Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 216 The Fifth Door: Miscellaneous Studies!

The audience was silent.

Liu Sanwu, who had tried to argue earlier, chose to shut up at this moment.

This is the slide they can’t touch.

To a certain extent, Xia Zhibai's idea has both advantages and disadvantages.

On the positive side, of course, tortures such as "punishing nine generations of a clan" and "collective punishment" may be curbed, which will make many officials breathe a sigh of relief. At the same time, Xia Zhibai is also deliberately tightening the rights of officials so that they can no longer carry out lynching so blatantly.

Overall, it is to free up the people of the world.

In tightening the rulers.

The specific pros and cons vary from person to person.

At least as far as they are concerned, although what they say is not pleasing, it will not do them any harm if they are more disciplined. At least His Majesty will not kill them when he gets angry, and their lives can be more or less guaranteed. However, they also know that no matter how disciplined Xia Zhibai is, he cannot regulate His Majesty.

But what if?
Outside the attic, Zhu Biao frowned slightly.

When he heard Xia Zhibai's words earlier, he was actually very unhappy.

When it comes to public affairs, how can we allow Xia’s white road to be judged?
Especially since Xia Zhibai shamelessly "denied" the Great Edict and even tried to pull it down. Even he had never dared to think of such a bold thing. He was also puzzled in his heart. Where did Xia Zhibai get the courage to dare to take the "Great Edict"?

That is my father’s most proud work.

I would rather live tight on food and clothing every year than not spread the word throughout the world.

Nowadays, if you cannot memorize the "Great Edict", you will be punished. But Xia Zhibai is different. Not only does he have no respect for the "Great Edict", he even wants to pull it down. If the emperor knew about this, he would be very angry.

But after listening to Xia Zhibai's explanation, Zhu Biao couldn't help but fall into deep thought again.

He actually knew the reason why his father wrote the "Great Edict".

Zhu Yuanzhang originally wanted to issue the "Great Edict" to make his subjects fearful and not dare to offend him lightly, but it did not actually achieve the desired effect.

Even my father complained not long ago.

"Once the great edict was issued, the wicked people thought it was not true and continued to do the same evil things as before."

But as Xia Zhibai said, the punishment in "The Great Edict" is higher than that in "The Great Ming Code", and its effectiveness is higher than that in "The Great Ming Code". Although my father's original intention was to use it to severely punish the crimes of his subjects, make up for the deficiencies of the law, and by the way, popularize the law to the world, but the result went against his wishes, and it is still difficult to popularize it quickly and gain popularity in a short period of time.

Also, because the law and discipline had been relaxed for a long time during the Yuan Dynasty, local officials and people were cautious about whether it could be effectively implemented.

The Great Edict now sounds more like a threat.

It is a case combination.

However, because my father attached too much importance to it, the "special criminal laws" such as "The Great Edict" override the "Great Ming Code", resulting in the current top-heavy situation. Local officials saw that my father attached so much importance to the Great Edict, and they also used the "Great Edict" to punish crimes, causing complaints from local people.

But the only person in the world who dared to question so directly was probably Xia Zhibai.

Zhu Biao sighed, "Xia Zhibai, you really give me a headache. When I go back later, how can I explain to my father?"

"However, what Xia Zhibai mentioned, that we should first educate the scholars to publicize the Great Ming Law and the Great Edict, is indeed a good idea."

"Nowadays, most people who can afford to read are from families with a certain amount of wealth. These people are not of low status and are more likely to be targeted by local officials. If these people are the first to rise up and oppose injustice, it will be more effective than simply issuing the Great Edict by rote."

"And scholars are the foundation of the world."

"Letting them learn the morality and legal system of our Ming Dynasty may ignite the fire of justice in their hearts."

"It is not necessarily wrong to give advice to the people and speak up for the people."

Zhu Biao nodded.

He strongly agreed with incorporating Taoism into teaching materials.

the other side.

Seeing that the other scholars were too timid to speak, Xia Zhibai shook his head secretly.

The ideological dogma of these scholars is too serious.

Even if I have my own ideas, I dare not express them in public.

Xia Zhibai said: "As for the last subject, I listed it as miscellaneous studies. It covers everything. In a sense, it can be regarded as a way to increase knowledge. It also contains some thoughts and explorations on current developments. The content of miscellaneous studies is very diverse, and only by thinking more can we have new ideas and make certain breakthroughs based on the existing foundation."

“Since the Song Dynasty.”

"Confucianism has reached a bottleneck."

"At the end of the Song Dynasty, there were Confucian scholars who discovered a problem."

"The old production system has begun to show a mismatch between productivity and production relations."

"The great Confucian scholars have spent a lot of time studying this, but they have never been able to solve this problem. Moreover, they have always been thinking about methods, but have not attributed the problem to a direction. The purpose of miscellaneous studies is to liberate the mind and make certain explanations and understandings of some current things based on the actual situation of the contemporary world."

