Chapter 563: Ming Dynasty Needs to Master Both Arts and Sciences
"Practice from the beginning?" Yan Xu was stunned.
"Yes, practice from the beginning."
Jiang Qingzhi ordered: "Bring those things in."
One after another, large trucks drove into the camp and unloaded their cargo. Yan Xu looked over and asked, "Is it a wooden stick?"
"One for each person." Jiang Qingzhi said, "We'll change it right away."
Yan Xu moved his lips, but in the end he didn't dare to ask, "I obey your command."
"Why don't you explain, sir?" a guard asked in confusion.
Sun Bu Tong said: "The army follows orders. If the superiors tell you to die, you have no choice but to die. This is the Tiger Guards. Lord Bo is testing the Tiger Guards!"
Everyone was given a wooden stick, and then all kinds of sounds came out.
"Are you asking us to fight with sticks?"
"So we're going to practice stick fighting from now on?"
The voices disappeared only when Chen Bao showed up with the law enforcement team.
"What a pity." Chen Bao looked at these walking fifty-cent people with regret... According to Jiang Qingzhi's instructions, from today onwards, if anyone who makes a mistake is caught, the law enforcement team will be rewarded with fifty cents.
"Array up!"
When Jiang Qingzhi appeared in front of the array after a long absence, everyone was startled.
The array was neat and tidy, and unlike before, this time it was a tight formation, almost one next to another.
"Raise the sticks!"
Jiang Qingzhi demonstrated it personally.
The soldiers followed suit with some unfamiliarity.
Jiang Qingzhi turned around and frowned, "Lift the stick in front of you and look there. There are two bulges in front and back. Yes, three points in a straight line... What? Don't you understand three points in a straight line?"
Starting from scratch is easy to say, but it is very tedious to do.
Jiang Qingzhi started teaching from the three-point straight line to simulating pulling the trigger.
"First row, retreat!"
"Second row, move forward!"
"Raise the gun!"
"put!"
"Fall back!"
"The rotation must be fast. If you are slow for a moment on the battlefield, the enemy cavalry will chop off your heads with their long swords!"
Jiang Qingzhi fiddled with it for a long time, and looked at the well-formed array with satisfaction. He said to Xu Wei, "It's much faster than I thought."
Xu Wei smiled and said, "Although I don't know much about battle formations, I know how to draw inferences from one instance to another. If I write well, I can learn other things quickly."
Jiang Qingzhi thought of a saying that goes, if you learn the eight-legged essay well, you can easily compose poetry and lyrics.
If those scholars had used this energy to climb the technology tree, how could this nation have ended up like this?
It’s not that people are not smart enough or not enterprising enough, but that their thoughts are constrained.
And this bondage has a name, it is called...
"Books contain golden houses and beautiful women..."
On the way home, Jiang Qingzhi passed by a private school. Listening to the sound of reading inside, he couldn't help but shake his head slightly.
“It was wrong from the beginning.”
What have children learned since they were educated when their hair was tied up?
They are all things that help cultivate the mind and body.
That is, liberal arts.
And what does this great era need?
science!
Jiang Qingzhi looked at the children who were reading with their heads shaking, and said softly: "What the Ming Dynasty needs is to cultivate both the arts and sciences!"
"This is..." The gentleman saw them and came out to salute. He looked up and said, "It's Long Wilbur."
The gentleman immediately changed his expression and said indifferently: "I wonder what advice Chang Wei Bo has? I heard that the Mohists have their own understanding of everything in the world. I would like to ask for your advice..."
Jiang Qingzhi was stunned and wondered why this old man was so hostile?
"gentlemen!"
At this time, several scholars came over with gifts in their hands.
"Wenzhi?" The teacher said with a smile, "Aren't you preparing for the next spring exam? Why do you have time to come here?"
The leading scholar was called Qian Zheng. He said, "I haven't seen you for a long time. I just came here because I have some questions that I want to ask you. By the way, I heard that someone wants you to come out and do something?"
