Chapter 144: Investigate its nature and infer its changes

Don't get involved in this kind of talk, it's a bit harsh.

Although Zhang Juzheng was not moved by the two studies of reason and psychology, he did not want to see the emperor being too unorthodox.

He immediately frowned and asked, "What does the old school say?"

This is simply too crazy.

The old school is here? If you don’t know, you might think the emperor has established a new school.

If you have the ability, it would be better if you attain enlightenment in Longchang before saying this.

Upon hearing this, Xu Jie immediately followed the emperor's words and explained a few things in order to avoid causing trouble.

"Your Majesty mentioned that he now has a little understanding of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. Although the three schools have different philosophies, their general directions are extremely similar."

“The ultimate state that people seek is, first, inner perfection, or moral norms, or the root of Bodhi, or the original mind of Tao; second, external behavior, or ethical order, or the Buddhaland of all living beings, or the unity of heaven and man.”

"Mencius said, 'All things are in me'; Sakyamuni said, 'All things are born from the mind, all causes and effects, all the dust in the world, are formed by the mind'; Zhuangzi said, 'If there is no master in the middle, it will not stop, and if there is no justice outside, it will not work;'"

Zhang Juzheng followed behind Xu Jie, listening to his words silently with a frown on his face, somewhat confused.

There is nothing wrong with this statement. Throughout the ages, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism have all emphasized cultivating the mind.

All three sentences are talking about the importance of self-awareness.

Internally, it means cultivating your mind, and externally, it means influencing the world with yourself.

Confucianism is about enlightening one's mind and nature internally, and it is about moral rules externally.

Internally, Buddhism emphasizes the Bodhi nature, and externally, it emphasizes all sentient beings in the Buddha’s kingdom.

This is even more true for Taoism, which focuses on cultivating the mind and achieving unity between man and nature.

They all advocate that by knowing oneself, one can understand the true nature of everything - this is also the reason why retreat and enlightenment are fashionable buzzwords in every era.

This is also the reason why Zhang Juzheng had no interest in either the School of Mind or the School of Principle.

I can’t govern the country!
So he joined the Legalists.

Then the Emperor might also...

Just as he was thinking about it, Xu Jie, who was walking in front, suddenly asked, "So do you know each other?"

Zhang Juzheng was stunned: "Know him?"

Xu Jie added: "These are the emperor's original words, just take them as your own."

Only then did Zhang Juzheng realize that he had interrupted his teacher's speech.

He quickly stretched out his hand, motioning Xu Jie to continue.

Xu Jie nodded and continued, "Yes, I know him!"

"Since Mencius said that the self is the center of the universe, and Buddha said that the world can be understood only through the mind, Taoists often say that the self and the heaven and earth are one."

"So, if we cultivate our character, can we understand our true nature and know everything?"

Zhang Juzheng didn't say anything for a while.

This is a metaphysical category.

It’s both a good and a difficult answer.

Whether it is Buddhism, Confucianism or Taoism, the answer is yes.

But the Prime Minister, who secretly followed the Legalists and emphasized practical work, chose to remain silent and naturally gave a negative answer.

The philosophy of self-cultivation could not save the Ming Dynasty.

Zhang Juzheng didn't need to be too artificial when chatting privately with Xu Jie now - the two were master and apprentice in officialdom, a father's support, not a master and apprentice in enlightenment, so it was normal for them to have different ideas.

Xu Jie was also not surprised by Zhang Juzheng's reaction.

He continued, "Is the heaven and earth flat or round? What is the overall appearance of the Nine Provinces?"

"Does the world have an end? Does heaven and earth have an endless time?"

"How can water be replaced by ice? How can fireflies be born?"

"Your Majesty asked me, is this really what we need to understand?"

After Xu Jie finished speaking, he also felt emotional.

At this age, the emperor is indeed at the peak of his curiosity.

He had also experienced this age and this mentality in the past.

