Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 654 The Most Difficult Path to Knowledge and Investigation of Things
As the saying goes, even a meal cooked in a communal pot needs to be divided into individual bowls to be eaten.

Even within the same stance, there are many factions, and people with the same goals can have disagreements over their respective paths, let alone a large country like the Song Dynasty.

You can't say that just because everyone lives in one country, everything will be peaceful and harmonious. There were far too many people in the State of Song who wanted to grind Qin Hui, the Prime Minister, to dust.

Wei Sheng was indeed loyal to the Song state, but he also deeply abhorred some of the corrupt elements within the Song state.

In particular, the place where Liu Bao's troops plundered this time was Wei Sheng's hometown, Suqian. If Wei Sheng had been there, he might have directly led his troops to fight Liu Bao.

Faced with Wei Sheng's accusations, Liu Huai could only explain the situation at the time.

To deal with these 10,000 Song soldiers, even with the fighting strength of the Han army, it would take six or seven thousand troops, and it would also be a long and drawn-out process, which would be detrimental to the upcoming spring plowing.

Moreover, Yu Yunwen reacted quickly, arriving in Suqian before Liu Huai did, and immediately made a political deal with the Shandong rebels.

Under such circumstances, it would be difficult for Liu Huai to launch a large-scale purge of the Song army. In fact, if he did take action, the already fragile political alliance would immediately collapse. Yu Yunwen would think that Liu Huai was going to completely rebel and would take action against Shandong after returning to Lianghuai.

Wei Sheng was only angry for a moment before he calmed down.

It's just a matter of settling scores with Liu Bao sooner or later.

Wei Sheng then continued, "This is a great victory, and the rewards must be plentiful. Even if Xin Wulang and the others do not want the rewards from the Song Dynasty, they should still receive the treatment they deserve in Shandong. Otherwise, it will dampen the morale of the army."

Liu Huai stroked his short beard: "Of course I know that, but I'm thinking about whether we should hold a military council to decide on the next strategy. Also, Geng Jiedu's posthumous reputation needs to be determined. It's not just about reassuring the Tianping Army, but also about clarifying his rights and wrongs, successes and failures. Otherwise, the claim that he suppressed the powerful will be seen as an act of oppression by the people."

Liu Huai wanted to unify people's thinking by praising Geng Jing's achievements.

It's not that we didn't give you powerful families a chance. Geng Jingdu handed over the top civil affairs position of the Tianping Army, which was actually the second-in-command, to the powerful families of Dongping Prefecture. But what did the powerful families of Dongping Prefecture give back in return?
When the Taiping army set out on a campaign, they rebelled in their hometown. Later, they even joined forces with the Jin invaders, forcing Geng Jing to commit suicide.

Given this past record, isn't it normal for them to be wary of powerful figures?
At the same time, this incident should be used to remind the civil and military officials of Shandong not to relax their vigilance and to clearly see who the true allies of the Shandong rebels are.

Wei Sheng felt a little strange, because he hadn't expected Liu Huai to try to unify people's thoughts by reasoning with them.

For a military strongman in a chaotic world, the ability to win battles is the foundation of everything and the source of prestige.

As long as you win every battle, people will follow you unconditionally.

After Liu Huai resolved the issue of the 30,000 households in Xuzhou, his position as a military leader became unshakeable. Even Wei Sheng might not be able to surpass him. At this point, every word he uttered was considered golden rule.

Let alone dealing with a group of powerful figures who opposed the Han army, even if he promoted a group of actors to the position of prefect, some people would still think that there must be a deeper meaning behind this move.

Wei Sheng pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "That is certainly possible, but we shouldn't generalize and condemn everyone. There are also many wealthy families who sacrificed their fortunes to help those in need and participate in the resistance against the Jin."

Liu Huai nodded repeatedly in agreement.

But then Wei Sheng remembered something else: "But suppressing powerful clans can't be done without dealing with the Confucius family of Qufu. I've heard that there are already folk songs in Yanzhou, like 'A big worm has come from Jiangnan, eating all the fat and blood in the world' and 'The old boatman who steers the boat can't count, he raises a vicious dog instead of a good man.' They've basically cursed you and me, father and son."

