Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2429 The Duke is not an assistant, but a regent (Twenty) Educational Reform!

The war drums of the Northwest Frontier had been sounding for half a year, but Gao Youshi could not have focused on just this one matter. In fact, he had even more important matters to push forward in the past six months.

It is said that after the imperial examination in the spring of the first year of Taichang, perhaps because Gao Youshi was extremely busy in his daily life and seemed to have endless government affairs to deal with, at the instruction of Queen Mother Wang, the Imperial Household Department issued an edict in the name of the young emperor, allowing Gao Youshi, the regent and Duke of Jingguo, to stay in Wenyuan Pavilion when he was busy with official duties, and separately allocated a battalion of the Jingjun army that had just completed training after the "Zheng Li Rebellion" to be responsible for guarding.

This was a serious violation of the ancestral system, so on the day the imperial edict was issued, Gao Youshi hurriedly submitted a petition to decline the offer, but it was rejected. The next day, a large number of officials in Beijing, especially the censors, submitted a petition to express their opposition. The officials in Beijing who opposed this matter included not only the few officials of the Xinxue School, but also many neutral officials. Even five officials of the Shixue School submitted petitions to oppose it.

The reason for opposition was obvious: it violated the ancestral system. However, everyone knew that the ancestral system was not the key to the opposition. The more important thing was that the little emperor was less than five years old, and the Empress Dowager had gone to a Buddhist temple in the suburbs of Beijing to practice Buddhism. Now the only one who had the final say in the palace was the Empress Dowager, who was in her prime...

Indeed, the imperial edict did say that, but it only granted permission for the prime minister to stay overnight in Wenyuan Pavilion, which was the office of the cabinet. This was the front palace, not the harem, so it was impossible for the empress dowager and concubine dowager to appear, and there was not even a single palace maid.

However, if there is any sign of this kind of thing, people will spread it! Besides, the emperor is so young, how can he make such an order? To put it bluntly, it is either the Queen Mother's order or Gao Yuanfu's own intention! How can it be like this!

Gao Youshi himself was also very puzzled. The Queen Mother had always been extremely polite. Logically, she should not have done such a move that was obviously against etiquette. But she did it anyway, without even informing him beforehand... Why?

He called Tian Yi, the governor of the East Factory, and privately asked if there were any unusual movements in the palace in the past two days. Tian Yi seemed to have guessed why Gao Youshi had called him, and probably had done some homework in advance. When he heard Gao Youshi's question, he immediately replied, "The Queen Mother has been reading the Biography of Huo Guang recently."

Even though Gao Youshi was always calm and had outstanding acting skills, his face changed slightly when he heard this. He took a deep breath to calm down and asked, "According to the factory supervisor, what is the Queen Mother thinking? If she is worried that my department will abuse power and take over the government, I can submit a letter of resignation tomorrow and return to Xinzheng to enjoy the forest."

"You are worrying too much, Yuanfu." Tian Yi laughed and consoled him, "In my humble opinion, the Queen Mother's understanding of the Biography of Huo Guang is probably different from that of ordinary people. She regards Huo Guang as an important minister who stabilizes the world, and as half minister and half father to the Emperor... Yuanfu, you are the 'father' appointed by the late Emperor before his death. What's wrong with you staying in Wenyuan Pavilion?"

Gao Youshi pondered in silence. He felt that although what Tian Yi said made sense, the real situation should not be so simple.

Seeing that Yuanfu seemed unconvinced, Tian Yi said, "Yuanfu, please remember that it was not the Empress Dowager who first let you stay in the palace. Didn't the late Emperor also let you stay in the Nanjing Palace when he was in Nanjing? The late Emperor did it, but the current Emperor can't do it?"

The logic seemed to make sense, but Gao Youshi still submitted another petition to resign the next day, but this time it was still rejected. The reason for the rejection was also coincidental - the Imperial Household Department used the fact that the previous emperor Zhu Yijun had Gao Youshi stay overnight in the palace in Nanjing as a rebuttal to "violating ancestral rules."

At this point, everyone outside the palace fell silent for a moment - they couldn't bring themselves to bring up any objection that went beyond the ancestral rules.

