Just after the Spring Festival in 1898, the south and north of the Yangtze River were still cold and windy, and the cold made people's bones stiff.

However, Jiangningpukou, an important port leading from Jiangnan to Jiangbei, is as busy as ever. Between the entry and exit checkpoints set up by the new government, there are dozens of long queues densely arranged 100 meters away. Under the suppression of the armed guards, the people who were eager to quickly clear the customs were crowded with stinky sweat, and from time to time there were noisy cursing sounds.

Occasionally, there are one or two of the loudest shouts, not only on the fire but also in the usual rudeness, wow-wow-wow-la-la-mouthed spittle, punching, kicking, and pushing the people on the side. Leng Buding, a black-clothed guard rushed up, and without saying a word, the butt of a gun smashed his face with blood, and then dragged him behind the iron fence on the side.

They were not gentle at all, and they threw the men with bruised noses and swollen faces, and screamed miserably, but there was no mercy in them.

In the team, some people who have gone back and forth several times to clear the customs immediately applauded loudly and laughed: "You deserve it!" Do you think this is your hometown, and Rongdel and others are rampant and presumptuous? People's ** army is about discipline, where can you show off your might! ”

The people waiting for customs clearance on the side were scared enough, and when they heard this person's words, they hurriedly clenched their fists and asked for advice. The man cleared his throat and told his story of what he had seen and heard. In fact, there is nothing new, and all the rules are described in the "Entry Instructions" of the previous hair. It's just that the vast majority of people are accustomed to believing in gossip, and they always feel that what is written on paper is a fictional story, as the so-called "say one thing and do another", but it is not as convincing as people's personal experience.

At the back of the team, among the group of people clustered together, Zhang Zhidong Shoumei, who was wearing civilian clothes and a melon skin hat, frowned slightly, and muttered: "It seems that the ** military area is not as laissez-faire as its propaganda says. Only from the strictness of the checkpoint security, it can be seen that it must not be a place where everyone is allowed to scatter. ”

Li Yuanhong, who was also wearing civilian clothes, flashed his eyes, especially the black-clothed guards patrolling back and forth, checking some training characteristics between their walking movements, and responded in a deep voice: "There are no rules, there is no circle!" It is said that the heaviest order in the ** army is that they should manage the place by military law, so it is inevitable that they will be strict. ”

A sturdy and handsome young man dressed as a scholar next to him stretched out his hands in his sleeves, pointed to the crowd and said, "In troubled times, you should use heavy codes, and what they do is not wrong." These people are used to running rampant in the township, so they think that the laws of the world are just decorations, but they don't know the place under the jurisdiction of the ** army, and they don't talk about the patriarchal system at all, and they purely control one qiē with the law of the country. I have heard that in every village nowadays, there are specially dispatched officials to preach policies and regulations, and the radio can reach everyone's ears. The imperial power is not lower than the county, and the township elders govern the government, and since then they have been suspended. ”

How can this work? Since ancient times, the Son of Heaven and scholars have ruled the world together, and the scholars and gentry have managed the people, which has been a rule that has not been easy for a hundred years. **Isn't the army afraid of provoking a popular uprising? ”

Another young scholar frowned in thought, unable to understand.

"If this had been done in the past, it might not have worked. But today's ** military actions are interlocking and interlocking, but there are no hidden worries. Lin Sheng's brother also read their published administrative chronicle, which was a policy of literacy for all, stipulating that school-age children, regardless of gender, must attend the school. Its nine-year compulsory education system is an obligation and a right for those of appropriate age, and no one can deprive it. Adult civilians are required to participate in literacy classes and cannot complete the course unless they know 800 commonly used words. Do you know what the future will look like? ”

The sturdy scholar seems to be familiar with the various practices of the ** army, and he says it without thinking.

He is not too tall, but he does not have the weakness of an ordinary scholar, and his exposed face and hands are full of blood, obviously practicing martial arts. The light in those dignified eyes shines, giving people a feeling of wisdom and talent. And the tall figure even in the cold wind, there is also the stability of the rock and green pine, which can be called the majestic and outstanding.

