Chapter 713: The Treasure-Hunting Party

So Confucius was actually the number one warrior of the Confucian school!

Zhu Cilang's eyes went wide as he looked at the five Confucians — Wei Zaode, Qian Qianyi, Zhu Zhiyu, Wang Fuzhi, and Huang Daozhou. Only Zhu Zhiyu seemed to have a powerful, martial bearing; the other four didn't look like warriors at all. It seemed the "benevolence" of those four was not the genuine article.

Zhu Zhiyu, who had asked the question, was also stunned. He had never imagined that this young candidate for the position of Yansheng Duke, who looked like nothing more than a crude military man, was actually a true great Confucian!

A so-called great Confucian did not mean one of lofty morality, or of splendid literary achievement, nor even one who had served in office and left a fine name in history. Even someone like Bao Qingtian was a good official, but he was not a great Confucian.

A great Confucian had to have made a tremendous contribution to the development of Confucianism!

For example, Wang Yangming of the Ming dynasty, through his contribution to the School of the Mind and his critique of the rigidified School of Principle, established his historical status as a great Confucian of his age!

Likewise, Zhu Xi, through his perfection of the School of Principle and his supplementation of the great Dao of Confucianism, also established his historical status as a great Confucian of his age.

This Kong Yinzheng's contribution to Confucian learning was clearly not as great as Zhu Xi's or Wang Yangming's, but as long as he was chosen as Yansheng Duke and continued to uphold the view that "the brave who have love possess benevolence," then he could also be counted as a great Confucian.

Because his wholly new interpretation of "benevolence" was undoubtedly a potent tonic for a Confucian learning that had fallen into severe crisis in both natural philosophy and social philosophy!

"Good! Well said! 'The brave who have love possess benevolence' — on the strength of that one sentence alone, Kong Yinzheng is worthy of the position of Yansheng Duke!" From the expressions on the five examiners' faces, Zhu Cilang could see just how correct Kong Yinzheng's answer was, so he struck while the iron was hot and moved to settle Kong Yinzheng's status.

"Your Majesty is wise! Kong Yinzheng is indeed a great Confucian of this age, fully worthy of the office of Yansheng Duke!"

"Your Majesty, this subject seconds the proposal!"

"This subject seconds it."

Zhu Zhiyu, Wei Zaode, and Qian Qianyi had nothing more to say. But when it came to Huang Daozhou's turn to speak, this renowned Confucian, long famous and known in history for dying a martyr resisting the Qing, raised another question.

He asked Kong Yinzheng, "Is a brave man merely one who is tall and strong?"

"Master Shizhai," Kong Yinzheng bowed respectfully to the elder Huang, "this junior believes that bravery or its lack should be judged by whether one can subdue others through force. And all that can subdue others is force — not merely physical strength. Though I cannot lift the gate-bar of a city pass, I do have a measure of brute strength, yet before the force of gunpowder and lead shot, I am as flimsy as paper or clay, unable to withstand a single blow. Therefore, one who can use the force of muskets and cannon to subdue others is also a brave man! If he holds a gun in his hand and love in his heart, then he is a benevolent man."

That makes sense!

Zhu Cilang nodded vigorously — science is the foremost of brave forces! Now it is the bravery of cannon; in the future it will be the bravery of nuclear bombs — all of it utterly irresistible bravery!

To be able to flatten the other side with a nuclear bomb, and then still calmly and reasonably talk things over — that is the greatest of the benevolent!

That is why in later ages the United Nations Security Council contains the Five Great Benevolent Ones! Calling them the "Five Great Hooligans" truly wrongs those nations. If those five nations were hooligans, they would long since have taken out their Harmony Bombs and used them recklessly.

Huang Daozhou laughed. "It seems that from now on, if a Confucian scholar lacks the strength to lift a city gate, he should keep a gun on his person at all times and practice with it daily."

Hearing Huang Daozhou's words, a gratified smile appeared on Zhu Cilang's face — Master Shizhai has also awakened! In history, Huang Daozhou led his disciples and followers to raise troops against the Qing, but it was merely hurling eggs at a rock, seeking a worthy death. That was loyalty, not benevolence!

If the disciples of the Huang school were all Confucians who kept guns at their sides and practiced daily, several thousand musketeers firing in volley, shooting the eastern barbarians dead, and in the end the Northern Expedition succeeded — but they did not slaughter the innocent, did not exterminate the eastern barbarians as a people, but instead carried out ethnic unity and fusion — that would be benevolence.

Now only Wang Fuzhi had not spoken. In the original history, he too, like Huang Daozhou and Zhu Zhiyu, had firmly resisted the Qing, but his "strength" for resisting the Qing had likewise been somewhat weak.

So by Kong Yinzheng's standard — no, by Confucius's standard — he could not be counted a benevolent man either.

