"Sage, the system of prefectures and counties is the general trend, and I have no objections to it." Su Wei, an old fox, first agreed with Yang Guang's idea, and then asked: "Sage, but I don't know what the grades of state officials and county officials are?"
Solvay's "confusion" is also everyone's "confusion"! After everyone heard this, they all looked at Yang Guang.
"In the future, all state governors will be of the third rank!" Yang Guang said with a smile: "County officials! The prefect of Shangjun will be from the fourth rank; the prefect of Zhongjun will be from the fifth rank; and the prefect of the lower county will be from the sixth rank."
After hearing this, Yang Ji secretly thought that it was true.
Although the others were not as "plug-in" as Yang Ji, they were not stupid either. In an instant, they understood Yang Guang's intention of changing the local system.
However, no one objected.
First, the emperor has made up his mind, and there is no way to object, and objections are invalid; second, they don't care about the salary determined by rank, what they care about is real power. If their children are promoted from county officials to state officials, the real power in their hands will definitely be reduced. skyrocketing. And who cares about the fame and salary determined by grade? Which other company has such a small salary?
Most of the national policies came from the hands of these people. No one objected to the state, county and county system, and no one objected to the official hierarchy. It was considered settled.
The outline was already available, and Yang Guang asked these central officials to improve it. As for Yang Ji, the 'local official', he was retained in the enviable eyes of everyone.
For some reason, Yang Guang really had no doubts about the guy in front of him, and he didn't even have the slightest concern about his great achievements. Even though this guy brought him trouble from time to time, he was never really angry.
This kind of mood is based on the premise of Yang Guang's extremely strong self-confidence and the stability of the world. He feels that the powerful Yang Liang has been killed by him in three strokes, five divided by two, and the rest are naturally Therefore, no matter how many ministers suggested setting up a supervisory army, he turned a deaf ear to it or even sneered at it. He felt that those worried people had no idea of the rapid changes in military affairs. If an ignorant person was allowed to supervise and restrain the generals in the army, what would happen to the generals? Possibly winnable? (Note)
Second, after he became the emperor, everyone treated him with respect and respect. Awe replaced closeness and admiration, which made the relationship between the emperor and his ministers more and more alienated. However, Yang Ji was able to ignore his status as an emperor and always treated him with the mentality of a younger brother. To him as a brother. And he naturally cherishes the only person who treats him as a "human".
Yang Guang sighed in his heart. Even though he tried his best to maintain his relationship with his old subordinates, after he became the emperor, too many things got mixed up between the emperor and his ministers. In contrast, Yang Ji did not lose his innocence and remained consistent with him, which is extremely rare.
"Vajra slave, what do you think about the imperial examination?" Yang Guang was extremely unkind and felt quite guilty about the imperial examination, so he did not formally discuss it with Yang Ji after the announcement. Now, a long time has passed, and the imperial examination has caused quite a stir, so I took the initiative to talk about it.
Yang Ji said: "The imperial examination is not a panacea. The reason why the high rankings of famous families have persisted for thousands of years is because they have been passed down for thousands of years. They have a collection of books, famous teachers, and wealth that are unimaginable for poor families. The superior conditions can make the children of the family have no worries about food and clothing. Focus on teaching and getting education. In contrast, even if a poor family has enough food and clothing, it may have few books and no famous teachers to guide them. Even if a few great talents occasionally appear, it is not as many as the famous families who specialize in training talents. Even if the poor family is like this, the poor and down-and-out common people , it’s even harder.”
"Officials from well-known families are now opposed. I think it is just a temporary panic. But once they adapt to the imperial examination, support and enlightenment, they can take advantage of the profound wealth and cultural traditions of the world."
Yang Guang noticed that Yang Guang was brilliant and far-sighted, so his expression became serious and asked: "How can you see it?"
Yang Ji said: "After the late emperor established the country, every year he asked each state to recommend talents to come to the capital to take the exam. Although the recommended people were still mainly children of aristocratic families and officials, there were also outstanding and outstanding scholars among them. However, some of the people who passed the exam were How many are poor scholars? And how many are descendants of aristocratic families?"
Yang Guang was silent when he heard this. He was the emperor. He knew this very well and had no way to refute. After a while, he frowned and said, "What else?"
"Secondly, the children of famous high-ranking families are all over the central ministries and local government offices. They control most of the appointment and dismissal of officials. In addition, the positions at all levels are limited. How can they give up their limited positions to people who have no relatives or connections?"
