At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 402: The stressed-out Chang'an scholars and the Princes Academy
Chang'an City, Mozi Academy examination room.

There were huge crowds of people outside the academy, and everywhere were parents sending their children to the examination hall. There were an especially large number of horse-drawn carriages and ox-drawn carts, so many that there was a traffic jam similar to that of later generations.

After the Han Dynasty conquered the desert, the desert and the Central Plains became one, and the exchange of goods between the two sides was also opened up. The wool, cattle, and horses in the desert could be transported to the Central Plains without hindrance, and the grain, cloth, and various handicraft products in the Central Plains could also be transported to the desert at extremely low prices.

The desert can be said to be a blue ocean market. Many grassroots heroes can make several times the profit by taking a tattered carriage to transport some cloth, grain and handicrafts.

In the Central Plains, because farmers generally have money, their demand for large livestock such as cattle and horses has increased sharply, and they can make one or two times the profit by transporting cattle and sheep from the desert to the Central Plains.

This led to an increasing number of horses and cattle in the Central Plains, and after the carriage and horse factories adopted the assembly line method, the prices of horse and ox carts plummeted. Stimulated by these multiple conditions, the demand for vehicles by the Han people showed explosive growth, creating an extremely large carriage and horse market.

The people in Guanzhong are already wealthy, and there are the most vehicles here, with an average of one car for every three households.

Chang'an City is the place with the highest concentration of high school entrance examination venues in the entire Guanzhong area. The families that can afford to send their children to high school are generally the first wealthy people in the Han Dynasty. They generally have horse-drawn carriages. When nearly half of the horse-drawn carriages in the entire Guanzhong gathered in Chang'an City, a new thing like traffic jam broke out.

"Follow me, carriage, stop at the horse farm, don't block the entrance of the college!" Several Han officials who were maintaining order kept shouting, directing the carriage to stop at a temporary horse farm not far from the college.

"Hurry up and ask for help from the Nei Shi Mansion. Tell them that we are short of manpower and need support." An older Han official said to a younger Han official.

As soon as the young Han official heard this, he ran to the Neishi Mansion.

Zhao Wu's father followed the instructions and slowly moved the carriage to the designated horse parking lot.

Fusu, sitting in the carriage, looked outside and exclaimed: "This scene is unprecedented."

Fusu now saw horse-drawn carriages and ox-drawn carts everywhere he looked, including expensive sandalwood carriages, load-carrying carriages, and two-wheeled small horse-drawn carriages and ox-drawn carts. All kinds of vehicles gathered on the streets of Chang'an City, forming a long dragon that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Zhao Wu smiled and said, "Chang'an City has never been so lively before. Master, look, that sandalwood carriage seems to be the latest model of the imperial court. One carriage costs 50 coins."

At the end of his speech, Zhao Wu looked at the carriage with envy. Compared with ordinary carriages, that carriage emitted a dazzling light.

Fusu looked over and saw an imperial-style chariot, which was almost exactly the same as the one his father used when he offered sacrifices to heaven.

That carriage was indeed very dazzling. In order to attract the local tycoons of the Han Dynasty to spend money, wood was not used where glass could be used, and glass was not used where agate and jade could be used. Various reflective carriage lights were dazzling under the sunlight.

When Fusu saw the dazzling carriage, he couldn't help but block the light with his hands.

Even his enemy had great admiration for the Han Emperor, who satisfied all the saintly king qualities imagined by the ancient sages.

But there is one thing about the Han emperor that has always been criticized, that is, he dared to do anything for money. A few years ago, he built a sandalwood carriage worth 20 coins in the imperial style, which caused a sensation in the entire Han Dynasty and attracted nobles and merchants from the entire Han Dynasty to buy it.

This year, it is completely unadorned, and even various accessories are added. Of course, the price is extremely shocking. For such a carriage, you can buy a thousand-class sea ship.

But even though the price was so high, there were still a large number of wealthy merchants who bought it. Fusu was extremely speechless about such things. Throughout history, only the Han Emperor could do such a thing.

Fusu said: "There is no need to envy others. As long as you are admitted to the academy, you will have the opportunity to ride in a carriage like this in the future."

Zhao Wu nodded and said, "I will buy one for you when the time comes."

