New Shun 1730

Just like the image of Europe and America that was passed down to China in later generations, it was just the remnant of the sages of the Enlightenment.

But it was not the real peak of the magic of capitalism after monopoly imperialism.

The fragmented remnant, the unreal filter, was condensed into simple rationality, legal system, benevolent government, and people-oriented.

So tempting.

But for Liu Yu, who had personally experienced, seen, and touched the whole remnant, not the fragmented remnant, he knew what Dashun was like.

If it was worse, it was still better than Britain and France at that time, but only those who had not seen the future would choose to compare.

The ideal country borrowed by the French from the remnant of the pre-Qin philosophers was not bound to Catholicism.

However, the feudal rule of France was bound to the Catholic priests and the church, so this ideal country could oppose everything in the old era, especially the church that had been twisted into an accomplice.

This system was bound to the royal power, the nobility, and the feudal landlords. But the ideal country of the remnant of the pre-Qin philosophers opposed all of this.

The three generations of governance in the Dashun books were all discussed by Taoism, Legalism, Mohism, and Confucianism, but now it is bound to the Confucianism of the teaching law.

Just like Kang Budai said, it is very easy to make up new theories. You can make up a few words from Taoism and Mohism, and then deconstruct the fragments.

But Confucianism, which has been the only dominant school with many theories for more than a thousand years, cannot be made up, because it is not fragments, but a whole system. This system is tied to the imperial power, landlords and literati. Fragments and fragments of souls are all good. The fragments of Confucianism are classics and philosophical when they are separated from the system, but they are distorted into the legal system of feudal rule, which is distorted.

The greatness of Rome lies in the fact that Rome is dead and dead.

Similarly, the temptation and beauty of Taoism, Mohism, Legalism, Agriculture and other schools of thought also lie in their death and death.

If they are still alive, they may also be distorted into a bird, or even more reactionary.

The dead are more useful than the living, but the resurrection of the dead does not work in Dashun.

Whether it is Confucianism, Legalism, Mohism or Taoism, even if the word "utilitarian" is the same, you can tell at a glance which school the core belongs to.

No matter how much they change, the orthodoxy of Confucianism cannot be moved. Therefore, Dashun has been destroying for decades without establishing. Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism has been destroyed, but the new one still cannot be established.

If the most difficult step cannot be taken, then Dashun may very likely... may have to go the way of France again - many years later, an ideal country appears outside, and the Celestial Empire has fallen and lost its pride. The pioneers use the ideal country outside to launch a vigorous, French-style thunderstorm to sweep everything away.

This is not impossible, but the prerequisite of "falling and losing self-pride" itself is a tragic tragedy.

Because even now, Dashun still has the capital of absolute pride.

They talk about diplomacy, but they still think that you are all barbarians in my Celestial Empire. Whether it is trade, surplus, silver reserves, population, the development of handicrafts, Jiangnan cities, etc., it is all the same.

How miserable does it need to be to achieve the condition of falling and losing self-pride? In history, the pride and confidence of the Celestial Empire was not destroyed by one or two crows, but by the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. Was it that the Japanese country, which was once looked down upon, could actually win? Everything in the Celestial Empire was really ruined. Let's start over.

"We can't go this way."

Thinking of the horrible tragedy in his heart, Liu Yu secretly warned himself.

The emperor's attitude is very clear. Going to Southeast Asia is not a problem, but after going to Southeast Asia, it is very likely that Malacca will be opened for trade.

Relying on the sea merchants and civilian forces of Dashun, going to Malacca and India is already the limit.

This is not a question of whether Dashun will open the sea or ban the sea, but that Europe has monopoly companies, the power of the country behind it, and each country has tariff protection.

Even if the court opens a trade port and encourages sea trade, it will be useless. If the court does not intervene, the civilian forces will not be able to beat the monopoly companies at all.

With the current navigation level of Dashun, can it go to Europe with a few merchant ships? Of course.

But after going there, you can't even dock at the port. People will not allow you to dock at all.

The East India Company's monopoly, just because you open the sea to encourage trade, you are allowed to enter the port to sell goods? It's not your biological father, this is wishful thinking, and the way of thinking is similar to that of the group of gamblers in Japan.

Unless the court personally intervenes.

But how far can the court, or the emperor, go and how far can it go, this is a question.

Now the emperor supports Nanyang, which is of course good, and Liu Yu can be a great loyal minister.

When one day the emperor does not want to move forward and becomes an obstacle - if the court does not intervene, even if it encourages civilians to go to sea, it will be useless, so as long as there is no support from the army and the treasury, it is an obstacle - then this obstacle can only be removed.

Maybe the next emperor will still be an expansionist, maybe the next emperor will still be a wise ruler.

But Liu Yu does not want to pin his hopes on the word "maybe".

Once it is not possible, he must ensure that this obstacle can be removed.

Expansion is external, and reform is internal.

The inside and the outside complement each other.

To break the old forces internally, a force that is not rentier landlords and literati is needed.

If this force is to be strong enough to fight against the old forces, it needs the market to feed them and make them bigger.

The internal market needs to break the old forces to expand; and breaking the old forces requires the new forces to be strong enough.

This is a vicious circle, and the only way to break through is from the outside.

Therefore, if the internal forces fail, they can only expand externally.

The market of Japan and Southeast Asia seems to be large enough, but it is still too small compared to the size of Dashun and the strength of the old forces inside.

It is impossible to feed a force strong enough to crush the old forces.

So it’s not enough, we need a bigger external market.

