Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 625 Subtle
Emperor Chenghui's reforms also started with the imperial examination system, and now Li Yuan can be said to be following in the footsteps of the late emperor.

The message this sends to the public depends on how officials interpret it.

In any case, the new emperor's intention to continue the reforms is very clear. Any official could see this.

What does this indicate? It indicates that the emperors of the Zhou Dynasty, whose system was basically inherited from the Ming Dynasty, were dissatisfied with the dominance of the old academic tradition.

This is not something that can be explained in a short time. After the Zhou Dynasty replaced the Ming Dynasty, although the eight-legged essay system was still used for the imperial examinations, Emperor Taizu made many changes. He increased the proportion of mathematics in the examinations.

Later, there was a period of restoration, and after Emperor Chenghui ascended the throne, the proportion of mathematics was increased again.

During the reign of Emperor Chenghui, traditional Confucianism experienced many upheavals. The most impactful event was not Jia Lian's practical learning, but the falsification of the Book of Documents.

It can only be said that the Chinese are too clever. As long as they don't adopt the oppressive policies of the Qing Dynasty, there will inevitably be some rebellious heretics within Confucianism who will undermine its own reputation.

Scholars themselves don't even believe in Confucianism, yet they use it as a stepping stone to officialdom. This shows that the development of Confucianism has stagnated, and something new is needed.

Jia Lian's so-called practical learning, under the guise of Confucian investigation of things and extension of knowledge, was actually a grave-digging business.

Well, how should I put it? Regardless of the school of Confucianism, the highest pursuit is the Dao. The Dao is subjective; it can fall into the realm of metaphysics, or it can be considered naive materialism, or even idealism. In short, it's about emphasizing a high level of sophistication!
The emergence of practical learning can be said to have set a trend for a time. Since it all involved investigating things, and the principles derived from this investigation were quite practical and self-consistent, it was very attractive.

In particular, the widespread use of the steam engine greatly improved production efficiency, leading to a stark contrast in the academic atmosphere of the entire empire.

One was the conservative faction adhering to the old Neo-Confucianism and the School of Mind, and the other was the spontaneously formed reformist faction promoting practical learning.

The Beijing media was bound to be abuzz with discussion, and the newly established major newspaper, Huanyu Daily, published an article signed by Jia Lian, who personally stepped in to advocate for practical learning.

The article mainly discusses the concepts of "the real and the unreal." While both involve investigating things to acquire knowledge, Wang Yangming developed his philosophy of mind through investigation, which is essentially the unreal. I, Jia, though not particularly talented, also begin with investigating things, seeking the real and the innovative.

The world is material; the real learning is the knowledge of practically increasing productivity, growing more food, weaving more cloth, and creating more powerful weapons so that people can have enough to eat.

After Jia Lian stepped down, the conservatives naturally had to fight back; this was a battle for the right to speak.

In this battle, the Practical School gained a certain advantage because it could present tangible and observable facts. Furthermore, the Practical School did not seek to negate traditional Confucianism, but rather to fill in the gaps overlooked by past sages. The conservatives' counterattack could not withstand the emperor's will; although the cabinet offered some resistance, it ultimately compromised.

Soon the cabinet issued an official document, which was then disseminated throughout the country via the official gazette.

The general idea is that practical learning is an important part of Confucianism. Everything in the world has its yin and yang aspects, and so does learning. The abstract is yin, and the concrete is yang. Only when yin and yang are in harmony can great achievements be made.

Once it's officially endorsed, you have to accept it whether you like it or not.

Moreover, after so many years of dissemination, Practical Learning has gained sufficient influence in academia and has a large following. No matter how conservatives slander it, faced with irrefutable facts and official endorsement, the Confucian school can only acknowledge that Practical Learning is indeed part of the Confucian school.

In fact, the dissemination of the falsification of the Book of Documents over the years dealt a huge blow to Confucianism. Many scholars questioned it, and their faith was shaken. The works of the sages they had studied their whole lives turned out to be forgeries. Conservatives actually hoped that something new would be added to the text, but unfortunately, what was added was practical knowledge. This made the conservatives very unhappy, but they were powerless to do anything about it.

To be honest, Li Yuan's move to start with the imperial examinations took Jia Lian by surprise. Without prior notice, Li Yuan went straight for it, and by the time Jia Lian found out, it was already a bit too late to catch up.

But it's not a big problem; being a little slower isn't bad either.

Jia Lian has always been pondering where to begin changing a society.

The final conclusion is that it starts with cognition.

In other words, changing the perception of the entire society is a very difficult task. But no matter how difficult it is, it must be done.

