The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 456 Figure it out
Stop the imperial examination?
Chen Jingke once again marveled at Empress Ma's wisdom. This move was brilliant.

It directly grasps the lifeline of scholars.

Moreover, this was not the first time that Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the imperial examination system. Abolishing it a second time would only take a word.

"We can also put the blame for the suspension of the imperial examination on Neo-Confucianism."

"When they started to protect the Kong family, they took the opportunity to suspend the imperial examinations on the grounds that they were hypocritical, disrespectful of the emperor's orders, had questionable moral character, and were not worthy of being reused."

Old Zhu laughed and said, "This is a brilliant move, sister. It not only creates momentum, but also divides the School of Principle from within."

"It can also make non-Confucian scholars hate Neo-Confucianism together."

"By that time, the people of the world will collectively denounce Neo-Confucianism, and will not blame the imperial court."

Not all scholars are followers of Confucianism, there are also Legalists, Military Strategists, etc.

There are also many famous people who combine the strengths of various schools of thought, such as Ye Dui in those days.

Everything was going well, but suddenly the imperial examination was abolished. Do you think they hated Neo-Confucianism?

Even within Confucianism, there is not only Neo-Confucianism, but many different schools of thought.

It’s just that science is the most widely spread.

There has always been competition between schools of thought. Now that Neo-Confucianism has caused everyone to lose their official positions, other Confucian schools will only hate Neo-Confucianism even more.

Moreover, even within the Neo-Confucian school, not all people are corrupt scholars. Many people are not interested in the Confucius family.

But the general situation was such that they did not dare to show it.

The court's current interconnected plans will inevitably intensify these contradictions and cause internal division.

And don’t forget, many people don’t fight back when they are beaten, but instead reflect on themselves.

Such people are not uncommon in ancient and modern times, both in China and abroad.

What's more, Confucianism itself emphasizes principles and ethics, and many people have the idea of ​​loyalty to the emperor.

For a minister to offend his king is itself a violation of Confucian teachings.

Now that the imperial court has launched a series of attacks on Confucius and Confucianism with legitimate reasons, some people are bound to reflect.

The result was a split within Confucianism.

Chen Jingke and Zhu Xiongying were also convinced after hearing this. She was indeed worthy of being Empress Ma.

Who can withstand this series of moves?

Suspension of the imperial examination system not only struck a blow to Confucianism, but also put the power to appoint and dismiss officials back in the hands of the court.

During the imperial examination period, the selection of officials relied more on the system.

You can become an official only if you pass the exam, otherwise you cannot become an official.

Now that the imperial examination is gone, who can become an official and who cannot is just a matter of a word from the imperial court, right?
Of course, the prerequisite is that the emperor must hold great power. If a monarch in the middle or late period of a dynasty does this, it will definitely form aristocratic family.

Obviously, the current Ming Dynasty can do this.

Chen Jingke said: "Duke Hanguo is still strong and vigorous at old age. He has raised the banner of Legalism again. Now Legalism has many disciples."

"Before, Confucian scholars excluded mathematics, which led to the formation of its own school of mathematics."

"After these years of development, the mathematics system has also cultivated a large number of talents."

"The Prince's plan to pacify the people has also trained a large number of talents in the army."

"These people may not be good at learning, but they can read and understand reason, so they can be appointed as county magistrates."

"So in the short term, the court is not short of talent, and suspending the imperial examination is indeed a way to cut off the source of the problem."

Ma Niangniang reminded: "That being said, the township and county magistrates are also local officials, in charge of the lives and deaths of thousands of households."

"Many factors need to be considered during the selection process."

Lao Zhu said: "We know about this matter... Well, let Xiongying handle it."

"We will be responsible for killing the enemy at the front, and Xiongying will be responsible for reconstruction."

In fact, this is an opportunity for Zhu Xiongying to build up his power.

There will definitely be a major reshuffle of the officialdom this time. Zhu Xiongying is in charge of this matter, so all the officials selected will be considered his people.

By then, his control over the country will surpass Zhu Biao and be second only to Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding monarch.

Even if Lao Zhu is gone, no one can cause trouble.

"As for Jing Ke... don't do anything."

"Take the people to honestly formulate a national plan, and then take advantage of the last bit of time to perfect the world of great harmony."

Chen Jingke was about to retort, how could I just ignore such a big thing?

Madam Ma agreed and said, "Your Majesty is right."

"It was the imperial court that chose you and the Great Harmony World, not you and the imperial court that suppressed Confucianism together."

“It’s important to remember this.”

"So you can't get involved in this matter. At least you have to be clean on the surface."

If it was a normal academic dispute, it would be normal to join forces with the court to suppress other schools of thought.

