Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 100 Loopholes in the Imperial Examination Reform
"Kang Ping, call the Minister of Household Affairs, Xia Yuanji, to come see me."

Zhu Gaoxu ordered Kang Ping.

"My servant accepts the order." Kang Ping said respectfully.

After Kang Ping left, Zhu Gaoxu glanced at Mei Yin and saw a sad look on the latter's face.

He thought for a moment and then said comfortingly: "Uncle, don't worry too much. You have to eat one bite at a time and do everything one by one. I will try my best to solve the problem of too few school-age children in school."

"Your Highness the Crown Prince is kind, and I would like to thank you on behalf of those poor children!"

Mei Yin knelt down and saluted excitedly.

"Uncle, you don't have to be like this. Let as many school-age children enter school as possible just to implement the new imperial examination policy of the imperial court. Since I am the deputy governor of the country, it is my duty to share the worries of my father, the emperor."

There was no one else in the study at this time. Zhu Gaoxu didn't want to continue to act like the crown prince. He quickly got up and walked around the desk, came to the hall and helped Mei Yin up.

"Your Highness is kind and filial, and I admire you greatly!"

Mei Yin stood up and then bowed and stepped aside.

After a while, Xia Yuanji was ordered to come to the study.

"Meet Your Royal Highness."

Xia Yuanji bowed his head and said.

"Flat body."

Zhu Gaoxu raised his hand and said.

"Does Minister Xia know how private lending has been managed in the past dynasties?"

After Xia Yuanji stood up, Zhu Gaoxu continued.

Xia Yuanji lowered his head and thought for a while, and then said respectfully: "His Royal Highness, private lending is a common phenomenon. Because of its certain harmfulness, private lending has been legislatively controlled by all dynasties."

"Tell me carefully."

Zhu Gaoxu said with a solemn expression.

He has long planned to take action against private lending, and now he is taking advantage of the fact that there are too few school-age children in school to attack those who lend money maliciously.

Of course, it would be best to take the opportunity to urge the court to legislate and establish a new yamen to take charge of this matter. At the worst, it would be possible to persuade Zhu Di to order the existing relevant agencies to specifically manage private lending.

Knowing oneself and knowing the enemy is the only way to win a hundred battles.

If Zhu Gaoxu wants to have an in-depth understanding of private lending, Xia Yuanji, a famous financial minister in the history of the Ming Dynasty, is his best candidate.

"Your Highness, all dynasties have controlled private lending from three aspects."

"The first is to set the upper limit for private lending interest rates."

"At the end of Emperor Jing's reign in the former Han Dynasty, in order to limit excessive interest rates on money lending, the imperial court stipulated that the maximum interest rate on money lending should not exceed 20% (i.e. 6%), and levied a loan tax of [-]% on [-] on the interest earned from money lending. (i.e. [-]%). In addition, those who have excessive interest rates or evade paying taxes will be punished regardless of whether they are officials or civilians."

"In the 16th year of Kaiyuan of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Xuanzong issued an edict stipulating that 'it is appropriate to collect only four cents of profits for the world's responsibilities, and five cents for official capital.' The Song Dynasty inherited the law of the Tang Dynasty, and set a monthly interest rate of four cents as the maximum interest rate limit. Emperor Taizu of this dynasty stated in " It is said in "Da Gao": 'From now on, the interest on money lending shall not exceed three points.'"

"The second is to limit the total amount of interest."

"Since the Northern Wei Dynasty, the imperial court has issued an order prohibiting 'taking interest over the principal'. By the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the laws all stipulated that 'no matter how many days are accumulated, it cannot be doubled'. The same is true in this dynasty. This purpose is to prevent private lending Become a 'loan shark'."

"Third, it is forbidden to use returns as a basis to avoid a snowballing increase in borrowing costs."

"The laws of the Tang Dynasty prohibited this. Emperor Taizu of this dynasty also said: 'If there are overdue years and endless calculations, you will be punished.' In addition, the Han Dynasty levied taxes on the principal of usury. "

"The above are the details that I know about the control of private lending in previous dynasties."

Zhu Gaoxu said "hmm", thought for a moment, and then asked: "I remember that Wang Anshi in the Song Dynasty stipulated in the 'Green Miao Law' that the yamen would lend money to farmers to protect them from the exploitation of loan sharks. Does Xia Shilang know the reason for this? Couldn’t it last?”