However, Gao Youshi once again declined the offer, arguing that the previous emperor did not have many concubines in Nanjing. Although staying in the palace set a precedent, it was also, as the previous emperor said, convenient for handling urgent matters. However, although the government was busy at the moment, it was not necessary to disturb the emperor in the middle of the night. In fact, everyone knew that there was nothing to disturb. The government was decided by Gao Youshi. What opinions could an emperor who was less than five years old express? If he really expressed his opinions, that would be a big deal.

Then, the third imperial edict came, plus the Empress Dowager's imperial edict. Both the imperial edict and the imperial edict stated that the prime minister's concerns were indeed justified, but the purpose of sending additional guards to guard Wenyuan Pavilion at night was to avoid rumors, so the prime minister did not need to resign. In addition, the second imperial edict stated that if the court officials still had doubts, the Censorate could select one or two censors to stay with the prime minister when he stayed in Wenyuan Pavilion, so as to relieve his worries.

At this point, not only Gao Youshi, but also the outer court had nothing to say - they sent troops to "protect" him, and allowed the censor to accompany him, what else could they do? The opposition outside the palace died down, and Gao Youshi had no choice but to accept this "reward".

By the day Li Rumei sent troops to Tashkent, Gao Youshi had stayed at Wenyuan Pavilion several times. Not only that, he also issued another cabinet order: if the cabinet had urgent matters to summon, the court officials should be allowed to enter the cabinet at night to discuss matters. This seemed to confirm that Gao Yuanfu was indeed busy day and night.

The candlelight flickered in Wenyuan Pavilion that night, Gao Fusi's hand holding the brush was suspended in the air, and the ink spread out irregular circles on the rice paper. The new edition of the Ming Dynasty Code, which was opened on the desk in the first year of Taichang, was turned to the chapter on Schools.

On the page, next to the clause "Teaching classics and history in prefectures, states and counties", there were densely annotated cinnabar words such as "Mathematics should be about fields and Pythagorean theorem" and "Agriculture should be about the suitability of manure and soil". The snow outside the window had stopped at some point, and the moonlight shone through the icy window panes, casting tiny silver scales on his scarlet silk dragon robe.

"Prime Minister, Ye Tianguan is here." The eunuch in charge of nighttime service lifted the cotton curtain, and the cold wind blew in snow particles, causing sparks to fly from the charcoal stove. Gao Fusi put down his pen and saw Ye Xianggao stamping his feet to take off his fox fur coat, with unmelted ice crystals still condensed on the jade belt buckle around his waist.

"Jinqing (Ye Xianggao's pen name, Gao Shiwu was his teacher, so he called him by his pen name instead of his title) has come just in time," Gao Shiwu pointed to the wooden boxes piled in the corner, "The new teaching aids samples of the Artisan School have just been delivered from Beijing. Look at this—" He opened the lid of the box, revealing a set of exquisite wooden abacus models, "The students of Shuntian Prefecture School have tried it before. They can learn the art of opening the door in three days by using this abacus."

Ye Xianggao followed the teacher-student etiquette and took a closer look. He saw the inscription "Jinghua Taichang Jiachen Year" engraved on the bottom of the abacus. "Master, do you want to distribute this kind of teaching aid to various prefectures?"

"Of course." Gao Youshi took out another scroll and unfolded it, which turned out to be a contour map of paddy fields in the south of the Yangtze River. "For the experimental fields of Yingtian Prefecture School, I asked students from the Artisan School to measure the terrain with a theodolite and planned it according to the 'terracing method' in mathematics, which increased the yield by 10% to 20% compared to traditional paddy fields. After seeing the actual measured data, some of the gentry who were clamoring for 'strange and lewd tricks' have sent me letters to buy the surveying and mapping methods."

Ye Xianggao stroked the fine contour lines on the map and suddenly caught a glimpse of the large red clay seal with "Imperial Envoy and Governor of Yingtian" on the corner of the map. "Master, you are so quick. I guess you have already informed the local officials?"

"It is better to have a smooth flow than to have air flowing." Gao Fusi chuckled and pulled out a stack of contracts from his sleeve. "Gu, a cotton merchant in Songjiang Prefecture, switched to using Jinghua's cotton gin last year and earned three thousand taels more than in previous years. Therefore, he took the initiative to donate a hundred acres of good farmland as school land, on the condition that the prefectural school would offer a 'Study of Things Course' to teach craftsmen to improve looms."

At this point, he tapped the cinnabar approval on the contract and said, "I approved 'allowing their children to be given priority in practical courses', so Gu personally delivered twenty new looms to Yingtianfu School half a month ago."

