The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 378: Discussing Chinese and foreigners or loyalty and treachery
Mo Zibu took the secret letter from Yu Minzhong that Pan Youwei brought to him but did not read it. Instead, he chatted with Pan Youwei for a few words.

The Pan family of Guangdong is extraordinary and has produced many outstanding people.

In history, some of Pan Qi's descendants donated money to Lin Zexu, and some even went to Luzon to buy warships and donated them to the navy. Some also led their fellow villagers in Guangzhou to defend Guangzhou City and thwart the British attempt to occupy Guangzhou.

There were also those who contributed to the formation of Cantonese culture through literature, poetry and opera, and those who made contributions to the construction of the Beiyang Navy.

Even though Pan Qi is in his sixties, he can still be described as quick-witted and far-sighted.

This person is proficient in four languages: English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. He knows the origins of the Habsburg family, understands that the British are playing a balancing act on the European continent, and can distinguish between Catholicism, Protestantism and Orthodoxy.

Sure enough, those who can serve as a qualified white glove, especially those who can leave such a large family fortune to themselves under the oppression of the Qing Dynasty, are not ordinary people.

However, Pan Qi was too old, and Mo Zibu did not plan to use him, so he began to observe his sons.

However, Mo Zibu soon discovered that Pan Youwei was actually a pure scholar.

He was a typical pure scholar, without any political sense or ability to govern the local area. Because of his wealthy family background, he was qualified to immerse himself in academic studies, so he was not good at socializing.

However, in my position as Emperor Mo, there is no one who cannot be used.

Mo Zibu asked softly, "Brother Pan, have you read my article, 'The Spread of Western Learning to the East: The Path of Reconstruction of Western Countries after the Collapse of the Roman Empire'?"

Pan Youwei bowed somewhat uncomfortably. In Beijing, one had to kneel down and pay respects to the emperor when meeting him. Even an old minister like Cai Xin would hardly be given a seat.

But with Mo Zibu, not only was there a small brocade stool for him to sit on, but the emperor could also talk to him as if he were chatting with close friends.

"Your Majesty, both of your books are banned in the north. Even the edict to the soldiers and civilians of Beihe was banned by the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, I have never read them before. I am only reading them for the first time in the sea off Zhangzhou."

"So I've read it. What do you think?" Mo Zibu said with a smile.

Pan Youwei raised his head and glanced at Mo Zibu. "I've heard that the wise rulers of the Han Dynasty are far superior to the rulers of the Tartars. They never punish people for their words."

Mo Zibu laughed out loud twice. This guy really wasn't without emotional intelligence. It seemed that he just had a wealthy family and a smooth career, so he was too lazy to think about these things.

"It seems there's something wrong with the writing of this book. Feel free to speak freely. If I, Mo Zhao, don't even have this much magnanimity, how can I drive out the Tartars and regain our lost territory?"

"Then I will be bold." Pan Youwei took a deep breath and continued, "I have been taught by my father since I was young, and have also come into contact with many Western barbarians in the Thirteen Barbarians' Hall. I can speak French and other barbarian languages.

Therefore, in my humble opinion, Your Majesty's book has a very lofty purpose. It raises the reality of the spread of Western learning to the East, which even the great scholars in the past did not dare to mention. It starts with the fact that all Western countries are determined to restore Rome, showing His Majesty's strength and desire for external conquest.

However, the drawback of this book is that its lofty intentions are not supported by more detailed facts, making it seem too empty and floating in the air.

People like me who know the West well know that this is a wake-up call. However, for most Confucian scholars who are oblivious to what is happening outside, when they read this book, they will only think that Your Majesty is exaggerating and using Western weapons to cover up his own shortcomings.

Moreover, Your Majesty's descriptions of the Western countries, whether they are major countries such as England, France, Greater Luzon, the Kingdom of the Twin Eagles, or other small countries such as Brussels and the Ottoman Empire, are quite distorted. It is obvious that he has not conducted any field research, which makes them seem a bit untrue.

Therefore, in my humble opinion, this book is fine as a personal opinion, but it is far from being able to enlighten the public and set a new trend.

Damn it!
Mo Zibu's fists clenched when he heard this. He really wanted to punch Pan Youwei's fat face. The "masterpiece" that I wrote with so much effort and spent countless brain cells was worthless just like you said it.

Ah! (cracked roar)

However, after a few seconds of anger, Mo Zibu quickly calmed down because he thought carefully and realized that what Pan Youwei said was correct.

Mo Zibu himself is an engineering student who is just interested in history but has not done much research.

His knowledge was only at the level of an ordinary second-tier university graduate. He could only think about the country, nation, and the future. It was only after he traveled through time that his status was raised and he had to start thinking about it.

