Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 206: Forge sword sheaths for the people!

"Xia Zhibai?" Liu Sanwu was stunned for a moment, then he looked Xia Zhibai up and down, stroked his beard and smiled, "You are the number one scholar last year. I am Liu Sanwu. Last year, I was trusted by His Majesty and was awarded the title of Zuo Chunfang Zuo Zanyu. Now I am a Hanlin scholar."

"I am very interested in what the Grand Secretary said. Could you elaborate on it?"

Hear the words.

Xia Zhibai looked surprised.

Liu Sanwu?
He still knew this name.

The chief examiner of the North and South lists was Liu Sanwu.

But he didn't expect that Liu Sanwu would be so old.

The North-South List was created in the 30th year of Hongwu, and it is now the 19th year, with 11 years left. Judging from Liu Sanwu's current appearance, he must be at least 60 years old. At his age, he should have lost the desire to wield power, and there is no reason for him to create the North-South List.

Xia Zhibai quickly performed the student etiquette.

Liu Sanwu reached out his hand, helped Xia Zhibai up, and said with a smile: "Grandmaster, you are embarrassing me. I have studied hard all my life, but there are still countless ignorant people. I hope that Grandmaster can help me solve some of my puzzles. How can I make the Hu people's writing fit with my Chinese writing?"

There is nothing wrong with white in summer.

He stood up and gave his seat to Liu Sanwu.

Liu Sanwu declined, but Xia Zhibai insisted. Liu Sanwu did not refuse and sat down with a look of satisfaction. He lowered his head and looked at the paper covered with densely written notes. The surprise in his eyes became more and more intense.

He had heard about last year's scientific expedition.

His son-in-law Zhao Mian and Xia Zhibai are in the same class.

But unlike Xia Zhibai who was the top scorer, Zhao Mian was ranked 71st in the second class and is now the Left Counsellor of the Criminal Division of the Ministry of Works.

Although his ranking was not as high as Xia Zhibai's, Zhao Mian was on good terms with Shen Xi, Hou Yong, Zhang Heng and others who were also second-class Jinshi, and he was considered to be somewhat famous in the court.

He was somewhat skeptical about Xia Zhibai at first.

Too much pretense.

Flashy.

It was only after a brief encounter that he discovered that Xia Zhibai was a man of great vision, which was completely different from what he had heard in the past. This changed his opinion of Xia Zhibai greatly, and at the same time, he was also very curious about how Xia Zhibai wanted to lower the threshold for 'literacy'.

If it can be accomplished, it will benefit the world.

Go down in history.

He is over seventy years old and has wasted most of his life, devoting himself to writing, but still feels inadequate. If he could participate in such a feat, it would be a great comfort in his life.

Liu Sanwu looked at Xia Zhibai with eyes full of expectation and eagerness.

Looking at Liu Sanwu's fiery gaze, Xia Zhibai nodded and said, "Of course."

"As a member of the Imperial Academy, I originally wanted to work with the Imperial Academy scholars and the Imperial College students to sort out the literacy courses of past dynasties, and then summarize and simplify them into a more practical and convenient way of learning to read. In my opinion, the Hu people's way can also be used as a reference."

"in addition."

"Shuowen Jiezi (Explanation of Chinese Characters)" was already available in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

"It's just that the Shuowen Jiezi at that time was more inclined towards small seal script."

"Nowadays, the Song Dynasty books are rampant in the world. We should focus on the Song Dynasty books and compile a new dictionary!"

"There is a certain distinction between them. It should include both the 'radicals' that have been passed down from ancient times to the present and the 'characters of the foreigners'. The two should be compatible with each other. This way, it can satisfy both beginners and people with a certain level of writing skills."

“There is a lack of books for beginning readers in the world.”

"The bar is too high."

Liu Sanwu stroked his beard and thought deeply.

As a literary master, he naturally understood what Xia Zhibai said.

Xia Zhibai wanted to integrate the "voice" through the "symbols of the Hu people", and then further lower the threshold of literacy by compiling a simplified character "dictionary", while promoting simplified characters throughout the world.

Xia Zhibai is a 'minimalist' person.

At least that's what Liu Sanwu thought.

Last year, he heard that Xia Zhibai had "simplified" the numbers and replaced the old Chinese characters with the numbers of the Hu people. The effect was very high. Now, various departments such as the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works are using the set of characters created by Xia Zhibai, which greatly simplified the difficulty of writing.

Now we are working on the text again, which means we are going to carry simplification to the end.

But he had also heard some of Xia Zhibai's "crazy words", and he couldn't help but feel suspicious.

He looked at Xia Zhibai suspiciously and said in a deep voice: "May I ask, Grand Secretary, what exactly do you want to do by simplifying these characters? Why don't I believe it? You just want to lower the threshold for literacy. I hope you won't be offended. It's just that your past reputation has forced me to think a little more."

Liu Sanwu smiled bitterly and bowed to apologize.

Xia Zhibai smiled and didn't care much.

He said: "The world's writing system has changed, and the fonts have changed. From the emergence of paper in the Han Dynasty to the emergence of movable type printing in the Song Dynasty, the threshold for literacy has become lower and lower. The "Great Edict" compiled by you has been praised by the world, and the world's literacy rate has actually increased significantly."