Xu Jie vaguely remembered that when he was five years old, the most ridiculous guess he had was that if Zhuangzi walked forward, he would reach the town, and all the way he would reach the county, prefecture, province, and finally the capital. But if Zhuangzi walked backward, there would be no road except for another village, and that was the end of the cosmic light.

It was not until I grew up that I realized that the roads in this world are interconnected and spread out layer by layer.

When he was ten years old, the thing he was most curious about was why fire could burn.

This is also the reason why children at that age love playing with fire the most.

Unfortunately, all the curiosity was drowned in the years.

After all, Xu Jie did not have the status of an emperor - if he wanted to practice martial arts, he could practice martial arts; if he wanted to practice Taoism, he could practice Taoism. Now that this person who loved to seek the truth, tens of thousands of taels of silver would be thrown in every year, and many people would seek the truth for him.

Zhang Juzheng was not like Xu Jie, who was filled with jealousy. Instead, he was recalling the emperor's various words over the past year and Xu Jie's retelling today.

He suddenly had some understanding of what the emperor was thinking.

"It should be returned to the saint, and it really is returned to me."

The emperor said this a year ago.

At that time, everyone thought that the emperor was just expressing his dissatisfaction with the Confucian scholars' meaningless remarks and their empty response to the imperial lectures.

Now Zhang Juzheng inexplicably had a deeper understanding of this.

Confucianism integrates heaven, earth and the self so well!
This obviously could not explain the ten-year-old emperor's curiosity about the world.

At that time the emperor asked, how could rotten grass turn into fireflies?
The officials in the imperial lectures all said that they should not worry about the reason for the time being, since the sage had said so, they should first think carefully about the principles of life behind it.

The emperor also asked, why can blue be derived from indigo? What is the essence of color?

The officials in the imperial lectures all said that let’s not worry about the color for now and talk about the principle that blue is better than blue.

The emperor asked many questions.

Why can ice be made of water? Who is right in the debate between two children about the sun?

The answers you get are all the same. Don’t worry about them for now and think about the principles of life they contain.

The mind is the universe.

The officials of the imperial lectures all said that if one knew one's true self, one would also know the heaven, earth and the universe, and that the emperor's doubts about the world were replaced by the cultivation of his true self - self-knowledge is the starting point of all knowledge, and can also resolve all doubts, which is called enlightenment.

The problem is, no matter how good the words were, no one answered the little emperor's questions.

Even the little emperor's moral character was quite good, so he probably wouldn't listen to these empty talk.

In this situation, a child whose doubts could not be answered and an emperor who held the highest power in the Ming Dynasty were combined into one person. The result can be imagined.

The little emperor inevitably developed some of the same little personal hobbies as all the emperors of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhang Juzheng realized it later!
It was suddenly discovered that the lack of education led to the emperor developing a strange little hobby.

At this moment, his hair stood on end!
This is a dereliction of duty on his part as the imperial teacher!

If the emperor has doubts, he should patiently discuss the matter and speak with substance.

He also felt a little regretful - since he did not believe in Confucianism, he should not have used the principles of life to deal with the emperor's doubts all day long in order to raise a holy emperor!

This led to the emperor's urgent desire to separate his doubts from the so-called principles of life advocated by the imperial lecturer!
No wonder the emperor said what he said last year!

The emperor intended to separate heaven and man, which was why he said those words last year, forcing the imperial lecture officials to answer his doubts without any real evidence!
From then on, the emperor never asked about these doubts in the imperial lectures again.

It turns out that the academy was not only established for measuring land and calculating numbers, but also for the emperor's selfish motives...

Seek the truth and ask the way! Seek the truth and ask the way!
The principles of being a human being belong to the human world.

The laws of the world belong to heaven and earth.

Zhang Juzheng thought of this and suddenly sighed: "I understand."

He thought for a moment and waved his hand again: "Teacher, next time you come to the palace, you might as well ask His Majesty to change the words 'Wendao' outside the door."

