I

  Chapter 807 804【Read: I don’t understand shit】

   "Mr. Gu, "Jinling Gongbao" is willing to give fifty silver dollars, please correct the names of women in the world! If the husband is willing to sign his real name, the retouching fee can be increased to one hundred silver dollars."

  A newspaper office has not yet obtained a license, and the editor-in-chief has already personally come to ask for a manuscript.

  Gu Yanwu was not interested in this: "I'm not in the mood to write, please ask someone else to be smart."

  The editor-in-chief thought that the money was not enough, and said: "Mr. Gu can set the price himself, no matter how much money, I can go back to Bingming's owner."

   "Don't write, don't write, see off the guests!" Gu Yanwu called the long follower to chase away people.

   After driving away the editor-in-chief, Gu Yanwu went back to his study alone, staring at his original manuscript of "On Counties and Counties" in a daze.

  Although he served Emperor Zhao very early, he has been compiling books in the Imperial Academy.

  Just a few days ago, he submitted his masterpiece "On Counties and Counties" to the emperor for review.

  Zhao Han's Zhu Criticism is: I have read it, but it doesn't make sense. Order the Ministry of Officials to find a vacancy for this guy and send him out to be a county magistrate. After serving as magistrate for three years, I will revise the "On Counties and Counties".

   These few instructions hit Gu Yanwu hard, and his confident masterpiece was actually reprimanded by the emperor as "nonsense".

  During the Tang Dynasty, Liu Zongyuan wrote an article "On Feudalism", refuting that some people at that time wanted to abolish prefectures and counties and restore feudalism.

  The general content of "On Feudalism" is as follows:

  In the primitive stage, human beings lived together with wild beasts and had to rely on tools to survive. At this time, it is necessary to find someone who can distinguish right from wrong and lead people to resist natural disasters and wild animals. Surrounding this leader, ethnic groups are formed, and when the size of the ethnic groups becomes large, armies, leaders, laws, and government orders are produced.

  During the long-term war, the people of various ethnic groups needed stronger leaders, so princes were born. The emergence of a large number of vassals triggered a larger-scale war, which required a stronger leader to settle it, so there appeared vassal leaders such as Fang Bo and Lian Shuai. By analogy, the Son of Heaven finally appeared.

  Liu Zongyuan also proved that feudalism was the primary stage of political form through his discussion from ancient times to the Han and Tang Dynasties. Feudalism is not the original intention of the sage, but follows the state of society at that time. The emergence of the county system is the result of the collapse of the feudal system and is in line with the law of social development.

   Gu Yanwu's "On County and County", obviously based on Liu Zongyuan's "On Feudalism", further discussed that the system of prefectures and counties has reached the verge of collapse. Needs to be reformed again!

  Gu Yanwu said that the outbreak of the ills of the feudal system led to the emergence of the county system. Now, the ills of the prefecture and county system also broke out in the late Ming Dynasty, and it can be speculated that the prefecture and county system will also collapse. But to go back to feudalism? No, the feudal system is a backward thing, and if it is to be changed, it should be changed forward, not backward.

   It also discusses that the disadvantage of feudalism lies in the fact that power is too dispersed. The disadvantage of the county system is that the power is too concentrated, and the emperor is highly centralized and separated from the masses. Therefore, we must take the county system as the foundation and add some feudal elements. The two phases are reconciled to achieve a balanced state of centralization and decentralization.

   There is nothing wrong with the above content, but the next details unfolded, and Zhao Han successfully received the comment of "shit doesn't make sense".

  Gu Yanwu said that the magistrate should be changed to a county magistrate, from the seventh rank to the fifth rank. The county magistrate must be familiar with the local customs, and there is no need to stick to the rules of being an official in a different place. Let the county magistrate try to do it for three years, and then he will be corrected after being evaluated for competence. After another three years, if you pass the examination, you can be called a parent officer. Do it for another three years, and if you are qualified, the emperor should reward you. After another three years, if he is still competent, the county magistrate will be given a salary increase and appointed as the county magistrate for life. If you retire due to old illness, you can recommend the next county magistrate. The retired county magistrate worked as a consultant in the county and was paid until his death. Those who are recommended also have a three-year probationary period. Several counties were merged into one county, and the prefect was also appointed every three years...