Ye Xianggao couldn't help laughing out loud: "Master, are you using business profits as bait to lure the gentry into your trap?"

"It's not bait, it's a win-win situation." Gao Youshi flipped through another account book with a cowhide cover. "Last year, Lianghuai salt merchants used mathematics to recalculate salt permits and improved the expenses in each link. As a result, they earned an extra 30,000 salt. They have tasted the sweetness and have contacted local officials to jointly petition to set up a 'Shang Suan Zhai' in Yangzhou Prefecture School."

He chuckled and pointed to the densely packed red pen annotations on the account book. "I asked the math teacher at the Artisan School to compile a 'Small Account of Algorithms Related to the Salt Industry' as quickly as possible. For every copy sold, I will donate ten coins to the academy to buy teaching aids."

At this point, Gao Youshi suddenly lowered his voice and said, "The most important thing is the teachers. Among the students graduating from the Artisan School this year, there is a student from Gaoyang named Sun Chengwang. I heard that he is a relative of Sun Chengzong, the new runner-up. He was able to combine the Nine Chapters of Arithmetic with the trajectory of firearms and calculate the impact points of bullets at different elevation angles. He is quite talented.

I plan to have him teach at Shuntianfu School, and also teach firearms at the local martial arts school. I heard that the sons of southern soldiers and generals would be at least ten times more motivated to learn how to "calculate the accuracy of cannon fire" than to recite the Analects. "

Ye Xianggao noticed that there was a pile of files on the desk. The top one was "Shuntian Martial Arts Reform Proposal", and the seal of the Ministry of War was stamped at the end: "The martial arts of the divisions are to be reformed?"

"Martial arts are also key." Gao Youshi pulled out a page with a disassembled diagram of a new musket. "Li Rusong reported that his elite troops, who did not know ballistics, misjudged the range during a 'combination of infantry and artillery' exercise in the snow last month, and lost five horses for nothing. So I asked the military academy's Gewu class to teach 'calculation of various elements of firearms'. Those generals who lead troops are more afraid than anyone else that their servants are not as skilled as others, so they will naturally urge their children to learn mathematics well."

He suddenly stood up, walked to the window and looked at the glazed tile roof of the Forbidden City: "Jin Qing, do you know why the pilot project was first carried out in Jiangnan and the capital? The gentry in Jiangnan value profit, and the generals in the north value power. As long as the academies in these two places set a precedent, the resistance in other places will be halved. Just like when we tried to grow sweet potatoes in Liaodong and Tianjin, the people thought it was a 'foreign poison' at first, but later they saw that the soldiers in the garrisons could resist disasters after eating it, and now all provinces and prefectures are looking to buy potato seeds."

Ye Xianggao followed his gaze and saw a group of clean soldiers holding torches passing by outside Wenyuan Pavilion. The reflection of their armor drew golden lines on the snow. "But Grand Master Guo Zhengyu still submitted a memorial, saying that the new subject is 'Using magic to break the way'."

"So we need to borrow the words of the saints." Gao Youshi turned around and took a copy of Zhouli from the bookshelf, and turned to the chapter "Grand Minister of Land". "'Using the method of earth meeting to distinguish the growth of things in the five lands', isn't this agronomy? 'Using the method of earth gnomon to measure the depth of the soil', isn't this mathematics? When I asked the old scholars of the Hanlin Academy to annotate the new subjects, they quoted sentences from Zhouli and Kaogongji in every chapter. They can't say that Zhou Gong's rituals were just gimmicks, right?"

Of course, they wouldn't dare to do that. After all, Confucius revered Zhou rituals the most. If they denied Zhou rituals, wouldn't it be like denying Confucius? This would be a sin for Confucian scholars.

He picked up a draft of a book called "Complete Book of Agricultural Administration" with a rice leaf between its pages. "The newly crowned champion Xu Guangqi said that he tried to grow Champa rice in Shanghai two years ago. He used the method of studying things to improve irrigation, and the yield per mu was five dou more than that in his hometown in Fujian. I plan to send him to Yingtian Prefecture to give a lecture on "Farmland Water Conservancy" as soon as he leaves the academy. Those scholars who say "a gentleman is not an instrument" can't say that Xu's rice ears are not in line with the way of a sage, right?"

