Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

"Oh?" Wu Shigong was also very pleased. These cultivated talents are all direct descendants of the Runing Army, so he immediately urged, "Improve the status of everyone in these schoolchildren's families. If they can be admitted as scholars, there will be other rewards." Don't give up on those who have temporarily failed the rankings, and arrange good teachers for key counseling. Even if they have no future in the imperial examination, our Runing Army will train them as follow-up officials. However, they can't just read the scriptures, and Learn something useful!"

"Is Chang Jing impatient with the disadvantages of the imperial examination? Want to improve one or two? In fact, many seniors have already discovered that the talents of the imperial examination are not practical. They want to change their subjects, but the selection of stereotyped candidates has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, so this is difficult!" Deng Qifan laughed. said.

In fact, the selection of materials for the eight-part essays developed from the imperial examination to the Ming Dynasty, although it rigidified the thinking of scholars all over the world, it also had its helplessness.

You must know that the admission rate of the imperial examination selection in the Ming Dynasty was quite low.There will be an examination every three years, and more than 300 people can be listed as Jinshi and fellow Jinshi.Compared with the hundreds of thousands of talents in the world, the admission rate can only be described as terrifying.So it is understandable that Fan Jinzhongju went crazy after that.

However, in each level of examination, to ensure a unified admission standard, and to review the examination papers in such a short period of time, and to prevent cheating as much as possible, then in the Ming Dynasty, the eight-legged essay was the best examination. way out.

First of all, the eight-legged essay is actually a kind of standard test questions, and it is easy to compare the pros and cons.Therefore, it is difficult for the subjective opinion of the marking examiner to influence the candidates' grades.Moreover, among the thousands of troops, the outstanding ones are actually the elites of the whole country.So in other words, if these Jinshi were reincarnated in modern times, they would basically be the winners of the college entrance examination.No matter what era it is, a top student is always a top student!

Secondly, it is also because the eight-legged essay is a standard test question.The speed of review is very fast.Otherwise, like the imperial examination reform in some time-traveling novels, using mathematical, physical and chemical examination papers, the examiners who mark the examination papers will kneel to you!It may not be possible to get a result for several months.We can also compare how long it takes from the college entrance examination to the test results in the modern information society and with the assistance of so many high-tech means.

Finally, due to the particularity of writing eight-part essays, it is difficult to cheat.Let's not talk about those cheating methods such as entrainment and plagiarism, which cannot be eliminated in any era.What we're talking about is that kind of high-level cheating.

We can assume that if there are a large number of yes-false questions, multiple-choice questions, and standard answer questions in the test questions, how high is the accuracy of the test questions for candidates who bribe the examiner.Even if he made a mistake, how convenient it would be for the examiner to modify it.

We can also imagine.If there are two candidates, one candidate's stereotyped essay level is obviously higher than the other one.Even poor students bribed the examiner to get the test questions.If the poor student does not look for the shooter.And eugenics don't make common-sense mistakes, so the stereotyped essays written by eugenics are still much better than those of poor students.

This is why stereotyped essays have such tenacious vitality.It's not that no great Confucian scholars have discovered this problem, and they all believe that the stereotyped essay is a stepping stone to becoming an official, and it has little effect in actual governance.But finding a problem is one thing, and solving it is another, until a better test method is found.It can only maintain the method of selecting scholars in the eight-legged essays.

And Deng Qifan obviously thought that Wu Shigong had mentioned this issue.As a literati, he certainly likes academic discussions, so he began to discuss the imperial examination with Wu Shigong.

But how does a person like Wu Shigong know such a profound academic question?Give him another eighteen brains, and he can't think of any way to change the imperial examination.But seeing Deng Qifan was in high spirits.He could only say casually: "I just think it's a waste for so many scholars to be idle in the village. If after they become scholars, let them learn some practical things, no longer work hard, and don't know the five grains, then it will be a waste of money for them. After failing to win the Juren, they can still be trained as grassroots officials of our Runing Army."

"What practice?" Deng Qifan didn't understand.Because many officials are now assisted by masters in government affairs, and this combination has its merits. After all, all-round talents like Zhuge Liang are very rare.

"That's it! After they are selected as a scholar, let them learn some subjects such as arithmetic, agriculture, and engineering, and include these subjects in the next imperial examination. The same is true after the examination, but it just makes it more difficult. In this way If so, it can also cultivate specialist talents for our Runing Army." Wu Shigong couldn't come up with any new ideas, and he could only transform the concepts of modern middle schools and universities and intersperse them in the imperial examination.

But Deng Qifan was stunned when he heard it. He didn't expect Wu Shigong's ambition to be so big. After a while, Deng Qifan asked Wu Shigong cautiously: "Could it be that Changjing wants to hold the imperial examination privately?"

Wu Shigong didn't understand what Deng Qifan meant at all.Because the imperial examination is the selection of talents by the imperial court, in other words, it is not the imperial court that cannot do this.Otherwise, it is easy to think of rebellion.

