Doctor of the Great Song Dynasty: In the beginning, Li Qingzhao and Li Qingzhao made a private decis

“We must speed up the implementation of compulsory education in the city!”

In the political hall!Lu Dafang said urgently.

The doctors expanded the branch of the Imperial Medical Bureau and provided free medical school education, which aroused the popularity of the people and made all the scholar-bureaucrats lose face.

According to Fan Zheng's plan for compulsory education, the first step was compulsory education for the whole city, the second step was compulsory education nationwide, and the third step was to implement free compulsory education nationwide, which brought the cultural governance of the Song Dynasty to its peak.

However, doctors have now promoted free education, but the first step of the Confucian plan, compulsory education in the city, has not yet started.

"Don't be impatient, Xianggong Lu. There are many cities in the Song Dynasty, and it took doctors three years to build hospitals throughout the Song Dynasty. Compulsory education in the city has just begun. Currently, it is only implemented in Kaifeng. I'll wait until the end of the road!" Zhang Dun said solemnly.

Although the new party and the old party are incompatible, they are of the same lineage as scholar-bureaucrats. When it comes to promoting compulsory education in the city, the new party and the old party have the same position.

"Of course, the doctor's ship is small and easy to turn around. There are not many schools needed. In addition, the doctor itself can make a profit. Even if it is free, the doctor can still provide it! We can only rely on the education national debt to survive!" Yang Wei said helplessly .

In this regard, doctors do have an advantage over Confucians, and doctors have major hospitals all over the cities of the Song Dynasty, so employment is not a problem at all.

"That's right! Have the national bonds that Fan Zheng promised to issue been in place?" Lu Dafang suddenly asked.

Cai Jing nodded and said: "The first batch of education national debt worth millions of dollars has all been underwritten by the Royal Bank. Now it has arrived at the Ministry of Accounts, and the Imperial College can take it at will."

"Okay! Pass the order, the Imperial College will speed up the promotion of compulsory education in the city with the four capitals of the Song Dynasty as the center." Lu Dafang ordered.

At present, in the four capitals of the Song Dynasty, doctors and Confucians are competing with each other, accelerating the construction of colleges, and doctors and Confucians are beginning to consciously compete for talents!
Confucianism has the advantage of being an official, and doctors have the advantage of being free. It can be said that the two have their own merits, and it is difficult to distinguish them.

"I am reporting to the officials that compulsory education in the city is very popular among the people, but they have encountered a problem, that is, there are no teachers!" Zhang Yong, a doctor of the Imperial Academy, said helplessly.

With the support of huge amounts of money, the city-wide compulsory education in other three capitals was quickly promoted, but problems soon emerged.

With financial support, there is no shortage of school buildings or students for compulsory education in the city. Only Confucius encountered difficulties.

"No wife?" Zhao Xu couldn't help but look at Fan Zheng standing aside.

We must know that Fan Zheng proposed to his father to promote compulsory education in Kaifeng City, but it was a great success, and there was no lack of masters at all.

Fan Zheng spread his hands and said: "For the record, when my father promoted compulsory education, he also encountered a shortage of concubines. Therefore, my father recruited the candidates who came to Beijing to take the exam as concubines. In this way, these candidates could have a good job. In order to make a living, these people can also reduce the time wasted traveling to their hometowns and prepare for exams in Beijing."

All the officials couldn't help but twitch, no wonder there is no shortage of masters in Kaifeng City. The people who come to Beijing to take the exam are the best masters in the world, and there are many of them.Coupled with the local wives, Kaifeng City not only has no shortage of wives, but also the competition is quite fierce.

"In this case, why don't the other three capitals adopt the Kaifeng method?" Zhao Xu asked.

Zhang Yong smiled bitterly and said: "The officials don't know. The reason why Kaifeng City does not lack masters is because many Kaifeng City is the best place in the world. The salary of masters is relatively high. In addition, many candidates from far away places are unwilling to do so." I am wasting time traveling back and forth, so I am willing to stay in Kaifeng as a concubine. However, the other three capitals are not places for palace examinations, and there are very few candidates who are willing to be a concubine."

Lu Dafang frowned and said: "Although the other three capitals are not the place for the palace examination, they are the place for the academy examination. If they can't recruit candidates at all, how can they not recruit scholars?"

Zhang Yong spread his hands and said: "There are indeed scholars who come to Sanjing to participate in the college examination. However, the scholars are all from the same house. The time required to travel is not much, and the cost of staying in Sanjing is quite high. It is not worth the gain."

"Then they need Master's job even more." Zhang Dun frowned.

Zhang Yong nodded and said: "That's true. Being a master can indeed make a living, but being a master also requires teaching and educating people. In this way, a lot of time will be wasted, which is not conducive to candidates' preparation for the exam. So... ….”