Therefore, he was able to stand on the shoulders of the giant of history and see that the world had begun to show a trend of Western learning spreading to the East, and that Westerners were trying their best to unify the world and were engaged in crazy colonization.

He also knew that the Muslim civilization represented by the Ottoman Turks, the Indian civilization of the Indian continent, and the Eastern civilization represented by China would all be overthrown by Westerners in the future.

But that's all. Apart from these things at the top, he really doesn't understand the things below. Pan Youwei said that his book seems to be floating in the air, which is not wrong, but rather a very insightful statement.

No wonder his book did not attract much attention when it was spread to the mainland. Firstly, at that time, the Qing Dynasty still had the reputation of being the most powerful country in the world, and the scholars had not yet awakened.

Secondly, Mo Zibu's level is indeed average, and he is still a long way from being able to win over the middle and upper class intellectuals.

Pan Youwei looked at Mo Zibu's expression, which was sometimes ferocious and sometimes furious. The fear of authority trained by the Qing Dynasty made him slide off the brocade stool to the ground with a thud.

Mo Zibu finally woke up. He quickly stood up and pulled Pan Youwei up. "I am the orthodox Han Dynasty. I will never be punished for my words. This is what I have always pursued. Get up, get up."

After pulling Pan Youwei up, Mo Zibu regained his smile. He looked at Pan Youwei and said, "Since Mr. Pan knows the flaws in this article, are you willing to correct it for me?

It just so happens that Admiral Count Olivier is about to return to France, and I am also planning to send an envoy. Why don't you serve as deputy envoy and travel to the West to see the countries and see the West in person?"

Pan Youwei only thought about it for a few seconds before agreeing. As the son of a large merchant, he was of course used to the wind and waves at sea and was not afraid even of long voyages.

Not only does he speak French, he is also proficient in Spanish because his mother, Huang, is a Chinese Filipino. He also knows simple English, so when he went to Europe, he had no language communication barriers at all.

At the same time, he had heard of these Western countries since he was a child and really wanted to go and see them.

"I would be delighted to serve Your Majesty, but I do not know the main purpose of this mission to enrich Your Majesty's masterpiece."

This is a very insightful question, equivalent to asking Mo Zibu what ideas and messages this book wants to convey to the Chinese people.

Mo Zibu pondered for a moment and then said, "The world today has reached the time of the second Hundred Schools of Thought.

The first Hundred Schools of Thought took place entirely in China, thanks to which our descendants were able to draw nourishment, develop industry and agriculture, and dominate the East for thousands of years.

By the time of the Song and Ming dynasties, times had changed and the lessons our ancestors had learned thousands of years ago were no longer sufficient for us to gain a foothold, which is why both countries were destroyed.

Today, competition among Western countries is fierce, various academic giants emerge frequently, and new ideas and technologies emerge in an endless stream. It is obviously the second Hundred Schools of Thought.

It’s a pity that they are too far away from us and cannot feel it. Therefore, most of the people have not yet realized that if we do not actively participate, we will be excluded from this second Hundred Schools of Thought and will be far surpassed by the barbarians we call them. The situation is already very critical.

Therefore, I wrote this book to awaken those who are knowledgeable. They can no longer entertain themselves by thinking of sage rulers and wise leaders behind closed doors, but should open their eyes and see the world!

Pan Youwei's heart was moved when he heard this. He was a scholar and writer of books, so he naturally knew how grand this direction was. As long as he could finish it, he would not care about the wealth and fame in front of him, as those were all fleeting. What was important was the reputation after his death!

However, Pan Youwei still knew his own limitations. "Your Majesty's intentions are profound, and I fear that my own efforts alone are insufficient to assist. I would like to ask Your Majesty to allow me to select a few people to assist you."

Mo Zibu thought Pan Youwei was going to promote some of his former partners and brothers. Although he was a little surprised, he didn't care. "Well, just give me the names."

But Pan Youwei shook his head in surprise, "Your Majesty, it's not that easy for me to choose the right candidate. I don't have so many like-minded people around me.

Because it is thousands of miles away from Western Europe, ordinary people cannot adapt at all. They also need to be from a family of sea merchants or fishermen who are accustomed to the storms of the sea, and they also need to be well-read and have some insights.

Well, this is really a difficult choice. Sea businessmen basically don’t ask their children to study much. Once they have some insights, they will quickly help their families with business. Fishermen’s families don’t have money to let their children study to broaden their horizons.

But considering Guangdong is so big, we should be able to gather them all. "Mr. Pan, I will immediately appoint you as the Left Minister of the Ministry of Public Administration and Deputy Minister of Public Administration, and tour Europe.

