My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 207 Strict Discipline
"Lord Li Xuanba of Bocheng pays respects to the Emperor."

Li Xuanba walked a few steps to Yang Guang and bowed in respect.

Yang Guang chuckled and helped him up. "No need for that. How are you? Are you settling in well here?"

"Habit."

Yang Guang gazed wistfully into the distance, "Back then, I personally selected this best place, expending a great deal of effort. I also personally summoned the scholars and gave them many instructions, hoping that these young people in the country could become pillars of the nation as soon as possible."

"Ha, it's only been two years."

"The Imperial Academy has become like this."

Li Xuanba roughly understood what was going on, but he remained silent.

In the distance, soldiers were seen shoving something, and then seven or eight people were brought here. These were all students from the Imperial Academy, and their faces were mostly filled with fear, their previous arrogance gone. Yang Guang glared angrily at the soldiers and shouted, "How dare you be so disrespectful to the students?!"

The soldiers were taken aback and dared not push, so Yang Guang gestured for the students to come over as well.

Seeing these people, Yang Guang's face grew even more unpleasant.

Yang Guang had been busy all along, but today he suddenly remembered Li Xuanba's matter and decided on a whim to come to the Imperial Academy to check on the situation.

He didn't inform the chief priest in advance; he just led his people over directly.

As a result, Yang Guang found the Imperial Academy completely empty, with an official staff of 140 people, but less than ten people actually stayed in his residence!
Yang Guang's expression was uncertain. He slowly looked at Li Xuanba beside him and said, "At least there are still people like you who have not disappointed my high expectations."

If it weren't for Yang Gongdao's matter, Li Xuanba was also planning to go out for a walk today. Fortunately, he didn't go out because he was summoned by Yang Guang. If he had gone out, who knows what kind of punishment he would have received.

Yang Guang casually took the seat of honor, allowing the students in front of him to sit in the same manner as in a regular class. He was preparing to play the role of a guest professor.

"I changed the Imperial Academy to the Imperial College and bestowed many favors, hoping that the descendants of loyal and virtuous officials in the country would follow the example of their fathers and grandfathers, serve the country, and share my burdens. Unexpectedly, out of 140 people, only you have not failed my expectations."

As Yang Guang spoke, the students who hadn't yet left felt only a sense of relief.

"What meridians have you all started treating?"

Yang Guang asked.

Before the sage, everyone naturally wanted to show off their abilities. The students were quite eager and rushed to answer, all exaggerating their abilities. Only Li Xuanba remained calm at this moment.

After the sage ascended to the throne, he changed everything that could be changed; there was nothing he didn't change. The Imperial Academy was no exception. He was ambitious and wanted to expand the largest territory. At the same time, he hoped to reach the pinnacle of cultural governance. Cultural and educational undertakings were an aspect that the sage attached great importance to.

At least, compared to all those other absurd things, the sage did a pretty good job in education and culture.

He himself also presented himself as a sage who was well-versed in the Five Classics, establishing himself as a learned and cultured person.

Li Xuanba felt that the way the other man tried to win him over and showed him care was actually part of his persona, which was probably something like caring for the royal family and treating scholars with respect.

Even regarding his purpose in coming here today, Li Xuanba didn't think it was because he valued the situation at the Imperial Academy. He probably wanted to showcase his erudition and literary talent once again, but unfortunately, he wasn't there. And his anger probably wasn't really about these students not serving the country. As a learned and cultured monarch, one has to be angry at times like this, so he was angry.

Sitting next to the emperor, Li Xuanba felt that he could see things more and more clearly.

Liu Xuan had said many things, most of which were veiled criticisms. Li Xuanba discovered that many of the principles his teacher spoke of could be connected to the sage before him. The sentence Liu Xuan said most often was that the scholars of today do not act for the sake of an end, but for the sake of doing things.

In the past, Li Xuanba did not quite understand these things, but after seeing the sage and his demeanor, Li Xuanba understood them to some extent.

Yang Guang then looked at Li Xuanba and asked, "Xuanba, what about you? What meridian did you treat?"

