"I've said it before. Could it be that His Highness is really planning to strike while the iron is hot and overthrow the Confucian sect in one fell swoop?" Liu Bowen was secretly surprised. His Highness was a bit reckless in doing so. The imperial examination system was the foundation for civil servants to establish a dynasty. He had just suppressed Duke Yansheng, and in the blink of an eye he was attacking the civil servants...
Some are eager for quick success, and hundreds of families...
"Your Majesty!" Kong Xixue was excited, as if he sensed an opportunity for a comeback. His Highness the Fifth Prince's intention to deal with the imperial examination undoubtedly pushed all the officials in the court to the side of Duke Yansheng's Mansion. If this force is used properly, the crimes he just said against the Kong family may be overturned. Can be thoroughly cleaned. "Your Majesty, one hundred schools of thought must not be revived. This is the way to bring disaster! We, the Kong family, are not aiming at the new learning. We are actually learning among the new learning and inheriting the remaining poison of the hundreds of schools... I am afraid that the new learning will become popular and ruin me. Ming Dynasty’s eternal foundation!”
Kong Xixue wept every word, as if he was a loyal minister who cared about the country and the people, and his forehead was covered in blood.
"Inherit the remnant poison of hundreds of families? Mr. Yansheng, please make it clear."
"My new learning inherits the heart of rejuvenating China and the unyielding ambition of our ancestors. Which part of it is the legacy of hundreds of schools of thought? How can it damage the Ming Dynasty's eternal foundation?"
Zhu Su asked coldly.
"Yang Shiqi, a disciple of the New School, openly advocates the 'revival of hundreds of schools of thought', and even petitions His Majesty to ban the content of scientific examinations. Just now, Your Highness, you also said that you will reform the imperial examinations and no longer stick to Confucian rules."
"And the new academic name is Confucianism, but privately it is divided into many disciplines such as mathematics, economics, science, etc. Mathematicians are the study of calculation; economists are the study of businessmen; scientists are the study of strange skills and tricks."
"None of this is the study of Taoism! Do you think His Highness wants to abolish the way of sages and sages in the future and let these people who have studied mathematics, economics, and science become officials of the Ming Dynasty?"
Now that he had broken his skin, Kong Xixue no longer cared about Zhu Su's identity, and stared at Zhu Su with a pair of wolf-like eyes, filled with boundless hatred.
All the officials in the court also looked at Zhu Su with ugly expressions. I want to see how the fifth prince defends himself.
"Yes, aren't those who have studied mathematics, economics, science and other theories not talents?" Zhu Su did not deny it. Instead, he asked Kong Xi about his knowledge. Kong Xixue was stunned by the question. He didn't expect him to be like this at all.
When he was stunned, Zhu Su turned to Lao Zhu and said: "Father, this is what I mean. Of all the officials in the Ming Dynasty, there are officials in charge of money and food, there are officials in charge of water control. There are officials in charge of household registration, there are officials in charge of household registration, and there are officials in charge of water control. Take charge of the herdsmen.”
"If you want to manage this huge China well, there are many twists and turns, not just one end."
"Since ancient times, the imperial court has only relied on moral articles to recruit scholars, and those who have been selected are directly transferred to various departments in the court. But I dare to ask, if a new scholar, if it comes to accounting for land acres and paying taxes and grains, can he have a household minister? A junior official with many years of experience is proficient in it?"
"Can an old and virtuous man with good moral character compare to a craftsman who has been building canals for many years when it comes to water control and canal construction?"
"Throughout the ages, incompetence of officials has been a common problem, no matter which dynasty or generation it belongs to. If it was fine when the court was clear and prosperous, one or two capable officials could occasionally be promoted and placed in important positions as the mainstay. Others are still the same. When they go to recite poems and write poems about romance, the imperial court will supervise them from behind, and they will naturally invite subordinate officials to complete their official duties for them."
"But if the government is corrupt, or the emperor is fatuous, and the upper-level officials are vying for power, even if there are a few benevolent and righteous people who are dedicated to serving the country, they will still need ten years of hard work to read those moral articles and have no time to learn those practical practices. After they reach high school, they will have to put in effort to study again, and by the time they achieve something, the imperial court will have already accumulated a lot of trouble."
