Book of Disaster

There was peace in the humble room. Zhu Zi seemed to have fallen into some kind of enlightenment. Bai Qi did not dare to disturb him and waited silently.

I don't know how long it took, but suddenly a gentle voice came from outside the door:

"Teacher, can I come in?"

Bai Qi turned his head and looked. Outside the door, a young man in plain Confucian robe was standing with a wooden tray. On the tray were a teapot and two teacups. Steam was coming out of the pot. The fragrance of tea wafted from afar, refreshing the heart. Even a layman in the tea ceremony like Bai Qi felt comfortable.

"come in."

Zhu Zi came back to his senses and said gently.

The young scholar came in, washed and sifted the tea leaves with great skill, and quickly poured two cups of hot and fragrant tea for the two people.

"Good tea."

Bai Qi was not polite either. He picked up the teacup, took a sip, and praised generously.

"Teacher, I want to ask you a question. I heard that every literary saint has his own doctrine. What do you advocate?"

Bai Qi suddenly asked.

He was curious about the differences in knowledge between the Zhu Xi in this world and the Zhu Xi on modern Earth, and whether there were any similarities.

Hearing this question, the young scholar couldn't help but glance at Bai Qi.

How can you talk to Zhu Zi like this? This kid is too rude.

Bai Qi felt the other person's gaze, but simply ignored it. He came from modern Earth, where there were not so many rules.

On the other hand, Zhu Zi did not take it as an offense.

"I don't have anything in particular to advocate, I just study the principles of heaven, the great way, and human desires. My lifelong hope is to be able to recover the lost knowledge from those lost ancient relics, spread it throughout the world, and recreate the prosperous scene of everyone in the world becoming a gentleman, and all gentlemen are like dragons."

Zhu Zi seemed to have a very good impression of Bai Qi and accepted everyone who came to him.

However, when Bai Qi heard the words "heavenly principles" and "human desires" on the other side, his heart skipped a beat:

"Damn it, is it 'preserving the principles of heaven and eliminating human desires'? The development of Confucianism and Taoism in the two worlds is similar? Oh my goodness, this is not good!"

"Preserve Heavenly Principles and Eliminate Human Desires" is also known as "thought confinement", which is the worst part of Confucianism and Taoism. In modern times, it has led to hundreds of years of human relations and thought confinement, and the entire social development has stagnated.

Known as the "lost century".

Bai Qi did not expect that he could change a saint from another world, but if he could use the modern earth knowledge he knew to have a slight influence on him, that would be good.

"Preserve the principles of heaven and eliminate human desires" is the poison of Confucianism and Taoism. If it is really passed down, won't it cause harm for thousands of years?

This is not possible!

Bai Qi’s mind was racing.

"On the way here, I asked my teacher and heard that Zhu Zi devoted himself to Taoism and had been living in Wensheng Temple for decades, never leaving his house to study. Please forgive me for not agreeing with you. I think your action is inappropriate."

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire humble room suddenly became quiet.

The young scholar serving tea stared at Bai Qi in surprise.

You are too bold, aren't you? You are questioning Zhu Zi! What do you mean by "I dare not agree"? Even His Majesty doesn't dare to be so bold.

However, Bai Qi did not have these concerns and continued:

"Students believe that the principles of nature cannot destroy human nature. For example, when Yu the Great was controlling floods, he preferred to dredge rather than block. Moreover, Confucianism is not simply about spreading. Its original purpose was to enlighten people from ignorance, to make them learn to read, write, and understand principles. This step has long been completed, so Confucianism should have a higher goal."

The young Confucian scholar who was serving tea and water at the side was almost laughing because of Bai Qi's anger. This kid really didn't know his place. He originally thought that he was just talking, but he didn't expect that he actually dared to teach Zhu Zi.

"According to you, what should be the higher goal of Confucianism?"

The young scholar couldn't help but retort.

Bai Qi's expression straightened up, and he uttered eight words seriously:

“Study things to acquire knowledge, and apply what you have learned!”

In an instant, when these eight words came out, the humble room suddenly became quiet.

Even the young Confucian scholar who mocked Bai Qi was stunned.

He just asked casually, wanting to embarrass Bai Qi, but he didn't expect that Bai Qi not only answered, but also had substance in his words.

"Students think that teachers' closed-door study is not a good idea. Studying hard for a lifetime will only make you stagnant. To truly learn, you need to practice it yourself. You need to go out of the door, look around the world, and communicate with people of the same path and knowledge. After all, reading thousands of books is not as good as traveling thousands of miles. Insight into the world is learning, and understanding human nature is writing."

“When ideas collide, amazing sparks will emerge. In ancient times, when hundreds of schools of thought contended, amazing events would occur. This cannot be achieved by working in isolation.”

The last few words are very powerful.

At this moment, even Zhu Zi couldn't help but be moved.

This is not Bai Qi's nonsense, nor is it that he is ignorant and wants to point fingers at Zhu Xi. Instead, it is the cultural heritage accumulated by the modern earth for thousands of years, and it was proposed by other scholars like Zhu Xi.

People today are not necessarily inferior to people in ancient times, and people in ancient times are not necessarily ahead of people today. At least on the modern Earth where Bai Qi comes from, there is no gap in knowledge. Although Confucianism and Taoism have regressed in some aspects, they have developed in others.

There is no future for closing a country to the outside world. The only way out is to be inclusive and tolerant of the world. This is a truth known to everyone.

The young scholar who was serving tea and water nearby opened his mouth wide, unable to speak.

The news that Bai Qi was summoned by Zhu Xi had already spread among the Confucian scholars in the capital. Although many people highly respected him, there were also many people who were dissatisfied with him. Many people believed that he was just lucky and wrote a good poem by chance, but he actually did not have much knowledge.

However, when these words came out, "Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles" and "Understanding the world is knowledge, and understanding human nature is writing", the young Confucian scholar immediately felt inferior.

The boy's thinking was as sharp as a sword, and the life wisdom revealed in his words was not something that everyone could say.

The layman sees the excitement while the expert sees the details. The more accomplished a person is in Confucianism, the more he can feel the true insights contained therein. No matter whether it is "investigating things to acquire knowledge" or "applying what you have learned", any one of them is enough to cause a sensation among the Confucian scholars of the Yuan Dynasty.

What's more, all these insights came from the mouth of this fifteen-year-old boy.

Demon!

Is this guy really only fifteen?

At this moment, the young scholar felt an unprecedented huge shock in his heart, and he no longer dared to have the slightest contempt in his heart.

There were more than tens of millions of scholars in the Yuan Dynasty. While other people of the same age were still working hard to become tongsheng or xiucai, this young man in front of him had already dared to become Zhu Xi's teacher!

How arrogant and ostentatious this is!

But it just so happens that he really has this knowledge and this kind of insights!

At this moment, the young scholar stared at Bai Qi's profile in a daze, and felt that the young man's figure in front of him was getting taller and taller and more majestic.