"Isn't this inappropriate?" Emperor Chongzhen seemed to have discovered something wrong. "Your Majesty, you said that you want all the children of nobles to go to school, and then you will recruit commoners when you get older? This day, you will be the Tianshelang, and you will be the Emperor's Hall in the evening. This thing... started in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and became popular in the world from the Song Dynasty! If I remember correctly, this dynasty has not opened a new school to recruit scholars for several years, right?"
"Father, I remembered it wrong," Zhu Cixiang smiled and shook his head, "This dynasty has been conducting examinations to recruit scholars every year. It's just that there is no Jinshi examination and we have to recruit people into official positions instead."
What he said is not entirely correct. In fact, there is no promotion of people to official positions. It is just a low-level bureaucratic examination. This kind of official recruitment examination is carried out by the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the imperial court and the provincial and prefecture (state) levels. The Ming bureaucracy under Zhu Cihong was obviously different from the past. huge change. The most significant of these is the disappearance of the health bureaucracy that had long ceased to function, and the expansion of government agencies such as central ministries and local provincial governments (prefectures) and counties (states).
Now there are six ministries in the central government, and six departments at the provincial and prefectural (state) levels. The six ministries correspond to the six departments, and there is still a certain vertical management relationship.
The Civil Service Department among the Six Ministries and the Civil Service Department among the Six Divisions all have the power to select officials! And their method of selecting officials is mainly through examinations!
Officials still have to take the exam!
But no matter whether you take the Civil Service Examination or the Civil Service Examination, you can only get a minor official from the ninth rank at most. If you don't do well in the examination and want to become an official, you can only strive to be a low-ranking official.
Moreover, no matter what the official position is, it is not that easy. They have to be assessed every year, and there are quotas for promotion, demotion and even reduction of status. Of course, this kind of elimination from the bottom is hated by others!
But in the process of fighting for hegemony in troubled times, no one can achieve internal harmony. The struggle for hegemony in troubled times is itself a kind of "survival of the fittest". It is natural that the capable will be promoted and the incompetent will be demoted. If you can't even do this, it's a dead end.
Of course, Zhu Cixiang's "elimination at the bottom" was unfair from the beginning. There is a bottom line for "partners" like those who have overcome difficulties. No matter how "eliminated" they are, they will not be demoted, and they will be demoted to a certain level. , he will be put on a idle job, and even if he doesn't do anything, he will not be demoted again.
For ministers who do not have the title of "overcoming difficulties", there is no end, the Ming Dynasty has no shares for them! So every year, a small number of people are reduced to ordinary people! This official is really not easy to get!
But just because some people have been deregistered, it is not too difficult to get an official position (a lot of positions are vacated), the only difficulty is to move up.
"Now that we have promoted people to serve as officials," Emperor Chongzhen said with a frown, "then this noble school..." He suddenly paused, "I know, the emperor still doesn't trust the scholar-bureaucrats in the southeast!"
...
In the back garden of a mansion by the Qinhuai River, in a pavilion with a beautiful view of the Qinhuai River, several scholar-bureaucrats in Taoist robes and gauze scarves were sitting separately, drinking tea and talking.
"Emperor Guangwu is the master of ZTE. He established the foundation and conquered the world. He must have the help of the heroes of Hebei and Nanyang. It is human nature to take care of the heroes and heroes and regard them as his confidants."
"But what about the scholars in the world? Since ancient times, conquering the world has depended on heroes and heroes, and ruling the world has relied on scholars! But Emperor Guangwu wanted the children of heroes and heroes to become imperial students, blocking the advancement of the scholars in the world!"
"Yes, since Emperor Guangwu came to the throne, the imperial examinations have been stopped, and the reputation of candidates has disappeared, and even scholars have not been awarded... Scholars who want to become officials can only take the exam to be a low-level official, and then slowly waste their time! "
"Fortunately, the Northern and Western Dynasties did not hold imperial examinations. Otherwise, if all the scholars returned to the two dynasties, then this dynasty would..."
"Mi Zhi, what are you talking about? Today we are talking about the history of the Han Dynasty. How can we talk about this dynasty?"
These scholar-bureaucrats were originally studying "History of the Han Dynasty", talking about the gains and losses of re-employing Nanyang heroes and Hebei heroes after Guangwu Zhongxing... But one of them, a scholar in his forties who was called "Mi Zhi", But he lost his mind for a moment and mentioned "this dynasty", and someone immediately interrupted him.