"For example, force, heat, light, sound, and lightning."

"At the same time, it's like in medicine, why can a few herbs combined together cure diseases?"

"What is the reason?"

"And sand, if you keep breaking it down, what can you see? And why does iron rust, copper rust, and sometimes not rust? Why is that?"

“The purpose of learning a wide range of subjects is to get to the bottom of things.” “You need to have the courage and vision to discover and explore the world.”

"In terms of governance philosophy, the court will still adhere to the principle of 'Confucianism on the outside and law on the inside', but in other areas, it is time to relax some of the restrictions and answer some questions. This is necessary for the Ming Dynasty to see clearly the future development principles."

“I have come into contact with many engineers.”

“Many of them only know how to do it, but don’t know why they should do it?”

“This shouldn’t be the case.”

"Only by understanding its core and essence can the Ming Dynasty truly make improvements, and only then can it make significant improvements under existing circumstances. The scholars of the Ming Dynasty should have an exploratory spirit. They should not only have the ability to do things, but also understand why they are doing things this way."

"I have reason to believe that if the Ming Dynasty can sort out all this, the development of the Ming Dynasty will be rapid."

"Because the steam engine is an example of this."

"Now the production of salt through steam mechanism is on the right track, and it won't be long before it can be rolled out all over the country."

"The Ming Dynasty is short of manpower now, but the emergence of steam engines can greatly reduce the demand for manpower. If the Ming Dynasty can also make breakthroughs in other areas, perhaps relying on the current situation, the Ming Dynasty can make sure that everyone in the world has food to eat and clothes to wear."

“But this road is not easy to walk on.”

“It takes collective effort.”

“Turning some experiences into textures allows future generations to innovate.”

“So miscellaneous learning is just an exploration and thinking.”

“An enlightenment.”

"It can also be used as a little entertainment during the heavy academic workload."

"But the Ming Dynasty still has tens of millions of people. If everyone accumulates a little breakthrough, it may not take long for the Ming Dynasty to have a great breakthrough in its understanding of the world. By then, it may not be impossible to reach the moon in the sky and catch turtles in the five oceans."

Xia Zhibai smiled expressively, with a hint of longing in his eyes.

The others looked at each other.

All they heard was the idleness.

The main purpose of studying should be to learn knowledge. Isn't it a waste of time to do these trivial things?
Although they disagreed with this in their hearts, and even sneered at it, which of Xia Zhibai's previous words was not more unorthodox than this?

They were too lazy to say anything more, otherwise they would be embarrassed if Xia Zhibai refuted them.

Moreover, if Xia Zhibai's idea is adopted by His Majesty, these five courses will be taught in all the schools in the world in the future, and their children will probably also have to study in them. Isn't this miscellaneous knowledge also a place to widen the gap?
When other people see these colorful things, they will be distracted. However, under their supervision, their children can focus on their studies.

Only then can you stand out from thousands of students in the scientific examinations.

even.
They also wanted Xia Zhibai to learn a few more miscellaneous subjects.

They also heard Xia Zhibai's ambition and aspirations.

He wanted to reshape the world's education system, reshape the world's understanding of the law, and reshape the world's understanding of the Ming Dynasty. He also wanted to let the people of the world maintain a state of mind of seeking knowledge and exploration. This change is actually very positive and proactive.

but.
This change is too big.

It was so big that no one in the world could react.

Everything had to be started over again.

They could even foresee how bad and notorious Xia Zhibai's reputation would become once the court really issued the decree. But perhaps this was just Xia Zhibai. He had shown enough ignorance and fearlessness since he first showed his prowess, and now he had just gone a step further.

Moreover, Xia Zhibai’s approach may not be able to be implemented.

Xia Zhibai can argue with them, but can he win over other scholars in the world?
How many people's interests will be affected by this?

There were not only scholars, but also officials, many landlords and gentry, and even some craftsmen and engineers.

Xia Zhibai is making an enemy of the whole world. He seems to be righteous and selfless, but if he arouses public resentment, he might end up like Wu Yong who interrogated Guo Huan. In order to appease the public resentment, Your Majesty made Xia Zhibai end up with his head and body separated.

Xia Zhibai was somewhat surprised to see that the scholars did not refute.

After a little thought, I understood the reason.

He had rejected traditional Confucianism from the very beginning, and now he was only doing it more blatantly.

Scholars like Liu Sanwu had been defeated in the argument before, and they would not seek trouble now. Moreover, they sincerely did not think that their ideas would be approved by the court, so they just let it go.

Xia Zhibai shook his head and was happy to see this.

These old scholars were indeed very knowledgeable, but their views were extremely conservative and feudal. It was impossible and unrealistic to expect them to change their old views. It was already good enough if he could keep them silent. This time he just wanted to borrow their knowledge.

at this time.

A drake's voice was heard outside the attic.

The sound is very thin and penetrating.

"quiet!"

"His Royal Highness is here!"

(End of this chapter)