I'm really not doing business

Chapter 580: Wind and rain only hit the wanderers, and Buddhism only saves the rich.

As an official, Li Zhi might not be able to convince his colleagues, but as an opinion collector, he is the king of talking.

With just two words, he explained clearly why religion was born, why it flourished, and why it spread among the people.

"Well said. We should have taken some silver as funding for them to go to the grassland." Zhu Yijun's way of expressing his approval was to take money. It was not so easy to get money from him. It can be seen that Li Zhi and Lin Fucheng, a pair of opinion bags, did a really good job.

Li Zhi looked around with his hands raised, and then said, "The Book of History says: Heaven and earth are the parents of all things, and man is the spirit of all things. Heaven and earth are the parents of all things. Although all things are born between heaven and earth, only man is the spirit of all things. Spirit means spirituality."

“Spirituality is the difference between humans and all other things, and spirituality can be shaped, just like a piece of rice paper. In the process of growing up, parents, relatives, friends, and teachers are constantly shaping this spirituality, which then leads to everything human beings have.”

“Humans have spirituality. They clearly know their existence, and clearly know that they are born, grow old, get sick, and die. When they live, they are always seeking the meaning of existence. The meaning of life is the instinct of human beings to transcend all things and be above all things. The reason why human beings are human beings is that they cannot live in ignorance like animals.”

"Life is full of twists and turns, and the future is unpredictable. It seems that one's fate is hard to control, and one is always drifting with the tide. At this time, one needs a world beyond to entrust all one's spirituality to."

Lin Fucheng waited for everyone to digest Li Zhi's words. Li Zhi started from the spirit of all things in the Book of Documents and discussed human spirituality. People live to pursue meaning, and people need a world beyond.

"It seems that the meaning of life does not lie in reality, but in the other side. So can this other side really be reached?" Lin Fucheng waited until everyone raised their heads and the confusion on their faces disappeared before he asked doubtfully.

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Yes, you see, people live to pursue the meaning of life, and then they make up a world on the other side. Then this world on the other side seems to have nothing to do with reality. This is the weird part. Once you tirelessly pursue that fictional other side, the meaning of life does not exist in reality."

"So once people excessively pursue that other shore, they will live in the contradiction of 'not gaining self' and 'losing self again', living in this paradox that troubles life. When people's hearts are most confused, evil spirits will take advantage of the opportunity to sneak in. Because of the confusion caused by the unpredictable nature of life, people will naturally believe that there is a mysterious force that is above everything and controls the operation of the world."

“And then pursue this mysterious power.”

“How can we reach a fictional other shore?”

Lin Fucheng nodded and said, "It's a bit too complicated to put it this way. Li Zhi, do you have any cases?"

"The Censorate is always shouting about the lowly Confucian scholars who are above the three generations of the law." Li Zhi said as a matter of course: "They are the most concrete example."

When Zhu Yijun heard this, he was stunned. He was indeed a liberal fighter who frightened Confucian scholars. He could even criticize these despicable Confucian scholars when discussing religion.

It is no wonder that Li Zhi and Lin Fucheng used the lowly Confucian scholars as examples, because they do fit the topic.

Li Zhi said loudly: "These lowly Confucians constructed a fictitious other shore - above the Three Dynasties. Then, over thousands of years, they constantly perfected this fictitious other shore above the Three Dynasties, constantly sanctified Confucius, Mencius, Zhu Xi and others, and constantly elevated their status. In the end, Confucianism became Confucianism."

"To shape a person into a sacred image is to create a god! They gathered around the god image of Confucianism and began to alienate themselves and others."

"Yes, contradictions are everywhere, including in religion. The collision between the alienation that one constantly convinces oneself of and the alienation that others convince oneself of, and the spirituality of oneself and the spirituality of others, is where contradictions intensify!"

"In the process of self-alienation and alienation from others, human spirituality gradually becomes illusory and detached from reality. Ultimately, human spirituality is completely alienated by the illusory other side. Human spirituality becomes a religious instinct and then becomes a beast."

Lin Fucheng immediately said, "You are praising contradictions to such a high level. Aren't you creating a sacred image? Aren't you creating a god? What god are you creating? Is it the Lord of Jiangling?"

Li Zhi shook his head. If the theory of contradiction is sanctified and placed in a shrine, is it still the theory of contradiction? Just like those Confucian classics, they may be the most appropriate method of that era, but now they are still being mechanically applied. Is it really appropriate?

