Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 178 A good position that everyone is jealous of
"I really value culture and education!"

After Zhu Changluo sat down, he spoke in a high-profile manner again, as if to explain the bow he had just made.

"Since I took the throne for more than a year, I have often thought about how to govern. After much thought, I have come to the conclusion that if I want to make the Ming Dynasty peaceful and prosperous, I still have to rely on my ministers to be loyal to the country, diligent and honest, and on the gentry to educate the locals and mediate disputes."

Kong Shangxian secretly complained: You speak nicely!
"But I have also figured it out. This is like the way of the university." Zhu Changluo made his own explanation. "It is too difficult to manifest the bright virtue, be close to the people, and stop at the highest good. My virtue is poor, and the world does not know what to do first and what to do next, and now it is getting further and further away from the great way. Even if I just want the world to follow the established precedent, the public sentiment is overwhelming. There is no need to hide these."

Kong Shangxian wondered if he was playing tricks on himself.

If the emperor’s virtue is poor, what about the virtue of officials and gentry in the world?

"Tang Taizong's "Emperor's Model" says: "If you follow the best, you can only be average; if you follow the average, you will be below. Confucius also taught: "If you govern by law and discipline by punishment, the people will escape punishment but have no shame; if you govern by virtue and discipline by propriety, they will have shame and be upright."

Everyone listened quietly to what the emperor said, as if he suddenly wanted to discuss academic matters.

"To ask the officials and the people of the world to just follow the established precedents is only a middle policy. The best policy is to teach the world with virtue and courtesy."

Zhu Changluo looked at the crowd and said, "During the Han, Wei, Jin, Tang and Song dynasties, there were Imperial Colleges. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, only the two capitals have had the Imperial College. Now I want to re-establish it. The upper houses will be the universities, and after completing their studies, they can be appointed to positions and exempted from the imperial examinations. The tribute students will be the middle schools, and they can be promoted to universities, and can also pass the imperial examinations to become tribute scholars. The Yinjian and the provincial vice-listed candidates will be the elementary schools. The Yinjian will be exempted from tuition fees, and those who are listed in the provincial vice-lists can pay a meager tuition fee to live in the Imperial College. After completing their studies and passing the examinations, they will be promoted to middle schools and allowed to take the imperial examinations."

This important decision shocked everyone in the hall.

Compared with raising the status of local school officials, this was a major change to the Ming Dynasty's culture, education and imperial examination system.

The precedents for the establishment of the Imperial College are all there.

The term "Taixue" existed in the Western Zhou Dynasty, but it was called differently at that time, such as Sungkyunkwan. The Sungkyunkwan in Korea was modeled after the ancient system.

The formal Imperial College was established during the Han Dynasty. Initially, it only had five classics doctors, and students were called doctoral students. During the heyday of the Han Dynasty, there were as many as 30,000 students in the Imperial College.

It was not until the Tang Dynasty that the Imperial College became the highest department, managing various schools such as the Imperial Academy, Imperial College, Four-door Academy, Law School, Calligraphy School, and Mathematics School.

Since the beginning of the Song Dynasty, there was only the Imperial Academy. It was not until the Qingli New Deal that the new Imperial College was established. Neishe students were exempted from examinations, which was also the practice in the Song Dynasty.

Now Zhu Changluo proposed the concepts of university, middle school and primary school, which was nothing more than focusing on the phrase "the way of university". He wanted to adopt the best policy of "governing with virtue and regulating with propriety" so that officials and gentry in the world would "have shame and standards".

But it is obvious that there are relatively mature ideas, including the sources of students at various stages.

Zhu Changluo had indeed thought about a lot of things a long time ago, including inviting his great uncle Zhu Zaiyu to come to the capital.

The old concept of Imperial College was re-used because it was actually more inclusive and had many subjects. This concept was easy to accept and was also a major event in Ming culture and education, which was enough to show the emperor's attitude of attaching importance to culture and education and gentry to officials and gentry all over the world.