But the measures this time will be unusually drastic, and it is foreseeable that historical evaluations will also be polarized.

If Chen Jingke was involved, there would be a lot of bad comments about him.

Since he is now being promoted to a 'saint', it is not appropriate for him to participate directly.

To put it bluntly, now we need to create a "godhood" for him.

There may be flaws in some minor details, which makes people feel that he is real.

There must be no problems with justice.

Otherwise, not only himself, but also his world of great harmony will be criticized.

It will have extremely adverse effects on himself, the world of great harmony, and the transformation of the Ming Dynasty.

Chen Jingke naturally understood this truth, and was deeply moved by the old couple's protection of him.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty...you have been so kind to me. I really don't know how to repay you."

Old Zhu was very happy, but he said with disdain:
"You are already grown up, stop acting like a child."

Ma Niangniang smiled and patted his head, saying kindly:

"You were only twelve years old when you first entered the palace. You were still a child."

"It's no exaggeration to say that I watched you grow up."

"In my heart, you are my child."

"Don't think that His Majesty doesn't say it, what he hates most in his heart is that you don't have the surname Zhu."

"He told me more than once that if the Chen family had two sons, he would snatch you away and change your surname to Zhu."

Lao Zhu said uncomfortably: "When did we say this? Don't talk nonsense."

Zhu Xiongying rolled his eyes and said, "Although we are not blood relatives, our relationship is better than that of blood relatives."

"Besides, his child has Zhu family blood."

"When his daughter marries my son in the future, the Zhu family will also have the blood of the Chen family, and the two families will be one family."

Old Zhu instantly forgot what he just said and said with a smile: "My dear grandson, what you said makes sense. Hehe... I hope to hear good news next year."

What else could Chen Jingke say? He could only make up his mind secretly.

I will work harder in the future and try to have more children to fulfill the wishes of the two old people as soon as possible.

Afterwards, the four of them discussed some details, such as how the military should make adjustments.

There are Zhu Gang and Zhu Di in the north, so there is no need to worry.

Chen Jingke said: "The scholars in the south are the most powerful, and it is the place most likely to cause chaos."

"It just so happens that the Shenji Battalion is providing disaster relief in the area. We can use this as an excuse to allow the Shenji Battalion to continue to stay in the area."

"We can also ask the King of Xiang to transfer some troops to the north and Guangdong as a deterrent."

"This will ensure that there are no problems in the north and south."

Zhu Xiongying hesitated for a moment before asking, "Should we transfer Xu Yungong back?"

He was afraid that Xu Yungong would influence Xu Miaojin.

Madam Ma smiled and said, "You, you are too concerned and confused."

"If the Xu family is not involved in such a big thing, it will really shake Miao Jin's position."

Zhu Xiongying suddenly realized and said with a wry smile: "Hehe... I didn't react for a moment."

The military has the least problems, there's not much to say.

They mainly discussed how the plan itself would unfold and so on.

You can't just tell the science students, come on, the moral high ground is given to you, come on. Then everyone will know there is a problem.

We must devise a method that is impeccable.

A few old foxes sat together and soon a complete routine was worked out.

Old Zhu said happily: "No matter how smart they are, they will have to jump into the pit we dug."

Chen Jingke and Zhu Xiongying were also very happy.

This method is indeed quite perfect.

The key was to identify the weaknesses of Confucianism and offer them a bait that they could not refuse.

It's not just Confucianism. Any school of thought that wants to make a difference in politics will inevitably take the bait.

Afterwards, Chen Jingke also decided to make changes to the second national plan:
"According to the information collected, the completion rate is less than 20%."

“The ones that were completed were basically the simplest ones.”

"It can be seen that for most officials, this work plan is still too complicated."

“And in the process of completion, there were many mistakes that shouldn’t have happened.”

“I thought that the second phase plan could be simplified to only the simplest parts.”

"Then we will sort out and explain these plans in more detail, and it would be best if we could summarize some general processes."

“This way, even people who don’t know how to govern a place can follow the plan and do it step by step.”

“It doesn’t matter how much we can accomplish, but at least there won’t be any major problems.”

The main consideration is that once action is taken against Confucianism, a large number of Confucian officials will inevitably resign.

The court needed to select talents from other places to fill the vacancies.

However, it is unlikely that these people who are promoted temporarily can get into the state directly.

Having this detailed work plan will also help them understand their responsibilities as quickly as possible and get down to work.

Empress Ma and Zhu Xiongying naturally had no objections.

Old Zhu reminded: "We must take into account geographical differences and make plans based on local conditions."

Chen Jingke said: "Yes, this time it is just a guiding opinion, with only a general idea."

“It doesn’t say how they have to do it.”

"In order to prevent some officials from being too rigid, I think the court can set up a special guidance group."