Li Zhi thought for a moment and said, "Mao Dunn said that this is to give people a way to think about problems, so that people don't look at problems one-sidedly. This is not sanctification. It is just a paddle for people to sail in the sea of ​​suffering. If you don't want to use it, you can just go with the flow. It doesn't need to be placed in a shrine and worshipped all the time."

"Your Majesty, destroying the Confucius Mansion where Shixiu had surrendered will not have any impact on Master Confucius. Instead, it will rescue Master Confucius from that filthy Confucius Mansion."

“We should worry less about the sanctification of paradox than about its being abandoned.”

Lin Fucheng was stunned and asked, "Master Li, why do you say that?"

Li Zhi said helplessly: "Think about it, what is the contradiction? It is said from top to bottom, and it is also said from bottom to top. Once this issue is discussed from bottom to top, whose interests will be harmed in this issue? The meat eaters."

"How can meat-eaters allow such knowledge to prevail? Only in the present era when the benevolent emperor reigns supreme can such a scene be seen. Afterwards, I'm afraid that the theory of contradiction will be swept into the pile of old books, and everyone will embrace Confucianism again. This will be the easiest way."

At that time, people thought it was normal and a very common phenomenon, because people lived in the present, were accustomed to it all, and believed that the world should be like this. But in fact, the Wanli Reform during the Wanli period was a very special time, and it will be over when it is over.

"Will it really happen?" Zhu Yijun patted the railing and suddenly asked loudly.

Li Zhi was shocked. He knew that it was Master Huang, the Emperor, who was asking the question. A conversation is a conversation, and a reply is a reply. They are two completely different concepts.

"Mr. Huang, it will definitely happen. The theory of contradictions is always being talked about. Contradictions follow one another, and one grows while the other declines." Li Zhi hurriedly said that history is always turning upside down.

Hu Yi, who served as the Minister of Rites from the Yongle period to the Tianshun period, is a typical example.

Hu Yi once ridiculed himself, saying that he had been the Minister of Rites for 36 years and served in five dynasties, which was really ridiculous and a treacherous person.

As the Minister of Rites, Hu Yi sometimes firmly supported the opening of the sea, sometimes firmly opposed it; sometimes firmly supported the Wei Suo Confucian School, sometimes firmly supported the merger of the Wei Suo Confucian School; sometimes firmly supported the opening of the border and the Northern Expedition, sometimes firmly opposed it;
He firmly supported and opposed competing with the people for profit; he firmly supported and opposed the law of sitting craftsmen; he firmly supported and opposed the ennobling of titles by relatives by marriage.

Hu Yi's fickleness is because the times are changing. History is always changing and repeating itself endlessly, which is fully reflected in Hu Yi.

The theory of contradiction cannot escape this fate. Now people regard the theory of contradiction as a must-read. After the Wanli Restoration, everyone will firmly oppose it. It seems that things in the world are always like this.

"I just don't believe it!" Zhu Yijun waved his sleeves, sulked aside, and signaled the two to continue their conversation.

Zhu Yijun certainly knew that what these two people said was right. Even a mighty emperor like Emperor Taizu Gao could not take care of his affairs after his death.

The most important achievement of the theory of contradiction is that it provides a bottom-up perspective, which is rejected and hated by meat-eaters. Once the supporters of the Wanli Reform pass away, the theory of contradiction will become a page of history like the old case of Zheng He's diplomatic mission.

Li Zhi actually understood why His Majesty the Emperor was so diligent and so proactive. It was to prevent such a thing from happening, or to leave enough inheritance when such a thing happened for future generations to squander and continue the next cycle.

But is history really all about ups and downs? Usually it is all about ups and downs.

"The root of religion is that people live to find meaning and to reach the other side. So the essence of religion is the alienation of people." Li Zhi looked at everyone helplessly and said, "In the third year of Wanli, the Heyi group was rampant in the Southern Court. In order to seek immortality, they cut open babies to extract umbilical cord blood. It was a horrible sight."

"Such a tragedy also happened on the grassland. We can't imagine how difficult it is to only have two taels of silver left over each year and have to donate three taels to the lama temple."

Li Zhi was denouncing the evils of religion, apart from those crazy behaviors, and the other thing was money-making. These two things were the most damnable things. The poor laborers could not save much money in a year, and all the money was sent to the temples. The lamas in these temples were a den of filth and evil, and they were full of all the five evils.

"The more firm one's faith is, the more alienated one becomes. In the imaginary world beyond, because it is fictional, one can realize all one's yearnings for the infinite, the sublime, the other side, poetry, and even immortality. The more one believes in this fictional world beyond, the firmer one becomes, and the firmer one becomes, the more self-alienated one becomes."

