After hearing Jiang Fan's words, Zhao Xin got up and walked a few steps in the house. He opened the door and felt the biting cold wind blowing in his face. A Miao saw that Zhao Xin was not wearing enough clothes, so she quickly went into the house to get her coat and put it on him on tiptoe.
Zhao Xin stared at A Miao, who was so embarrassed that he blushed and lowered his head. At this time, I only heard him say slowly: "Mr. Jiang, there is a sage who you must have never heard of."
"Oh? Although Jiang doesn't dare to say that he has read all the books in the world, he asked himself that he has read 'Three Tombs, Five Canons, Eight Soles and Nine Hills'. May I ask, King Zhao, which saint he is and what he said?"
"Preface to the Biography of Shangshu" says that the books written by Fuxi, Shennong and Huangdi are called the three tombs. The books written by Shaohao, Zhuanxu, Gao Xin, Tang Yao, and Yu Shun are called the Five Canons; the books of Bagua are called the Eight Suo; the ambitions of Kyushu are called the Nine Hills.
The "grave" in "三公" actually means "big", so "Sanfen" is said to be a book explaining the great road.
The "Dian" in "Wu Dian" means "constant", which is the five constant principles, namely, the five codes of conduct: father's righteousness, mother's kindness, brother and friend, brother's respect, and son's filial piety.
"Basuo" is Bagua, which is a metaphor for the "Book of Changes". If you don't understand the "Book of Changes", you will not understand arithmetic and astronomy.
"Nine Hills" is a classic that introduces China's ancient geography, that is, geography.
Jiang Fan has a strong tone, and he does have the capital. When he was young, he studied under the masters of Confucian classics Hui Dong, Jiang Shuyun and Yu Gunong. He is well versed in classics and is especially familiar with historical events. At the age of eighteen, he wrote "Erya Zhengzi" and later "Book of Changes". The most famous works written by him in history are "Records of the Inheritance of Sinological Teachers in the Guo Dynasty", "Records of the Origins of Song Studies in the Guo Dynasty" and "Records of Boats, Cars, Hearings and Seeings".
“The people, and only the people, are the real driving force in making history.”
Jiang Fan keenly noticed that Zhao Xin said "people" instead of "people", and then he raised his hands and said: "Oh? May I ask King Zhao, what is 'people'?"
"The first 'people' refers to all the people in the world, regardless of emperors and grassroots, regardless of the wise and the foolish. The second people refers to the people who created all this. Confucius and Mencius, various schools of thought, you, Ah Miao, Yin Bingwei, street sweepers, watchmen, etc., as well as the hundreds of millions of people outside who cultivate the fields, weave cloth, and run machines. Without the work of these people, the so-called sages are nothing!"
A Miao and Yin Bingwei on the side heard Zhao Xin comparing themselves to Confucius and Mencius, and they both looked at Zhao Xin in surprise, thinking how could they compare with the saint?
Jiang Fan let out a long sigh, bowed to Zhao Xinshen, cupped his hands and said, "Why doesn't King Zhao mention me? Now up and down the North Sea, without King Zhao's painstaking efforts, where would we be today?"
"Me?" Zhao Xin touched A Miao's black hair and said with a faint smile, "I'm just a sneak peek."
After that, he asked A Miao to close the door, walked past the desk, sat down and said to Jiang Fan: "Mr. Jiang, I know what you are worried about. As for the imperial examination, I don't plan to abolish it for the time being."
Jiang Fan was immediately overjoyed after hearing this. He talked for a long time, and this was his main purpose.
"However," Zhao Xin looked at Jiang Fan and said after seeing the surprise on the other side: "Most of the officials in Beihai Town's system cannot take the imperial examination, and the administrative officials at all levels cannot only understand the Four Books and Five Classics, but have no knowledge of the economy and people's livelihood. , a feudal bureaucrat who maintains a group of masters and yamen servants and a group of slaves under his command, and only knows how to make money."
Jiang Fan's face turned ugly. He understood that this was a common problem among gentry and bureaucrats, and it had been this way since ancient times. There are very few officials who can really devote themselves to people's livelihood and economy like Zhang Juzheng, Hai Rui, and Yu Chenglong.
