Chapter 1140 Counterattack and Contest
In May of the second year of Yanxi, a big event happened in Han Dynasty.
That is when the Emperor of the Han Dynasty issued an edict:
In order to avoid confusion with the official examination method, the imperial edict was issued to change the Liangzhou talent selection examination method to the imperial examination method, which was listed as the Han Dynasty talent selection system along with the examination and examination.
At the same time, he also ordered that the two books "Thousand Character Classic" and "Zhengyin Dictionary" should be listed as essential books in the school.
Although we knew that this day would come sooner or later, when the Emperor officially announced it, it still shocked those aristocratic families who were concerned about the situation in the world-especially the aristocratic families in Jihan.
Needless to say, "The Thousand Character Essay" is one of the most suitable articles for enlightenment in the world today.
The "Zhengyin Dictionary" has been compiled and renamed several times after more than ten years of gathering famous Han Confucian scholars from the academy. Now it is the most powerful tool to assist literacy.
Not to mention the bonuses of pinyin and printing.
These things complement each other, making the school's enlightenment efficiency far superior to that of private schools within major families, and the teaching effect is even more dimensionally reduced.
The wealthy families discovered to their horror that it was no longer a matter of whether they could continue to monopolize knowledge.
Rather, if they dare not conform to the ways of the Han Dynasty, the foundation of their livelihood for hundreds of years may be shattered.
It is different from the full resistance of the Shu family, and it is also different from the half-hearted resistance of Liangzhou Haoyou.
The wealthy families in Guanzhong, Bingzhou, and Hedong are much more enlightened than the aristocratic families in these two places.
Hearing that the emperor of the Han Dynasty issued the edict, each family gave a thumbs up, praising His Majesty for his foresight and foresight, and that the Han Dynasty was expected to prosper.
Not only praised him, but also supported the Han emperor with practical actions.
For example, he sent a messenger to Chang'an to look for connections, visit the big shots in the court, and expressed his willingness to provide money and food, and to help the court build schools in various places.
Another example is to push out outstanding children from each family to participate in the recommendation of the Royal Academy.
Of course, it is not impossible for the younger ones to be sent to Chang'an Academy to study, and then take the college entrance examination in two or three years...
“Here, these are the students recommended to the college from various places this year.”
The weather in June is the hottest time in Guanzhong.
Feng Duhu was hiding in an artificially air-conditioned room, looking thoughtfully at the news coming back from the Kingdom of Wu.
The right lady rushed in in a hurry, slapped a stack of paper on the table with a "pop" sound, then picked up the cold herbal tea and drank a few sips.
She drank a little too much, and it made her stick out her tongue.
“It’s so hot outside, why are you so anxious? You’re walking so fast, you’re covered in sweat!”
Feng Duhu stood up while chattering, opened the ice mirror, took out the cut cold melon, and placed it in front of Madam Right.
The right lady sat on the chair, picked up the cold melon and took a few bites, then sighed comfortably.
“Sweet, sweet and watery, it quenches your thirst! It’s such a good thing. Do you want to eat it, Alang?”
Feng Duhu shook his head: "I don't like to eat it, you can eat it."
Compared with the pulp of later generations, which had few or even no seeds, the cold melons of this era were densely packed with seeds, and the flesh was a little floury, so the taste was not that good.
For Feng Duhu, the taste is really bad.
“It is a good thing for you, but it is not a good thing for the people.”
“This thing doesn’t matter whether it takes up a lot of land or not, but it requires too much fertilizer, so it can only be sown in a small area and is not suitable for promotion.”
The right lady glanced at him and spit out a few melon seeds:
“It doesn’t matter whether I promote it or not. I don’t know how to farm anyway, but my family has fields and land, and I’m not short of money or food.”
“Other people can live without this food, but not ours. Every year I eat melons to escape the heat.”
Mr. Shunde, a mighty man, what's wrong with taking a bite of melon?
snort!
Feng Duhu looked a little helpless, but his eyes looked at Madam Right with some fondness:
"I just said that casually, don't worry, you will be the one who stutters."
In fact, the cultivation of cold melons has been continuing in recent years, and it is Li Xu who is in charge of this project.
Just for the melon pulp with fewer seeds and a sweeter taste.
In what year was it cultivated? Could it be that Feng Duhu liked eating melons?
After chatting, Feng Duhu picked up the paper sent by the right lady and asked.
"What's this?"
“List of students from various places recommended to enter the college this year.”
Mrs. Right ate another piece of melon and felt that the heat in her body had disappeared under the influence of the ice mirror, so she moved closer to Feng Duhu and explained:
“All the lists of Shu, Yongliang, and other states are here.”
Pinched and it felt a little thick, Feng Duhu asked: "How many people are there?"
The right lady turned her head and thought for a moment before replying: "Six hundred and three."
