Gu Yanwu and the other scholars didn't expect that as soon as they arrived, they heard about the defeat of the Yang family's army.

Yang Chao's great military exploits have long made people believe that the world is invincible, so even if there are enemy troops all around, the people of Nanjing are not panicked at all, but after the sneak attack on Nanjing by King Sanshun, the people of Nanjing have understood that Nanjing is not safe, resulting in a result that everyone is more willing to deposit money in Jiangnan Bank.

But Gu Yanwu, the scholars in the Susong area, are different, the Susong area has never suffered from the war, and every time, no matter how dangerous it is, Yang Chao always has the ability to turn the tide and turn the situation back.

Therefore, even if they do not recognize Yang Chao's actions, these scholars still believe in Yang Chao's world-class martial arts.

But they didn't expect that as soon as they arrived in Henan, they heard the defeat of the Yang family's army, which made them very disappointed, but that's all, they decided that Yang Chao would soon fight a battle and completely recover Henan.

In fact, they have a bit of a high opinion of Yang Chao, for example, every time Yang Chao wins, either a surprise sneak attack, or a flooding strategy, when winning the head-to-head confrontation, they all rely on far more troops than the enemy to win, whether it is in Yangzhou Shugang to attack Duoduo, or in Wuhu against Haoge, Yang Chao has mobilized more than three times the opponent's troops.

Because Yang Chao himself knows that the average level of his army in terms of individual soldier quality is still far behind the Qing army, and he can make up for it through war, but if the battle formation cannot be held steadily, the probability of defeat is still very large, such as Lu Mo's many defeats, and Wang Pu's heavy burn this time, which is enough to show that the Qing army still has an advantage in the absence of a military advantage.

"Let Shi Lang lead the army to continue to escort the grain and grass forward, and send an additional 5,000 cavalry along the way! Let Wang Pu not rush to attack, step by step. ”

Wang Pu's army was in Chenliu, and the grain and grass were burned in Qi County, and they must be sent to supplies immediately, otherwise the main force will be affected.

It was difficult to move forward without the army of Wang Pu, Henan was still dilapidated at this time, although the Qing court had begun to resume production, but after all, it had been affected by decades of war. The population withered, the land was seriously abandoned, and it was very difficult to collect military rations, and Yang Chao did not want to forcibly take the people's rations. Therefore, it can only be transported from Jianghuai, so Wang Pu can only take it step by step, and cannot fight for grain on the spot because of the grain to the enemy.

Although he knew that Wu Sangui was very capable of fighting, he knew that he was in Kaifeng. The battle of Kaifeng will definitely not be easy, but Yang Chao is still determined to advance to Kaifeng, of course, it can be slower, even if the consumption is greater, but this step by step will cause greater pressure on the Qing army, and it will be easier for Dolgon to transfer the army in Jiangnan back.

"It's time to meet these scholars!"

After handling the military affairs, Yang Chao immediately summoned Gu Yanwu and other scholars and had a cordial long talk with them.

There is actually no prejudice against Yang Chao, who reads, these people are undoubtedly elites. The reason why they are not talented is not that their intellectual level is too poor, it is not that they are lazy, but that it is a problem of the educational model that cultivates them, in this educational system, they have proven themselves one by one, showing that their intelligence and diligence are not inferior to others, and a few of them can even be called quite gifted.

There were a lot of things to talk about with these people, mostly focused on the war, but there were also people who were more concerned about politics.

Someone raised it. Yang Chao does not seem to reuse scholars, and after the collection of Confucian taxes, some people sharply asked whether Yang Chao did not respect the Holy Religion.

For Confucianism, which is praised as a holy religion, Yang Chao is actually not resistant. Confucius himself is still worthy of admiration, in the troubled times of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Confucius was able to accept thousands of students under the banner of education and classlessness, which is enough to show his knowledge and personality charm.

The fault is not Confucius, but that later generations of politicians should not hold Confucius so high. The Confucian people in the Spring and Autumn Period were all gentlemen with firm beliefs and well-known character, and the so-called rich and noble people who could not be lewd and mighty and unyielding were everywhere.

But after respecting Confucianism, the disciples and grandchildren of these people have controlled the power, enjoying the admiration and glory and wealth of ten thousand people, and it is strange that they do not degenerate, read the same books, read Fan Wencheng, Hong Chengchou and other characters, and can also read Wen Tianxiang and Lu Xiufu Such characters, the problem is not the way of Confucius and Mencius, the problem is that some people are really willing to behave and do things according to Confucius and Mencius, but some people just talk about benevolence, righteousness and morality.

This phenomenon is not only unique to Confucius, when Buddhism was in India, that group of monks could practice asceticism, and even had the will to preach across the Gobi Desert thousands of miles away, but after the monks of Shaolin Temple had a huge temple property, they became flower monks who secretly ate meat, secretly married wives and had children, and enjoyed the glory and wealth.