When his words came out, everyone was silent for a while, and then Zhang Zhidong sighed: "Everyone in the world knows literature, and they know etiquette when they are taught, and they are heard from top to bottom, so the old and gentleman of the country will not be able to do it." This is a means of drawing wages from the bottom of the kettle, and it is really unprecedented! ”

Several scholars also sighed in unison.

A strong man with a tiger's back and a bear's waist in the pile of people stared at the round eyes, and said angrily: "Isn't it good for everyone to be literate?" That's right, tens of thousands of people across the country have become scholars, but where did they get so many official positions for everyone? Isn't that a mess? However, the radio speaker can transmit the words of the emperor to the big guys every day, but it is fresh. If there is a means to make the people of the world also say the words to the emperor's ears, then there will be no way to tolerate corrupt officials and corrupt officials to run rampant and lawless, and fish and meat in the country. Ha ha! ”

His words were rude and savage, like a wild boar breaking into the bushes of horses, which was particularly eye-catching.

Zhang Zhidong has never been waiting to see this kind of rude person, so he couldn't help but raise his eyes and glared at the guy fiercely, but he saw that the other party was unaware, and his eyes were shining and looking towards the opposite side of the fence, which was quite eager to try.

The sturdy scholar didn't think it was wrong, and said with a proud smile: "Brother Ma's words are not completely unreasonable. However, the ** army teaches people to read, but it does not make everyone an official. In the words of Mr. Yang Da, reading and reading is a right that people are born with. Everyone should have enough knowledge to help them understand the world, and then form their own world view, values, and outlook on life, so that they can freely choose their position in the social world. This is different from the previous Confucian dogma, which only allowed a very small number of so-called great Confucian masters to establish rules and practice laws for the people of the world based on their own understanding. ”

The big man surnamed Ma was dumbfounded, he didn't understand any three views at all, he just felt that these words were very mysterious. Since ancient times, haven't all the big guys lived according to the rules of the saints? The stubble of the scholars, the dogma of the sage who is in charge, is above all others, showing their differences. However, today's ** army has to let everyone choose for themselves, can this work?

The sturdy scholar did not wait for him to understand, that is, he concluded: "This is the cultivation of Mr. Yang Da's so-called 'independent thinking ability'. If everyone can explore the truth of the world on their own in accordance with the principles of the scriptures, they will not be bewitched by the thoughts of others. Then the rule of fools from ancient times will no longer appear. Its boldness can be described as surpassing the ancients, which is admirable! ”

He made no secret of his admiration, almost applauding Yang Hao's great act of breaking through the sky—in fact, he had praised such a bold act countless times when he was talking with his peers on weekdays.

Zhang Zhidong didn't think so. He is a serious Taoist gentleman, and firmly believes that the truth of the world can always be grasped by a very small number of people. The principles of heaven and man pondered by the saints since ancient times are difficult and profound, and they cannot be understood by those great masters who have learned deeply. Only a rare genius in a hundred years can analyze it and write it into a book, so that it can be gathered into rituals and practiced among billions of mortals.

Since ancient times, China's pyramid system of agriculture and commerce, the patriarchal system of the Son of Heaven and the scholars ruling the world together, and the imperial power not falling below the county, was gradually improved from generation to generation in this context, until the Ming and Qing dynasties reached a peak in 500 years, but it also completely stifled the vitality of the entire nation to a pool of stagnant water.

Strictly speaking, in the world, no one has done a better job than Confucianism in terms of the means of forming and maintaining a vast group of billions of people. The reason why China has been in a cycle of ups and downs for thousands of years, but it has always been able to reintegrate and stubbornly pass on, is directly related to the extremely strict ruling law of Confucianism. Of course, controlling the cycle of chaos and stifling vitality are also its direct side effects.

There is no perfect political system in the world, but there is the most suitable system. China's choice of Confucianism for thousands of years is not a rule set by any one person. The classics written by Confucius in those years were not rules that could rule the world by taking them, but were developed step by step by later generations on the core principles of his philosophical speculation.

Especially in the Northern Song Dynasty, it was found that there were too many holes in the Confucian classics that could not be plugged, and the great masters absorbed the essence of Buddhism and Taoism into it, and finally formed a science that influenced later generations for thousands of years.

