Back to the end of Ming Dynasty to be a warlord

Chapter 481 On the Tao
Gu Yanwu and other scholars did not expect that they would hear about the defeat of the Yang family army just after they arrived.

Yang Chao's illustrious military achievements have long made people believe that the world is invincible, so even though there are enemy troops all around, the people of Nanjing are not panicked at all. However, after King Sanshun's surprise attack on Nanjing, the people of Nanjing have already understood that Nanjing is not safe. As a result, everyone is more willing to deposit their money in Jiangnan Bank.

But Gu Yanwu and the scholars in the Susong area are different. The Susong area has never suffered from war, and every time no matter how dangerous it is, Yang Chao can always turn the tide and turn the situation back.

Therefore, even if they don't approve of Yang Chao's actions, these scholars still believe in Yang Chao's unrivaled martial arts.

But they didn't expect that when they arrived in Henan, they heard about Yang's army's defeat, which made them very disappointed, but that was all. They believed that Yang Chao would fight a battle soon and completely recover Henan.

In fact, they have a little high regard for Yang Chao. For example, every time Yang Chao wins a battle, he either succeeds in a sneak attack by surprise or uses a flood strategy. When attacking Duduo in Shugang, Yangzhou, or against Hauge in Wuhu, Yang Chao mobilized more than three times the strength of his opponent.

Because Yang Chao knows that the average level of his army is still far behind the Qing army in terms of the quality of individual soldiers, and he can make up for it through war. However, if the battle formation cannot be held firmly, the chance of failure is still very high. The defeat, and the burning of Wang Pu's luggage this time, are enough to show that the Qing army still has the advantage without the advantage of troops.

"Let Shi Lang continue to escort the food and grass with the water army, and send [-] cavalry along the way! Tell Wang Pu not to rush to attack, and to be safe at every step."

Wang Pu's army was in Chenliu, and the food, grass and supplies were burned in Qi County, and supplies must be sent immediately, otherwise the main force will be affected.

It is difficult to move forward without Wang Pu's army. Henan is still dilapidated at this time. Although the Qing government has begun to resume production, after decades of wars, the population has withered, the land is seriously abandoned, and it is very difficult to collect military supplies. Yang Chao does not want to The rations of the people were seized by force, so they could only be transported from the Jianghuai River, so Wang Pu could only go step by step, and could not collect food on the spot just because the food was in the enemy's hands.

Although he knew that Wu Sangui was very good at fighting, and that with him in Kaifeng, the battle of Kaifeng would definitely not be easy, but Yang Chao was still determined to advance to Kaifeng. Of course, he could go slower, even if the consumption was greater, but he would get over it step by step. The pressure on the Qing army will also be greater, and it will be easier for Dorgon to withdraw the troops from Jiangnan.

"It's time to meet these scholars!"

After handling the military affairs, Yang Chao immediately summoned Gu Yanwu and other scholars, and had a long and cordial talk with them.

Actually, I don’t have any prejudice against the scholar Yang Chao. These people are undoubtedly elites. The reason why they are not talents is not because their intelligence level is too poor, not because they are lazy, but because of the education model that cultivates them. In this education system , They have proved themselves one by one, showing that their intelligence and diligence are not inferior to others, and a few of them are even quite talented.

Talked to these people about a lot of things, most of them focused on the war, but some people were more concerned about politics.

Some people pointed out that Yang Chao didn't seem to value scholars, and after the Confucian government taxes were collected, some people sharply asked whether Yang Chao didn't respect the holy religion.

In fact, Yang Chao did not object to Confucianism, which was regarded as a sacred religion. Confucius was worthy of admiration. It shows his knowledge and personality charm.

The fault is not Confucius, but that the politicians of later generations should not hold Confucius so high. The Confucians in the Spring and Autumn Period were all gentlemen with firm beliefs and well-known character. Yes abound.

But after Confucianism is the only one, the disciples and grandchildren of these people control the power and enjoy the admiration of thousands of people and the glory and wealth. , Lu Xiufu, the problem is not the way of Confucius and Mencius, the problem is that some people are really willing to behave in accordance with the ethics of Confucius and Mencius, while others just talk about benevolence, righteousness and morality.

This phenomenon is not only unique to Confucianism. When Buddhism was in India, the group of monks could practice asceticism, and even had the will to travel thousands of miles across the Gobi to preach. The flower monk who secretly eats meat, secretly marries a wife and has children to enjoy the glory and wealth, at this time, being a monk is not for practicing, but a way for them to obtain glory and wealth.

