Chapter 191: 72 generations of domestic slaves, 25 court ministers!This is the true face of Yan Shenggong!
Chen Han didn't have much feeling for this title at first.
But Xia Yuanji knew very well the respect that scholars had for the sage Confucius. He also respected Master Kong very much, but he also understood that what was needed now was Chen Han.
Today's Ming Dynasty can no longer leave Chen Han.
Therefore, Xia Yuanji, who was caught in the middle, felt helpless.
"Zhinian, you are now respected as the Saint of Technology by the students. Do you know what this means?"
Xia Yuanji feels the danger now more intensely than before.
Even stronger than when Shen Liqian was assassinated.
When Shen Liqian was assassinated, it was the interests of those businessmen that were destroyed.
Those are just a few extremists.
But what Chen Han is infringing now is the interests of all scholars.
From this perspective, Chen Han is now a thorn in the side of scholars all over the world.
Xia Yuanji couldn't help but worry about this situation now.
"Zhi Nian, your current importance is being watched by people all over the world who hope for reform. Your every move, every word and deed of yours is related to the process of reform.
Everyone has too much hope for you, so no one wants anything to happen to you, do you understand? "
Although Xia Yuanji didn't say it explicitly, he still had some opinions about Chen Han allowing the scholar from the School of Engineering to call him the Saint of Science and Technology.
It's not that he is jealous of Chen Han's current reputation, but he is thinking about the problem from Chen Han's current perspective.
Chen Han's face was also serious, but he smiled slightly.
Although he appeared relaxed on his face, he knew in his heart that Xia Yuanji's worries were justified.
The spinning jenny and flying shuttle loom caused fatal disasters after they were put into use, not to mention that they now offended scholars all over the world.
Maybe these scholars are more radical than those businessmen.
He patted Xia Yuanji on the shoulder: "Brother Wei Zhe, I will never forget what happened to Brother Meng Li, let alone give up my life casually. I just know that my canonization is not only the general trend.
It is also an opportunity for us to break out of the barriers. I will not be afraid if it really leads to a big debate.
As long as the status of Confucianism as the only outstanding learning is not broken, my scientific approach will never attract the attention of the world.
We can't stop at small fights forever, can we? "
Xia Yuanji's eyes widened after hearing Chen Han's words, and then he said in disbelief: "Are you actually deliberately provoking the hostility of those scholars against you?"
Chen Han smiled noncommittally.
Xia Yuanji turned pale when he saw Chen Han's expression: "You are going crazy!"
The reason why Xia Yuanji said this was because he was extremely shocked after seeing Chen Han's desperate expression.
"There are so many scholars in the world. Do you have so much time to compete with them one by one?" Xia Yuanji did not understand Chen Han's current decision.
Xia Yuanji even felt that this was a complete waste of time.
In his understanding, Chen Han has achieved good results now, and he can be at peace with Confucianism as long as he follows this pattern.
After all, it can be said that Chen Han now has a complete grasp of officials using the examination method.
Nowadays, in order to complete the performance set by their superiors, these officials have put aside their grudges just for their own sake.
Isn't it that Chen Han is not satisfied with this ending and insists on causing a bloody storm?
"Brother Wei Zhe, you are still full of sympathy for Confucianism." Chen Han said with a smile.
Xia Yuanji replied: "It's not sympathy, I know you hate pedantic scholars, but you have to know that something that has been passed down for thousands of years cannot be broken just because you want to.
I understand your desire to have more people recognize the way of science, but you are too impatient.
You can definitely wait for more results to appear, and moisten things silently to ingrain scientific principles into the hearts of the people.
No one is a fool. For example, there are so many scholars in our engineering college, right? "
Chen Han looked at him and said, "Brother Wei Zhe, look into my eyes and tell your conscience that these scholars came to the School of Engineering because they sincerely feel that science is better than Confucianism.
Or do you want to take a shortcut that allows you to directly enter the official career after staying here for three years? "
Xia Yuanji was speechless for a moment.
He knew in his heart that these scholars probably felt that they would definitely not be able to pass other scholars in the imperial examination.
Or maybe you feel that your family background is not as good as others.
That's why I set my sights on Chen Han's School of Engineering.
They probably feel that as the first batch of students to join the engineering school, they can receive more preferential treatment.
That’s why I joined the School of Engineering at this time.