"Since you don't want to be associated with the three religions, you should do it thoroughly."

The emperor disliked the three religions for not distinguishing between host and guest - the three religions restricted their curiosity about heaven and earth to the ethics and principles of governance.

Then he became dissatisfied with this and wanted to cut off the connection between heaven and earth and start a new journey to explore the world.

But is it so easy to seek the truth from heaven and earth?
For now, it’s just a small effort to study fireflies, which is still a small problem.

He was afraid that one day his curiosity about the whole picture of Kyushu would be fruitless, so he could not help but follow the example of his imperial ancestor and want to ascend to heaven to see what was going on.

After all, things like water, fire, and the sun are the specialties of magicians and swindlers.

There is no guarantee that the emperor will not be taken advantage of out of curiosity.

No!

The more Zhang Juzheng thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong.

He hurriedly pulled Xu Jie to see what the so-called "physics" was doing.

I just hope it’s not some Taoist priest who is pretending to be a god or playing tricks!

……

The School of Physics' classroom is located in the innermost room of the college and is also the largest indoor space.

A large courtyard with two entrances and six rooms in total.

There are two couplets carved on the gate of the courtyard.

One says, "Everything has its own reason. If we really study it, from the great to the smallest, we can classify its nature and investigate its texture. This is called nature."

One says, "The transformation of properties is proved by experiments. Water turns into ice, and air condenses into form. They respond to each other and change constantly. This is called change."

The horizontal banner reads "Physics - Experiment"

Zhang Juzheng stood outside the courtyard and watched for a long time.

After a long while, he shook his head and said to himself: "Physics, physics, so that's it."

He asked Xu Jie, "Is this calligraphy written by Your Majesty? Where is the original one?"

Whether it is carving or rubbing, there is an original.

Xu Jie coughed lightly and said, "Of course it was written by His Majesty himself."

He obviously ignored the second half of Zhang Juzheng's sentence.

Zhang Juzheng spoke again: "I didn't ask the teacher for it, I just wanted the teacher to make a copy for me."

Xu Jie immediately smiled and waved his hand: "Okay, okay."

The value of the emperor's inscriptions also varies. For example, the little emperor usually wrote something like "etiquette and virtue" or "great virtue and humerus". People would take them home and put them in the ancestral hall for mounting and hanging, and they would not take them too seriously.

But if it is writing that expresses emotion or reveals talent, then its value is extraordinary.

Even Li Yu, a king who lost his country, had his works collected by scholars and literati.

Although this couplet is not very talented, it reflects the emperor's expression and is equally valuable.

The two walked into the yard one after the other.

There weren't many people in the room, about five or six in each.

There were neither Taoist priests pretending to be gods nor people sitting and listening quietly in the schools.

Instead, there is a group of students and scholars who look naive, curious, and even idle, tinkering with a bunch of strange things.

See Xu Jie leading people in.

Immediately, a student came forward and saluted.

"Young Master, Prime Minister."

"Dean."

"Shanzhang, Lord Jiangling."

Because of their different backgrounds, the titles they were called were also very different - those who came from poor backgrounds only knew that Xu Jie was the dean, and did not even know Zhang Juzheng.

Xu Jie didn't care.

He said to a teenager, "Shao Yu, introduce yourself to Yuan Fu."

After saying this, he turned around and introduced Zhang Juzheng: "This is the grandson of Marquis Dingyuan, Deng Shaoyu, who was born at the end of last year..."

As he finished speaking, he turned around and found Zhang Juzheng standing in front of a table, bending over with his hands behind his back, looking at the things on the table.

Xu Jie patted Deng Shaoyu on the shoulder, and the latter finally reacted.

Deng Shaoyu walked up to Zhang Juzheng and introduced carefully: "Prime Minister, the topic of this lecture is 'What is power?'"

"The things on the table are all used for experiments."

