Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Chapter 126 Imperial College

No matter whether Zhu Yunhuan was prejudiced against some scholars, we should still pay attention to them when necessary.

It goes without saying that he had a close relationship with the nobles, but while these nobles were good at fighting, governing the country could not be entirely dependent on these warriors. Even if Zhu Yunhuan wanted to break some monopolies, it would not happen overnight.

The current literacy rate is low, and Zhu Yunhuan cannot find too many talents at once.

Even in the Ming Dynasty, there are still many officials left over from the Yuan Dynasty.

The bottom line is that the shortage of officials is too big and it is difficult to find many replacements at once, so we can only keep replacing them.

The Crown Prince's visit to the Imperial College was of course a big deal. Especially since the imperial examination controversy had just ended, those who were able to study at the Imperial College more or less had some channels to know something.

This crown prince holds great power and is able to study at the highest institution of learning in the Ming Dynasty. He is top-notch in terms of family background and talent, and he also has his own ambitions and ideals.

Although Mei Yin is now in charge of the Imperial College, he is not the Imperial College's chief academic officer, which is a fourth-rank official.

Seeing Zhu Yunhuan dismounting, Mei Yin immediately knelt down and said, "Your Highness and I respectfully welcome His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Long live His Royal Highness."

Those who knelt down with Mei Yin were naturally the teachers and students of the Imperial College.

Zhu Yunxun smiled and said, "Everyone, please stand up. There's no need to be so polite."

Mei Yin and others also introduced, "Your Highness, this is Gong Jue, acting as the chief priest."

The first and second Jijiu of the Ming Dynasty were Xu Cunren and Wei Guan, and the third was Song Na, who died four years ago. He was also the first fourth-rank civil official to be granted a funeral in the Ming Dynasty. This Jijiu, who was not arrogant and had extensive knowledge, was extremely strict and lived and ate in the Imperial Academy. His strict management led to dissatisfaction among students.

Zhu Yunhuan looked at Gong Yu and nodded slightly. He had something to say in his heart, but it was not appropriate to say it now.

Mei Yin continued to introduce, "Song Fuzu, currently the director of the Imperial College."

This is Song Na's son, and he is also working in the Imperial College.

After carefully touring the Imperial College's buildings and inquiring about the students' daily life, Zhu Yunhuan came to the main hall.

After everyone was present, Zhu Yunhuan said, "Song Qing is rigorous in his studies and strict in his academic rules. I like him. The Imperial College also won many victories in the imperial examinations before."

Looking at the teachers and students, Zhu Yunhuan also said, "It's just that you should be relaxed and tense in moderation. You all should also understand that the Imperial College is the place of literary talent in the Ming Dynasty. Some academic officials only care about learning and not friendship. Isn't that a bit too much?"

Gong Ke and others knelt down immediately, and many students from the Imperial College became excited.

This was not the first time that students at the Imperial College had caused riots. There had been one such riot during the Song Dynasty, but the result was that the students had been beheaded.

Zhu Yunhuan took the memorial handed over by Zhang Fusheng, flipped through it and saw, "The Juren Jiansheng Zhao Yi and Li Minfu asked to serve their parents, but it was not allowed. Jiansheng Yang Shu and five others wanted to return to their hometown to serve their parents, but it was not allowed."

Zhu Yunhuan sighed and said, "It's hard to tell whether it's true or not when you say you're serving your parents. It's a good thing that the Imperial College is rigorous in its teaching, but it's not a good thing to just bully and demand too much. You should understand the principle that things will turn into the opposite when they reach the extreme."

The students in the Imperial College were excited. They were basically all Juren, the top academic masters in the area, with status and position. But in the Imperial College, if you dare not study hard, you will be beaten. If you dare to slack off, you will be beaten severely.
Even though these people have become stupid from reading too much, the academic officials of the Imperial College are still not satisfied and wish that these people could spend twelve hours a day studying.

There have been cases in the past where students couldn't bear it and falsely accused school officials or even committed suicide.

Zhu Yunhuan continued, "Earlier, when the father of the student Zhao Xiaoxian was old and seriously ill, the school officials still did not allow him to return home to take care of his parents. I just want to ask, you school officials also know the words of the saints, and it is a good thing to have a rigorous academic style, but do you really need to make the students unkind and not follow the common sense of human ethics?"

What else could Gong Ke and others say at this moment? Naturally, they just knelt down and kowtowed to apologize.

These things were done by them. When Song Na was in office, the style of study in the Imperial College was rigorous, and he was therefore valued and trusted by the emperor. Later academic officials naturally followed suit and set stricter rules.

Including Song Fuzu, he also strictly enforced the rules left by his father.

This is a bit too much, and the rigorous academic style has indeed changed a bit. At least when Song Na was around, he could set an example. Even when he was seriously ill, he lived in the school dormitory and died in the school dormitory after insisting on offering sacrifices to Confucius.

Song Na's strictness was more of a strict teacher. But now the Imperial College seems to be exploiting students.

Mei Yin took the initiative to step forward and said, "Your Highness, we just hope that the students can achieve success in their studies and serve the court."

Zhu Yunhuan said without comment, "That's true, but I don't want to see the court filled with officials who only know how to read but don't understand humanity."

"From now on, if a student is attending to his parents or observing mourning, the school officials shall not stop him, and the Ministry of Rites shall approve it." Zhu Yunhuan said directly, "If a student of the Imperial College fails the imperial examination for three consecutive years, he shall be sent back to his hometown."