"Self-deception is the beginning of alienation, and piety to the point of giving away everything is the end of alienation. Nothing is more true than this."

"Master Li just mentioned the alienation between self and others. In addition to the alienation of self-deception, are there other people being alienated in this process of alienation?" Lin Fucheng asked with a smile.

Li Zhi said with great conviction: "Self-alienation is self-deception, and the deception of others is ultimately for profit. We have not yet been to the grasslands, so we cannot discuss the institutional exploitation of lama temples in depth, but we can briefly analyze it from the perspective of uniting the masses and gathering the masses."

"The purpose of Wang Xiangu deifying herself is not just for the incense money. The relationship between incense money and others is too loose. Wang Xiangu deified herself and established the He Yi Clan. Her fundamental purpose is nothing more than to talk about a commonplace topic."

Lin Fucheng immediately followed up and asked, "What topic?"

"The fundamental purpose of religion is to establish a strong personal dependence relationship through religion so that one can have the power of life and death over others," Li Zhi answered very fluently.

This is the relationship between people that liberals oppose most, compulsory personal dependence, the relationship between slaves and slave owners.

In the question-and-answer session, Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi revealed the essence of religion: self-deception and exploitation.

Li Zhi continued, "Everything that people create is to satisfy their own needs. So what needs do people need to satisfy when they create religion? The need to escape from the reality of suffering."

"Faced with the finiteness of life and the sufferings of reality, people need to find psychological comfort, their spirituality needs to be settled, and their spirit needs to be soothed."

"That is what is called God saving all living beings, but God usually does not save the poor."

Wind and rain only hit the wanderers, and Buddhism only saves the rich.

Buddha is a golden Buddha, and worshiping him requires silver. The pagoda where Empress Dowager Li worshipped Buddha cost 200,000 taels of silver in the early years of the Wanli period. This money was worth it. Even Zhu Yijun, a very stingy man, thought it was worth it. This was a landmark event of Wang Chonggu's donation.

After Li Zhi finished speaking, Lin Fucheng said solemnly: "Religion is a protest of people against the sufferings of reality, but if you want to settle your spirit and comfort your soul, you need to buy it with real money. In essence, the spiritual comfort sold by religion is also a commodity, and it is expensive."

"This exchange is not equal. There are too many frauds and concealments. Therefore, this is not free trade." "Religion is a shackle, a shackle, and the enemy of people's freedom."

Zhu Yijun stretched out his hand and applauded the two masters, but the reaction of the audience was very indifferent.

The Ming Dynasty was an extremely secular country. The people in the audience came to see how Li Zhi and Lin Fucheng, two liberals, the two standard-bearers who openly challenged bureaucracy and autocracy, challenged the imperial power. As a result, the two masters talked a lot, mainly about the alienation of people by religion.

They are unable to empathize because they don't have the environment, especially this group of scholars. Confucius said that I don't talk about strange things, supernatural powers, or gods, so we should stay away from things related to ghosts and gods.

There was a person in the audience with a flushed face, clapping his hands continuously to express his inner excitement. This person was Le Ya Shi, and he was a victim. When he was young, he was unable to stay with his lover, so he swore an oath in anger to remain single and serve God for the rest of his life. As a result, this oath became a shackle and a confinement.

Later, Legazpi's lover surrendered to him and then betrayed him. Legazpi felt that his original oath was extremely stupid.

If Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi's remarks were put into Western countries, they would immediately make them saints.

"Suiyuan is the Suiyuan of the Ming Dynasty, and Suiyuan has suffered greatly from it." Lin Fucheng looked at the reactions of the people in the audience and knew that they were not very enthusiastic about this matter. However, Lin Fucheng still stated the purpose of their discussion of this issue and cheered for Wang Hua's Suiyuan.

Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi looked at each other and then laughed. They had expected the audience's lukewarm response, so they smiled.

"I know you may say that it is a bit boring to talk about this today. Indeed, it does seem very boring." Lin Fucheng said with a smile: "Then let's play a little game. Raise your hands if any of the following things have not happened to you in your life."

"Pay attention, this has never happened. You can raise your hands. You can use silence to protest the suffering in reality."

Li Zhi spoke only after everyone had fully understood the rules of the game: "First, you can blame the ruler, but not the teacher. Now raise your hands if you haven't experienced this."

There was a silence at the scene, and everyone stared at the two masters on the stage in amazement. Weren't the two masters discussing religion? What they said did make sense, but now that this question was raised, everyone at the scene immediately understood that they were also in a similar state of oppression without knowing it.

