In the 17th century, there were approximately four circles of civilization in the world. There is one for Western Christianity, one for Western Tianfang, one for Tianzhu Brahmanism, and one for China.
There are exchanges among the four major civilization circles, but of course there is also confrontation...
Exchanges and confrontations between civilizations often exist at the same time. There is communication and there is no confrontation without waiting. Confrontation does not mean there is no communication. It will definitely not work if no one is single-minded.
When communicating, be good at learning each other's strengths. And in confrontation, ruthlessness is also indispensable.
In the past ten years, Zhu Cixiang has been vying for the top leadership position in the Chinese circle and does not have much time to fight against other circles. Moreover, the Chinese circle was still in the process of retreating at that time, and it was not easy for it to confront other circles.
After Zhu Cixi defeated the Qing Dynasty and once again pushed the Ming Dynasty to the status of the Celestial Empire, the confrontation between the Celestial Civilization Circle, the Christian Civilization Circle, and the Tianfang Sect Civilization Circle inevitably began.
In Southeast Asia and Central Asia, the Celestial Dynasty’s civilized circle began to expand again and began to invade the edges of the Tianfang Sect’s civilized circle. Starting from the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty, the Tianfang Sect’s circle had been invading the Celestial Dynasty’s circle. The Chinese circle has been retreating step by step, and now it can finally fight back.
However, the situation in Nanyang and Central Asia is different. In Central Asia, the situation is relatively simple. It is the confrontation between the Jungar tribe in the Chinese circle and the Kazakh Khanate and Bukhara Khanate in the Tianfang religious circle. The Rakshasa Kingdom in the Christian circle is temporarily unable to enter the game.
As for Nanyang...the four major circles of China, Tianfang Sect, Christianity, and Brahmanism exist at the same time!
Among them, the Christian circle is expanding vigorously and is on the offensive. The Brahmanical circle is about to be eliminated from Nanyang. The Tianfang Sect circle and the Tianchao circle were originally on the defensive, and there were even signs of joining forces to fight against Christianity. However, with the rise of the Ming Dynasty, there will definitely be a struggle between the Celestial Dynasty circle, the Tianfang Sect circle, and the Christian circle in Nanyang!
In addition to the two "battlefields between civilizations" in Southeast Asia and Central Asia, Zhu Cihong opened up a "third battlefield" in North America to compete with the Christian circles for territory!
In other words, what is now facing the Celestial Empire is the competition between the three major civilizations, and there are also three main battlefields against each other.
Of course, while confronting, there is also a lot of communication...
This situation is really a bit complicated. Fortunately, Emperor Zhu has always been good at facing complicated situations. He has never been a one-minded person.
Otherwise, the circle of the Celestial Empire should be dismantled by himself! Because within the circle, the struggle between various factions and countries is also very fierce.
Because in a civilized circle, there simply cannot be one thought, one voice, or one leader - if that were to happen, this civilization would have come to an end and would no longer progress.
Because the progress of civilization depends on the collision and contention between different thoughts, different opinions, and different voices.
The so-called civilization circle is just a collection of relatively close ideas and cultures. For example, there are so many different sects and different ideas in the Christian circle, and they have never been unified.
Even within the Tianfang Sect circle, the struggle between different sects is quite fierce.
The Celestial Dynasty circle is even more chaotic, because the Celestial Dynasty circle does not have only one religion, but there are at least four mainstream religions (schools) including Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Shinto.
Within this major sect, there are two main lines, one is Confucianism and the other is Buddhism.
China, Korea, Annan, Japan, and Ryukyu, which have these two main lines at the same time, are the core of this circle. Although many people hate Annan, Korea, and Japan, this cannot change the civilization attributes of these three countries in the 17th century.
In addition to the four core countries that have two main lines at the same time, there are also a group of countries and regions that are included in the circle of Chinese civilization by Buddhism, such as Siam, Myanmar, Chenla, Laos, Yellow Sect Mongolia, etc.