  After reading the article, Zhao Han didn't want to read it anymore, and ordered Gu Yanwu to be thrown out to be the county magistrate, so that he could get a good feel for the specific situation.

  My dignified Ph.D. from the Imperial Academy was released to be a county magistrate. Gu Yanwu was extremely depressed about this, not because his official position was too small, but because he was treated like an idiot by the emperor.

  Because in "On Counties and Counties", Gu Yanwu himself said that most of the scholars in the former Ming Dynasty were idiots, and the preferential policies must be cancelled. He looked down on the scholars of the former Ming Dynasty, and the emperor obviously didn't like him either...

   Holding the original manuscript of his article, Gu Yanwu went out to visit friends, and soon found Huang Zongxi who was on vacation.

Huang Zongxi couldn't laugh or cry after reading "On Counties and Counties", and commented: "Brother Ning, you are building a car behind closed doors. Let a county magistrate who is familiar with the local customs and customs, and all relatives, clansmen and friends are under his rule. What's more, let the county magistrate hold this position for life, even if he retires, he will also serve as a county sacrificial wine (consultant). He can only be a county magistrate all his life, and he cannot be promoted. "

  Gu Yanwu explained: "First, county magistrates must have both virtue and conduct; second, the imperial court must constantly evaluate their political achievements."

Huang Zongxi asked: "Even if the county magistrate is virtuous, all his clan friends are also virtuous? What if his clan friends use the guise of the county magistrate to corrupt the law in the county? Besides, how does the imperial court assess? How does Shi supervise? It’s unrealistic!”

  The political structure envisaged by Gu Yanwu uses the county as the basic unit to distribute the power of the central government, so that the ills of centralized power can be improved.

   Good idea, nothing more.

  Gu Yanwu said: "Since a person with both virtue and conduct is a county magistrate, if a friend of the clan commits a crime, he must enforce the law impartially!"

  Huang Zongxi sighed and said: "Brother Ning, you should go to be a magistrate first. After you have been a magistrate for a few years, you will know the depth of it."

  Gu Yanwu hesitated to speak, he understood what Huang Zongxi meant, and felt like the emperor that he was not practical.

   It would be embarrassing to continue the chat, Gu Yanwu changed the topic: "What article is Brother Taichong writing?"

  Huang Zongxi said: ""Jiangning Business Daily" has an appointment for a draft, and asked me to speak for the girl. You don't need to use your real name, and you can get 60 silver dollars for a touch-up fee."

   Gu Yanwu muttered, "You are worth 10 yuan more than me."

   "Boom boom boom!"

"Come in."

  A sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy pushed the door open and entered, cupped his hands and said, "Teacher, the student is going out to visit friends, so he may not come back for dinner tonight."

   "Go." Huang Zongxi said.

   "The student will leave." The boy bowed and left, closing the door behind him.

  Gu Yanwu asked: "Is this student living in your home?"

  Huang Zongxi sighed: "It's also pitiful. This son is extremely intelligent, but he has been implicated by his parents, so he will not be able to be an official in the future."

   "What case?" Gu Yanwu asked curiously.

Huang Zongxi said in detail: "His name is Yan Ruoqiu, with a hundred poems, and his ancestral home is Taiyuan. His father was a salt merchant in Yangzhou. He was squeezed out by Huizhou merchants and could not gain a foothold in Jianghuai, so he went to Changlu to manage the salt field. The Changlu Salt Department also followed suit and investigated and dealt with several criminal salt merchants. His father was sentenced to exile in Heilongjiang, his salt industry license was revoked, and his descendants were not allowed to be officials for three generations. This child has always been at the top of Jinling University, and his future was given by his father. Ruined. He no longer attends classes seriously, and he worships me as a teacher in private, learning some things that are not in class."