Although they did become more interested in science after seeing the achievements of the School of Engineering.
But how many scholars would give up their official careers and enter engineering colleges from the very beginning.
Chen Han doesn't want the engineering college he founded to become just a backup for academics.
If he wants to do something, he must do his best.
Xia Yuanji looked at Chen Han: "Since you know their purpose, why did you accept them in the first place?"
Chen Han smiled bitterly: "Although the twisted melon is not sweet, at least it quenches my thirst. I can't leave the School of Engineering empty."
Xia Yuanji looked at Chen Han and smiled knowingly: "Then what are you going to do? It's not fun to be enemies with all the scholars in the world. You have to be prepared!"
The corner of Chen Han's mouth rose: "Who said that we must be enemies of all the scholars in the world? As long as we break their beliefs, they will naturally know how to choose?"
"Break their faith? What do you mean?" Xia Yuanji asked.
"Now that there is a sage of science like me, there is no room for two tigers in one mountain. Who do you think is the most anxious?" Chen Han asked with a smile.
Xia Yuanji looked at the smile on Chen Han's face and fell into deep thought.
After a while, he suddenly opened his eyes wide: "You... you... your target has always been Yan Shenggong?"
Chen Han didn't expect Xia Yuanji to be so smart and guess what he was thinking.
He is indeed a descendant of Confucius.
This 72nd generation domestic slave and 25th imperial minister was a person who would be regarded as a pillar of shame in later generations.
In fact, it's because they have so many 'glorious' deeds.
The main reason was that the speed of kneeling down was so fast that no force could invade their Kong Mansion.
This family has taken the spirit and knowledge of current affairs to the extreme.
Kneel to whoever is in power.
When the Jurchens of the Jin Dynasty called, they would kneel to the Jurchens.
When the Mongols came, the Confucian family in Qufu shamelessly sent the great Confucians Zhang Dehui and Yuan Haowen to visit Kublai Khan and kneel down to ask him to be the "great master of Confucianism."
When the Manchus came, they took the lead in shaving their heads to welcome them.
When the British came, they welcomed the portrait of the British Emperor into the Confucius Mansion.
When the Germans came, they welcomed the Kaiser's portrait into Confucius' mansion.
When Japan came, they entertained the Japanese in Confucius Mansion.
It was simply taking my servility to the extreme, and I was so embarrassed that I was thrown into my grandma's house.
Chen Han wanted to get rid of such a family Yuanji was so shocked that his scalp went numb after seeing Chen Han's expression.
Although he has always been by Chen Han's side, in the final analysis he is still a scholar.
The honorific title of the Kong family is engraved in my heart.
To put it bluntly, the Kong family has become a representative of religion.
The rulers may not be unaware of the servility of the Confucius family, but why have they not been eradicated in successive dynasties?
Probably just to win people's hearts.
Because after Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty only respected Confucianism, Dong Zhongshu proposed the theory of heaven-human induction, which elevated the status of imperial power to the point of combining it with divine power.
This vague theory suited the taste of the emperors.
Therefore, the emperors raised Confucianism to an extremely high level.
And this is not Confucianism's high morals, but the bad rapport between the two.
The imperial power must rely on the Confucian theory of the induction of heaven and man to establish its supreme status, and Confucianism must rely on the protection of the imperial power to develop.
This kind of rule is somewhat similar to the integration of politics and religion in the West.
But why did Chen Han do something to destroy this balance? Quite simply, this is an irreversible trend.
Because Chen Han wanted to follow a scientific path, and it was clear that he wanted to fight against this mythical theory of imperial power and divine right.
It is to break through this protective umbrella of Confucianism.
Break them to create another world.
If an ordinary emperor were in power, he would definitely not agree with Chen Han's approach.
Because they all need Confucianism to package themselves.
But Zhu Yuanzhang is different.
The difference lies in what Zhu Yuanzhang himself said - I am a commoner in Huaiyou.
An emperor who dared to admit that he was born as an ordinary citizen was Chen Han's biggest motivation for being able to break through all this.
Another emperor of Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, who was also of low origin, had a completely different approach than Zhu Yuanzhang.
He is the son of the Red Emperor. He killed the White Snake and rebelled. He is not a mortal! Since Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang himself didn’t really believe in the Confucian theory of heaven and man, he certainly wasn’t afraid of breaking their theory and establishing a new one.