This is really scary.

"It's really disappointing. Such a thing has happened to everyone. It's just too sad. The mistakes of the emperor and father can be criticized, but the mistakes of the teacher cannot be said. You can't even have the thought of disobeying." Lin Fucheng took a sip of water and looked at the many Confucian scholars below the stage.

"Mr. Jiangling taught and answered questions, so it's our teacher's fault!" Zhu Yijun said loudly.

"No, His Majesty has said that anyone who speaks of Mr. Huang's mistakes will be beheaded." Lin Fucheng said with great certainty. This was an unconscious boomerang. Lin Fucheng really had not thought that it was such a terrible thing that Young Master Huang was the emperor. Lin Fucheng said those treasonous words in front of Young Master Huang more than once.

Zhu Yijun was stunned and dizzy by this boomerang. He couldn't just tell Lin Fucheng that he was the emperor. He could say it!

There is still too much money in Guangde Bookstore’s account!
Li Zhi's face darkened. This Lin Fucheng was just relying on his own ability. His Majesty did not take it to heart. Otherwise, you would have said that anyone who criticized His Majesty would be beheaded. He would have dragged Lin Fucheng away and beheaded him, and no one would have saved him.

Li Zhi immediately spoke up: "Second, no different opinions can be tolerated, no matter how reasonable they are."

Li Zhi was trying to change the subject to prevent the issue from going any further. Lin Fucheng couldn't continue talking. If he continued, he would be criticizing the emperor, which was an unforgivable crime and could not be brushed off with a simple excuse: ignorance is the best excuse.

The second question caused some quiet discussions, which seemed to be filled with words such as rulers, reprimands, and scolding. In fact, it seems to have been like this since childhood. We have learned to obey since childhood.

"This is another tragedy." Lin Fucheng said with emotion: "Look, you are still laughing at the ignorance of the grassland people and being deceived by the Lama Temple. Aren't you the same? Admittedly, some of these rules and regulations that force you to obey are indeed for your studies, but how much of this part is it?"

"You all have your own scales in your heart, and you will weigh the right and wrong. There is nothing wrong with respecting teachers, but are teachers who cannot tolerate any different opinions really doing this for your studies?"

Li Zhi sighed, looked around and said, "If more than half of these obedient orders are for your studies, please raise your hand. If not, if they are just for the so-called authority, please remain silent."

The answer was silence again. Everyone ignored Young Master Huang. Young Master Huang was one of the few powerful people in the world with connections everywhere. He was the playboy of the contemporary general's mansion. No matter which teacher he was, he dared not do anything to Young Master Huang.

But most ordinary people, even the powerful and wealthy, have experienced this.

"What the two masters said is like an epiphany. My Wuzhong Yao family prides itself on being a family of scholars, a family of poetry, books, rituals and music. But as far as my studies are concerned, what the two masters said hits the nail on the head. If it was really for my studies, it would be fine. But this man actually died because of his concubine's dystocia, and he took his personal anger out on me. I didn't dare tell my parents about this when I was young, for fear of being scolded again." Yao Guangming, the younger brother of Kelp King Yao Guangqi, stood up.

The Yao family was a wealthy family personally selected by the emperor to move to the capital, and they were considered to be representatives of the rich. If Yao Guangming was so well-educated, the others were no less so.

"Being in the Imperial College is no different from being in the Hall of Hell." Yao Guangming complained again, which was really outrageous.

He has no intention of pursuing a career in politics, but those evil spirits in the Imperial College still hold power, and the Yao family will suffer the consequences. If he did not have too much resentment in his heart, he would not have said so.

The Palace of Yama is feudal, hierarchical, and terrifying. It does not tolerate any gossip or different voices. If anyone makes the 'King of Yama' unhappy, they will accuse you of being frivolous in your arguments and empty in your speech. The person who makes the King of Yama unhappy will be immediately excluded and may even find it difficult to move.

"Hall of Hell..." Li Zhi repeated to himself and looked at Lin Fucheng, who also had a bewildered look on his face.

Neither he nor Lin Fucheng had the experience of studying in the Imperial College. Li Zhi passed the imperial examination at the age of 26, but failed the imperial examination at the age of 27. He immediately went to Henan to work as a teacher without studying in the Imperial College. Lin Fucheng simply became a criminal because of the persecution of the Renhe Xia family and did not even have the chance to take the imperial examination.

They all had no experience in this area, but this was a public place, and Yao Guangming's complaint was obviously not just a nickname or something.

The issue has been extended from religion to academic cliques and has become extremely sensitive, so everyone chose to keep silent.

