Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2145 A Century-Long Plan: Education First

Within the Imperial Academy, each student had their own small circle.

Sons of military generals like Chang Mao, Huang Tianxiang, and Guan Suo were clearly closer to each other.

Although Chang Mao, Huang Tianxiang, and Guan Suo have not yet fully matured, they have already joined the Central Imperial Guard.

However, at the same time, they were also sent to the Imperial Academy, where they were required to attend a few classes every week.

We don't expect them to grow into people who are both learned and skilled in martial arts, but at least they shouldn't become brutes who only grow muscles.

Even military generals need to have a basic level of education.

No matter what, one shouldn't be like Dian Wei at the very beginning, who, besides his martial prowess, couldn't even write a few characters.

"It's one thing for these Confucian scholars to come out so early in the morning, but what are these little dwarfs from the Sun Country doing here!"

Seeing the crowd gathered at the gate from afar, Guan Suo curled his lip.

Chang Mao, standing to the side, asked with some confusion, while complaining, "Those who graduate from our Imperial Academy are all future pillars of the court. Are you suggesting that those Japanese from the Sun Country also stay in the Han Dynasty to serve as officials?"

Among them, Chang Mao was born the earliest, but he was also the youngest.

After all, he was too young when he was born, and it's been almost ten years since he was born. His father, Chang Yuchun, was one of the first few people to be born, and Chang Mao is only fourteen years old now.

Even his father, Chang Yuchun, was only thirty-three years old.

Among the generals, the oldest was Meng Wu, who was forty-five, and then there was Guan Yu, who was thirty-seven years old. His son, Guan Ping, was also twenty-one years old.

Next, there are Wen Zhong and Xue Rengui, both 34 years old; Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong, both 31 years old; Su Dingfang, Huli Xian, Zhang Han, and Deng Qiang, all 30 years old; and Guo Ziyi, Feng Yi, Tan Daoji, and Lan Yu, all 29 years old.

The others, like Yue Fei and Li Jing, are only twenty-seven years old this year. Han Xin is not yet thirty, only twenty-eight, as are Meng Tian and Zhao Yun, who are also twenty-eight.

Confucius said: "Governing with virtue is like the North Star, which remains in its place while all the other stars revolve around it. Our great Han Dynasty encompasses the universe, and the small countries overseas admire the profound culture of our great Han Dynasty. Let them come and learn from us, and it would not be a bad thing for them to return home and educate the people." Tian Yu, who had followed Gongsun Zan to join the Han Dynasty a few months ago, said.

Gongsun Zan's group was naturally led by Gongsun Zan himself, and he also brought in a portion of the White Horse Cavalry.

Apart from Gongsun Zan, among these people, Tian Yu was the most talented, being both literate and skilled in martial arts. Therefore, Wang Yu transferred him from Gongsun Zan's side to the Imperial Academy to gain some experience before making further arrangements.

“Classical studies were the most important subject at the Imperial College, and these international students would take up almost half of the classroom during each class.”

The subject of Confucian classics mainly deals with Confucianism, but Buddhism was added after the establishment of the Han Dynasty.

Not many people study Buddhism, but many more attend Confucianism classes.

However, people from the Sun Country can often see them.

........................

Tianjing, the Imperial Palace, the Cabinet.

It was still Zhao Anling, Guan Zhong, Yao Guangxiao, Zhang Bin, Kuai Liang, plus the newly joined Zhuge Liang, and the secretary Zhang Liang who was in charge of recording.

The cabinet was so quiet that one could hear the faint crackling of sandalwood burning in the bronze incense burner. A few wisps of smoke rose straight up and dispersed among the vermilion beams and pillars. The air was filled with the scent of old memorials and the fresh aroma of new imperial tea.

The six cabinet ministers sat on either side of a long rosewood table, their eyes all fixed on the scroll of "Memorial on Promoting Education" spread out on it. The eight characters "Education is the first priority for a century-long plan" were written in red ink by Wang Yu, the ink as deep and solid as iron.

“His Majesty’s will is clear,” Zhao Anling, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet and the head of all officials, broke the silence, pointing his finger at the eight characters.

“Establishing schools at the county, township, and county levels, with each level progressing progressively, is a strategy to strengthen the foundation and cultivate the source, benefiting future generations.”

"The reason I have summoned you cabinet ministers today is to discuss these crucial regulations: where will the funds come from? Where will the educational officials come from? What regulations will be established? We must ensure that they take root and are implemented, rather than just being empty promises."

