Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 93: Learn from the foreigners and benefit China! (Subscribe)

"I think what I brought out is sincere enough."

Xia Zhibai held the tea bowl in his hand, looking calmly at the closed Kyoto Salt Shop below, with a faint smile on his lips.

Hua Lun was silent.

He looked at the paper whose traces had gradually disappeared, then glanced at the calm and composed Xia Zhibai, with a hint of struggle and entanglement in his eyes.

He admitted that he was moved.

If this line graph were really presented to Your Majesty, I would definitely look at it differently.

Your career will be much smoother in the future.

even.
He was able to end the time of talent storage and cultivation in the Hanlin Academy ahead of schedule and directly enter the Six Ministries, and most likely the Ministry of Revenue, becoming an official in one of the Ministry. The Ministry of Revenue is the second most powerful department among the Six Ministries, second only to the Ministry of Personnel.

This gives him a lot of room to realize his political ambitions.

But he instinctively didn't dare to trust Xia Zhibai, and he was really scared of being cheated by Xia Zhibai.

Xia Zhibai was too unscrupulous in doing things. He was worried that he would not be able to watch out and be led into a trap by Xia Zhibai, and then he would suffer in silence.

Xia Zhibai didn't rush.

He also didn't take the initiative to ask Hua Lun to do anything.

Just wait quietly for Hua Lun's answer.

Hua Lun's expression changed again and again, and he felt extremely conflicted.

After seeing the line graph hidden in the tea stains, he finally couldn't help himself and said through gritted teeth: "Okay, as long as your request is not excessive, I can try to agree to it."

"What on earth are you planning?"

Hua Lun stared at Xia Zhibai warily. He really wanted to see through the man in front of him.

Xia Zhibai put down the tea bowl in his hand and said calmly: "What I want you to do is very simple, just help me sort out how the Hu people learned our culture in the past, how they pronounced it correctly, and how many convenient methods they had."

Hua Lun's eyelids twitched.

He looked at Xia Zhibai solemnly and said in a deep voice: "Xia Zhibai, are you crazy?"

"What on earth do you want to do?"

"You're not going to use the Hu people's tricks to lower the cost of reading and learning, are you?"

"Only a small number of people can learn the Hu people's learning method, and they are basically the nobles among the Hu people, or some businessmen."

"What about the Yuan people?" Xia Zhibai looked at Hua Lun.

"Yuan" Hua Lun was speechless for a moment. He spread his hands and said, "This is different. After all, the Mongols entered the Central Plains and occupied the world. In order to control the world, they had to learn. But this is still something that only the Mongolian nobles can learn."

“That learning system is completely different from what we are exposed to.”

"You are really too fanciful."

Xia Zhibai nodded and said, "I have heard a saying in the past, 'Learn from the foreigners so as to defeat them.'"

"I plan to learn from it."

"Change it to learning from foreigners to benefit China."

"I have roughly understood that many Hu people have the habit of learning the culture of the Central Plains. There may be some differences, but we are based in China and were born and raised there, so it is easier for us to learn and master than outsiders. However, the current educational situation is still controlled by the literati, and the entrance is strict, and the learning cost is always maintained at a high level."

"It is basically impossible to promote educational reform by changing the entire scholar-official class."

“So we have to find another way.”

"Learn with the help of the methods of the Hu people and foreigners."

"And I'm not trying to copy them completely, I'm just learning from their way of getting started. After getting started, they can then be connected to the normal education system. I believe that the children of local people can also quickly stand out and thrive."

“It may not be impossible to shake up the scholar-official class in the future.”

Hua Lun's face turned black.

He just couldn't understand why Xia Zhibai had to pick a fight with the scholar-official class?

Wasn't he himself a member of the scholar-official class?

What's the good of being shaken?
The scholar-officials have emerged from ancient times to the present to govern the world.

Is it reasonable to let a group of farmers and blacksmiths enter the court?
This is a perverse act!

Hua Lun suppressed his dissatisfaction and said coldly: "Xia Zhibai, I know you have great ambitions, but I am far inferior to them."

"But you must also be clear that there are some things that cannot be done, and you cannot do them. You do have the people and the world in your heart."

"But the world does not belong to you, Xia Zhibai."

"You are not qualified to do this."

"Even if I sorted out some foreign and non-Chinese writings and gave them to you, you sorted them out carefully and helped some people get into the know-how."

"and then?"

"Can they really read? Can they really read?"

"People at the bottom of society can hardly even support themselves, so how can they afford to learn to read and write?"

"If you really have a heart to help the world and love the people, you should find ways to keep the price of your salt stable at 15 cents, or even promote it to the whole world, instead of thinking about these unnecessary things."

"You are shaking the foundations of the world!"

“No one will agree to that.”

"You just said that the military officers and scholars in the court are now used to shirking responsibility and don't want to get themselves into trouble in order to protect their own power and interests. But what you have to do now is to dig up all of this."

“Can they just sit there and do nothing?”