At that critical juncture, however, the Mongol invasion interrupted this important point of convergence of Chinese cultural thought, and the ensuing decades of brutal rule swept away that generation of elites. After all, Zhu Yuanzhang and other heroes who rose up were not well educated, and not only directly inherited many barbaric systems of the Mengyuan Dynasty, but also led to the rigidity of national policies and regulations, and completely wiped out the generosity of the "Qi Min" thought in the Song Dynasty. As a result, the upper strata of society treated the lower strata as slaves and cattle with barbarism, and the paranoid and violent thinking ran through the entire dynasty, becoming an epoch-making regression.

The most terrible thing is that they chose Zhu Xi's thought as the core of culture, and then led the Chinese culture, which had reached its peak, into the abyss of distortion and closure.

In the past seven or eight hundred years, although there have also been short-lived Confucians like Wang Yangming, who have pushed Confucianism forward, they have not been able to form a tide to break the barriers. With the rise of the Donglin Party, the invasion of the Tatars, and the emasculation of hundreds of years of culture, the entire Chinese civilization fell into an unprecedented low ebb.

It can be said that China's technological distance from the West in the last 500 years is directly related to the decline of culture.

However, these things are not at all clear in a sentence or two.

The thinking of these old masters has been solidified, and it is impossible to overturn the dogmas they have learned. Yang Hao's blatant breaking the rules of one qiē and letting the people of the world understand the classics on their own can be called earth-shattering, and it will completely destroy their worldview.

To put it bluntly, this is going to ruin the jobs of all the scholars in the world! This is to completely dismantle the tradition of scholars grasping the truth! Without such privileges, the reader would be worthless from now on!

The somewhat ignorant young scholar on the side sighed leisurely: "It turns out that this is **!" In the past, whether it was uprisings or changes of dynasty, it was just a set of rituals and laws. Now we want to reform the old and make the new, and change our lives another day! ”

Zhang Zhidong snorted: "The idea is very ambitious, but it is difficult to succeed. How hard it is to get everyone to read and reason! Since ancient times, it has been a well-known axiom that reading is to be an official. Everyone has a selfish desire to climb up, and if they all read books, this selfish desire will swell more and more. When the time comes, I'll see how he mediates. ”

In terms of grasping people's hearts, Zhang Zhidong is the leader in the world. All people are selfish and insatiable. The higher the level of their start, the greater the desire they pursue. When the time comes, hundreds of millions of people will want to be officials and dominate, and the infighting will definitely be more intense. This is the creation of iniquity! Therefore, the saints should make all sentient beings have no thoughts, no desires, and no contention.

This cannot be said wrong. Since ancient times, all the sages of the world have actually come from their thoughts to maintain the survival of the race. Because of the underdeveloped productive forces in ancient times, the resources to sustain survival were extremely limited, and everyone could not eat and drink at will. So in the primitive society, everyone had to distribute fairly, and the one who could best enforce justice was the leader, and there was the rule of three generations advocated by Confucianism.

After that, the productive forces developed slightly, and surplus materials appeared, and there was a distinction between rich and poor, high and low. However, this is not enough after all. If the ruling class is extravagant, it is very likely that the precious materials created by the entire people will be squandered at once. When the time comes, we will face the catastrophe of starving to death of the majority.

Based on this situation, Confucianism proposed moderation, and Confucius advocated frugality in sacrifices and funerals, and did not engage in martyrdom, nor did it make huge tombs and countless expensive funeral goods. However, the rulers of that year had just tasted the sweetness, and were about to indulge their selfish desires unscrupulously, who would listen to him and live a hard life? All Confucius traveled from place to place, but he was never able to implement his own ideas.

Lao Tzu's solution is to guide people to be pure and have few desires, to improve their body and mind with Taoist means, to naturally remove material desires, and to advocate a purer state of life. It's just that he himself knew that it wouldn't work, so he had to vent his anger after 5,000 words, "Small countries and widows, old and dead don't get along". Because he knows the complexity of human nature, it cannot change the reality that the more abundant the material, the more depraved human nature becomes.

