Daming: Apocalypse of Longevity

Chapter 179 Reforming the Imperial Examination
After settling the water and sea transportation matters, Zhu Tianqi looked through his notebook and planned to advance the subsequent plan a little bit, so he asked Wang Yuanbao to find Xu Guangqi.

The next thing Zhu Tianqi wanted to discuss with Xu Guangqi was the reform of the imperial examination. The reason why he wanted to reform the imperial examination now could be said to have a lot to do with Qian Qianyi's incident.

The Qian Qianyi incident made Zhu Tianqi further realize the great hidden danger of cliques between officials in North Korea and China, and an important condition for officials to form cliques was the "imperial examination".

Most scholars in ancient times "respected their teachers and their moral principles". After the imperial examination and high school, they would regard the examiner as their mentor. This is also a long-standing practice. It is precisely because of this that the friendship between teachers and students, who are in the same year, is the easiest to form small groups. .

Today's situation is even worse. The imperial examinations are collectively controlled by civil servants and have long lost their due fairness. They are only willing to admit their own people and use this to strengthen the power of their own parties.

The incident of Qian Qianyi is an example. Why Qian Qianyi has such a high reputation and status and dares to tell Zhu Youjian that as long as he is loyal to Zhu Youjian, all officials will follow his words. Is it not because Most of the officials below are his disciples and former officials?Therefore, in many cases, Qian Qianyi speaks better than himself, the emperor!
Therefore, Zhu Tianqi believes that it is urgent to reform the imperial examination. Only by reforming the imperial examination can the problem of party formation between officials in North Korea and China be fundamentally solved.

Zhu Tianqi did not hide his thoughts about Xu Guangqi, and said bluntly: "Xu Aiqing, I called you here today to discuss the reform of the imperial examination with you. Nowadays, the imperial examination is full of ills. How can I still help the imperial court select people?" The only way to get scholars is to help those in the court to promote their comrades. If this kind of imperial examination is not changed, it is better not to do it!"

Although Xu Guangqi agreed with Zhu Tianqi's views, he was still a little surprised when Zhu Tianqi said that he wanted to reform the imperial examination. He saluted Zhu Tianqi and said: "The imperial examination is of great significance and it is absolutely impossible to ban it. But if you want to reform, I’m afraid it won’t be easy!”

Zhu Tianqi nodded and said: "Yes, if the imperial examination is cancelled, it will be unfair to the people of the world, so we can only implement reforms, no matter how difficult it is, we must change!
Tax reform is extremely difficult, but I changed it!Jiannu claims to be invincible, I will destroy him!Water transportation has been suffering from defects for many years, and I am also going to rectify it!Now when it comes to the imperial examination, I also want to succeed in it! "

Xu Guangqi looked at the majestic young emperor in front of him and was involuntarily infected by Zhu Tianqi's heroic words. Moreover, he never questioned the emperor's ability. As the emperor said, even if there are all kinds of difficulties in this world, Didn't the emperor get it done after he proposed it?

Xu Guangqi immediately stopped talking and saluted Zhu Tianqi directly: "The emperor needs me to do something, but please tell me, I will do my best to serve your majesty!"

Zhu Tianqi nodded and got to the point: "Since I plan to reform the imperial examination, naturally I can't make small changes, but make major changes, not only in the system, but also in the overall reform of the examination content!"

"The emperor said that he wanted to change the content of the exam..." Xu Guangqi asked in surprise.

Zhu Tianqi did not answer Xu Guangqi directly. Instead, he asked Xu Guangqi: "Xu Aiqing, tell me why the knowledge and technology of the Westerners are so much ahead of our Ming Dynasty?"

Although Xu Guangqi had the answer in his mind, there were some things he couldn't say directly to the emperor, so he hesitated for a moment before replying: "Maybe it's because the Westerners pay more attention to practical learning, while I, the Ming Dynasty, pay more attention to the learning of saints! "

Zhu Tianqi couldn't help laughing when he heard Xu Guangqi's words. This Xu Guangqi is quite good at talking, and what he said was really euphemistic.

"You are right. It is because the scholars of the Ming Dynasty have been memorizing the Four Books and Five Classics by rote and studying the eight-legged essay that has been written badly all day long, so it is difficult for the science and technology of the Ming Dynasty to progress and develop!