You are authorized to immediately begin selecting qualified personnel to accompany you. You may select any of the four provinces of Guangdong, Guangnan, Rinan, and Xingtang in China."

"Uh, Southern Fujian is fine too, go ahead and choose."

The Zuo Tongzheng of the Tongzhengsi was a fourth-rank official, and it was an office equivalent to the emperor's secretary. Pan Youwei was naturally quite satisfied and went down immediately.

Afterwards, Mo Zibu called Yu Minzhong's servant in.

The message that Yu Minzhong conveyed to Mo Zibu this time was partly a secret letter and partly a verbal message, and it was the most important part.

Yu Minzhong's servant had a very ordinary appearance, the kind that would quickly disappear in a crowd, and his eyes were a little dull, revealing a kind of stupidity that came from someone who had never seen the world.

At first glance, Mo Zibu doubted whether this person could be responsible for delivering messages for Yu Minzhong. However, when he opened his mouth, he had clear thoughts and answered questions fluently.

"Your Majesty, my master told me to tell you that the Qing Dynasty seemed to rely on the Eight Banners to suppress the world, but in fact the Eight Banners did not have many talented people. If they relied solely on the Bannermen, they would have been doomed long ago.

In governing the country, they treated the Bannermen as their internal organs and the Han people as their hands, feet, ears and eyes.

Your Majesty has destroyed the main force of the Qing Dynasty this time, and has actually plunged the Qing Dynasty into a precarious situation.

Now that the Manchu bannermen have suffered heavy losses, the Han officials will certainly become disloyal. If they all become disloyal, the Manchus will be left with all their internal organs intact, but they will be blind, deaf, and without limbs, and will be doomed at any moment.

Now the situation in the world has reversed. Your Majesty's enemy is not the Qing Dynasty, but whether you can gain the recognition of the people of the world. And in the world, Jiangnan is the top priority.

Yu felt that at this time, there were two ways to take Jiangnan: fast and slow.

At the earliest, a large number of troops will be sent from the sea to cut off the life of the people in the south of the Yangtze River, and then they will take over Jiangning along the way. The Qing court only has the governor-general of Liangjiang, the governor-general of Jiangsu, Anhui and Zhejiang provinces, and the river governor of the grain transport governor in Jiangnan. The rest are not to be feared.

While this method is swift, it also injures the people too much, harming the harmony of nature, and easily destabilizing the foundation, allowing the Qing to easily recruit the gentry from Jiangnan. Yu Mou, in the north, saw that Your Majesty was not quick to take Jiangnan, and thus realized Your Majesty's extraordinary talent.

Now the only way left is to slowly take over Jiangnan, which may not be a bad thing for Your Majesty.

However, I would like to remind Your Majesty that the Jiangnan literati have completely compromised and been bound to the Qing court since the defeat of Wu Sangui.

Your Majesty, please take a look at the list of officials from Jiangnan in the court, and you will find that among the officials in the court today who are from Jiangnan, no more than 20%, or even only 10%, come from humble backgrounds.

The rest all came from families of poetry, etiquette and nobility, and their fathers and grandfathers for generations were high-ranking officials, such as the Yu family of Jintan from a certain Yu family.

We chose to compromise with the Qing Dynasty in exchange for a monopoly on officialdom to maintain our families.

If Your Majesty wants to gain the support of these people, it will certainly not be difficult, but Your Majesty will definitely not be able to obtain the entire Jiangnan by relying on them, and they will also be too powerful to be eliminated. I don’t know if this is what Your Majesty wants to see.

If Your Majesty really wants to gain control of Jiangnan, you should not pin your hopes on the upper echelons of the Jiangnan literati, but focus on the grassroots.

The culture of Jiangnan has a long history. There are countless people who are well-read but cannot even become a scholar. These people have no money or power but are eager to make a big leap forward. They are the ones who can help Your Majesty.

In addition, Zhang Huangyan, Huang Zongxi, Chen Zilong and others who firmly resisted the Qing Dynasty in the past all have descendants. Gu Yanwu, Xia Yunyi and Xia Wanchun father and son also have relatives. They live in poverty but are talented and knowledgeable, and are fellow travelers of Your Majesty.

The rest of Lu Liuliang's descendants were exiled to Ningguta, where they have continued to thrive and multiply to this day, with no shortage of available personnel.

If Your Majesty can gain their loyalty and unite the lower-class scholars to overturn the flood of Jiangdong, it will be enough to drown the current Jiangnan scholars and gain a true Jiangnan that has never existed in the Ming and Qing dynasties! "

Mo Zibu was very excited when he heard this. Yu Minzhong's thoughts coincided with his own.