Among the scholars present, only Yao Guangming dared to speak out because he relied on his wealthy family and the fact that his brother was now the Kelp King and the son-in-law of the younger brother of Wang Chonggu, the leader of the Jin Party.

Yao Guangqi was indeed cut off from the Yao family, but if Yao Guangming really suffered some injustice, Yao Guangqi still wanted to seek justice for his brother.

Only Yao Guangming dared to speak up, while the others were silent and did not dare to say even a word.

"In fact, the Royal Academy of Gewu and the Royal Institute of Technology are quite good. The Grand Master, a layman who knows nothing about Gewu, is in charge of the administration of the Academy. It seems unreasonable for a layman to lead professionals, but if the Academy of Gewu is allowed to develop further, it will probably become like the Imperial College, an iron house that can't be penetrated by needles and water can't splash in." Yao Guangming was extremely envious of the Royal Academy of Gewu and the Institute of Technology. At least the administrative power there was not ineffective, and the overall environment and atmosphere were much better than that of the Imperial College.

Once we have a control group, things become simple.

Why did Yao Guangming dare to fire at the King of Hell in the Imperial College? In fact, it was very simple, because the power was no longer completely monopolized by the King of Hell in the Imperial College. Things had changed, so Yao Guangming also became bolder.

Whenever any local administrative power fails, it will become an independent kingdom or an iron house. This is also one of the reasons why there were too many lowly Confucian scholars in the Ming Dynasty.

What blocked the court's administrative power was the ethics and morals constructed by Confucian scholars based on the laws of the Three Dynasties.

"In fact, Guangdong Governor Wang Jiaping and his disciples Wan Wenqing and Wu Weizhong did not have such things. Instead, Wan Wenqing and Wu Weizhong often made Governor Wang very angry and he regretted not accepting these two people as his disciples." Zhu Yijun still found an example.

Wang Jiaping and his two funny disciples made Wang Jiaping very angry on their way to Beijing. Fortunately, these two people knew what was important and did not cause any trouble when the emperor was meeting them.

Wang Jiaping's generosity comes from Ge Shouli's generosity.

"Indeed, there are still few masters and apprentices like them." Zhu Yijun pondered it again and found that there were very few such people, almost none.

"Religion is confinement, shackles, and the enemy of human freedom." When Lin Fucheng repeated this sentence again, the applause was like thunder.

The discussion continued, and the topics ranged from religion to freedom and then to opening the sea. The students became particularly enthusiastic.

More and more scholars and students went to the Lama Temple on the grassland to conduct on-site investigations, and eventually a group of fifty people went to the grassland to study. Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said a few words to Zhao Mengyou, who took the order and did it.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty did not provide financial assistance due to his frugality, but Zhu Yijun chose to provide human assistance. He selected two hundred people from the Imperial Guards to protect these scholars who were going to the grassland. Lin Fucheng had no experience in organizing activities at all and needed help.

Once the number of people exceeds ten, a leader is needed. Once the number of people exceeds twenty, you have to think about eating, drinking, defecating and urinating, as it is difficult to satisfy everyone. Once the number of people exceeds fifty, there will be more factors to consider, such as illness, leaving the team without permission, staying out overnight, etc. Such actions require planning and organization.

If Lin Fucheng were really allowed to complete this study tour alone, he would probably be fine when he left, but would not be able to come back when he returns.

Zhu Yijun provided protection and organization to help Lin Fucheng complete his study tour on the grassland.

Two hundred Ti cavalrymen actually exceeded the limit that the General's Mansion could mobilize. After all, the General's Mansion had a total of two hundred Tielin troops. Such ultra-high-standard protection was to prevent accidents during the study tour. After all, Suiyuan was newly opened, and horse bandits were still a scourge on the grassland as serious as wild wolves.

If Lin Fucheng had a little understanding of the specifications of the Tielin Army, he would have guessed who Young Master Huang was.

But Lin Fucheng still didn't guess it. Zhu Yijun thought he was just confused, but soon Zhu Yijun found out that Lin Fucheng really didn't guess it.

It seems that nothing that Master Huang does is unexpected for the all-powerful and omnipotent Master Huang. In Lin Fucheng's eyes, Master Huang, who can get an official position, is omnipotent.

"Mr. Huang, mobilize two hundred imperial guards for protection. This bookshop does not have so much silver. We have only raised two hundred taels of silver in total." Lin Fucheng pointed out his difficulties. He was afraid that there were too many imperial guards and not enough silver.

Is this about silver?
(End of this chapter)