"In the future imperial examinations in Beihai Town, no matter which level you are at, there will be a strategic theory test. There will be one question each in economics, law, geography, mathematics, chemistry, etc., and the scholars will choose the answer of their own choice. After passing the test, there will also be You need at least two years of professional counterpart study before you can engage in the work of a affairs officer, and you can become a political affairs officer after working as an affairs officer for several years."
Jiang Fan suddenly let out a sigh of relief, thinking that King Zhao's heavy breathing was really scary. In terms of policy, this is simple. Someone like Jiao Xun would definitely choose mathematics; Hong Junzhi might choose geography.
As for professional study after winning, this is even more important.
Scholars still have to go through the stage of being a tribute student and pass the "scientific examination" before they can be admitted to the imperial examination; even the common people have to study in the Hanlin Academy for three years, and they have to take exams from time to time, and they are not allowed to hold any position without sitting in the Imperial Academy.
Just listen to Zhao Xin continue: "This kind of thing of donating officials will definitely not exist in Beihai Town."
Jiang Fan's face suddenly turned red. He bowed to Zhao Xin in excitement, stood up and said, "This is a great government!"
In fact, Zhao Xin had been thinking about it for so many days, mainly thinking about how to treat the imperial examination.
It is impossible to abolish this thing at once. Not to mention the special significance of the imperial examination system to the scholar group, but it has always been through this form that Confucian civilization can be passed down from generation to generation and ultimately shape the Chinese civilization of later generations.
If you want to become an industrialized country, absolute dictatorship is the first insurmountable threshold. In this process, it is necessary to establish the foundation of faith for nation-building.
Unlike the Manchus who were forced to modernize in another time and space, what cannot be avoided in Beihai Town in this time and space is that Confucian culture is currently at its most prosperous stage, and its value and belief system is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and there is no identity crisis at all.
A very important reason for the demise of the late Qing Dynasty was that the legitimacy of traditional politics was impacted by foreign civilization.
The unequal treaties destroyed the status of "unity of Taoism" and cut off the core logic of the growth of traditional authority. The traditional concept of "unifying power with virtue" was transformed into the concept of "revealing virtue with force".
The basic explanation of the source of authority in Taoism is "Only the emperor is ordered by heaven, and the world is ordered by the emperor." The logical chain of the growth of authority contained in it is "heaven - emperor - world - China - four barbarians."
It is precisely because of this that the institutional arrangement for handling Sino-foreign relations must be the "distinction between Yi and Xia" and the tribute system. The tribute system is an indispensable part of maintaining the "unity of Taoism". It not only outlines a "China-centered world picture" to the world, but also strengthens people's obedience to "the emperor is ordered by heaven."
If we do not distinguish between Chinese and barbarians and abolish the tribute system, the logic of "the emperor is ordered by heaven" and "subdues the world" will be incomplete. Its further influence is that since the "barbarians" can not follow Xia, why should the world follow the emperor?
If the deconstruction of Taoist unity introduced by missionaries from Western religions and natural sciences is still somewhat theoretical, then the signing of unequal treaties undoubtedly made such a challenge a reality and had legal effect. .
The problem is that Beihai Town is a freak!
In terms of civilization, what Zhao Xin and the others introduced was actually a foreign civilization, but no one knew about it; and in terms of race, Zhao Xin and the others were Chinese, not Westerners, so there was no problem of national subjugation and genocide.
So this is very troublesome.
Zhao Xin did not want to follow the existing tribute system, which meant the collapse of the "divine right of kings" theory established since Dong Zhongshu. Beihai Town's founding of the country based on industry means that the way of building a country that "pays attention to etiquette and righteousness rather than power, and relies on people's hearts rather than skills" is no longer tenable.
If the imperial examinations are to be abolished at this time, it means that the chain of "knowledge power" that has lasted for more than a thousand years will be cut off, which will cause the entire country's intellectual class to collapse their national identity and belief.
However, precisely in this period of absolute autocracy, politically speaking, the country needs the assistance of the intellectual class to establish identity and belief, otherwise it will be exposed everywhere and it will be impossible to guard against it.
Someone said that we can establish a military government and change it later.
There are no more than four power systems in modern countries: power based on wealth, power based on military merit, power based on birth status, and power based on knowledge. The first three have been abandoned by the Chinese. Only power based on knowledge is relatively fair.
