There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 203 Educational Reform
cabinet.

The cabinet system of the Han Dynasty and the cabinet system of the pseudo-Qing Dynasty were quite different.

In terms of real power, the establishment of the Grand Council by Emperor Yongzheng rendered the Qing dynasty's cabinet a mere shell.

In terms of official rank, although the cabinet ministers of the puppet Qing dynasty held high ranks, directly reaching the first rank, a rank second only to the emperor, they no longer concurrently served as ministers of the six ministries, and their influence over the six ministries was almost completely lost.

The Grand Secretariat of the Han Dynasty was different. In reality, it shared power with the Secretariat. The Grand Secretariat was in charge of national civil administration, while the Secretariat was in charge of national affairs and military affairs. Each performed its own duties.

In terms of official titles, the Grand Han Cabinet restored the style of the Ming Dynasty, with the requirement of being a minister of various ministries as a condition for entering the cabinet. After entering the cabinet, the ministers would not resign from their official positions, so that the cabinet could have a certain influence over the ministries and would not be unable to issue orders.

The establishment of the Grand Cabinet took more than two months, from its inception to the final selection and ranking of its ministers. The final lineup was: Liu Jun (Grand Secretary), Gu Jing (Second Grand Secretary), Lin Wenchang, Wang Ruoyu, Lü Zhihong, and Yao Hongyi.

Apart from the first and second-in-command, the other cabinet ministers are not ranked in any particular order, because they all entered the cabinet at a young age and are still slowly figuring out many things.

It is worth mentioning that although cabinet ministers can concurrently serve as ministers in the Grand Secretariat, this is limited to cabinet ministers only; the Grand Secretary cannot concurrently hold the position of minister. This is the norm.

"His Majesty's approval has been issued."

Gu Jing held up a memorial that had been marked with red circles, indicating that it had been approved, and said...

Liu Jun took the document, quickly scanned it, and then passed it to the next person. After a round, everyone had seen it.

Lü Zhihong nodded and said, "It seems that His Majesty has no intention of holding the imperial examinations at present."

Gu Jing said, "It is right not to hold a civil service examination. Your Majesty has only recently become king. If you rush to hold a civil service examination, it will only backfire and make the people of the world look down on our great Han Dynasty."

Lin Wenchang added, "Holding imperial examinations costs money. With such a large financial expenditure, if we want to hold imperial examinations this year, then we won't need to fight the battle to capture Xiangyang next year."

Wang Ruoyu echoed, "Xiangyang has an inside agent from our Great Han Intelligence Division, so taking it shouldn't be difficult. However, Xiangyang is in ruins and has been ravaged by the White Lotus Sect several times. If we want to restore it, then the civil service examinations must be postponed until we have more financial resources."

It all comes down to money.

Nie Yu rejected the idea of ​​opening up the imperial examination system, not only because he didn't want to open the door to the imperial examinations so early and wanted to pave the way for future educational reforms, but also because the Han Dynasty really didn't have much money left.

A penny can stump a heroic man!
The Han Dynasty needed to wage wars and expand its territory, while also carrying out educational reforms and large-scale immigration and infrastructure projects. Spending money like water was considered conservative.

The silver from the profit sharing with the Huizhou merchants seemed like a lot, in units of tens of thousands of taels, but when it was delivered to the mouth of the big Han, a money-devouring beast, it wasn't even enough to fill a gap in his teeth.

Liu Jun said, "Your Majesty does not want to reopen the imperial examination system for the time being, but educational reform is imperative."

As Liu Jun spoke, he unfolded the book "Educational Reform and Compulsory Education," which was a royal edict issued directly to the cabinet by Nie Yuqian in his own hands, bypassing the usual procedure of consulting with the cabinet on matters large and small.

I take it seriously, but it's a real headache.

After the cabinet members read and circulated the document, they felt immense pressure, not only from the pressure of education reform but also from the heavy burden of compulsory education.

As the Minister of Rites, Gu Jing was also responsible for education under the Han Dynasty. He frowned and said, "Let's put the reform of education aside for now. Compulsory education is really too difficult. To put it bluntly, our Han Dynasty is only one and a half provinces under its rule, yet there are hundreds of thousands of school-age children. If so many children have to go to school, the financial burden will be too great."

Lin Wenchang said, "Educational reforms already need to be treated with caution. Even if we try our best to implement compulsory education now, what will we do when the area is larger and there are more school-age children in the future?"

Liu Jun said, "His Majesty has already made it very clear that compulsory education will only last for three years of primary school. After three years, students can choose whether or not to continue their studies in middle school or university. Moreover, even if it is compulsory education, the government will only cover tuition fees; other expenses will be the responsibility of the families themselves."

