Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2146 Three-Year Compulsory Education, Official and Academic Examinations in Parallel

"Regarding Your Majesty's 'Memorial on Promoting Education,' I believe that the positions of principals and lecturers of county schools can be established based on the eighth and ninth ranks."

“The principal and lecturers of the county school can be appointed from the seventh rank and the ninth rank respectively.”

"As for the Daoist school, the dean and lecturers can be appointed from the sixth or eighth rank."

In the Han Dynasty, counties were divided into large counties and small counties. The county magistrate, who was the chief official of a county, was a seventh-rank official in the former and a seventh-rank official in the latter.

The same applies to prefectures. Depending on the level of prosperity of each prefecture, the position of prefectural governor, the chief official of a prefecture, is divided into two ranks: the fifth rank and the fifth rank.

As for the regional governors, apart from the magistrate of Henan, where the capital Tianjing was located, who was a third-rank official, all the other regional governors were uniformly classified as third-rank officials.

Therefore, the treatment Zhao Anling gave was actually quite generous.

It should be noted that the head of the Imperial Academy, one of the two top universities, was only a fourth-rank official, while the head of the Hanlin Academy was only a fifth-rank official.

As the head of all officials, Zhao Anling had already considered all aspects of the matter since he had suggested this method of ranking. Therefore, many people present did not have any major objections.

The only point of view is that although most of them are low-ranking official positions, only a small number are mid-ranking.

However, they did a simple calculation and found that if all the lecturers were granted official positions and incorporated into the imperial system, the eleven circuits alone would be equivalent to adding tens of thousands of officials.

The annual expenditure on salaries alone is not a small amount.

However, they were also well aware that the goal of the vast majority of scholars was simply to acquire literary and martial skills and serve the emperor. To put it bluntly, it was all about becoming an official.

Without official positions, they simply cannot formally proceed with this matter.

After all, if they don't give them official positions, where will they find so many lecturers to fill the county schools, prefectural schools, and Taoist schools?

On the other hand, precisely because they were given official positions, even if 99% of them were low-ranking positions, it was enough to easily attract a sufficient number of scholars to participate in this matter.

If one day education truly reaches ordinary people, even if it's only a portion of them, the sheer number of people involved would be enormous.

When there are a large number of scholars by then, perhaps it would be appropriate to consider abolishing the salaries of some lecturers and demoting some of them from the ranks of officials to the ranks of clerks.

But at least for now, the treatment of officials is necessary to accomplish this task.

"Your Majesty, in my opinion, the official school system should be integrated with the imperial examination system to form a solid foundation for it! The county's 'primary schools' should teach literacy, punctuation, basic understanding of literature, knowledge of laws, and the essentials of agriculture and sericulture. This is the foundation."

“The county’s ‘middle school’ delves deeply into the classics and history, and also studies policy essays, mathematics, and geography. This is how we cultivate pillars of society.”

"The 'Great Learning' of the Dao is a school that emphasizes practical application of knowledge and explores the relationship between Heaven and Man. The imperial court can regularly select Hanlin lecturers to teach on a rotating basis. Those who excel can be directly recommended by the state school to study at the Imperial Academy, or they can be selected by the Daoist school to qualify for the imperial examinations!"

"This progressive approach ensures that what is taught in official schools directly addresses the needs of the imperial examinations, and also provides the examinations with truly learned scholars, rather than pedantic literati who can only pick up phrases from texts. These two aspects complement each other!"

It was at this time that Zhuge Liang raised the issue of the connection between official learning and science, since the ultimate goal of the vast majority of scholars was to become officials.

Therefore, the establishment of a large number of officials is absolutely inseparable from the imperial examination system.

Only by combining with the imperial examination system could official learning truly take root in people's hearts and be successfully implemented.

In fact, Wang Yu's plan to promote education had already included how to link the imperial examination system with other aspects.

After all, Wang Yu and Guan Zhong had been secretly pondering this matter for several months. In comparison, their considerations were naturally much more meticulous than Zhuge Liang's hasty deliberations.

In their vision, early childhood education was intended to enable children under the age of twelve to recognize and write basic common characters and to understand basic arithmetic.

The state covers the cost of children's education, but only until the children are twelve years old.

After they turned twelve, they all entered the county school.

Within the county school, they began to receive formal education and training, just like traditional scholars.

Each student receives three years of standardized education funded by the state.

Three years later, the county will conduct a unified assessment, and those who achieve excellent results can be admitted to the county school.

Even if he is not admitted to the county school, the imperial court will not revoke his eligibility to continue studying there. However, the expenses, previously borne by the imperial court, will now be borne by him privately.

Therefore, the county school was actually referred to by Wang Yu as three years of compulsory education.

