Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 213: A Civil Servant Proposes the Abolition of the Imperial Examination System
Zhu Houzhao's expression became solemn, his brows furrowed, and he glanced at Yuan Zongru and Liu Yu.

Yuan Zongru and Liu Yu both lowered their heads.

"In that case, tell me whether you are still going to promote education or not. Tell me the truth and I won't do anything to you."

Zhu Houzhao stood up. He could see that these civil officials were now somewhat afraid of him, fearing that he would behead or kill someone if they disagreed with him again.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao had no choice but to stand up and walk to the palace gate, with his back to the civil officials, for fear that they would be too scared when looking at him from the face and would not dare to tell the truth.

"It is natural to promote education. Educating the common people and making them know and love etiquette is a virtuous policy. However, forcing the children of common people to go to school is a bit unreasonable and adds to the burden of the people. Your Majesty wants the people of the world to understand the significance of education and to benefit from it. In my opinion, it is better to abolish the compulsory order and let the people do it voluntarily."

The Cabinet Chief Minister Wang Hua spoke first at this time.

He knew that promoting universal education and turning all the people of the Ming Dynasty into educated people was the ideal of the emperor before him.

But he had to admit in his heart that the emperor's ideals were sometimes as empty as his own ideal of building a harmonious society.

It is difficult for ordinary people to have the awareness of cultivating their next generation before they become rich. Even for ordinary people, raising children is a difficult task. Now the court wants them to take the responsibility of educating children, which is obviously making it difficult for ordinary people. Although the education is free, for ordinary people, children are not just babies to be raised at home, but also a part of the labor force.

"What the Prime Minister said is indeed a plan to relieve the people's difficulties. I also think that the promotion of education cannot be abolished but can be improved. Community schools and high-level elementary schools should continue to be established, and even in the future, schools can be established in prefectures, provinces, and the North and South Beijing Normal Schools to teach scholars all over the world. However, it is still necessary to determine what level of knowledge these scholars should have for the court to use;

In addition, in order to encourage scholars in the Ming Dynasty who are willing to study to learn new knowledge instead of taking Confucianism of Zhu Xi as the legal system, I think the imperial examination system should be abolished!
Then, those who graduated from the universities in the capital and even the Imperial Academy will be directly appointed as officials, so that scholars from all over the country can be eager to enter the new school. "

Liu Yu, the Second Assistant of the Cabinet, knew that the drawbacks of the education reform he had revealed today had caused dissatisfaction among the Emperor Zhu Houzhao, but he proposed to abolish the imperial examination at this time in order to tell Zhu Houzhao that he did not intend to oppose the Emperor, nor did he not understand the Emperor's purpose. As a cabinet minister, he just wanted to say what you wanted to do but did not dare to do immediately.

Abolish the imperial examination?

Liu Yu's words were like a loud bang that exploded in the narrow cabinet and the duty room of the Imperial Household Department.

No one expected that this cabinet minister, who had just been the first to speak out against the universal education that the Emperor had worked so hard to build, would now directly attack the imperial examination system and even threaten to abolish it!

Zhu Houzhao himself was really frightened by Liu Yu's words. He did not expect that Liu Yu would directly propose to abolish the imperial examination system.

He had to admit that after he deliberately cultivated a bureaucratic capitalist group and even allowed the bureaucratic capitalists to replace traditional gentry in controlling the government, these civil servants with bureaucratic capitalist backgrounds began to be somewhat different from the conservative civil servants of the past, and even dared to say something like abolishing the imperial examination system.

Of course, it is not ruled out that some cunning civil servants only want to please themselves and deliberately choose to say what they want to hear.

Although one's words must be shocking, as long as they touch the emperor's heart, he will naturally value them. As for the consequences of firing the cannon, they will naturally be borne by the emperor. After all, one is only making a suggestion, and the decision is made by the emperor.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao did not show any expression that he wanted to abolish the imperial examination system. As an emperor above all others, it was sometimes necessary for him to conceal his ignorance and be simple-minded, otherwise he would not be easily understood by others.

Zhu Houzhao did not turn around, wanting to see how the other civil servants would react.

Yuan Zongru, the Minister of Households and Departments, did not expect that Liu Yu, the cabinet vice minister who had just taken the lead in criticizing the universal education reform, would criticize the imperial examination system again in the blink of an eye. He could not help but directly refute:
"I think that the imperial examination should not be abolished lightly. First, the imperial examination has been carried out for many years in our country, and all scholars and people in the world regard it as a criterion. This system can also maintain the people's hearts.
Secondly, all the students and candidates in the country now rely on this as a ladder for advancement. If the imperial examination is abolished, wouldn’t it leave all the scholars in the world with no way to serve the country? We can’t let them go back and learn arithmetic like children! "

"But nowadays, the talents selected by the imperial examination are mostly those who are good at empty talk but neglect practical matters. They don't know the worries and joys of the people, nor do they know the loyalty and treachery of the court. Moreover, most of them are used and manipulated by the clerks. There are even some who are willing to be used by the clerks to make money for themselves! The talents selected by the imperial examination nowadays are mostly scholars of governance, and those who can make achievements in practical matters must be selected from the new school!"

The cabinet's deputy minister Liu Yu retorted. Seeing this, the cabinet's chief minister Wang Hua also said:

"Whether the imperial examination is abolished or not is not important. What is important is that the court must have a method for selecting scholars. If the imperial examination is abolished, it must be replaced by a new method. If the imperial examination is to be abolished, it should be done when new learning is mature. I think the imperial examination and new learning can be used together!"