"We go to various places to provide guidance on actual work and also play a supervisory role."

Old Zhu nodded and said, "Okay, let's do it this way."

After that, they discussed some details before going about their own business.

For the next period of time, everything was calm.

The court was busy handling various government affairs step by step.

The biggest things among them were disaster relief, autumn taxes, vassal state construction, etc.

However, in terms of culture, several good news have come one after another.

First of all, the anti-corruption collection of Zhu Yuanzhang, "The Biography of Woodworms", edited by Yang Shiqi, was officially completed.

Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy and ordered the book to be published throughout the country. At the same time, he appointed Yang Shiqi as the proofreader in the Sijing Bureau on the grounds of his contribution to the book editing.

This is a ninth-rank position, a standard minor official.

But when Yang Shiqi heard about the appointment, he was so happy that he almost lost his composure, and all the ministers were envious.

The reason is simple, the Sijing Bureau is an institution affiliated to the Eastern Palace.

His immediate superior was Crown Prince Xianma.

In other dynasties, this position is really not that good and people often take the blame.

But in the Ming Dynasty, the crown prince held real power, and the officials of the Eastern Palace were ministers in the palace.

As long as it's not really unusable, you can basically get a chance.

What's more, the position of proofreader allows one to meet the prince frequently and even discuss the contents of classics with him.

It is simply the shortcut to Zhongnan that the ministers have always dreamed of.

Under normal circumstances, this position is held by the children of noble families.

But this time, Zhu Yuanzhang wants to do something big and needs to promote some non-Confucian scholars.

Yang Shiqi was a pragmatist, and his writing of "The Biography of Woodworms" had offended his colleagues, which met the selection criteria.

By chance, this position fell upon him.

How could this not make him happy.

After pursuing the shortcut to Zhongnan for so many years, I finally took it.

He has already started thinking about how to demonstrate his talents and win the favor of the prince.

The second cultural achievement was that the revision of "History of Yuan Dynasty" was finally completed.

As mentioned earlier, Zhu Yuanzhang was eager to put the final nail in the coffin of the Mongols and hastily compiled the History of Yuan Dynasty.

This resulted in numerous errors and omissions in this history book.

After Zhu Biao ascended the throne, he ordered the revision of the book, and the task was finally completed.

He ordered the revision of not only the History of Yuan Dynasty, but also the History of Song Dynasty and the History of Liao, Jin and Xia Dynasties.

They were completed at about the same time.

This is truly a monumental achievement both culturally and politically.

The ministers went to the palace in person and expressed their congratulations to Zhu Biao in person.

This was the first time Zhu Biao formally met with his ministers since he suffered a stroke.

These were his political achievements, so Zhu Biao was naturally very happy and rewarded his ministers with many things.

In particular, officials who edited the books were generously rewarded.

He also issued a rare government decree to transfer all the officials who compiled history to compile the Jianzhang Ceremony.

Naturally, all the ministers understood what he meant.

I just hope to finish editing this book before I abdicate.

A good beginning and a good end.

The ministers respected the emperor from the bottom of their hearts and naturally hoped that his wishes would come true.

So they all expressed their full support for the compilation of the Jianzhang Ceremony.

Not to mention Old Zhu, who wished he could be paralyzed instead of his son, so he would naturally not be stopped by such a small matter.

Not only were officials in charge of compiling history transferred there, but more famous scholars were also recruited to join.

In addition to these, there is also good news.

In November, news came from the Steam Engine Research Institute that the first practical train had been completed.

Zhu Yuanzhang was overjoyed and led his ministers to the Steam Engine Research Institute, where he personally presided over the trial run ceremony.

He originally wanted to take the train himself, but he had to give up the idea due to the desperate efforts of his ministers to stop him.

With a 'woohoo' sound, the ten-carriage steam train shook violently and then moved slowly.

Then the voice of "Besides...besides..." was sounded and the train started to leave the station.

All the ministers couldn't help but cheer.

This is the dawn of a new era, and as witnesses and participants, they are proud of it.

But they don’t know yet that many people are destined not to see the new era.

The official operation of the train attracted onlookers from the people along the way.

Wherever he goes, he attracts countless exclamations.

For a long time afterwards, or to be more precise, for many years, watching trains became everyone's favorite thing to do.

Of course, the train will not be put into commercial operation directly. It has to run back and forth on this track for several months without any problems before it can be declared a success.

But being able to run is already a success, and the rest is just a matter of adjustment.

The success of the train has become the hottest topic nowadays.

It also added some joy to the troubled five years of Jianzhang.

At this moment, an unusual situation occurred that no one noticed.

Mencius's articles began to appear frequently in newspapers.

(End of this chapter)