Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 281 The shortcomings of the letter cutting scheme

a few days later.

Three quarters of an hour.

Shuntian government office, back hall office room.

At this time, Wang Ji (Note 1), the Yin of Shuntian Prefecture who had just taken office in May this year, was reading various official documents issued by the imperial court.

"Master, Master Chen (Chen Xun) is here to visit."

Suddenly, there was a report from the clerk on duty outside the door.

When Wang Ji heard this, he frowned, thinking that he didn't seem to know Bachelor Chen, so he asked loudly: "Which Bachelor Chen? Can the person who comes here explain his purpose?"

The clerk outside the door said respectfully: "In reply to the master, Xueshie Chen said that he was specially ordered by His Majesty to visit officials above the fourth rank in Beijing. In my humble opinion, Xueshie Chen should be the scholar and scholar of the Hanlin Academy next to His Majesty. Chen Xun."

"Where is he now?" Wang Ji asked hurriedly.

He has been able to determine that the person coming is Chen Xun, the number one scholar in Yongle 17 years.

The clerk replied: "I have already invited Bachelor Chen to sit down in front of the stove in the living room and served him hot tea."

Wang Ji frowned, then stood up and said, "Follow me to see Scholar Chen."

After a while.

In the living room in the backyard of the government office.

After Wang Ji and Chen Xun greeted each other, they began a brief greeting.

Chen Xun looked at Wang Ji who was sitting upright, stroked his beard and praised: "I often hear people say that Fu Yin is good at riding and shooting, and is resolute and courageous. When I saw him today, Wang Fu Yin was indeed as good as the rumors, with a majestic appearance and majestic strength. , at first glance he is a general who has practiced martial arts and is proficient in military affairs."

Wang Ji responded to Chen Xun's compliment with a smile, and personally refilled a cup of hot tea for him, saying: "The number one scholar is overrated."

In fact, after he was transferred to the capital to serve as the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, although there was not an endless stream of officials who came to visit him, they were not a few.

Wang Ji was born in the 11th year of Hongwu. At the age of 13, he entered the county to study as a student. Later, he was recommended by the county school and entered Jinling Changke Academy in the early years of Yongle. In the eighth year of Yongle, he passed the imperial examination and passed the imperial examination. In the matter.

Soon after, he also held the post of inspector censor and was ordered to inspect drought-stricken Shanxi. After learning about the suffering of the local people, he reported to the court, hoping to exempt Yanchi's arrears of more than [-] shi in taxes.

At that time, Zhu Di considered the actual situation and approved what Wang Ji proposed.

In this way, Wang Ji jumped from an unknown ordinary official to a high-ranking official in the hearts of Shanxi people, and thus gained the attention of Zhu Gaoxu.

At that time, Yingtian Mansion was short of a Prime Minister, and the affairs were urgent and complicated. Zhu Gaoxu sent Wang Ji to act as his agent, and he completed these official affairs very quickly.

Zhu Gaoxu thought that Wang Ji was very efficient and upright, so he asked Zhu Di to transfer Wang Ji to serve in the Metropolitan Procuratorate (Beiping), and later promoted him to deputy envoy of the Shanxi Procuratorate.

In May of the first year of Qianxi, Zhu Gaoxu used Lu Zhen's case to make personnel adjustments to the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers. Gu Zuo, the former Yin of Shuntian Prefecture, was promoted to the censor of Youdu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Wang Jishou, who was the deputy envoy of the Shanxi Procuratorate at the time, He was called to Beijing and served as the Yin of Shuntian Prefecture.

It can be said that the current Wang Ji is just like Gu Zuo who succeeded Xiang Bao as the Yin of Yingtian Palace. They are both important ministers of Zhu Gaoxu, Emperor Qianxi of the Ming Dynasty.

"My coming to visit Wang Fuyin this time is indeed under His Majesty's order."

Chen Xun saw that Wang Ji was not a talkative person. After a moment of silence, he got straight to the point: "The "Chinese Alphabet Cutting Plan" announced by the Ministry of Rites in Di Bao has far-reaching influence. Your Majesty has specially ordered me to visit some people who are above the fourth rank in Beijing. Officials, I would like to learn more about your colleagues’ views on this plan.”

The Chinese Qieyin (Pinyin) scheme announced by the Ministry of Rites was developed on the basis of the past Zhiyin, Fanqie and various Qieyin schemes.

This plan is more complete than the original Latin alphabet pinyin plan devised by Zhu Gaoxu himself.

In addition to the content of the plan itself, the plan also has two additional provisions.

First, determine the subordinate status of Chinese characters and diaphragm letters.

Chinese diaphragm letters are not words, but just a tool to assist Chinese characters.

Only Chinese characters are the authentic and legal official text of the Ming Dynasty, while the Chinese characters are not legal texts.Therefore, Qiaoxin letters are not on an equal footing with Chinese characters. Qieyin letters are subordinate to Chinese characters. They cannot replace Chinese characters, nor are they a new type of writing.

As an effective tool to assist learning Chinese, Chinese characters and promote Mandarin, the Ministry of Rites will further promote and expand the scope of its use. However, it is not an alphabetic text that replaces Chinese characters. It will only be used in places where Chinese characters are inconvenient or cannot be used.

