The Sage of Confucianism and Taoism

Chapter 2535 Learn knowledge and learn from teachers

Zhang Zongshi said: "The master of the two palaces and the two places cannot give Fang Xusheng direct help in this matter, but Fang Xusheng's strength is still enough to make the Za family dare not act rashly."

The old scholar said helplessly: "You served in the Governor's Mansion before, so you must be aware of the current situation in Qingguo. In Qingguo now, scholars and major forces from all over the country have formed a rope to launch a final counterattack. If they don't succeed, they will be benevolent. The Zajia family is their last chance. Others don’t know it, but we Xiangzhou people shouldn’t be able to see that Qingguo and the Zajia family are already working hard.”

A Juren echoed: "I just came back from Qingguo a few days ago and found that anti-government sentiment in Qingguo was extremely high. Even those who had previously recognized Fang Xusheng stopped saying a good word about Fang Xusheng in order to support Qingguo. . Some Qingguo people now have a similar view. They believe that Qingguo did something wrong before, but they also believe that Jingguo’s punishment to Qingguo was too harsh and that the Qingguo people had no hope and could only fight against the odds. "

Zhang Zongshi was stunned for a moment and said: "I see. I left the Governor's Mansion not long ago, and I have been studying the scriptures of all saints at home these days. I don't understand the happiness in Qingguo. Could it be that because of the pressure of Jingguo, Qingguo Awakened and more united?"

The old scholar sighed and said: "This is what I am most worried about. Once the Qingguo people and the Za family really fight against Jingguo, even if Fang Xusheng is here, Jingguo will suffer heavy losses. After all, Qingguo is an old powerful country. At present, Jingguo The overall strength of the country is still not as good as that of the Qing Kingdom. Therefore, Jingguo should now find a way to dissolve the alliance between the Zajia and Lidian, and then continue to negotiate, slowly bargain, and finally sign a contract that is acceptable to both parties. "

Zhang Zongshi showed surprise and said: "Based on my judgment, Fang Xusheng doesn't seem to care too much about the Zajia and Qingguo. He still puts his main goal on innovation rather than dealing with the Zajia and Qingguo."

"Oh? Why do you think so?" The old scholar was even more surprised.

The rest of the people who asked Youju stared at Zhang Zongshi curiously, because this statement was very novel, and no one had said a similar opinion so far.

Zhang Zongshi said: "When I was in the Governor's Mansion, I learned many ways of doing things from Fang Xusheng. I carefully analyzed everything about the Lixiang Pavilion and found that the focus of the Lixiang Pavilion is not to improve the Ministry of Rites or 'Etiquette' position, the focus is to maintain Jingguo’s literary status and expand Jingguo’s literary status, and at the same time be wary of the influence of other countries on Jingguo.”

"Tell me carefully." The old scholar became interested.

Zhang Zongshi said: "Most of the rules and regulations formulated by various government agencies in the past are the same. Only in this Lixiang Pavilion is it specifically stated that the interests of Jingguo should be taken as the basis, and it was formulated by Fang Xusheng himself. This is a very unusual one. This signal shows that Fang Xusheng attaches great importance to this aspect. According to my experience, Fang Xusheng values ​​this rule and regulations even more than wooing the ceremonial hall. I have no direct evidence to prove this. I just base it on my experience in the governor. Judgment based on the government’s experience and feelings.”

At this time, a young man said: "Brother Zhang's words are very enlightening. According to Brother Zhang's inference, can we conclude that Fang Xusheng actually believes that the Lixiang Pavilion, an official office, may ultimately ignore the interests of the country?"

Zhang Zongshi was stunned and said in surprise: "It's so! This dear friend really woke up the dreamer with his words. I thought this rule was a bit weird before, but I still couldn't find the source. I finally figured it out now! Fang Xu The Holy See believes that the power of the Lixiang Pavilion is very great. Strong, but also believes that because of the special status of Li Xiangge, which deals with both foreign and Jingguo culture, it is very likely to be eroded by foreign culture, completely forgetting Jingguo's national interests, and begins to serve foreign culture, prosper foreign culture, and suppress Jingguo culture. !”

