There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 441 Is Jiaqing dying?

(Sorry, the National Day holiday is coming up, so I've been busy like a dog every day and haven't had time to write anything. It should be better next month. Sorry (╥ω╥`))

This spring, the situation in the north and south underwent a dramatic change. First, the Han army launched a three-pronged northern expedition, successively capturing prefectures and counties north of the Yangtze and Huai Rivers. Then, they marched north into the Central Plains of Henan.

To avoid direct confrontation, the White Lotus sect in Henan chose to advance westward into Xi'an Prefecture, where the Qing army was sparsely deployed, and refrained from further involvement in the Henan battlefield.

The main force of the Qing army was still besieging and suppressing the White-Headed Army in Shanxi. The Han army's advance northward expedition caught the Qing army off guard.

Left with no other option, Emperor Jiaqing ordered the main force that was suppressing the Shanxi rebels to return and head south to support the besieged Xuzhou Prefecture.

The Shanxi rebels finally got a chance to catch their breath.

A war between the North and the South is imminent.

At this critical juncture, the Manchu homeland outside the Great Wall was attacked by the Han army crossing the sea.

The Han Chinese army in Liaodong had practically turned the Liaonan Plain into a wasteland, leaving behind mounds of Tartar heads everywhere. Shengjing was trembling with fear, sending urgent messages back to the interior while also dispatching messengers to Jilin and Heilongjiang to request the generals of Jilin and Heilongjiang to come south and provide assistance.

……

Nanjing City.

As the capital of the Han Dynasty, this place was equally bustling with activity.

Of course, it wasn't because there was already a war going on in the north. In fact, even the fact that war was something that the people of the Han Dynasty couldn't say was commonplace, but it wasn't a big deal either.

The Han army's past consecutive victories had instilled in the officials and people of the Han Dynasty the impression that the Han was invincible. No one thought that the Han army's three-pronged northern expedition would lose. What were those Qing dogs and Tartars? Wouldn't the Han army have to kneel down and surrender as soon as they arrived?

What truly stirred up the officials, civilians, and gentry of Nanjing, and even shocked the people of the south, was not the battlefield story, but the sudden announcement by the new dynasty of the "Xinghua Zhengyun" and "Xinghua Dictionary".

Both the standard rhyme scheme and the dictionary are understandable to officials, commoners, and gentry.

The standard pronunciation refers to the official pronunciation of the language as prescribed by the imperial court. As for dictionaries, Kangxi commissioned the creation of the Kangxi Dictionary, which specifically records methods for recognizing and spelling characters.

It is understandable that a new dynasty would want to establish standard rhymes and dictionaries.

Each dynasty inevitably established different official language accents according to the needs of its rule. When the Ming Dynasty was founded in Nanjing, its official language accent leaned towards the Jianghuai dialect. When the Manchus seized power in Beijing, their official language accent leaned towards the Beijing dialect.

Now that the new Han Dynasty has ascended to the throne in Nanjing, it is natural that there must be a new official accent.

The problem is that "Xinghua Zhengyun" and "Xinghua Dictionary" are tied together, with "Xinghua Zhengyun" used to annotate the pronunciation of "Xinghua Dictionary".

This was difficult for the gentry and scholars to understand, and even unacceptable to them.

"Good heavens, how can the new dynasty's dictionary use such phonetic notation?"

"What's wrong with this phonetic notation? We can all understand it, and it also standardizes our accents."

“You’re a local, so of course you think it’s good. But I’m from Hunan, visiting friends. This accent is completely different from our Chu accent. Your Majesty started your rebellion in Huguang, so how can you now use the Jianghuai dialect as the official language of the new dynasty?”

"If we don't use the Jianghuai dialect, are we supposed to use your Hunan dialect?"

"That's not what I meant. It's just that Your Majesty's actions are not forcing Jianghuai to be superior to other places?"

“Brother, please stop labeling the court and His Majesty. I think it’s fine this way. Besides, I’m not a local as you say. I’m from Fujian, and the differences between our Min dialects are huge.”

"Gentlemen, I think accents are secondary; the real problem is this dictionary-based phonetic system, which is simply the greatest harm to us scholars!"

"Yes, this pinyin system is simply evil magic, a great scourge to the world."

"I'm going to petition His Majesty to abolish the phonetic alphabet!"

“Abolish the pinyin system, and I will go with you.”

"..."

A group of idle scholars, upon seeing the official notice and some copies of the first edition of "Xinghua Zhengyun" and "Xinghua Dictionary", were already arguing fiercely over it.

They could even put the accent issue aside for now, since promoting accents has been done throughout history. Success or failure depends entirely on the level of local resistance.

But the pinyin system is different. As intellectuals, they only glanced at a few dictionaries and books before instantly realizing how terrifying it was.

How terrifying is it?

Originally, if people wanted to read and write, even if they were very talented, they still needed to spend money and invest a lot of time and effort to support their studies.

The previously commonly used method of phonetic transcription essentially relied on continuous practice of writing and reading to help people understand and master characters and learn to read and write.

Talent is one part, but money is the main part.