Why don't you learn from the good ones and the bad ones? What else can you do but satisfy your personal ambitions? Look at Siam and Latin America in another time and space. Once the power system is solidified, who will allow outsiders to touch the cheese on their plate? All those who wanted to move would either end up fleeing to avoid disaster, or their whole family would die.
emperor? The emperor was just a decoration at that time.
Therefore, the important question is not whether the imperial examination system should be abolished, but whether the new education system can replace the talent selection and educational functions of the imperial examination system, whether it can immediately assume the original political integration function of the imperial examination system, and whether it can enhance The flexibility of social structure is conducive to the state's control of society.
Obviously, the current education system in Beihai Town is far from capable. Compared with a large country with a population of more than 200 million, Beihai Town, with a population of nearly 400,000, is still unable to cope even if everyone is literate.
Not to mention 300,000. In another time and space, the new schools before the Revolution of 1911 attracted nearly 3 million students. Compared with the 20 million imperial examination scholars, their social mobilization capabilities were far insufficient. In one word, the squire, whether his surname is De or Sai, please step aside!
How turbulent and chaotic was society at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China?
Of course, it was precisely because of this turmoil that the top-down political integration failed and the rural areas succeeded in encircling the cities.
In fact, the large area of ancient China provided a broad living space for "knowledge power", but the decentralized social management costs and the financial capacity of the small-scale peasant economy limited the scale of the knowledge bureaucracy. In other words, because of the small-scale peasant economy, the country's fiscal revenue has been simplified and its fiscal surplus capacity is too weak.
It's not that the imperial power doesn't want to go to the county, but it's just that it can't afford the cost of going to the county. If Yongzheng hadn't worked hard for more than ten years, and Qianlong would catch up with the population explosion after he succeeded to the throne, and the scale of cultivated land would soar, it would be impossible for the finances to go to war with Qianlong.
Zhao Xin figured out the problem after a long period of repeated deliberation, hard thinking, and talking to many people.
At this point, he has finally transformed from a money-grubbing "intellectual" into a beginning "politician", and he still has a long way to go before he can become a "family member".
After Jiang Fan left Zhao Xin's house, he did not go back to his residence, but went straight to the library. Sure enough, Duan Yucai, Liu Taigong and Hong Liangji were still there, and even Wang Zhong came.
The Sikuquanshu, which contains nearly 80,000 volumes and 2.3 million pages, would take 27 days to print even one page per second. From this point of view, Zhao Xin's collection of 100 silver dollars is really a good deal at a loss.
Hearing the sound of the door opening and the approaching footsteps, neither Duan Yucai nor Liu Taigong spoke. Hong Liangji looked up at Jiang Fan's expression and asked, "How was the discussion?"
Jiang Fan took off his hat and stayed on the table. He rubbed the braid on the back of his head with his hand. After a while, he took a deep breath and said, "I don't understand."
Duan Yucai asked without raising his head: "What does Ziping mean by this?"
Jiang Fan did not answer, but looked at Wang Zhong and said: "Senior Rong Fu, how much did King Zhao learn from you? In other words, where did he learn from you?"
Wang Zhong shook his head and said: "I'm so ashamed. Wang Mou and King Zhao sat down and talked less than ten times in total. Most of them were Wang Mou asking him for new knowledge. Ziping, what's wrong with you?"
"Jiang seems to have an illusion that King Zhao must have read the Four Books and Five Classics."
"Huh?" As soon as these words came out, Liu Taigong and Duan Yucai both raised their heads and looked at Jiang Fan.
While recalling the conversation with Zhao Xin, Jiang Fan said: "He picked up the words of the sage easily and effortlessly. Even if Jiang was making sideways remarks, he could understand what I meant with just a little thought. But why didn't he govern the country with etiquette and justice instead of skills?" Woolen cloth?"
"Because the first people who started the career of King Zhao were Japanese refugees!" Wang Zhong explained: "They know small etiquette but no great righteousness, and are afraid of power but not moral. To lead such people to conquer the world, you must use the skills of Xun and Guan. .”
"Pah!" Hong Liangji slapped the table and agreed, "Brother Rong Fu has seen clearly." After that, he looked at Jiang Fan and said, "Ziping, what else did King Zhao say?"
"The imperial examination will not be abolished."