"This seems a bit convoluted." The old scholar frowned.

Zhang Zongshi patiently said: "Literature is brilliant, and many things that seemed deviant in ancient times are now seen as conducive to the holy way and even to the progress of humankind. The simplest example is Kong Sheng, who opened the door for himself Private education was deviant at the time, but now it seems that it is a blessing for the human race. Neither we nor Li Xiangge can accurately judge what is the future trend and what is a wrong move, because we do not have a standard. Now, Fang Xusheng gave a standard, which is "based on national interests." "Judgement, that solves the problem."

"Can you make it more clear?" the old scholar asked, and the others nodded hurriedly, wanting to know more.

Zhang Zongshi thought for a while and said: "Fang Xusheng once gave an example of a country called Europa in "Political History". It said that there was a period called 'Renaissance' in that country. There were many factors that formed that period. Success There are many differences, but Fang Xusheng pointed out in the book that the core of the Renaissance is actually painting The foreign scholars of Dao Wen Dao broke away from the shackles of ethnic religion and no longer created cookie-cutter, highly similar ethnic and religious works. They began to discover and recognize personal beauty and characteristics, thereby liberating the nature of foreign races and gaining more possibilities for development. , balancing the interests of the ethnic group and individuals, thus allowing the alien race to reach the top.”

"If, I mean if, at that time, that ethnic group had an official office similar to Li Xiangge, and that official office did not judge based on national interests, then what would be the result? Those foreign scholars would definitely be considered to be against the rules and regulations, and thus banned. But , if we consider it from the perspective of national interests, we will find that , do those people create different works that violate the law? No. Can they really threaten the national order? However, those different works can promote cultural prosperity, even from the most utilitarian point of view. It can also bring in tax revenue. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Should it be promoted or banned?”

"Obviously, it should be promoted. At the same time, we should also see higher-level national interests, that is, if the culture of Europa continues to prosper and begins to affect other ethnic groups, other ethnic groups will recognize Europa more. This is what will happen This leads to the possibility that I mentioned before, leading to People from other ethnic groups preferred and even worshiped Europa, and began to promote everything about Europa, slowly making other ethnic groups surrender spiritually. Even if the other country had official offices such as the Li Prime Minister, it would not help. A prosperous culture could not only resist foreign invasions, but also We can also slowly invade foreign races!”

The young man who reminded Zhang Zongshi before said: "I have also read "Political History". In fact, the Renaissance will definitely happen, but it may not necessarily happen in Europe. Maybe it is the luck of the European people, and it is like Li Xiangge. The official office has nothing to do with it.”

Zhang Zongshi said loudly: "This is what I admire about Fang Xusheng! We may only think that it is an accidental thing, and we will not even get to the bottom of it, let alone connect the Renaissance with Jingguo. But However, Fang Xusheng learned one thing through the Renaissance, that is, Jingguo should imitate the Renaissance, prosper Jingguo culture, and let Jingguo culture corrode foreign countries, thereby strengthening Jingguo in all aspects. "

The old scholar asked again: "Then if there are good things from foreign countries, will Jingguo also want to boycott them?"

Zhang Zongshi was stunned for a moment and could not answer immediately.

The young man smiled and said: "It's very simple. We learn those good things and absorb them, but we don't deify foreign countries. What we learn is 'good things', not 'foreign countries'! What we learn is 'knowledge', respect The person who is a 'teacher' does not become a teacher's slave just because he has learned knowledge. Only those who cannot distinguish between 'learning knowledge' and 'learning a teacher' can We will feel inferior to others. We respect teachers, but we only bow to the correct knowledge! Just like the rule of asking friends, sometimes we only talk about things, not people, as long as Jingguo's etiquette is not unfair. Be sensible, don’t go out of your way to deify foreign countries, and treat good things with fairness and justice. There will never be any traitors in Jingguo.”

"Best regards, brother!" Zhang Zongshi admired him sincerely.

The discussion continued until late at night before Zhang Zongshi left Wenyouju and returned home.

The next day, Zhang Zongshi received a document from the Zhoumu Yamen, which said that as long as Zhang Zongshi passed the Jinshi examination, he could directly serve in Zuoxiangge.