Although the words of the saints in the Four Books and Five Classics are good, they are no match for the powerful ships and cannons of the Westerners. Therefore, while inheriting the words of the saints, our Ming Dynasty must also develop practical learning!
And if you want to develop practical learning, the best way is to reform the imperial examinations. What is tested in the imperial examinations determines what scholars will study. Talented man, but now our Ming Dynasty’s eight-legged essay only emphasizes the meaning of the classics, which also leads to the fact that the scholars of our Ming Dynasty can only quote the classics and refer to them, and that’s it! "

Zhu Tianqi's words were really refreshing to Xu Guangqi, and he couldn't help but praise: "Your Majesty, I admire you!"

Zhu Tianqi then gave Xu Guangqi his plan for reforming the imperial examination, and also gave Xu Guangqi a more popular explanation: "I plan to divide the imperial examination into multiple subjects for examination in the future. In addition to the Four Books and Five Classics, there are also Mathematics, physics, chemistry and other subjects must be added.

The exam questions should also be based on objective questions. The so-called objective questions are as opposed to subjective questions such as essay writing. Each question has a standard answer, and a clear judgment can be made on whether the candidate's answer is correct or not, unlike today's stereotyped essays. Article, the quality of the article depends entirely on the subjective will and preferences of the examiner, which itself is unfair!

Just imagine, there will be almost no particularly big gap in the articles written by the top three in each exam, and their ranking depends on whose article is more liked by the examiner and me. If the examiner and I are not as good as them in literary talent, How can we tell which of them has better articles? "

Xu Guangqi half understood what he was saying, but he still understood the general meaning, and what the emperor said was indeed very reasonable, and he agreed very much.

Just hearing this, he also had a question: "Your Majesty, if it is difficult for the examiners to distinguish the good from the bad when it comes to this article, then I am afraid that few people are proficient in mathematics, physics and chemistry, not to mention that scholars cannot. If you learn this knowledge, you may not even be able to find the examiners who set and judge the questions!"

After hearing this, Zhu Tianqi couldn't help but smile slightly and said: "Don't worry about this, dear, I have my own plan. I already have this information, but you may need to select and sort it out, dear!"
And you don’t have to worry about the scholars in the Ming Dynasty not being able to learn this knowledge. The scholars in the Ming Dynasty are no stupider than the Westerners. As long as they take the imperial examination, they will definitely learn it! "

After Xu Guangqi heard this, he felt relieved. In fact, he also thought that the emperor had been prepared. After all, when had the emperor ever fought a battle that he was unprepared for?
Zhu Tianqi then took out another pile of books and handed them to Xu Guangqi, telling him: "The reform plan I just gave you has an outline written in it. You can just draw out the corresponding contents in these books based on that outline." , and then let the people under you help you organize these contents together!"

These books are all the textbooks from elementary school to high school that Zhu Tianqi bought from the Krypton Store. Of course, books like "Chinese", "Foreign Languages", "History" and "Ideology and Morality" ("Morality and Legal System") There are no more subjects. After all, the content in these books is not applicable to the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, in addition to "Foreign Language", the other three subjects also have some overlap with the content of the current imperial examinations, and can be merged with the existing classics and history collections to form "Guoxue".In subjects such as "Mathematics", "Physics", "Chemistry", "Biology", and "Geography", some knowledge content that is not needed in this era, or is too advanced and advanced, has also been deleted, and the overall difficulty level is the same. It has been reduced a lot.

Moreover, Zhu Tianqi also classified the new imperial examinations with reference to the original imperial examination system, dividing them into three levels: county examination, prefectural examination and provincial examination.

The county examination only tests two subjects: "Chinese Studies" and "Mathematics", which are based on the primary school level. Those who pass the examination can be children;
The next state examination requires the addition of four courses: "Physics", "Chemistry", "Biology" and "Geography". It is based on the junior high school level, and those who pass it can be regarded as talents;
Finally, there is the provincial examination, which is benchmarked against the high school level. Those who pass it can be selected as candidates.

After becoming a Juren, you are qualified to be an official, and you are also qualified to enter a national university for further study.

Yes, while Zhu Tianqi was reforming the imperial examination, he was also reforming education. To reform education, he must build colleges and universities. If there are no colleges and universities to carry out deeper training for these outstanding candidates and provide them with scientific research and further education. The environment was ultimately unable to cultivate useful talents, and it was difficult for Ming Dynasty's technology to achieve rapid development.

In other words, after passing the three previous rounds of the imperial examination, although you can obtain the status of a judicial officer and can become an official in theory, in fact, the chance of waiting for a position or obtaining a more suitable official position is very slim, so for the imperial examination The best option for people is to study in a national university.

You can get support from the state when you study in a university. Of course, this support is not lifelong, but only for five years. Before the five years are up, you can either sign up for the national examination, pass the national examination, become a Jinshi, or become an official in the court. Either you can pass the school's assessment and be able to stay in school to teach or do academic work, or else you can only make a living on your own.

