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Chapter 833: Taking Action on Education
Although these bad guys are dead and there is no way to verify why they tampered with history, we must not let rumors spread any more. So the emperor decided to open a university in the capital to collect, organize, study and restore the essence of ancient sages' thoughts, and call on people of insight to actively participate in rectifying the chaos and carrying forward the past.

This was a lively scene, more lively than any other year in the Jingyang Dynasty. From the court to the people, people were arguing, quarreling, and even verbally abusing each other over this article.

In the past, no matter how the court fought for power and profit, everyone's ideological system was still the same, and no matter who won or lost, they could not jump out of the circle. But what Emperor Jingyang wanted to do was to fire at the cultural roots, pointing the spearhead directly at Dong Zhongshu, and he was just short of saying that Zhu Xi and Cheng Yixue and Confucianism were a disaster for the country and the people.

As the saying goes, it is easy to change a country but difficult to change one’s nature. The value system that a person has been instilled with since childhood is difficult to change. Not only is it difficult to change, but it also has a strong aura of thorns that cannot be touched.

But no matter how difficult it is, there is a limit. When a more powerful entity appears, the difficulty will change accordingly.

This is the situation now. If another emperor said this, I guess all the civil and military officials in the court would be excited and united in hatred of the enemy. They would not be satisfied until they issued an edict of repentance and killed a few favorite ministers.

However, facing Emperor Jingyang, no one from the court to the people dared to act rashly. Those scenes and bloody lessons seemed to have happened just yesterday. If they didn't want to have their entire family confiscated and forced to do hard labor, and then be described in the newspapers as worse than pigs and dogs and infamous for eternity, they could only give up their evil thoughts.

But it was not to the extent that no one dared to speak, because Emperor Jing had not yet killed anyone for honest advice, and he even said that he would set up a university for special discussion.

Scholars are most familiar with and most enthusiastic about wielding a pen, so go ahead. If you slander the teachings of the saints in the newspapers, we will also write articles to refute you without naming you.

You can hold group discussions and research in universities, and we can also gather together in colleges to study. Let's fight with words instead of fighting with fists, and see who is right in the end!

Facing the public outcry, Ye Xianggao was under the greatest pressure. As an official, he could make a memorial, and although he did not dare to scold the emperor directly, he dared to indirectly scold him as a traitor and a traitor who did not play a good role by staying by the emperor's side.

It was not right for this cabinet chief minister, who was born as a great scholar, to refute or not to refute, so he could only come to the emperor with a pile of memorials to complain. By the way, the emperor was reminded that the general staff was not the chief of staff, and the army and navy could not help either.

"Whoever is right is right. It is very difficult to convince an adult to completely change his mind with reason. Even if we argue about this for a hundred years, there will be no final conclusion."

"…But, but if this continues, it will definitely damage your Majesty's reputation and cause division among the court officials. We cannot turn a blind eye to this."

Seeing that the emperor didn't seem to take it seriously at all, Ye Xianggao was really anxious. After being the chief minister of the cabinet for so many years, he was inseparable from Emperor Jingyang, and they rose and fell together.

"It's rare that you value my reputation so much. In this case, I'll let you run the university. In addition to studying whether the teachings of the saints should keep pace with the times, you can also teach some students.

The textbooks, teachers, and students are all ready. You just need to manage the operation of the university and not let it be influenced by various parties. After three to five years, it may be clear who is right and who is wrong. "

You are worried about your future, right? You are afraid that you will be the loser if the emperor falls, right? Then don't just talk about it, but make real efforts. Hong Tao happened to have a job arranged, to run an experimental science university and start training more professional talents for the country.

The original plan was to let Ma Jinglun do it. The academy he had built in Tongzhou was quite good. It had developed more than 300 students and was the most advanced one in the emerging new academic system. Its reputation spread throughout the country.

However, if one wanted to use universities and the imperial examination system to compete, Ma Jinglun had enough reputation but his strength was somewhat weak. It would be difficult for him to protect the university from being affected by relying solely on his own energy and influence.

This is when Ye Xianggao came into play. Since the establishment of the General Staff, the workload of the Cabinet Grand Secretaries was cut in half. It cannot be said that he was just a figurehead, but he was also a bit of a decoration.

