Chapter 390 Okay, we have missionaries too!

The spies were accompanied by a group of traditional radicals from the Chinese Empire, the Confucian missionaries who were the founding force of the empire's traditional ideology.

Since the founding of the Chinese Empire, Confucianism has continued to dominate the empire's state religion, although some thinkers, such as Li Zhen, a "heretical" radical thinker in the late Ming dynasty, denounced the Confucian classics as "the supremacy of eternity", exposed the hypocrisy of certain rules of Taoism, and opposed discrimination against women and the oppression of merchants. It can be said that he became a pioneer of China's anti-feudal ideology, and his ideas reflected the requirements of the embryonic era of capitalism to a certain extent, with some democratic overtones.

However, even this could not touch the dominance of Confucianism. After the founding of the Chinese Empire, extensive democracy and freedom created the rise of countless thinkers, and formed an advanced ideological pattern in the Spring and Autumn Period in which a hundred schools of thought contended and a hundred flowers bloomed.

The imperial government abolished the hierarchical division of the Chinese community into peasants and merchants, but the rigid hierarchy remained, except that the oppressed became vassal and colonial people. The contradiction has shifted, and the peasant and working class has stopped bullying the merchants in the country, but has turned the target of bullying to the inferior ethnic groups except for the Chinese. This led many radical thinkers to shift their targets from home to abroad, and began to form a pattern of foreign ideological aggression under the premise that mainstream Confucianism was unshakable.

The imperial government allowed the people to speak freely, and of course there was a price. At the beginning of the empire, the imperial government was under considerable ideological pressure.

This includes many die-hard elements of the former Ming Dynasty, such as Huang Zongxi, after his death in the Ming Dynasty, he wrote in seclusion, fiercely criticized the feudal monarchy system, advocated the "rule of law" against "rule of man", opposed to heavy agriculture and suppressed business, his ideas shook the academic circles at that time, and had a certain impact on the Chinese imperial government. Because the imperial government was implementing a policy of recuperation and recuperation for the peasants at that time, and appropriately taxing the business class, Huang Zongxi misunderstood the bitterness of the imperial government.

Another example is Gu Yanwu, since the end of the Ming Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, he has emphasized the practical knowledge of "applying it to the world". He advocated combining academic research with solving social problems, and tried to reverse the unrealistic style of study in the late Ming Dynasty. He advocated "practical learning" for the purpose of criticizing science and opposing the monarchy, and Gu Yanwu's style of study had a great influence on some scholars in the early days of the founding of the Chinese Empire.

Then there is Wang Fuzhi, who is an outstanding materialist thinker, who believes that "qi" is a material entity, and "reason" is an objective law. He put forward the materialist viewpoint of "the one who is angry, the basis of reason" and "the only instrument in the world". Strongly criticized Zhu Xi's science and Wang Yangming's psychology, and he also proposed that "stillness contains movement, and movement is reluctant to be still", denying the metaphysical thought of the physicist Zhu Jing. At the beginning of the founding of the Chinese Empire, Wang Fuzhi hoped that his views could warn the Chinese Imperial Government, and he looked at history from the perspective of development, believing that historical development was regular, and he proposed to "update the times" in politics, reminding the Chinese Imperial Government not to follow the old path of its predecessors.

The ideas of these three men influenced more than half of the scholars, and had a strong ideological impact on the newly founded Chinese Empire, which made the imperial government very cautious in any policies and laws and regulations in the first few years of its founding.

At first, Imperial government officials demanded severe punishment for these radicals. Emperor Deng Haonan of Shenwu was also skeptical of his promotion of freedom of speech at first, but in the end, Deng Haonan's reason told him that the mouth of the people was more important than the defense of Sichuan, and only by taking advantage of the situation could he turn this huge ideological weapon into his own use.

Deng Haonan withstood the tremendous pressure from these radical thinkers by virtue of his strong personality cult in the eyes of the people.

As the imperial government's policy of recuperation and recuperation achieved remarkable results, the emperor's vow to erect a monument outside the palace to "never give more" won the support of the imperial people, and also changed Huang Zongxi's view of the dynasty.

Then, Deng Haonan implemented a cabinet rotation system in political reform, establishing the House of Lords (the Royal Senate and the House of Representatives) and the House of Commons (the National Assembly), delegating most of the power to the citizens of the empire and allowing citizens to participate in national affairs. At the same time, the establishment of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Office of Integrity and the Courts as the supervision of state officials made the imperial government clear and the officials honest and honest, and these measures made the radicals such as Huang Zongxi and Gu Yanwu, who originally criticized the monarch, change their views and instead supported the imperial government. And the new look of the Chinese Empire made Wang Fuzhi and other thinkers who were afraid that the empire would follow the old path of the past applaud.

Although they have been criticized in the past few years, it is bitter first and then sweet. Deng Haonan led his government to change the attitudes and perceptions of these radical thinkers with practical actions.

