Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2215 Prime Minister (Thirteen) Ultimate Reform
Aren’t you afraid of burning an extra stick of incense for the Lord?Yes, Gao Pragmatic’s attitude towards these things is almost always like this.Whether you want to become a religious person or not is not his concern at all, as long as you adhere to the consistent attitude of the Chinese people.

What attitude?If it works, it will burn incense, but if it doesn't, it will destroy the temple.

Chinese civilization is a secular civilization that has been secularized since the time of Duke Zhou. People's "belief" in such gods is very realistic: If you are useful, then I will give you a stick of incense; if you are useless, then it will be destroyed. Your temple.

The Chinese are not used to those useless immortals who receive incense in vain - no matter what kind of immortal you are, you can come to China if you want, but if you want to be established, you must complete the KPI.

Hey, that's how Chinese people are. Brothers settle accounts openly, even when gods come.You, Jehovah, have come to China, and you still want to treat those people in West Asia and Europe, and always PUA people saying that you are inherently guilty, and if you don’t believe me, you will be punished by God... You really want to eat shit!
No matter who you are, your mission when you come to China is the same: can you ensure that I have good weather, can you ensure that I am named on the gold medal list, can you ensure that my business is prosperous, can you ensure that my family affairs are smooth, can you ensure that my descendants are full, can you ensure that I ...Anyway, you have to be useful!

If you dare to threaten to harm me if you are useless, then what kind of god are you!Do you know that you are a heretic in China?

As long as Li Zhizao—and others—adhere to such principles, becoming a Christian will not be a problem at all.The main thing is that they can really show something, even if it happens by chance, then the incense stick will be burned once it is burned, and it can also promote consumption.If it doesn't work, it will naturally disappear without a trace, or it will disappear into the public, and Gao Pragmatic will not bother to bother.

At this time, let’s talk about principles and start talking about serious things.He cleared his throat and said: "Zhenzhi, do you know why we chose you among thousands of officials to serve as a servant in the cabinet?"

"The lower official is stupid. He thought about it all the way but failed to understand Yuan Fu's profound meaning." Li Zhizao bowed deeply and said in a humble tone.

Gao pragmatic guessed that he could figure out some clues anyway, and he might even have figured it out a long time ago. It was just the habit of Chinese literati that made him deliberately hide his clumsiness, so he didn't point it out. He just smiled and said: "Because there is news that you are not only He was good at arithmetic and investigating things, and even learned Latin from Matteo Ricci and others.”

"Arithmetic and the investigation of objects are just off-the-beaten path, but how can you get into Yuan Fu's eyes?" Although Li Zhizao had already guessed, he looked quite surprised at the moment, and said: "As for Latin, it is just a foreign language in the vassal state, and I am just a low-ranking official. It’s nothing to do here, just learning to pass the time, Yuan Fu actually cares?”

"Not only do we care, but we also hope that there will be more people like you." Gao Pragmatic was not vague at all this time and said directly: "The imperial court selects talents through imperial examinations. This is a great policy, but it is also facing some problems at the moment. Dilemma.

For example, over the years, there have often been several articles that were difficult to distinguish, causing the examiners to compete with each other during the talent selection ceremony, refusing to give in to each other, and even engaging in degrading behavior.I think this is inappropriate, and the imperial court should not turn a blind eye to this situation. There should be ways to improve it and correct the polite style. "

Li Zhizao's heart moved, but he didn't dare to express his guess, so he had to ask: "I wonder if Yuan Fu has any perfect plan?"

"If everything is not perfect, how can I be so conceited? However, if it can be slightly improved and help the court select people, then I do have some ideas."

Gao pragmatism began to make habitual movements, tapping the fingers of his right hand rhythmically on the armrest of the Taishi chair, and said: "I want to add another subject besides Cheng Wen (eight-legged essay) as a 'selective exam'" ', that is, arithmetic. The so-called optional test means that candidates can choose to take the test or not to take the test, but regardless of whether they take the test or not, their test scores will be used as the criterion for judging Cheng Wen in the event that he is indistinguishable from others. .

For example, Zhang Sheng and Wang Sheng both participated in this Spring Festival. Zhang Sheng took the arithmetic test after taking the Cheng Wen test, but he only got one question correct in arithmetic, while Wang Sheng did not take the arithmetic test again after taking the Cheng Wen test.