Fan Zheng added: "So they would rather go home and support themselves than stay in Sanjing as concubines and wait for the college examination."

All the officials in the court nodded empathetically. Taking the imperial examination is a matter of thousands of troops crossing a single-plank bridge. If you are a little negligent, you will fall behind. If it were them, they would not be willing to delay the imperial examination by being a master.

"Then what should we do?" A group of scholar-officials frowned.

The compulsory education in the city is the merit of a group of scholar-bureaucrats and civil servants, but now it has just begun and its biggest shortcomings have been exposed.

"Fan Taicheng, do you have any good prescriptions?" Zhao Xu habitually asked Fan Zheng for advice.

Fan Zheng said loudly: "It is very simple to recruit a master. You all know this method in your heart, but you are not willing to use it!"

"Oh! This happened!" Zhao Xu said in confusion.

All the officials also fell silent.

Cai Bian was a good old man and said helplessly: "The method mentioned by Fan Taicheng must be to recruit young students if there are not enough scholars. If there are not enough children, just those who can read."

Fan Zheng nodded and said: "Yes, Sanjing is the important place in our Song Dynasty. There are many literate people. I think it is more than enough to find Tong Sheng as my wife."

Yang Wei was the first to object: "Although this method can recruit enough masters, it is of mixed quality. Education in the whole city is a century-old plan of the Song Dynasty, so how can it be just a waste of time?"

Other officials also nodded. This is what they are worried about. If compulsory education is promoted throughout the city, the gap among masters will be even greater. Lowering the standards is nothing more than drinking poison to quench thirst!
Lu Dafang added: "The implementation of compulsory education in the whole city in the three capitals has encountered such difficulties. In the future, if compulsory education is extended to all cities in the Song Dynasty, or even to the entire Song Dynasty, I am afraid that the masters needed will be astronomical. How can numbers be solved so lightly?”

Fan Zheng raised his eyebrows and said, "So, you want to let scholars and juren serve as masters?"

All the officials couldn't help but feel a little surprised when they were guessed.

Among the four capitals of the Song Dynasty, many of the concubines in Kaifeng City were promoted to be concubines, and the lowest was a scholar, while in the other three capitals, children were concubines. The difference was so vast that it naturally made the other three capitals dissatisfied.

Fan Zheng chuckled and said, "If you want to raise people and scholars to serve as masters, there are ways, but I'm afraid you don't dare to use them!"

"Teaching the way of saints and promoting education for all is a century-old plan of the Song Dynasty. As long as the people of the world can accept the way of saints, even if it is evil, I will follow it!" Lu Dafang said impassionedly.In Lu Dafang's view, promoting education for all is the greatest honor for a scholar. As the prime minister of the dynasty, he would naturally not let go of this golden opportunity.

"That's easy! According to court records, in our imperial examination, the average age for passing the imperial examination is 29 years old, and the average age for passing the imperial examination is about 34 years old. In other words, once a person is over 35 years old, his talent and knowledge have been fixed, it is almost impossible to make further progress." Fan Zheng said seriously.

Many officials nodded slightly. They had personally experienced the imperial examination and naturally knew that Fan Zheng's words were true.

Lu Dafang was admitted to the Jinshi at the age of 22, and Zhang Dun was also admitted to the Jinshi at the age of 22. As a result, his nephew Zhang Heng of the same clan was admitted to the first place. Zhang Dun was deeply ashamed, refused to accept the imperial edict, and threw away the imperial edict. go home.

Two years later, he took the imperial examination again, and finally passed the imperial examination again, ranking No. 1 in the Kaifeng government examination, and then he became an official.

Not to mention Su Song, who also passed Jinshi at the age of 22.

Most of the people who can even be ranked in the imperial court have passed the exam at a young age, otherwise they would never have been able to climb to such a high official position.

"So if the court wants scholars and candidates to serve as concubines, it must limit the age for the imperial examination. Fan thinks that 35 years old is the best age!" Fan Zheng said solemnly.

"Restrict the age for imperial examinations!"

All the officials were in an uproar. Everyone knew that once this idea came out, the civil servants in the world would definitely be in an uproar. After all, they had spent their whole lives just for the imperial examination. However, now in the court, they suddenly said that they would not be allowed to take the exam. This How can they accept it.

"That's right! Only candidates and scholars who are over the age of 35 will choose to become concubines. Otherwise, once they embark on the road to the imperial examination, they will not accept their fate no matter what." Fan Zheng spread his hands and said.

The officials were silent again. As Fan Zheng said, unless they were discouraged and took the initiative to retire and give up the imperial examination. In the imperial examination, it is common for a black-haired child and a white-haired old man to sit in the same room. It is not that there are no officials.

