The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 489: Dayu Dynasty Opens its Eyes to the World
Qufu, Yanshenggong Mansion.

When Mo Zibu arrived in his carriage, the 71st Duke of Yansheng, Kong Zhaohuan, was still lying on the bed, dying, but he was not breathing.

When Kong Zhaohuan saw the emperor coming in with a group of ministers and Shandong Confucian gentry including Yuan Shoutong, he burst into tears and sobbed.

"Your Majesty, I cannot stand up to greet you. I am ignorant and have been bewitched. Please have mercy on me, Your Majesty!

I, the criminal, am willing to immediately petition for the removal of Duke Yansheng from the throne and hand over everything in the Kong family."

Although everyone knew that the emperor wanted to depose Duke Yansheng and prevent the Kong family from continuing to dominate Qufu, it was not a fact because there had been no clear decree.

If Kong Zhaohuan could write a letter himself at this time, it would at least relieve some of the public pressure on the emperor and avoid making things so ugly.

However, Mo Zibu did not respond immediately, because the condition proposed by Kong Zhaohuan was not enough to make him soften his stance.

Yuan Shoutong glanced at the emperor's expression, thought for a moment, and then said to Kong Zhaohuan on the sickbed, "Crown Prince Kong Xianpei detained the imperial envoy, assaulted and injured the Jinyiwei and inner court officials, and showed contempt for the royal family. This is a serious violation of the national law.

If Your Majesty can forgive even this, where does that leave the laws of Dayu?
Duke Yansheng, please don't embarrass His Majesty."

Kong Zhaohuan was not that smart to begin with, he just became more clear-headed because of the past experiences of being cheated.

Now hearing what Yuan Shoutong said, he thought that the Kong family was really going to die, and he had no way to defend himself. He could only lie on the bed and beg with tears streaming down his face.

Mo Zibu was reminded by Yuan Shoutong's words that Kong Zhaohuan was so seriously ill and would not live long. There was no need to depose the Duke of Yansheng immediately and make the world think that the emperor was cruel.

Mo Zibu quickly realized that this was a great opportunity to establish his reputation, so he coughed and said slowly:

"What I am worried about is not the Yansheng Duke's Mansion, but the fact that Confucianism today has reached a dead end.

Although he has studied the relationship between heaven and man and exercised self-discipline, he always focuses on himself. His personal benevolence, righteousness and morality are flawless, but he has not made much contribution to China.

In the past, the saints restrained themselves and restored propriety, practiced benevolence and righteousness to educate the people, established the great virtue of teaching all without distinction, and established the eternal orthodoxy of the Chinese nation.

But today, the descendants are complacent and have made no progress in thousands of years. They have spent their whole lives studying the classics without having a single word of their own, but are just parrots imitating the words of sages.

If this continues, in another hundred years the situation will be just a replica of today. What benefit will it bring to the country and the people?

Yansheng, Yansheng, how can you only continue the bloodline but not the culture?

In the past, Confucianism embraced all schools of thought, which led to the prosperity of our nation for thousands of years. Today, when the era of great contention has arrived, we should adopt a more open attitude, absorb knowledge from all over the world that is beneficial to China, and strengthen ourselves.

I think it is time to open our eyes and see the world. Confucian scholars should also carry their ideals and travel around the world to study, just like Confucius did two thousand years ago.

If there is truth, we should discard its dross and retain its essence. Even if it is far away in the West, we should still learn and absorb it."

Someone got the hint. One of the few direct descendants of the Kong family who had not participated in the riot, Kong Guangsen, the uncle of Duke Yansheng Kong Zhaohuan and the father of the future great writer Kong Zhaoqian, came out and bowed to the ground, saying:
"So, Your Majesty issued an edict to establish a shrine for the Second Sage and posthumously confer the title of Duke on Wang Wencheng in order to call on scholars throughout the world to learn from them!"

"Oh, then tell me what you are learning?" Mo Zibu's eyes lit up. He was just in need of a supporting actor.

"The Second Sage continued the teachings of the Sage and further confirmed the orthodoxy. While he added and subtracted from the teachings of the Sage, he was not blindly attached to the Sages and was able to bring forth new ideas.

Wang Wenchenggong gathered the great achievements of ancient and modern times, and put forward new ideas that are thought-provoking. He is the greatest sage of Confucianism in the past five hundred years.

I have heard that Your Majesty has established the Institute of Gewu in the Imperial College of Yingtian Prefecture, intending to introduce the Western theory of Gewu, aiming to pursue the way of heaven and earth by looking at the subtle aspects.

I think the origin of the word "Gewu" is the four words "Gewu Zhizhi" proposed by Dai Sheng in the early Han Dynasty, summarized by Zheng Xuan in the later Han Dynasty, and carried forward by Wang Wencheng Gong Shouren in the Ming Dynasty.