Fusu smiled and said, "It's good to have this intention. For this high school entrance examination, put aside all distractions and go all out. Don't let your 10 years of hard study go to waste."

But except Zhao Wu who had some confidence, the other four middle school students in Zhaoli could only nod nervously.

Fusu has trained dozens of middle school students in Zhaoli over the years, and Zhao Wu and his group are the first batch of middle school students in Zhaoli.

But their luck was not very good. The high school students ahead of them went directly to their favorite institutions to register and were admitted if they passed the exams.

Because there are a large number of schools in Chang'an City, 50% of Chang'an's middle school students can be admitted to schools. But this year is different. All the middle schools in Dahan will take the joint entrance examination.

Zhao Wu has to compete with all the middle school students in the entire Han Dynasty. Among the 2 students enrolled in various universities this year, these places will be allocated according to population and counties. Guanzhong is only allocated more than 2000 places, while the Internal History has only thousands of places.

Fusu was also from the education field, and he had a rough idea of ​​the number of high school students in Chang'an City, which was about 4 to 5. This year, there were nearly 2 scholars taking the entrance exams, but there were only 1000 places available. One can imagine how fierce the competition was.

It can be said that the students in Chang'an City fell from heaven to hell in one step. According to what Fusu knew, among his five students, only Zhao Wu had a chance to be admitted to the academy. It would be difficult for other students to stand out in such fierce competition. If they failed, they could only go to the accounting office or be craftsmen.

After Zhao Wu's father parked the carriage, Fusu and others got off the carriage and went to the entrance of the academy.

Fusu reminded him, "Check your writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone, as well as your admission tickets."

"Yes!" Zhao Wu and others opened their bookshelves and checked again. Fusu and Zhao's father also checked. After making sure that all the things were brought, they nodded with relief.

"Students, please line up to enter the examination room. Parents, please wait outside!" A Han official shouted continuously with a loud speaker.

"Master, let's go in!" Zhao Wu waved to Fusu and his father, then led his companions into the examination room.

Father Zhao asked nervously, "Master Zhao, can these children pass the exam?"

Even though Zhao's father was a farmer, he had heard that the scholars in Guanzhong would have a very difficult time this year, and he was a little worried about Zhao Wu's future.

Fusu said: "Just go all out. All roads in the Han Dynasty lead to Chang'an, and the high school entrance examination is not the only path that will determine Zhao Wu and his friends' lives."

"Hi!" Zhao's father could only explain Fusu's comfort.

"What this teacher said is truly wise!" a voice suddenly interrupted.

"My name is Jiang Hua, nice to meet you two brothers!" A wealthy businessman dressed in expensive silk bowed to the two men.

Fusu immediately returned the greeting and said, "Fusu greets you, brother!"

Father Zhao also bowed, but he didn't say anything.

"Brother Fusu is a middle school teacher?"

Fusu shook his head and said, "I am the teacher of Zhaoli Primary School, and those five people just now were all my students."

Jiang Hua smiled and said, "It's rare to find a teacher as responsible as Brother Fusu."

Then he complained: "The government's policies change three times a year, which makes us confused."

“Three years ago, I thought that Chang’an City had good education and many colleges, and I could get into college more easily, so I bought a property in Chang’an City and brought my son to study in Chang’an.

I didn't expect the court's policy to change suddenly. The whole Han Dynasty began a joint examination. Guanzhong had many scholars, so it became the most difficult region for the examination. Not only did I waste a million dollars, but I also chose the most difficult place for my son. What kind of thing is this?"

Apparently, the joint entrance examination of the Han Dynasty was too sudden, and many parents were dissatisfied with the court. Facing Fusu, a stranger, Jiang Hua vented all his inner resentment.

Fusu said: "From the looks of Brother Jiang Hua, his family background is not bad. Even if he fails the high school entrance examination, he still has other prospects."

Jiang Hua shook his head and said, "He is just a certain merchant. He doesn't have any family background. He just made some money because the imperial court supported the development of the industry in recent years."

"But what future do merchants have? I want my son to be admitted to the School of Government Affairs, or at least the School of Law or the Mozi School. If he has a skill, even if he can't gain a foothold in the Han Dynasty, he can still find a job in a vassal state."