The Buddha was born as a prince, he did not lack food and clothing at all, and he enjoyed the first-class abundant material resources since he was a child. However, he is a great wisdom after all, and he can see the suffering of the lower classes, but he cannot change the system. Therefore, after studying all kinds of methods at that time, I was never able to find the way to liberation. In the end, after experiencing human suffering, Huo Ran realized the essence of life.

The purpose of his decades-long teachings is to teach him to practice all his life to see through reality, to transcend desires and desires, and to spiritually reach a supreme state that is not affected by material things.

However, this set was too difficult and cumbersome, and it was even more difficult to implement than Lao Tzu's, probably he himself knew that it was difficult to achieve under the circumstances at that time, so he passed it on to China. However, inevitably, Buddhism has become Buddhism, the practice of the Dharma has become a rule and prestige, and the natural supernatural powers have become a signboard to tempt and confuse sentient beings, and the Buddhist path has rushed all the way towards the demonic path. Liberated sentient beings, it became a painting cake.

However, fortunately, Chinese culture has a huge inclusiveness, and in the Northern Song Dynasty, the trend of unifying the three religions began to form, in fact, it is necessary to integrate them. If there is a stable era that is long enough, it may really be able to develop into a relatively complete system without being biased.

At that time, the great Confucianism shouted out the ideological core of "establishing a heart for heaven and earth, establishing a life for the people, continuing to learn for the saints, and opening peace for all generations", and advocated that the exploratory thinking method of "learning from things" can actually be developed into the exploration and achievement of material science under the mature philosophical system.

At that time, the scholars were already exploring and implementing their ideas. The seeding machine invented by Su Dongpo and others, the water transport instrument elephant platform of Su Song and others, and the extremely complex textile machinery, gathered together Dacheng's Shen Kuozhi's "Dream Creek Pen Talk". At that time, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, mechanics, shipbuilding, etc., all developed to the peak of glory.

Although university scholars regard inventions as hobbies and do not promote them as achievements, they do not discriminate against invention research, which is already a huge step forward.

If Chinese culture had adhered to this development model in the next seven or eight hundred years, it would have been able to climb to the pinnacle of modern civilization at the earliest.

History cannot be changed, and the past cannot be pursued, but erroneous experiences must be summed up and corrected, rather than being overturned with a stick regardless of good or bad. The results have been seen by the Chinese in the 21st century.

The thinking of Zhang Zhidong's generation has been stereotyped, but the young people actively accept the ideas published by Yang Hao, and the sturdy scholar smiled confidently: "Reading is not only to be an official, but also to integrate knowledge and action, and apply what you have learned." I believe that the new dynasty will definitely be able to think of the key and avoid any drawbacks. ”

Zhang Zhidong pouted his beard, not much to theorize with the juniors, but sighed secretly in his heart: "Yang Dingshi's good means have bewitched today's young talents." It seems that the Ancient Dao System will be destroyed in one fell swoop! ”

The combination of this group of scholars and the reckless man was the ship he had encountered when he came. The sturdy scholar's name is Huang Xing, since Keqiang, last year he won Xiucai, originally recommended by Changsha Chengnan Academy, to enter the Lianghu Academy for further study. Unexpectedly, when he arrived in Wuchang, he had to go to Tianjin Beiyang University to have a look. If possible, you need to get a major there.

Another scholar's name is Liu Kuiyi, who is his classmate, and he is also a young talent, which is rare.

The reckless man who accompanied him was not an ordinary person, he was a newly rising elder brother, named Ma Fuyi, who was chased and killed by the enemy when he was young, and was rescued by Liu Kui's family. By the way, I also want to go to the ** military ruling area to see the reality and reality. Because he said that the ** army should strictly control and suppress those who know the Daomen. The tens of thousands of people under the command of Huilong Mountain that he set up must be the target of the key attack. He needs to know what the new government will do.

When the group was debating and thinking, they saw a middle-aged man coming in a hurry, shouting from afar: "Okay, I have contacted the person in contact, and this will be a special customs clearance certificate for us." ”R1152