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Chapter 551 Investigate the root cause
"How is His Majesty's New Deal different from this?" Yuan Yingtai did live up to the emperor's trust. Hearing such a sensitive topic, instead of avoiding it, he took the initiative to approach it without giving in.

“Their reforms and changes are all for emergency purposes, just to treat headaches and pains, without long-term goals, and they are inseparable from the scholar class.

It was also the scholar class that harmed the country in the past dynasties. As long as their interests were harmed, they would ignore it and act recklessly under the guise of realizing the enlightenment of saints. In the end, they will find ways to put the blame on other people's heads, such as Hunjun.

Why is this so? Because the emperors of all dynasties were also members of the scholar class, they had to rely on these people to rule and manage the country. Their so-called reforms and changes are nothing more than redistributing power and interests among the scholar class. If the distribution is not enough, they will take it from other classes.

The result was that all the world's wealth was concentrated in the hands of the scholar class, while other classes were miserable and had to rise up to resist. Any civil strife is equivalent to a serious illness. Even if you barely survive, you will be weak and collapse with the slightest touch.

I haven't read many so-called sages' books since I was a child. I don't belong to the scholar class at all. On the contrary, I have a clear mind. I don't think I should belong to the scholar class. That's why the New Deal is different from the past.

I want to defeat the scholar class first, seize a large portion of their interests and distribute them to businessmen, soldiers, and farmers, and try to maintain a balance. No one is allowed to take too much.

But I don't belong to any class, so I just stand aside and set the rules as a referee. I will beat whoever breaks the rules, and I will help whoever loses benefits. Would you say that a big country is stable on one leg, or on four legs standing side by side? "

Hong Tao has always played a big role in why the New Deal was implemented. Li Zhi, Yuan Keli, Yuan Yingtai and others basically relied on this method to deceive them. However, when the New Deal is on the right track and has shown results, it is not easy to draw a larger pie. If you want people to continue to support it, you have to talk about principles and ideals.

However, Hong Tao has never mastered the basic skills of being a political commissar. He is not very good at and unwilling to show blood, and prefers to use reality and logic to reason and explain. As for whether it can be realized and what consequences it will have, that is another question.

Time travelers are all here to play games. No matter how serious you play, it is still a game, and sooner or later it will end. And everyone and everything are just NPCs and tasks. They are nothing more than a sense of immersion. Who would think so much about it?

"...In this case, who should be an official in the prefectures and counties, and who should educate the people?" Yuan Yingtai did not feel sad when he heard the emperor's clear statement that he wanted to attack the scholar class.

He was originally an outlier among the scholars, and his actions over the years had long betrayed his own class. Even if the emperor said to kill all the scholars, it didn't matter as long as he didn't move.

But managing a country always requires a large number of talents, and it seems that these talents can only come from the scholar class. So here comes the question, how should we operate such a contradictory and complicated relationship between the monarch and his ministers while suppressing the scholar class while also relying on their assistance?

"Fortunately, you have served as chief envoy in Guangdong. Tell me, as a county magistrate, is it necessary to study hard in high school to be elected or to be a Jinshi? And if you are a candidate for Juren or Jinshi, can you be a good county magistrate?" The questions Yuan Yingtai is worried about are not only real but also very critical. A few years ago, Hong Tao would not have been able to answer them. If the scholar class was defeated, it would definitely be the Ming Dynasty that followed. The reason is very simple. If you want to be the county magistrate, you must first be a civil servant. You must still be from the imperial examination, and you are 100% a scholar.

But after nearly ten years of preparation, this problem has been partially solved. At least grassroots officials no longer have to rely solely on the scholar class. With this confidence, Hong Tao dared to raise a big stick to the scholar class.

"There are more than 80,000 officials in the Ming Dynasty. After taking into account the 6,000 in the two capitals, there are still more than 70,000. His Majesty's Haikou Division can only make a drop in the bucket." When it comes to how to be a good county magistrate, Yuan Yingtai has a lot of experience. When he was the chief envoy in Guangdong, without the help of the petty officials in various counties, his speed in implementing the New Deal would have been several times slower.

Speaking of these minor officials, they are not ordinary people. They are all from Nanyuan Kaihusi. Not only can they write and do arithmetic, but they also know geography, agriculture, and water conservancy. They are also scheming and ruthless. They are very good at reading people's hearts. In one year, all the old local officials who were decades older were eliminated.

If it weren't for their young age and lack of fame, I really want to promote all these young men to the position of county magistrate. With their help, Guangdong's New Deal has made rapid progress and achieved twice the result with half the effort. But if the emperor wanted to use these people to replace the low-level officials of the Ming Dynasty, the quality must be enough, but there is a huge gap in quantity.

"I don't want to completely replace the scientific examination. That would be a bit of a waste of time. But the consequences of relying solely on the imperial examination to govern the country are obvious. I intend to promote new learning among the people, including mathematics, geometry, physics, farming, medical skills, etc. Mainly with mechanical and simple literacy and writing, it takes about five or six years to become a talented person.

Graduates from the new school can first work as subordinates in prefectures, counties and various ministries of the central government. After two or three years of training, they can become officials in prefectures and counties. They can also work as craftsmen in factories, mines, farm cooperatives, or simply join the army.

This will not only save students from studying hard for more than ten years but end up having to deal with trivial accounting tasks all day long, but also provide more opportunities for the common people. "

Yuan Yingtai may have misunderstood, thinking that the emperor wanted to completely abolish the imperial examination system, or to pave the way for the abolition of the imperial examination system. Hong Tao really didn't mean this. The imperial examination system was not a bad thing. What he opposed was the exclusive imperial examination system, which turned the original intention of selecting talents into a brainwashing method to control the people.

Any education should not only pursue high-end education, because human brains are inherently different. Some people's talents are suitable for research work, some people's talents are suitable for eighth-level workers, and some people are good at killing enemies in battle.

There are no useless people, only improperly employed people, this is Hong Tao's point of view. Therefore, how to let as many people as possible know their natural advantages and engage in related industries as much as possible is the true meaning of selecting talents through education, otherwise it is a waste.

And Hong Tao is not unfamiliar with, or even despises, the rule of using education as an excuse to brainwash and control the people, although this method has proven to be very effective in later generations. This is also one of his few bottom lines. He would rather travel in vain once than compromise.

(End of this chapter)