Adhering to the principle of "use waste when you are idle", Hong Tao decided to let these university scholars make use of their spare time in the field of education. They are not needed for teaching and educating people, but they are enough to protect the university from wind and rain. Why a science university? It's very simple. Hong Tao has no talents in literature and history, and he himself knows very little about the humanities. It is a sheer blunder to want to compete with contemporary great scholars in the attainments of classics and history, which will only bring shame to oneself.

Moreover, the knowledge of contemporary great scholars is not completely useless. At least in terms of literature, history, and art, they are not backward. It is just that they are somewhat stagnant in philosophical thought. There is no need to completely overthrow it. Through practice and constant debate and discussion, it is entirely possible to heal itself.

"...I wonder where the teachers and students Your Majesty mentioned come from? What are the textbooks?"

Ye Xianggao was not opposed to concurrently managing the university. Unlike later generations, officials in the Ming Dynasty still attached great importance to learning. Although he was the chief minister of the cabinet, the head of the academy did not humiliate his status, but on the contrary improved it.

But to open a college or university, it is useless to have a high official position. If you cannot invite famous scholars to take charge, you will not be able to attract students who are eager to learn. If there are only a few people, it will be a big joke.

"I will assign the courtyard on the north side of the Ten Princes' Palace to you, and I will dispatch several well-read people from the Imperial College and the Hanlin Academy to assist you. First, arrange the school, dormitories, food and accommodation, and the students and teachers will naturally report there. You don't have to worry about the textbooks. I have already asked the Secretariat and the Taoist Scripture Factory to speed up the printing, so there will be no delay."

Hong Tao deliberately kept the secret and did not inform the students and teachers of their origins in advance. By the time Ye Xianggao had prepared the university, the news had spread and it was too late to get away.

Because there were no teachers or students at all! That’s not right. It’s not that there were no teachers or students, but that they did not have the qualifications to be teachers and students in traditional academies.

The university teachers were all technical masters in their respective fields, such as Xu Guangqi, Wang Zheng, Li Zhizao, Li Tianjing, Gao Bao, and Xiong Sanba, as well as staff officers with strong theoretical foundations in the army and navy.

The students are technicians and middle-level officers from all walks of life. They cannot improve quickly through practice alone, so they must calm down and supplement some theoretical knowledge, and then return to their jobs to gradually understand and digest the theories they have mastered through continuous practice and elevate to a higher level.

As for the textbooks, in addition to the theoretical essences summarized from various industries in recent years, they are mainly logic, advanced mathematics, calculus, analytic geometry, solid geometry, chemistry, and physics courses compiled by Hong Tao himself based on his memory.

Logic is used to train independent thinking ability and is the foundation of science. When the things to be studied become complex to a certain extent, it is no longer possible to make progress by relying solely on practical summaries. At this time, higher mathematics is needed as a tool. To study higher mathematics, one must master logic.

Could the ancients learn these courses? Hong Tao is very sure that as long as they lay a good foundation, the ancients were no less intelligent than modern people. But how many people can expand and sublimate to a higher level after mastering these courses is really impossible to estimate at present.

Even with the Haihu Division and the new schools that have been opened one after another as basic education, the number of graduates each year does not exceed a few thousand. Among these thousands of people, a number of the best are selected to continue their studies in university, and it is estimated that there are only about a hundred people.

The probability of cultivating talented inventors and scientists who have received relevant training with such a small student base is not much different from buying lottery tickets.

Fortunately, Hong Tao is not in a hurry to produce talents, and he still has many years to wait. In the past ten years, universities have only been training engineers with certain professional theoretical knowledge and practical experience, focusing on practicality rather than theoretical research.

At the same time, university education is also quietly digging the roots of the imperial examination system, giving new students a path to rise, thereby attracting more students. When the scale of universities can keep pace with the imperial examination system, it is possible to produce a few geniuses.

In another thirty years, I will be only in my sixties or seventies, just past adolescence. By then, at least two generations of imperial examination officials will have passed, and the internal pressure will be much smaller. In general, the environment will get better and better, which is still worth looking forward to.

(End of this chapter)