With the beginning of the colonial era of the Empire, the rigid hierarchy shifted the oppressor to the non-Chinese foreigners and colonial minority, and the thinkers of the empire also followed the steps of the imperial government to shift the sharp spearhead to the outside world.

From the beginning of the 10th year of Shenwu, the radicals led by Huang Zongxi, Gu Yanwu, and Wang Fuzhi began to demonstrate new ideas and theories, and they based on Confucianism and revised them into both domestic and foreign ideas. In China, the Chinese ethnic group is equal, and all Chinese farmers and businessmen are equal, and the Son of Heaven is guilty of the same crime as the common people, which has been realized. Abroad is the supremacy of the Chinese nationality, and a strict hierarchy of farmers and industrialists is implemented for the inferior ethnic groups. Spread the Confucian doctrine and hope to build a Greater China Co-prosperity Circle.

In the twelfth year of Shenwu, the local Confucian scholars of the empire united with these radical thinkers to form the Confucian sect of the Chinese Empire, which promoted the improved Confucianism internally and the enhanced version of Confucianism externally.

In September, the first Confucian contingent of 75 people, led by Huang Zongxi himself, began to preach in the Luzon colony. In Manila, they converted the original Spanish Cathedral into a Confucian cathedral, and established a Confucius Institute, with the help of the Luzon colonial governor's palace, to enforce Confucianism compulsorily and semi-compulsorily.

Immediately afterwards, the imperial government of China believed that military and economic aggression would be followed by ideological and cultural aggression to consolidate colonial rule. At the same time, the Confucian missionaries of the Chinese Empire would also spread the ideas of the East to the Western world, increasing the influence of the Chinese Empire among European countries.

As a result, the Imperial Chinese Government established the Confucianism Foundation, which was earmarked by the Imperial Government to support the missionaries of the Empire to spread Confucian scholarship around the world and promote the prestige of the Chinese Empire.

With the help of state funds, the ranks of Confucian missionaries in the empire swelled rapidly, first squeezing the fastest missionaries in Europe in China, and then going abroad and beginning a large-scale invasion of Western intellectual circles.

In fact, the contribution of ancient Chinese culture to world civilization is not only the "Four Great Inventions", but also the political culture represented by the "Four Books" and the "Five Classics", which has also made positive contributions to modern human civilization.

As early as the former Ming Dynasty, the European Jesuits went through a lot of hardships to communicate Chinese and Western cultures, and transported the main culture of the Ming Dynasty at that time, Confucianism, Cheng Zhu Lixue, to Europe by steamship, where it had formed a 100-year Chinese cultural fever, and the combination of Confucianism and the new European ideas formed since the Italian Renaissance became an important ideological source of the Enlightenment thought, the leading spirit of the development of modern European history.

Voltaire, the leader of the French Enlightenment, was the most powerful advocate of Chinese Confucianism in Europe, and he and his "encyclopedists" used Chinese Confucianism as an ideological weapon against the theocratic monarchy in Europe. Cheng Zhu Lixue, Neo-Confucianism, became the basis for the German philosopher Leibniz to establish classical philosophy and use it to oppose the revelation theology of the Holy See. Known as the "Confucius of Europe", Quenet opened a new era of modern European political economics based on Confucianism, and laid a theoretical foundation for the formation and development of British classical political economics.

Over the past 100 years, the Western powers have used the cultural hegemony of "Western-centrism" to cultivate a colonial cultural psychology among the Chinese, and they look down on and do not want to look down on their own national culture and history. It has become a heavy spiritual shackle on the hearts of the Chinese, and in the forest of world civilization, it has never been able to straighten the backbone of its own national culture.

Deng Haonan knows very well that now it is not only the war that determines who will dominate the world in the East and the West, but also the ideological and cultural war without the smoke of gunpowder is equally important. If the Chinese Empire had also won the war of ideas, then a qiē would have changed. Europeans despise their own national culture and worship Chinese culture fanatically.

Deng Haonan hopes that this qiē will become a fact, and since he has come to this world and has the opportunity to change this world and change the fate of the Chinese, then he must change it thoroughly.

In the thirteenth year of Shenwu, Deng Haonan approved the plan submitted by the cabinet to establish Confucius Institutes in European countries.

At this time, not long after the end of the First World War, European countries were anxious to restore their economies. The strength of the Chinese Empire is undeniable, and they need financial aid and low-interest loans from the Chinese Empire to revitalize their own economies, so governments have welcomed educators from the Chinese Empire to establish Confucius Institutes and academic exchanges in their countries.

The first European Confucius Institute was built on the Île Saint-Louis in the heart of the Seine River in the heart of Paris, France.

Founded in 1180, the University of Paris is the first university in France, and the school buildings in Europe are very high, like rows of upside-down pencils.