Once they were promoted to the county school, whether it was the county school or the later Daoist school, the expenses were no longer borne by the state, but by the students themselves.

Of course, those who can get into the county school are not one in a hundred, but at least one in twenty.

And those students have already come this far; even if they have to bear the costs themselves, how many of them would give up?

Moreover, even if they were qualified to attend the prefectural school, they might not be able to afford the fees, thus cutting off their path to further education in official schools. However, they themselves would not truly give up on the path of studying and taking the imperial examinations.

Reaching this point meant that one could already see the hope of changing one's social class through the imperial examination.

Not to mention the later development of Taoism.

The higher you climb, the less likely you are to give up easily.

At the same time, county schools were combined with the provincial examinations, and Taoist schools were combined with the township examinations.

Students of the county school could only enter the Daoist school after passing the county examination.

Students of Daoist learning could only qualify for the final metropolitan examination, which was the imperial examination in the capital, by passing the provincial examination.

Of course, the provincial examination and the prefectural examination were part of the imperial examination system. Only after completing these two steps could one participate in the subsequent metropolitan examination and palace examination. Wang Yu simply combined the three-level, four-examination system of the imperial examination with his own education system.

Meanwhile, in addition to the traditional imperial examination system, students from county and provincial schools could also take separate examinations in conjunction with the Hanlin Academy and local government offices. Those who passed the examinations could enter local government offices at various levels to serve as minor officials.

Those who become minor officials through this route are examined every three years. Those who perform well during their tenure can be recommended by the county, prefecture, and circuit levels and reported to the Ministry of Personnel to obtain the right to become officials.

Of course, the number of officials appointed through this route could not exceed ten percent of the total number of candidates admitted in the same year's imperial examinations. As for this ten percent percentage, it was only a provisional percentage agreed upon by Wang Yu and Guan Zhong at present.

As for the final percentage, that will depend on the specific implementation details.

At the same time, there is a certain difference between the starting point for becoming a scholar through this route and the starting point for becoming an official through the imperial examination.

Developing education is necessary to break the aristocratic political system and also to prepare a sufficient number of officials for the unification of the country. "Connecting official schools with the imperial examination system is indeed fundamental!" Secretary Zhang Liang, who had been listening attentively, looked up and said.

"I have another concern: the land. The county government offices are already cramped. The granaries, prisons, post stations, and warehouses are already overcrowded. Now, if we suddenly need to set aside land for a dedicated school, where can we find a site? Should we forcibly seize houses? Or should we choose another wasteland to build on? The former would disturb the people, while the latter would be more costly and take longer. The lack of a suitable school building is indeed a problem."

Zhang Liang then looked at Zhao Anling, "This is also related to the difficulty of obtaining money and grain, which is deeply intertwined with the problem."

Wang Yu slowly swept his gaze over the assembled officials and said, "The difficulty in obtaining funds and provisions is the foundation."

"However, increasing taxes is absolutely not feasible, as it would only increase public resentment. In any case, we must find a way to increase revenue, but the method of increasing revenue should avoid shifting the burden onto the people."

In times of chaos, even the best of times can't guarantee a good life for ordinary people.

The practice of increasing taxes should absolutely not be taken lightly. Otherwise, whenever there is pressure in the future, it will likely be passed on to the common people.

At this time, it is not yet time for the common people to suffer.

“We can investigate all properties, temples, and unclaimed wasteland in various places, allocate them to government schools, and use the land to support education. This is a long-term solution,” Yao Guangxiao suggested, even emphasizing the word “unclaimed.”

This world is not lacking in corrupt officials, nor in powerful families capable of uncovering problems. As long as they dare to take action, they can definitely solve some of the problems.

Yao Guangxiao, this ruthless strategist, would certainly not hesitate to use a knife, given his vicious nature.

The powerful families, and even those corrupt officials, were all raided in each county. Their mansions were used as schools, thus solving the biggest expense for them.

"The three places of Henan, Qingbei, and Guangyin have been under the control of our Han Dynasty for less than ten months. Their properties, temples, and unclaimed wasteland have not yet been fully investigated. We can proceed with this!" Guan Zhong, who had been silent all along, interjected at this moment.

However, everyone present understood that Guan Zhong did not agree with Yao Guangxiao's implication.

“The Qingbei region has many houses, temple properties, and unclaimed wasteland, which can be put to use!” Wang Yu nodded and said.

How many powerful families did Meng Tian kill during his conquest of Qingbei?
The properties and lands of those aristocratic families have not yet been fully inventoried. If all of them were inventoried, they could indeed cover a large portion of the expenses of the official schools.

Especially those properties; once they're sold, that's a large amount of income that can be used for education investment.

