Simulates history, but Chongzhen is the Divine Emperor at the beginning

Chapter 30 Loyal! Sincerity!
Confucius and Mencius...evil book?
Zhou Liang: ???
"What the hell, there are anti-Kong elites here too?!"

Everything else was fine, but Zhou Liang couldn't hold back on this one...

The imperial examinations in the feudal era originally tested Confucianism and related classics. Confucius and Mencius, the two great ancestors, have always been worshipped as gods. One is the "Great Sage and Teacher" and the other is the "Second Sage". It can be said that they are the teaching materials for the imperial examinations themselves!

Whether in the original historical line or in the more than 50 years that Zhou Liang experienced, the status of Confucianism has not been significantly shaken.

At least Zhou Liang had never heard of any negative comments from the Ming court among the people about Confucius and Mencius.

But now, just as the perspective has changed, another face of the Ming court has been revealed:
The Ming court did not take Confucius and Mencius seriously at all!
"According to him, the current high-level examinations in the Ming Dynasty no longer involve the Four Books and Five Classics. At most, those below the Juren level are allowed to study them. The examinations above the Juren level are just a formality. What they test is not the Four Books and Five Classics or eight-legged essays, but loyalty..."

It took Zhou Liang a long time to digest this information. After all, his level was not high enough before, and he had always been hanging around in the lower level. How could he possibly have a full understanding of these upper-level things?
But he was a time traveler after all, so he was quick to accept these unconventional new things. After a while, Zhou Liang reshaped his worldview...

It’s actually pretty easy to understand:

In the past, the Ming Dynasty worshipped Confucius and Mencius and regarded Confucianism as the guiding principle. This was because of the needs of ruling. The emperor needed Confucianism to maintain the loyalty of scholars to the court. In fact, Confucianism was a tool used by the emperor to control the thoughts of the people.

Without the ideological constraints of Confucianism, such as the "Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues," people's thoughts would be confused, and once thoughts were confused, the dynasty would be prone to instability. Therefore, the emperor would take the initiative to elevate Confucianism to the altar, and even if he disdained it in his heart, he would not show it too obviously...

But now it’s different, the God Emperor has ascended to godhood!

The Divine Emperor conquered the entire world with his own strength. As the true God of the world, he did not need to support another tool for ruling.

What is Confucianism that controls thought?

I can just break the bones of everyone in the world with one punch, and everyone just needs to believe me!
Confucius and Mencius?

You're just spreading rumors to confuse the public! How dare you say something that's detrimental to the Divine Emperor, "The people are more important than the emperor." I think you, Meng, have given up on this!
The world no longer needs any saints or sub-saints, because all people have welcomed their eternal Great Sun True God.

Loyalty is all!

Therefore, for the Ming court and the Divine Emperor, Confucianism has actually lost its greatest use. The reason why they have not burned books and buried scholars alive and kicked over the dog bowl of "Duke Yansheng" in front of him is simply because the Ming Dynasty still needs Confucian scholars to be loyal dogs and help the Divine Emperor to shepherd the people.

As for the officialdom, Confucius and Mencius have long been nothing...

"I can only say, it's worthy of being the Ming Dynasty..."

Zhou Liang sighed.

However, even though he sighed, he had no intention of pitying Confucianism. After all, history had already given the answer to how precious Confucianism was in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Now that the Divine Emperor has descended to earth and broken the Confucianists' bones with one punch, it can be considered an execution of justice...

Compared to the extremely complicated "Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues" of Confucianism, the Divine Emperor's ruling ideology is both overbearing and simple. It can be summed up in two words:
loyalty!

As long as you are loyal enough, you can pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi. As long as you are loyal enough, you can have a successful career!
As long as you are loyal enough, even if they know that you are accumulating wealth in the local area, the Jinyiwei will pretend not to see it. You can exploit the people as much as you want, but as long as you don't expose the Divine Emperor to his face, I guarantee that you will be able to get off the ground smoothly even if you have been corrupt for a lifetime...