But Wu Shigong only thought that Deng Qifan was asking himself how to select the officials of the Runing Army.So he nodded and said: "Try it in our Runing Mansion first! You only know the pros and cons of everything after doing it!"

Hearing Wu Shigong's words, Deng Qifan gritted his teeth.Anyway, following Wu Shigong has come to this step.Besides, now Deng Qifan's family members are also in Runing Mansion, so they followed Wu Shigong all the way to Hei.If Wu Shigong succeeds, then Deng Qifan... Suddenly, words such as "Founding Hero" and "Prime Minister" floated in front of Deng Qifan's eyes.

But today it seems that Wu Shigong wants to test Deng Qifan's heart strength, Wu Shigong said with a smile: "Actually, I think Confucianism should also keep pace with the times, and some areas should be improved. Essence, create a new Confucianism suitable for our Runing Army."

In fact, a pragmatist like Wu Shigong doesn't care whether Confucianism is not Confucianism at all.The reason why there is such a saying is because the influence of Confucianism in this era is too great, so Wu Shigong wanted to use Confucianism selectively.

But Deng Qifan didn't think so.Deng Qifan is not a pedantic sage, he is also familiar with the history of the development of Confucianism, and also knows the various changes in the development of Confucianism, and the current Confucianism has long been revised beyond recognition by the great Confucians of the past dynasties.

Wu Shigong proposed the idea of ​​New Confucianism, precisely to carry out a Confucian revolution.So Deng Qifan asked carefully again: "Is Chang Jing going to do that Dong Zhongshu's business?"

The great Confucianist Dong Zhongshu is an important figure in the history of the development of Confucianism. He is an important figure who established "abandoning all schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone".And he also made major improvements to Confucianism.

You must know that Confucius lived in the Spring and Autumn Period. At that time, there were many princes, and the idea of ​​​​"respecting the king and fighting the barbarians" was admired.That is to say, on the basis of maintaining the independence of the major princes, respect the status of the king of Zhou, and jointly crusade against the barbarians headed by the king of Chu.Of course, Chu State also fell into the embrace of the Central Plains later and became one of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period.The specific history can be read in history books, so I won’t say much here.But on Guan Jian's point, Confucius agreed with the various princes.

However, the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty where Dong Zhongshu lived was the period when Emperor Wu of the Han wanted to take over the power of the vassal states and achieve the unification of the world. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty once again burned books and confuses Confucianism.

So Dong Zhongshu kept pace with the times.Its study is centered on Confucian patriarchal law thought, mixed with the theory of yin and yang and five elements, and connects divine power, monarchy, patriarchy and husband power together to form a system of imperial theology.As a result, he put forward important Confucian theories such as the interaction between heaven and man, the three cardinal guides and the five constant principles.

In return, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, of course, monopolized this new Confucianism that can maintain his monarchy and achieve centralization!

But now Wu Shigong wants to establish a new Confucianism.As the actual operator of this new theory, if the Runing Army has such a day, if the new theory becomes the mainstream of the Runing Army, then Deng Qifan's status will not only be contemporary!That's the same status as Dong Zhongshu!

Deng Qifan, who was immersed in beautiful fantasies, suddenly lost his mind.It's not that I love fantasy, but the temptation is really great!

But Wu Shigong and Xue Yongli were surprised that Deng Qifan suddenly lost his mind.They also ignored the absent-minded Deng Qifan, and then began to discuss the next military move of the Runing Army.

Xue Yongli asked: "Young master! It's a waste to keep so many soldiers all the time. What should we do next?"

Wu Shigong smiled and nodded to Xue Yongli: "Uncle Yongli has also noticed this problem! This is what I think: in the Huguang area to the south, Shaanxi bandits and government troops are strangling. We should not kill them rashly, otherwise we will be killed in Runing." The army also got involved."

"It is impossible for us to go to the Grand Canal, Fengyang and Shandong areas in the east. Nanyang Mansion in the west is the main road for the Shaanxi bandits to travel from north to south. The Shaanxi bandits will definitely fight us head on. The disaster of war will last forever, and it does not conform to our principle of recuperation."

"Then there is only the north. This time, the Shaanxi bandits ravaged Henan and emptied the hinterland of Henan. Although the government has been established again, they can only issue orders in the city, and the world outside the city is blank."

"And we have to use the land reclamation business to occupy those gaps. Our force is stronger than those bandits, and we hide behind the land reclamation business, so there is no conflict with the government."

"Let Changmeng develop freely. You can occupy more land, set up more branches, and even recruit bandits and squires who form villages for self-protection. Whatever benefits you get, and our Runing Army will be their backing. In this case , that is, it can develop freely without showing the mountains and dews, without spending money to raise soldiers. At that time, the military force of the wasteland reclamation business can also be incorporated into our Runing Army." (To be continued...)