"I can't go crazy with you, I can't do it!"

Hua Lun refused directly.

Resolute attitude.

His mind was now extremely clear. The military generals and ministers in the court had finally gained wealth and glory, so who wouldn't want their family to prosper for generations?

But what was Xia Zhibai thinking? He wanted the workers and peasants at the bottom to climb up and divide up the wealth and glory of the military generals and ministers.

Who can agree with this?
What's more, he himself came from a noble family.

Xia Zhibai nodded and did not deny what Hua Lun said.

This is indeed true.

He said calmly: "From ancient times to the present, knowledge has been continuously decentralized."

"In the past, it could only exist in the palace. In the Zhou Dynasty, because 'the emperor lost his office, learning spread to all corners of the country', which led to a brilliant literary heyday of various schools of thought."

"Over thousands of years, with the emergence and breakthrough of papermaking and printing, as well as frequent turmoil in the world, the threshold for learning knowledge has become lower and lower, from being exclusive to the nobility to today's landlords and gentry. It is visible to the naked eye that the cost and threshold of learning are constantly decreasing."

"That's why."

"That's why your Majesty was able to conquer the world as a commoner."

"at the same time."

"The era of relying on scholars and officials to rule the country is gradually being abandoned."

“The books of sages cannot govern the world.”

"The books of sages teach morality, but the rule of law is used to govern the world. There is a big difference between the two."

"Now, after putting on their official uniforms, the officials in the imperial court only see power and nothing else. These people have lost their ability to learn, and their minds are only focused on climbing up the social ladder and fighting for power and profit. This is the deep-seated disease that has accumulated over thousands of years for the scholar-official class."

"I don't want to abolish the scholar-official class."

“It’s about change.”

"Let local workers and peasants give them a sense of crisis, let them know that if they only focus on official positions and do not do human work, they will be replaced sooner or later."

“And the pace will get faster and faster.”

"Being an official is like sailing against the current. If you don't advance, you will retreat. It is not like sitting back and relaxing after passing the imperial examination, waiting for a steady promotion and wealth. If people hold such a mindset and think that they can slack off as they please after becoming an official, then such officials will be a disaster for the people of the world."

“Use it or lose it!”

“This is an unchanging truth.”

“The same applies to officialdom.”

"Besides."

"You have been in the Imperial Academy for a while, and you should be able to sense the atmosphere in the court. It is basically depressing and there is not much vitality. This is not an exception, but the current situation of the court. It is dead and dull."

"Although the Ming Dynasty is a new dynasty, it still uses the 'old ways'."

"Perhaps there are people like you who are still full of enthusiasm and can resist the temptation, but most people, once they enter the officialdom, will quickly blend in and become rentiers, and they will be extremely skilled at it."

"You are different only because you are young."

"That's all."

“Me too.”

"Among today's scholar-officials, the talented are in decline, the virtuous are coaxed, and the villains are successful."

"Today's emperor values ​​heroes, and the literature of the ages teaches you that all things are inferior, and only reading is superior since ancient times."

"Now the world can be seen at a glance."

"Your Majesty has made many attempts and changes, but none of them have had much effect."

"Because the soil for nurturing scholars and officials has been corrupted for a long time, everyone has been influenced by what kind of style and work style officials have since childhood."

"So once they set foot on the official career, most people will learn it by themselves, learn how to make connections and get along with others in the officialdom, and become very skilled at enjoying the various conveniences that come with being an official, such as money, houses, fields, and servants."

"This is due to the prevailing trend in the world."

"Killing people is useless."

"Your Majesty has killed enough people, tens of thousands of them, but after the killings, the officials who replaced them are still the same people, just with a different name, the substance remains the same."

"It continues despite repeated bans, and even the more it is banned, the more it continues to increase."

"You're looking at the wrong root."

"No matter how hard you try, it's all in vain."

Hua Lun's face suddenly changed.

This is already criticizing Your Majesty in public.

He said coldly: "So you just want to change a batch directly?"

Xia Zhibai nodded and said with a smile: "Since these scholars who read the books of sages have become an obstacle to the development of the world, we should just replace them with a group of people who are 'pragmatic and down-to-earth'. In my opinion, these people are workers and peasants."

"And by the way, force these scholars to make progress."

"They have been resting on the laurels of their ancestors for too long, clinging to their shortcomings and not striving for progress. It's time to give them a break."

"It's time for them to re-understand the world today."

"You don't have to help."

“But I’m still going to keep doing it.”

"This 'line chart' idea is for you."

"But if you really see His Majesty, I will also give you the four-word mantra."

"be honest."

"Our Majesty was born into a family of murderers and hates being deceived. If you really ask, don't hide it deliberately. Otherwise, once you are discovered, something bad will happen sooner or later."

"The career path is not easy. We should forge ahead, be cautious, and think carefully."

Xia Zhibai stood up, walked downstairs, and soon disappeared from Hua Lun's sight.

(End of this chapter)