The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

Chapter 132 Five Elements of Country Study

Historically, it was not until four years later that Gu Xiancheng, Gao Panlong and others presided over the reconstruction of Donglin Academy, designated this place as a place for regular lectures, initiated the Donglin Conference, and formulated the "Donglin Convention" before Donglin Academy became official. It became the place where Donglin Party members carried out their activities, and the Donglin Party was officially formed.

However, as early as the 28th year of Wanli, Gu Xiancheng and others had often used the predecessor of Donglin Academy as the location for their lectures. Moreover, seven of the "Eight Gentlemen of Donglin" had resigned from office and returned to their hometown to give lectures in Wuxi. activities to exchange ideas with each other.

Suzhou and Wuxi are both along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. From Suzhou to Wuxi, you only need to go up the river, and the distance is very short.

When Wang Wenlong was dragged by Ye Chengxue to Donglin Academy, which had not yet been repaired, he saw that the academy was already crowded with people.

Wang Wenlong couldn't help but said in surprise: "Why are so many people here?"

Ye Chengxue said with a smile: "I heard that you gave lectures, and almost all the literati in Wuxi came."

Gao Panlong, the leader of the Donglin Party who would later become as famous as Gu Xiancheng, greeted Wang Wenlong very enthusiastically: "I have heard about the name Wang Jianyang of Fujian for a long time, and today I can see his style."

Wang Wenlong hurriedly said humbly: "Mr. Cunzhi is trying to hurt me."

As the first party in the late Ming Dynasty that set off the party struggle in the late Ming Dynasty, the Donglin Party has received mixed reviews for what it did, but there are still many outstanding figures in the Donglin Party, and Gao Panlong is one of them.

Gao Panlong was demoted seven years ago because of his outspokenness. Historically, after Gu Xiancheng's death, Gao Panlong presided over the Donglin Conference. With his reputation, he was reinstated as an official. After that, he also organized Donglin Party members to fight several tough battles. Make great contributions to the party.

Later, the struggle with the Eunuch Party failed. Gao Panlong saw that the Donglin Party members were being hunted down by the Eunuch Party, and even he himself was about to be poisoned by Wei Zhongxian, so he calmly said: "I thought of death as home." He dismissed his descendants and wrote to Emperor Tianqi His final letter, he committed suicide and died.

Regardless of the overall contribution of the Donglin Party to history, figures like Gao Panlong truly believe that the ideas of the Donglin Party are beneficial to the country, and are willing to sacrifice their lives for the interests of their party.

The views advocated by Gao Panlong, such as "benefiting business", "caring for the public", emphasizing "practical learning", etc., cannot be said to be incorrect. Although they have limited effect in actual politics at this time, and the views are empty talk from above, they are still among the people. The impact is not small.

The Donglin Party members are able to look up to the world precisely because of the contributions made by this group of people.

And standing in this time and space environment, Gao Panlong really has nothing to criticize.

The Donglin Party members called for a broad voice, opposed the eunuch Party, and opposed the imperial court's interference in the southeastern coastal commerce.

Generally speaking, these statements are absolutely correct at this time.This is also the fundamental reason why the Donglin Party gained such popularity after its establishment.

At this time, the Donglin Party members were always actively writing letters to denounce evil. Many people felt that as long as this group of clear-minded people could seize power, they could change the face of the world.

At this time, people could never imagine that in the next few days, this group of Donglin Party members would first fight against the Qi Party, the Zhejiang Party and the Chu Party, causing chaos in the court, and then fight to the death with the Eunuch Party, etc. After the Chongzhen Dynasty overthrew Wei Zhongxian, the descendants of Donglin regained power, but they did not do well.

This group of guys cursed people every day when they were in the field, thinking that they were not good enough. However, when they were really brought into power, they did no better than others.

More than 40 years after its establishment, the Donglin Party has never put forward a political platform that can save the country.

He called for an open voice, but actually found an opportunity to use party strife to suppress the voices of other factions.

They called for a crackdown on the Eunuch Party, but after the Eunuch Party was uprooted, the Donglin Party took complete power. They still fought with the same party and opposed dissidents, and the exploited people did not see their lives much better.

As for the opposition to commercial interference in the southeast coast, it is more abstract. Commercial taxes had become an integral part of the Ming Dynasty's revenue by the end of the Ming Dynasty. The Donglin Party members were right to oppose commercial interference, but in actual implementation they quickly cooperated with the emerging business class in the southeast. , using the slogan "cannot compete with the people for profit" to prevent the imperial court from collecting commercial taxes, which placed a large tax burden on the farmers, causing them to be overwhelmed.

Later, the Donglin Party directly became the umbrella of powerful officials and merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, calling for light corvee and low taxes, but it extremely avoided the collection of commercial taxes and expressed support for the collection of agricultural taxes.

A few knowledgeable Donglin Party members such as Zou Yuanbiao could also see the problems of the Donglin Party. However, when he went around calling for the restoration of Zhang Juzheng's policies, other Donglin Party members cut their seats with him.

In the later period, the Donglin Party had completely become a partisan faction, and was rated as "good at civil strife, but bad at running the country and the army."

History is consequentialist.

When the Donglin Party did not appear on the stage of history, the "foolish kings" and "powerful ministers" who were ridiculed by Qingliu were able to carry out Zhang Juzheng's reforms and Wanli's three major campaigns. However, after the rise of the Donglin Party, no matter how loud the slogans were, they did not really do anything. What achievements are worthy of praise?During the Chongzhen period when the descendants of Donglin were in full swing, the Ming Dynasty was completely wiped out.

Of course, those within the Donglin Party can have various reasons to say that it is difficult for them to govern, but which force on the historical stage does not have difficulty?
When the fate of the country is handed to you, there is only a difference between whether you can accept it or not. The difficult situation should not be used as an excuse.