"Master, you have good tricks!" Ye Xianggao laughed, and suddenly noticed a man-sized model of the armillary sphere standing in the corner. The bronze astronomical figures glowed coldly under the candlelight. "Master, do you want to teach me astronomy and mathematics as well?"

"It's not about astronomy, it's about calendar calculation." Gao Youshi walked to the armillary sphere and ran his fingertips across the copper ring engraved with the twenty-eight constellations. "We've compared the calendars of Westerners in Beijing and found that each has its own merits... That is to say, there is still room for improvement in our calendar. I asked the math students of the Artisan School to participate in the revision of the "Da Ming Calendar". Although the old Qin Tianjians were dissatisfied, they had to admit that the Pythagorean method was much more accurate than the previous calculations."

As he spoke, he took out a brocade bag from his sleeve and poured out a few dark brown seeds: "This is drought-resistant rice brought back from Siam. It was successfully planted in Shaanxi. I plan to set up a 'seed room' in each prefectural school's agricultural science class, so that students can try to plant good varieties from all over the country by themselves. When they find that using mathematics to calculate plant spacing and using the study of things to understand fertilizer properties can double the harvest, they will naturally understand the benefits of practical learning."

Ye Xianggao looked at the twinkling light in Gao Youshi's eyes and suddenly remembered the young mentor who talked with the late emperor about military reform in the Wenhua Hall when they first met. Although he is now a prime minister, the determination in his eyes of "I will go even if there are thousands of people against me" has not diminished in the slightest.

"Has the teacher's plan been completed?" Ye Xianggao suddenly asked, "If the pilot project goes well, all the academies in the country will have new subjects in three years. How will the court afford the required textbooks, teaching aids, and teachers?"

"Burden?" Gao Youshi chuckled and unfolded a "Distribution Map of Beijing Commercial Companies". "Look at the commercial companies in Yangzhou, Suzhou, Hangzhou and other places. The commercial taxes they pay every year are enough to support ten artisan schools.

I have already told the trading company that for every apprentice we recruit, we will donate one tael of silver to the local academy - don't stare at me, I am not sacrificing my family for the country. The various departments in Beijing are eager for the academy to train more craftsmen who understand mathematics and the study of things. Otherwise, it will all depend on the Beijing Craftsmen School to train on its own. Even if it expands several times, it can no longer keep up with the speed of Beijing's expansion."

He pointed to the sign in the northern part of the Great Wall and said, "There are also military settlements in the nine border areas. Last year, they used the wheel axles from Beijing to turn over the carts, and reclaimed an additional 20,000 hectares of dry land. I asked the Confucian schools in each garrison to offer agricultural courses and teach the sons of soldiers how to improve agricultural tools. The harvest from these military settlements is enough to offset the food and wages needed for the additional subjects, and there is still a surplus."

At this time, the eunuch brought tea, but Gao Youshi didn't have time to drink it. He took out a stack of letters from the box and said, "This is a secret report from the governors of various provinces. The governor of Shandong said that the local gentry heard that learning mathematics can avoid the pain of land tax measurement, and a hundred people have jointly requested to set up a mathematics hall in Jinan Prefecture School; the governor of Huguang said that the Mei family in Macheng is willing to donate the family school and set up a 'Gewu Academy' instead, on the condition that the children of the Mei family are allowed to take the examination subjects first."

Ye Xianggao took the secret reports and saw that there was Gao Youshi's approval drafted on each one. Some of them were "approval to send teachers to the Artisan School" and some were "ordering the Governor-General to allocate 300 taels of silver to purchase teaching aids."

Suddenly, he noticed a military report from the Western Regions. The Governor of Anxi requested to dispatch mathematics students to measure the canals for the military farms in Ili and Andijan. Gao Youshi's comment was: "Ten outstanding mathematics students from the Artisan School are approved to be dispatched. The travel expenses will be borne by the Western Regions Branch of the Jinghua Commercial Society."

"Master, do you want to spread practical learning from the paddy fields in the south of the Yangtze River to the Gobi Desert in the west?" Ye Xianggao couldn't help but sigh.

"Why not?" Gao Youshi walked to the map, his fingertips tracing over several military farms outside Yumen Pass. "When Zhang Qian opened up the Western Regions, he brought back not only grapes and alfalfa, but also the method of extracting oil from sesame and the art of carrying loads with camels. Now we teach the soldiers and civilians in the Western Regions mathematics and the study of things. They have learned to dig better karez and improve horse gear that is more suitable for new breeds of good horses. Isn't this another way of 'opening up the Western Regions'?"

