I

Apart from Pan Wei, Song Qin, and Cai Yuncheng, the last scholar who went to sea with the group was Li Sixiao.

When Song Qin was summarizing scientific research methods, Li Sixiao entered the room with "Principles of Philosophy" and said excitedly: "Brother Yang, the book you recommended is really well written, Descartes is really a great European Confucian !"

Song Qin said with a smile: "It's not a great Confucian, he is not a Confucian, but he is indeed a European sage."

"Otherwise," Li Sixiao shook his head and said, "this Descartes is indeed a great Confucian, even though he has never read Confucian classics. The truth that this person comprehends, I will translate it as 'mind-matter theory' (mind-matter dualism), which coincides with Yang Minggong's Great way of learning!"

"ah?"

Song Qin was dumbfounded.

Li Sixiao analyzed: "Descartes doubted everything. He believed in God, but he said he was not sure whether God existed. Because only doubt is real, and it is doubtful to be sure. Doubt proves that people are thinking, and thinking is human. Proof of existence, so "I think, therefore I am". He was convinced of his own existence, and then he tried to prove the existence of God and the world. Thinking is the heart and conscience. I think, therefore I am, is there nothing outside the heart? "

Song Qin muttered, "Isn't this explanation too far-fetched?"

"It's not farfetched!"

Li Sixiao began to eloquently: "There is nothing outside Yang Minggong's heart, since the heart and things are in one body. Without the spiritual heart, there will be no heaven, earth, ghosts, gods, and everything; Only by thinking about oneself can we prove the existence of God and the world. If there is no God endowing the soul, there is no world, and he cannot think. Yang Minggong and Descartes, don’t they have the same truth?”

Song Qin didn't like vain things, so he didn't bother to refute immediately, nodded and said, "Maybe."

Li Sixiao said again:

"Descartes said that the world is very complicated, and people can never truly see the problem comprehensively. Only God can do this. Therefore, the method for people to study the world should divide the problem into details, and study it as isolated and static as possible. "

"Yangming Gong also said that Tao cannot be expressed. He also said that to do good and eliminate evil is to study things. Besides, people must practice kung fu in things. It should be adjusted according to the current situation. Isn’t it just a case-by-case discussion, isn’t it a way to divide and study things? The ready-made school, the Guiji school, and the orthodox school of the mind study have their own methods. But we scholars who study the world must find another way to understand the mind study. This flute Karl's knowledge is just like understanding with psychology to guide our research world."

"Descartes had a theory of mind and matter, and Lord Yangming said that mind is rational. Things can be attributed to Qi. Isn't the theory of mind and matter the theory of Qi?"

Song Qin was dumbfounded when he heard that, well, he made a big circle and returned to Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism.

Li Sixiao said: "Qi and reason are inseparable. To be unreasonable is to have no mind, to be unable to think, and to be unable to understand the rules of all things in the world. Without Qi, neither people nor things exist. Qi and reason, Descartes believed, are reason. Exist first. Since God exists first, everything exists and human beings exist only when there is God.”

"Is it true that Descartes' God can be understood as Zhu Zi's Wuji or Taiji. The heart is the principle. Qi is the world. We have a heart, a conscience, and can think and study the world. Those who are born to know are sages, and we If you are not a saint, you need to study things to gain knowledge. To study the world and study knowledge is to develop conscience and explore everything in the universe. Knowing has obstacles, so you have to doubt, so you have to put aside your prejudices."

"The existence of intellectual disabilities and ignorance of the mind requires what you call epistemology and methodology."

Song Qin didn't know much about psychology, and even only superficially knew about Neo Confucianism. He was not interested in traditional things, and he was devoted to scientific research.

However, it is possible to layer skins.

Li Sixiao continued: "There is actually no essential difference between the worldviews of Confucianism and Xinxue. We don't need to overthrow it, but we can use it."

"Therefore, there is a world view for doing research. First there is Wuji or Taiji, which is the god that Descartes said. Taiji is divided into two forms, which breeds Qi and Li, and derives all things in the world. Li is the heart, conscience, and the rules of heaven and earth. It is also the thinking ability of human beings. Qi is everything in the world, and it is the object of our research.”

"And epistemology is also available. We are not saints, and we cannot be born to know it. Confucius and Meng Yasheng are only the most holy teachers, not real saints. What they say may not be correct. So we have to doubt and rationally study The world. We have to doubt any principles and rules that cannot be clearly proved. Even what Confucius said, we should doubt it. To study everything with doubts is what Yangming Gong said. Put effort into things. To do good and to eliminate evil is Investigating things, goodness is truth, and evil is falsehood.”

"So there is also a methodology, which is what Descartes said!"

Song Qin just doesn't care about vulgar things, but he is not a real fool.

He knows that natural science research is still a by-path. The current emperor supports it, but the future emperor may not necessarily, and may even suppress and oppose it. If you want natural science to be recognized and become the academic mainstream, you cannot abandon everything traditional.

Suddenly, Song Qin smiled and said, "My brother, how about doing this together?"