To study things and acquire knowledge, simply put, is to gain knowledge about things by studying their origins.

It is true that it was proposed by Dai Sheng in the Western Han Dynasty two thousand years ago. It is a very important proposition and topic in Confucianism, but it has never been put on the fast track.

"Hahaha, you are indeed a descendant of the saint and you understand my intentions very well." Mo Zibu laughed. Who said that there are no capable people in Confucianism now? Who said that Confucianism is backward because it cannot touch the origin of the world?

No, Confucianism is not a discipline, but rather a basket for culture.

It is a basket woven with basic norms such as benevolence, righteousness and morality. Its shape and position can be adjusted at any time according to your needs.

This is also the most powerful core of Chinese civilization, which can be inclusive on the basis of self-centeredness.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, especially the Qing dynasty, Confucianism showed a trend of becoming silent, even developing towards extreme conservatism and becoming very outdated.

That's because the Manchu Qing semi-colonial government, which holds ruling power, needs it to become this way.

Rather than saying that the feudal etiquette represented by Confucianism is cannibalistic, it is better to say that society has developed to the point where Confucianism is needed to come out and cannibalize people.

Confucianism is actually not conservative at all. It has never refused to accept new things. It simply depends on whether the users need it to change.

If it really wanted to be conservative and refuse to accept new things, could it have immediately opened its arms and embraced Western learning during the decades when the Chinese nation was in the abyss of suffering?
How could so many senior intellectuals who were well versed in the core of Confucianism adjust their mindsets in such a short period of time and welcome the superficial alteration of Confucianism by Western learning?
It is impossible. Confucianism, which had an authority of more than a thousand years, was overturned in just a hundred years. This just proves its non-conservatism.

As for what is truly conservative, there is a living example, that is Muslim culture.

Since the Tang Dynasty, Roman culture has declined, and Muslim culture has begun to coexist with Han civilization, becoming the dual centers of world civilization.

They were also extremely open-minded. When Europe was plunged into the Dark Ages, Muslim culture was so brilliant.

Then, after the 18th century, when Muslim culture discovered that they could not defeat European civilization, what did it do?

It immediately fell into fundamentalism, and extremely conservative religious thoughts spread everywhere, so that the current West Asia and North Africa are more conservative than their ancestors.

This is what a truly conservative civilization would do. Since culture cannot defeat you, I will put on an extremely conservative shell and lead all the people in my civilization in an extreme direction.

Through conservative arrogance, foreign elements are eliminated to prevent foreign civilizations from reaching the core and causing civilizational replacement. This kind of civilization's subconscious and frantic self-protection is what is called conservatism.

But Confucianism is not like this because its core is very strong.

No matter what new things you have, no matter what principles you follow, no matter how great you are, you cannot change benevolence, righteousness, morality, and ethics, the four origins that human production and life must ultimately return to.

This is etiquette. If you follow my etiquette, I don’t mind if your civilization creates huge waves here, because you will eventually be of use to me.

So even though Mo Zibu didn't say it clearly now, some smart people already understood what the emperor wanted to do.

That is to raise the four words "investigate things and acquire knowledge", learn the methods of Western Europe to understand the world, and then graft this method onto the branches of Chinese culture, and bear sweet fruits that will make Chinese culture strong again.

To be honest, anyone who can really make the most of the eight-legged essay is definitely not stupid. A stupid person will definitely not be able to make the most of it.

Because this thing is dogmatic and is stuck in almost every aspect. It is very, very difficult to express one's own unique, brilliant, and even thought-provoking ideas in places where most of them are stuck.

It is difficult to study this kind of knowledge if you are below the Jinshi level, but if you are above the Jinshi level or even above the Juren level, you simply cannot do it if you are not smart enough.

Everyone around was looking at Mo Zibu, and when Mo Zibu saw someone coming to praise his joke, he immediately prepared a generous reward.

Because this would allow the emperor's expectations for the latest direction of Confucian research to be spread throughout the country as quickly as possible.

"You are indeed of the bloodline of a saint. Please rise quickly. I think you, Kong Zhongzhong, are worthy of being called a great scholar of our time. I summon you to the inner court as a Hanlin attendant, and reward you with one thousand silver dollars and two hundred pieces of brocade."

Everyone around showed envy on their faces. The emperor's inner court Hanlin belonged to the inner court attendant civil service office, and there were two types: those waiting to be recruited and those who kept the imperial court.

Among them, the Hanlin Taizhao often accompanied the emperor and was the emperor's most important secretarial team, roughly equivalent to the Military Affairs Council of the Qing Dynasty.