Fusu laughed and said, "Brother, this is too extreme. The emperor has also said that industry is the foundation of the country. The Han Dynasty does not talk about scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans." Jiang Hua shook his head and said, "I'm afraid Brother Fusu rarely leaves Guanzhong."

Fusu nodded. He had never left Guanzhong since the founding of the Han Dynasty.

Jiang Hua said: "Scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans are the experience of our ancestors. How can the current emperor change it by himself? Even the current emperor is probably affected by this."

"Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, the emperor has distributed land equally to farmers and fought for a four-hour workday for craftsmen. Has he ever fought for anything for us merchants?"

Fusu said: "Industry is the foundation, isn't this also considered?"

Jiang Hua smiled bitterly and said, "It is true that industry is fundamental, but the emperor is vigorously building government-run workshops, not elevating my merchants to the same status as farmers."

"Brother, do you know that there is a lot of coal in Taiyuan County?
Fusu nodded and said, "It is said that the coal in the central plains of Hebei is provided by Taiyuan and Shangdang."

Jiang Hua said: "Coal mines can be said to be black gold. As long as there is a mine, it is not a problem to make millions of dollars a year. In the beginning, such business was controlled by the people above."

"But mining coal is extremely dangerous. In our country, there are dozens or even hundreds of mining accidents every year."

"It just so happens that the emperor is the most strict about such things. Whenever there is a mining accident, the imperial court will send out a team of judges to investigate. However, things in coal mines are not allowed to be investigated at all. It can be said that they are always caught, and every time a large number of people will be implicated."

"Later, the people above learned their lesson and allowed us to enter the mining industry, but they had to share 80% of the profits with them. If anything went wrong, we had to bear the brunt of it. I don't know how many merchant families in the two places were destroyed by mining accidents. Even in the Han Dynasty, merchants like us were nothing more than cattle and sheep."

Fusu was surprised and asked, "Brother, how can you understand it so clearly?"

Jiang Hua said: "I ran a mine for two years, but later I felt it was too dangerous, so I came to Chang'an with the money I earned and opened a theater as my main business."

Fusu said: "That wealth is not earned through fighting. It is lucky that you can get out of it unscathed."

Jiang Hua nodded. If he wasn't extremely rich, who would dare to take on this beheading business? If he hadn't put on the shoes, how could he have quit the underworld?

At the same time, Xu Fan, along with Prime Minister Zhou Zhang, Zhang Liang, Chen Ping, Shusun Tong, Ying Bu, Lu Chen, Liu Bang and other princes from various parties, inspected the examination room, watching the students busy writing down their answers.

Zhou Zhang asked, "How many scholars from Chang'an City are coming to take the high school entrance exam this time?"

Shusun Tongdao: "More than 15,000 high school students."

Zhou Zhang was shocked and said, "No wonder the imperial examination is being reformed. There are so many high school students in Chang'an alone. There are probably hundreds of thousands of them in the whole world. If so many scholars swarm into Chang'an City, Chang'an City will definitely collapse."

Xu Fan smiled and said, "This is also the result of your hard work for 10 years, Prime Minister. When the First Emperor burned books and buried scholars, the cultural heritage of the world was almost cut off."

"But during the ten years when the prime minister was in charge of government, the number of scholars in the world increased by more than a hundred times, which led to today's prosperity. Today's scene will definitely be recorded in history."

Zhou Zhang enjoys such praise very much, because reality is the best praise.

"It is mainly due to your wise leadership, Your Majesty, and the joint efforts of all my colleagues that our Han Dynasty has achieved its current prosperity."

"I was busy with government affairs in the past. Now that I have retired, I should take a look at the prosperity of the Han Dynasty."

Zhang Liang said: "Prime Minister, you are experienced in government affairs. You should continue to train more talents for the Han Dynasty."

Zhou Zhang smiled and said, "Then I will go to the Government Affairs College to take a few classes and see if I can find a few disciples that suit my taste."

Because of Xu Fan's relationship, the political status of the profession of teacher in the Han Dynasty is particularly high. Xu Feng, Kong Yu, and Li Shiqi, who retired a few years ago, are all teaching students in the academy in Chang'an. This is also a way for them to maintain their influence.