As for the things that Zhu Changluo wanted to fine-tune, they were nothing in the face of an event of the level of "Reappearance of Imperial College". They were not the focus of attention, and even if they were noticed, they were just "retro".

Retro is good! Although the emperor is a bit too ancient, it is somewhat in line with the "new law", isn't it?

Zhu Changluo responded to their glances with a smile: "Since we have restored the Imperial College, we must also restore the Ministry of Rites. We can appoint a Grand Secretary of the Ministry of Rites to be in charge of the nation's culture and education and to be in the cabinet. The site of the Imperial College and the West Garden can be kept! There are three types of students in the Imperial College, big, medium and small. I am happy to hear the 30,000 students studying!"

Even someone like Shen Shixing couldn't help feeling restless.

How many students are there in the Imperial College?

Now the emperor not only wants to open up the entire Western Garden into the Imperial College, but also has the ambition to accommodate tens of thousands of students to study there, and he also wants to restore an ancient official position named Taichang.

The Minister of Rites was the head of the Nine Ministers in ancient times. Today, the Minister of Rites is just one of the Nine Ministers, responsible only for the preparation of sacrificial items and ritual music in sacrificial and ceremonial activities.

The Grand Secretary of the Imperial Household mentioned by the Emperor was different. In the current power structure of the Ming Dynasty, his status was not only higher than that of the Nine Ministers, but he would also be the only one among the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet with a clear responsibility for affairs, and he was the de facto leader of the Ming Dynasty's culture and education.

How could such a status be compared with that of an ordinary cabinet minister or even a prime minister? It was enough to be called "the master of the time".

A great position that makes everyone present jealous!

"The three main halls are certainly important, but if the national treasury is well-off, the Imperial Academy is even more important! The many halls and pavilions in the Western Garden can also be used with just a few minor modifications." Zhu Changluo looked at them, "What do you think of this? Is it feasible? Today is a good time to discuss it around the fire."

Driven by fame, which civil official would say that this is not feasible?

Moreover, Wang Xijue immediately thought of how to solve the financial problems needed to push this matter forward as soon as possible.

"The main halls in the Western Garden are all adequate in terms of design. It's just that we need to add or renovate some palaces. The Grand Chancellor is here too. I think the required labor silver will not exceed two million taels. Besides, we can do it step by step. Let's build the Grand Garden first. If Your Majesty can borrow money from the treasury, then it won't be a problem."

"For the college entrance examination, all candidates from the provinces can come to take the exam; for the middle school and primary school examinations, the payment can be slightly changed. Instead of paying for official positions and honors, it is better to pay for taking the exam. If you enter the Imperial College, even if you are just an elementary school student, you can be considered a student with honors after completing your studies and passing the exams."

Zhu Changluo looked at him with a smile: "Exam registration fee."

"That's right!" Wang Xijue said, "As long as the Imperial College can be completed quickly, there will be an extra 10,000 or 20,000 students in the country, which is in line with the established practice. This is a special favor from Your Majesty, and local school officials can also use it to persuade and appease the gentry."

Since we can no longer rely on our status and local connections to get additional exemptions, then we can at least increase the upper limit of legal exemptions, right? Although if it is spread across all the counties in Daming, there may only be a few people in one place, but this is a start after all, and it is a hope after all.

If you don't want to do this and you don't want to do that, then what else is there to say?

In short, it is also a means of differentiation and motivation.

Zhu Changluo appreciated the idea that Wang Xijue came up with on the spot: expectation management.

The registration fee is to buy official positions and honors directly, but the threshold of registration fee can be very low. The number of scholars who have not yet obtained the status of students in the Ming Dynasty is too large.

Under normal circumstances, there were only about three to four thousand living Jinshi in the Ming Dynasty, about fifteen thousand Juren, and about fifty thousand Xiucai.

The admission rate for each level is about the same, only about 3 or 4 percent.

Students, commonly known as scholars, could take the exam every year, but the average number of students admitted each year in the Ming Dynasty was only about 1,300.

