The Six Arts of the Gentleman in the Bright Moon of Qin Dynasty

Chapter 560: The Attention of Yushan Academy [Subscription*Monthly Ticket Request]

It's a pity that it's still a step too late.

The reason why Taoists are rich is that they target high-end clients who want to live forever.

For ordinary people, having two meals a day is a luxury, let alone talking about immortality.

Therefore, all of Taoism’s clients are kings, princes, generals and ministers.

The same is true of Confucianism.

Who in an average family can afford to support a full-time student?
Confucianism is in charge of written classics, and written knowledge is a means for the powerful to control the people.

Therefore, Confucianism actually represents the powerful and the wealthy.

Even among the Mohist school, the disciples had the humblest origins, but they were all skilled craftsmen.

Therefore, among all the schools of thought, in fact none of them was poor.

The reason why Fu Nian and Yan Lu were ordered to win over Li Mu was because of the strategic knowledge of military tactics that Li Mu possessed.

Once Li Mu wrote his books, Confucianists provided for his retirement.

When Li Mu passed away, two copies of his military tactics would be left behind, one for Li Mu's descendants, and the other for Confucianists to find a suitable person to inherit.

This is also a disguised form of monopoly of knowledge inheritance.

It was impossible to truly popularize knowledge throughout the feudal dynasty, or even in any era.

The knowledge that can be popularized is actually only relative.

The most elite, core and advanced knowledge is always in the hands of the upper class.

The only way for ordinary people to get it is to become powerful.

Yan Yan has already traded the papermaking technique to the Qin State, and Bingzhou has also mastered it, but has it been popularized in classics by now?

not at all!
It’s not that Qin was unwilling to pass on knowledge, but that ordinary people simply could not train a full-time learner.

Both Qin and Bingzhou were short of population.

If a middle-class family wants to cultivate a full-time learner, they can only have one child. Otherwise, even a middle-class family cannot afford to have several children.

Papermaking has always existed. Cai Lun simply improved the technique and made paper cheaper.

But Cai Lun was a person from the Eastern Han Dynasty. Even in the Republic of China, Mr. Chen, a local gentry in Guangdong and Guangxi, was not able to use paper freely when he was young. He had to use low-quality paper and porridge water to practice writing.

After all, productivity can't keep up.

The cost of training a full-time learner far exceeds the burden of an ordinary family.

The concept of scholar in later generations is that of a poor scholar.

So what is a scholar?
The ancient imperial examination was divided into three levels: provincial examination, metropolitan examination, and palace examination. Only those who passed the provincial examination could be called a scholar.

Taking the Ming Dynasty as an example, the imperial examination was held every three years, and the provincial examinations were also based on the population ratio of each province, and only more than a thousand people were selected.

This shows how scarce scholars are. However, even such talents would be reduced to being called poor.

Are they really poor?

Not really, if it weren't for studying, they could have lived better than any other common people.

However, because of studying, many of them even exhausted the resources of an entire village or clan.

That's why they are called poor.

This was the case even in the Ming Dynasty, let alone the Warring States Period two thousand years ago.

Even Yan Yan, who came from later generations, knew very well that many people also needed loans in order to go to college.

If you want to study for a master's or doctoral degree, it is not something that an average family can afford.

So, this gave rise to a term, the limitations of history.

It’s not that the people in power at the time didn’t want to, but that social productivity couldn’t keep up.

Although Bingzhou vigorously promoted local schools, all they could teach was simple literacy.

If you want to gain more knowledge of the scriptures, it is not something that an average family can afford.

Writing brushes, inkstones, and teachers of classics are all huge burdens. Why is military merit the only way for ordinary people to get promoted?

This is because only those who have achieved great military merit are qualified to become a non-productive person, because they no longer need to engage in production, pay taxes, or serve in the military.

Only by achieving a higher title would they have enough time and money to study.

And it is also the fourth level among the twenty levels of military merit titles.

If converted into military merit, it means that they have to behead fifty people!

The twenty levels of military merit titles can actually be divided into four categories: scholar, official, minister, and marquis.

Not changing is the ceiling for scholars.

This means that until their titles are renewed, scholars still need to perform corvee labor and military service.

From a scholar to an official, it is not just about beheading, but also about a great military victory.

This is not something that anyone can change, not even Yan Yan or Ying Zheng can change this situation.

The true inheritance of knowledge is in the hands of the political elite and various schools of thought.

When Yan Yan left Yushan Academy, he was able to take away the "Book of Changes", which was considered a very ordinary thing in later generations.

But in this era, it is like when you graduate, your teachers give you hundreds of millions of start-up funds.

This is also the reason why Yan Yan respects Yushan Academy very much.

This is also the reason why Xiaoshengxianzhuang wanted to invite Li Mu.

As long as Li Mu is willing to go, they can provide him with all kinds of life assistance, and even arrange someone to help Li Mu complete his theories.

This is a sure-fire investment.

Not only did he inherit Li Mu's legacy, but he also increased the heritage of Xiao Shengxian Manor.

As its foundation increases, Xiaoshengxianzhuang's status in Confucianism will also improve, and its voice in various countries will become stronger.

It’s a pity that Li Mu chose Yushan Academy.

So, after getting Li Mu's intention.

The students of Yushan Academy who were away from home also sent the message to Yushan Academy as soon as possible.

The new academic supervisor and chief academic officer of Yushan Academy even went to Handan in person to welcome Li Mu.

"General, is there anything you are reluctant to leave?" The new director and chief academic officer of Yushan Academy personally accompanied Li Mu back to his hometown in Bairen.

Li Mu looked at his house, which was empty.

Bingzhou really moved his entire family away for him, which meant that the graves could not be moved easily. Otherwise, Li Mu had no doubt that Yan Yan would order even their ancestral graves to be moved.

"Gone!" Li Mu turned around and touched the old tree in the courtyard where he grew up, then shook his head.

The new chief priest and the school supervisor looked at Li Mu's actions and glanced at each other.

The chief priest accompanied Li Mu on the carriage heading south to Yushan Academy.

"You, carefully remove every brick and tile from this place and tear it down."

"Also, find a few gardeners to dig up this apricot tree and carefully return it to Yushan Academy."

"This school supervisor has only one request, that everything be rebuilt in Yushan intact!"

The school supervisor gave the order seriously.

What does it mean to attach importance?

This is called attention!
Since General Li Mu is reluctant to let go, it doesn’t matter. I, Yushan, will just move the entire Li family mansion in Bairen to Yushan Academy in its original form.

How could these trivial matters disturb General Li Mu from writing books?

"Also, that old dog at the entrance of the village, General Li Mu seems to like it very much, remember to take it with you when you leave!"

The school supervisor walked around Kashiwa City, wondering if there was anything he had forgotten.

(End of this chapter)