The Confucius Institute, on the other hand, represents the oriental culture, so it is carved and carved according to the traditional courtyard houses of the Chinese Empire. However, the universities in Europe are relatively high, giving people momentum. In order to make the Confucius Institute in Paris famous and promote the sacred learning of the East, the imperial government of China spent 3 million silver dollars to increase the courtyard building of the Confucius Institute to five floors, like a square castle.

Occupying one-third of the Île Saint-Louis, it is the largest building on the island, and the Confucius Institute can be seen from far away on the left and right banks of the Seine.

The Île Saint-Louis and the adjacent Île de la Ste are the only two large islands in the heart of Paris, France, and the buildings on the islands are very luxurious, all of which are home to the French royal family and the princes and nobles. King Louis XIII of France specifically approved the establishment of the Confucius Institute on the Île Saint-Louis, which shows the great importance he attached to the Chinese Empire.

The French media also reported the incident in a big headline, claiming that it was a sign of the further deepening of the strategic alliance between China and France.

In fact, French Prime Minister Richelieu did not approve, but in the face of low-interest loans from the Chinese Empire, and the desire to obtain advanced military equipment from the Chinese Empire, he had to go along with the king's wishes.

The Confucius Institute was built a year ago, and according to the specifications, the Confucius Institute at this time did not have the level of a comprehensive university, because the teachers in it were all about Chinese culture. However, under the courtship of King Louis XIII of France, he sent his five-year-old son (Louis XIV) directly to study at the Confucius Institute, in order to curry favor with the Chinese Empire and win political bargaining chips.

The King's son entered the Confucius Institute, so the French government had to send capable teachers from the University of Paris to study at the Confucius Institute, and after completing the study, he stayed at the Confucius Institute and taught the King's son in the future. The other aristocrats naturally followed suit, and the academy was at their doorstep, so they sent their children to study in the Confucius Institute. In this way, the French government directly stipulated that the Confucius Institute became the highest university in France on the same level as the University of Paris, which caused a sensation in France and even the whole of Europe for a while, and countless people came to enroll in the Confucius Institute, which increased the influence of the Confucius Institute.

However, the good thing did not last long, and King Louis XIII of France had just signed a third loan contract with the Chinese Embassy in France for post-war reconstruction, and received a low-interest loan of 30 million silver dollars from the European Bank of the Chinese Empire.

The king was so happy that he suddenly came to the Confucius Institute to inspect his son's studies. The father and son then rode for a walk in the square outside the academy when a French Protestant suddenly shot Louis XIII's mount. The mount was frightened, and immediately ran wildly, and at once rushed into the Seine.

The French guards rushed to the rescue of the king and killed the Protestant. Louis XIII did not drown, but the dirty water of the Seine River rushed into his lungs, and the French court physicians failed to remove all of the dirty water, causing Louis XIII to become inflamed in his lungs and die seven days later.

France was mourned, and his five-year-old son succeeded to the throne, called Louis XIV. Louis XIV succeeded to the throne at a young age, and his mother Anna and Prime Minister Richelieu held power, while he continued to study at the Confucius Institute.

The young Louis XIV was highly valued by the Chinese Imperial Government, and the teachers of the Confucius Institute took great pains to teach him knowledge, influencing Louis XIV's body and mind with Chinese culture at all times. As for the impact that Louis XIV would have on the Kingdom of France when he grew up in power, the French were not at all vigilant, and perhaps they were not aware of the purpose behind the opening of Confucius Institutes in Europe by the Chinese Empire.

Following the establishment of the Confucius Institute in Paris, France, a wave of Chinese fever quickly spread in Europe.

Previously, European countries had limited their knowledge of the Chinese Empire to Marco Polo's diary and the foreign colonial expansion of the Chinese Empire in the last decade.

In fact, the spread of Chinese culture in Europe was thanks to a foreign missionary, and that was Matteo Ricci.

Matteo Ricci lived in Beijing in 1601 at the behest of Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty until his death in Beijing in 1610, where he spent 28 years as a missionary. During Matteo Ricci's stay in China, he devoted a lot of energy to the study of Confucian classics, and Li Zhen said that Matteo Ricci "has all the books in our country, and those who are clear in the four books understand their general meaning, and those who are clear in the six classics and those who are clear in the meaning of the six classics can explain it. He is a person who is "extremely exquisite, extremely simple on the outside," and "extremely peugeot".

Earlier, Matteo Ricci attempted to find an entry point for a "Confucian-Yeric dialogue" in these texts, exploring the possibility of using Confucianism to argue Christian doctrine. Matteo Ricci argues that "the most famous of the Chinese philosophers is Confucius. This great man of erudition was born in 551 BC and died at the age of more than 70. He inspired his people to pursue morality both by writing and by teaching and by his own example. His self-control and temperate way of life led his countrymen to assert that he was far more sacred than all the people of the world who had been considered to be of high moral character, and that "Confucius was the teacher of the sages of China", and therefore "the learned people of China held him in great esteem".