Second, it is stipulated that all kinds of books and publications use alphabetical sounds.

Beginning in March of the second year of Qianxi, all Chinese textbooks in primary schools (compulsory schools) in counties and counties across the country used the Chinese alphabet to notate Chinese characters.

Middle school (county school) textbooks, popular books, and various literacy textbooks also use Chinese alphabetic notation.

"Jingshi Xunbao" and "Jinling Xunbao" use Chinese diaphragm letters to notate rare and difficult-to-read characters.

Since then, Chinese books and periodicals published all over the world will have the title of the book or journal in Chinese transliterated on the cover, front page, back cover, or copyright page.

The Printing and Printing Department will spend two to three years successively publishing Mandarin textbooks, reading materials, and word lists that use the Chinese alphabet to promote the promotion and popularization of Mandarin.

"Although I am a Jinshi in the martial arts department, I am a real Jinshi, so I know that the alphabetical pronunciation plan has a huge impact on Shilin."

Wang Ji said with a solemn expression: "This plan is enough to enable an eight-year-old child who cannot read Chinese characters to learn hundreds of common Chinese characters in just one year. It can be said that the value of this plan is like that of papermaking and Engraving and printing are of great benefit to the continuation of Chinese civilization."

Having said this, he stood up and bowed: "Forgive me for my limited knowledge. I really don't know how to evaluate this plan. Please forgive me."

"The governor's reaction is similar to that of most officials in the capital, so I'm not surprised."

Chen Xun quickly helped Wang Ji up and sighed, "But I feel sorry for Wang Fuyin."

Wang Ji suddenly became energetic and said: "Why did Duke Zhuangyuan say this?"

"His Majesty once praised Wang Fuyin as an upright person. If His Majesty learns that Wang Fuyin actually has no objection to the letter cutting plan, I am afraid he will be a little disappointed."

Chen Xun didn't hide it, took a sip of hot tea, and said bluntly: "Prince Fu Yin is a smart man. His Majesty asked me to interview officials above the fourth rank in Beijing to understand the views of my colleagues on the sound of letters. Apparently, I have noticed It solves the shortcomings of the letter-sounding scheme."

"Thank you, Bachelor Chen, for the tip."

Wang Ji immediately bowed and saluted.

Chen Xun smiled slightly and said, "Would you please give me some advice?"

"The Number One Scholar is a shameful person!"

Wang Ji added some hot water to Chen Xun again and said: "If I have to comment on the letter pronunciation plan announced by the Ministry of Rites, I think the pronunciation of the letters should be unified."

"I would like to hear the details." Chen Xun answered.

Wang Ji said unhurriedly: "My second son Wang Ying studied at Beiping Science Academy. He left the academy according to His Majesty's order and went to the mountains and countryside to fulfill his order. In the process of teaching literacy to the people, he discovered his The students all read the pronunciation of the name of the diaphragm letters in different ways."

"Some people pronounce it according to the pronunciation of the name, some people pronounce it according to the Latin alphabet name, and some people pronounce it according to the initial consonant pronunciation (that is, a pronunciation method used by teachers when teaching). In short, it is quite confusing."

"I have reason to believe that even if the Ministry of Rites announces a definite version of the phonetic alphabet plan, in actual teaching, there will be very few people who can actually read the pronunciation of the letters according to the plan. After all, the Ming Dynasty has a vast territory and the accents of the north and south The difference is huge.”

Chen Xun nodded and said, "What the Governor said makes sense. I wonder if you have any suggestions?"

"Obviously, the plan announced by the Ministry of Rites needs to be adjusted in terms of the pronunciation regulations for letter cut sounds, otherwise it will be difficult to adapt to the accent differences between the north and the south."

Wang Ji thought for a while and gave his answer, saying: "I think it is not difficult to solve this problem. Either use the common pronunciation of the Latin letters of the Western countries, or learn from "Guangyun" (Note 2) or "Hongwu". "Zhengyun" selects the phonetic characters corresponding to the diaphragm letters, and the pronunciation of this character shall prevail."

"This insight points out the shortcomings of the current letter-sounding scheme!"

Chen Xun's eyes lit up at first, and he sighed, and then he praised without hesitation: "Prince Fu Yin is really good at both civil and military affairs, I really admire him!"

Note 1: Wang Ji made his first appearance in Chapter 93 of this book.He was a famous general in the Zhengtong period of the Ming Dynasty, and was named Jingyuan Bo for his military merits. In the history of the Ming Dynasty, there were only three civil servants who were awarded titles for their military merits, and Wang Ji was one of them. The other two were named Weining during the Chenghua period. During the reign of Wang Yue and Jiajing, he was named Wang Shouren of Xinjian Bo.

Note 2: "Guangyun" is the name of a book. Its full name is "Revisiting Guangyun in the Song Dynasty". It is the first official rhyme book in China. It became the supreme pronunciation that must be followed in the minds of the literati at that time. Model; rhyme book is mainly written to distinguish and specify the correct pronunciation of words, and belongs to the scope of phonology materials; at the same time, it has explanations of word meanings and records of fonts, and can also function as a dictionary and dictionary.

(End of this chapter)