Gong Ke and others had nothing to say and could only accept the order.

The Crown Prince's attitude was not wrong. After all, filial piety was emphasized in this era, and serving parents and observing mourning were the principles of human relations. And being sent back to their hometowns after failing the exams consecutively could also urge students to make progress and prevent them from playing around. Zhu Yunhuan continued, "I remember that there are also many children of meritorious officials and civil officials who are studying here. If they fail to make progress in the exams consecutively, they will be sent back. If you dare to disrupt the academic atmosphere of the academy, not only will you be punished, but your fathers and brothers will also be in trouble!"

It cannot be said that he used both kindness and severity. Zhu Yunhuan just felt that the current Imperial College had gone too far.

But the students must be happy. I can’t say that good days are definitely coming, but the miserable days where life is worse than death may be over.

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "Studying is for the purpose of understanding reason, serving the imperial court, and helping the people. Don't just study, but put it into practice. In a few days, arrange for the students of the Imperial College to go to various prefectures and cities across the country to lead the people in building water conservancy projects."

This time, not only the school officials were dumbfounded, but the students were also dumbfounded. The Crown Prince was going to let them do the work directly!
Zhu Yunhuan didn't care about these people's surprise, and continued, "Many people have only studied hard in recent years, and don't know about people's livelihood. Go to different places to see what the foundation of good people's livelihood is! Only by practicing well can we make progress!"

This is not free labor. The imperial court will give certain preferential treatment to students who study in the Imperial College.

And no matter what their backgrounds were, they must have something special to be able to study in the Imperial College. Let them lead the people to build water conservancy projects. Although not all of them are water conservancy experts, they at least have a certain foundation and a lower limit of ability, which can be put to use in time.

The general principle, of course, is to train the students of the Imperial Academy and let them know the hardships of people's livelihood, but not simply to let these students work for the Ming Dynasty for free.

Some school officials and students also wanted to complain, but held it back.

If you think about it carefully, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Although it is neither an official nor a clerk, it is now an official job given by the court. If you do well, you may be noticed by the emperor or the grandson of the emperor, and then you can officially enter the officialdom.

In recent years, many people have entered the officialdom directly from the Imperial College, and many of them have developed very well and held high positions of power in the court.

After Zhu Yunhuan arranged things, he immediately became cheerful and cheerful. "This year's Hu Sizong and Shi Yunchang also studied in the Imperial College. The six top scorers in the last class also studied in the Imperial College. Let me see the talents of these students now."

There is nothing wrong with this statement. Although Xu Guan and others were all admitted from their hometown, they also studied briefly in the Imperial College, which can be regarded as some of the political achievements of the Imperial College.

Not only the academic officials were excited, but the students couldn't help but look forward to it as well.

When they knew that the Crown Prince was coming to the Imperial College, many students started to make an effort, and even some academic officials couldn't help but be tempted.

The reason is that they hope to be appreciated by those in power. Some students want to curry favor with civil officials and military generals in order to get promoted. Who could be more worthy of these people's flattery than the emperor and the crown prince?

Even those who failed the imperial examinations before had hopes in their hearts. Not being on the list of successful candidates would be frustrating. But if they were appreciated by the crown prince, it would be better than being ranked second or third. Even if they were ranked first, they might not be able to achieve much in their official career.

It is no secret that the Crown Prince does not like poetry, calligraphy and painting, etc.

Current affairs, policy essays, etc., these are worth students' effort.

Zhu Yunxun suddenly saw a familiar name and couldn't help but look at Mei Yin next to him.

Chen Ying entered the Imperial College as a talented person. During the Yongle Dynasty, he was even more treacherous and harsh as an imperial censor. Over the years, he impeached more than ten nobles and ministers.

Duke of Cao Li Jinglong, Marquis of Licheng Sheng Yong, and Marquis of Changxing Geng Bingwen were either imprisoned or committed suicide after he impeached them. Mei Yin also died in unclear circumstances after he impeached him.

This is undoubtedly a treacherous minister, so he will not have a good ending in the end. But this is also a good knife, you can pay attention to it when necessary.

This visit to the Imperial College did yield some gains.

It was not that a good potential traitor was discovered, but that it brought about a lot of praise for him.

Whether it is taking care of the scholars or wanting to make the students of the Ming Dynasty pragmatic, this is worth promoting and praising, and this is also the attitude of the Crown Prince.

As the leader leads by example, many people will follow suit. After he made such a statement, many people naturally knew what to do.

In particular, Zhu Yunhuan's ties with the nobles were too deep, and the previous suppression of the civil service group made many scholars feel resentful.

It is very necessary to comfort them a little now.

I'll go back to the Duke of Ying's Mansion to appease the meritorious officials, and also do it for the royal family and relatives by marriage to see.

As for the East Palace, Princess Anqing said, "My niece, I am going to get married in a few days. Please invite some of the noble ladies you are familiar with to come here."

Zhu Yourong was immediately overjoyed, but still a little worried and said, "Isn't it appropriate to stay in the East Palace?"

"It doesn't matter. Yun Hun will definitely not tell you." Princess Anqing said mysteriously, "When the time comes, call Yun Hun over and see if I can find a sister-in-law for you."

Zhu Yourong and Zhu Youling's eyes lit up. This is possible!

(End of this chapter)