Yang Guang lowered his eyes and thought for a while, then looked up at Yang Ji and said, "So, the imperial examination is useless?"
"That's not the case. At least Han Shi saw the hope of becoming an official and became motivated to study." Yang Ji said.
Yang Guang nodded and said sadly: "In other words, the recent imperial examinations are still dominated by children from famous families."
"There is nothing we can do about it! After all, the common people from poor families have lagged behind the famous families for nearly a thousand years, and their foundation is too weak. It will take decades for the imperial court to break the monopoly of the aristocratic families on officialdom." Yang Ji sighed. With a voice, he said: "Since the imperial examination has started, it cannot be stopped. Although it cannot allow too many poor people to join the officialdom, it can also allow famous families and major political forces to fight for some positions. During this period, what the court has to do is, It means building schools extensively, educating talents, cultivating talents, and reserving talents.”
Yang Guang understood what Yang Ji meant, but still asked: "Do you mean to restore state, county, and township schools throughout the world?"
During Yang Jian's reign, state schools, county schools, and township schools were held all over the country. However, due to the excitement of the nobles in the world, opposition came one after another, and there was a tendency to join forces with the Guanlong nobles to compete. For the sake of the stability of the regime, he was dismissed. Forced by the 20th year of the founding of the emperor, the Imperial Academy was abolished, the Four Schools, and all the prefectures, counties, and townships across the country were abolished, and only the Imperial Academy was established.
But he knew that this move was to quench his thirst by drinking poison, so when Yang Ji went to Liangzhou to take office, he "secretly" encouraged Yang Ji to run schools and supported Yang Ji's strategy of "surrounding the city from the countryside", so that county schools and township schools sprung up like mushrooms after a rain. Liangzhou emerged.
Over the years, although there have been constant voices of opposition, during the long-term debate between opposition and support, those who support Liangzhou education have gained the upper hand and more and more people support it. The momentum has also transformed Liangzhou education from crumbling to It has become as stable as Mount Tai; on the other hand, the opposite side is becoming more and more untenable in theory and is increasingly despised by the poor.
With this successful example, Yang Guang felt that the time was ripe for a comprehensive restoration of prefecture, county, and township education.
"Exactly!" Yang Ji also felt that the time was ripe to restore local education. He said to Yang Guang word for word: "With the success of Liangzhou as an example, the imperial court's comprehensive restoration of education is a matter of course and a general trend. Although the gentry will Comprehensive opposition, but the opposition of these people is mostly out of selfishness. No matter what you do and how well you do it, they will still find thousands of reasons to oppose you for their own benefit. For this small group of people, Ignore it."
Yang Guangshen thought so and sneered: "It's true, don't care about them."
The "small group of people" Yang Ji calls have always put their own interests first and have no integrity at all. When Yang Jian started the school, they were the ones who opposed it; Yang Jian followed their wishes and abandoned the school; instead of settling down, they scolded him even more fiercely. They even caused trouble among the people and scholars, and forcibly gave Yang Jian a bad grade. A label for those who value Confucianism but not learning and do not practice benevolence and righteousness.
In this way, they got all the benefits; but Aye, who really worked for the country and thought about the people, was criticized verbally and written by them. Yang Guang was really fed up with these bastards.
The Sui Dynasty is now stronger than ever before, and they have gone so far. If the Sui Dynasty becomes weak and declines one day, how will history books be written? Naturally, he tried his best to smear it.
What kind of emperor does this "few people" like? Yang Guang knew this very well. The emperor they liked was nothing more than a "benevolent king" who "ruled by doing nothing"!
"Governing by doing nothing" is a good thing. If the Sui Dynasty really did this, and if Yang Guang really became the "benevolent and righteous king" that the aristocratic family liked, they would be able to unscrupulously deploy people, evade imperial power, and covet the country's wealth for themselves. By using;, you can unscrupulously exploit the people in the name of "officials", oppress good people, and devour the foundation of the Sui Dynasty...
This is also the ultimate ideal that the aristocratic families have worked tirelessly to dream of in every dynasty and every era.
If he, Yang Guang, were a drunken king, at least 90% of the aristocratic families would have become happier and more satisfied as a result. But he is not a puppet emperor in the hands of aristocratic families, how can he do what the aristocratic families want?