The gentleman nodded. "Those people are servile and despicable. I don't want to associate with them."
Qian Zheng smiled and said, "Sir, you once argued with a great scholar and made him cover his face and leave. Because of this, those people have been alienated from you for a long time. Why, now they come to you to ask for help again... Is there any difficulty?"
Qian Zheng glanced at Jiang Qingzhi with a hint of pride in his eyes. "After the Suzhou incident, the morale of the scholars in the capital was low. Those people wanted to ask me to come out of retirement because they were attracted by my reputation and wanted me to help them deal with that person."
"What Jiang Qingzhi did in Suzhou this time was too bloody. To be honest, I was quite surprised when I heard the news. It would have been fine if he just arrested some people, but he actually beheaded more than ten people on the spot... No wonder many people in the capital called him a butcher."
Qian Zheng slowly looked at Jiang Qingzhi, "This is..."
"I am the butcher you are talking about!" Jiang Qingzhi said lightly.
Qian Zheng: “…”
"I am Wang Tingxiang!" The gentleman bowed, "During the debate in the academy, I met Chang Wei Bo. That day, Chang Wei Bo single-handedly left all the great scholars speechless. After I came back, I pondered for a long time and felt that Chang Wei Bo's statement was somewhat biased." Jiang Qingzhi nodded, "Please speak."
Wang Tingxiang said: "Chang Wei Bo said that we Confucians only talk but do not act, but what we Confucians do is our heart." He pointed to his heart and said, "Everything comes from the heart..."
Tsk!
Hearing this, Jiang Qingzhi couldn't help but feel a toothache. He felt that this old gentleman and Tang Shunzhi might have something in common.
"...If the heart is not right, the country will be unstable. Our Confucianism teaches the world, and the order between the ruler and the minister, the father and the son, the officials and the people is certain, so the dynasty is stable...But the Mohists only know how to make tools. No matter how powerful the tools are, can they resist the fickleness of the human heart?"
Wang Tingxiang said calmly: "Even if you hold the most powerful weapon, if your heart is not right, you will only become a tool for the feudal lords and ambitious people to cause chaos. Do you think so?"
Jiang Qingzhi, who was about to leave, was moved by the old man's words. He smiled and said, "In my opinion, Confucianism is literature, is that right?"
Wang Tingxiang nodded, "That's right."
"Then Mohism is a worker."
"Exactly."
"Culture, educates the world. But what is needed to make the Ming Dynasty strong? Work!"
"No, if people's hearts are educated, the country will be stable..."
"But how can we resist foreign enemies?" Jiang Qingzhi asked with a piercing look in his eyes, "Should we use people's hearts and education? Over the past thousand years, the Han and Tang dynasties used swords and guns to teach foreigners how to behave, while the former Song dynasty used compensation to avoid disasters, and eventually was inevitably beaten badly and rolled from Bianjing to the south to survive. How can you teach me, sir?"
Wang Tingxiang said: "The king is wise and the ministers are dedicated, so we just need to reorganize the army."
Qian Zheng said: "Last time when the Beijing Guards were purged, the master said that this was the right way and sneered at those who opposed it."
Jiang Qingzhi's interest grew stronger. "The foreign races have iron cavalry and barbarism, which frightens the soldiers of the nine frontiers. So, can Confucianism solve this problem?"
Wang Ting coughed, and just as Jiang Qingzhi was waiting for the old man to fool him, he sighed, "Difficult."
Jiang Qingzhi couldn't help but respect him more for saying the word "difficult". "Twenty years ago, the Portuguese fought two battles with our Ming navy off the coast of Guangzhou. Their powerful ships and cannons frightened our navy. Does Confucianism have a solution?"
Wang Tingxiang thought about it carefully, and Jiang Qingzhi said, "Mr. Wang has studied literature since he was a child, so he probably knows nothing about this kind of construction, right?"
Wang Tingxiang sighed, "That's right. But..."
But what?
Mr. Qian Zhengjian was embarrassed and could not help but retort, "Of course the Ministry of Works and the craftsmen will do it. We are here to educate people."