The person who interrupted him was Chen Zhenhui, who was a Jinshi in the 18th year of Chongzhen's reign, the son of Chen Yuting, the leader of the Donglin Party, and one of the four sons of Fushe. Now he is the director of the Tongwen Library of the Ministry of Liturgy and is in charge of translating books and manuscripts from Western countries.
The person who was interrupted by him was also one of the four young masters of Fushe, named Fang Yizhi. He was a Jinshi in the 13th year of Chongzhen's reign. When Beijing was invaded, he escaped with the three brothers Zhu Cijiong, Zhu Cizhao, and Zhu Ciquan. He was the lecturer of Zhu Cijiong and Zhu Cizhao, so of course he had to run away with his students. I have been running for many years, and now I am the governor of the Shuofang Army Jiedushi Department and the envoy of Jinzouyuan.
The so-called envoy to the imperial court is the "director of the Beijing Office" of the feudal town. He has a special status in Nanjing's officialdom, so he is relatively bold to speak out.
Maoxiang, one of the four young masters of the old society, was also in this small building. Maoxiang was also a Jinshi in the 18th year of Chongzhen's reign - he was the last Jinshi in the class, and his official career was pretty good. He is now the deputy Siye (vice principal) of Gezhijing Academy.
But the other one of the four young masters, Hou Fangyu, was not present. Hou Fangyu and the three of them were no longer in the same group!
Because Hou Fangyu is from Henan, and his hometown of Shangqiu was occupied by the Qing army, he belongs to the "empty-handed Northerners". Moreover, his father Hou Xun was a hero in overcoming difficulties and is now the governor of Jiangnan. He was also granted the title of Marquis of Shangqiu in overcoming difficulties and belongs to the Northerners group. of civil servants. Hou Fangyu is of course the second generation of Xun and the first generation of Bei, and of course he sits on the side of Xun Gui, a Northerner. His official career is also unmatched by Chen Zhenhui and Maoxiang. Now he is the deputy envoy of Hedao and the deputy of Fang Yuegong, the governor of Hedao. Once Huang and Huai are in power, he will immediately have a future as a frontier!
People like him, of course, support the establishment of schools and the abolition of imperial examinations... And these former Fushe members gathered today at the residence of Qian Qianyi, Bo Qianyi of Wenquan, are now the backbone of the southern faction of the Donglin Party. , all opposed the abolition of the imperial examination, and they all had some opinions on Zhu Cixiang's school running route.
Although the primary school has not yet opened, people like Chen Zhenhui and Mao Xiang are in the circle of scholars and officials around Emperor Zhu, and of course they understand what Emperor Zhu is thinking - Emperor Zhu wants to cultivate elite primary school students, not only in terms of literature and martial arts, but also in the circle of scholars and officials around Emperor Zhu. You have to learn both Chinese and Western skills.
Gezhijing Academy, which was founded from Nanjing Shixuetang, is, in a sense, training primary school teachers for this aristocratic primary school that has not yet opened. Since the beginning of the second year of Hongxing, Gezhijing Academy has opened three new courses. Among the courses, one is "Primary School Mathematics", the other is "Primary School French", and the other is "Primary School Martial Arts". Isn’t this the primary school textbook of the future? Moreover, the "Primary School Mathematics" was written by Zhu Cixiang himself, which shows that Emperor Zhu attached great importance to primary school education.
And the "Primary School Martial Arts" is even more incredible. It is said to have been written by Kong Yinzheng, the candidate for Yanshenggong. It includes swimming, rowing, driving, fencing, horseback riding, archery, muskets, military formations, etc.! This clearly shows that it is a high-cost aristocratic education, cultivating outstanding students for Gezhijing Academy, Nanjing Martial Arts Academy and Shanghai Naval Academy!
If we think about it more carefully, will the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty form a promotion route of "noble elementary school - noble middle school - Gezhi University, Army Lecture Hall, Navy School - middle and high-level civil and military bureaucrats" in the future?
Once such a route is formed, what future will the civilian scholars have? Are you wasting your whole life in the position of a humble official?
Several Fushe disciples who had the world in mind frowned, not knowing what to say, and their eyes were cast on Qian Qianyi, the leader of the Southern People's Party in the court.
Although Qian Qianyi was an earl and a hero in overcoming difficulties, most of his disciples were civilian scholars - they were said to be civilians, but they could not be working people, but so-called scholar-bureaucrats and landlords.
Qian Qianyi just smiled faintly and said noncommittally: "How many people are honored by Guangwu Xun? How many scholars are there in the world? If we select scholars fairly and take exams based on their ability, in less than ten years, all the nobles in the dynasty will be scholars." ....”
