I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 787 The Terrifying Ming High School Student

Shu Youliang glanced at Marcelo and Leon, they looked like they had never seen the world!

"These people are all high school students, the pillars of the Ming Dynasty. Of course, they must strictly observe discipline and study hard.

After three years of hard study, half of them will be admitted to universities and receive higher education; of the rest, half will be admitted to colleges and receive vocational higher education, and the other half will at least be enrolled in technical schools.

Those who were admitted to university, after three to four years of hard study, could take part in the annual autumn provincial examinations and spring metropolitan examinations after graduation and become administrative and judicial officials.

You can also enter factories, mines, industry and commerce and other industries to develop the Ming Dynasty economy."

Marcelo asked, "Master Shu, I heard from Leon that civil servants in the Ming Dynasty were all recruited through examinations?"

"Yes, every autumn, the provincial examinations were held by officials sent by the Ministry of Rites and supervised by the Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate. Those who passed the examinations became administrative and legal clerks in the provincial governors, censors, and courts.

Those who excel in the provincial examination can go to Beijing to participate in the joint examination jointly hosted by the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel in the spring of the following year and supervised by the Censorate. Those who pass the examination will become administrative officials and legal officials of the cabinet, six ministries, temples, the Censorate, and the Court of Justice. "

Marcelo exclaimed: "I was very surprised when I heard Leon talk about your examination system. In comparison, the civil servants in Portugal, Spain, France, England and other countries are either from the nobility or from the clergy.

Ordinary people could only become minor officials such as clerks and secretaries.

Our civil service recruitment and promotion is like a fog. No one can see clearly, no one knows how it works, and there is no question of fairness and justice. It goes back and forth, and only revolves around the nobles and clergy.

No, it should be said that it revolves around the nobility, big and small, because Europe practices the primogeniture system, and the family business is inherited by the eldest son. The nobility, big and small, likes to send their non-eldest sons to the army and seminary to become officers and priests.

Just like what you say in a Ming country proverb, well, that proverb is.”

"Don't let the rich water flow to outsiders' fields."

"Yes! Master Shu is right.

In comparison, the Ming Dynasty's imperial examination system, although still flawed, was already very fair and opened a window for the common people. "

Shu Youliang nodded, "Your official system is still a bit backward, just like our Nine-Rank System of the Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties, it's all about playing small circles."

As they were talking, the group walked along the wall of the Temple of Heaven Middle School to the East Gate, where there was an open grassland.

Walk along the straight path from the east gate of the outer altar wall to the Seven Star Stone of the inner altar, and you will soon arrive at the Yi Nian School affiliated with the Imperial Observatory.

When you enter from the south gate, the first thing you see is an empty playground.

The standard 400-meter running track is arranged in an elliptical loop around a standard football field in the middle.

There are two teams of teenagers playing football on the football field.

They have short hair, wear blue and red short-sleeved T-shirts and shorts, and soft cowhide and tendon-soled football shoes, and they run at lightning speed on the football field.

Their agile bodies are like a group of deer, running on the green grass in the sunshine.

There were three or four hundred spectators around, all teenagers around thirteen or fourteen years old, wearing light blue T-shirts and knee-length brown shorts. They were cheering and applauding the wonderful offense and defense of the two teams on the field.

After watching on the playground for about ten minutes, the group left reluctantly.

Next to the playground are two teaching buildings, both four stories high. A long corridor runs through one floor, divided into two stairwells, with six classrooms in between.

Each classroom has glass windows on both sides, which are bright and clean, and the indoor lighting is excellent.

Through the glass windows, you can see that the desks are neatly arranged, there is a podium in front, and a rectangular blackboard on the wall.

Above the blackboard was a red slogan: "Work hard for the Ming Dynasty's rejuvenation!"

"Master Shu, the teaching building only has four floors?"

"Yes, there are only four floors. It's too high and the children would be too tired to climb up and down every day."

"It's all reinforced concrete, which is quite expensive."

In the eyes of Marcelo and Leon, cement is similar to the volcanic ash used in ancient Rome, but it is expensive. However, Ming's reinforced concrete is even better.