Liu Huai laughed and said, "The quality of this doggerel is really poor. It shows that Qufu is really in a hurry. They didn't even polish it before releasing this kind of nursery rhyme."

Wei Sheng sighed, "The local bigwigs are still quite capable. The common people aren't destined to follow us. We still have to win them over. After this ballad came out, it became clear that land acquisition in Yanzhou was difficult. Alas, Wang Xiongyi hesitated back then."

Liu Huai waved his hand in response: "Father, the Kong family is involved in a great deal of trouble, and only you and I can barely manage to keep it under control. Wang Xiongyi is not capable of doing so. It's not his fault."

"However, it's not like there's no way to deal with the Kong family. Zhu Xi, Wang Xiongyi's chief of logistics, is currently in Yanzhou. He sent me several documents a few days ago, one of which was very insightful."

As he spoke, a strange light appeared in Liu Huai's eyes: "Master Zhu wants to take this opportunity to reform Confucianism."

Wei Sheng also narrowed his eyes.

To be honest, if this hadn't happened in a dark room, but rather Liu Huai had openly spoken these words, then today's scholars would probably think that Liu Huai and Zhu Xi were insane. And future historians would likely have frantically searched for all sorts of ancient texts and documents to record this pivotal moment in the transformation of Confucianism.

Although Wei Sheng was literate and even had a certain level of literary skill, he was really incapable of discussing Confucianism.

Of course, Liu Huai was also in a difficult position. He could only summarize the general outline of Neo-Confucianism, Taoism, and the philosophy of mind at most, and he couldn't explain the specific differences between the various schools.

However, through the few words in the documents sent by Zhu Xi, Liu Huai discovered that this promising Confucian scholar was actually trying to stitch natural science into Confucianism.

Good guy.

Liu Huai exclaimed, "Wow!"

Is the butterfly effect really that powerful? How could Zhu Xi's thinking have undergone such a significant change after participating in a Northern Expedition?
The key point is that this approach has a certain degree of feasibility.

Historically, Sir Isaac Newton sewed natural science into theology, which led to the widespread acceptance of natural science.

This is not nonsense. When Newton was three years old, his mother married a clergyman, and his mother's entire family were devout believers and clergy. Growing up in such an environment, it is not surprising that he was not a theologian.

Of Newton's writings, 84% are theological works, and only 16% are natural science works. Sir Isaac Newton studied physics to better prove the existence of God, not for any other purpose.

Newton's view of the universe was even more impressive. He believed that God only created the universe, gave it a first driving force, and then left it to human development without further intervention.

This is the famous mechanical universe view.

God hid the laws governing the world within the universe, leaving it for humankind to discover. Therefore, after discovering each law, Newton would always praise God: "Doesn't this harmony and beauty demonstrate that an omnipotent God exists in this vast universe?"

Later, the conflict between Newton and Leibniz, besides calculus, also stemmed from Leibniz's belief that God wouldn't be so bored as to "wind up the universe."

Zhu Xi's actions can be seen as a forced replication of history. Liu Huai believes that one day, after Zhu Xi discovers a law, he will definitely connect this natural law with the words of ancient sages and great scholars.

The reason for Zhu Xi's change of thought is quite simple.

He started associating with medical school professors such as Yang Tan and Xu Erya.

Furthermore, Confucianism has a major flaw: the lack of a methodology.

I know that I must seek true knowledge, but how should I seek it?

The classical approach is "Learning without thinking is futile; thinking without learning is dangerous." In short, it means: think more. After learning, think more; after thinking, learn more.

Are what we learn and think really the truth?

do not know.

Great Confucian scholars throughout history have been refining their doctrines, and in the present era of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, new methodologies have emerged.

That is 'investigating things to acquire knowledge'.

In a sense, this can be considered progress, because it finally gets a little closer to materialism.

If Zhu Xi had followed the course of history, he would have perfected the concept of "seeking knowledge through inquiry."

In simpler terms: truth exists within people, but it must be learned through investigation.

But how exactly should one investigate things?

Sorry, I don't know.

Everyone, please do your own thing.