  Gu Yanwu said with emotion: "It's a pity."

  After changing the subject, Gu Yanwu asked, "Why did Brother Taichong get involved in the women's imperial examination?"

Huang Zongxi smiled and said: "There are pens and money to get, why don't you get involved? Women's imperial examinations can't be changed. You and I are both teachers at Jinling University and know the situation in the school. Every year when new students enter school, there are ten or twenty Female students. But by the second grade of university, the number of female students has been reduced by half, and all of them have dropped out of school and returned to their hometowns to marry relatives. Two, sometimes none. So few women take the imperial examination, what can become of it?"

   "Indeed." Gu Yanwu nodded.

  Huang Zongxi said: "I am afraid that the number of female college students who can graduate in the future will not increase, but will become fewer."

   "Why is there such a conclusion?" Gu Yanwu asked.

Huang Zongxi said: "Officials from the Ministry of Rites suggested changing the middle school to four years, and His Majesty seems to agree. In this way, many middle school courses can be added to make middle school graduates more learned. It can also make middle school graduation more difficult. , to offset the pressure of the increase in the number of students every year. Don't look at the middle school is only increased by one year, but the marriageable age of a woman is only a few years. If a woman studies for an extra year, it will be more difficult to find a husband's family. Even if it has been set Even if they get married, the husband's family will not allow the girl to hang out in school for too long."

   "Well, then I'll write an article too. It's really not easy for a woman to finish college." Gu Yanwu felt pity.

  Women's basic education situation has also undergone tremendous changes.

  Girls from the lower classes have a higher and higher dropout rate in primary school, because the government is not strict enough to catch them. Since the government doesn't care about it, for parents, girls don't need to read so many books, they just need to be able to read and write letters, and be able to count and settle accounts.

  Girls from affluent families have a rising rate of secondary school attendance. The number of private girls' schools is increasing, and the rich are keen to send their daughters to secondary school, just enough to marry and get married after finishing high school. In some developed regions, girls who graduate from high school (or drop out of school) have become the standard for marriage. A lady who has not finished middle school will be looked down upon by families of the same class, and it is difficult to find a husband who is well-matched.

  Girls' education is completely deformed.

  Huang Zongxi and Gu Yanwu devoted themselves to writing articles in the Huang residence.

  Huang Zongxi's student, Yan Ruoqi, walked leisurely towards the Gong Yuan. He has already lost his qualifications to be an official, and his family has a lot of money, so now he simply does whatever he wants and specializes in studying the knowledge he likes.

  Yan Ruoqi in history, Mao Qiling, a hard-faced big sprayer, made Mao Qiling speechless. Gu Yanwu took the work and went to Yan Ruoqi to discuss it. Yan Ruoqi suggested modifying some of the content, and Gu Yanwu also made the revision sincerely.

  Economist (let’s call him that) Wang Yuan in the early Qing Dynasty was Yan Ruoqiu’s student.

   Another teacher of Wang Yuan was Yan Yuan, a great Confucian in the early Qing Dynasty who openly supported women's rights in Fanlou that day.

   Coincidentally, in this time and space, Yan Ruozhu and Yan Yuan met in advance, and even became friends with Tang Zhen from Sichuan.

When they came to the inn where the two friends were staying, Yan Ruoqiu said: "You two virtuous brothers, don't write any more articles about the women's imperial examinations. My foolish brother has more important national affairs here. If the three of us negotiate well, we can become officials without the imperial examinations. My little brother might make an exception and become an official."

   "What national event?" Yan Yuan asked.

  Yan Ruozhu said: "Today's industry and commerce, especially the textile industry, the planning of the imperial court is wrong. Although private merchants are correcting and offsetting this mistake by themselves, the corresponding tax system and official system have not been adjusted accordingly."

   Tang Zhen smiled and said, "It really is a big deal!"

   (There is an Easter egg chapter at the end of the chapter. I don’t know if it can pass the review this time.)

  (end of this chapter)