Even in later generations, wouldn't there be a large number of shameless people who mingled in the dang organization for their political future? They joined the dang because they believed in the spirit of serving the people?
In later generations, Confucianism was first criticized as useless, and later it was vigorously promoted, because the government discovered that ordinary people cannot live without faith, and if they lose their faith, it is extremely easy to be eroded by other ideas. Both race and culture are cancers of the world. I wish I could grow into the West and look like a white man, and there are even voices of regret that they have not been completely colonized.

The government realized that people's brains were being invaded by Western cultural thoughts and had no other choice, so they thought of Confucianism, a thought that had ruled China for thousands of years, and proposed something like New Confucianism.

In fact, according to Yang Chao's understanding, Confucianism has bad things, but it is definitely not what the later generations accused, and even Confucianism is not the reason for the brazenness of scholars.

The principles of how a good bird chooses a tree to live in, a good minister chooses a master to work on, and a gentleman does not erect a dangerous wall are definitely not Confucian creeds. On the contrary, Mencius told the world that "the poor and the humble cannot be moved, the rich and the honor cannot be promiscuous, and the mighty cannot be subdued." It tells the world that "Although there are tens of millions of people, I will go."

As for the belief that a gentleman should not stand under a dangerous wall, it is completely contrary to the basic beliefs of Confucianism. Where did these cultures come from?It is obvious that this principle of compromise and surrender is full of cunning. This is a kind of secular culture, and it is the scholars who have been infiltrated by the secular culture, rather than Confucianism itself introducing these contradictory creeds. Sellers seek glory precisely because they did not follow the principle of "one minister does not serve two masters, and one daughter does not marry two husbands" in their lives.

It’s just that later generations don’t understand the way of Confucius and Mencius, and regard it as shameless, betraying the master’s glory, and the culprit of traitors. If this is the case, the emperors of all dynasties would not advocate the way of Confucius and Mencius. Everyone is a snob.

What Yang Chao opposed was Confucianism, which was originally Confucianism and Taoism. As long as it was "Tao", it would follow the Tao and not the king. The method will inevitably attract those speculators to join, so it will deteriorate.

Once any organization obtains monopoly power, it is bound to corrupt extremely quickly. This is a law of nature.

As soon as Yang Chao told these scholars about his thoughts, they immediately fell silent. A large number of arguments, and a large number of scholars under the banner of Confucian scholars sold their masters for glory, leaving them speechless.

"Therefore, the governor respects Confucianism, but not alone! All schools of thought have their own ways of choosing and rejecting. Confucianism and Taoism are the methods of self-cultivation, but all schools of thought have practical learning for governing the country."

Yang Chao's argument made these scholars not only speechless, but also quite touched. They found that this statement was very reasonable, as if the moral decline of the millennium was really caused by dominance.

"Absolute power creates absolute corruption!"

Yang Chao threw out this later argument again.

Gu Yanwu said, "The governor doesn't intend to use Confucianism to govern the country anymore?"

Yang Chao waved his hand: "It's not up to the governor to govern the country. I just have some humble opinions, and I just want to share them with you scholars."

Gu Yanwu sighed: "I heard that the governor is going to hold the imperial examination, and won't take the classics?"

Yang Chao nodded and said, "The imperial examination is to recruit talents for the country, and to recruit talents for governing the country. Confucianism and Taoism are the methods of self-cultivation. The imperial examination should be for talents, not for virtue."

Yang Chao's principle is to make use of one's ability according to one's abilities, one cannot rely on one's moral character to govern the country, and it is not a blessing for the country to have a man with virtue but no talent in a high position.

Even for a person like Shi Kefa, his moral character is extremely high, but his ability is very lacking. On the contrary, a corrupt official like Zhu Dadian is quite kind. After running away, Zhu Dadian organized his family and servants to resist the onslaught of Jin Shenghuan and others, persisted for more than two months, and waited for Yang Chao to rescue him.

Gu Yanwu said: "How can a person without virtue dare to use it?"

Yang Chao sighed: "The governor also knows that people with both ability and virtue are the best choice. However, the test of Confucius and Mencius classics can't find people with high morals, and most of the people who come out of the test are opportunists. What's the use?"

Gu Yanwu said: "The governor seems to be biased. Most of the imperial examination scholars are good."

Yang Chao sighed: "It's not entirely true. Like the princes in Beijing, which one is not a moral article, like a beautiful brocade, but looking at his people, they come and surrender, and they have no courtesy, justice and shame."

Yang Chao took out the Han officials who surrendered in Beijing. Li Zicheng came and tried to surrender to Li Zicheng, and the Manchus came and tried to surrender to the Manchus. Which one is not a Jinshi, Wei Dezao is still the number one scholar, the most shameless.

Gu Yanwu was silent. In fact, Gu Yanwu himself was very tired of the imperial examination. After failing many times, he gave up the imperial examination. He devoted himself to studying knowledge and read countless books. .