When marking the papers, both Zhang Sheng and Wang Sheng's Cheng Wen were greatly appreciated by the examiners, but the two examiners were in a stalemate.If so, the arithmetic score of the second student will be added.At this time, although Mr. Zhang only got one question right, Mr. Wang did not take the test and regarded it as all wrong.In this way, Zhang Sheng's ranking is above Wang Sheng. "

Li Zhizao's eyes widened and he took a breath. He even subconsciously looked around, lowered his voice and said in a slightly trembling tone: "Yuan Fu, such a big change will shock the world!"

Gao pragmatic sighed in his heart.

Li Zhizao can be regarded as a very "progressive" person, but he felt "shocked by the scholars" when he heard it. This shows how rigid the imperial examination system of the Ming Dynasty has become, even such small changes - or even just no changes In the case of overall rules, a slight improvement in the system will be considered a "major change".

However, Gao Pragmatic began to think about this matter secretly not long after he traveled through time. Now almost 30 years have passed, and he has even survived until he became the first minister of the government. He really can't wait any longer.Gao pragmatically made up his mind this time to make a move on the "Tai Sui" of the imperial examination system.

As for whether there will be any objections... Huh, no one objects to anything?If someone objects, we won't do anything. So what is the purpose of this high-pragmatic time travel?Just to make some money with a vision that is 400 years ahead of the times, and enjoy the feeling of being a master in the feudal era?
This is too useless.If you just want to do this, then as long as you are a time traveler and have your own background, I am afraid that anyone can do it.

What's more, to truly change the Ming Dynasty and keep Chinese civilization advanced, it is not enough to emphasize the importance of maritime trade and develop a number of seemingly advanced handicrafts and primary industries.If we cannot make changes in the system, the achievements of our reforms in the past few decades are actually nothing more than flowers in the water and moon in the mirror. They will wither after a short period of time.

This is not alarmist, but an inevitable necessity of social development.In later generations, many people discussed why modern science emerged in the West rather than in China. Then some people said that Chinese culture was inherently devoid of scientific spirit, and that Westerners had "Elements of Geometry" very early, which was the seed of the scientific spirit.

Gao Pragmatic believes that this is pure fart.

After the Renaissance, later generations of Chinese people completed the de-fascination with the West. More and more scholars have questioned the various magical stories that have been boasted since "Elements of Geometry", and many doubts have been raised.However, Gao Pragmatic did not want to talk about the authenticity of "Elements of Geometry". He had another view.He believes that the West took the lead in completing the so-called "scientific evolution" and starting the industrial revolution, which was actually the result of demand-oriented development.It is a result, not a cause.

What is "demand orientation"?Two levels, economic and military.

Westerners gained a lot of benefits during the Age of Discovery and occupied many colonies. However, in fact, the "technology" of the West at this time did not surpass the level of the East. Everyone was actually at the same level, and each had its own merits.This has been said for a long time. For example, the Ming Dynasty still maintains its leadership in many technologies, and even has many inventions and creations that are not weaker than the West in terms of military technology.

However, as the Age of Discovery reached its peak, Western colonists found that although they had seized a large number of colonies and had an extremely broad market, their country's population was too small, resulting in insufficient products to fill these huge markets. , so "demand orientation" came into being - I have to produce more products to sell and make money!

However, the problem is that they cannot solve the problem of too small population, so they can only find ways to increase productivity.Under this "productivity anxiety" of the whole society, any idea that may mention productivity will be taken seriously and implemented.Over time, the importance of science and technology was infinitely elevated, and finally the Industrial Revolution broke out.

This also explains why China did not take the lead in the industrial revolution - the Ming Dynasty did not expand externally, and the domestic market was almost fixed. Therefore, Chinese society had no motivation to produce more products to fill the market gap and make more money. .

And for Ming Dynasty, even if the market is bigger, it is actually difficult to stimulate the huge impulse to improve productivity, because the population of Ming Dynasty is too much!You say that the existing products are not enough to meet the market demand?This is easy to handle. I just need to recruit more people to do it. As for improving productivity... I don't care, there are many people!

This can also prove another thing: whether the agricultural era developed well or not, a very weighted criterion actually lies in population.The better you develop in the agricultural era, the more likely your population will continue to grow, because without sufficiently advanced agricultural technology and agricultural facilities, you cannot have enough food to feed such a large population!