"In this case, in my opinion, I might as well change the imperial examination system from the beginning. Add more pragmatic content to the examination, and divide the imperial examination into categories. The Ministry of Household Examinations will focus on the knowledge required by the Ministry of Household Affairs. , the Ministry of Industry specializes in the study of craftsmanship. In this way, students with expertise can be promoted as quickly as possible, and those who are boastful can be abandoned, so that everyone can make the best use of their talents, instead of everything being tied to morality. article."
"The so-called 'reviving a hundred schools of thought' does not really mean reviving the learning of a hundred schools of thought, but means that the content of the imperial examinations should be based on their duties and should be divided into categories. They can never be described in the same way as sages." Zhu Su said, thinking that Yang Shiqi's "revitalization of hundreds of schools" was the cause of the problem.
"Absurd!" Kong Xixue argued forcefully: "If this happens, wouldn't it cause chaos?"
"Is it a mess?" Zhu Su curled his lips. "When the Taxation Department was established in the past, it was specially trained to be proficient in arithmetic. It has been many years now, is the Taxation Department in chaos?"
Kong Xixue's face turned pale.
The officials of the Taxation Department in the field moved slightly when they heard this, and looked at Kong Xixue with some unkindness. Zhu Su's words have at least attracted all the officials from the Taxation Department.
You are no longer alone.
"Father, my son and I agree." Prince Zhu Biao also came out. He had already had this intention when Enke of the Tax Department ended, but the time was not yet ripe at that time, but now it is a good opportunity. "Furthermore, I believe that the number of candidates for the imperial examination can be expanded."
"Fifth brother said that many officials don't know anything about themselves, and they only hire subordinate officials to serve as officials for them... In this case, instead of giving salaries to these mediocre officials who have nothing to do with their bodies, it is better for the court to directly distribute the salary to the subordinate officials."
"A scholar can be a county official, a scholar can be a government official, a Jinshi can be a prefecture or county official...and so on, the layers are connected, so that my great grace can truly extend to all places, and it is no longer difficult for the imperial power to reach the countryside. ' situation."
Prince Zhu Biao's plan is undoubtedly more ambitious than Zhu Su's "reform scientific research", and can even be said to be earth-shaking. Including the selection of subordinate officials into the scientific examination is equivalent to expanding the scope of the number of officials selected by the imperial examination dozens of times. It can already be compared with the civil service examination in later generations.
Moreover, this move also invisibly attracted many civil servants: Whose family doesn't have a few dandies who can't read the books of sages? If the imperial examination is reformed and the scope of the imperial examination is expanded, then the chance that one's evil descendants will win will be much greater in disguise.
Although when the number of people increases, the official position will not be so valuable, and promotion will definitely become more difficult. But it will make it easier for future generations to get a bowl of royal food. After all, who can guarantee that their descendants will always be smart? On the contrary, as court officials, they want to train their children to practice in the court, so they have an advantage over the ignorant idiots. After weighing the pros and cons, the officials still felt that the imperial examination system was more beneficial to them.
"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness the King of Wu are using this method very well. I second my opinion." First, Yan Xizhe, the Minister of Taxation, stood up. Their tax department is composed of officials who were selected according to the new law, so they naturally support the new imperial examination method unconditionally.
Next came the cabinet officials led by Zhu Biao, then many civil servants who had weighed the pros and cons, and the Huaixi officials led by Li Shanchang, all of whom came forward to second the proposal... In the end, even if a small number of officials deliberately opposed it, But he had to be forced by the situation to bow his head and second the proposal.
"Good." Lao Zhu nodded. "In this case, the Ministry of Revenue and the Cabinet will draft a charter. This method will be tried out in the next year's imperial examination."
Seeing that the reform of the imperial examination was a foregone conclusion, Kong Xixue felt weak and collapsed in the hall again.
The Confucius family is dead. Not only has its reputation been destroyed, but Confucianism has also lost its uniqueness in the imperial examinations. From now on, it will be difficult for the Duke Yansheng Palace to rise again...
Eternal wealth, but today, its roots are cut off...
(End of chapter)