Jiangnan has always been a place of national wealth, and this remains the case hundreds of years later.

Economically, it can be said that whoever controls Jiangnan controls the world, but neither the Ming Dynasty nor the Qing Dynasty truly controlled Jiangnan.

Hongwu Taizu tried to master it once, but he didn't know how to do it and ultimately failed.

The Manchu Qing Dynasty used force to suppress the enemy, and after the brutal suppression by Shunzhi, Kangxi and Yongzheng, they finally gained control of the superficial aspects of the situation.

Now it is Mo Zibu's turn. He must take the opportunity to turn everything upside down. Otherwise, if he makes Nanjing his capital, he will be surrounded by a bunch of complicated families of scholars and officials. These people are not comparable to the noble families in Hue and Bac Hoa. How can he sleep well then?

"Go on, what else did your master say?" asked Mo Zibu.

Yu's servant knelt on the ground and shook his head, "Your Majesty, there are no more. My master said that the rest are in his secret letter."

"Get up and find a place to sit." Mo Zibu waved his hand and opened the secret letter from Yu Minzhong.

Then Mo Zibu was attracted by the content. Yu Minzhong pointed out an important issue to Mo Zibu, a layman of Confucianism, that is, we should not talk about the debate between China and the barbarians.

Because the debate between China and the barbarians has reached a dead end.

If Mo Zibu were to talk about the debate between Chinese and barbarians, then there was nothing wrong with the Manchus ruling China as barbarian rulers. Even though they asked the Chinese to shave their heads and change their clothes, the core culture was still Chinese.

If Mo Zibu came to discuss the debate between China and the barbarians, it would give the Qing emperor the space to use his reasoning to deceive the public.

At the same time, he would also become a shield for Confucian scholars all over the world. If you said that he surrendered to the Tartars, he would talk to you about the debate between Chinese and barbarians and say that he was not wrong.

Therefore, Yu Minzhong suggested that Mo Zibu directly raise the banner of the Han people, regardless of Chinese or foreigners, and only talk about loyalty and treachery.

Those who revive the Han and expel the Manchus are loyal, and those who follow the barbarians and harm the Han are treacherous.

Mo Zibu was shocked. Isn't this nationalism?

Could it be that the debate between Hua and Yi is not about nationalism? Has Lao Tzu taken the wrong path again?

Oh my god, what has the operating logic of Confucianism become because of Neo-Confucianism?

In addition, Yu Minzhong also suggested that Mo Zibu should open an Imperial College in Guangzhou, with the theory of loyalty and treachery as the main theme, and run a new school in the Imperial College to attract ambitious scholars from all over the world to go south. Once they agree with Mo Zibu's theory, it would be easy to take over Jiangnan and Huguang.

This... This is just like running the Whampoa Military Academy to spread revolutionary ideas. How could such a similar thing actually exist in the world!
"Although your master is a corrupt official, his knowledge and experience are beyond reproach." Mo Zibu said with a sigh.

At the same time, he also understood why Yu Minzhong played Qianlong in the palm of his hand, and why Qianlong pretended to forgive Yu Minzhong and let Yu Minzhong be in charge of the logistics of the Jinchuan battle.

It turns out that the Qing Dynasty would have been unable to survive without Yu Minzhong. Yu Minzhong was relying on his talent to forcibly prolong his life!
This corrupt official is indeed capable and can get straight to the heart of the problem. Compared with him, Yin Chengfang, an opposition scholar, is indeed much inferior.

Of course, Mo Zibu would not just listen to Yu Minzhong's family. He immediately summoned Wu Shishi, Wu Shiren, and Pan Huiyi, the father and son he had brought from Guangnan, and showed them Yu Minzhong's letter. Then he asked:
"Do you three think what Yu Minzhong said makes sense?"

After the three of them finished reading, Wu Shishi bowed and replied, "If we are to conquer the world, we are not even as good as a lieutenant. But from the perspective of the orthodox teachings, if Your Majesty wants to conquer Jiangnan and seize this tax-collecting area, it is indeed better to talk about loyalty and treachery than to argue about Chinese and barbarians.

If we talk about the debate between Chinese and barbarians, the literati in Jiangnan are absolutely right. They serve the king of the barbarians who entered China. If Your Majesty still wants to hold them accountable, you will fall into the trap of debating whether the Qing Dynasty was a Chinese king because they shaved their heads and changed their clothes.

The literati and scholars in Jiangnan are far from comparable to those in Lingnan and the Three Guangxis. If we were to start a debate on this issue, we would definitely lose the argument and lose our moral integrity.