Wang Ruoyu shook his head: "This is adding to the burden on the people! Forcing all the children in ordinary families to study, even if it's only for three years, is a considerable expense for ordinary people. I'm afraid many people will harbor resentment towards the government. This is already burdening and harming the people. How can Your Majesty make such a decision?"

Is compulsory education burdening and harming the people?

It sounds outrageous, but that's exactly what Wang Ruoyu and other cabinet officials thought.

Because under compulsory education, ordinary people do not seem to benefit much. Instead, they have to make a lot of upfront investment and even lose a free laborer who could have farmed to supplement their family income.

Of course, ordinary people would be unwilling and resentful. Lu Zhihong suddenly shook his head: "Gentlemen, this matter cannot be calculated like this. You should look at the arrangements for students after graduating from primary school, middle school and university in compulsory education. Primary school is three years of compulsory education. Those who graduate normally can go to the countryside to serve as village officials, middle school students can serve as town mayors, and university students can serve as assistant officials in the county."

Since so many village and town primary schools have already been built, it's a waste if no one goes to school. Why not let all the villagers send their children there, and after graduation, they can become village chiefs or village officials in their own villages?

"Your Majesty, this is called compulsory education, but in reality, it is training local officials for our Han Dynasty!"

Lu Zhihong was telling the truth. The Ministry of Revenue was so worried that it could hardly breathe because it didn't have enough money to spend.

The Ministry of Personnel was in no better shape. The Ministry of Revenue was worried about money, and the Ministry of Personnel was worried about a shortage of personnel. Their reserves of officials were far from sufficient.

The local officials in the captured prefectures such as Wuchang, Hanyang, and Anlu had to be recruited from other prefectures.

"Pah~pah!"

Liu Jun clapped his hands twice, signaling everyone to listen to him: "Gentlemen, whether it is educational reform or compulsory education, it has already been decided by His Majesty. Even if we feel it is inappropriate, we can only offer advice, and we cannot easily change it on our own."

The Han cabinet did indeed have more power than the Qing cabinet, but not by much.

The Grand Cabinet of the Han Dynasty did indeed wield real power, but it had no power to reject imperial edicts issued directly by the King of Han.

Of course, they could also forcefully refute it, but that would be incredibly rude of them.

“What you say is true, Yuanfu.”

Everyone realized what was happening and shook their heads. Compulsory education was a done deal, and there was no point in saying anything more to the cabinet.

If you want to object, then submit your own memorial to the throne to offer your advice!
"Let's move on to discussing education and cultural reform."

Liu Jun quickly turned the page and continued talking about education reform: "Your Majesty now wants to add three extra courses—mathematics, physics, and chemistry—to the curriculum of primary schools, middle schools, and universities. We all know that mathematics is just mathematical questioning, only with a different name. Now, this mathematics course will be a compulsory subject for students, and it will be a required subject in exams. The proportion of mathematics in the curriculum cannot be too low."

"This matter will be entirely handled by the Ministry of Rites!"

Gu Jing nodded: "It's my duty."

Liu Jun continued, "As for physics and chemistry, according to Your Majesty's meaning, physics is roughly about explaining mechanics and is related to the tools and equipment of craftsmen, while chemistry seems to complement physics."

Yao Hongyi finally got to a less sensitive topic, one that was also one of his strengths as a scholar. He said, "Mathematics is alright; it's just arithmetic with a different name, and it's indeed useful for students to become officials in the future. If students want to learn it, they'll definitely be willing. But physics and chemistry are a different story. They're related to craftsmen, so isn't that just training craftsmen? Would students be willing to learn that?"

Liu Jun said, "Therefore, Your Majesty has only designated them as electives, not compulsory courses, so students can choose to take these two courses themselves. Your Majesty's intention is to find a way to encourage some students to take these two courses?"

Wang Ruoyu said, "That's not difficult. If we want to attract students to study these courses, the only way is to offer them official positions. As long as those who choose these two courses can also be offered official positions, there will always be students who fail the exams who will choose to study them."

Liu Jun nodded: "That's what Your Majesty means too. The blank space is about how to formulate the specific rules and regulations."

As for the specific charter, that cannot be discussed and explained in just a few words.

Everyone put forward their own reform suggestions, mainly to entice students to choose the school by offering official positions, and even to raise the rank of the official position by one level as a means to attract students.

Everything in the Han Dynasty was newly established, and it was not uncommon for new official positions to be created to meet the needs of the people. This included the Intelligence Bureau and the Propaganda Bureau, which were newly established to meet the needs of wartime.

If the King of Han wants his students to study mathematics, physics, and chemistry, then establishing a physics department and a chemistry department similar to the Hanlin Academy is not out of the question.

The specific regulations were all handed over to the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel for drafting.

The reform of the Military Academy was discussed last, and in reality, there was little need for discussion. The Prince of Han had already submitted the plan, and the Ministry of War could simply take it and implement it.

(End of this chapter)