Thinking of this, Yang Guang has already made up his mind to do this!
Just do it!
In the morning of the next day, Yang Guangxian announced the decision to change the two-level system of prefectures and counties into prefectures and counties in the court hall. The important ministers had already been mentally prepared and responded one after another, refuting the opponents one by one, and answering the questions raised by the doubting officials one by one. Give a satisfactory answer.
The system of prefectures, counties and counties was passed smoothly and was officially put into use next year. (Note 2)
Then, Yang Guang talked about the restoration of county schools and township schools in the Sui Dynasty. However, the state (county) schools above the county schools were not established in each state (county). Instead, they absorbed Liangzhou's saved educational resources. , because there is insufficient experience for high-level students, one university will be established in each prefecture first. In the future, students graduating from county schools will go to the universities in prefectures.
The higher-level schools are Taixue in Daxing City and Luoyang City.
After graduating from the fourteen universities, students can participate in the imperial examination; after the imperial court selects the best, it will also select outstanding students who failed the exam as reserve officials based on the actual situation; the reserve officials can either choose to go home and wait, or enter the imperial court. Study further and learn the pragmatic way of being an official.
Yang Guang was particularly smart. He did not mention the children of aristocratic families, poor scholars, or common people at all, nor did he use Yang Ji to take the blame again. Instead, he implicitly mentioned when Cui Zhongfang impeached Yang Ji that "the imperial court was militaristic and had no education." Starting from the point of view of "ineffective teaching and education", and then using Cui Zhongfang's mention of "Han Guangwu Emperor implemented the national policy of 'Yan Wu Cultivation' and the promotion of Confucianism" as an argument to state the shortcomings in the education intensity of the Sui Dynasty, which is not in line with what "Cui Zhongfang and others" advocate "emphasis on martial arts over literature".
On this basic point, it is really disgraceful to say that there were not many literate people in the Sui Dynasty. As the world's orthodoxy, the Sui Dynasty should carry forward the Confucian sage's concept of "education without distinction".
Backbone members of the royal family such as Yang Xiong, Yang Da, Yang Hong, and Yang Gongren, as well as relatives such as Xiao Cong and Xiao Jue, not only vaguely guessed Yang Guang's intentions, but also understood the benefits of restoring county schools and rural schools and establishing universities for the inheritance of the Sui Dynasty. .
However, their relationship with the Great Sui Dynasty was one of both prosperity and humiliation. Family interests and national interests were closely tied. Everyone knew that if the Great Sui Dynasty was good, they would be good; if the Great Sui Dynasty was not good, they and their descendants would be unlucky. , so I raise my hands in approval.
Gao Jiong also understood this. Although he was also from a famous family, when he proposed and promoted the "big request for appearance" and "losing one's nationality to determine the pattern" during the Kaihuang period, he broke with the family and was dismissed by the family and the famous family. Hate to the core. As soon as Yang Guang said this, he supported him all the way to the end.
Pei Ju, Su Wei and others have a long-term vision. They know that no matter whether the country or the family, they must remember and practice Mencius's "Be born in sorrow and die in peace and happiness". Otherwise, they will surely weaken. Moreover, they have confidence in their family and have the courage, courage, and will to "face the great battles of the world." In addition, they are worried about being criticized by poor scholars, so they come out to support them one after another.
The core interests of the Guanlong noble officials were in the Sui army. They had been extremely worried when they saw Yang Guang's intention to use the nobles to check and balance them. At this time, he saw that Yang Guang was targeting the gentry by establishing education and made up his mind to "break" with the gentry. Therefore, whether it was for the purpose of suppressing the gentry or to win over the gentry against Yang Guang and the royal family, there was no reason to oppose it.
All civil and military officials in the court and all the elders unanimously agreed that some noble officials in the court had pale faces and were unable to stop them. They could only stare at Yang Ji far ahead with fierce eyes, thinking that this was done by Yang Ji, the hateful bastard again. things.
We can’t blame them for thinking this way. First, this proposal was indeed proposed by Yang Ji; second, today, only Yang Ji is in charge of Liangzhou-run universities, county schools, and rural schools. If he hadn’t proposed it, how could it have been done? who is it? Thirdly, Cui Zhongfang and others failed to impeach him yesterday, but instead he was able to continue his actions. With his character of retribution, how could he not take advantage of the victory and pursue it?