Li Sixiao said happily: "That's what I meant! It's a pity that there are no real great Confucian scholars among the envoys. The two of us can only set a general framework first. When we return to Nanjing, we will visit famous Confucian scholars. We need to find those enlightened Confucian scholars. , such as Huang Zongxi, Gu Yanwu, etc. Whether they criticize or encourage, please point out mistakes and omissions anyway. Then call on all the scholars from Qintian Academy to enrich this theory. In time, it will be successful!"

In a word, the two wanted to use Confucianism's old bottle to hold the new wine of science.

This kind of thing is perfectly normal, especially at the end of the Ming Dynasty, when the Chinese ideological world was full of demons and a lot of diverse ideas. Even Neo-Confucianism and psychology, which were incompatible with water and fire, were improved and put together to form various new schools of thought.

Li Sixiao's theory, among countless new ideas, actually does not seem too outrageous, because there are many people who are even more outrageous.

Nowadays, traditional Neo-Confucianism no longer monopolizes the academic world. This is the best time for new ideas to be born, and it is also the best time for natural science to form theories.

Their core point of view is that what Confucius said may not be correct, which is the spirit of scientific skepticism. This kind of thinking is also not out of line. There were many non-Confucian people in the late Ming Dynasty, and many Confucian scholars wanted to break out of the cage of Confucius and Mencius. It's just that history was interrupted by the Manchu Qing Dynasty. In order to establish legitimacy, the Manchu Qing Dynasty erected Confucius. All active and advanced ideas died under the power.

"Cheng Zhu has Neo-Confucianism, and King Lu has Xinxue. What should we call this?" Song Qin asked.

Li Sixiao smiled and said: "We study the world, and our worldview is generally consistent with Neo-Confucianism. The key lies in investigating things, and investigating things involves doubt, and it is in doubting that we understand the truth of things. How about calling it 'investigation of things'? Maybe a hundred years later, someone will use it to answer my question. His surname calls the study of objects as 'the study of Song and Li'."

Subjects such as mathematics, astronomy, and geography are all traditional miscellaneous subjects.

As for physics, there is no need for Zhao Han to name it. It already existed in the late Ming Dynasty, and it was taken from the "Principles of Observation of Things".

Li Sixiao had great ambitions. He wanted to unify all miscellaneous studies, that is, natural sciences, into "Guruxue".

The principles derived from investigating things must withstand verification. Be suspicious of everything. What cannot stand verification is false theory, and what can stand verification is truth. From now on, there will be no academic authority; skepticism and reason will be the authority. There are no saints, only scholars who constantly study things and develop their conscience.

Confucius is still the same Confucius, but he is not the same Confucius.

At this moment, far away in Paris, the Queen Mother Anne ordered a gathering of scholars and artists. The main convening targets are young celebrities from the French Academy, or disciples of older scholars, and ten people are to be sent to China for exchanges.

Of course, it is not about communicating about natural science, but about learning Chinese theory of loyalty to the emperor, music, painting, architecture, sculpture, etc.

Blaise Pascal, who was only thirty years old, had just completed "Essays on the Equilibrium of Liquids and the Weight of Air." As early as sixteen years old, he completed "On Conic Sections" and left behind "Pascal's Theorem". He invented the calculator, studied vacuum and atmospheric pressure, improved the mercury barometer, and used the barometer to make weather forecasts. Even Leibniz drew on Pascal's research manuscripts when he invented calculus.

If we follow the historical trajectory, next year, such a scientific genius will turn to theological research in an all-round way.

Starting from skepticism, this person actually came to the religious conclusion: neither perceptual nor rational knowledge is reliable, so faith is above all else!

Later, while studying theology, he took a leave of absence due to illness to recuperate. When he was free, he also did some scientific research. For example, he corresponded with the mathematician Fermat, and together they laid the foundation for modern probability.

His name is Pascal, and the unit of pressure is simply "Pa".

"Can I go to China? When I corresponded with Mr. Descartes, he said that China's mathematical research is very advanced." Pascal asked.

The official said disgustedly: "We only recruit scholars from the academy, or disciples of scholars. You are just a peripheral member of the academy, what qualifications do you have to go to China?"

Pascal said: "The emperor of China is a mathematician. Mr. Descartes once corresponded with the Jesuit priests. The Chinese emperor, like Mr. Descartes, invented analytic geometry very early. If the envoys There are mathematicians here, and I think we can have a common language with the Chinese emperor."

When the officials heard it, it seemed to make sense, and Pascal was also very famous. So he no longer refused and just said: "I'm going to ask for instructions from the Prime Minister."

Pascal added: "I have a friend named Pierre de Fermat. Although he is a lawyer, he is also very interested in mathematics. He also has the idea of ​​analytic geometry from different angles. He had it before Mr. Descartes. . Maybe, he can also go to China."

"Lawyer?" the official said amusedly, "Did he go to China to study law? That's Fermat, forget it. Even you have to ask the Prime Minister for instructions."