Matteo Ricci believed that it was the culmination of moral precepts for the future beauty and development of the country, and that the Four Books "are books that all those who want to become scholars must memorize." Based on this understanding, in 1598 he co-authored the work of annotating the Four Books in Latin to help missionaries in China learn Chinese and understand Chinese culture. It was he who first translated the Confucian classics into Western in the middle of the 16th century. He transmitted Western modern scientific and technological ideas to China, which opened the eyes of the Chinese. At the same time, he also transmitted Confucianism, the mainstream culture of China, to Europe.

The Diary of Matteo Ricci was the first comprehensive introduction to Chinese moral and religious thought in Europe, and it was also the first time that Europeans learned about the Chinese sage Confucius, the quintessence of Chinese culture, and the Confucian classics. Matteo Ricci is a well-deserved ancestor of European sinologists, and he has made epoch-making contributions to the study of sinology in Europe.

Thanks to these foundations, the Confucian missionaries of the Chinese Empire did not hit a wall in Europe, but naturally integrated into the European world in the name of imparting scholarship.

Following the establishment of the Confucius Institute in Paris, missionaries from the Chinese Empire opened Confucius Institutes in London, The Hague, Bologna, Heidelberg, Gothenburg, Morgan, and St. Petersburg, Russia.

Similarly, the Chinese Empire actively promoted Confucianism in its colonies, establishing Confucius Institutes everywhere. Most of the Confucius Institutes were taken from the former Spanish churches, forming a situation of Confucius Institutes occupying and expelling Catholics.

At the same time, after the Confucian sect of the Chinese Empire was sent as the leading sect to conquer the country, the Taoist sects and Buddhist sects in the empire could not help it, and they wrote to the imperial court one after another, asking for state funds to support them to go abroad to win over their followers.

In this regard, the imperial government was naturally pleased, and then set up a special imperial foundation to expand the scope of support, and a series of religious sects such as Buddhism and Taoism were included in the imperial ideological invasion army and invested in the world.

In addition to supporting orthodox Buddhism and Taoism, there were many other sects in the empire. There are dozens of kinds such as Jin Chan, Wuwei, Longhua, Wukong, Huanyuan, Yuandun, Hongyang, Maitreya, Jingkong, Dacheng, Sanyang, Mixed Source, Wenxiang, Luodao, etc., and some have several teachings. They do not belong to each other, and there are many differences in doctrine and rituals, and the gods they believe in are extremely complex, including the Jade Emperor of the Heavenly Palace, the King of Hell of Hell, the sages of the world, and the most worshipped is Maitreya Buddha, etc.

The most interesting thing is that there are still a considerable number of people in the empire who originally had no religious beliefs, they began to believe in the Shenwu Emperor, respected the Shenwu Emperor Deng Haonan as a god, founded the Shenwu Sect, and also ran to the Imperial Foundation to apply for funds.

In this regard, the emperor's reply was to respect the will of the people and freedom of religion.

The officials of the foundation had no choice but to smile helplessly, but in terms of financial supply, the Shenwu Sect received development funds second only to Buddhism and Taoism.

Of course, there are also the remnants of the White Lotus Sect that were once suppressed by Deng Haonan. These cultists were no longer able to gain a foothold in the Empire, and their plans to seize the Emperor's country had long been lost, so they set their sights overseas.

These remnants of the White Lotus Sect mixed into other religions, or changed their names and received corresponding funds from the imperial government to promote Chinese religious beliefs overseas.

The Imperial Government will manage all the religious forces that apply for their own unified management, first the Imperial colonial army will open the way, and then these religious forces will carry out religious propaganda to the colonial slaves, and the Imperial Government will continue to allocate funds to them, so that they can help the Empire to carry out colonial rule. Those who do not do well will reduce the funds and stop disbursing them at the end.

All religions are based on the interests of the empire, and all religions must obey the imperial government while expanding their followers, otherwise they cannot survive.

Interestingly, the Taoist ideology of the empire was indeed able to attract the religious beliefs of the American Indians. Of all the sects sent to the Americas, Taoism in China was accepted by the Indian tribes. In this way, the imperial government's domination and expansion of the American colonies not only reduced resistance, but was able to rely on the help of the Indians, and the sphere of influence was significantly expanded.

However, as the missionaries of the empire penetrated deep into the American continent, when they arrived on the Atlantic coast of the Mexican colonies, they inevitably clashed with the sects of European countries on the Atlantic coast. The differences in thinking between the two sides and the constant friction between colonial immigrants in the northeastern part of the Chinese Empire's Mexican colony and European countries cast a shadow over the relations between the Chinese Imperial Government and European countries. X