They often had opportunities to be sent out to other places, and would start at least as a prefect of a major prefecture, or even as a provincial censor or governor, belonging to the emperor's most core team.

But even with the emperor's courtesy, Kong Guangsen actually refused. He knelt on the ground, crying and saying:

"I thank Your Majesty for your kindness, but the Kong family has committed such a heinous crime that I cannot possibly serve you."

Oh, you are still talking about conditions, trying to use moral blackmail. If I don’t pardon the Kong family, you won’t take office, right?

When Yuan Shoutong saw the emperor's expression, he knew that something bad was going to happen, but he hesitated for a moment and still knelt down to defend Kong Guangsen.

"Your Majesty, Kong Guangsen is indifferent to fame and fortune and is a filial son. He is truly a gentleman. However, he is now distracted by his concerns and is suspected of using personal interests to undermine public interests. Your Majesty, please punish him."

He said he wanted to punish him, but in fact he was begging for mercy, and pointed out that Kong Guangsen was not spoiled because of the favor he received, but that he was indeed that kind of person.

Mo Zibu believed it immediately because Yuan Shoutong was an old fox among old foxes.

If Kong Guangsen was not such a person at all, or even if Yuan Shoutong did not admire him, he would never come out to defend him.

Well, Mo Zibu certainly didn't know that this handsome young man from the Kong family who passed the imperial examination at the age of nineteen was indeed a filial son.

Historically, his father was framed and exiled by his clansmen. Kong Guangsen tried his best to rescue him. Later, when he heard that his father had died in a foreign land, he was so sad that he died of illness soon after.

In addition to being filial, he was also the son-in-law of the recently deceased Qing Dynasty thinker Dai Zhen. He once studied under Yao Nai, and his son Kong Zhaoqian was also trained by him to become a famous writer.

Of course, Yuan Shoutong was not the only one who liked this sincere and filial gentleman. Another famous local gentry in Shandong, Xiao Jiuchen, who was a Jinshi, also came out and knelt on the ground to plead for Kong Guangsen.

Xiao Jiucheng also knew Mo Zibu's preferences, so he specifically said, "Your Majesty, Kong Guangsen loves mathematics and once studied under Master Xibao (Yao Nai). He also wrote a mathematical work called Shao Guang Zheng Fu Shu (The Art of Positive and Negative). Please, Your Majesty, be lenient with him, considering his concern for others."

When Mo Zibu saw these two people come out, he understood what kind of person Kong Guangsen was, but he could not pardon him easily.

If the pardon is too casual, everyone will follow suit and that would be disastrous.

Mo Zibu stood up and said to the 71st Duke of Yansheng, Kong Zhaohuan, who was lying on the sickbed, "Although it is the father's fault if his son is not well-educated, it is not my fault that Mr. Kong is so seriously ill.

Therefore, as long as you live, I will reserve the title of Duke Yansheng for you, and leave your second son Xianzeng and his family to serve in the mansion.

Kong Xianpei committed rebellion, but for the sake of the Great Sage Master, I will spare his life.

Those who harbored evil intentions and instigated the rebellion will all be executed after the three judicial organs have jointly conducted trials.

The Kong family of Qufu was divided into three branches: one was exiled to Hongxing City (Batavia) in Nanyang, one was exiled to Mawlamyine in Lower Burma, and one was exiled to Heilongjiang in the future.

This is a relatively light punishment for Mo Zibu, but it should be effective because these three places are where Han culture is relatively weak.

Then throwing some descendants of saints into these places should help to rally people's hearts and promote unity.

After giving the Kong family a light punishment, Mo Zibu allowed Yuan Shoutong and Xiao Jiuchen, who had pleaded for Kong Guangsen, as well as Kong Guangsen himself, to stand up.

"Since you, Kong Guangsen, are unwilling to accept my call, I will not grant you the position of Imperial Academy Attendant, but I will still grant you the one thousand silver dollars and two hundred pieces of brocade I bestowed upon you as funds for your travels around the world.

Kong Guangsen, I order you to gather fifteen scholars from Shandong and Henan who have some knowledge of arithmetic and alchemy, and send them to Europe to study on the trading fleet.

Just like your ancestors traveled around the world in the past, expand your horizons and learn from others' strengths.

Oh, by the way, before that, after selecting the personnel, let's go to the Imperial College in Guangzhou Prefecture, the Southern Capital, and study French for a year."

Kong Guangsen was stunned with shock, but he had already said it, and now he had no choice but to kneel down and kowtow to accept the assignment.

Yuan Shoutong and Xiao Jiuchen also had a new understanding of the emperor. His methods and the rhythm of controlling people were at least on the same level as Qianlong.

(End of this chapter)