"It will remain the same as the current system. Those who pass the imperial examination can directly be selected as officials. Those who pass the imperial examination can choose to participate in the imperial examination or enter the Imperial University for further study and selection as officials. After the high elementary school, there will be schools at all levels, and eventually they can directly enter the university. University graduates can also directly be selected as officials."

After Wang Hua finished speaking, Zhu Houzhao turned around and said:
"Very good. Even if the imperial examination system is to be abolished, it cannot be abolished suddenly. The Ming Dynasty has used the imperial examination system as the right way to recruit scholars for a hundred years. It is not just a way to recruit scholars, but a means for many people to make a living. From the old scholars in the countryside to the upright officials in the court, everyone makes a living by teaching the classics and articles. The court cannot cut off their livelihood.

However, this new school system needs to be further improved. I approve Liu Qing's proposal:
No longer force the children of the people to go to school. Perhaps the most important thing that I and the ministers should do now is to make sure that the people of the world are free from hunger and poverty. If people have surplus food and do not have to bear the pain of taxes, how can parents not let their children study more?
Gaodi primary schools should still be established in the north and south of Zhili, and each prefecture should have a middle school, not just one. The imperial edict ordered each prefecture to add a few middle schools according to the number of students in the area, both junior and senior. In addition to the traditional Chinese arithmetic, the junior school must have seven subjects: history, geography, politics, the study of things, chemistry, biology, and martial arts.
You should all understand what these courses cover now. For advanced students, in addition to Chinese studies and arithmetic, they can choose one of the other seven subjects to study. After graduating from senior high school, they can take the higher education examination, which is hosted by the provinces and is similar to the provincial examination of the imperial examination. Those who pass the examination can apply to become university students according to their wishes. The universities in the empire will recruit students from various provinces based on their academic performance. The number of admissions is also decided by each university. The Ministry of Education will draft the specific details and submit them to me, and I will make detailed arrangements. "

"Your Majesty, should the above policy be implemented in Nanzhili temporarily? I think that the new system of primary schools, middle schools, and universities should be implemented only in Nanzhili temporarily, and in other provinces, local officials should be ordered to set up primary schools temporarily to save money. After all, except for Nanzhili, other regions will still focus on the imperial examination. I am afraid that setting up middle schools and universities now will not be of much benefit."

Wang Qiong, who is in charge of the Ministry of Households, said.

Zhu Houzhao nodded and said, "Approved! But you can issue an edict to the whole world, allowing the gentry to build their own academies for study. I will reward those who excel in their studies!"

"According to the order!"

The chief minister of the cabinet, Wang Hua, and other civil officials all bowed their heads in greeting. They were all very happy about Zhu Houzhao's sudden decree to allow the people of the world to build academies. After all, for literati like them who were Jinshi graduates, being able to build an academy meant that they could legitimately open imperial examination training classes and make money.

Zhu Houzhao also knew that even if he encouraged great scholars and celebrities to open academies now, they would only become imperial examination training classes. After all, imperial examination training classes made money and had more profits. However, Zhu Houzhao should be able to get a few great scholars and celebrities who did not care about fame and fortune to open some academies with the function of studying social sciences, which could also be considered universities.

Not long after the academic affairs court meeting ended, the imperial decree on the establishment of higher primary schools to facilitate the further education of students graduating from community schools was officially announced to the world. At the same time, the Ministry of Revenue also began to allocate silver specifically and stipulated which part of the taxes could be used by local governments for education expenses.

As a result, local officials all over the country built new-style schools, either for the purpose of making money or showing their political achievements to their superiors. In short, no matter what the original intention was, high primary schools popped up everywhere like mushrooms after a rain.

In addition, Emperor Zhengde issued an edict allowing private citizens to build academies, so Confucian scholars all over the world praised it and built academies one after another. At one time, the number of academies increased greatly. In the present, a retired minister built Shanyan Academy, and in the future, a retired vice minister built Shuiquan Academy.

However, because Zhu Houzhao no longer issued edicts to force students to go to school, many children from well-off or wealthy families still attended high schools in various places. Moreover, because the teachers in these high schools were old Confucian scholars recruited by officials in the local area, and because family members also wanted their children to study Confucianism and take the imperial examinations, these high schools also became imperial examination training classes.

This is even more true for privately established academies, where the main focus every day is on explaining Confucian classics and they are basically training classes for the imperial examinations.

However, Zhu Houzhao believed that although in the short term the academic community would still focus on studying Confucian classics because the people of the world only knew that taking the imperial examinations to gain fame was the right way, this trend would definitely change as he deliberately made use of talents educated through new-style education in politics.

However, Zhu Houzhao felt that what was more important to him now was to increase the wealth of the Ming Dynasty, make the people richer and richer, and make the people less utilitarian in receiving education. He wanted them to gradually realize that receiving education was not for promotion or wealth, but to improve their own quality, better understand themselves, and realize their own value.

Only by allowing the people of the Ming Dynasty to actively accept education and think about how to obtain interests other than material benefits can the Chinese nation's sense of innovation and ability to innovate be stimulated.

But it will definitely take a long time for the people to understand this, because when a person is still struggling only to survive, you cannot persuade him to give up his utilitarianism.

多谢书友悼武华夏 300起点币打赏多谢书友归宏500起点币打赏多谢书友米店300起点币打赏多谢书友20181005121511444 5000起点币执事打赏



(End of this chapter)