“Too many!” Feng Duhu threw the list directly back on the table and lay back on the chair with a displeased look on his face: “I didn’t expect them to be so greedy!”
Logically speaking, the recommendation of talents should be based on the proportion of the population in each place.
Just after the Battle of Guanzhong, so much old land was recovered at once, and the problem of insufficient officials in the imperial court and counties began to be exposed.
Given the current development trend of the Han Dynasty, the imperial court indeed needs to reserve talents.
Coupled with this recommendation, it is indeed quite special.
To put it bluntly, it is to win over the hearts of scholars from all over the world. This is also an act of integrating the internal resources of the Han Dynasty.
In order to be able to march eastward as soon as possible.
Therefore, there is no specific number of people recommended for talent recommendation this time.
It's just that Feng Duhu still underestimated the greed of the aristocratic families.
"How many people are there in the Han Dynasty now? Not to mention that there are not so many students recommended by schools in various places."
“If you add in the number of people recruited from various places, it’s probably several times as many as the students in the college. What do they want to do?”
The simultaneous implementation of imperial examinations, inspection examinations, and conquests is not a compromise, but a matter of necessity.
Even though Feng Duhu had been poaching the family for more than ten years, the foundation of more than a hundred years was still too weak.
Whether it’s a job of inspection or recruitment, basically only the descendants of aristocratic families can meet the requirements.
To be honest, the children from the Cangtou Qianshou family will not only go to the battlefield, but also gain fame in their narrow escape.
The only way out is to enter the Royal Academy to study, so that you can compete with the children of the aristocratic families - and most of them may not be able to compare with the children of the aristocratic families in the end.
In this troubled world, if you don’t have a vision beyond the times and the courage to cure the poison, you will be able to survive.
Who has the patience to farm step by step, continuously invest huge amounts of money, spend an unknown amount of time, and painstakingly re-establish another talent training system?
Not to mention the huge risks that must be taken during this period.
Either you are being sabotaged from within, or external enemies do not give you a chance. It is even more normal for internal and external collusion to occur.
With this energy and money and food, it is better to raise a few more armies and unify the world as soon as possible.
So, wouldn’t it be delicious if a child from an aristocratic family could use it directly?
This time, Feng Duhu, for the sake of the overall situation, rarely gave these wealthy families a lot of face.
Unexpectedly, the other party did not appreciate it at all.
I heard the right lady laugh and say:
"Don't you really know what their plan is? They just want to test the bottom line of the court."
“After all, this is the first year of the formal imperial examination. If we can let the children of our family enter the academy in large numbers, we will have a head start.”
Feng Duhu had a sneer on his face:
In the future, the imperial examination can only be continuously strengthened and cannot be weakened.
Chaju and levy, on the other hand, are just the opposite and can only be weakened continuously.
Intellectual resources must not continue to be monopolized by aristocratic families.
After so many years, it is estimated that the aristocratic families have also figured out the court's intentions.
Therefore, while the students trained by the college have not yet become the mainstream of Han officials, they are crazily recommending their own people to seize positions.
“For hundreds of years, the Han Dynasty has mainly focused on the imperial examination. Now that Alang wants to implement the imperial examination, it is understandable that everyone has not changed for a while.”
The right lady sighed, "To be honest, for now, the children of aristocratic families are indeed much better than the children of ordinary people."
“So many people have been recommended from various places, I’m afraid not all of them can be considered intentional...”
Feng Duhu nodded:
"How could I not know this? But for the long-term consideration of the Han Dynasty, the imperial examination is imperative."
The right lady pointed to the list on the table: "What about this?"
Feng Duhu did not answer immediately, but stretched out his right hand and pressed it on the list.
Madam You thought he was going to pick it up and look at it carefully to select people. Unexpectedly, Feng Duhu clicked on the list and started tapping the paper with his index finger.
This is a small gesture of his thinking.
“It’s not good to fight back directly. After all, this is the first time that your Majesty has selected talents on a large scale in the Han Dynasty since he returned to the old capital.”
“If we call them back and ask them to re-elect, it’s a small matter if someone sees a joke, but it’s not a big deal if we lose the emperor’s face. It’s a big deal if we damage the emperor’s prestige.”
The right lady frowned slightly:
“But it’s not appropriate to put them all into the academy!”
Is this considered a counterattack by the noble family?
As long as there is a chance, they will not let it go.
When Feng Duhu thought of this, he suddenly smiled strangely:
"Aren't the students recommended from all over the country full of ambitions to serve the country? We can't let them lose their hearts!"
The right lady was startled and looked at Feng Duhu.
Feng Duhu tapped his index finger rapidly several times, and then he continued:
"The people's livelihood in Guanzhong is exhausted. The first priority now is to resume production, but the manpower in the counties below is insufficient."