Without even turning his head, Zhang Juzheng touched the table and asked curiously, "Just now I saw several tables in the room, and only this one was covered with ice. Why is that?"

When Deng Shaoyu heard this, his face immediately turned bitter, and he obviously remembered something bad.

He pointed and introduced them one by one: "This is a control experiment conducted according to the requirements set by Li Chengming and Cheng Xuexue."

"One has rough wood, one has smooth wood, and one has smooth ice."

Deng Shaoyu picked up the wooden block on the wooden table, placed it on the spring at the edge of the table, and pressed it to the bottom.

With his other hand he picked up the block of wood on the ice and, as before, pressed it against the spring.

Gently release both hands at the same time.

"The experimental data of the two are different, which is just right for us to compare and study their properties."

"That's why, Prime Minister."

Zhang Juzheng looked as if he understood but not quite.

Seeing this, Deng Shaoyu asked someone to bring their experimental report.

Zhang Juzheng quickly stopped him and said calmly, "You can make a copy and send it to my house later."

Just kidding, it’s better not to watch this kind of thing in person.

What if I don’t understand?
Deng Shaoyu quickly agreed.

Zhang Juzheng nodded and walked into another room.

Deng Shaoyu was very perceptive and quickly presented a cylinder about the thickness of his wrist and the length of his forearm to Zhang Juzheng.

Zhang Juzheng took it curiously.

I could only see it clearly when I held it in my hand. The outside of the cylinder was made of copper, and the inside was inlaid with lenses.

"This is?"

Deng Shaoyu hurriedly stepped forward to explain: "Prince, this thing is called Siju, and your Majesty named it a telescope. It is similar to glasses. You can see things when you put it in front of your eyes, but you can only see far away."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Juzheng readily followed suit, placed it in front of him, and looked outside the house.

At just one glance, Zhang Juzheng couldn't help but exclaim.

It was said to be the same as glasses, and he thought it was something that could cure eye diseases.

I didn't expect that as soon as I put it in front of my eyes, it seemed to have suddenly become several times larger!
The vision is very far!

He even saw a table of people drinking in a restaurant in the distance! And it was extremely clear!

Deng Shaoyu introduced: "Since the Yuan Dynasty, glasses have aroused your Majesty's curiosity."

"Now the lens industry is most developed in Hangzhou, so the university sent people to study there half a year ago and also recruited two masters back."

"Not only did they master the flat, concave and convex shapes of lenses, but they also made many other objects, such as the snare and the locust."

Although Deng Shaoyu is young, he also knows what it means to show off one's prowess in front of others.

For unproductive things like the one just now, you have to use a bunch of powerful words so that outsiders don’t understand and you can show off your power.

For something like lenses, which has a simple process but significant results, the process should be concealed and the results should be talked about.

As expected, Zhang Juzheng became more curious after hearing this: "Peeking at locusts?"

When he saw it, it was obvious that this locust was something new.

Deng Shaoyu stretched out his hand towards a cylinder fixed on the table and introduced: "That was a telescope just now, and the microscope is a microscope. Uh... His Majesty bestowed the name of microscope on it."

It's angry to say the least.

"Sizhu" and "Qizhu" have some poetic names, but the emperor gave a bunch of straightforward and unmelodious names.

No respect for the inventor at all!

Zhang Juzheng bent down and looked up and down at the entire microscope.

The deconstruction is more complicated than previous telescopes.

A shelf was placed on the table, with a small lens as thin as a cicada's wing embedded in the shelf, and another lens below it. The two were separated by a distance, and their lines of sight just happened to overlap.

A piece of glass is placed at the bottom.

It seemed that it was not cleaned very well and there was still a lot of dust on it.

With an idea in his mind, he immediately stuck his head out curiously and put his eyes on the microscope.

It would have been fine if he hadn't looked at it, but when he did, he immediately exclaimed, "It's actually insect eggs!"