Zhuge Liang scratched his head in exasperation. Although he was not in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, which was responsible for managing money and grain, he was the magistrate of Henan Province, and he knew the situation of money and grain in Henan Province very well.

If this is the case even in the wealthiest Henan Province, one can guess the situation in the other provinces as well.

At this moment, Zhuge Liang couldn't help but speak up, "This plan is vast, covering all counties and districts in the country. Just considering county schools, our dynasty has more than a thousand counties. If each county sets up a 'primary school,' even with the most economical calculation, the construction of school buildings, tuition fees, lamp oil, writing materials, and paper would still require an additional 800,000 shi of grain and 200,000 taels of silver per year."

“Township schools, though simple in structure, have a large number of students, and the investment is probably no less than that of county schools.”

Zhuge Liang paused, his gaze sweeping over the crowd. "These are just county and township schools! A prefecture-level 'middle school' would have even higher standards and costs; a provincial-level 'university' would be an unfathomable abyss. Where would the money come from? Increased taxes? Or misappropriation of military funds and river works funds? This is the first challenge."

Today, the Han Dynasty comprises eleven regions: Henan, Hebei, Hedong, Shanyang, Shenglan, Jianyang, Yannan, Yanbei, Xiping, Qingbei, and Guangyin, which together account for more than two thousand counties.

The war machine of the Han Dynasty could not stop there; in the future, more provinces, more prefectures, and more counties would be incorporated.

It's fair to say that this is a bottomless pit that will require continuous investment in the future.

Moreover, this is only the smallest problem.

“However, we can still devise ways to manage the funds and provisions, either by planning for them gradually over several years or by encouraging local gentry to contribute. What I am worried about is the people! If we establish official schools everywhere, where will the teachers come from?” Zhang Bin did not raise those deeper questions, but continued to talk about this topic.

“Cheng and Zhu brought more than a thousand Confucian scholars with them, enough to serve as county and prefectural schools.”

"Moreover, the lecturers of the county, prefecture, and circuit schools, in my opinion, can be incorporated into the court's official ranks. The reason I have summoned the cabinet today is to discuss a specific set of regulations!" Wang Yu said, sitting in the central seat and looking at the cabinet ministers below.

In such matters, Guan Zhong, who is usually very active, was unusually quiet today.

Whether it was the promotion of official schools or the introduction of Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi to Han, these matters were actually discussed and even acted upon together with Wang Yu and Guan Zhong.

Under Guan Zhong's leadership, the rigid political system of Da Cang was largely broken down, the four towns completely withdrew from the political system, and the Nangong family, one of the four great imperial merchants, was destroyed.

Guan Zhong had even planned how to completely bind the Ximen family to the Song Dynasty, so that when the Song Dynasty was conquered one day, the Ximen family would be wiped out as well, and they would follow in the footsteps of the Nangong family.

Of the six great families, the Zhuge family has kept a low profile in recent years, and few of them remain active in officialdom. The Yang family has also suffered considerable setbacks and heavy losses.

At this juncture, it's time to deliver a decisive blow to this reform.

Wang Yu and Guan Zhong's plan included, firstly, incorporating private schools into official schools; of course, this was a gradual process. The establishment of the Cheng-Zhu school at Shangyin Academy was just the beginning.

Secondly, we must vigorously promote education.

Education is the foundation of a nation's long-term development. Wang Yu and Guan Zhong planned to vigorously promote education and combine it with the imperial examination system to challenge the existing powerful clans.

Although the world had papermaking and printing techniques, ordinary people also had the opportunity to access culture.

However, officials still mainly came from aristocratic families, or at the very least, from humble backgrounds or powerful clans.

Although ordinary people now have access to culture, giving them a book doesn't mean they can understand it on their own! The biggest problem is whether anyone is willing to teach them.

Whether it was a school run by the imperial court, a school of the Hundred Schools of Thought, or a private school, none of them were free. How many ordinary people could afford them?

To put it bluntly, those qualified to enter these schools, at the very least, came from merchant families.

Therefore, the main source of students in these schools was still aristocratic families, with only a small portion coming from ordinary people.

These ordinary people were likely given the opportunity to change their fate because the philosophers of the Hundred Schools of Thought discovered some promising talents during their travels.

In fact, in the history of Earth, the withdrawal of aristocratic families from the political stage was not due to the imperial examination system, nor to the invention of papermaking and printing, but because Huang Chao used the butcher's knife to eliminate aristocratic families one by one, which led to the aristocratic families entering the political system of scholar-officials.