Xia Yuanji was stunned when he was asked. Even though he was well versed in the financial allusions of past dynasties, he did not understand the practical problem of social funds being in short supply.

He pondered for a long time and tried to analyze: "Perhaps it is because the usurers are all local forces with strong financial resources, and these local forces may have colluded with local officials, which ultimately made the 'Green Crops Law' a dead letter?"

Just as Xia Yuanji finished speaking, Kang Ping's warning sounded outside the door. "Your Highness, Fang Xiaoru, cabinet advisor and doctor of literature and history from Jinling Academy of Sciences, is asking for an audience outside the palace?"

"See."

Zhu Gaoxu said loudly.

After saying that, he waved Xia Yuanji to retreat, and then rubbed his sore temples.

In Zhu Gaoxu's opinion, the fact that Fang Xiaoru came to see him again must be related to the enrollment of new students at Jinling Academy. If his guess was correct, it should be a woman who came to enroll with a letter of recommendation.

"Meet Your Royal Highness."

Fang Xiaoru walked into the study and bowed.

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Pingshen."

"Your Highness, there is a woman who wants to apply for the post of Professor of Physics at Jinling Normal University." Fang Xiaoru said respectfully.

Zhu Gaoxu said very calmly: "Tell me this person's name, place of origin, and his apprenticeship."

Fang Xiaoru turned his head slightly and looked at Mei Yin beside him. Seeing the latter shaking his head slightly, he couldn't help but look bitter.

Mei Yin, like Fang Xiaoru, found that Prince Zhu Gaoxu didn't react at all with surprise. He looked calm and composed as if he had expected that a woman would want to join Jinling Academy as a professor.

Fang Xiaoru had no choice but to tell the truth: "Back to Your Highness, this woman's surname is Zheng and her given name is Xiaojun. She is 27 years old. She is from Pujiang County, Jinhua Prefecture. She once studied Confucianism and regular script with her grandfather Song Zan."

"Who is Song Zan?" Zhu Gaoxu asked unhurriedly.

"Your Highness, Song Zan is the eldest son of the family master." Fang Xiaoru said with an embarrassed look on his face.

Zhu Gaoxu just noticed that Fang Xiaoru and Mei Yin looked at each other, but he didn't expect that this was the reason.

The "teacher" Fang Xiaoru refers to is Song Lian, who was praised by Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, as "the first civil servant in the founding of the country".

"Well, what's so special about Zheng Xiaojun?"

Zhu Gaoxu no longer struggled with Zheng Xiaojun's master Song Zan, but directly asked about Zheng Xiaojun's situation.

Fang Xiaoru said respectfully: "Your Highness, Zheng Xiaojun has studied the Mo Jing for more than ten years and is good at making ingenious things."

"Did she bring any inventions or creations with her when she came here?"

Zhu Gaoxu suddenly became interested and asked quickly.

Fang Xiaoru replied: "Back to Your Highness, Zheng Xiaojun has brought three ingenious things. One is a small machine lock, the other is a model of a four-wheel chain cart, and the third is a model of a large spinning wheel."

Zhu Gaoxu was extremely excited when he heard this, but his face was calm as usual.

He knew that Fang Xiaoru did not dare and would not lie. Zheng Xiaojun would definitely make these three objects, otherwise she would not have made a model to prove her dexterity.

"First recruit this person into the academy, give him a probation for three months, observe his performance, and then decide whether he should stay or go. What does Dr. Fang think?"

Zhu Gaoxu thought for a moment and said.

Fang Xiaoru bowed and said, "I have no objection."

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Mei Yin and asked, "What do you think of Dr. Mei?"

"I second the proposal," Mei Yin said respectfully.

"In addition, if you meet a woman who comes to enroll with a letter of recommendation, she will be admitted to the academy first."

Zhu Gaoxu pondered for a moment and then said: "I will ask the Ministry of Industry to send people to the academy today to select a site to build a new school building for women and a toilet for women."

Now that the loopholes in the imperial examination reform have been exposed, he must find a way to plug this hole.

"Your Highness, if you accept a woman to study at Jinling Academy, there may be something wrong." Fang Xiaoru stopped talking.

Zhu Gaoxu asked rhetorically: "Since we can select women with professional talents as professors, why can't we accept women with both good character and academic skills as students?"

PS: Thank you for your support!I will continue to work hard!
(End of this chapter)