Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

After Zhang Pu's memorial was presented, it was highly valued by Zhu Youjian.

Because during this period he was instructing Qian Qianyi on how to format papers and improve academic journals.

The scholars of the Ming Dynasty were accepting of the required format, because the eight-legged essay used in the imperial examinations was a literary style in itself.

They can even write elaborate essays in the traditional eight-legged essay style, so of course they can accept the format of academic papers.

Zhu Youjian modeled his work after later academic papers, establishing standards for titles, authors, abstracts, keywords, tables of contents, main text, references, and appendices.

Each paper is assigned a number and categorized according to time, history, literature, philosophy, and other relevant categories. This ensures that every paper is verifiable and can be quickly located in the paper database.

These requirements were nothing to worry about, and Qian Qianyi quickly adapted.

What made him uncomfortable was that the emperor required that when quoting ancient people, the original text must be used and could not be arbitrarily altered.

Quotations should be enclosed in quotation marks, and the source should be indicated in the references.

He was not used to such rigid requirements and advised against it:
"An article is full of quotations, making it too fragmented to read."

"Moreover, some of the sayings of the ancients are not suitable for direct quotation in articles and need to be abridged or modified."

"I believe that similar meanings are sufficient, and it is not necessary to indicate the source for all of them."

Zhu Youjian also felt that the numerous annotations made the text seem disjointed, but if it weren't for this, some people could imitate Su Shi and make up random things.

Therefore he demanded:
“Literary poems and essays, such as argumentative essays like ‘On the Six States,’ are not mandatory.”

"However, academic papers must strictly adhere to the standards."

"Why can't the study of moral philosophy and history learn from history? It's because in order to prove moral principles, they cut and even fabricate historical materials, and the conclusions they draw are naturally all imagined and of no benefit to reality."

"Sir, you should not forget this lesson when you promote empirical history."

Upon hearing this, Qian Qianyi was startled, realizing that he had been focusing only on literature and had forgotten that the foundation of practical learning lay in history.

If a solid foundation cannot be laid, the "practical" aspect of real learning will become a joke.

Even the emperor would abandon them and support other schools of thought.

Therefore, he immediately agreed:
"Academic papers are indeed different from literature."

"Your Majesty's decision to list literature separately is truly insightful and far-sighted."

They praised the emperor highly and echoed his opinions.

Zhu Youjian laughed heartily:

"When Bai Juyi composed poems and essays, he would always have his old wife read them to him and ask her for her understanding, which she would then record."

"Literature is meant to be disseminated to the masses, so it should naturally be simple and easy to understand."

"But academic works are for people who want to do in-depth research, so it's okay if they are a bit profound."

"Academic papers and argumentative writings are different and cannot be equated."

"Of course, those who are capable can also write argumentative essays as the main text and publish them without quotations, etc."

"However, when published as an academic paper, it is still necessary to follow the format."

Qian Qianyi's understanding of academic papers was that they were argumentative essays, such as "On the Faults of Qin" and "On Feudalism." His works "On Stable Property" and "On Production" were also of this kind, and can be described as brilliantly written.

That's why he felt uncomfortable with the emperor's requirements for his essays, believing that it would be difficult to write fluently using this method.

Hearing the emperor say this, he immediately replied:
"I believe that argumentative essays can be divided into literary and academic versions."

"Those who are good at literature can write the literary version first, and then organize it into an academic version according to the academic paper format."

"Those who are good at academic writing can write the academic version; whether or not to create a literary version is up to them."

Zhu Youjian nodded in approval at the idea of ​​separating the two types of papers, and after some thought, he said, "The literary version can be published separately, or it can be placed before the main text as an introduction or abridged version to attract readers."

"Treat the same paper as if it were the same paper, using the same paper number."

It established the norms for academic papers and combined them with the argumentative writing style that people were good at at the time.

After that, those who were good at writing articles became very good at writing introductions when writing papers, but suffered terribly when it came to the main body.

Those who excel at writing the main body of the text often find themselves struggling with the introduction, which requires elegant writing.

This has even spurred the emergence of a paper editing industry, which specializes in helping authors organize their papers and write the main text or introduction.
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Thinking back to the investigation report after reading the thesis, Zhu Youjian said to Qian Qianyi:
"The reason why the Censorate's investigation report format could not be implemented was because some censors were used to writing articles and did not know how to write reports."

"If it's published in the newspaper, even fewer people will likely see it."

"Therefore, I believe this investigation report can also be written into a literary version, which can be called reportage."

"Those who are good at writing can first write reportage. Then they can organize it into an investigative report and submit it as a formal report."

Upon hearing this, Qian Qianyi repeatedly agreed, believing it to be a good idea.

He even believed that the format of various memorials and official documents of the court could also be standardized in this way.

All official documents must follow a format; documents that do not conform to the format can only be used as introductions.

Zhu Youjian nodded in approval and instructed him to standardize the format of legal provisions, and to number both laws and decrees, specifying their implementation periods.
"Both etiquette and laws should be in effect indefinitely. If any become outdated, they should be submitted to Congress for amendment without a time limit."

"However, some temporary laws, treaties, and contracts are all for a specific period of time, and a time limit for their implementation must be set."

"After the expiration date, we will discuss whether to extend it or to draft a new law."

This is a common sunset clause in later times, also known as a time-limited law. It's used to prevent various bills from piling up and becoming a mountain of crap.

This was especially necessary in the Ming Dynasty, because the edicts of emperors throughout the ages had accumulated to the point that they were incomprehensible to anyone who did not specialize in studying them.

Some laws and regulations are outdated and need to be repealed or amended.

Zhu Youjian did not want these things to pile up indefinitely, so he stipulated that after this reorganization, all temporary decrees and even laws should have deadlines set.

Qian Qianyi was delighted to hear that the emperor had discussed the matter of the Committee on Rites and Law with him, and readily agreed. He then inquired further:
"If a new law is not enacted in time after the law expires, and someone violates it, how should the case be judged?"

Zhu Youjian said:
“For cases that are unimportant and involve no victims, we can let them go. For cases that are serious in nature, we will follow the precedent law and pronounce judgments based on previous cases.”

"At the same time, we will ask the Supreme Court to apply for the enactment of relevant legislation."

He further instructed:

"After this revision of the rites and music, new laws and edicts should be revised at least once every sixty years to determine which clauses should be abolished or added."

"You and Mr. Liu and others should discuss adding this provision to the code of etiquette."

"Let all legal amendments be based on principles and laws."

Finally, after much discussion, the "Great Ming Etiquette and Law Convention" added another article:

Regardless of whether it is an imperial edict, decree, decree, law, regulation, rule, order, or any other name used, all official documents and decrees of the court that do not contradict existing rites and laws are valid and subject to observance.

All laws and regulations should specify the effective period, and a decision should be made before the expiration date whether to extend or amend them.

All laws and regulations should be revised at least once every sixty years, with outdated provisions repealed or amended.

The promulgation of laws and decrees required the emperor's approval. If the emperor of the Ming Dynasty believed that a law or decree violated the rites and laws, he could refuse to promulgate it.

When laws, regulations, and bills become outdated, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty may issue an edict to temporarily suspend their implementation. However, the suspension period should not exceed one year, and the National Assembly should decide whether to amend them within one year. (End of Chapter)