Confucius wanted to use benevolence and righteousness to civilize the barbarians, not to be domesticated by barbarians and still call it benevolence. To be domesticated by barbarians is to become a slave, and what benevolence can a slave speak of?

The small and thin Wang Fuzhi stroked his beard, looked at the tower-like Kong Yinzheng, and nodded. "You indeed possess the legacy of the Ultimate Sage. The principles you speak of are things that, in the Ultimate Sage's own day, would have needed no elaboration. It is a pity that we Confucians of later generations thought only to seek benevolence through civil governance, and forgot that the Ultimate Sage and First Teacher possessed courage that crowned the world. We are truly ashamed."

Then he turned to Zhu Cilang and bowed with clasped hands. "Your Majesty, this subject proposes that from now on, in all examinations for selecting officials, target shooting should be tested, to encourage every scholar-official in the realm to carry a gun and every man to practice marksmanship!"

Huh? Everyone carrying guns? Everyone shooting at targets? Zhu Cilang was startled by this proposal. Is this still the Great Ming? This is the Minged States of America! That's not a good idea, is it?

"This subject seconds it!"

"This subject seconds it!"

"This subject also proposes that everyone carry a gun and everyone practice marksmanship!"

"This subject also—"

Well now, all the examiners were joining in the clamor. It seemed none of them had realized the dangers of the proliferation of firearms!

"That's the way it should be! From now on, the official selection examinations in every locality should test not only essays and mathematics, but also musket marksmanship!"

Although Zhu Cilang inwardly did not approve of everyone having guns, he had just endorsed "the brave who have love possess benevolence," so he could hardly reverse his position at once. He had no choice but to grit his teeth and support "everyone carrying guns." Who knew how many people in the future Great Ming would be shot dead by all manner of proliferating firearms? But there was no help for it now. The age of volley fire was not far off, and the advantage a nation where everyone had a gun would enjoy in the age of volley fire could be figured out with one's heel.

"Kong Yinzheng!"

"This subject is here!"

"You are now the Yansheng Duke!"

"This subject kowtows in gratitude for the imperial grace."

The Forbidden City, the Hall of Venerating Heaven.

The Son of Heaven of the Great Ming, Zhu Cilang, was personally handing the imperial edict investing Kong Yinzheng as the 65th Yansheng Duke to Kong Yinzheng, who had already passed the "Yansheng Duke Entrance Examination."

From now on, the position of Yansheng Duke could no longer be obtained merely by being born into the right family; one had to pass a series of examinations and then be invested by the Great Ming Emperor. Of course, the Yansheng Duke still served for life, and considering Kong Yinzheng's age, the 66th Yansheng Duke would probably not appear for several decades.

"Rise, and sit down to talk." Emperor Zhu still had important matters to discuss with Kong Yinzheng. "Yinzheng, have you heard about the matter of the treasure from the Kong family tomb emerging into the world?"

"Treasure? This subject has not heard of it." Kong Yinzheng had been studying diligently these days, almost completely deaf to outside affairs, so he did not know that the burial goods of his ancestors had already been dug up and put up for sale.

"Your Majesty," Kong Yinzheng asked further, "may I ask what treasure it is?"

Zhu Cilang said, "It seems to be a copy of the 'Posthumous Writings of the Ultimate Sage.'"

"What? The 'Posthumous Writings of the Ultimate Sage'?" Kong Yinzheng was greatly shocked.

This is extraordinary!

Posthumous writings dug out of Confucius's tomb!

"Your Majesty, what is written in these posthumous writings?" Kong Yinzheng pressed urgently.

"It is not very clear," Zhu Cilang said. "It is said to be related to the great Dao — certain principles the Ultimate Sage comprehended in his later years when he sought the great Dao!"

"The great Dao? Truly?"

"Your Majesty, is what you say true?"

"Your Majesty—"

This time it was not only the Yansheng Duke Kong Yinzheng who was astonished; even Wei Zaode, Qian Qianyi, Zhu Zhiyu, Wang Fuzhi, and Huang Daozhou all cried out in surprise.

As for the question of the great Dao, when Zhu Cilang had first arrived, he did not really understand it, nor did he have the leisure to ponder it. At that time he could barely save his own life — what great Dao was there to speak of?

But once his life was saved, and the Great Ming was saved too, and he began to think about going a step further, opening the golden finger wide and climbing the tech tree, he discovered the deficiencies of Confucianism regarding the "great Dao" — deficiencies that had become an obstacle to climbing the tech tree.

Perhaps people of later ages would be unable to understand what connection this "great Dao" had with the tech tree, but as long as they deeply understood how Confucianism shaped the thinking of the ancients, they would grasp the seriousness of this problem.

Zhu Cilang nodded and said, "As for the specifics, We are not very clear either, so We must trouble all of you to make a trip to Lüshun to authenticate whether the 'Posthumous Writings of the Ultimate Sage' are genuine or not."

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