Not to mention the cement, all the steel bars mixed in it are iron.

Steel, for the European countries at that time, was an expensive luxury. The little output each year was only used to make armor for the knights and axes, swords, guns and cannons for the army.

The Ming Dynasty actually used it to build houses, and it was applied on a large scale. This kind of usage would make even the Spaniards, who have huge mines at home, shake their heads.

Too arrogant and inhumane!

Marcelo continued to sigh, "Your country is really willing to spend money. Even the school building is made of such expensive materials. Reinforced concrete.

It really doesn’t care about the cost or the return!”

As a great noble and fiefdom lord, Marcelo knew how expensive it was to build and run a school, with no visible returns.

Bottomless pit!
It is really unexpected that these Ming people, who are full of business spirit and surpass the Venetians and the Netherlands, are willing to spend so much money on schools.

Shu Youliang didn’t think reinforced concrete was expensive. When he heard Marcelo’s exclamation, he thought it was just these few Portuguese people who were amazed at the investment made in the entire school.

I have to say that Daming’s investment in schools is really generous now.

"Our emperor said that there are two things in this world whose cost cannot be calculated and whose rewards are immeasurable."

Marcelo and Leon asked curiously, "Which two things?"

"They both represent the rule of law, which represents justice, and they both represent education, which represents hope."

"That's very well said!" Sophonia exclaimed loudly.

Marcelo and Leon looked serious and said nothing.

I continued to tour the campus and saw three student dormitories, two teacher dormitories, a library, a cafeteria, an indoor gymnasium, and even a pool with a cement bottom and white tiled surface. It was called a swimming pool.

Cement and porcelain, two things so precious in Europe, were actually abused like this in the Ming Dynasty.

Marcelo and his companions could not have any other reaction except being shocked, amazed and envious. No wonder Jose, Manuel and others were desperate to become Ming people, and then they loved and were loyal to this country so fanatically.

Admiration for the strong is a basic human trait.

Marcelo suppressed his shock and continued to perform his duties and learn about the Ming Kingdom.

"Master Shu, what do the students of this school need to learn?"

"Children start school at the age of six. Grades one to three, six to nine years old, are called primary schools. They have five subjects: Chinese, mathematics, science, music, art and physical education."

"Master Shu, what are the contents of each course?"

"Chinese language learning mainly involves learning to read and write characters, including calligraphy, brush calligraphy and hard pen calligraphy. Students learn to read and write 800 Chinese characters, and learn to form simple words and sentences.

Mathematics mainly involves learning the recognition, calculation and writing of numbers, learning addition, subtraction, multiplication and division within 500, and simple application problems.

Naturally, it means talking about the universe, the sun, the moon, and the stars.

Music is about learning to sing and simple melodies.

Zhu Zaiyu, deputy director of the Hanlin Academy and Prince of Dongyuan, invented the twelve-tone equal temperament based on the three-part loss and gain law, expanded the pentatonic scale to the seven-tone scale, and improved the basic theoretical system of music in recent years. He also proposed the musical notation, making music easy to learn.

Fine arts is about drawing, starting with the basics of freehand painting, sketching, and quick sketching. I heard that sketching was brought in by your Western painters, and quick sketching was promoted by the Hanlin Academy of Painting after the popularity of hard pen.

Sports means learning to run, long jump, and long fist, and exercising your body."

Marcelo's expression changed slightly, "Is there so much to learn?"

Where are we now?
Shu Youliang continued, “From grades 4 to 6, ages 10 to 12, in addition to the six subjects of Chinese, mathematics, science, music, art and physical education, we also added morality.

In Chinese, one must recognize 2,000 characters, be able to form words and sentences proficiently, be able to read different styles of writing, understand the main content and expression of the article, and cultivate an interest in and habit of reading.

Be able to independently complete narrative, argumentative and picture-based essays of more than 600 words, keep a diary, and have a certain level of developed written and oral language skills.

In mathematics, one needs to learn addition, subtraction, multiplication and division within ten thousand, quadratic equations, algebraic expressions, the recognition, measurement and calculation of plane and solid figures in geometry, time units and simple statistical knowledge.

Nature expands into science.