"But if there is an age limit, wouldn't it mean that talented people are left behind?" Zhao Xu said worriedly.

It is not that the Song Dynasty royal family had never thought of limiting the age, but allowing countless elderly people to participate in the imperial examination was enough to show the royal benevolence.

"That's right! When Jiang Ziya was over seventy, he fished with a straight hook, which eventually attracted the admiration of Jichang, the Marquis of Xibo. Finally, he succeeded in his old age and achieved great success!" Yang Wei said proudly.

Other officials also nodded and cited many examples of young people being successful.

Fan Zheng explained: "The reason for Jiang Ziya's case is that there was no imperial examination in those days. Now our Song Dynasty governs the country according to culture, and the imperial examination is the most fair selection of candidates in all dynasties. If Jiang Ziya were in our Song Dynasty, he would definitely not let such a great talent wander among the people. .”

Zhao Xu couldn't help but look proud. The imperial examination of the Song Dynasty was the most fair in the world, which made him quite proud.

"As for other examples of success in old age, it does happen. However, the Song Dynasty currently promotes the retirement of officials at the age of 60. The oldest number one scholar in the Tang Dynasty, Yin Shu, was already 70 years old. If it happened in our dynasty, officials would be awarded the title first and then retire. , what’s the point!” Fan Zheng said venomously.

"Uh!"

Suddenly Zhao Xu was speechless.

The other officials were also silent. According to the welfare of the Song Dynasty, officials retired at the age of 60. If the age of officials for the imperial examination was not restricted, the situation mentioned by Fan Zheng might actually happen in the end.

"Since he is a child, he should be limited to 20 years old. If he has not passed the scholar examination at the age of 20, then he does not need to take the exam again!" Fan Zheng said directly.

"Tongsheng!"

The corners of Baiguan's mouth twitched. If this happens, there will probably no longer be any old boy with gray hair in the imperial examination.

However, Baiguan could not refute it. After all, Tongsheng, as the name suggests, is a young student. If he has not been admitted as a scholar at the age of 20, his chances of becoming a Jinshi in the future are slim.

The limit for children to be born is 20 years old, and the limit for imperial examination is 35 years old, which means that there is only 15 years for the imperial examination.

"There are only 15 years for the imperial examination. According to the one held every three years, it is only five. There are only five opportunities. Isn't that too harsh?" Zhang Dun objected.

Fan Zheng shook his head and said: "The imperial examination in the Song Dynasty does not have five opportunities. There are constant encounciations in the court. There are almost two imperial examinations every three years. In this case, it is better to have one imperial examination every year and fifteen opportunities. That is just right. The same period of time as the original imperial examination that a person can take in his lifetime. In this way, his chances of imperial examination in his lifetime have not been reduced. Even if he fails to pass the examination at the age of 35, he can still take the path of becoming a wife! It will not be I have wasted my whole life just for the imperial examination."

Although the benefits of the imperial examination are huge, the cost for those who fail is also huge. Many people waste their lives in vain, and in the end it is just a dream. Cutting losses before the age of 35 may be the best outcome.

"Imperial examination once a year?"

All the officials couldn't help but pause, and couldn't help but think deeply. If the imperial examination were restricted to 35 years old, it would definitely arouse outrage.

If we follow what Fan Zheng said and keep the number of imperial examinations for civil servants in the world unchanged, we can certainly calm the anger of civil servants, and we can also take the opportunity to solve the livelihood problem of failed civil servants, and at the same time solve the problem of lack of masters in the city's education.

"But how should we appease the over-age scholar Ju Ren!" Lu Dafang was finally moved. The biggest problem now is the over-age Ju Ren. They are the ones who have suffered the most.

Fan Zheng raised his head and looked at Zhao Xu: "Then there is only one way, Enke!"

"Enko!"

Zhao Xu's heart moved, and he knew that this was the best way. If he wanted to satisfy the over-age scholars and candidates, there was only one way, let them take another imperial examination. Those who won the examination would be officials, and those who failed would be regarded as wives. Have a livelihood.

"What do you think of this recipe?" Zhao Xu looked around at the officials and asked.

The eyes of all the officials immediately focused on Lu Dafang. Now Lu Dafang wants to promote compulsory education in the city and let scholars and candidates become wives. This is probably the only way.

Lu Dafang gritted his teeth and said, "In order for the saint's way to benefit all people, I would rather be this evil person!"

He knows that even if Fan Zheng's evil prescription has benefited everyone as much as possible, there will still be people who are dissatisfied with it. If this person wants to gain the reputation of making all people accept the way of a saint, he must become a villain who limits the age for the imperial examination! (End of chapter)