After Li Zhizao arrived in Liaodong, for Zhang Ke, who was scarce in civil officials, it was no less than a ganlin. Li Zhizao is not a person, but a group of people.

Since the beginning of the Age of Discovery, a large number of Western missionaries have traveled thousands of miles to Daming, with the intention of promoting the gospel and converting one-third of the world's population. They have been in business for decades, and their influence among the people is minimal, and the common people of the Central Plains are not interested in exotic gods at all.

They were not inactive, at least in the scholarly class.

Finally, some people began to let go of the way of Confucius and Mencius and to incorporate Western learning.

The system is very different from that of the East, with detailed disciplines, rigorous evidence, and meticulous logic...... It is a violent impact on traditional Chinese scholarship.

After all, the people of the Ming Dynasty were not the Qing Dynasty who had been enslaved for hundreds of years, in fact, many Ming Dynasty scholars had long discovered the advanced points of the West, and whenever there were Xiyi firearms introduced in, the Ming Dynasty spared no effort to imitate them.

Under the leadership of Xu Guangqi and others, a large number of scholars who studied Western studies appeared, although they were not recognized by orthodoxy, and were regarded as miraculous and ingenious, and did not do their jobs, but they were not suppressed.

This is the most valuable place of the Ming Dynasty, even if there are murderous factory guards and terrifying court staffs, the Ming Dynasty has not deprived the freedom of thought......

Li Zhizao and Zhang Ke talked for three days in a row, and they were suddenly shocked.

He studied Western mathematics and astronomy, and thought that the Ming Dynasty was unmatched, but as soon as Zhang Ke opened his mouth, he actually suppressed him steadily.

The young man who came with Li Zhizao was called Yang Xiuyuan, and he was Yang Tingyun's nephew. Because he studied with missionaries as a teenager, his achievements in Western studies were no less than Li Zhizao's, and Yang Tingyun was far inferior. I didn't know much about the Four Books and Five Classics, and seeing that the imperial examination was hopeless, I killed my family in a hurry.

Later, I heard that Sun Yuanhua was making steady progress in Liaodong with his status as a lifter and was highly used, so he also came to try his luck.

But after really talking to Zhang Ke. Yang Xiuyuan's pride and conceit all disappeared, his brain was more flexible than his teacher Li Zhizao, and from Zhang Ke's words, he found a new field.

It's like a temple door, flashing in front of you. Reach out and push away, and infinite knowledge is within reach.

The key to that is calculus!

Mathematics and practical application, the two need to be truly combined.

In the past, China's mathematics was not lagging behind, but since the West took the lead in researching the theory of calculus, mathematics has really been linked to astronomy, navigation, military, industry, etc., and there is a strong demand. The study of mathematics was no longer a game of the literati, and it was only at this time that it began to develop by leaps and bounds.

The development of mathematics has also led to the advancement of physical chemistry and other disciplines, and in this way, China, with its glorious agricultural civilization, has been completely left out of the road of industrialization.

In the conversation, Zhang Ke intentionally or unintentionally mentioned the problems that need to be solved urgently in practice, such as calculating the trajectory of the shell, calculating the length of the curve, etc., but the traditional nine-chapter arithmetic cannot give the answer. Not even the "Geometric Original" of the Westerners.

Yang Xiuyuan is keenly aware that mathematics needs a revolution, and it is also a nirvana that has been reborn. As long as this step is taken, mathematics will become a subject that no one can do without in life.

It's no longer the tricks of those scholars. On the contrary, their Four Books and Five Classics, the way of Confucius and Mencius are the waste that should be thrown into the pile of old papers!

The more Yang Xiuyuan thought about it, the more his blood boiled, and he couldn't help it.

In the past, he was most interested in learning Western studies. But at this moment, he really realized that this may be his lifelong belief!

He's not alone. There are many more young people who are interested in this!

"Teacher, the disciple thinks that he should immediately repair the book and invite all the young students of the Christian Church to Liaodong!"

Li Zhizao had never seen Yang Xiuyuan so dignified, and suddenly smiled: "Why, you didn't want to take refuge in Pingliaogong a few days ago, why are you going to join the gang with the big guy in a blink of an eye?" ”

Yang Xiuyuan's face turned red, and he hurriedly defended: "Isn't the disciple confused for a while? ”

"Then you're not confused now?"

"Not at all!" Yang Xiuyuan said firmly: "I firmly believe that Ping Liaogong is the guide, big backer, and spiritual leader who can promote Western learning, can truly change the world, and can enable us to realize our ambitions!" Not only me, but also invite more friends to study together and benefit the common people! ”

Looking at the frenzy in Yang Xiuyuan's eyes, Li Zhizao was taken aback.

In a trance, I seemed to have seen it somewhere, yes, it was those missionaries who came from afar, who faced their Christ without regret and without hesitation.

The civil servants of the Manchu dynasty were selfish opportunists. What the Ming Dynasty lacked was a real martyr!

"Okay, since that's the case, I'll fix the book immediately, but our master and apprentice skills are still limited, and the one who should be invited out of the mountain is your uncle, as long as Yang Gong is willing to come, the young talents in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are guaranteed to bring a large group."

"That's what Master said!" Yang Xiuyuan patted his head, jumped up and ran outside.

"I'm going to write a letter!"

……

Li Zhizao has been up and down for decades, and it really wasn't blown, his letter was sent, and in less than half a month, the first batch of students arrived in Liaodong. There were more than two dozen people, and the empty West College began to come to life.

Seeing that more and more talents were coming, Zhang Ke was overjoyed and introduced Li Zhizao as a confidant.

"Mr. Li, I still have some things that Mr. needs to help me with!"

Li Zhizao hurriedly threw his hand and said with a smile: "Grandpa Guo is too polite, if you have any orders, just say it." ”

"Mr. Li, I am ready to build churches in Quang Ninh, Uiju and other places."

"Church?"

"That's right, it's where Western monks live." Zhang Ke said with a smile: "Without the plane tree, you can't attract the phoenix." In the past, I had this idea, but I had no choice but to focus on firearms because of the frequent wars. Nowadays, if we want to develop Western studies in an all-round way, missionaries are indispensable, and they just have to come, and Benjue will open the door to let them preach. ”

"Grandpa Guo, do you really think so?" Li Zhizao asked in surprise.

You must know that the officials of the Ming Dynasty, no matter how enlightened, were not sensitive to Western priests. I am even more afraid that the spread of foreign religion will affect social tranquility.

"The lesser of two evils and the heavier of two benefits. The door opened, the breeze came in, the flies and mosquitoes also came, this is no way to do it, as long as you hold the fly swatter in your hand, you are not afraid of them turning the sky! ”

Zhang Ke's words not only persuaded Li Zhizao, but also recorded them, becoming one of the famous three ancestral teachings of "openness and reasonableness", which has been passed down for generations.

Li Zhizao was indeed a man of action, and after getting Zhang Ke's promise, he immediately took himself into his own hands and invited Tang Ruowang and others, who were in Beijing, a total of more than 30 missionaries.

Just before Li Zhizao left, Qiao Fu's secret letter also arrived in Zhang Ke's hands.

"Oh, it's a bit interesting to provoke the Kong family!" Zhang Ke's eyes rolled, and he suddenly shouted: "Du Qing, prepare a boat for me, I'm going to Shandong!" (To be continued......)