Cai Yuanpei introduced that it was Zhang Taiyanjun. He had just returned from Japan and now teaches senior Chinese. Yang Rui didn't remember who it was. He was about to say hello, but Zhang Taiyan asked, "Brother, I heard that you have the will of God when you study the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty."

Yang Rui thought to himself that someone said his lesson like this, so he had to put down his chopsticks and said solemnly: "The Ming Dynasty was destroyed by natural disasters and the 30th Years of Europe's war reduced the inflow of silver, causing financial bankruptcy. Although it failed to fight against the Qing army, it was never destroyed by the Qing Dynasty. The one who really destroyed the Ming Dynasty was Li Zicheng, and the reason why people like Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong were able to become a climate was because of the natural disasters in the northwest and the silver contraction in the late Ming Dynasty..."

Before Yang Rui finished speaking, he was interrupted by a voice: "Mr. Jingcheng, what you said is probably one-sided. The eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty were in power, officials were corrupt, and people were living in poverty. This is the foundation for destroying the dynasty."

When Yang Rui heard that he was talking to a woman next to the table, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and heroic spirit. He didn't know who it was. He looked at Cai Yuanpei, but the guy smiled but didn't say anything. Yang Rui guessed that this woman should be a difficult character, so Cai Yuanpei was also out of the matter. He didn't worry at the moment and asked, "Sir, how many dynasties in China were destroyed due to corruption in officials?"

The woman was stunned after hearing this. While thinking about it, Yang Rui had already asked and answered himself and said, "The Chinese dynasty basically perished in two situations. One is a family, gentry rebelled, and the other is invaded by foreign tribes. Corruption of officials will make people live in poverty, but it is just a condition for the demise of dynasties. It is like explosives, which are very powerful, but without thunder and mercury, it cannot be exploded, and even if it is exploded, it is not serious."

Seeing everyone pondering, Yang Rui paused for a moment and continued, "The officials are also very corrupt now. It is said that the Qing magistrate for three years, with 100,000 snowflakes. Isn't this corrupt? Don't forget the compensation from the British and French people. We paid 26,000 taels for the Sino-Japanese War of 1895, and the Gengzi Incident will pay 950 million taels. The compensation of more than one billion is corrupt than that of any official. Why is the Qing Dynasty still more..."

Yang Rui's words were interrupted again, and this time it was Cai Yuanpei. He heard him say hurriedly: "Isn't the Boxer Indemnity 450 million taels? How did it become 950 million taels?"

Yang Rui said helplessly: "450 million taels are paid off in 39 years, and the interest rate is 4 cents, which is not 950 million taels?" With a bang, Zhang Taiyan threw the chopsticks on the table and shouted angrily: "If you don't eat it, you can't eat it anymore. What kind of court is this! What emperor is this!" Yang Rui felt sad, Zhang Taiyan sighed, and the others were silent.

The meal was finished like this, and the dishes on the table were basically not moved. They were all passionate young men who were inclined to revolution. How could they eat when they heard such things? After paying to pack them, Yang Rui asked the boss to borrow two friends to deliver the dishes to the Patriot Society. The boss didn't have to say much and arranged it immediately.

After this unsuccessful dinner, Yang Rui's relationship with the school teachers was closer than before. In the past, it could be said that the water of the well was not invaded by the river, but now he communicated frequently. Among the people, he also had the most discussions with Zhang Taiyan. Yang Rui now knows his full name. According to his shallow impression, this person is very famous, but why he is famous, but he is not clear at all. During the conversation, Yang Rui only found that he looked wild on the outside, but his heart was very conservative and his thoughts were very profound.

At first, Yang Rui finished his class, and the two talked for a while, sometimes even until the afternoon, and then they were constantly communicating at noon every day. In Chinese studies, it was basically said that Yang Rui heard that Yang Rui only talked about his views for a few times. Although he expressed regret that Yang Rui had not studied classics formally, he agreed with Yang Rui's understanding of Chinese studies. From Yang Mo to Lao Zhuang, from Lao Zhuang to Confucius and Mencius, from Confucius and Mencius to Han Fei, the views of both people are basically the same. Of course, it is blank to deal with the specific Yang Rui, but the ideas expressed by these schools are very well understood.

As for Western learning, it was Yang Rui who said that he was listening, and he only asked questions occasionally. In fact, in this era, China's understanding of the West was strong and the cannons were powerful. Therefore, the Westernization Movement proposed the idea of ​​middle school as the body and Western learning as the application. These were all because of the lack of thorough understanding of Western culture. Even a hundred years later, there was still an industry theory, and the time traveler was very happy to build the cannon. Yang Rui had to start from the source of Western culture, ancient Greece, Pythagoras, Socrates and Plato, and from Plato to Renaissance and Hegel Bentham, the Western philosophy that Yang Rui took at university was finally useful at this time.

The debate between the two had a great influence on the students. At the beginning, other teachers attended the audience, and many students came to listen and recorded their conversations and gave them to other students to circulate. To be fair, Yang Rui's knowledge was only a fast-paced modern era, and his understanding of many ideas was very rough and not delicate, but he still grasped most of the essence of these ideas. The collision between the thoughts of a later Chinese who was roughly aware of Western philosophy and a modern Chinese who was proficient in Chinese studies had unpredictable consequences, and these will slowly release its influence in the years to come.

Talk not only inspired others, but also shocked Yang Rui even more. Modern China actually had no time to complete the transformation of the overall national thought. Many prophets and enlightened people were awakened by the sound of gunfire. They were determined to find a good prescription to save China. Every prescription seemed to be very effective. However, those sleeping people who were not awakened could not understand the spirit and actions of the prophets. They could only silently or blindly follow. The final consequences would only cause an imbalance of rights. The prophets transformed into rulers and used their prophet advantages and immaturity of the people to achieve their goals. They were unscrupulous and did whatever they wanted. No one would check or balance, and no one dared to blame them.

Time, time, if we can give China 30 years of stable development time like the reform and opening up in the future, and cultivate two generations of healthy people, what will China be like? But how can we have 30 years of peace and stability? This is really too difficult. Not to mention Russia, Japan alone can make China uneasy. The warlords' melee is not Japan's way to weaken China! Yang Rui no longer thinks about it. No matter how good the idea is, it will be useless. Don't say that you can't do it, even if you know it, you dare not use it. Strength is the foundation of all power struggles.

~

Note: Zhang Taiyan returned to Zhejiang from Tokyo at the end of 1902 and was invited to give a lecture to Shanghai patriotic students the following year. Here we were two months in advance.
Chapter completed!