My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 652 Education Reform
In the hall of Zhan Shifu, Zhu Zhanhe was sitting on a chair. Yang Shiqi and other ministers lined up on both sides, taking turns to come forward to report to Zhu Zhanhe the official business to be handled.

When the matter was almost settled, Zhu Zhanhe said: "Over the years, we have been encouraging the people to have children, and now the results are very significant. In the capital area alone, there are tens of thousands of children under the age of ten. There are so many children. Education must also keep up, so I decided to let the court come forward and organize more children to enroll in school!"

"Your Highness, don't we already have a county school?"

At this time, Zheng Li, who was offering wine at the Imperial Academy, stood up and asked with a puzzled look on his face.

Zheng Li is not very old. When Zhu Zhanhe recruited students to study in Tianzhu, Zheng Li was the only one among the first batch of Jinshi. Moreover, he was No. 3 in the second grade of high school at that time. He was definitely a rare talent. But after he came to Tianzhu, Zheng Li also loved Yang Shiqi's attention and once took him to teach him about government affairs. Now he is an official of the fourth rank of the Imperial College, and his future is bright.

"The county school alone is not enough, and the county school is not responsible for teaching and cannot assume the role of educating the people. Therefore, I decided to use the Imperial College as the mainstay to carry out a reform of education in the Han Dynasty. When Zheng Jijiu arrives, you will assist I!"

Zhu Zhanhe pointed directly at Zheng Lidao. Compared with other officials, Zheng Li was not only young, but also very open-minded. Otherwise, he would not have given up being a Jinshi in the Ming Dynasty and came to be an official here.

"Prince, I wonder how you plan to reform education?"

Yang Shiqi was still very steady. At this time, he stood up and asked. He mainly wanted to understand Zhu Zhanhe's thoughts, so that he could have an idea.

"I plan to have the imperial court come forward and build at least one public school in each county based on the county school. All children of school age in the county must attend public schools. Of course, each student will be charged a small fee. Every year in the county An additional item needs to be added to the assessment, and that is the literacy status of the children under treatment!”

Zhu Zhanhe explained his general idea, but he was actually copying the compulsory education of later generations.

"Prince, if every county builds public schools, and students only charge a small fee, doesn't it mean that the court has to spend money to subsidize these public schools? This is definitely a big expense!"

Before Yang Shiqi could speak, Zhang Shang, the minister of household affairs, stood up and said that he used to be a steward of the British government. He was promoted because of his proficiency in financial management. Now he is the second-in-command of the household ministry and is likely to take over the post of minister in the future. .

"Taxation is taken from the people and used for the people. It is not a good thing that your Ministry of Household Affairs collects so much tax and cannot spend it all!"

Zhu Zhanhe retorted with a smile.

The Han Dynasty is not short of money, mainly for two reasons. First, after the Ming Dynasty opened the sea, maritime trade flourished, which also led to the taxation of the Han Dynasty. Every year, sea trade and commercial taxes alone were a large amount of income.

In addition, the Han people are not just Han people. In addition to hundreds of thousands of Han people, there are tens of millions of natives. These natives also have to pay taxes, but the Han people spend very little money on the natives.

In other words, as a privileged class, the Han people were actually supported by the natives, which was equivalent to dozens or hundreds of natives supporting one Han. This is why Zhu Zhanhe dared to carry out large-scale education in this era.

As for the natives, they were excluded from this educational plan from the beginning.

"Prince, let's not talk about the money issue. If public schools are built on a large scale, one teacher can only take care of twenty or thirty students. There are so many children now, and we can't find so many teachers at all!"

Yang Shiqi hit the nail on the head and directly pointed out the reasons why public schools are not feasible.

"I have thought about this problem, but it is not impossible to solve it. On the one hand, I can send people back to Ming Dynasty to recruit quietly. The requirements are not high, as long as I have studied in a serious private school for a few years. On the other hand, I plan to ask the public We need to make some changes in the teaching methods so that one teacher can teach more students." Zhu Zhanhe explained patiently.

"This is unlikely. I have also studied in private schools for many years. A teacher can only take care of twenty or thirty children at most. No more than he can take care of."

Zheng Li asked in disbelief when he heard Zhu Zhanhe's words.

Although the teacher of the private school enrolls multiple students, in fact, these students receive one-on-one education. Each student's learning progress is different, and the teacher will assign different homework for him.

For example, students who have just entered a private school may have just started learning to write, while other students may have already started memorizing "Shang Shu", but these students will all attend classes in the same classroom. In Zhu Zhanhe's opinion, this teaching method is very efficient. Too low.

"Zheng Jijiuyou doesn't know. In my vision, the teaching materials of public schools are unified, and all students must teach according to the textbooks. This also reduces the requirements for teachers. In addition, students will be divided into different classes, and each student will be divided into different classes. Students in the class all learn the same content..."

As Zhu Zhanhe spoke, he gave an overview of the teaching methods of later generations of schools.

Senior officials like Yang Shiqi are all smart people, and they quickly understood that this teaching method, which was completely different from that of a private school, also made them feel eye-opening. They had never thought that children could be taught in this way.

"Compared with traditional private school teaching, public schools have many advantages. For example, we can control the teaching materials and train children into the talents we need. I won't go into details here. When public schools start teaching in the future, I believe everyone must have a deep understanding of it!”

Zhu Zhanhe finally concluded.

"Prince, the public school does have many advantages, but as you said, if there are forty or fifty students in a class, even if you use the teaching methods of the public school, I am afraid that your husband will not be able to take care of them, right?"

Yang Shiqi was worthy of being a prime minister, and his brain was quick to respond. At this time, he questioned again. He was not against the public school, but felt that some things must be explained clearly, so that there would be fewer problems in the future.

"Indeed, when the number of students increases, the teacher cannot take care of him. In the same class, there will always be good students and poor students. We only need to ensure that most people can get passing grades, and that is enough!"

Zhu Zhanhe was not in a hurry and said patiently again.

"I think the idea of ​​this public school is very good. We can try it out by setting up a few schools in the capital first!"

Zheng Li stood up and agreed.

As the Imperial College's priests, they are also responsible for teaching students. If this public school teaching method is effective, it can also be implemented in the Imperial College, and it may also be a great innovation.

Seeing that Zheng Li supported the construction of a public school, other ministers also expressed their opinions. Some agreed and some opposed, but in general, the majority agreed. Even Yang Shiqi also supported the public school, so Zhu Zhanhe immediately made the decision to build the public school. Public school matters are on the agenda.

(End of this chapter)