Without money, you can't practice calligraphy, and you can't hire a teacher to instruct you, so you can't learn to read. Because if you can't practice calligraphy, you won't understand the meaning of characters or how to read and write them.

The Pinyin method is completely different. The foundation of the Pinyin method only requires learning 26 fixed initials and finals.

Once you learn it, you'll be able to read all the Chinese characters in the world, which is much simpler than the phonetic spelling method.

This effectively broke the tacit monopoly of knowledge channels held by the gentry and scholars.

The reason why the phonetic method was so difficult to learn was partly due to the limitations of the times, and partly due to the needs of scholars who required this expensive method of literacy to monopolize the channels for acquiring knowledge.

Thus, only the gentry had the money to learn to read, acquire knowledge, and become superior people.

Ordinary people want to learn, but even if they know how to learn, actually doing so will only lead to financial ruin.

Even if someone manages to grit their teeth and achieve some success, it will quickly accelerate the rise of the gentry, allowing them to monopolize knowledge and exploit the common people.

It can be said that the introduction of a phonetic system was tantamount to shaking the foundation of the gentry, who no longer possessed the power to monopolize knowledge.

The inner city, the temporary palace of the Han emperor.

The cabinet ministers, the eight ministers, and other high-ranking officials of the Han Dynasty were being summoned by the emperor to the inner palace for a meeting.

"Your Majesty, many scholars have come to the palace gates again to petition for the abolition of the Xinghua Zhengyun and the Xinghua Dictionary," a female attendant suddenly reported.

Nie Yu didn't care after hearing this: "Let them petition if they want, don't pay any attention to them, just have the guards at the gate drive them away!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Jun, the Grand Secretary below, said, "Your Majesty, this is not the first time these petitioning scholars have come. This is going too far. They should all be imprisoned and punished according to their crimes."

Nie Yu chuckled and said, "Hehe, that's too much. I'm not some tyrannical emperor who stifles dissent. Forcibly standardizing the pronunciation of the new dynasty will definitely cause some people to object. Besides, many of these scholars who came to petition are students from prestigious universities. They're not actually kowtowing to the emperor; they're just kneeling to petition, which is harmless. Once the 'Xinghua Proper Pronunciation' and the 'Xinghua Dictionary' are officially published and promoted, and the people benefit, their opposition will naturally crumble."

It seems unlikely that it can be dismantled!
His Highness and his ministers looked at each other, quite worried about the situation.

Perhaps the accent problem could be gradually resolved over time, eventually being masked and allowing the official accent to gradually become standardized. However, this phonetic system truly shook the foundations of the gentry. If they weren't already officials of the Han Dynasty, with their entire families' lives and wealth tied to the Han's war machine, and if the Han Dynasty didn't already have the momentum to sweep across the world, even they would have to offer some advice.

They could only offer advice; they would never dare to oppose him. Having served His Majesty for several years, they had long since figured out the emperor's basic temperament.

Once His Majesty has made a decision, there's no way they can stop him or persuade him otherwise!

"but……"

Nie Yu suddenly changed the subject, saying, "Minister Liu's reminder is also reasonable. It's not good for scholars to keep petitioning in front of my temporary palace. It's better to guide than to suppress. I intend to hold a debate in Nanjing, similar to the debate on classics held in Jingzhou a few years ago. The Ministry of Posts and Communications should make preparations and tell those scholars who oppose it to leave their comments in the official gazette starting next month to debate whether the *Xinghua Zhengyun* and *Xinghua Dictionary* are more useful, or whether the so-called reading pronunciation and phonetic method are more useful?"

Minister of Posts and Communications Huang Chengzhi hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Your subject obeys the decree. The Ministry of Posts and Communications is working overtime to ensure that this debate topic is presented in the Imperial Gazette next month for all scholars and citizens to read and debate."

Good heavens, the emperor's move really surprised all the ministers.

They assumed the emperor intended to forcefully promote the policy, ignoring the opposition from scholars and intellectuals. Little did they know that the emperor not only planned to forcefully implement the policy but also to suppress and subdue those who opposed him through public opinion.

After all, the Xinghua Zhengyun dictionary's forced standardization of pronunciation has both positive and negative aspects. However, the pinyin system in the Xinghua Dictionary is truly beneficial to the country and its people.

If it weren't for the benefit of the country and its people, how could Yuan Shu and Luo Dian possibly be willing to bear a lifetime of infamy to serve as the chief editors of these two official books?

It is precisely because it benefits the country and its people, and even ordinary citizens can benefit from it, that it is resisted and hated by gentry and literati, who even want to abolish it.

The gentry and literati resisted and disliked it, but they were pretending not to understand. If it were to actually appear in the official gazette, internal disagreements would inevitably arise, or even the gentry and literati would split apart.

Scholars were not a monolithic group; there were always those who flattered the court and those who held idealistic views.

For example, Yuan Shu's elder brother, Yuan Mei, was a renowned scholar and Confucian scholar from Jiangnan. He publicly wrote articles opposing foot binding for women, believing it to be a deeply ingrained and outdated custom that should be abolished.

