Chapter 62 Chapter VII The Saint and the Magic Stick

When the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom led by Hong Xiuquan rose in the southeast, who was the happiest?The imperialist powers are happiest.Because Hong Xiuquan said that he was the younger brother of Jesus, this indicated that a new Christian empire was expected to appear on the horizon of the East, and the missionaries were excitedly rushing to tell.The American minister was ordered to come to China and go directly to Tianjing to find Hong Xiuquan. When he left, the Congress authorized him to recognize Hong Xiuquan’s regime immediately if the conditions for talks with Hong Xiuquan were acceptable. Established diplomatic relations.

At the same time, a large number of missionaries tried to flood into Jinling to start a theory with Hong Xiuquan.What is the theory?Let me add that after Hong Xiuquan founded the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he quickly ordered all books to be burned, no matter Confucian or Taoist books, he called them demon books, burned them all, and then compiled books himself.In the textbook he compiled, he described many of his experiences in the heavenly court. In one section, he rebuked Confucius when he preached about God, Jesus and his father, and pointed to the Confucian classics and scolded Confucius: Is this the book you wrote? How can you scribble like that?You have ruined my people.Confucius tried to escape while quibbling, so Hong Xiuquan led the heavenly soldiers and generals to arrest Confucius, and finally took Confucius back.At that time, the people of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom learned these things every day.

In addition, the most terrible thing is that a beautiful woman appeared in his text narration. Who is this woman?Hong Xiuquan called her Tiansao, the wife of Jesus.In Hong Xiuquan's description, this sister-in-law is very gentle, loving and loving Hong Xiuquan.The story is romantic, but the missionaries are going crazy.You know, Christianity is a monotheistic religion and only recognizes one God.According to Hong Xiuquan, Jesus married another wife, and Jesus' wife was at least a god, but in this way, wouldn't Christianity become a polytheism?Therefore, the missionaries very much hoped to discuss with Hong Xiuquan and clarify Hong's misunderstanding on this issue.You must know that the teachings of religion are very sacred, even if a single word is changed, it may cause a bloody melee.

As a result, when these people arrived in Tianjing, Hong Xiuquan didn't see them, because Hong Xiuquan didn't want to see any men, he only saw women.But Yang Xiuqing sent a letter to these great powers, telling them: You don't have to kowtow, just leave the tribute and go back.The U.S. envoy saw that this regime was a bit weird and couldn't admit it.In this way, Hong Xiuquan lost the chance to win the support of the great powers. At the same time, Zeng Guofan began to study mathematics. The first book "Elements of Geometry" translated into China was completed by the mathematician Li Shanlan with the funding of Zeng Guofan.The first globe made by the Chinese themselves was also made by a man named Fang Zikai with the support of Zeng Guofan. Zeng Guofan even built a big house to house the globe.

Zeng Guofan has been trying to get closer to the world, but Hong Xiuquan closed his eyes and closed the door, getting further and further away from the world. When we discuss why Zeng Guofan was able to defeat Hong Xiuquan, one of the key reasons is that Zeng Guofan has mastered the essence of Confucianism-opening the door and attracting people from all walks of life.Zeng Guofan was able to accept Western liberal thought, as well as Western scientific thought.However, Hong Xiuquan never thought about these problems in his mind for a day. The problems he thought about were very simple, such as being lucky with beautiful women, eating fried centipedes, and not thinking about other things other than that.

When the battle between the Hunan Army and the Taiping Army was at its most tense, what Zeng Guofan did every day was to motivate the soldiers, allocate food and grass, and observe the battle situation.So what is Hong Xiuquan doing?Hong Xiuquan once issued an imperial edict, which said that there was a parrot in the Heavenly King's Mansion, and this parrot talked every day, what did he say?Said "Yafu Shanhe Yongyong cub sits, Yongyong Kuo Kuo helps cub sit".What does that mean?That is to say, this country belongs to Hong Xiuquan, and it will belong to Hong Xiuquan's son in the future, and it will belong to their family for generations, so no one else can sit in the country.Hong Xiuquan claimed that the parrot preached the will of God.

It can be said that Hong Xiuquan is essentially a magic stick. Although he created a theocracy empire, his ignorance did not change, so failure is an inevitable consequence.Zeng Guofan's success lies in a spirit of inquiry. He explored military affairs, modern science, the essence of Confucianism, and the laws of life and work.Zeng Guofan is not only very successful in politics and military affairs, but also has high academic attainments. In Zeng Guofan's diary, he left a profound interpretation of life and the laws of the world.Zeng Guofan believes that 30% of a person's career success depends on personal ability and 70% depends on luck.What is seventy percent luck?It means that the 70% is in the hands of others. If others do not support you, your 30% will not be able to gain a foothold; get made up.So Zeng Guofan spent his whole life studying how to cooperate with others.

It is this kind of exploration of learning, thinking, and how to behave and behave that constitutes Zeng Guofan's grand Confucian thought system.In this strange religious war, Confucianism once again won the victory, and Hong Xiuquan's strange things were finally wiped out. Someone once assumed that if Hong Xiuquan and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were given another two hundred years, would everything gradually improve under the influence of Christian teachings?We can say for sure, never. Because what this theocratic empire believes in is power and endless killing, not the kindness and beauty in human nature.