Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 2011, the sad reminder of Wang Shouren

In Wang Shouren's mansion in the capital, Wang Shouren has now become the chief assistant of the cabinet, which can be regarded as fulfilling his father's long-cherished wish.

Wang Hua was so happy.

I have struggled all my life and got mixed up with an old-age Nanjing official minister to do it. It is impossible to go further.

He is now in his seventies, and his body is completely broken. Even if he is promoted and reused, he is no longer competent.

Fortunately, his son Wang Shouren is very promising.

He is the No. [-] scholar, and his son is also the second. The talents and fame of father and son have already spread throughout the Ming Dynasty. As an official, he has reached the level of Shangshu, and his son Wang Shouren has even become the chief assistant of the cabinet.

Throughout China's thousands of years of history, there are not many pairs of father and son who can achieve such achievements. More importantly, their father and son can achieve today's future, all relying on their own talents and abilities.

In the palace, the Wang family happily sat together with smiles all over their faces. Wang Hua, who was already in his seventies, even drank a few glasses of wine happily.

"Father, you should drink less, your health is not good, and you are getting older."

Wang Shouren looked at Wang Hua who had been drinking a few glasses of wine, and hurriedly persuaded him.

Now it's his wish, and he is very happy to be the chief assistant of the cabinet.

Wang Shouren wasn't very excited about this, and it didn't matter if he was inappropriate. Although there was a difference between the second minister of the cabinet and the first minister of the cabinet, they were already extremely human ministers, and it didn't matter whether he advanced or not.

"I'm happy. Naturally, I want to drink a few more glasses."

"You and my father and son can also be regarded as a good story through the ages. In the thousands of years of history in China, China, there are not many father and son pairs like us."

Wang Hua drank another glass of wine happily.

"Father, please drink less."

The second son, Wang Shoujian, also hurriedly persuaded him. He is already seventy-seven years old, and he is still drinking one cup after another. If something happens to him, his brothers will be miserable. Brother Wang Shouren, the chief assistant of the cabinet, has only been in office for a day and is about to give up his position, which is depressing and painful.

"Yes, father, drink less."

The third son, Wang Shouwen, also persuaded him.

It is not easy to be an official. Not only do you have to be in good health, but you must also be in good health with your parents. Otherwise, you will be the same as Liu Jin. Ding You, his hometown, kept his filial piety for three years.

After three years, the day lily will be cold, so there is no place for you.

My father, Wang Hua, is happy, but don't drink too much wine.

"Haha, I'm so happy. Your brother is promising. I, as a father, am naturally happy."

"When I go back to my hometown in the future, I can also return to my hometown in honor and live forever."

Wang Hua was in a pretty good mood, very happy.

The persuasion of the sons was useless, he drank several glasses of wine in a row, and this time his appetite was also very good, everything he ate was particularly delicious, and the meals were more than usual.

Wang Shouren, Wang Shoujian, and Wang Shouwen also shook their heads helplessly, to see how happy he was.

In fact, my Wang family is not bad as the chief minister of the cabinet. Wang Shouren himself is already an extremely powerful minister, and he also has a great say in the ruling and opposition parties.

In the past, when Liu Jin was here, Wang Shouren would handle many things, and he would ask Wang Shouren for advice on everything. Many policies and guidelines came from Wang Shouren's hands.

It seems that it is really not a very important thing to be the chief assistant of the cabinet.

You are so happy to drink too much, and you are getting older, if anything happens, it will really have a big impact.

The brothers thought silently in their hearts, but the matter was such a coincidence.

The next morning, according to the usual practice, the [-]-year-old Wang Hua got up very early every day, got up early to drink morning tea, read the newspaper, and then read a book.

However, today it was seven or eight o'clock in the morning, and Wang Hua hadn't gotten up yet. At first, the servants thought that Wang Hua drank too much last night, so he was still sleeping.

But when he didn't get up at nine o'clock, the servants went to have a look. They were startled when they saw it, and Wang Hua left just like that.

Inside the palace, Wang Shouren was going to the morning court.

"Your Majesty, the new school is booming. Millions of students enroll in the new school every year. However, the number of students enrolled in traditional academies and private schools is less than one-tenth of the new school."

"The study of Confucianism is the study of governing the country, it is the foundation of our dynasty, and it is the essence of our China!"

"New learning is booming, Confucianism is weak, if things go on like this, the cart will be turned upside down, the foundation of the country will be shaken, and the society will be in turmoil!"