The emperor's move was to use this as an excuse to bring the scholar's private attempt to "bargain" with him into the open, allowing the whole world to judge.

How can the people of the world judge this?

If the common people benefit, they will certainly support the promotion of the new dynasty's official rhyme scheme and dictionary. Scholars, even if they can hold debates through the emperor, are unwilling to compromise. Those who can understand the emperor's mind and are truly stubborn will be greatly reduced.

There may even be many people with strange and outlandish theories here who take the opportunity to muddy the waters and make a name for themselves.

In the last debate in Jingzhou, Deng Xianhe forcefully led the group to link foot binding and the Three Cardinal Guides and Five Constant Virtues to the orthodoxy of Confucian classics.

To this day, Chu-Nan and Hubei are a place where a hundred schools of thought have flourished, with many new schools of thought emerging in various places. They adhere to a wide variety of theories, but most of them are derived from Deng Xianhe's disguised rejection of Confucian classics.

Because of this incident, Deng Xianhe almost became the founder of the Huguang New Learning.

Of course, those new schools of thought weren't stupid either; it was impossible for them to venerate him as their patriarch. At most, they would just bring out Mr. Chuanshan to worship.

After discussing the issues of standard rhymes and dictionaries, Gu Jing, the Minister of Rites and Grand Secretary, spoke up and said, "Your Majesty, now that the new dynasty has established standard rhymes and dictionaries, my 'Great Han Calendar' should also be revised."

Gu Jing's reminder made the prince and his ministers realize what was happening, and they quickly followed suit, bowing and agreeing.

"Your Majesty, Minister Gu is right. The calendar should be revised."

"The new dynasty has just been established, and a calendar should be compiled to rectify the court's affairs!"

"The calendar is the foundation of a nation."

"I second the proposal!"

"..."

The officials of the Han Dynasty, regardless of their official positions or stances, unanimously agreed with Gu Jing's proposal.

In fact, the compilation of the calendar for the new dynasty should have been started as early as after Nie Yu became emperor. However, last year, when the Han dynasty was newly established, everything required money, and the Astronomical Bureau (Imperial Observatory) was only in name, without even an office, so it was temporarily shelved.

The money was first used for other important things, such as building and repairing the palace, revising the Xinghua Zhengyun and Xinghua Dictionary, etc.

This year, the planetarium just completed an office building about two months ago. The Ministry of Rites felt that it was too slow and allocated a space for it. At the same time, they gradually recruited astronomical talents to join the planetarium.

Now, we have the talent, the office space, and they've been familiar with their work for over a month.

It's time to revise the calendar of this new dynasty.

It was definitely not feasible to continue using the pseudo-Qing dynasty's "Shixian Calendar." Moreover, although the "Shixian Calendar" had already adopted a lunisolar calendar, it was still the last comprehensive reform in the history of Chinese calendars, and it even incorporated Western methods for revision.

However, the West was not entirely correct at this time. For example, the "Western method" in the Shixian Calendar came from Western astronomical observation data from two hundred years ago, and Tycho Brahe's "hybrid universe model" was also used as a reference.

In general, the regular calendar in ancient China was revised almost every so often. Moreover, many important astronomical phenomena could not be explained or predicted, and were simply attributed to the emperor's moral failings and the fall of the country as absurd theories.

The fundamental reason for this lies in the ancient Chinese calendar, which always considered the Earth to be the center of the universe and accepted the geocentric model.

This approach naturally cannot explain the movement of many celestial bodies. The reason it can still be used with some difficulty is entirely due to powerful algebraic calculations, commonly known as empiricism.

The Shixian Calendar, however, does not use the geocentric model. Instead, it uses the model of the Earth being stationary, the Sun revolving around the Earth, and the planets revolving around the Sun. It is a variant between the geocentric and heliocentric models. At the same time, it adopts the twenty-four solar terms instead of dividing them equally, and fills in the special month of the leap month.

but……

The Shixian Calendar also had many problems, only slightly better than the Datong Calendar of the Ming Dynasty.

To reform the calendar, the heliocentric theory must first be rejected. The heliocentric and spherical Earth theories must be popularized among the astronomers at the planetarium, and these basic logical errors in astronomy must be corrected.

These issues are not difficult to resolve. Nie Yu is currently compiling relevant teaching materials, which will be taken to the planetarium for study later. After that, we can discuss the calendar issue.

There's no rush for any of this. We can use the pseudo-Qing calendar for now; it's not like we can't use it.

The puppet Qing dynasty must be fought; the calendar is innocent.

The issue of calendar revision was not addressed on the spot; it was simply stated that it would be discussed later, as they were about to move on to the next topic.

Suddenly, an urgent military telegram arrived: "Your Majesty, an urgent secret telegram has arrived from the north!"

Urgent, and coded, it seems this is indeed a serious matter.

Nie Yu quickly took the translated telegram, and after reading it for a short while, a strange smile appeared on his face: "Is Jiaqing about to die?!"

"..."

The prince and his ministers were initially curious, but upon hearing the emperor casually utter this sentence, their minds went blank.

Is the Manchu emperor Jiaqing about to die?

real or fake?

(End of this chapter)