"We haven't even treated him yet, so I don't know which classic to treat first." Upon hearing this, Yang Guang's eyes lit up. He then happily explained the order of the Five Classics to Li Xuanba, commenting on each one of the official classics. The students were quite impressed, showing amazement and admiration for the emperor's erudition.

That's all Yang Guang wanted.

As expected, everything went exactly as Li Xuanba had predicted.

When the students from outside were brought back, the sage was furious. He severely reprimanded them, especially his nephew. He scolded them for their negligence, spoke eloquently about the great use of classical studies, and ordered several drunken students to be whipped as punishment.

Then the sage left.

He did not consider whether the current situation of the Imperial College was appropriate, or whether the officials he reformed could control the students.

In Li Xuanba's view, the problems with these three schools of thought are extremely serious.

During the reign of Emperor Wen, the Imperial Academy only admitted children from top noble families, the Imperial College only admitted children of fifth-rank officials, that is, middle-level officials, and the Four Gates Academy admitted other officials and children from poor families.

After the sage reformed the system, the four disciplines also had standards. Officials of the seventh rank and above were probably the children of county magistrates. At the same time, following the example of the Northern Qi Dynasty, disciplines such as law and mathematics were separated to recruit officials of the ninth rank and children from poor families.

Leaving aside those from commoner backgrounds, the Imperial Academy itself became a playground for spoiled brats. All talk of assessments and management became empty rhetoric, and it lost its educational function. What's frightening is that these people would later become the actual rulers of the country, and among the most important ones at that.

The situation at the Imperial Academy was not much better, because resources were prioritized for those at higher levels. The most skilled teachers, especially those who were best at teaching and studying the classics, were all at the Imperial Academy, playing with the young masters. Meanwhile, the Four Gates Academy had almost no resources, and the chances of getting an official position were the lowest.

As for local official schools, well, they became mere empty shells.

Liu Xuan once told Li Xuanba that during Emperor Wen's reign, he was once in despair because of the state schools, and even thought of abolishing all state schools and leaving only the Imperial Academy to fool the sons of nobles.

Of course, there is another problem. In the past, the sons of powerful families in the Central Plains and the south were excluded from official schools. These bastards who created the Nine-Rank System to select officials based on family background are now unable to attend official schools because their families are not of high enough rank, which is quite ironic.

The powerful families there could only take the imperial examinations because they couldn't attend official schools.

The imperial examination system was a privilege bestowed upon the sons of powerful clans.
Li Xuanba narrowed his eyes slightly, but in his heart he was thinking about Liu Xuan's teachings. If he could succeed in the future, the first thing to do was to reform the official schools, and the second thing to do was to reform the imperial examination system!

Shortly after the sage left, a man walked quickly towards him.

The man was indeed tall and imposing, dressed in official robes, with a fierce expression. The scholars following behind him had to run to keep up with him.

He walked quickly to the stage and looked at the students in front of him.

"Chancellor!!"

The students bowed and paid their respects once more.

This is Yang Wang, the current Chancellor of the Imperial Academy.

Yang Wang was furious. The emperor had given him a severe scolding, believing that he had failed in his duties. However, just two months ago, Yang Guang had told him that the main purpose of the Imperial Academy was to reward the descendants of meritorious officials and that there was no need to be too harsh.

The emperor had gone back on his word once or twice, but this time, Yang Wang's most trusted scholar was punished by the emperor and nearly beaten to death. This infuriated Yang Wang, but he could not vent his anger on the emperor.
"From this day forward, anyone who dares to leave the Imperial Academy without permission will have their legs broken!!!"

Yang Wang's loud voice frightened the students so much that they trembled.

"Reinstate the ten-day and monthly exams. Anyone who fails three times is fired! Starting today, I'll be here. Anyone who dares to mock a PhD or lay a hand on a professor will be dealt with properly."

As Yang Wang spoke, he rolled up his sleeves.

Li Xuanba saw his extremely thick arms.
(End of this chapter)