This year is the first year of Xuanwu of the Ming Dynasty, plus the 29 years of the previous Guangfu Dynasty, and the 2oo years of the Yongli era that used the Yongli era name before. It has been 31 years since the revival of the Ming Dynasty in the pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info! Zuo Zongtang, who was only 36 years old at the time, is 67 years old this year. This age is not too old in the 21st century, but in 1877 it was a high life expectancy that most people could not live The so-called 7o ancient rarity, ancient rarity, is only 3 years away from the age of 67. Therefore, most of the great and small Confucians of Zuo Zongtang's contemporaries are no longer alive now. The backbone of the whole Greater China society was either born after the restoration of sight or grew up after the restoration of sight, and their thinking and education are completely different from those of the people who grew up before the restoration of vision."

As we all know, Confucianism, or official Confucianism, is actually what the imperial court instilled in the folk intellectuals with the method of taking scholars through the imperial examination, and the scholars below will learn what they are, otherwise there will be no official work. Therefore, the effect of talking to a group of Confucians is far less good than directly taking the content and rules of the imperial examination.

Anyway, most scholars just want to have a chance to be an official by exam, although the imperial examination reform of the Ming Dynasty used age to set a limit and cut off a group of people's careers, but showing talent as an official has made it much easier for scholars to become officials, and it is still very beneficial to most scholars Things that are beneficial to them will naturally not object.

Another key point of the imperial examination reform implemented by Zhu Jishi is the content reform, which not only added a large number of practical learning content, but also greatly reduced the difficulty of the Confucian examination, which is also related to the increase in the number of scholars in the imperial examination. Take 3oo up and down) increased hundreds of times. Of course, the difficulty of the exam is much lower.

Moreover, Zhu Jishi deliberately guided the simplification of Confucian questions in the imperial examination. It has been more than 20 years since the liberation. Most of the Confucian questions in the imperial examination are multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank and silent writing questions, which basically revolve around several important original texts of the Four Books and Five Classics, and do not seek to understand them. I didn't do the eight-share article, but changed it to a standard official document, and I could explain things simply and clearly. The difficult problems and deviations used to make it difficult for most candidates are concentrated in practical topics such as law, economics, and mathematics (even if it is a talent course, it is also necessary to test the content of law, economics and mathematics).

In this way, the role of Confucianism in the imperial examination of the Ming Dynasty is getting smaller and smaller, and the interest of the people in learning Confucianism is naturally getting lower and lower. Most of the scholars of the new era have an understanding of Confucianism. They are all at a level where they only know the approximate level, and their maintenance of Confucianism naturally cannot be compared with the Confucian scholars more than 3o years ago.

"It's been 31 years, time flies really fast......" Zuo Zongtang was silent for a moment, and sighed with emotion, "Now my martial arts in the Ming Dynasty have reached the Han and Tang Dynasties, but this Wenzhi ......"

"What is Bunji?" Zhu Jishi said with a smile, "Everyone is proficient in the way of Confucius and Mencius, is it Wenzhi? Zuo Qing, how many years do you think it will take for this Confucian and Mencian way to be mastered? ”

"Of course, the truth can't be learned in a lifetime......" Zuo Zongtang smiled bitterly and shook his head. Emperor Taishang, the old minister understands what you mean. The way of Confucius and Mencius is not a practical study, and everyone does not need to be proficient, and it is impossible for everyone to be proficient, otherwise no one will do the practical things in this world. ”

The Tao of Confucius and Mencius can be regarded as the essence of Eastern philosophy, a very valuable thing, and worth spending a lifetime studying. But only a very small number of people in a country are engaged in philosophical research, and most people, including bureaucrats and politicians, can only be superficial. If the entire elite made the study of philosophy a profession, it would be an absolutely unthinkable society.

And the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties of Chinese society are such a society! Moreover, in the case of the elite of the entire Chinese society who have been studying for thousands of years, the study of Chinese philosophy has not achieved much success, but has caused the ideas of the whole society to be imprisoned.

If you want to look for similar examples internationally, you can probably compare them with the European Middle Ages under Catholic rule and the theocratic world of true God. And Confucianism actually has a leader such as a pope or caliph, the emperor Lao Tzu! The bishop or imam who assists the emperor in ruling the world, the imperial examination is a method for the generation of bishops and imams, and at the same time it is a means of proselytizing.

And the best time to carry out a "religious reform" of this religion-like Confucianism is when the dynasty is changed. Because no one can rely on a group of Confucian scholars to seize the world, the basis of a new dynasty must be force. Therefore, at the time of the rise of the dynasty, the power of the Confucian sect was the weakest, and the resistance to reform was also the least. This is also the main reason why Zhu Jishi successfully invited Confucianism from the altar and liberated the minds of the Chinese people.

Of course, Zhu Jishi can also invite Confucianism down from the altar and at the same time support another school or sect that imprisons the mind to imprison the wise men of the world. Even if Ma Zhe is moved out, under the dual role of bayonets and imperial examinations, it can still make Chinese scholars say that Ma En will be called.