Jia Lian's promotion of practical learning stemmed from this very intention.

After achieving sufficient social impact through the promotion and application of practical learning, the original plan was to wait until he joined the cabinet before going through official channels, but unexpectedly Li Yuan beat him to it.

So what motivated Li Yuan to do this? It's quite simple: he didn't want to just coast along on the foundation laid by his father.

Li Yuan was also ambitious; he wanted to build on the past, surpass others, and leave his mark on history.

The matter of leaving a name in history can be either a lasting legacy of goodwill or an infamous one.

Li Yuan was undoubtedly aiming for lasting fame, so he had to be innovative and make breakthroughs.

After so many years as a prince, Li Yuan has come to understand the essence of the problem. As Jia Lian said, everything must be based on the development of productivity.

Development inevitably brings change, and traditional gentry are the most averse to change; they wish the world would remain the same forever and never change.

Reality, of course, would not satisfy the gentry class; change was ever-present. For example, the addition of a child to the family—wasn't that a change? Should parents plan for their child's future? Wasn't that a change?

At the same time, Li Yuan also realized that Emperor Chenghui's reforms contained elements of suppression against the gentry class. Many similar cases can be found in historical records.

Li Yuan also clearly saw that the gentry class was not easy to touch. They had existed for a long time and were deeply entrenched from top to bottom, so it was not easy to move them. They could only be weakened little by little.

“My father’s approach is to expand outwards, which, while alleviating internal conflicts in the process of development, also fosters a new class of nobles. The gentry cannot be eradicated, so let’s create rivals for them and let them divide themselves during the development process.” Li Yuan stood by the window, this thought surfacing in his mind.

In any case, things cannot remain unchanged. As the gentleman said, we should seek change in prosperous times and stability in chaotic times.

The cabinet finally produced a concrete proposal and presented it to the emperor.

After carefully reviewing the proposal, Li Yuanxian found that the cabinet's solution was like scratching an itch through a boot.

Well, the cabinet advocates that the promotion of practical learning through the imperial examinations should not be rushed and should be slowed down. At this stage, it should only be implemented at the prefectural level, with the provincial level following three years later, and the metropolitan level following ten years later.

In short, we cannot immediately incorporate practical learning into the imperial examinations, as this would be unfair to those scholars who had previously focused on the Four Books and Five Classics.

Furthermore, some provinces, such as Guangdong and Guangxi, promoted practical learning earlier. If practical learning content were included in the imperial examinations and its weighting was too large, it would be unfair to scholars from all over the country.

Yes, Confucian traditional culture has many ideas about social fairness, but while the ideas exist, their implementation is a complete mess.

Looking at the proposals submitted by the cabinet, Li Yuan couldn't help but frown, feeling that the progress was too slow!

"Prime Minister Lin, take this back and discuss it with the gentlemen again, and make some changes." Li Yuan directly rejected the proposal, demanding improvements, but without specifying how. This was the emperor's usual tactic: he wouldn't explicitly state his opinion, leaving it to the others to guess.

The cabinet also knew that this first draft would be difficult to pass, and no matter how perfect it was, the emperor would still find fault with it.

It's not uncommon for clients to ask for revisions, resulting in numerous changes, only to ultimately find that the first draft is the best. This isn't unique to one company; it's quite prevalent.

It depends on how you interpret it. In short, it's perfectly normal for the party making the request to want to make their presence felt.

Lin Ruhai accepted the returned memorial, rose, clasped his hands in farewell, and said, "In that case, this humble subject will take his leave!"

He didn't ask the emperor in detail how exactly to change it.

It's fair to say that being a cabinet minister is no easy task; keeping the emperor happy is never a simple matter.

Lin Ruhai actually knew what the emperor meant, but he was also helpless. As the chief minister, his first priority was to satisfy the emperor, and then he also had to satisfy his colleagues and subordinates.

But then again, there's no such thing as something that satisfies everyone in this world.

Back in the cabinet, Lin Ruhai presented a proposal and convened a meeting to discuss it.

"His Majesty is clearly very dissatisfied with the proposal. Let's all take a look and see how it should be revised." Lin Ruhai got straight to the point, and the other cabinet ministers all looked as if they had expected it.

They knew perfectly well what was going on, yet they still submitted this document anyway, simply to negotiate a better deal.

The cabinet represents the interests of the civil service group, which has a cooperative and competitive relationship with the emperor. The civil service group also represents the interests of the gentry and officials of the country. Both are the emperor's tentacles of power and his rivals in the struggle for interests.