There are ministers who are eloquently talking about the new learning and the old learning, and the dispute between the old and the new. This is already the most important thing in Ming Dynasty now.

Emperor Hongzhi, who was sitting on the dragon chair, frowned slightly when he heard the minister's words. It has been a long, long time since the minister said anything about the country, or put the cart before the horse.

Now this minister actually came to talk about the country's foundation and putting the cart before the horse again. It feels like going back to more than 20 years ago.

At that time, the old-fashioned officials still accounted for the majority. Every day they talked about the foundation of the country, the ancestral system, the country and the country, and so on. Everyone was very good at talking, and the articles they wrote were also hype, but they just couldn't solve the most fundamental problems of Ming Dynasty. , I know to stare at myself every day, what is the need to be thrifty, benevolence, righteousness and morality.

At this time, not only Emperor Hongzhi was frowning, but Wang Shouren, Han Wen, Zhong Fan, and Yang Yiqing couldn't help frowning too.

This minister is adding fuel to the flames. The dispute between old and new learning itself is already at the same level. You are still adding fuel to the flames here, and you are not trying to make trouble.

It is already quite good. People who are old learners study old studies well, and they will take the imperial examination to become officials in the future. They are noble scholars. Wouldn't it be great to have more powerful machines come out, research science and technology, and develop industry and technology.

There is no need to add fuel to the fire, but to let both parties continue on the original track.

"The minister thought that the imperial court should greatly expand the number of places in the imperial examination, so that more students would have the opportunity to stand out, to serve the emperor, and to be loyal to the emperor."

"At the same time, the development and expansion of new learning should be strictly restricted. Some of the new learning schools should be converted into traditional private schools, and used to spread Confucianism, not heresy."

The minister talked endlessly, and put forward two opinions.

One is to expand the number of places in the imperial examination, because the competition in the imperial examination is too fierce.

Although compared with the new learning, the old learning seems to have developed differently, but in fact, Daming has become stronger, and the lives of Daming people have become more prosperous, and there are more people studying the old learning than before. many times.

There are more people studying in the old school, but the number of places in the imperial examination has not changed or expanded much.

Taking the imperial examination in the 2rd year of Hongzhi as an example, more than 500 people came to the capital to take part in the examination, but there were only more than [-] places, so the pressure of competition was very, very high.

As for the rural examination, although the situation in each province is different, without exception, the test scores are very high, and the pressure of competition is very high.

There are often only more than 100 places in the provincial examination in a province, and some even have only a few dozen with a small population. However, each province has thousands of talented candidates to participate in the provincial examination, and the pressure of competition is too great.

If you want to be admitted to Juren and then Jinshi, the probability is so low that it is outrageous.

If you don't pass the exams and fail to win the Jinshi, studying old school is of little significance, and you will be a poor scholar all your life, just like Wen Zhengming.

It is much better for new students. Although there are a lot of new students, new students have a wide range of employment. Those who can read can go to study for university entrance exams and do research, and those who can’t study can learn technology and become workers. Yes, anyway, we are all the children of ordinary people, and we study to learn useful knowledge so that we can find jobs in the future.

Therefore, although new learners say that they are not good at being officials, they often do well in society. Commercial firms, factories, shipping companies, the army, etc. all like these new learners.

Because the knowledge and content they have learned are very useful and can adapt to the needs of the times.

This makes the old learners very dissatisfied, why is it difficult for us to pass the imperial examination after hard work, and it is not popular to do other things, but your new heretics are big Welcome, why!

Of course, this is secondary. The most important thing is that Confucianists feel that the status of Confucianism has been greatly impacted and affected. From the dominance of one family to the current situation where the old and the new are fighting, will the Confucianism weaken in the future? .

A long time ago, I thought about suppressing new learning and revitalizing Confucianism. It's just that Liu Jin was there before, and everyone couldn't compete with Liu Jin. Now that Liu Jin is gone, the sour and stinky Confucians of Confucianism began to come out again.

It is not only necessary to revitalize the Confucian school, but also to gain more voice in this court and push more old-school Confucian students into it.

However, the minister's suggestion is obviously inconsistent. On the one hand, the imperial examination papers are very large, and the emperor is required to expand the number of imperial examinations. Doesn't this increase the pressure and competition of the imperial examinations in disguise?
In addition, they did not consider the question of whether the imperial court needs so many officials. It is easy to increase the number of people, but it is difficult to reduce it in the future. What's more, increasing the number of people means having corresponding official positions. Come out and talk about strategy.

(End of this chapter)