At the same time, Wang Yu, like Guan Zhong, rejected Yao Guangxiao's proposal.

Some methods are fine to use occasionally, but they shouldn't be used as general methods.

Back when Guan Zhong was in Hebei, at the beginning of his reforms, he had already confiscated some of the land in order to solve the problem of land annexation.

If the killing continues again and again, chaos will break out below!
After all, which prominent family or official doesn't have a stain on their record? If they themselves don't have one, surely their family members can't find one either?

To a large extent, the key lies in whether or not you take things too seriously!
Therefore, Guan Zhong disagreed with solving money problems by resorting to violence, and Wang Yu also disagreed.

"Furthermore, an imperial edict was issued to encourage wealthy households, gentry, and powerful families to donate funds to support education. Local government offices may, at their discretion, bestow plaques, exempt them from some corvée labor as a form of commendation, and grant them the opportunity to enter the Imperial Academy," Wang Yu continued.

If we can't start with the common people, then we can only try to find a way to get them to spend money. The best way is to lure them with benefits and make them contribute money voluntarily.

Wang Yu estimated that if he opened up some of the Imperial Academy places to these people, a large number of powerful families and wealthy merchants would definitely be interested.

Within the Imperial Academy, the majority of students were from prominent families or were children of court officials. It could be said that once admitted, intelligent individuals were able to cultivate a network of relationships.

For powerful figures and wealthy merchants, they are not short of money or land; what they lack is a rise in social class and status.

Powerful families and wealthy merchants, and even some powerful figures, wield considerable influence in their localities, but they are still a level below the aristocratic families.

To them, opening up a portion of the Imperial Academy's places was an opportunity to elevate them to the elite social class.

Speaking of which, not long ago, Zhuge Liang proposed to provide the army with meat to strengthen its training over the past few months, which had already cost officials a fortune. Behind that, it was actually the powerful families behind those officials who were bleeding money.

Otherwise, we could try to find a solution from the established families.

However, you can't just keep using a whole pig's blood.

Therefore, this time it was the powerful and wealthy merchants who were chosen.

In fact, the imperial court was not short of money.

Don't forget, just this year, they directly raided the Nangong family.

Although some of the acquired wealth was spent in this year's massive military expansion, it is only a small part of the total.

However, this amount of money is astronomical.

However, the imperial court currently has several major projects such as road construction and water management, as well as compensation for those affected by the Henan campaign. In addition, Wang Yu may launch another major campaign next year, all of which are supported by this money.

"In my opinion, in addition to increasing revenue, we also need to reduce expenditure. There are still three ways to address the issue of school buildings: First, we should order all prefectures and counties to investigate existing government offices and allocate any vacant rooms or courtyards to government schools."

"Secondly, we encourage local governments to renovate abandoned ancestral halls and academies."

"Thirdly, those choosing new sites must be meticulously planned, not seeking magnificent and grand buildings, but rather sturdy and practical structures that can accommodate students and provide shelter from wind and rain! The Ministry of Works should formulate unified and simple regulations, promulgate them throughout the country, and strictly prohibit local governments from taking the opportunity to engage in large-scale construction projects that waste resources and manpower!" Zhuge Liang advised again.

“Good, Prime Minister, let the Ministry of Works handle this matter,” Wang Yu said, looking at Zhao Anling.

Zhao Anling cupped his hands in greeting: "Your subject obeys the order. The Ministry of Works will immediately begin drafting the construction plans and specifications for official schools at all levels, striving for frugality and sturdiness."

"In my humble opinion," Zhang Bin said, "Your Majesty's names of 'primary school,' 'middle school,' and 'university,' while concise and clear, may be misleading with the words 'primary' and 'middle.' If the names are not correct, the words will not be proper. These designations need to be carefully considered."

Their emperor's goal of prioritizing education as a long-term plan is indeed ambitious, and it would be great if it could be implemented thoroughly and successfully.

This event will have an impact for generations to come.

But the only thing that really doesn't suit their emperor's naming skills is that he's not very good at it!
'Elementary school,' 'middle school,' 'university'... Zhang Bin was speechless with frustration.

Didn't you see that when Zhao Anling, Yao Guangxiao, and Zhuge Liang were discussing, they were referring to county schools, prefectural schools, and Taoist schools, instead of the primary schools, middle schools, and universities listed in Wang Yu's booklet?

Names are important, but not to an extreme degree.

"What is Mengsun's opinion?"

He didn't care about the names, and he really wasn't good at naming things.

“The names ‘primary school,’ ‘middle school,’ and ‘university’ could perhaps be changed to ‘county school,’ ‘prefectural school,’ or ‘Taoist school,’ which would follow the ancient system and also appear solemn,” Zhang Bin said slowly and deliberately.