending time on the military equipment and arsenal will also be effective.

But Daming is not lagging behind in technology now. As long as it can manage well and ensure quality, Daming is already advanced enough.

On the contrary, the real discipline system is the soil.

Once this system was established and there was a steady stream of talent, Zhu Changluo might have been able to truly see the Ming Dynasty's technology widen the gap with other places of the era during his lifetime.

He knows the direction and he can give guidance!

Matteo Ricci looked at these in a daze.

This was the most powerful unified empire in the world that he knew of, and its emperor was gathering the entire country's strength to study.

The science of understanding the fundamental laws of the world, and the science of understanding how to organize human and material resources to achieve more effective rule.

The scene in the Biyong Hall, with the emperor sitting in the middle and scholars and students sitting around him, reminded him of ancient Greece in the murals.

For example, the painting "The School of Athens" in the Vatican Palace in Rome.

But this is the East, and at this moment, it is said that there are tens of thousands of students studying in the Eastern Emperor’s Imperial Academy.

It is just to the west of the Emperor's Palace, more than twice as large as the Palace, including this place.

Matteo Ricci also knew that not only the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, but also every prefecture and county in the Ming Dynasty had official schools. There were also many academies among the people.

Every learned person in the East could enjoy the preferential treatment of the empire and be exempted from some taxes.

At this moment, Ricci was in awe of the emperor's ambition and his attitude towards knowledge.

Although they did not follow the guidance of a particular god.

But God, why does this place seem more like the place chosen by God?
In the Hundred Schools Garden, professors and students accepted a new word from the emperor today.

Later, the emperor also issued a reward.

Regarding the world in which people live, if anyone can discover and summarize new laws that have not been mentioned by predecessors, there will be a generous royal reward.

A holy temple will be rebuilt on the top of Wansui Mountain to enshrine the saints and philosophers who have helped people throughout the ages to understand the fundamental laws of this world and will continue to do so in the future. A monument will be erected on the mountain to inscribe the laws.

What is posthumous reputation?
The holy temple on Wansui Mountain overlooks the Forbidden City and the world.

Once the decree is issued, it will naturally usher in an era of great discoveries of laws.

Of course they must be tested, recognized, and refined.

This is exactly the scientific thinking process of experiment and proof that Zhu Changluo wanted.

Kong Shangxian was startled when he heard new news from next door.

Holy temple?

What about the Confucius Temple?
Fang Xuejian and others looked serious.

Is the humanistic philosophy that Your Majesty is talking about going to be inferior to it? Or, in other words, unless humanistic philosophy can also summarize laws that are applicable everywhere?

(End of this chapter)