Because these countries and regions were less influenced by Confucianism, they were not core members of the Celestial Civilization. But after all, they are still a member of the Chinese civilization circle... excluding them will weaken the ability of the Chinese circle to resist the erosion of Tianfang Sect and Christianity - this is tantamount to voluntarily giving up the peripheral positions and directly exposing the core positions to the enemy. !
But relying solely on Tibetan Buddhism and Theravada Buddhism (some people think there is a big difference between Tibetan Buddhism and Han Buddhism, but in fact the difference between Han Buddhism and Theravada Buddhism is even greater) is not enough to consolidate the position of civilization.
Therefore, while defending civilization with military means, the Celestial Empire also needed to expand the influence of Confucianism!
And with the "Zi Lun Ge Wu Chapter", Confucianism has become quite combative!
This posthumous chapter of Confucius gives Confucianism a tool to find "Heavenly Principle" (God, God)! This allows Confucian scholars to fully explore and demonstrate the principles of heaven - without the need for empirical evidence, they can use speculation to explore and find the only "Lord", and at the same time, they can also be used to question many theories of Christianity and Tianfang Sect.
...
"Mr. Yan Shenggong, what books have you been reading recently?"
In a dragon boat on the East Lake, the Emperor of Heaven was talking to Kong Yinzheng, the great scholar who accompanied him on the lake tour.
"Your Majesty," Kong Yinzheng said, "I am here to read the New Testament of the Bible."
"Oh, how is it? Does it make sense?" Emperor Zhu asked with a smile.
Kong Yinzheng said: "I don't understand very well."
"Is that a translation problem?" Zhu Cixiang said, "Let's go back and look for the vernacular text translated by Tang Ruowang."
"No, no need," Kong Yinzheng shook his head, "I am reading the Latin version of the New Testament of the Bible, but I still can't quite understand it..."
"Do you still understand Latin?" Zhu Cixiang was surprised and looked at the seemingly vulgar Kong Yinzheng.
Kong Yinzheng said with a smile: "Tai Xue has already offered Latin, Greek and Arabic courses. I went to learn Latin, so I can read some."
Of course, learning Latin, Greek, and Arabic is for the purpose of studying Western knowledge.
Many original originals or important manuscripts of Western knowledge are written in these three languages. To read the original versions, of course you have to learn Latin, Greek, and Arabic.
The reason why Taixue in the Ming Dynasty opened these three foreign language courses is because in the process of studying "Zi Lun Ge Wu Pian", Tai Xue scholars discovered that many Western learnings have something in common with the knowledge in "Zi Lun Ge Wu Pian". at. Studying Western learning can also promote the understanding of "Zi Lun Ge Wu Pian"... Maybe you can find a few books in Latin, Greek, and Arabic to understand the truth that was originally difficult to understand. Got it!
So after those great scholars in Taixue discovered this trick, they all started learning foreign languages... As long as you understand one of the principles in "Zi Lun Ge Wu Pian", you are a great Confucian! Not only can you get a generous scholarship, but you can also be famous in history!
So now there are many great scholars in the history of Hongxing Dynasty...several of them appear every year!
The Hongxing Dynasty not only had many filial sons and loyal ministers, but also many great scholars. How could this country not be prosperous?
Kong Yinzheng was a "double scholar". He not only put forward the theory that "the brave man has love and benevolence", but also put forward the "Methodology of Investigating Things" to guide the study of studying things.
What a great scholar!
"Mr. Yansheng," Zhu Cixiang looked at the double scholar in front of him, "I have an idea now, and I need a scholar like you to do it."
"Your Majesty, please give me your instructions." Of course Kong Yonzheng would not refuse.
"I need a "Confucian Classic" that can combine the Four Books and Five Classics and the principles of "Zi Lun Ge Wu Level" as a general introduction to Confucian scholarship." Zhu Cixiang said, "And this "Confucian Classic" must be written in vernacular. When written, it should be easy to understand, and it should also give a concise explanation of the principles of heaven.
And this explanation must withstand the test of debate with foreign scholars!
Mr. Yansheng, can you find some people to do it together? "
This requirement is not low! Moreover, this "Confucian Classic" is also extremely important, so important that for more than ten years, Emperor Zhu did not dare to find someone to compile it.