In order to gain the approval of the civil servants, other emperors wanted to let the civil servants make themselves extravagant.
All day long, I wanted to connect my birth with the visions of heaven and earth. I wished that all the gods in the world would come to congratulate me when I was born.
Confucian literati even made all kings or sages look like gods and ghosts.
Especially the characters in the matriarchal society in ancient times are even more funny.
In fact, Confucian scholars know that many people in matrilineal societies only know their mothers but not their fathers, but in the eyes of Confucians, this seems a bit contrary to ethics.
So various induction theories came into being.
It's not like stepping on the giant's footprints and being sensed by the gods, so you get pregnant and give birth to a child.
I just had a dream and talked to the gods and got pregnant.
Then the children born will be born with talents and so on.
Even when Liu Bang's mother was pregnant with him, it was fabricated that she was pregnant by a dragon.
I don’t know what those scholars think.
If others say that his wife has been slept with, he will live or die.
But when they made up the birth of another emperor, they said that the emperor's father was bewitched by a fairy and then he was born the emperor.
Master Confucius said, "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you," but it was really thrown aside by these later generations of scholars.
In order to make everyone feel that they are different, and to let people know that his success in rebellion was not due to luck, but because he was born different from others, other emperors did not hesitate to harm their own fathers to cater to the theory of the connection between heaven and man proposed by the Confucian Dong Zhongshu.
Because if the emperor didn't say this, how could he comply with Dong Zhongshu's argument that the emperor is the son of God and exercises power on behalf of God.
But Zhu Yuanzhang would not think so.
He admitted that his birth was miserable, and he did not deny that he once worked as a monk to beg for food, and his parents died of starvation.
The emperor himself was rebellious, so he dared to kill Confucian scholars.
Because in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, what do you scholars have to do with me?
Other emperors want you to admit it and use the combination of heaven and man to create a good image.
And I, Lao Zhu, come cleanly, leave cleanly, Huaiyou commoners sweep the world, I am not a god, I am just a human being, and I don’t owe you scholars anything.
So killing scholars is like killing chickens and dogs.
Throughout the millennia, there is probably no emperor like Lao Zhu.
The root cause is that Lao Zhu does not want to be brainwashed by these scholars.
Of course, this is also because Lao Zhu's background is too low. He has probably been ridiculed by scholars since he was a child, and it is not uncommon for scholars to be stubborn.
He despised scholars in his bones, so it was easiest to break the sanctity of Confucianism in Zhu Yuanzhang's dynasty.
Xia Yuanji saw that Chen Han seemed determined to do this. He only knew that it would be dangerous.
But what he could do was just watch silently.
Xia Yuanji knew that there would be a battle with Confucianism sooner or later, but he did not expect it to be so soon.
When Xia Yuanji left, he looked very depressed.
As soon as Xia Yuanji left, Ling Han, the Minister of Etiquette, hurried in.
This old man Chen Han has not been seen for a while.
As one of the few people who knew his true identity, Ling Han and Chen Han still had a natural feeling of closeness.
As soon as he came in, he held an internal engineering report from Chen Han and his college.
"Chen Han, you are too careless. How could you let this kind of remarks spread outside?" Ling Han came over and asked in a face-to-face manner.
"Do you know that you are the target of public criticism? It's too late for them to find fault with you. Aren't you deliberately giving them a target?"
Chen Han knew that Ling Han, the little old man, was also thinking about himself.
Like Xia Yuanji, as a scholar, he understands what scholars are thinking in their hearts.
They are indeed the emperor and can't do anything, but they still have some ways to deal with Chen Han.
If all the scholars in the world come to confront Chen Han by then, Chen Han will not have to do anything else.
However, when Ling Han met Chen Han's eyes, he suddenly stopped talking.
Because he saw Chen Han's eyes actually radiating light.
It seems that such a thing has been expected for a long time.
At this moment, Ling Han and Xia Yuanji were both stunned.
He took a few steps back with disbelief on his face, and then couldn't believe his own thoughts: "You, you, you... you actually did it on purpose. Are you deliberately provoking this war?"
Chen Han nodded: "I think the time is ripe."
As the Minister of Rites, Ling Han has adhered to Confucian etiquette for many years.
But when he learned that Chen Han was going to start a war with Confucianism, Ling Han was still shocked...
(End of this chapter)