This meant that the power struggle between the cabinet and the emperor was ever-present. In any matter, as long as it did not involve treason, the cabinet would repeatedly engage in a tug-of-war with the emperor, haggling over every single detail.

When faced with a powerful emperor, such as the founding monarch, the cabinet plays a supporting role. As the dynasty progresses, the emperor's authority weakens and the cabinet's status rises.

Emperor Chenghui, who initiated the reforms, was undoubtedly in a stronger position in the confrontation. The new emperor, Li Yuan, was not Emperor Chenghui; facing the cabinet left by his father, all he could do was vie for a dominant position.

No emperor wants to be suppressed by a powerful cabinet; it varies from person to person. Emperor Wanli, who simply gave up and did nothing, was a rather peculiar emperor.

"Has Your Majesty set a deadline?" Pan Jixun, who had decided to retire, was also showing signs of resigning. He didn't care; if they wanted to resist, they could resist, but he was just going to give up. However, he could offer a suggestion.

Upon hearing this, everyone turned to think. The new emperor was to hold a special imperial examination upon his ascension to the throne, but the date for the examination had not yet been set, indicating that it would be held next year.

So, stalling for time is a good option. At least let it drag on until this year.

"Gentlemen, go back and think it over carefully. We'll discuss it again tomorrow." Lin Ruhai didn't demand an answer immediately; he decided to leave it at that for today.

The crowd dispersed to go back and devise a plan, aiming to reach a compromise that would satisfy both sides.

Li Yuan was keeping an eye on the cabinet's actions while also monitoring Jia Lian's progress.

Li Yuan didn't even want to glance at the memorial presented by the Minister of Rites for the imperial examination. He ordered it to be put away and not issued.

Logically, a special imperial examination should be held, but the emperor cannot simply agree to it just because a minister has submitted a memorial; he must carefully consider the matter.

While both were matters arranged by the emperor, Jia Lian's side has been steadily making progress.

In the preparation for the establishment of the new coal and iron group, Jia Lian transferred dozens of people from various state-owned enterprises and also transferred a group of students from the engineering college who were about to graduate early. Together with dozens of people sent by Emperor Li Yuan, they formed a new team.

Things were done step by step. After the team was established, the rules and regulations were determined, and then all the responsible persons had to study them.

The situation at the steel plant is a bit special because the furnaces cannot be shut down, so the leaders at all levels are required to undergo training in stages. The same applies to the coal mine, where production cannot be stopped.

The new coal and iron group has a headquarters and two branches: a coal mining company and a steel company. Under these two branches are subsidiaries engaged in coking, steel rolling, transportation, and other industries.

In short, all levels of departments must have clear divisions of responsibilities and distinct roles. It is absolutely unacceptable for any situation to be unaccountable for, or for an outsider to lead an expert.

Therefore, the people Li Yuan sent out were mainly assigned to positions such as financial supervision. As long as the accounts were clear, many problems could be avoided.

Li Yuan's distrust of imperial relatives meant that even those from the imperial clan he sent out were previously marginalized figures. They were given intensive training by Jia Lian before being put into service.

While the coal and iron groups were being integrated, public opinion was also growing, with news of Royal Coal & Iron Group's planned IPO frequently making headlines.

Li Yuan, who was constantly observing both sides, naturally developed different feelings towards them.

On one side, things are progressing steadily and methodically; on the other, things are dragging their feet and moving slowly. They won't move unless the emperor urges them.

One is genuinely doing practical work, while the other, acting in the interests of its own cabinet, has become mired in pressure from all sides.

More importantly, it was the behind-the-scenes actions of officials in various departments in the capital. They submitted numerous memorials regarding the imperial examinations.

Almost all memorials related to the imperial examinations continued the debate between conservatism and reform.

The conservative side is still emphasizing that even if changes are to be made, they must be gradual and not rushed. At least this year's Enke and next year's Chungui should not include practical learning content.

The reformists, however, emphasized that if change was to be made, it should be done decisively and as quickly as possible. They also impeached the cabinet, accusing them of delaying imperial orders and being ostensibly loyal ministers but in reality traitors.

In any case, there is never a shortage of people in the imperial court who argue and boast. It is not enough to argue in the memorials; they also have to argue in the newspapers of the common people.

The argument, though seemingly unrelated, subtly focused on when to fully incorporate practical learning into the imperial examinations, rather than whether practical learning should be included in the examinations at all.

Li Yuan was quite pleased to see this, at least his efforts to promote practical learning in the imperial examinations were tacitly accepted by the people.

No one debated whether practical learning should be considered part of Confucianism. Even if there were discussions, they were very few and scattered, barely causing a stir.

(End of this chapter)