After he finished speaking, he turned around and picked up the unfinished "Education Reform Proposal" from the desk. He paused heavily on the "Finance" section and said, "Mr. Jin, look at this - I plan to put all the "redemption silver" and "good gentry silver (i.e. honorary income)" from various places into the "special funds for practical education". In previous years, a lot of this silver went into the inner treasury. Now I will use it to run education. Even if the censors have complaints, they can't say that it's a bad thing that the royal family doesn't love money but loves to run schools, right?"

It has to be said that one of the great benefits of the title "Yafu" is that Gao Yousi can now even interfere with the imperial treasury. I wonder what Zhu Yijun would think if he knew about this.

The sound of the night watchman beating the gong came from outside the window. It was already three quarters past midnight. Gao Youshi rubbed his brows and suddenly smiled: "Speaking of which, the best move is to let the principals of various prefectural schools visit the artisan school in Beijing. Last month, an old professor from Yingtian Prefecture School went to Beijing and saw students using steam pumps to pump water. When he came back, he told everyone that 'the technique of the 'Jiezhu' in the "Kaogong Ji" could actually be transformed into such a magical object' - the words of old scholars are sometimes more effective than our imperial edicts."

When Ye Xianggao stood up to say goodbye, he saw Gao Fusi writing furiously, his pen rustling on the paper. In the candlelight, the golden python pattern on his robes and the abacus, farm tools, and astronomical instrument on the desk complemented each other, and it was hard to tell whether it was the python pattern that was moving or the objects representing practical learning.

In the moonlight after the snow, long icicles hang from the eaves of Wenyuan Pavilion, swaying gently in the night wind, like thousands of silver needles hanging over the head of the old system. Gao Youshi knew that in order to make these silver needles fall accurately and awaken the dormant bureaucracy, the only way was to let the seeds of practical learning take root in every piece of land and sprout in every school, so that the abacus and scriptures could coexist, and the plowshare and the pen and inkstone could coexist.

When the morning bell rang, Gao Youshi finally put down his pen and looked at the documents, teaching aids and seeds piled on his desk. He suddenly remembered that many years ago, he went to Beijing with his third uncle who was ordered to be reinstated. At that time, he thought that if he wanted to change the Ming Dynasty, he had to make improvements in the mechanism of cultivating and selecting talents.

Now, he finally had the power to reform the imperial examination system and the school system. He wanted to let all students in the world know that the teachings of sages were not just empty talk about the mind and nature, but practical knowledge that could make fields produce more food, water flow up the mountain, and weapons become more effective in war.

"Come here," he called the eunuch, "make three copies of the 'Education Reform Proposal', one to the Imperial Household Department, one to the six ministries, and the other -" he looked at Yingtian Prefecture on the map, "send the Yingtian Governor as fast as possible, and tell him to start the construction of the Agricultural Hall as soon as spring comes. I want to sow the first Jinghua rice seed in the experimental field of the pilot academy before Qingming Festival."

Outside the window, the morning star twinkled on the eaves of the Forbidden City, like the lights on the road of reform. Gao Youshi knew that the road ahead was still full of thorns, but when he remembered the little emperor holding an abacus and calculating seriously in the Qianqing Palace yesterday, and the good news of the bumper harvest from the military farms in the Western Regions last year, he felt that all the hard work was worth it.

That night, the lights in Wenyuan Pavilion were not turned off until the hour of Yin.

The snow finally stopped. In the dim light of dawn, the glazed tiles of the Forbidden City glowed with a warm light, as if laying a layer of hope for the upcoming educational reform.

Gao Fusi looked at the gradually brightening sky in the east and suddenly remembered the couplet he had written at the entrance of the Artisan School: "When reading the books of sages, one must also understand the hardships of farming; when aspiring to govern the country, one must not forget to study things and acquire knowledge."

Yes, this is the Ming Dynasty he wants: classics and history go hand in hand with practical learning, and sages and craftsmen are all the same. And he is willing to be the one who spreads the fire in the snow, even if his temples are covered with frost and snow, he wants the flames of practical learning to burn away all the staleness and prejudice.
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