Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 46
Although everyone knows that literati are literati and civil servants are civil servants, the two are not the same concept.

However, when literati became officials, the two merged into one, and the results of civilian governance can be seen in the Song Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang did not want the Ming Dynasty to become the second Song Dynasty, nor did Zhu Di, and Zhu Gaoxu was even less willing.

Therefore, Ming Dynasty needs to reform the imperial examination!
Zhu Gaoxu had previously discussed reforming the imperial examination with Zhu Yuanzhang to achieve this goal, but at that time Zhu Yuanzhang felt that the time was not ripe.

In Zhu Gaoxu's view, civil servants are officials appointed by the court who are engaged in politics. Before becoming an official, they were literati. They could specialize in academic research, recruit apprentices and teach.

But once you become an official, you must act like an official, do your duties well, observe discipline, follow rules, and do not engage in politics in the manner of a scholar.

This kind of initiative can only be thought of by Zhu Gaoxu, a time traveler.

At this time, after Zhu Di spoke, everyone began to discuss the reform of the imperial examination.

Not long after, the conservatives came up with a rough idea, and then one of their representatives, Lian Zining, took the lead in speaking.

"Your Majesty, I believe that the status of imperial official schools in the countryside can be strengthened. For example, social studies, elementary school, and religious studies should be managed by dedicated personnel, and the scope of those who can enroll can be broadened, so that more young people can study nearby."

Seeing that Zhu Di was listening seriously, Lian Zining continued: "In this way, in a few years, there will be more and more scholars in the world who are qualified to participate in the imperial examination. The number of talents available to the court will also increase accordingly."

"I thought otherwise!"

As soon as Lian Zining finished speaking, someone loudly expressed his objection.

This person is Xie Jin, one of the representatives of the radicals.

"What is Xie Xue's opinion?" Zhu Di asked proactively.

Xie Jin was deeply appreciated by Zhu Di. At this moment, he bowed and bowed, and then said something respectfully.

"Your Highness, I believe that the old system can be abolished and a new policy can be established. That is to establish county-level academies under the direct control of the imperial court in every county in the country, and recruit a certain number of enlightened teenagers every year to study in the academy."

"This kind of young people will be trained for two to three years, and then they will be assessed. The best ones will be selected to enter the Imperial College to continue their studies, and finally take the imperial examination."

Hearing this, Zhu Di nodded.

According to Xie Jin's theory, in just two to three years, the imperial court would receive a large number of scholars who passed the imperial examination every year.

"I have another suggestion..."

Seeing Zhu Di nodding, Xie Jin was very encouraged and continued.

Zhu Di listened quietly, asked questions from time to time, and occasionally participated in everyone's discussions.

After more than an hour of discussion, Zhu Gaoxu discovered that a person who was supposed to be a conservative turned into a staunch radical. This person was Huang Zicheng, whose destiny was completely changed.

Since Huang Shi was a minister of the East Palace, according to the logic of one emperor and one minister, since the father and son of Prince Yiwen, Zhu Biao and Zhu Yunwen, had died of illness, he was likely to remain idle for the rest of his life and eventually be annihilated by everyone.

But no one expected that Zhu Gaoxu would speak for him.

"A scholar will die for his bosom friend" is a simple Chinese value since ancient times.

Huang Shi is a traditional scholar. He has been influenced and baptized by Confucianism since he was a child. Naturally, he must work hard to promote the reform of the imperial examination in order to repay Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Di behind Zhu Gaoxu.

It seems that he changed his family, but he was under the orders of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Only those who follow the emperor's orders are loyal ministers, even if they are foolishly loyal.Obviously, Huang Zicheng can be regarded as a loyal minister.

"My minister believes that the style of the imperial examination can be simplified and a fixed style can be used uniformly to allow students to adapt in advance and lower the threshold for the imperial examination."

Among the crowd, an official with a background of imperial examination and Jinshi said.

"This is also a good idea." Someone agreed.

Then many officials began to discuss the stylistic innovation of the imperial examination. They seemed to think that they could start improving and optimizing the imperial examination system.

In the first year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict to launch the imperial examination, which set clear requirements for the system and style. However, it did not mandate the use of a certain writing method, so it is not the beginning of the eight-legged essay.

In later generations, some people said that the eight-part essay began with Zhu Yuanzhang, which is pure nonsense.

Half an hour later, Zhu Di saw that the direction of everyone's discussion had deviated, so he deliberately guided him: "The little king wants to imitate the prosperous Tang Dynasty and teach a variety of common subjects to recruit scholars, such as martial arts, farming, arithmetic and other practical studies. "

He was probably worried that some officials wouldn't understand, so he went on to explain.

"Those who study martial arts and pass the imperial examination are considered military officials, join the army to defend the enemy and serve the country. Those who study agriculture and pass the imperial examination are considered agricultural officials and can be sent to counties and villages as agricultural officers to encourage farmers and mulberry trees. Promote agricultural affairs. Those who pass the imperial examination in Shushu are called Shushu examiners, and can be responsible for budgeting taxes, calculating property and other financial matters."

As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar at the scene.

Although the area of ​​Wenyuan Pavilion is not small, it accommodates nearly 20 people at this time, and the cumulative discussion of everyone makes it a bit noisy.

"Your Highness, if we increase the number of examination subjects in the imperial examination and open more subjects to obtain scholars, we can indeed recruit all kinds of talents for the imperial court. However, if we make such an innovation, it will be unfair. After all, students today all regard Confucian classics as their orthodoxy."

Just as the ministers were discussing, the leader of the conservatives, Zheng Yi, the Minister of Rites, raised his objection.

Huang Shi hurriedly expressed: "What Mr. Zheng said is reasonable, but I believe that if we want to achieve fairness, it is not impossible to achieve it. We only need to set up a transition period to allow scholars who study classics two to three years to adapt." .”

"How to implement it specifically?" Zhu Di asked.

Huang Shi bowed and saluted, and said respectfully: "Back to Your Highness, I feel that in the first year of the transition period, the number of candidates for new subjects can account for [-] to [-]% of the total number, and in the second year of the transition period, the number of candidates for new subjects can account for [-] to [-]% of the total number. [-]% to [-]%, and so on, until the proportion of scholars in each subject reaches the proportion predetermined by the court."

"This is a very good strategy!" Zhu Di couldn't help but praise.

After a pause, Zhu Di looked at Zheng Yi and said, "What do you think, Mr. Zheng?"

Zheng Yi cupped his hands and said: "Back to Your Highness, Academician Huang's proposal is indeed a good strategy. If it can be implemented, it can take into account both the old and new subjects. It is not only fair, but also very reasonable. The veteran agrees. However, the specific details of the proportion of new subjects to be admitted are formulated. , I believe that we should work together as a group and never work behind closed doors, otherwise we will chill the hearts of scholars all over the world."

"What Mr. Zheng said is the advice of an old man to seek the country. Xiao Wang has learned from it."

Zhu Di responded humbly.

After saying that, he stood up, looked around at everyone, and said loudly: "The little king still has something to report to His Majesty the Father. The specific regulations for the reform of the imperial examination will be continued by the prince and you."

Zhu Gaoxu immediately raised his hands and saluted the officials present.

"Congratulations to His Highness King Yan!"

All the ministers quickly stood up, bowed slightly, and respectfully sent Zhu Di off in unison.

PS: The next chapter will be around [-] o'clock tonight. Thank you for your recommendation votes!
(End of this chapter)