Music is about learning musical instruments, art is about learning watercolor and landscape painting, and sports is about learning football, javelin, archery, boxing and other competitive sports.
Morality is to cultivate the virtues of loyalty to the emperor, patriotism, wisdom, trustworthiness, benevolence, righteousness and courage, to establish lofty aspirations, to cultivate a positive, confident and tenacious mental outlook, and to guide the establishment of a correct outlook on life, the world and values.

Marcelo's expression became more serious. "We have only studied for six years. What about the remaining three years?"

"Grades seven to nine, ages thirteen to fifteen, belong to the secondary education stage, also known as junior high school. They continue to study Chinese, mathematics, music, art, physical education and morality. Science is divided into five subjects, namely physics, chemistry, biology, history and geography.

It’s very complicated to learn in junior high school, so I won’t list them all.”

It’s not that I don’t want to list them, but there are too many to list.

The knowledge that the brat nowadays learns is too complicated. Compared with the Four Books and Five Classics that I learned, there is a world of difference. I can’t understand the knowledge of many subjects even if I study on my own.

Marcelo could hardly hide his shock, but he managed a forced smile. "They are only fifteen years old and they have to learn so much. Can they learn it all?"

"Junior high school was okay, with a lot of homework, but it was all basic knowledge, not advanced. In high school, in addition to Chinese and mathematics, physics, chemistry, history, geography, biology and other subjects became complex and advanced, and morality was upgraded to the basis of politics and law.

In the second year of high school, students have to choose three subjects: liberal arts, science and engineering, to prepare for the entrance exam for a certain major in university. Chinese, mathematics, political science and biology are public courses, and students in both liberal arts and science have to take the exam.

For liberal arts, it is public courses plus history and geography, and for science, it is public courses plus physics and chemistry.

The muscles on Marcelo's face trembled slightly.

It's so scary!

Do high school students in Ming country have to learn so much?

What kind of people are they training?
Even a cardinal doesn't need to learn so much. Does the Ming Dynasty want to train their high school students to become Leonardo da Vinci, Copernicus and Tycho?

Leon noticed Marcelo's nervousness and eased the atmosphere by saying, "Master Shu, you know so much."

Shu Youliang walked in front, with his hands behind his back and slightly bent over. The sunlight shone on his body, and his back looked particularly vicissitudes of life, which made people sigh.

"Haha, if you had a kid in elementary or middle school, you would know so much. The responsibility for a child's education lies not only with the school but also with the parents."

"Master Shu, how many primary schools, middle schools, and high schools are there in the capital?"

"There should be 17 primary schools in the five cities of the capital, 9 junior high schools, 12 nine-year schools, and 6 senior high schools.

The Yi Nian schools are basically all famous schools, and the first one is Donghuamen Yi Nian School. My eldest child is in the third grade of this school. "

Shu Youliang said reservedly.

"The second one is the Yi Nian School affiliated with the Imperial Observatory, and the third one is the Xi'anmen Yi Nian School. I won't mention the others.

All high schools are famous schools, and generally less than half of junior high school students are admitted to high schools after the junior high school entrance examination.

The top-ranked high school in the capital is, of course, Chongyi Middle School, and the second-ranked one is the Affiliated Middle School of the Imperial Observatory, also known as the Temple of Heaven Middle School, which we just passed by."

Shu Youliang and Leon were talking, and Marcelo suddenly asked, "Master Shu, you just said that high school students are the pillars of the Ming Dynasty. Do they take exams and get into college?"

"Yes, you will take the high school graduation examination and the higher education entrance examination, also known as the college entrance examination. The college entrance examination is a national examination, higher than the provincial examination, and the same as the imperial examination.

Students are admitted to university based on their academic performance, the university they applied for, and the major they majored in.

Those who go to university can be called the chosen ones of heaven. There are only 21 universities of all kinds in Ming country, and they only admit about 20,000 students from more than 300 high schools and 70,000 to 80,000 high school students every year. "

Marcelo gritted his teeth and asked, "Master Shu, can we go to the university?"

Everyone was full of anticipation and looked at Shu Youliang in unison.

(End of this chapter)