This is not dust at all! It's clearly insect eggs!
Extremely clear, every detail is visible!
He didn't see it clearly yet.

Now under the mirror, it has been magnified several times!
Deng Shaoyu proudly said: "When I first studied the lenses, I found that overlapping two lenses can magnify objects several times. If the structure is reasonable, it can be even greater than a telescope!"

"That's why it's called the Peeping Locust. This creature can magnify things nine times!"

At this magnification, one can clearly see even the tiniest details of the insect egg decomposition, which is why it is called a cricket.

At first, some people even suggested calling it "flea mirror". After much persuasion, the emperor finally bestowed the name of microscope.

Zhang Juzheng kept looking at it under the microscope.

It took a while before he reluctantly let go.

He turned around and looked at Xu Jie, and slowly said, "Do you still have these two mirrors? Can you send one to the cabinet?"

When people see new things, they are bound to be interested.

Especially since Zhang Juzheng was just thinking about checking the emperor's hobbies, now he naturally has to do it himself.

What's more... that telescope should be given to Wang Chonggu to take a look!
The Ministry of War will definitely like it too!
If used properly, this will be a great military weapon!

Good, good, good! Even if the little emperor is just doing this for personal interest, it is more beneficial to the country and the people than Emperor Sejong!

After Zhang Juzheng finished asking, before Xu Jie spoke, Deng Shaoyu's face immediately turned bitter: "Prime Minister, the telescope is fine, but the microscope will have to wait until we finish the experiment before we can use it."

"This item is now in the hands of Li Chengming, and it is not easy to get a second copy."

Don't underestimate these little gadgets.

They are all handmade and have not yet been mass-produced.

The telescope was fine; it took quite a while to make, and I completed the experiment as required.

But the experiments on the microscope have not been completed yet. The structure is also a whim that the emperor came up with by chance. No one has figured out the principle yet, and there are still experiments to be done. Only after they are completed can mass production be possible - especially since the emperor said it is not clear enough now, so he asked them to optimize it by fine-grinding the lenses.

The emperor has not finished his work yet, so he has no time to please the cabinet.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Juzheng felt a little regretful and had to ask for a telescope first.

He repeatedly urged Xu Jie, "Teacher, if you have finished your research, please send some to the cabinet."

Xu Jie nodded with a smile.

Afterwards, the group went around to other rooms.

Similarly, when the emperor had doubts, he would send people to give tasks and assign topics.

Including all kinds of weird things.

"Force and speed: arranging, summarizing, and designing arguments."

"The nature of light: designing experiments based on sound speculation."

“The Nature of Qi: Designing Experiments Based on Speculations about Its Form, Manifestations, and Properties.”

And so on.

Whenever the students had any achievements, they would go to Xiyuan to report to the emperor in person - even interim results were acceptable.

For example, Li Chengming was specially awarded as a scholar because of his achievements.

Or maybe Deng Shaoyu also specially awarded the title to scholars because of his achievements in lenses.

It was not until this time that Zhang Juzheng was surprised to hear that the highest honor above all scholars in the world was to be called Grand Secretary!
Zhang Juzheng couldn't help but think about the title of Grand Secretary.

Nowadays, only the Hanlin Academy, the Zhanshi Palace, and the Zuoyou Chunfang have the title of Grand Secretary!
No matter how bad you are, you will start out as a court official!

However, there were so many people around and it was difficult for Zhang Juzheng to ask Xu Jie in detail.

After walking around for a while, Zhang Juzheng patted Deng Shaoyu on the shoulder and said, "Your grandfather was a duke personally conferred by Taizu. Although he has been demoted to a marquis now, it is possible to restore his glory in your hands. Work hard."

Deng Shaoyu was flattered and surprised.

Bow and greet.

He didn't stand up until Zhang Juzheng left.

Deng Shaoyu looked at the two men's backs with envy: "A real man should be like this."

(End of this chapter)