As for the larger external market, we must be prepared for a full-scale conflict with Britain, France, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. The East India Company was a monopoly. They paid money to obtain the monopoly rights. They were not the biological fathers of Dashun merchants. Of course, they would not allow Dashun merchants to sell goods in their sphere of influence just because Dashun opened sea trade. .

What Dashun lacked was not primitive accumulation. Hundreds of years of silk and porcelain trade had already accumulated enough silver for starting capital.

There is no shortage of people, and there is no need for land enclosure movements. After the poll tax was abolished, groups of refugees went to the cities to make a living.

What is missing is subsequent capital accumulation, that is, the market. And in the process of capital proliferation, a new class is gradually raised that can destroy the old era.

The whole difficulty lies in "raising up", or what Liu Yu and Kang Buyao said at the beginning, "protecting the fire from being extinguished".

If someone from the new force is Chai. And enlightenment thought is fire. Both are indispensable.

Once the old forces want to put out the fire and draw out the firewood, the new forces must be able to win when the old forces counterattack.

We can’t copy what Europe did, so what should we do with the Enlightenment Movement with Dashun characteristics? Where is the problem?

Kang Busao said that Dashun has its own national conditions here, and the entry point must be on the rule of the Three Generations. We cannot build a rational utopia, we can only hold high the banner of restoration, demonically change the rule of the Three Generations, and transform Confucianism.

Liu Yu actually thought about it this way, and he also understood that the situation in Dashun cannot copy what France is doing now.

But Kang Buluo himself said that it was extremely difficult and there was no way to find an entry point.

This made Liu Yu very sad.

Is this direction basically correct, but he, Kang Busao and other close friends have limited abilities and haven't found an entry point?

Or... this direction is wrong to begin with, so that's why we can't find an entry point?

If it's the former, that's okay. Once the foundation is laid, a strong man and a half-sage will be able to comment on the scriptures and solve the problem.

But if it's the latter, you'll be in big trouble.

Liu Yu had been convinced that this direction was basically correct before. However, perhaps because of what he experienced today, or perhaps because he heard with his own ears that Voltaire was praised so highly that Liu Yu was frightened, which made him a little shaken and doubtful.

After a long silence, Kang Buyao also noticed that something was not right with Liu Yu, and asked in a low voice: "Master, do you think what I said is wrong? Or do you mean that rocks from other mountains may not be able to attack jade?"

Liu Yu couldn't relax his brows and shook his head: "It's not wrong. You also know that Dashun has its own national conditions, but what is the difference between it and other countries? You only heard me say it and know a little bit. Even Japan, and This dynasty is very different, and as for Europa, the difference is even greater.”

"I'm wondering why we can only learn from history? Because we are different from others and can only learn from our own history. If we use other people's history, we must first become someone else's shape. So now when we can't learn from history, we just You have to feel your way across the river, which is difficult.”

"This time I go to Europa and see with my own eyes. Which stones are from other mountains that can be used to attack jade; which ones are of no use at all and can be used to carve a boat for a sword or cut a foot to fit a shoe. This is also clearly defined."

"This time, the imperial court also sent people. His Majesty felt that my eyes could only see the good, so he sent a team of two eyes to focus on the bad."

"Your Majesty wants to listen and understand at the same time, which is a bit troublesome."

Speaking of this, Liu Yu also smiled awkwardly and said: "What I did before was actually similar to what Voltaire did. They monopolized the speaking channels and said what they wanted to say. Most people have never done it anyway. country. It may be part of the truth, but it’s not the whole reality.”

"Now that our country has adopted diplomacy, I will no longer be able to monopolize external information alone. Those things from outside that make the emperor feel scary will also come in."

"You want to observe the chaos in the Western countries in the future to learn from experience. But... the emperor will also watch."

Kang Busao comforted him: "Don't worry, young master, this matter is not as terrible as you think."

"How to say?"

"Hahahaha...Young master, you must know that a country should be governed by virtue, and the etiquette and laws should be superior to rule the dynasty. Those who focus on the bad, what do you think they will see?"

"Aren't you like Shiraishi Arai of the Japanese country, who focused on morality, etiquette, and customs, and denounced barbarian customs, which is ridiculous and rude. When you do things, you have to conduct in-depth investigations and visit the people. You think you are following people who are looking for trouble, Will you be like the young master? This is how you judge others."

After saying that, Kang Buyao smiled again and said: "Young master, you must know that if you are looking for disadvantages, if you are not careful, it will turn into looking for superiority. If your Majesty really has this intention, the person who should be sent must have received the knowledge of the emperor. The educated prince, go see those terrible things. But your Majesty sends someone who knows etiquette, this is not...hehe."

"I dare say that after coming back, most of the things they talked about were things like [men and women living together without shame]. Young master really thinks they can conduct social surveys and see truly terrible things?"

"They have never learned this skill at all, how could they see these things?"

"The things that Young Master knows are natural to use. But the things that Young Master takes for granted may not necessarily be taken for granted by others."

"At the beginning, the old Duke said that the young master did not study and could not know oneself and the enemy. He advised the young master to read the scriptures and forget everything he had learned before. Only by understanding what those people think can he understand the thinking of those people. The young master did not listen. , that’s why I’m worried now.”

Hearing Kang Budai's optimistic words, Liu Yu nodded and shook his head, and said after a while: "I hope so."

Kang Budai said firmly: "It's not that I hope so, but it is so. The things in your mind can wash away what I learned before, which makes me deeply believe it. But the things I learned before can't wash away the things in your mind."

"So, some things I can understand may not be understood by you. On this point, you still have to believe me. If you don't believe me, let's wait and see."