"The artisans are of low status, and they are ruled by Confucian scholars. Do they understand construction? Outsiders rule over the experts, and the workers are of low status. Do you think this structure can change the current situation?"
Qian Zheng said: "As long as the court takes it seriously, I don't think it will be a problem."
"But what are all the dignitaries in the court busy with?" Jiang Qingzhi asked back.
Qian Zheng said: "Assist the king in governing the world."
"No!" Jiang Qingzhi said, "They are busy fighting for power and profit, busy doing dirty things to gain benefits for themselves. Besides, it's not that no one has seen the sharpness of firearms, but why did the officials in the court turn a blind eye to it? Is it because of narrow vision? No, it's because they don't understand!"
Jiang Qingzhi looked at Wang Tingxiang, "When they encounter something they don't understand, they don't ask or learn, but instead they raise their heads and say arrogantly: Books contain golden houses and beautiful women... Why do they turn a blind eye? It's because of arrogance and guilty conscience!"
"Why are they so arrogant? Since childhood..." Jiang Qingzhi pointed at the children who were curious and looking at him in the classroom, "They have been taught that Confucianism is supreme. When they encounter troubles, they will naturally think of seeking answers from the writings of sages. If they can't find them, they will be at a loss... But they can't let go of their pride, so they put the matter behind their minds..."
Jiang Qingzhi said softly, "When the former Song Dynasty was in decline, did those scholars have any solution? No. What did they do? They pretended not to know... They would rather wait for death than make any changes."
Wang Tingxiang retorted: "There was Fan Wenzheng before and Wang Anshi after. We Confucians also have people of integrity and ambition."
"But who agrees and who opposes?" Jiang Qingzhi looked at him, "Who opposes?"
Wang Tingxiang was silent.
"What do you intend to teach these children? Will they continue to seek money, fame and fortune from the books of sages?"
"I teach my disciples..."
Jiang Qingzhi didn't know what was wrong with him today, he was particularly aggressive, "Books contain golden houses, books contain beautiful women, what is this teaching children? Teaching them..." He pointed at the children who still looked innocent, "This is teaching them that studying is for fame, for money, for money and beauty... When these children grow up and become officials, what will they think about? They will think about making money, having fun, visiting prostitutes... They will never think about doing anything for this Ming Dynasty!"
"Uncle!" Xu Wei had never seen Jiang Qingzhi so angry, and he coughed lightly.
Jiang Qingzhi could not suppress his anger. Everything he saw in Suzhou Prefecture made him furious, and he had been suppressing his anger until now.
"You keep talking about being a gentleman, talking about family, country and the world. But look at those children." Jiang Qingzhi waved his hand, but no child responded to him, so he asked, "Why are you studying?"
Wang Tingxiang turned around.
Qian Zheng and others looked up.
Jiang Qingzhi said: "Whoever answers, don't tell lies, then... give him a day off today."
He glanced at Wang Tingxiang, who nodded. A child raised his hand and said, "We need to make money."
Another child answered, "I want a beautiful wife and concubines."
"We need to let our parents live a good life."
"To be the best..."
When they heard that they could have a day off, the children rushed to answer.
Finally, everything quieted down.
Wang Tingxiang seemed to have aged ten years, his back hunched, "Is there really no one who is fighting for this Ming Dynasty? Is there really no one... fighting for this Ming Dynasty?"
"Is the old man wrong?"
"Or..." Wang Tingxiang turned around, "Chang Wei Bo..."
But Jiang Qingzhi had disappeared long ago.
"Sir." Qian Zheng helped him up, "We can revise it later!"
"I have always been puzzled as to why my Confucian disciples are so fierce and aggressive once they enter officialdom. Even if they do not enter officialdom, they often cause trouble to the local people when they become powerful local officials. Today I finally have the answer. I am going to leave!"
Wang Tingxiang shook off his disciple's hand and said, "Let's go to Xin'an Lane!"
(End of this chapter)
