Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Dagger (Part 2)

Since the picture in the telescope has not been demonized, the doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven, which has been regarded as orthodox since the Confucian Han Dynasty, has lost its support for survival. The reincarnation of the five virtues may not be correct, and the emperor cannot be ordered by heaven. The so-called celestial and human induction has all become illusory.

For a while, all the horses were together. Not only did the Confucian disciples become at a loss, but the Taoists, monks, yin-yangists, cross-believers, and celestial followers were at a loss as to what to do about the starry sky that suddenly became incomparably clear under the telescope.

The latter two were introduced to the land of China for a short time, and they were relatively closed, and they had a strong ability to collect money. After surviving the initial blow, it immediately set out to counteract. But also because of their relative isolation, since they were unable to mobilize a large number of children to come forward like the Confucianists, and they could not directly use the state to suppress heresy as they did in their respective places of rule, the West and Central Asia in this era. Therefore, they can only "compromise" and look around for high-precision telescopes, trying to find out the fatal negligence in the 28 Nakshatra diagrams that are being released one after another from the observation results.

The principle and manufacturing process of the telescope were not too complicated, and the restrictions on the scope of its sales by the Huaiyang Governor's Office were not as strict as those for artillery and muskets, so whether it was from the hands of other red turban princes or from the designated channels of the Huaiyang firm, as long as they paid a sufficient price, they could buy one or two samples. And after these samples have been disassembled and figured out by those who are interested, it is not difficult to draw a scoop according to the gourd!

For a time, the price of the decolorized glass sold by Huaiyang firm skyrocketed. Craftsmen who know how to polish mirrors or polish jade jewelry in various places have also doubled in value in an instant. With the investment regardless of the cost, five, ten, and even fifteen or twenty times the civilian telescopes were born one after another. On Qixia, Niushou, and other peaks around Jiangning, almost every clear night was full of strangely dressed senior monks of the Cross Sect and the Heavenly Fang Sect, meticulously observing the stars.

However, what hit both the Cross Sect and the Tianfang Sect was that in the observation range of the telescope, the 28 Nakshatras obtained by the Observatory of the Huaiyang Grand Governor's Mansion could no longer be surpassed. Instead of finding the error on the star chart, they inadvertently discovered more truth.

The new stars in the Milky Way are shining, the surface of the Moon Palace is uneven, gold, wood, water, fire and earth, and the trajectory is not at all like Ptolemy said, going around the earth. Judging from the observations of several consecutive nights, they are orbiting the target, and it is very likely that it is the sun! And the sun itself is not necessarily fixed. It seems to be following a certain trajectory, slowly. Just like other stars in the Milky Way.

If the Twenty-Eight Diagrams that are being carved into stone one after another spread from China to the West, oh my God! Don't even think about the consequences. The Heavenly Fang Sect will inevitably suffer the heaviest blow in history, and the Cross Sect will fall directly into a catastrophe because of the collapse of the geocentric theory.

In this time and space, the clash of doctrines is not as important as the survival of each other. In the face of the catastrophe of "falling from the sky", the cross-cruciferous shepherds and Tianfang religious preachers in Huaiyang quickly shook hands and made peace. As soon as possible, the warning was entrusted to the sea vessels to return to their respective territories, and the respective supreme leaders were asked to find a way to deal with it in time. (Note 1) Just when the fanatical believers of various sects were in a mess, Qingqiuzi, who had once been regarded as a revenge by Zheng Yu, Zhou Tingzhen and others, suddenly published an eloquent article in several newspapers at the same time, "Yuan Confucian".

The article unceremoniously points out that Confucianism has gone into a misunderstanding since the Han Dynasty. Dong Zhongshu does not deserve to be called a saint at all, but a villain in Confucianism. Although he had the merit of prompting Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to "depose a hundred schools of thought and respect Confucianism alone", he established the orthodox status of Confucianism for more than 1,400 years. However, his grasp of the true meaning of Confucianism is only half a bucket of water. Only one of the Six Classics was passed, and the Yin-Yang technique was introduced into Confucianism, leaving a legacy for thousands of years.

Confucianism since the Han Dynasty has actually been based on the way of heaven, interpreted by yin and yang, and attributed to benevolence and righteousness. It completely misinterprets the meaning of Confucius. And the real Confucianism is not about the superficial rules, but on the inner avenue. The so-called Tao is like Han Zi's retreat in the original way, which is benevolence, righteousness and morality. "Fraternity is benevolence, action is righteousness, and righteousness is righteousness, and it is enough to be virtuous without staying outside. Benevolence and righteousness are the names, and Tao and virtue are imaginary. …… Whoever I call a moral cloud is benevolent and righteous. ”

The inheritance of the avenue, as Han Zi retreated, said, "Yao Yi is the Shun of the transmission, Shun is the Yu of the transmission, Yu is the soup of the transmission, the soup is the transmission of the Wenwu Zhou Gong, the Confucius of the Wenwu Zhou Gong, and the Meng Ke of Confucius." Ke's death must not be passed on"

Therefore, since Meng Sheng, the avenue has been cut off. Xunzi is known as the sage of Confucianism, and he is actually the ancestor of imperial art. After the Qin Dynasty, because of the scourge of burning books and pit Confucianism, the resurgence of Confucianism has been far from its true meaning. The Book of Rites has been falsified for many years, and rites are not the goal of the saints to seek the Tao at all, at best they are one of the means. The reincarnation of the five virtues, the induction of heaven and man, and the Mandate of Heaven are even more incompatible with the Great Dao!