Ying Bu said: "Your Majesty, this national joint examination format is good, but the number of places for us is too small. There are more than a million people in Qianzhong, but only less than 500 places are given. This number of places is not enough. The people below are full of resentment. I want me to make a decision for them and strive for more places in the princes' meeting."

There are more than fifty vassal states in Qianzhong area, and each vassal state only has 500 places out of the 10 places. This number of places is not enough for the people below, let alone for the people above.

Lu Chen also said: "We, the Liaodong princes, have also petitioned for more quotas. The court should not favor some over others. We, the Liaodong princes, have defended the border for the Han Dynasty and made great contributions. The court should not make us shed blood and tears."

Liu Bang said: "The court is indeed a bit stingy. There are dozens of boys in my Pei State who want to enter school, and there are more than a dozen boys taking the high school entrance examination this year. It is not right for the court to exclude the children of us."

Except for his eldest son Liu Ying, who stayed in Pei State, Liu Bang sent all his other sons over the age of 10 to Chang'an City to study.

Liu Bang, the prince, did this, and his subordinates followed suit. Of course, this was also related to the superior educational resources in Chang'an City.

Their children study in Chang'an City, where the success rate is higher. However, they also encounter the difficulties faced by other students in Chang'an City. When Chang'an's educational resources are distributed to other parts of the world, the local competition pressure becomes too great.

Liu Bang just wanted to get some welfare benefits for his subordinates. According to the current admission rate in Chang'an City, not one out of ten people would pass the exam.

Although each of Liu Bang's subordinates came from a family with a good academic background, under such high competitive pressure, I am afraid that only a few of them could be admitted to the college.

Zhou Zhang said unhappily, "This is a fair exam. The capable ones will be promoted and the mediocre ones will be demoted. Why are you saying that the court is excluding you?"

Liu Bang said: "We have contributed to the Han Dynasty, so it is inevitable that we have neglected the education of our children. The court should understand us."

Lu Chen said: "We have sent our children to Chang'an City. Isn't it the responsibility of the court to teach them to become talents?"

Lu Chen's words left Zhou Zhang speechless. It was a good thing for the Han court for the princes and their subordinates to leave their children in Chang'an to go to school. The court could influence the vassal states in all directions through these children. In this case, it was a bit too much to not even let them go to college.

It can even be said that the current situation is not the most intense. Most of the descendants of the Han princes are under 10 years old. After a few years, when these people reach the age of going to school, thousands of princes and their second generation of ministers will need the court to make proper arrangements.
Xu Fan said: "This is the first joint exam this year, there will always be some unsatisfactory aspects, the court will find ways to improve it next year."

Xu Fan thought for a moment and said, "Next year the court will increase the number of princes."

The border princes do need to be appeased, and this method can also consolidate the relationship between the Han court and the princes.

As for the problem of quotas, it is not a big deal. Dahan is still developing rapidly, and the number of talents needed will continue to increase. This year, we need to recruit more than 2 high school students, and next year we will need or even . As long as Dahan is still in a period of rapid development, any contradiction will be easy to resolve.

Ying Budao said: "Your Majesty, why can't you expand enrollment this year?"

Xu Fan said: "The court also has its own difficulties. The cost of training each student is about ten thousand coins. The court needs to spend according to its ability. In addition, students also need teachers to guide them, and the academy has so many teachers."

Ying Bu said: "The money problem is easy to solve. I can take out 5000 gold as the court's education funds."

Liu Bang shouted, "The Duke of Ying is so generous. Although we cannot compare with him, we can still give him a million dollars. No matter how poor we are, we cannot neglect our children. No matter how hard it is, we cannot neglect their education. I will give you a million dollars."

Lu Chen also said: "I will also give three million yuan."

Other princes also contributed money. For them, after graduation, most of the students of these academies would come to their vassal states to find jobs. It was like training talents for themselves.

Faced with this situation, Zhang Liang said: "The princes' children are so enthusiastic about studying, the court should not discourage these loyal people. After I retire, I will simply set up a new academy to teach these princes' children."

Ying Bu's eyes lit up and he said, "If we have a great scholar like Zifang to teach us, then we are truly lucky."

Xu Fan thought for a moment and said, "Let's do as An Zifang wants. All the money you donated will be invested in this new college."

Ying Bu and others said excitedly: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

(End of this chapter)