Wang Yu naturally cannot solve problems primarily through killing. Perhaps he could be more ruthless in other dynasties, but he would never exceed a certain limit.

Therefore, he could not learn Huang Chao's method.

He was not Huang Chao, who only wanted to kill and didn't care about the consequences. But Wang Yu wanted the world and wanted to use the sword as the main way to solve problems, so the world was out of his reach.

The executioner's knife can be used as a means, but it can never be the primary means.

Time waits for no one; he must unify the world while accomplishing another task.

If this task were accomplished after unifying the country, the pressure would be entirely different.

Since the executioner's blade could not be used, Wang Yu's solution was for the imperial court to vigorously promote education and combine it with the imperial examination system.

It is precisely because once this matter begins, as the policy is implemented, it will gradually and directly impact powerful and influential families.

Therefore, Wang Yu did not allow Guan Zhong to step forward. In fact, he concealed the fact that Guan Zhong was involved in the matter.

"Lord Zhao, what do you think? If we were to greatly expand the official schools in the prefectures and counties, and incorporate the lecturers into the court officials, what would their ranks be?"

Wang Yu had already made up his mind about this matter. Therefore, today, the discussion was not about whether or not to do it with the ministers, but about how to do it.

"In my humble opinion, the education of children in rural towns should only focus on literacy, and this can be accomplished by the three elders!" Zhao Anling said after a moment's thought.

In the towns and villages of the Han Dynasty, the three elders in charge of education, the tax collectors, and the patrolmen in charge of security formed the three pillars of village governance.

Since the three elders were in charge of education, the vast majority of them must have been literate; there is no doubt about that.

From the time of the previous dynasty, the most basic requirement for grassroots officials in townships was that they must have basic literacy skills and master basic arithmetic skills.

In fact, the purpose of the children's schools they set up in the towns and villages was only for children under the age of twelve. It was not for them to learn a lot, but simply to ensure that they could read.

Therefore, having the three elders in charge is actually sufficient.

Zhao Anling's approach actually minimized the investment in children's education. Each township and village only needed a classroom for children's education and basic writing materials.

If we really want to save money, we can save on the lecture hall for children. There's no need to build a real lecture hall; we can just find an empty house in the countryside or village and renovate it.

"Supervision is of paramount importance in education!"

"In my opinion, the three elders, the steward, and the patrolmen should supervise each other. If the three elders neglect the matter of children's education, the steward and the patrolmen have the responsibility to report it. If they fail to fulfill their duties, they should be punished. If the steward reports but the patrolmen do not, the patrolmen should be punished! Moreover, those who report the truth should be rewarded."

"Furthermore, if the steward and the patrolmen do not report, but the three elders report themselves, the three elders are not guilty, but the steward and the patrolmen are blamed."

"Furthermore, officials from the Imperial Censorate can be dispatched to patrol and ensure that the three elders, the tax collectors, and the patrol officers fulfill their supervisory responsibilities," Yao Guangxiao added quietly.

No matter how grand the goal, if it cannot be truly achieved, it is just a castle in the air.

Developing education involves too many stakeholders, so it is even more important to ensure that once the policy is implemented, it is put into practice.

Kuai Liang, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but grin after hearing Yao Guangxiao's method of supervision.

This bald monk is really something else!

Mutual supervision prevents grassroots officials such as the "three elders," "foreign officials," and "outposters" from colluding with each other.

The most ingenious part was that if the three elders failed in their duty to teach the children, they could report themselves. Moreover, after reporting themselves, they would not be punished, but rather the other two officials would be punished.

From the very beginning, put them in a state of mutual distrust.

Even if these three individuals did conceal the truth from each other, there were still imperial officials dispatched by the Censorate to patrol various regions as a last line of defense.

In this way, the implementation of this policy can be guaranteed to the greatest extent possible.

"good!"

"This system of mutual supervision is not only applicable to children's schools, but can also be used among officials at all levels to prevent corruption and malpractice!" Zhuge Liang's eyes lit up when he heard Yao Guangxiao's proposal of this system of mutual supervision.

Perhaps this method of mutual supervision is not a panacea and cannot prevent all problems.

However, at least, it's a big step forward compared to now.

Moreover, Zhuge Liang also understood that there has never been a completely perfect system in this world. Even if it is very suitable at this time, it is impossible for it to still be suitable decades or even hundreds of years later. They can only keep up with the times.