Even in later generations, aren't there a large number of shameless people who mingle in the dang organization for the sake of their political future, and they really believe in the spirit of serving the people?

In later generations, Confucianism was first criticized for being useless, and later there was a great deal of advocacy and publicity, because the government found that the common people could not live without faith, and it was extremely easy to be eroded by other ideas if they lost their faith, and a large number of scholars in later generations argued all day long about the inferiority of Chinese civilization, arguing that the Chinese were a cancer in the world from the racial to the cultural, hating to grow in the West and growing a white skin, and even there were voices regretting that they had not been completely colonized.

The government found that the people's brains were invaded by Western cultural ideas, and it was only then that they thought of Confucianism, which had ruled China for thousands of years, and proposed something like neo-Confucianism.

In fact, according to Yang Chao's understanding, Confucianism has bad things, but it is definitely not what later generations accused, and even Confucianism is not the reason for the brazenness of scholars.

On the contrary, Mencius told the world that "the poor and the lowly cannot be moved, the rich and the rich cannot be lewd, and the mighty cannot be bent", and what he told the world was that "although tens of millions of people go to me".

As for the creed that the gentleman does not stand under the dangerous wall, it is completely contrary to the basic tenets of Confucianism, where does these cultures come from? Obviously, this principle of compromise and surrender is full of cunning, this is a secular culture, it is the scholars who are impregnated with secular culture, not Confucianism itself to introduce these contradictory creeds, the reason why there are a large number of intellectuals who are incorruptible and shameless traitors to seek glory, is precisely because they do not follow the principle of "one minister does not do two masters, and one woman does not marry two husbands".

It's just that later generations don't understand the way of Confucius and Mencius, and regard it as a shame of incorruptibility, a traitor seeking glory, and the culprit of traitors. If this was the case, the emperors of the past dynasties would not have advocated the way of Confucius and Mencius, after all, no one wanted to see their officials all snobbish.

Yang Chao opposed Confucianism, which was originally Confucianism. As long as it is the 'Tao', it is the Tao and not the king, and after the monopoly, it becomes a 'technique', and it becomes a way to seek wealth and nobility, which will inevitably attract those speculators to join. And so it went bad.

It is a law of nature that once any organization gains monopoly power, it is bound to corrupt and degenerate very quickly.

As soon as Yang Chao told these scholars his thoughts, they immediately fell silent, and a large number of arguments and opinions, a large number of scholars under the banner of Confucianism betrayed their masters to seek glory, leaving them speechless.

"Therefore, the Governor respects Confucianism, but not exclusively! All the sons have their own way of making trade-offs. Confucianism and Taoism are the methods of self-cultivation and self-cultivation, but the hundreds of schools of thought have the practical learning of governing the country. ”

Yang Chao's argument made these scholars not only speechless, but also quite touched, and they found that this statement was very reasonable, as if the moral decline of thousands of years was really caused by monopoly.

"Absolute power, resulting in absolute **!"

Yang Chao threw out this later argument again.

Gu Yanwu said: "The Metropolitan Governor doesn't plan to use Confucianism to govern the country?" ”

Yang Chao waved his hand: "It's not the turn of the governor to govern the country." This governor only has some superficial views to share with you. ”

Gu Yanwu sighed: "I heard that the governor of the capital is going to open the imperial examination, and he won't take the classics anymore?" ”

Yang Chao nodded and said: "The imperial examination is to take materials for the country and recruit talents to govern the country. Confucianism and Taoism are the methods of self-cultivation, and the imperial examination should be based on talents, not virtue. ”

Yang Chao's principle is to use what is right, and governing the country cannot rely on personal morality. It is not a blessing for the country that a virtuous and untalented guy is in a high position.

Even if it is a character like Shi Kefa, his moral quality is extremely high, but his ability is very lacking, but it is a corrupt official like Zhu Dadian who is quite kind, the last time Jin Shenghuan attacked Jinhua Mansion, the civil and military generals of Jinhua Mansion all ran away. Zhu Dadian organized his family members to resist the onslaught of Jin Shenghuan and others, and persisted for more than two months, waiting for Yang Chao to rescue.

Gu Yanwu said: "People without virtue dare to use it? ”

Yang Chao sighed: "This governor also knows that people with both talent and virtue are the best choice, but the examination of Confucius and Mencius classics cannot be tested for people with high morals, and most of the people who are tested are opportunistic, what is the use?" ”

Gu Yanwu said: "The Metropolitan Governor seems to be biased. Most of the scholars in the imperial examination are still good. ”

Yang Chao sighed: "Not really, like the princes of Beijing, which one is not a moral article, like a splendid general, but looking at its people, breaking into the Qing, coming and descending, there is no rudeness, righteousness and shame." ”

Yang Chao took out the batch of Han officials who surrendered in Beijing, Li Zicheng came to fight for the surrender of Li Zicheng, and the Manchu Qing Dynasty came to fight for the surrender of the Manchu Dynasty.