Of course, the Donglin Party, which has not yet been established at this point in time, does not have those abstract behaviors. At this time, these Donglin sages are upright scholars who dare to confront tax officials, eunuchs, nobles and powerful men, protect the reputation of religion, and denounce evil and evil. They are among the best in the world. see.

It is impossible for Wang Wenlong to criticize others now.

Gao Panlong and Gu Xiancheng personally accompanied Wang Wenlong to the high platform. Gao Panlong said with a smile: "I have never had a fixed place for gatherings to give lectures. Now I can only find this dilapidated academy as a temporary gathering place."

Gu Xiancheng and Wang Wenlong explained: "This place was originally the old courtyard where Mr. Guishan Wu Guogong Yang Shi, the originator of Fujian studies, gave lectures in Wuxi. However, it was gradually abandoned over time. When we arrived, it had been converted into a Buddhist temple and we chopped trees by ourselves. Zhan Cao reluctantly opened up these few courtyards just to invite famous scholars like Jianyang to come and give lectures. Jianyang traveled all over the country, and stones from other mountains can attack jade. He also asked Jianyang to explain overseas affairs to us. "

Wang Wenlong said modestly: "I don't dare to say anything to explain, I just try my best."

Today, all seven of the Eight Gentlemen of Donglin are present. They are all opposition officials. Basically, they were all fighting for the country or protecting the Qing Dynasty. The civil servant Shangshu was demoted. They had a great reputation in Jiangnan Shilin. At the same time, they were in the court before they were dismissed. The reputation of the party formed in the party has not disappeared. These people are united with the same purpose and can naturally influence the situation of the court.

Wang Wenlong stepped onto the podium, looked at the crowd of celebrities, and felt a little pressure in his heart.

All the eight gentlemen of Donglin were Jinshi, and there were more than a dozen candidates present. If Wang Wenlong had not written "History of Portugal" and "Tianyan Lun" and became famous all over the world, such a supervisor would never have the chance to give a lecture.

The Mandarin of the Ming Dynasty was Nanjing dialect at that time, which was quite different from the Nanjing dialect of later generations, but both belonged to the Mandarin system.

The Mandarin of later generations belongs to the Mandarin of North China, and it can barely communicate with the Mandarin of Nanjing at this time. The difficulty of understanding each other is probably equivalent to that of Sichuanese who speak Southwest Mandarin and Beijingers who speak North China Mandarin chatting in their hometown dialects.

Don’t use too unfamiliar words and speak slowly so that both parties can understand each other.

Wang Wenlong is from Fujian, and his Mandarin is not standard and tastes like sweet potato. At this time, people just thought that he had returned from overseas and spoke with a unique accent, so normal communication could still be carried out.

After Wang Wenlong came on stage, he smiled at everyone and said:
"Hello, gentlemen," I am a young man with little talent and little knowledge of the classics. I feel deeply frightened to be invited by Mr. Gu Gao to give lectures at Donglin Academy. "

He said modestly: "Everyone can discuss what I'm talking about today with each other. If you don't agree with it, you can raise it. I accept it with an open mind. Today is not called a lecture, it's just an exchange of views with everyone."

These words caused everyone in the audience to nod, and they made an honest comment about Wang Wenlong in their hearts.

After being polite, Wang Wenlong officially started his lecture:
"Today, Mr. Gao and Mr. Gu invited me to Donglin Academy to explain the affairs of Western countries. Since the "History of Portugal" was written, many literati have asked me why I can understand overseas stories so well and know so much about overseas affairs. For interest.”

Wang Wenlong said with a smile: "I grew up overseas since I was a child. Although Mr. Ming Dynasty enlightened me, when I first returned to Daming, I was surprised that Ming people often think that overseas is a place of strange ghosts and ghosts. In fact, this is not the case."

"Many gentlemen said that they only knew after reading my "History of Portugal" that from our Ming Dynasty to the west there are continents called Africa, Europe, and North and South America. Although the natives living there have different cultures and customs, they are all the same as ours. Just like the people in the Ming Dynasty, there are workers and farmers. They need to eat when they are hungry and wear clothes when they are cold. Some people can also make guns and cannons, they are not other kinds of creatures."

Everyone in the audience laughed. Many Donglin Party members were in contact with the missionaries at this time, and they were quite contemptuous of those literati who did not open their eyes to the world.

Indeed, after Wang Wenlong's works came out, many literati who had little contact with foreign countries suddenly discovered that European civilization had developed to such an extent. The Donglin Party members in South Zhili also laughed at them.

Wang Wenlong: "There are so many overseas countries and they are so complicated. Although China has books such as "Zhubo Zhi" and "Lingwai Dai Da Da" since ancient times, the records of its customs are inevitably superficial, pursuing the weird and eccentric, and thinking that it is for entertainment. Readers can do that. Because there are so many distant places and countries, it is impossible to describe it in detail, so we can only pick out the important points and describe them briefly, but if you want to examine the facts of a country, this is not enough."

Wang Wenlong said: "I think that when doing this country-specific research, if you want to understand the situation of a country, you must at least start from five aspects: politics, economy, culture, history, and geography."

"For example, the native people on the Western islands have tattoos on their hair. Merchants who first arrived there thought it was strange. However, if you study its geography and history, you will know that these islands are connected in a chain and are similar to our Taiyuan Island off the coast of Fujian. Those islands The cultural customs of the native people on the islands are also not far apart. In fact, they were those who crossed the sea in small boats in ancient times."

"In ancient times, the Yue people in Fujian also had records of tattoos with broken hair. In this case, the native people above the rank and file might have migrated away from me as the native people of Fujian and Yue."

(End of this chapter)