As soon as Jiang Fan said this, everyone was shocked. Even Liu Taigong couldn't hold it in any longer and leaned forward: "Is this true?"
"You told me personally. However, King Zhao said that in the future imperial examinations at all levels, a policy theory should be added."
Duan Yucai twitched his beard and frowned: "Policy discussion? Restoring the Tang system?"
"No. King Zhao means technical strategy. There are subjects such as economics, law, geography, mathematics, and chemistry. There is a question in each subject, and the scholars choose a question to answer. For example, Brother Junzhi is good at geography, so he can choose geography questions; Brother Rongfu is good at etiquette and law, so you can choose legal questions."
"What if I get hit?"
"After winning, you have to go through two years of technical study before you can become an administrative officer, and after several more years of training, you can become a political officer."
Before everyone could digest what he just said, Jiang Fan continued: "King Zhao also said,"
Hong Liangji slapped the table and said, "Hey! Ziping, why are you out of breath when you talk? Speak up! Speak up!"
"No more official donations from now on."
"good!"
Duan Yucai nodded and said: "Selling one's official position, greedy for power and stealing authority have been around since ancient times. However, the imperial court is only for petty profits, fostering the trend of corruption and abuse. It relies on the staff and official body, and is a waste of local fools. If there is a little popular feeling, they will criticize them. . But when the high officials of the dynasty rely on these officials as their own confidants, they use them as teeth and claws, choosing and devouring the fat, only seeking profit, and the customs will be so decadent that it will eventually lead to disaster."
Everyone present knew who Old Man Duan was talking about, He Shen! As for the one behind He Shen, Duan Yucai doesn't dare to say yet.
Selling officials and titles has been around since the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and the purpose was to generate income for the court. However, once the hole was opened, it was never closed again throughout the ages.
Scholars who were on the right track for the imperial examination had no choice but to object openly, so they started a chain of contempt. First-A does not obey Second-A, and Second-A considers himself superior to Third-A; while Third-A, along with First-A and Second-A, look down on "non-A".
Donations in the Qing Dynasty first started in the 13th year of Kangxi's reign. Due to financial constraints caused by internal and external wars such as the San Francisco Rebellion, the recovery of Taiwan, the pacification of Junggar, and the fight against Tsarist Russia, prices were clearly marked. As for the words about "searching for talents from different backgrounds and making up for what is beyond the scope of subjects", it is purely an act of "thinking at the same time".
Historically, people like Qianlong were narcissistic, frugal like Daoguang, and miserable like Xianfeng. At the beginning of their reign, they all said they would no longer accept donations. However, among them, the longest among them was Daoguang, who insisted on suspending donations for seven years; the middle one was Qianlong, who lasted three years; and the shortest was Xianfeng, who announced the suspension of donations that year and resumed donations before the Chinese New Year.
In the feudal era, due to the high administrative costs of the government, there were originally insufficient officials. As a result, this behavior resulted in many scholars being without official positions. Those who donate official positions act according to their own "hidden rules" and rarely follow the professional ethics that should be expected in officialdom.
To put it bluntly, I just didn’t have a good look. Although everyone thinks that "as soon as they have the power, they will carry out the orders", but in officialdom, appearance is very important.
After that, a few people had a heated discussion, and even brought Jiao Xun and three others over who were still in class. When everyone's mouths were dry and the library janitor came over and said, "I'm sorry, can we talk tomorrow?", everyone noticed that it was getting dark outside.
So a group of literati had to end the discussion and follow Wang Zhong to find a place to fill their stomachs.
Walking out of the library, Jiao Xun grabbed Jiang Fan and asked curiously: "Brother Ziping, if it were you, which subject would you choose?"
Jiang Fan raised his head and looked to the south, but unfortunately Sirius had not risen yet. So under Jiao Xun's gaze, he said in a hoarse voice: "Thousands of miles away, Ma Fubo is waiting to see the scholar's skills, and he can stretch the bowstring!"
The error-free chapters of "The Forty-Eight Years of Qianlong" will continue to be searched and updated. There are no advertisements on the site. Please also bookmark and recommend the search!
If you like The Forty-Eight Years of Qianlong, please collect it: () The Forty-Eight Years of Qianlong is the fastest to be searched and updated.