If the elementary school of the Imperial College can be completed next year, what will it mean to enroll 5,000 people at a time, not to mention tens of thousands? And they will go to Beijing to study, and the upper limit is the Imperial College, which can directly enter the university without taking the examination and obtain the status of Gongshi.

Can this be compared with local county schools and prefectural schools?

As long as the news gets out, the admission rate is so high that almost everyone who has not yet obtained the title of student will come and try.

Even if the registration fee is only a few cents per person, it is still a huge amount of money.

What's more, after completing the studies and passing the exams and obtaining the title of scholar, you can directly enter the middle school, right?
Because of the idea put forward by Zhu Changluo, even the "old party" in the palace at this moment could not help but feel that this was a good policy of the emperor.

Due to the turmoil caused by the strict implementation of preferential exemptions, directly increasing the number of people who are legally exempted is indeed a great relief.

Of course, the local gentry and wealthy families have the best conditions for educating their children, so they will definitely be able to gain the greatest benefits from this good policy.

Although it is only a compensation for the strict implementation of preferential exemptions, it will take at least several years after the test results are announced and the students have completed their studies and taken the exams for it to take effect.

Zhu Changluo did not reject the fact that there were now a large number of scholars and juren. Before becoming an official, the privileges and exemptions that scholars and juren could enjoy in the local area were limited based on their own achievements.

As long as the policy of strictly adhering to the upper limit of preferential exemptions is implemented, it will only be a matter of carving out a small piece of the pie, and it will allow local officials to do their work better.

Zhu Changluo was looking even further into the future: such a vast empire would eventually need enough people who had received systematic academic and ideological education to serve as officials.

Setting up a public bank is only the first step. How can we allow local clerks and servants to simply do things like assigning money or buying and selling to fill the bank?

To reach that step, the less than 100,000 people with achievements and honors still in the Ming Dynasty are definitely not enough.

Now we are just strictly implementing preferential treatment and exemption. When the ranks of students and juren expand, and when the cases of local officials and gentry harming the people are bound to exceed the line drawn by Zhu Changluo, or when the financial and taxation system is sufficient to support further increases in basic salaries and allowances and open up promotion channels for students and juren, then that will be the time when many of them will be willing to come out and eat the emperor's food earlier.

step by step.

God's grace is immense. The Ming Dynasty is going to add so many students with achievements at one time. This will surely be great news at the New Year's Day court meeting.

In the Yan court before the emperor, everyone quickly reached a consensus: the old party hoped to achieve a result in which all officials and gentry in the world would feel that they were doing something and fighting for their interests, and the new party also hoped that the "new policy" could be implemented more smoothly without causing major chaos.

Soon it came to the stage of forming a "preparatory working group" and "selecting leadership officials", which were actually all aimed at the position of Grand Secretary of Taichang.

"I think the cabinet should have one more member!"

"There will be many things to do next year. There have been many changes in the government offices in Beijing this year. It is better to change the titles of the current cabinet members."

"I am willing to take charge of this matter!" Shen Shixing asked for an official position directly and clearly, which was rare.

Shen Yiquan was in a complicated mood, but he couldn't speak.

He is the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, and Wang Xijue will be in charge of the new policies!
The credit is going to be taken away by Old Shen!
Zhu Changluo nodded with satisfaction: "Shen Gelao is of course the best choice. Please draft an edict. Shen Gelao will be promoted to Grand Secretary of the Imperial Academy, in charge of the country's culture and education and the establishment of the Imperial College."

"I thank your majesty for your grace! I will live up to your expectations! Long live your majesty! Long live your majesty! Long, long live your majesty!"

Everyone could hear that Shen Shixing was very excited. Zhu Guozuo felt a little disappointed, but he could only envy him.

He was too young and was promoted too quickly. Even though he was one of the few people who were qualified to join the cabinet, and he was the Minister of Rites, who was in charge of culture and education, he was still too young and was promoted too quickly.

But now he has a clear goal.

He is the only cabinet minister among the Grand Secretaries who is in charge of special affairs. He is in charge of the country's culture and education, and is the world's top writer!

(End of this chapter)