If we talk about loyalty and treachery, how will they face the heroes who once resisted the Qing Dynasty?

There are even cases where the ancestors were heroes, but the sons bowed down to them, and they attacked them for being disloyal and unfilial, so that they could claim the greater good.”

Wu Shiren also said: "I think that the debate between Chinese and barbarians has its limitations. During the Han Dynasty and even before, the Han Dynasty was the only strong country, but it lacked people to occupy the land. The debate between Chinese and barbarians could absorb the population of the surrounding ethnic groups and strengthen itself.

During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the Han Dynasty was still powerful and was coveted by the surrounding barbarians. Even if some barbarians occasionally entered China, we could swallow them up. For example, the Xianbei were already completely Han people.

But at this time, whether it is the Eastern Barbarians like the Manchus or the Western Barbarians, they are not inferior to the Han people, and are even stronger than them. Isn't it just asking for trouble to still talk about the debate between Chinese and barbarians!

Therefore, I think that it is not that we should not discuss the debate between Chinese and barbarians, but we should decide when to discuss it.

When the Han Dynasty was strong, it would discuss the differences between Chinese and barbarians and absorb the barbarians to enrich itself. When the Han Dynasty was weak, it would discuss loyalty and righteousness, uniting the people and confronting the outside world with unity!

"This is a righteous statement!" Mo Zibu felt suddenly enlightened. This is what should be done. If I am strong, I will use the debate between Chinese and barbarians to swallow you. If I am weak, I will promote the revival of the Han Dynasty and deal with you with one heart and one mind.

In this way, we can avoid falling into excessive nationalism and make it easier to carry out the ancient tradition when we are strong.

No wonder I wrote two books but they had no effect. Damn it, the article about the debate between China and the barbarians was taken advantage of by those fermented bean curds, who took it as evidence that Mo Zibu was deliberately recruiting them and that they could sit on the fence.

When it comes to the spread of Western learning to the East, they believe that Mo Zibu is using the powerful guns and cannons of the West as a pretext for his own wrongdoing.

But fortunately, now I finally figured out the track. "You three, father and son, obey my orders and immediately summon the learned scholars to revise my essay on the debate between China and the barbarians after the fall of the two kingdoms. If you revise it well, I will reward you handsomely!"

Afterwards, Mo Zibu summoned Yu Minzhong's servant and said, "Master Yu's outspokenness has exposed the Jiangnan literati's past. Tell us what he wants."

The servant knelt down again and replied, "My master said that none of the descendants of the Yu family in Jintan have achieved anything. Most of his property is in Beijing, and I'm afraid it will be buried with him.

Therefore, I implore Your Majesty, in consideration of his frank confession of all knowledge, not to raid the Yu family’s home in Jintan or confiscate their land after we enter Jiangnan the next day.

If you wish to reward him, don't give him a real position. Just give an honorary title to Zhangsun Deyu so that he can stabilize the family business. I will thank God for his grace."

"When a man is about to die, his words are always good!" Mo Zibu sighed, "Yu Minzhong was greedy all his life, but at the end of his life, he finally understood the meaning of life.

The Jintan Yu family has a considerable fortune. Isn't Yu Minzhong afraid that I might go back on my word?"

The servant knelt and replied, "My master said that His Majesty's words are golden and he never goes back on his promises. He knows that."

Mo Zibu nodded and suddenly looked at the servant carefully. The guy looked stupid, but he spoke appropriately and was neither impatient nor anxious.

He is not a good material for being a servant, but a good material for being a spy.

"Do you have a name?" Mo Zibu asked.

"I am Yudong," the servant replied hastily, "how dare a servant like me write anything?"

"Okay, would you like to come to me and become a captain of the Jinyi Guards?" Mo Zibu smiled.

Yu Dong was struck by lightning and his eyes widened in shock. If you were to talk about being an official, he would not be shocked, because Yu Dong had seen a seventh-rank official in the prime minister's office before him.

But if you ask him whether he would like to be a captain of a secret agency like Jinyiwei, he would be more than happy to do so. Even in my Qing Dynasty, the name of Jinyiwei of the former Ming Dynasty was well-known.

"Your Majesty thinks so highly of me, I am willing to serve you with my life and soul!" Yu Dong finally couldn't hold it in any longer, he knelt down with a thud, tears of excitement almost coming down.

"Get up, my Han family has no slaves." Mo Zibu waved his hand.

"I don't want you to die for me, but I want you to return to Jiangnan and contact more frustrated scholars, and bring the kind of people Yu Minzhong mentioned to me to Guangdong."

　I will update 1,500 words less today. Tiger has styes in both eyes and it hurts a lot. I can't hold on tonight.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)