Problems arise when each party applies its own approach. By the Ming Dynasty, Confucianism had completely gone astray and degenerated into idealism.

This refers to the philosophy of mind upheld by Lu Jiuyuan of the Song Dynasty and Wang Shouren of the Ming Dynasty.

Since investigating things won't lead to anything, why don't we just skip investigating things and bypass this hurdle?

In simpler terms, it means: respect virtue, value inner peace, and believe that all true knowledge comes from within, so all you need to do is work on your inner self.

Well, Confucianism has reached the stage of self-cultivation and sagehood.

As can be seen from the development of Confucianism, everyone was extremely anxious and wanted to obtain the truth, but how should the truth be sought and how should the "things" be "investigated"?

Sorry, I still don't know.

After Liu Huai transmigrated, besides fighting desperately against the Jin Kingdom, he did want to develop some natural sciences, but he never had the chance to do so.

He had originally planned to conduct a "Leaning Tower of Pisa Landing Experiment" or a "Marathon Hemisphere Experiment" last winter, or even create a hot air balloon to broaden the horizons of the Song Dynasty natives. But with the outbreak of the war, there was no time to think about these things.

But heroes of the world are as numerous as carp crossing a river.

Zhu Xi, a man of immense learning who had been tirelessly seeking a path for Confucianism, found his promised land in Shandong.

Before the great war even began, Zhu Xi mingled with professors from the medical school, following them as they practiced medicine throughout Shandong, watching them save lives and cure the dead.

During this period, Zhu Xi carefully studied the first draft of Yang Tan's "Medical Practice Notes" and asked a series of questions.

However, Yang Tan could not answer most of the questions, because at that time, surgical medicine was still purely experimental medicine.

The appendix is ​​located 1.5 inches below the navel. Why is it located here? How the hell would I know? It just happens to be located here!
Why is it that wounds treated with strong liquor are less likely to get infected? How the hell would I know? They're just less likely to fester!

Sometimes, when Zhu Xi pressed Yang Tan with his questions, he would simply turn away and leave, saying: "Don't you want to investigate things to gain knowledge? This is what things are, you investigate them!"
Zhu Xi was not annoyed by this; he simply began his own journey of enlightenment.

His thought process is unknown, but in the end, based on the medical practice of Yang Tan, Xu Erya and others, and watching them gradually summarize their experience in medical surgery, he finally had an epiphany and summarized four conclusions.

Firstly, trial and error can lead to the discovery of truth.

Secondly: Only through practice can one seek truth.

Thirdly: suspicion should be disregarded, and arguments should be detailed.

Fourthly: Although the truth cannot be obtained suddenly, its reality must exist.

Based on these four principles, Zhu Xi then began to conduct medical experiments with Yang Tan and others.

Ultimately, based on the transformation of maggots and flies on the patient's infected wound, he boldly speculated that the flies had laid an invisible larva on the wound, which caused the maggots to appear.

And this was verified by rotting flesh.

This discovery predates Li Shizhen's summary in the "Compendium of Materia Medica" by several hundred years.

Instead of inventing a microscope for microscopic observation, Zhu Xi quickly recalled a line from an ancient book: "Rotten grass turns into fireflies."

Are fireflies really born from decaying weeds? Or could they be born from larger fireflies?
To do this, Zhu Xi caught many fireflies and placed them in a jar filled with weeds and soil. Another empty jar contained only a large amount of weeds.

After the fireflies in the jar died, Zhu Xi picked out their corpses and waited for the final result.

It was a late autumn night when Zhu Xi opened two jars in the night wind.

One jar was empty, while a swarm of fireflies flew out of the other.

Surrounded by fireflies, Zhu Xi gazed at the moon in the sky, gradually becoming somewhat lost in thought. After gesturing wildly for a while, he lay down on the grass, clenching his fist and shouting at the sky.

"Confucius! You fraudster!"

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Amidst a maniacal laugh, Zhu Xi perfected his final theory of investigating things.

Indeed, the method of investigating things requires comparison; the principles of all things are interconnected.

Confucianism finally developed its own method of investigating things, although it was still very rudimentary, it had finally taken a solid first step.

(End of this chapter)