"All the monarchs and ministers from the vassal states who have come from afar have gathered in Yingtian to mourn the great emperor of the Ming Dynasty. But I want to take advantage of the rare opportunity for you to gather together to discuss with you a plan that affects the peace and prosperity of the Ming Dynasty. How can you ensure that your vassal, city, and state will be safe for generations to come..."
In the square outside Huangji Gate, Zhu Cixiang had finished his conversation with Zhu Qirui and began to tell him his plan to establish the Celestial Alliance word by word.
This Celestial Alliance is almost the last big thing Zhu Cixiang will do in his life!
In his opinion, in the fifty-six and seven years that Emperor Taizu Gao had tricked him, he had actually accomplished two major things. The first major thing was to revitalize the Ming Dynasty, which had been tormented by Emperor Chongzhen until it was on the verge of death. Saved; the second major thing is to establish a Chinese civilization circle.
The first major thing was to serve his deceitful ancestor - Zhu Cixiang was the most filial son in the world, so of course he had to revive the Ming Dynasty for his ancestors!
The second most important thing is to serve the country and the people! Filial piety comes first! Zhu Cixiang was the twenty-fifth filial son who went down in history, and he certainly had a noble soul. Therefore, we cannot just conquer and rule the world for one family, but we must also leave a legacy that can benefit all generations for the hundreds of millions of descendants of Yan and Huang and the country of China standing in the east of the Chinese continent.
This heritage is a civilization circle belonging to the Chinese nation!
In Zhu Cixiang's view, even if the Ming Dynasty cannot continue to live, even if the Chinese people have gone through the hardships of the Manchu and Republic of China, they will one day be revived in the future... However, only China can be revived in the future, but there is no civilization of the Celestial Dynasty. .
In Zhu Cixiang's memory, although China was revived in later generations, it no longer had its own civilizational circle... Declined countries can rise again, but the lost civilizational circle is likely to be forever annihilated in the long river of history. Got it.
When Zhu Cihong served as Chongzhen's successor, although the Ming Dynasty was in dilapidated state, the country was still at the center of a civilization circle.
Although this civilization circle is shrinking due to various reasons, it is not much better than the situation in later generations. Because no matter how hard China tries, it is impossible to do everything...
Probably because you know how precious it is when you lose it, this man in the center of the Celestial Civilization Circle started to revive his own civilization circle as early as before the victory of the Ming Dynasty and ZTE War - this time, China could not lose its civilization circle again. !
Zhu Cixiang's first step in reviving the Chinese civilization circle was, of course, to ceremoniously publish Confucius's last chapter - "Zi Lun Ge Wu Pian" in the name of Dorgon, the "golden emperor" The door to Chinese natural philosophy!
It is not that Chinese civilization has no desire to explore natural philosophy. In fact, Chinese civilization has made quite a lot of pursuits in this area. However, because we have never found the door, we cannot get the key point, and it is not easy to produce inspiring results.
Learning also requires input and output. If a certain research direction never yields results, there will naturally be fewer people willing to study... Just like no one in future generations will study cultivation of immortality - cultivation comes cultivating Go and see no one becoming an immortal!
Therefore, China's "investigation of things to achieve knowledge" will always encounter the dilemma that Mao cannot figure out - he has the idea of studying nature, but he does not have the methods and tools, which makes the research very difficult! Over time, of course, we retreated when faced with difficulties, and natural philosophy (science) became a neglected aspect.
In fact, when Western natural philosophy began to be introduced before the decline of the Ming Dynasty, a large number of Ming Dynasty scholar-officials who were full and had nothing to do were quickly attracted to it and began to study and research.
But since there is no way to cover up Western natural philosophy with the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, of course there is no way to make it an explicit school.