However, it is still too early to discuss the "national examination" and "school examination", so Zhu Tianqi did not set it as an item in the imperial examination grading. The focus now is to have someone admitted to university first and then talk about it later. thing.

Examinations at all levels of the new imperial examinations are all held once a year. The imperial court is responsible for writing all the test papers, and Jin Yiwei is responsible for escorting them to the test centers in all provinces, prefectures and counties across the country. No one is allowed to open the test questions before the start of the test.

However, because there are currently no candidates who have passed the county examination, at the beginning of the implementation of the new imperial examination, only county examinations will be held across the country for the time being.

Zhu Tianqi's imperial examination reform plan has been very detailed, so as long as Xu Guangqi organizes the textbooks for each subject, he can directly implement it.

However, before implementation, all obstacles on the road to imperial examination reform must be removed.

The imperial examinations were handled by the Ministry of Rites, and Liu Hongxun, who was now the Minister of Rites, was a member of the Donglin Party. It was obviously impossible for him to cooperate with him in reforming the imperial examinations, so Zhu Tianqi simply reshuffled the six ministers.

Zhu Tianqi used the reason that Qian Qianyi was dismissed from office and there was a vacancy in the Ministry of Punishment, so he convened the cabinet and asked them to nominate a new Minister of Punishment and also fill the vacancy in the cabinet.

Qian Qianyi's departure was a huge blow to the Donglin Party. Therefore, facing this opportunity before them, they naturally refused to let it go and immediately selected several more suitable candidates from the Donglin Party. candidates, and then plans to recommend them to serve as ministers of the Ministry of punishment and join the cabinet to participate in politics.

However, when Qian Longxi and Liu Hongxun came to the cabinet meeting with the list they had prepared, they were surprised to find that Sun Yuanhua, who was supposed to be in the Chief Envoy Department of Shaanxi Province, appeared in the Huangji Palace for some unknown reason!

Then, before the emperor could recover from their surprise, he asked Wang Yuanbao to read out the imperial edict, detailing Sun Yuanhua's contribution in building the northwest military industrial base, casting firearms and weapons for the Ming army, and his outstanding role in the battle to exterminate the slaves. He expressed that Sun Yuanhua was granted the title of Minister of the Ministry of Industry, he was granted the title of Bachelor of Dongge, and he joined the cabinet to participate in politics.

However, although Qian Longxi and Liu Hongxun were very surprised that Sun Yuanhua was suddenly named Minister of the Ministry of Industry and became a member of the cabinet, they were relieved after hearing this imperial edict.

After all, Sun Yuanhua was granted the title of Minister of the Ministry of Industry, not the Minister of the Ministry of Punishments. There was no vacancy for the Minister of the Ministry of Punishments, and it did not affect their later recommendation of someone from the Donglin Party to be the Minister of the Ministry of Punishments and his appointment to the cabinet.

But Qian Longxi suddenly felt something was wrong. Sun Yuanhua was appointed Minister of the Ministry of Industry. What would Zongdao do?Doesn't the Ministry of Industry need two ministers in charge?

At this moment, Zhu Tianqi slowly opened his mouth to help him clear up his doubts: "I appoint Sun Aiqing as the Minister of the Ministry of Industry. Naturally, I am not trying to steal your errands from you, Aiqing. I just want to make arrangements for you, Aiqing." Positions, after all, when I assigned you positions, it was a bit too hasty. It may not be in line with your personal wishes, and it did not fully take into account everyone's strengths.

Now that two years have passed, I have a certain understanding of your abilities, so I still have to put you in the positions you are good at according to your strengths, so that you can better serve the court. Efficacy! "

Zhu Tianqi then asked Wang Yuanbao to read out a new appointment edict. Lai Zongdao was named the Minister of Punishment, Liu Hongxun was named the Minister of Hubu, Xu Guangqi was named the Minister of Rites, and the positions of Zhou Daodeng and Qian Longxi remained unchanged. .

At this point, Qian Longxi and Liu Hongxun were really dumbfounded!
What about recommending new people as promised?What about discussing it together?Isn’t this already decided?
But even so, Qian Longxi and Liu Hongxun did not dare to show the slightest dissatisfaction. Since the emperor wiped out the slaves, he has paid less and less attention to the cabinet. What's more, now that Qian Qianyi has been dismissed from office, there are only The remaining two seats for them can't even occupy half of the seats, let alone have any right to speak.

Therefore, even if the emperor "has no martial ethics" at all, they can only bow their heads and admit defeat, without the slightest ability to fight back!

(End of this chapter)