Gu Yanwu is already a leader, and there are not many scholars who are interested in other theories like him. Obviously, for a scholar like him, the practical studies he read are also the essence of all schools of thought. It can be said that Confucianism is the unification of other schools of thought. , but with Confucian ethics as the core.

It is a pity that the imperial examination does not test those practical studies, but the moral articles are tested. This is completely putting the cart before the horse. It is called the rule of virtue, while later generations emphasize the rule of law. However, governing the country is entirely based on virtue, and the emphasis is on cultivating benevolence and righteousness, so that the world will return like water.

This is complete nonsense, your morality is high, and the nomads on the grassland are still going south to plunder, robbing your wife, children, children, land and money, and then you continue to shout and use moral influence.

The same is true in the West. It is obviously impossible to govern the country with Christian theology. When they abandon theology, at least they let God return to God and Caesar to Caesar before they develop.

Therefore, Yang Chao does not object to scholars using Confucian classics to cultivate their body and mind, but he firmly opposes Confucian classics as the content of the imperial examination.

"So the country should be governed by law, not by Confucianism, not by virtue!"

Yang Chao felt that what he said was very reasonable, but immediately the crowd became excited, and one by one put forward the lesson of the second generation of the Qin Dynasty, and shouted that the rule of law is not feasible.

It has to be said that Qin Shihuang's anger and resentment caused the death of the second emperor, which completely stigmatized the rule of law. The subsequent dynasties overcorrected and did not dare to mention the rule of law. It was only Taoism's recuperation that could compete with Confucianism and Taoism for a while.

But in fact, the Qin Dynasty definitely did not die because of the rule of law, but because Qin Shihuang was too happy, built the Great Wall, built the Chi Road, attacked the Huns in the north, and expanded Jiaozhi in the south, exhausting the national power, just like the Sui Dynasty who built the Grand Canal and competed for hegemony in Northeast Asia. Like Emperor Yangdi, his death was due to the excessive abuse of people's power. Emperor Yangdi of Sui Dynasty was the one who pioneered the imperial examination system, so he died too.

After the fall of the Qin Dynasty, the Great Wall was built to protect the dynasty of later generations for 2000 years. After the fall of the Sui Dynasty, the Grand Canal achieved prosperity from generation to generation, but the world only knows how to scold them, but cannot look at the problem objectively.

Yang Chao felt sorry for these two talented and generous emperors, but these Confucian-educated scholars were not convinced, and each of them was as if they were being judged in mourning, as if they believed that the world was about to perish.

This made the guards around Yang Chao nervous, and some even pulled out their knives, for fear that the scholars would be irrational.

Seeing this situation, Yang Chao couldn't continue any longer, so he hurriedly led people out.

"Take a copy of what I said to these scholars today, and hand it to Jiangnan Newspaper for publication, and let it be published in the world!"

"Well, the title is "A Hundred Flowers Bloom and a Hundred Schools Contend"!"

No matter what, if there is no competition, it will soon degenerate. Confucianism was famous for its rigidity in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, but it became a representative of corruption in later generations. It is precisely because they monopolize politics. Without competition, there will be no vitality.

In the Han and Tang Dynasties, there was still Taoism and Confucianism competing with each other, so scholars in the Han and Tang Dynasties dared to use knives to kill people.

The Song Dynasty thoroughly established Neo-Confucianism, but it became weaker and weaker. The rule of law was extremely prosperous, and its national power was the first in the world, but it could not conceal its weak nature. With the support of super strong national power, it was always a dwarf in military affairs, far surpassing the Han and Tang Dynasties. However, the national strength has been shrinking again and again, and finally it is in the south of the Yangtze River.

In the Ming Dynasty, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was the purpose, and it tried its best to suppress the Xinxue that appeared in the south, and it lost its competitiveness.What's more terrible is that in the Ming Dynasty, Westerners successively completed the Renaissance and began to enter the stage of Enlightenment. From the revival of Roman culture to the creation of new culture on this basis.

However, the Ming Dynasty became weaker and weaker, and the Manchu Dynasty, which inherited the various systems of the Ming Dynasty, only made some minor repairs. As a minority regime, maintaining stability was their top priority. China has no chance of connecting with the West, let alone catching up and surpassing it.

Think about it, if by abolishing the monopoly of Confucianism, the Chinese civilization can be restored to the Spring and Autumn Period, when the legalists, Taoists, Mohists, Strategists, etc. were deadly, so that Chinese law, vertical and horizontal studies (diplomacy), etc. If it becomes as dynamic as the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, it will be tantamount to the Western Renaissance.

That's right, this is the Renaissance, the Renaissance of the Chinese era, the West revives the ancient Roman culture, and China has to revive the pre-Qin culture!
Yang Chao was faintly excited, feeling that this matter was of great significance.

(End of this chapter)