Xu Guangqi was the first to come into contact with Western studies, and he had a deep understanding of the Western knowledge system and humanistic thought, and he deeply realized that it was only Western culture that would pose a threat to the Ming Dynasty and Chinese culture. Under these circumstances, it was necessary to modify Confucian culture to adapt it to this new world.

Sun Chengzong, on the other hand, recognized some of the limitations of Confucianism, especially in the past two years of dealing with Westerners in the south, and he felt that Confucianism had reached the point where it had to be changed.

And what Sun Chuanting thought was very simple, what the emperor had done over the years proved to be very correct. Compared with the Wanli period of the current Ming Dynasty, it can be said that there have been earth-shaking changes. Not to mention, at his age, being able to enter the cabinet is a rare grace in the world. Such an emperor, of course, he wants to be regarded as the master of the Ming Dynasty and is willing to be his minions.

Of course, there is one thing that the three have in common. In fact, they all know that no matter how holy a person is, it is impossible to guarantee that every word is correct, and it is impossible to guarantee that everything can be understood clearly, that is no longer a human being, that is a god. Confucius was born thousands of years ago, and it is obviously impossible for Confucius to fully understand some things beyond today's people, and besides, the emperor did not want to uproot Confucianism, then there is no problem.

Since Zhu Youxiao had already gained the upper hand, he naturally wanted to liven up the atmosphere, so he said: "Speaking of which, I do think of one thing to discuss with you, and that is to revise the calendar. Now the calendar is a little inconvenient to use, and because the beginning of the country to learn astronomy has a calendar ban, the calendar is sent to the army, and the calendar maker is executed, so that the calendar is not accurate, the eclipse in November of the 38th year of Wanli, the Si Tianjian forecast is wrong, and the old Xu Ge presided over the revision of the calendar, and then it is gone. ”

Xu Guangqi said: "I did start the revision that day, but many people thought that the missionaries should not be brought in, so in the end they could not continue to cultivate. ”

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said: "Now that the calendar has been restarted, it is still presided over by Elder Xu Ge, in addition to the missionaries, there will also be a number of officials in our dynasty to participate, and all the astronomy students and some mathematics students of the research institute will also participate." What I thought of was a question, the Jiazi chronology method is too troublesome, and ordinary people don't understand it at all, so I want to compare it to the West, by the way, I asked Xu Ge Lao, according to the Western algorithm, it is now 1,624 AD, and we can also engage in a Zhongyuan for how many years. ”

Xu Guangqi said: "Your Majesty, the first year of the Western Yuan refers to the year of the birth of the Holy Son in the Catholic Middle Kingdom, so how should we designate the first year of the Middle Yuan Dynasty?" ”

Ye Xianggao said unhappily: "How can this method of Western Yuan compare to our method. Why learn the law of barbarianism. ”

Zhu Youxiao shook his head and said: "Otherwise, the Western Yuan method of dating is to show that they have saints, taking the year of the saint's birth as the first year, the west has their saints, and our eastern saints are born earlier than them." ”

Ye Xianggao's eyes lit up, and he said excitedly: "The wisdom and sage are no better than Your Majesty, and the old minister is happy and convinced!" ”

Fang Congzhe hurriedly said: "Master Ye only didn't understand what His Majesty meant for a while, so he behaved like this, please forgive Your Majesty." ”

Ye Xianggao reacted at this time, the contrast between himself and the front and back was too great, and he was a little ashamed in his heart. But when I thought that the birth of Confucius could become the standard of the chronicle, how could I hold back the heat in my heart.

He knelt on the ground and said: "Your Majesty, the old minister is cheeky, please ask Your Majesty to be the old minister, and what you said in front of you is all nonsense." The matter of the Holy Ancestor as the year is really my great Ming, and even the greatest thing in China, and only a person like Your Majesty who is born holy can think of it, and the minister offends Your Majesty, please punish Your Majesty. ”

Zhu Youxiao hurriedly stepped forward to help him up and said, "Master Ye's heart, I don't know. In order to promote my Chinese culture, Master Ye and I have the same meaning. How can I bear to punish Master Ye? ”

Fang Congzhe said: "Your Majesty, although Master Ye's words are forgivable, but his words are rude, and they are repeated back and forth, which is a loss of the dignity of the ministers, and he does not punish or warn future generations, please think twice." ”

The reason why Fang Congzhe wanted the emperor to punish Ye Xianggao was just that he didn't want this matter to leave it in the future and make waves again, taking advantage of the fact that the emperor was getting what he wanted, he was happy in his heart, and he would put an end to this matter here, so that he didn't have to worry about it in the future.

Zhu Youxiao also understood what he meant, and said after a long while: "Since this is the case, then fine, three months, how about it?" ”

Ye Xianggao said: "The old minister has thanked His Majesty for his kindness, and the minister must be cautious in the future, and he will not dare to have any more negative graces." ”

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said: "The new method of chronology, my idea is to take the year of the saint's birth as the first year of the Middle Yuan Dynasty, also known as the first year of the Common Era, according to this method, sir, how many years should this year be?" ”

Xu Guangqi replied: "Taking the year of the saint's birth as the first year of the Common Era, then this year should be 2,176 AD, and according to the Western Yuan, this year should be 1,624 AD, and we are 552 years earlier than them. ”

Ye Xianggao showed a fascinated expression on his face: "The saint was born so much earlier than the so-called saints of the Westerners, and my Chinese culture is really far stronger than that of the West." ”

Zhu Youxiao said: "My Chinese culture is good at self-cultivation, and the requirements for my own morality are relatively high. Western culture, on the other hand, is stronger than us in terms of application, so it can be said that each has its own strengths. What I mean is to add the aspects of the West that are superior to us to the Chinese culture, so that we can surpass the Western culture in an all-round way. ”

Xu Guangqi did not wait for Ye Xianggao and the two to oppose and began to praise: "My Chinese culture, inclusive, tolerant is great, in ancient times, Zhao Wuling Wang Hufu rode and archery, and now His Majesty has introduced Western machinery manufacturing, my Chinese culture is expected to be carried forward, and the minister would like to congratulate His Majesty and congratulate Daming." ”

The others also said together: "I would like to congratulate Your Majesty and Daming." ”

Zhu Youxiao said: "The so-called strange tricks and tricks have seriously hindered our introduction of Western culture, and I am ready to oppose it, but I need your family to come up with ideas." ”

Sun Chuanting said: "The theory of strange skills and obscenity was first seen in "Shangshu", which originally said that the king of Zhou. I thought that if it only referred to useless things for fun, I could change everyone's opinion. ”

Ye Xianggao said: "How to define useless things? The self-striking clock made by the West is exquisite and accurate. It's something to be fun with, but it's actually useful. If you want to oppose the theory of ingenuity, you can only defeat them all. ”