My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 94: Going to Heaven to See What Heavenly Law Is
Some time ago, Lao Zhu was busy opening mines and building factories. He should have achieved some success now. Could it be that he is here to submit a work report and summary?

Li Han shook his head and smiled, saying, "Don't really think of yourself as Zhu Yuanzhang's immediate superior."

He opened the mailbox, took out the letter, and began to read it.

As he watched, Li Han's mood gradually became inexplicably complicated. He felt angry and amused at the same time.

The smooth production of the factory was a good thing, and the establishment of an official school for craftsmen was an epoch-making progress. However, no one expected the reaction of that group of scholars and Confucian scholars to be so intense.

These guys, I don’t know whether I should praise them for their integrity or say they have become stupid from reading too much.

The craftsmen blocked the official school and petitioned every day, hoping to find Lao Zhu to debate the principles of heaven and the study of things?

Old Zhu did not let the Jinyiwei arrest them all and put them in prison, which was considered to be the utmost kindness.

If you want to study things, go find a bamboo tree and study it. See if you study it until you vomit blood. That’s all!

I think it was after Empress Ma recovered from her illness that Zhu Yuanzhang's temperament changed a little.

Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism did not become mainstream in the Southern Song Dynasty. It was not until the Yuan Dynasty that it was regarded as official learning and gradually flourished. After the Ming Dynasty, it was revered by the literary world as the standard of Confucianism.

Objectively speaking, the emergence of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism has certain progressive significance for the development of Confucianism.

It transforms Confucian social, national, ethical and personal life belief concepts into a more complete conceptual and systematic philosophical and belief system, and makes it logical, spiritual and abstract, ultimately becoming the truth of Confucian scholars.

At the same time, the replacement of the crude "concept of destiny" and "personal God" with the logical, abstract and systematic ethical and moral "heavenly principles" and "heavenly way" was a huge leap in Chinese philosophical thought.

Not to mention the contributions of the two Chengs and Zhu Xi to Confucian philosophy, Zhang Zai's Four Sentences of Hengqu alone have succinctly summarized the ultimate mission of Chinese literati.

Establish a mind for heaven and earth, establish a mission for the people, carry on the lost knowledge of past generations, and bring peace to the world for all eternity!

These four sentences appear quite frequently in today's novels, which shows how great their influence is.

However, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism has great limitations and has to a great extent restricted the development of Chinese thought.

Neo-Confucianism believes that the origin of all things in the universe is reason, and this reason is the principle of heaven and the way of heaven.

Therefore, there must be a "reason" for the "reason" of all things. By exploring the principles of things, which is called "investigating things", we can achieve the goal of understanding the truth, which is "the extension of knowledge".

This is the origin of the idea of ​​knowing through investigation of things.

Although the pursuit of knowledge through investigation of things follows the general laws of development of things, it has major problems in terms of methodology.

Its overemphasis on moral ethics, lack of systematic empirical methods and neglect of logical reasoning have limited its universality and depth as a cognitive method.

At the same time, these also limit the expansion of knowledge, the depth and breadth of cognition, and the development of scientific thinking.

This is probably one of the reasons why Mr. Yangming was so exhausted from beating bamboo that he vomited blood, and later attained enlightenment in Longchang, developed the School of Mind, and proposed the unity of knowledge and action.

Moreover, Neo-Confucianism believed that if one could not restrain the expansion of selfish desires, one would deviate from the Way of Heaven, and not only would one fail to become a saint, but one might also get lost in the world.

Therefore, we must cultivate, return to, and expand the nature given by God in order to reach the highest realm of benevolence. At this time, we have completely entered into the principle, that is, the unity of heaven and man. Then we can "do whatever the heart desires without going beyond the rules." At this time, human desires have been integrated into the principle of heaven.

This is the origin of “preserve the laws of nature and eliminate human desires.”

It also became the biggest stain of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, which was criticized by later generations as "ritual cannibalism."