Loyalty is the only creed of the Ming Dynasty!
In Ming Dynasty, you must be loyal.

"Loyalty...Okay, I roughly know what our next strategy should be..."

After clearly understanding this simple and crude basic point, Zhou Liang gradually came up with an idea...

……

"In the Ming Dynasty, if loyalty isn't absolute, it's absolutely disloyal! So you must remember this: whether in your studies or in your life, you must remain absolutely loyal!"

[The teacher said excitedly.]

“What about the teachings of Confucius and Mencius! What about Heaven, Earth, the Emperor, Parents, and Teachers! Throw them away, throw them away, you must throw them away. If you don’t, there will be no bright future!”

"There can only be one sun in your mind, and that is His Majesty!"

"So, from today on, we won't be studying the old-fashioned Four Books and Five Classics, but rather your Majesty's life... From His birth to His ascension to the throne, and then to His ascension to God, every detail must be included. Only in this way can we establish His great and wise image..." [From this day on, you are beginning to learn new knowledge that you have never learned before.]

[From this day on, your worldview began to become distorted...]

The old teacher recited from the podium, shaking his head, intoxicated: "On the day Your Majesty was born, auspicious clouds in the sky formed the shape of auspicious wishes, and on the ground, auspicious crops produced nine ears..."

[“Your Majesty has a prominent nose and a royal countenance, seven stars under his feet, and seventy-two black spots on his left thigh…”]

[“On the day of your Majesty’s birth, Emperor Shenzong dreamed that Emperor Taizu bestowed upon him a jade sceptre, saying that a virtuous grandson would bring prosperity to three generations…”]

“When Your Majesty was reading, a multicolored aura rose from His Majesty’s head. The late Emperor sent people to observe the aura, and they all appeared to be dragons and tigers…”

"Your Majesty was forced to flee by bandits, and his soul ascended to heaven. Three days later, he was resurrected and returned... Upon his resurrection, Your Majesty pointed one finger to the sky and the other to the earth, declaring: 'I am the only one who reigns supreme above all heaven and earth...'"

【you:……】

[No... How did Chongzhen become a patchwork monster?!]

You were all expecting him to utter some profound and untold utterance, but instead, you were all stunned, staring at each other in bewilderment: How many allusions did he stitch together...?

[Emperor Gaozu of Han, Emperor Guangwu of Han, Emperor Taizu of Ming, Emperor Chengzu of Ming... as well as the Buddha of Nepal, and even Jesus in the West...]

"That's enough, bro. There's really not much left for you to sew!"

[All of you high-level intellectuals are complaining...]

But as the saying goes, only those who endure the most hardships can rise to the top. Although you all know that what Old Deng says is nonsense, in order to pass the imperial examination, you still force yourselves to listen and try hard to memorize it.

[These are all test points...]

[In addition to learning this bizarre and madcap knowledge, you must also worship the name of the Divine Emperor on a daily basis. You must worship him during class, while eating, and before bed... In short, you must worship him whenever you think of him!]

[In this thick atmosphere of lunatics and charlatans, your spirits are inevitably affected...]

[It has become such a muscle memory that whenever someone mentions words like "god," "emperor," "sun," "hemp rope," or "old crooked tree," or any of their related descriptions, you will automatically start chanting and offering homage to the God-Emperor...]

[Over time, you gradually come to a realization: Perhaps, perhaps, it's almost certain... you're ill.]

[You seem to be suffering from a mental illness called "God-Emperor Syndrome"...]

[If you continue like this, can you really pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi? ]

【If you continue like this, is it really worth it? 】

[If you keep going like this, you really... won't go crazy...?]

You don't know the answer, because you've been chanting until your eyes are glowing crazily red!

“Please end this quickly, please end this quickly…”

You mumbled to yourself, but you didn't even hear what you said... No! You heard it clearly!

[You are saying: "Your Majesty's grace is not yet complete!"]

【"loyalty!"】

……

(End of this chapter)