Therefore, China can say without humility: Our Chinese civilization represents the pinnacle of technology in the agricultural era!
Unfortunately, however, the technological peak of the previous era often leads to its lagging behind at the beginning of the next era.Just as the second industrial revolution era allowed the United States and Germany to surpass the United Kingdom, the representative of the first industrial revolution.

The peak of the previous era is often unwilling to give up the vested interests brought by these advantages due to path dependence and the advantages it has already achieved, and is unwilling to invest in new technologies, which leads to it falling behind after the start of the next era, and then being overtaken by rising stars. Beyond.

Whether it is the Ming Dynasty in the original history or the Ming Dynasty that has undergone highly pragmatic transformation, in fact, they are still at the same stage and in the same rut.If you want to change the fate of being surpassed by the West, then Gao pragmatism must find a way to complete the thinking pattern of "I am the best in the world" or even "I will always be the best in the world" in the entire social thought, so that the people of Ming Dynasty - at least let the people of Ming Dynasty Scholars truly understand that "sail against the current, or retreat if you don't advance" is not meant to scare you, but a real danger that may occur at any time.

The Ming Dynasty had too many people, which was originally the most difficult problem to solve, especially considering that Gao Pragmatic would not agree to the plan of using civil war to eliminate the population.But fortunately, God is now "helping" and the Little Ice Age is coming. Therefore, Gao Pragmatic can try his best to move the population to southern Xinjiang, Nanyang and even more places, and then dilute the population in the Ming Dynasty, thus forcing the domestic production to increase. The urge to be productive.

At the same time, Gao Pragmatic finally agreed to further expand the control area in southern Xinjiang.It must be noted here that he was not really forced to compromise just because he had some impulse to expand outwards in Southern Xinjiang.

As he has said before, he has established a perfect system so that no one in southern Xinjiang can oppose his will.If he insists on not expanding, those expansionists can only give up in anger, and then shift the power struggle internally and start fighting for power resources inward instead of outward.

After more than 20 years of opening up the sea, the Ming Dynasty's huge productivity has been activated by trade in southern Xinjiang, Nanyang, Mongolia, the Western Regions, Japan, North Korea and other places.Now if we want to continue to maintain this model of "market expansion requires increased production", we must further expand the width and depth of the market, and keep broadening the market to a level that cannot be satisfied within the Ming Dynasty. Only then can we stimulate the initiative within the Ming Dynasty and start to Find ways to improve productivity from the perspective of technology, rather than just relying on "stuffing people" to achieve it.

If this step can be achieved, [-]% to [-]% of the high-pragmatic matter will be completed.So, what are the remaining two to three percent?

The improvement of productivity can be regarded as the work of the whole society, but the change of production relations needs to be completed within the officialdom!If you don't finish it within the officialdom, do you have to wait for Cromwell, the Protector of the Ming Dynasty, to murderously kill the emperor and start a new set of capitalist fictitious monarchy?That goes against the basic principle of being pragmatic and "avoiding civil war"!
So, how to adapt “production relations” to the future development of productivity?Then there must be a system reform for Ming Dynasty.To reform the system, you must first have talents who can reform the system.If the people under your control are still those masters of writing who only read the books of sages and saints all their lives, cannot even understand an account, and simply look down on all kinds of "wonderful skills and tricks", then it will obviously not be possible.

From this, it was logical that Gao pragmatically brought people like Li Zhizao around as "horse bones" and prepared to add some spice to the imperial examination system that had not changed much for thousands of years.

Seeing Gao Pragmatic's calm expression, Li Zhizao seemed not to be frightened by his words at all, and finally calmed down.He remembered that Gao Pragmatic had carried out many reforms over the years that seemed almost impossible to complete in advance, and he gradually let go of his psychological burden, took a deep breath, and asked: "What Yuan Fu said is indeed reasonable, but what happened now?" Da, I wonder if the emperor will agree?"

Gao Jingshi narrowed his eyes slightly and chuckled: "When it comes to persuading the emperor, I have some experience."

Uh... that's true.

Li Zhizao didn't dare to question or ask. He could only smile and bow his head in agreement.

However, he still couldn't help but murmur in his heart: Can Yuan Fu really convince the emperor about such a big matter?What method should be used?
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Thanks to book friends "First Login", "Old West of Altay", and "SeamChe" for their monthly ticket support, thank you!
PS: After a step-by-step reform, I finally want to express this reform that was regarded as the ultimate goal before I started the book. It took several years, which is really emotional.

(End of this chapter)