Due to these factors, even if Yang Guang did not push Yang Ji out of the spotlight, officials from the gentry still believed that Yang Ji was the culprit and hated him.
Although they also knew that the general trend could not be changed, General Yitong and Pei Guogong Zheng Yuanxuan finally came out and said: "Sage, the establishment of education is actually a great event that will benefit the present and benefit the future. However, if you add up the schools all over the world, the project is huge. , I am worried that the national treasury will be in trouble!"
Zheng Yuanxuan came from the Donglinfang of the Zheng family in Xingyang, and was the son of Zheng Yi.
Zheng Yi made good friends with Yu Wentai when he was young, and fully assisted Yu Wen Yong, and made great contributions in the major incident of Yu Wen Yong's elimination of Yu Wen Hu. After that, he became an important person for Yang Jian to secure his position as the Prime Minister of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. However, during Yang Jian's tenure as the Prime Minister of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Zheng Yi was corrupt and perverted the law and did many unjust things, so Yang Jian alienated him.
However, Yang Jian missed the old relationship and deposed the Zhou Dynasty. After the Sui Dynasty, he not only recognized Zheng Yi as the Duke of Shangzhu and Pei in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, but also named his eldest son Zheng Yuanzhen as General Baiyitong and Duke of Chenggao County, and named his second son Zheng Shanyuan as Gui. The third son Zheng Yuancong, the Duke of Chang County, was the Duke of Chenggao County, and the fourth son Zheng Yuanxun was the male of Yong'an County. At the same time, Zheng Yi's father and brother were posthumously given the post of governor.
Adjustable is the most benevolent thing!
After Zheng Yi's death, Zheng Yuanxuan inherited his father's title of Duke.
Opposite Zheng Yuanxuan's words, Yang Guanglang laughed and said: "King Wei once said, 'No matter how poor you are, you can't deprive yourself of education, and no matter how miserable you are, you can't deprive your children.' This statement has been widely circulated and has been praised and praised by scholars. I also deeply appreciate it. Take it for granted."
"What's more, our Sui Dynasty is not only not poor, but also has a rich national treasury. What does this small amount of money mean? As a son of a famous family, Zheng Qing, you don't want your children to have no books to read and no teachers to teach them, right?"
"Of course I don't want to," Zheng Yuanxuan gritted his teeth and whispered.
This is a conspiracy, a shameful conspiracy that cannot be resolved at all; if he dares to oppose it, he and the Xingyang Zheng family will be reviled by the people of the world.
After the imperial court's decision to comprehensively resume education was disseminated, the impact was astonishing.
The poor scholar, who is between aristocratic family members and common people, is even more shocked and excited.
And Yang Ji, who "advocated" the comprehensive reopening of schools, had a brilliant status in the hearts of the poor people, and once again became a hero and benefactor that everyone admired!
————————
[Note: Yang Jian and Yang Guang did not supervise the army during his lifetime. It was not until the world was in turmoil that Yang Guang lost confidence and became suspicious, so he set up a supervisory army to supervise the generals. Of course, not everyone sets up a supervisory army. Confidants such as Zhang Xutuo, Wang Renxue, Xue Shixiong, and Li Jing not only did not set up a supervisory army, but were also given powers similar to those of state pastors and military governors; but Yang Guang did not Don't worry, generals from aristocratic families like Pei Renji almost always have supervisors. It shows that the political situation determines the change of Yang Guang's mentality. In the early stage, he felt that everything was under his control, so he was open-minded and generous. In the later stage, when the world was in turmoil, Yang Guang became suspicious and guarded against suspects like a thief. , forming a vicious circle. 】
[Note 2: In the third year of Daye, Yang Guang changed prefectures and counties into counties. During the period when prefectures were changed to counties, the grades of prefecture (county) officials were lowered one after another. When the state is called, the governor of Shangzhou is the third rank; the governor of Zhongzhou is the third rank: the governor of Xiazhou is the fourth rank; after the state is called a county: the prefect of Shangjun is the fourth rank; the prefect of Zhongjun is the fifth rank; the prefect of Xiajun , below the sixth grade.
The time when the provincial-level administrative units - supervisory prefectures were established is unknown, but it should have been around the fifth or sixth year of Daye. At that time, Yang Guang established nine supervisory departments in Ji, Yan, Qing, Xu, Yu, Yang, Jing, Liang and Yong according to the standards of nine states in the world. state. 】