However, Zhu Jishi's idea at that time was to lead the elite of Chinese society to practical learning and industry, rather than continuing the traditional happy life of taking exams and collecting rent. Therefore, it is necessary to break the cage of people's minds, not to build a stronger cage.

However, after the entire Chinese society has successfully embarked on the single-plank bridge of capitalism, it is still necessary to establish appropriate brainwashing or values education.

The Great Chinese Empire must have its own universal values, which are beneficial to the rule of the Ming Dynasty and the unity of the Great Chinese Empire. Rather than American-style liberal democracy...... Well, freedom is possible, democracy is also problematic, but Emperor Lao Tzu must have it!

"Zuo Qing, let me tell you the truth, Wang Lanqing's philosophical research direction is quite in line with my wishes, and I have already asked the Royal Foundation to sponsor it." Zhu Jishi said bluntly, "Chinese philosophy has developed slowly since the deposition of the hundred schools, and now it is difficult to compete with Western philosophy, and someone must come forward to use the name of reviving the hundred schools of thought to introduce the essence of Western philosophy for their own use." ”

Zuo Zongtang laughed dryly, Zhu Jishi made it clear that he wanted to be a hypocrite in learning! It is not easy to quote the essence of Western philosophy into the study of a hundred schools...... And Emperor Zhu himself doesn't understand the truth of the hundred schools, so he has to fake his hands to others, maybe he is not very relieved, so he wants to let himself come forward to check and advocate, right?

And the revival of the hundred schools, of course, also includes the promotion of Confucian classics, Confucianism is broad and profound, and the past dynasties have only taken one of them, I am afraid that they have not obtained their essence. Now I hope that there will be a great Confucian leader to continue the study of the saints, so that Confucianism can truly be carried forward. I don't know if Zuo Qing intends to go out of the mountain for the sake of Confucius and Mencius? ”

Zhu Jishi's eyes were burning, and he obviously had deep expectations for Zuo Zongtang. In the past, if we wanted to make the country rich and strong, of course, we must first emancipate our minds, just like in the early days of China's reform and opening up in later generations, we could only dilute Marxism first, and even if we introduced some decadent ideas of Western capitalism, it was a last resort. After the establishment of world hegemony by the Great Chinese Empire, the goal of becoming a rich and powerful country has been achieved, and of course it is necessary to establish universal values, that is, ideology, that that are in line with the interests of the Great Chinese Empire.

However, the traditional Chinese philosophical thought is obviously not enough to become the foundation of the universal values of Greater China and even the world, and it is imperative to absorb the essence of Western philosophy. But it is not easy to perfectly integrate Eastern and Western philosophies. And the most difficult of them is to integrate Western philosophy into Confucianism. After all, Confucianism was still in an absolute dominant position 3o years ago, and there are not many scholars who study and are proficient in Confucianism. A considerable number of them are still alive today, and if there is no respected Confucian to lead the academic fraud, it will be easy to be exposed. If you don't pay attention, you will be like Kang Youwei in history, because a "Confucius Reform Examination" has become the target of public criticism, and it has been grabbed and criticized by the opposition.

"The old minister can give this matter a try." Zuo Zongtang smiled slightly bitterly, but still took over the burden. Because he knew that if he didn't help Zhu Jishi "carry forward Confucianism", Zhu Jishi was likely to let Confucianism be annihilated among the hundred schools, and let the three schools of law, Taoism, and ink replace it.

"Thank you, Zuo Qing." Zhu Jishi smiled and nodded at Zuo Zongtang, sincerely thanking him, without the slightest hint of hypocrisy, because Zuo Zongtang did him a great favor.

"Don't dare." Zuo Zongtang hurriedly returned the salute, and then asked, "I don't know what kind of Neo-Confucianism the Emperor wants?" ”

"Of course, we need a Confucianism that can maintain the constitutional monarchy!" Zhu Jishi said with a smile, "Mencius has the theory that the people are precious, the community is secondary, and the monarch is light. It is not difficult to develop Confucianism in this direction, right? ”

He paused for a moment and then said: "In addition, the theory of the great harmony of the world can also be developed, and Confucianism, Taoism and Mohism seem to have theories in this regard. It can be combined with socialism in Western philosophy, but it cannot oppose private ownership, but emphasize social welfare and the role of the state in the secondary distribution of social wealth. ”

What Zhu Jishi wanted was to integrate the hundred schools of thought with Western philosophy, that is, to form China's own philosophical system and ideological system. And the constitutional monarchy is, of course, the core of this ideology, not only to be established in the Great Chinese Empire, but also to do everything possible to universalize it, and must not let the future human beings of this time and space regard democracy and freedom without a monarch as a universal value! At the same time, given the rise of socialism in the West, Greater China must also take the path of a welfare state in order to resist the social revolution. Therefore, the Datong Thought, which originated in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, will become another core of the ideological system of Greater China. In addition, the scientific ideas of the Mohists, the nationalism of the Legalists, and the ideas of the rule of law (of course, which have been distorted and developed) must be excavated one by one to form theories and systems...... (To be continued......)