The emergence of "Zi Lun Ge Wu Chapter" has given the natural philosophy originating from the West the cloak of Confucius and Mencius, and it has turned natural philosophy into a prominent learning that everyone is willing to pursue. Compared with moral articles, there is "Zi Zi". The natural philosophy of "On the Investigation of Things" is relatively easy to produce results. Because the basis of moral articles is the great principles of Confucius and Mencius. The predecessors have studied them for so many years. They have already chewed them up. How can they still study them? However, Chinese natural philosophy has a lot to offer. Take "Zi Lun Ge Wu Pian" and study it carefully. If it doesn't work, get some Western natural philosophy books for reference. Maybe you will become a great Confucian!
Don’t think that China’s idea of officialdom will lead to smart people becoming officials. In fact, there are many people in Chinese history who focused on learning. Moreover, being an official, getting rich, and learning are not incompatible. Didn't a great scholar like Newton also become the director of the Royal Mint?
And it’s not a bad idea to become a great scholar first and then seek an official position! You can also gain fame, fortune and official position!
And to be a great Confucian, of course you have to have decent academic achievements. But there was no room for breakthroughs in moral articles, so many great Confucian scholars who emerged during the Hongxing years all followed the path of natural philosophy.
Fifty years after the Hongxing, the Chinese civilization circle has basically equaled the West in terms of natural philosophy!
Of course, in a civilized circle, it is not enough to just be knowledgeable. Otherwise, current Western civilization should be centered on Greece.
Therefore, the second step in reviving Chinese civilization is, of course, to strengthen the trunk and branches... The Ming Dynasty is the trunk, so of course it must be strong! But it can't just be the Ming Dynasty, because the governance capacity of the Ming Dynasty court is limited, so the territory it rules cannot be too large. However, because the imperial court's governance capabilities are insufficient, it will be a disaster for future generations if they let their own civilization gradually disintegrate and shrink, and eventually lose it completely.
Therefore, after the war situation in the Ming Dynasty calmed down, Zhu Cixi began to consolidate and expand the civilization circle... Therefore, in the past 40 or 50 years, Zhu Cixiang insisted on implementing a plan with the goal of expanding the civilization circle and the living space of East Asian races. colonial route.
Because it did not wantonly expand its homeland, the Ming court could pass on the costs of colonial expansion and the pressure of management. At the same time, it can also maximize the enthusiasm of the Ming Dynasty to expand its domestic colonization... and even let many Japanese, Annan, Koreans, and Mongolians take a free ride on the expansion of the Celestial Civilization Circle - the civilization circle This is what happens when you expand! Just like in Europe, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and England take turns dominating the ocean, and at most France can be added. But many Germans, Italians, Slavs, and Nordics also wandered to the New World, Oceania, and Africa.
In the original history, Belgium, which did not exist during the Age of Discovery, even acquired a large colony in Africa...
No matter how many people hitchhiked, the main body of the Chinese civilization circle created by Zhu Cixiang must be the Han people of the Celestial Dynasty, and most of the vassal states also have Han people and Han culture as the mainstream. In fact, the combat effectiveness of Confucianism with the blessing of "Zi Lun Ge Wu Chapter" has greatly increased, and it has overwhelmed Buddhism and Taoism (Shinto), and has become a prominent school in the civilization circle of the Celestial Dynasty!
However, the rough development over the past forty or fifty years has also caused the Celestial Civilization Circle to become increasingly chaotic.
Of course, a civilization cannot be as orderly as a country. Chaos is inevitable, and struggles between countries are even more inevitable.
But amid the chaos and struggle, a certain order must also be established!
If there is order, it will not collapse.
There is struggle to stay alive.
Zhu Cixiang looked at a group of princes of the Xia Dynasty with burning eyes. After being silent for a long time, he said again: "Today I want to sign the "Great Charter of the Heavenly Alliance" with all the ministers to bind the participating countries, to protect the Chinese orthodoxy, and to protect our descendants. Future generations will not be sent to Zuojun, nor will they be trapped by Yi Di!
Therefore, I suggest that the first article of the Magna Carta be formulated as follows: All Xia states must adhere to the Chinese Taoist tradition, learn the ways of Confucius and Mencius, and abide by the etiquette of the Celestial Dynasty..."