Gu Yanwu was silent, in fact, Gu Yanwu himself was also very tired of the imperial examination, after he failed many times, he had given up the imperial examination, devoted himself to studying, read countless books, and was proficient in war, law, and agricultural politics, but unfortunately there was only theory, not practice.

Gu Yanwu is already a leader, and there are not many people who are interested in other theories like him, obviously he is a reader, and the practical studies he reads are also the essence of the hundred schools of thought, it can be said that Confucianism is to unify the other hundred schools, but with Confucianism morality and etiquette as the core.

It is a pity that the imperial examination does not test those practical studies, and the examination is a moral article, which is completely putting the cart before the horse, called the rule of virtue, and the later generations emphasize the rule of law, at most it is a combination of governing the country according to law and governing the country by virtue, but the governance of the country in the Confucian theory is completely governed by virtue, and the emphasis is on cultivating benevolence and righteousness, and the world will be attached to the bottom like water.

This is complete nonsense, your morality is high, and the nomads on the steppe are still rushing south to loot, robbing your wife and children, robbing the land and money, and then you continue to shout and use morality to reform.

The same is true in the West, governing the country with Christian theology obviously does not work, and it will only develop when they abandon theology, at least let God's to God, and Caesar's to Caesar's.

Therefore, Yang Chao did not object to scholars using Confucian classics to cultivate their bodies and minds, but he resolutely opposed Confucian classics as the content of the imperial examination.

"Therefore, we should govern the country according to law, not Confucianism, not morality!"

Yang Chao felt that what he said was very reasonable, but he immediately became excited, and one by one he laid out the lessons of the death of the second generation of violent Qin, shouting that the rule of law was not feasible.

I have to say that Qin Shi Huang caused the death of the anger of the heavens and the resentment of the second, which completely stinked the rule of law, and the subsequent dynasties did not dare to mention the rule of law for overkill, and what could compete with Confucianism and Taoism for a while was just a recuperation of Taoism.

But in fact, the Qin Dynasty definitely did not die in the rule of law, but died in Qin Shi Huang's great achievements, built the Great Wall, repaired the Chi Road, attacked the Xiongnu in the north, expanded Jiaozhi in the south, and exhausted the national strength, just like the Sui Yang Emperor who built the Grand Canal and fought for hegemony in Northeast Asia.

After the death of Qin, the Great Wall built to protect the later dynasties for 2,000 years, and after the death of Sui, the Grand Canal has achieved prosperity from generation to generation, but the world only knows how to scold them, but can not look at the problem objectively.

Yang Chao felt sorry for these two eloquent emperors, but these scholars who were impregnated in Confucianism were not convinced, and they were like mourning and examining, as if they believed that the world was going to die.

It made the guards around Yang Chao nervous, and some even pulled out their knives, for fear that the scholars would be irrational.

Seeing this situation, Yang Chao couldn't continue, and hurriedly led people out.

"Copy a copy of what I said to these scholars today and hand it over to Jiangnan Newspaper and Periodical Printing, and send it to the world!"

"Well, the title is "A Hundred Flowers Bloom and a Hundred Schools of Thought Contend"!"

Confucianism, which was known for its rigidity during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, became a representative of decay in later generations, precisely because they monopolized politics, and without competition, they would have no vitality.

In the Han and Tang dynasties, there were Taoists and Confucianists competing with Confucianism, so the scholars in the Han and Tang dynasties dared to kill people with knives.

The Song Dynasty thoroughly laid the foundation of science, the result is getting weaker and weaker, the rule of culture is extremely prosperous, the national strength is the first in the world, but can not hide its weak nature, with the support of super national strength, the military has always been a dwarf, with far more than the Han and Tang Dynasties, but repeatedly shrinking, and finally partial to the south of the Yangtze River.

The Ming Dynasty took Cheng Zhu Lixue as its purpose and tried its best to suppress the psychology that appeared in the south, and it was even more uncompetitive. What's even worse is that in the Ming Dynasty, Westerners completed the Renaissance in turn and began to enter the Enlightenment stage, from reviving Roman culture to creating a new culture on this basis.

And the Ming Dynasty is getting weaker and weaker, and the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which inherited various systems of the Ming Dynasty, only made some minor repairs and small repairs, as a young political power, maintaining stability is their first priority, so the great revival of literary prisons, completely stifling ideology and culture, and allowing China to connect with the West has no chance, let alone catch up and surpass.

Think about it, if by abolishing the exclusive right of Confucianism, we can restore Chinese civilization to the Spring and Autumn Period, the fatal era of Legalism, Taoism, Moism, Zonghengjia and so on, and make China's jurisprudence, Zonghengxue (diplomacy) and so on become as dynamic as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, which is tantamount to the Renaissance of the West.

That's right, this is the Renaissance, the Renaissance of the Chinese era, the revival of ancient Roman culture in the West, and the revival of pre-Qin culture in China!

Yang Chao was faintly excited in his heart, feeling that this matter was of great significance. (To be continued.) )