Therefore, since Zhu Zi, Zhenru has respected Han Yu, but not Dong Zhongshu. Emphasize "preserving heavenly principles and destroying people's desires". This heavenly principle is the re-understanding of the Great Dao. It's just that Zhu Zi was one step behind after all, and he saw the existence of the avenue, but he failed to return to the source

If it were a month ago, the Confucian scholars in the world would have to attack it again. But now, even the most stubborn people have to admit that Qingqiuzi's words may indeed have a little truth. After all, from his explanation, it can be concluded that the Confucian masters Confucius and Meng Sheng did not make mistakes. It is only the later unscrupulous children who make mistakes, and it is they who distort and dwarf the learning of the saints for the sake of fame and fortune.

As the saying goes, the lesser of two evils. Compared with letting Confucianism completely decay in pretending to be deaf and dumb, Qingqiuzi's "Original Confucianism", although spicy, undoubtedly pointed out a way for Confucianism to survive. That is, retro, "recovering the original intention of Confucius and Mencius, and abandoning the misinformation of Confucianism in the Qin and Han dynasties." ”

However, if you want to be "retro", it is not so easy. After all, the avenue has been cut off for so many years, and there are too many other things mixed in the middle. The biography of Confucius and Mencius is all quotations, and there is no relatively complete and self-justifying system.

In this context, another article entitled "Asking the Dao" published in the "Confucian Justice" in late May is extremely valuable. At the beginning of the article, he quoted a famous saying from Zhuangzi, "There is no source and no knowledge." There is reality but no place, and there is a long but no plagiarism. Those who have something but no knowledge have the truth. There is a real but nowhere to be done, Yu also; There are those who have long but no roots, and they are also. Then, based on the various novelties seen on the stargazing platform recently, he boldly asserted, "The stars dwell in the universe, like dust floating in the air." The earth dwells in it, and it is one of ten thousand stars. ”

The stars dwell in the universe and do not fall because of the Word. And the birth and death of all things on the earth is also because of the Great Dao. The Word, though immeasurable, is omnipresent. The two sages of Confucius and Mencius spied on the greatness of the Tao, so they were humble and studious. The Confucianism of later generations looks at the avenue again, and it is like a leopard in a hole. I only saw a glimpse of it, but I thought I had the whole picture, so I rested on my laurels.

If the Confucianism of this world wants to go back to the world, he needs to first follow what Zhu Zi said, and learn from things. First figure out the truth of the things around you, and then from small to large, you will naturally get closer and closer to the avenue.

This article does not admit that Qingqiuzi said that the Tao is "benevolence and righteousness". But this article gives a concrete and feasible "retro" method, learning from things. What makes Confucians all over the world even happier is that the author of this article is signed by Xiaoyaozi. In the whole world, there are hundreds of virtuous people with the name of Xiaoyaozi, but there is only one person who is the most famous and in Huaiyang. That is Lu Kun, the former director of the Rites Bureau and the current governor of the Supervision Yuan.

"Zhu Butcher didn't want to exterminate Rulin!"

"It turns out that Zhu Butcher's equality is a benevolent technique!"

"No wonder he has always claimed that he should not do to others what he does not want to be done, it turns out that he wants to revive the sacred learning, not perverse!"

If you are poor and poor, you may not be able to learn any talents. But those who can read the Four Books and the Five Classics well and easily come to them will definitely not have a low IQ. On the day Lu Kun's article was published, "Rulin Justice" was once again sold for Luoyang paper. Almost all the scholars in Huaiyang at this moment, whether they continue to share the new policy with Huaiyang, or those who have devoted themselves to the governor's mansion to seek "help the world", quickly smelled a smell. That is, a certain butcher is ready for Rulin to reconcile. He and his staff were seeking a possibility to combine the Confucian Retro with the Huaiyang New Deal, rather than resorting to other heresies.

The shock that this news brought to Rulin was no less than that of the star map. As soon as the new issue of "Confucian Justice" circulated in Jiangning, Zheng Yu, Zhou Tingzhen, Wang Feng and other more than 30 "Confucian disciples" who vowed to sacrifice their lives to defend the Tao were immediately divided into two factions. One faction, led by Zhou Tingzhen and Wang Feng, believed that although the struggle of the group was not recognized by Zhu Tuhu on the surface, it had already achieved practical results. The next thing to do is to "retro", in order to pass on the saint's mastery to the world. The other faction, led by Zheng Yu, Boyan Shouzhong and Wang Han, still insisted on reprimanding the thieves in person. But the desire for death of the latter three has also faded a lot, but they are far less at home than before.

The "fellow believers" who were pulled by the thirty of them from their respective places of origin were also divided into two. Some are ready to give up their previous suspicions and are determined to go "retro". The other part, because of their own interests, insisted on not recognizing the Zhengshuo of the "Zhu Thief", and prepared to retreat to the countryside from now on to wait for the changes in the world.

At this time, there was a piece of news, which spread all over the country through the hands of newspapers. "Wu Gong, Zuo Xiang, the chief manager of Huaiyang, Pingzhang Zhu Chongjiu, Henan Jiangbei Province, will come to Jiangning in early June, take the stage to watch the stars, and congratulate the new twenty-eight Suzhou full map of the world"

Note 1: In the Middle Ages, Christianity was far more closed than Confucianism. Confucianism does not recognize a doctrine, and most of it criticizes its founders. Christians were burned at the stake.