"Since these students want to serve the country, let them go downstairs to help first, and at the same time understand the people's sentiments and observe the sufferings of the people."
At the time of the Liangzhou exams, many aristocratic families could not bear the hardships of the grassroots, forcing many to quit halfway.
Hearing that Feng Duhu wanted to repeat his old plan, the right lady was a little worried:
“The Liangzhou examination is for selecting talents to serve as officials, so that candidates can understand the people’s sentiments, which is understandable.”
“When entering the academy, one’s priority is to acquire knowledge. How can the two be the same? I’m afraid Alang’s move is inappropriate.”
"Don't worry." Feng Du smiled confidently, "Students from the academy will also have a one-year internship period in the end."
Reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles may be an exaggeration in ancient times.
But after students reach adulthood, it is normal and even natural for students to go on study tours and increase their knowledge.
The internship arrangement in the final year of the college is actually another nominal study tour for students—the difference from the individual study tour is that this is a study tour uniformly arranged by the college.
"These recommended students are all talented people from all over the country. Are there any weak ones? Let them start internships in advance."
The lady on the right still has a worried look on her face:
"What about the students who are recommended by the school? I'm afraid someone will say that it's unfair to treat them differently."
"It's just to make them feel unfair." Feng Duhu said calmly, "It's just to let them know that students who enter the academy from the academy are the genuine students of the Royal Academy."
“That is, students who are recommended will be more valued by the court than those who are recommended.”
No matter how many disadvantages the imperial examination has, it can still be said to be the fairest way to select talents in the feudal era.
Whether it does more good than harm to a country or does more harm than good depends on what the ruler wants to achieve with the imperial examination.
Taking the imperial examinations in the early Tang Dynasty as an example, they were mainly based on "current affairs policies".
Because it involves real problems in the country's society, it requires readers not only to be familiar with the scriptures, but also to face society, observe, think about problems, and propose solutions.
In addition to the imperial examination, Wu Zetian even created the military examination.
This allowed the imperial examination to show its vigorous and progressive nature in the Tang Dynasty, forming a golden age for the development of ancient Chinese culture.
It is a pity that the Song Dynasty’s emphasis on literature over martial arts not only castrated Confucianism, but also used the imperial examination to suppress the minds of scholars.
This was a very bad start for future generations.
In the end, the imperial examination in the Ming and Qing Dynasties gradually developed into the eight-legged essay examination.
Let scholars become industrious, unable to distinguish between grains, and can only talk about "what's wrong".
It is completely different from the scholars who traveled around the world with swords in the Han and Tang Dynasties.
However, even in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the imperial examination was never the only way to become an official.
Xingjuan, Yinguan, Donating prisons, etc. are all supplementary ways to enter the officialdom.
But no matter which one they are, most of the time their status cannot exceed the imperial examination.
Officials who entered the official position through the imperial examination have a stronger back than those who entered the official position through other methods.
What Feng Duhu ultimately wanted to create was this kind of effect.
Of course, in the beginning, the status of the officials who passed the imperial examination, the imperial examination, and the official recruitment were all basically the same.
It's just that he has to consciously raise the status of the imperial examination slowly and gradually and subtly.
Squeezing the imperial examinations and conquests bit by bit is a disguised form of squeezing the space for the children of aristocratic families to enter officialdom.
In the end, they were forced to retreat to the same starting point as ordinary people—at least in the academy.
This is the ultimate that Feng Duhu can achieve to break the family's monopoly on intellectual resources.
It is also the greatest fairness that can be given to all students in the world.
At the same time, it also allows the big man to unite the broadest social level.
Mrs. Right knew that there would be a lot of resistance, so she thought about it and suggested:
"How about this? If someone really performs well within a year, he can be directly promoted or promoted to an official position. What does Alang think?"
Hearing this, Feng Duhu couldn't help but said "Hey" and looked at Madam Right with admiration:
"Xi Jun is indeed my daughter Zhuge. This statement is very reasonable."
In any case, now the imperial examinations and examinations are carried out in parallel, and there is no distinction between high and low. Being able to enter the official position in advance must be in line with the wishes of many people.
At the same time, it can also block someone's mouth:
If you have the ability, just go through the examination and enter the official position directly.
If you don’t have the skills, just pass the exam and enter the academy to learn the skills.
If you can’t even pass the assessment, then you are incompetent and have no talent!
You are incompetent and want to join the official class of the Han Empire?
Do you really think that a big man is like the Wei thieves who put more emphasis on family background than character and talent?
Thinking of this, Feng Duhu leaned back on his chair again:
“Let’s do it this way. When the time comes, make another copy of this list and send it to the Chancellor’s Desk for arrangements.”
“Alang, don’t you take a look?”
“I won’t read it, there’s nothing good to see.”
(End of this chapter)