And now, science has become the first obstacle to the industrial development of the Ming Dynasty!
In fact, Li Han also believed that the response of the Ming Dynasty literary circles was still a little slow. In his prediction, when Zhu Yuanzhang officially started industrialization, the Neo-Confucianists should have jumped out to oppose it.

Unexpectedly, the establishment of the official school for craftsmen completely stung the nerves of the literati and became the fuse of this storm.

However, it is not too late to expose the problem now. However, Zhu's biggest problem is that the mouthpiece of public opinion is not in his hands.

Perhaps, in the Ming Dynasty, a new cultural movement on popular science should be launched? This needs to be done slowly. During the Hongwu period, the literacy rate of the people was too low, and there were many illiterate people. There is no need to rush, but we can unite all the forces that can be united.

Public opinion is controlled by literati represented by the Jiangnan gentry, so what about those literati and students who are independent of the gentry?

In addition, the general public of the Ming Dynasty can also participate in this great discussion.

It doesn’t matter if they are illiterate, as long as they understand that the promotion of technical schools will benefit them.

Then he continued reading.

It would be okay if you didn't look at it, but once you did, his mouth opened wider and wider, and his expression became more and more exciting.

Did Fang Xiaoru want to teach Zhu Di about righteousness?

In order to avoid Fang Xiaoru, Zhu Di stayed in the martial arts training ground every day and didn't dare to return to the palace?

This, this doesn't connect to anything, it's totally confusing!

Could it be that Fang Xiaoru was taking revenge on those ten clans in advance?

Thinking of how Zhu Di was like a mouse seeing a cat when he saw Fang Xiaoru, Li Han couldn't help but burst out laughing.

I really want to see this scene with my own eyes!
If you think about it carefully, it is not impossible that Fang Xiaoru and Zhu Di had some wonderful sparks in advance.

It was indeed in the 15th year of Hongwu that Fang Xiaoru was introduced to Zhu Yuanzhang by Wu Chen, the Grand Secretary of the Dongke.

However, according to the original history, although Zhu Yuanzhang admired him, he did not use him in a high position. It was only after Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne that he recruited him as a Hanlin lecturer.

Now that Zhu Yuanzhang was reducing the power of the princes and preparing for the princes and nobles to go out to sea for trade, Zhu Di would also stay in the capital, and it was highly likely that he would meet Fang Xiaoru.

With Fang Xiaoru's personality, he is not afraid of killing ten clans, so teaching a lesson to the Fourth Prince, who is not yet the emperor, is easy for him, right?
And judging from the tone of Lao Zhu in the letter, he seems to be very happy to see it happen.

Let Fang Xiaoru be in charge of Zhu Di. The more I think about it, the more interesting it becomes!

What Li Han didn't expect was that this tough guy who was good at playing the Ten Clans Match 3 game was actually very nearsighted!

According to historical records, Fang Xiaoru was smart and studious when he was young. He studied diligently and was described as "reading an inch more every day", meaning that he read an inch thicker every day.

But I didn’t expect the truth to be so jaw-dropping. The real meaning of “reading an inch closer to the book every day” is that you are getting closer and closer to the book by reading an inch every day, right?

Judging from the look in his eyes, he is probably extremely nearsighted, and perhaps has a bit of glaucoma or astigmatism or something.

But how should I get the glasses? I might as well do it the same as before and get one for each degree range, and also get glasses for glaucoma and astigmatism.

Rich is so capricious!
So, how can we effectively solve the problems that Lao Zhu is facing now?

Of course coercive measures are possible, but they will cause greater backlash, and the people's hearts in the north and south were not completely united in the early Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang had to rely on literati to mend the north-south rift created by decades of Yuan Dynasty rule.

Otherwise, he would not have implemented the system of alternating the north and the south.

During the imperial examination period under Emperor Renzong, a policy was adopted in which 55 volumes were required from the south, 35 volumes from the north, and 10 volumes from the center, in order to balance the political and cultural differences between the north and the south.

If you can't attack by force, then you can only use wits.

There is only one way to deal with literati, and that is to completely defeat them ideologically.

Since you want to argue about the principles of heaven so much, then just go to heaven and see what the principles of heaven are!

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(End of this chapter)