"thus."

Xia Zhibai paused.

He asked in a serious tone: "Why can't everyone have books to read? Why can't everyone be literate?"

Liu Sanwu's eyelids twitched.

Xia Zhibai said: "The literati in the world are good at playing with words, and they are also good at confusing right and wrong. Just like the Great Edict that Confucius participated in compiling, many people can recite it, but how many people can understand its meaning? In the end, it is still controlled by local scholars. Just like the ancient laws, are they really that strict?"

“A lot of times it’s just not knowing.”

“There is a saying in the Zuo Zhuan of the Spring and Autumn Annals.”

"If the punishment is unknown and the authority is unpredictable, the people will fear the ruler." "The people have no idea about the law and are easily manipulated by local officials. They will let it go and even be afraid to report to the officials. If the people can read and understand the existence of laws and the true meaning of the Great Edict, and even use the laws to protect themselves, how dare the officials of the Ming Dynasty fool, abuse and exploit the people at will?"

“And that’s what I’m going to do.”

“Eliminating illiteracy in the world!”

Liu Sanwu's pupils shrank and a hint of horror appeared in his eyes.

He knew that Xia Zhibai was bold, but he really didn't expect that Xia Zhibai was so bold.

He quickly shook his head and said, "No."

"Your idea is too shocking."

"Since you know the Spring and Autumn Annals, you should also understand that there was another saying at that time."

"Confucianism disrupts the law with literature, and chivalry violates the law with force."

"When there are too many scholars, the world will be in constant turmoil."

"Scholars are always hot-tempered and their words are as sharp as a river. They are still popular today. These scholars are arrogant and will stir up trouble when things go wrong. If they are used for rebellion, it will be a great harm to the governance of the world."

Xia Zhibai nodded.

He admitted that he was going in the wrong direction. The more he read, the more rebellious he became.

But he also believed in another truth.

The more you argue, the clearer the truth becomes.

This is the process of growing up.

Xia Zhibai said: "The scholar's power of agitation and ability of planning should not be underestimated."

“But this may not mean that the direction of education is wrong.”

"Today's Confucian scholars talk about benevolence and morality all the time, and they say that the will of the people is the will of heaven every day. But how many of them have thought about the livelihood of the people? In this Guo Huan case, how many corrupt officials and 'gentry' who participated in corruption were found out."

“Are they reading less?”

"Don't they know morality, righteousness, and honor?"

“They understand.”

"But it is precisely because they understand that they do not obey, because only they understand these things, and the people below do not know them at all. They can use the 'laws' and the 'morals, righteousness, integrity and shame' of ancient and modern times to oppress the people at the bottom and cheat them out of their money."

"Today's scholars have become accomplices in the evil that is done to the world."

"A scholar should have the world in mind and the people as the foundation, but today's Confucian scholars are lazy and don't know how to distinguish between grains. They don't even know the situation at the grassroots level. Can such a group of out-of-touch scholars really take on important tasks?"

"I don't think so."

"Master has experienced war."

“I know the sufferings of the world, and I also know the difficulties of people’s lives.”

"But we should also understand the fragility of morality, righteousness, and integrity at the bottom."

"When morality, etiquette, and integrity only work for the lower classes, this so-called 'ritual and music' has lost its original meaning."

"Your Majesty rose from humble beginnings, and he knows the stupidity of the people. That is why he repeatedly ordered the people to recite the Great Edict, so that the people can use it as a standard to supervise the officials of the country."

"This is the 'imperial sword' that your majesty has forged for the people."

“But did the Great Edict really work?”

"No."

"Because the common people cannot grasp this 'imperial sword' at all, because the hilt of the sword is always in the hands of those officials and gentry, because the right of interpretation lies with them. If the common people try to get their hands on this 'sword', they will only get themselves covered in blood."

“I want to do literacy.”

"It is to forge another scabbard for the people of the world."

"The 'treasure sword' in the hands of officials and gentry can be sheathed by the people, so that they can no longer use this sword to issue orders to the people."

Liu Sanwu's eyes changed slightly.

He looked at Xia Zhibai deeply and felt his scalp tingling.

He finally understood why his son-in-law seldom mentioned Xia Zhibai. This man was indeed too crazy.

How could he be forging sword sheaths for the people?

He was clearly forging swords for the people to use to restrain officials and gentry.

Xia Zhibai stood with his hands behind his back and said calmly, "I once heard this saying: the weapon of criticism cannot replace the criticism of weapons."

"Your Majesty has given the people the weapon of criticism, but the officials and gentry of the world have never taken it to heart and continue to do as they please, because this weapon of criticism can only be used against those scholars who are 'moral, righteous, honest and shameless', and cannot be used against those 'shameless' scholars."

"I always believe that as long as people are allowed to speak, the sky won't fall!"

Xia Zhibai glanced at Liu Sanwu coldly, with some disappointment in his eyes.

Liu Sanwu is still a "pedantic" Confucian scholar after all, and still has the old nostalgic and retro inertia, and still admires the integrity of the Confucianists that were unique in the world in the past.

But that is now a thing of the past.

Scholars should be restricted.

The unlimited and unrestrained situation of the past should not have lasted this long.

He just wanted to make the world return to normal.

(End of this chapter)