Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 302: New Policy Foundation
To say that the emperor now places more emphasis on what he calls natural philosophy is indeed based on facts: the Academy of Scientific Research, the Hundred Family Garden…

But the emperor's real academic work now was "Investigation of Things and Extending Knowledge".

This name still comes from Confucianism.

Looking at the Taichang scholars, Li Tingji was not satisfied with just being the Taichang Zai for a transition period and just managing the academic affairs.

"In my opinion, there is no need to be obsessed with the debate on the great principles. Your Majesty's discussion on the study of things and the extension of knowledge only stops at the means and does not discuss the origin. In this case, it is enough to have a wonderful effect. There is a good law in front of us, why should we aim too high? Are you hoping that your Majesty will have another sage discussion that will convince you sincerely before you are willing to promote it?"

Wasn’t Li Tingji also an outstanding person in the first half of his life?
If Shen Shixing had not stopped him, and the number one in the palace examination in the 11th year of Wanli had been Zhu Guozuo, then he, who had already been the first place in Shuntian Prefecture and the first place in the imperial examination, would have become another person in the Ming Dynasty who won three top prizes in a row.

But now, he, the runner-up, has become one of the five prime ministers, ahead of Zhu Guozuo, the top scorer in the same exam.

During Ye Xianggao's tenure, disputes over academic matters in the Taichang Temple continued.

The only two new achievements were made by the Ministry of Rites: the academies converted from royal palaces in various places have started to run schools, and the rules of the joint examinations and palace examinations were changed in the seventh year of Taichang.

However, the emperor hoped that many aspects, from enlightenment to county schools and prefectural schools, as well as the division of subjects and teaching content, would need to be handled by the Taichang Temple.

"As you all know, I have always attached great importance to education." Now the Minister of Rites spoke up, "Since the imperial examinations have been changed, there is no reason why the provincial examinations in all provinces will not be changed. Next year is the year of the provincial examinations, and this year we should let all students in the country know what to study. Before summer comes, let's finalize all of this and publish it in the court newspaper."

He was well aware that Confucianism had fallen behind the emperor's needs.

For this reason, Shen Shixing resigned, Ye Xianggao was transferred by the emperor to the Imperial Study, and Zhu Guozuo was also transferred to the Censorate to serve as the Left Censor-in-Chief.

For these matters, the emperor's requests can only have so much effect, after all, it requires capable people to implement them.

As for the issue of learning, many people seemed to be afraid to touch it lightly. If Zhu Guozuo had not wanted to compete for the vacant position this year, he would not have dared to take the gamble and change the examinations according to the emperor's request.

It's just that his purpose was too strong, and he was ultimately relegated to the second rank.

Now Li Tingji had a good reason: the emperor valued the two Western barbarians who were now serving in the Academy of Scientific Research, and the generosity of the rewards was very tempting.

If this continues, will Confucianism still have any dignity?
As a new measure after he took office as Taichangzai, he had discussed it with the Council of Administration for a long time since he accompanied the emperor back last year, and a new example was first published in the March issue of Xueyong.

There will no longer be a special registration system for craftsmen; all will be registered as civilians.

Silver for shift work will no longer be collected.

Correspondingly, each county school added a hundred craftsmen stipend students.

Zhu Changluo came up with this idea on his way to the Military Industrial Park and the Zhayanghang Shipyard, and it took more than half a year before it was finally implemented as a policy.

The craftsman registration system, which had been a separate household registration since the Yuan Dynasty and has continued to this day, has finally been abolished. They no longer have to be craftsmen or military craftsmen for generations, and no longer have to work as unpaid shift workers or pay shift worker silver instead.

The county school added a hundred craftsmen stipends to provide more opportunities for the children of craftsmen to advance.

Although Zhu Changluo already knew that they were studying and implementing it, the fact that they finally had a result showed that Xiao Daheng and Li Tingji had overcome many difficulties and were prepared to withstand the pressure from the conservative gentry. Therefore, he encouraged them by rewarding them with 100 taels of silver each and allowing the Institute to trial-produce a pair of reading glasses.

It is not easy.

Then he looked at the memorials presented by Li Tingji and Minister of Rites Fang Congzhe. After reading them, he called Xiao Daheng and also called Li Tingji and Fang Congzhe.

"Follow the example of the Imperial College, each county school will be converted into a primary school, the prefectural school into a middle school, and the school buildings will be expanded. This will cost a lot of money." He looked at Xiao Daheng, "How do we solve this problem?"

"There are already official schools in various places." Xiao Daheng finished reading the application book from Jinxianyuan and said after thinking for a while, "I think that since the prefectures, counties and cities have all followed the example of the Imperial College, we might as well think of another way."

He looked at the emperor tentatively: "Now, in provinces that have not been established as vassal states, there are no academies converted from royal palaces. For example, in Huguang province, there are several royal palaces, and they don't need that many. Now Huguang is just the Chu Palace that was converted into the Huguang Academy. If these royal palaces can be sold..."

Zhu Changluo understood what he meant and thought quietly.

All these assets of the royal palace had previously been converted into silver and stored in the Zongminghao.

Now it has been converted into the palace of the academy, and to put it bluntly, the issue of property rights has not been investigated in depth.

The cost of the reconstruction was paid by the imperial treasury, and its use and maintenance were also funded by the treasury's academic funds.

After all, under the imperial system, Zhu Changluo didn't have to be so particular.

But the suggestions put forward by Mr. Xiao are bold and practical.

Which palace in the area does not occupy a good location? To be more metaphysical, there is also dragon energy.

Zhu Changluo made a decision after a short thought: "I'm afraid no one dares to buy it whole. How about this, I will let the Imperial Clan Court preside over it, and the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works will participate. The silver will be used for three purposes. First, it will be used to provide resettlement expenses for the royal family members in the border areas; second, it will be used to build a college in each province as a branch of the Hundred Family Garden; and third, it will be used as a subsidy for elementary schools in each county."

Fang Congzhe couldn't help but ask, "Primary school allowance?"

"No matter how many buildings the county school builds, it can't recruit many students. There are many types of elementary schools, including clan schools and charity schools. Didn't we already add village heads? We should find a way to ensure that each village has at least one government-run elementary school. The conditions can be simple, but at least we should hire a teacher to provide teaching fees and salary."

Xiao Daheng took a deep breath and said, "Your Majesty, this amount of money is much more than before. Besides, those clan schools and charity schools..."

"This part is run by the government. If the local clans have the ability to run clan schools, they can do so and pay for it themselves. The same goes for charity schools." Zhu Changluo only gave the second difficult question, "Where the money comes from, the Administrative Council needs to discuss it. The uses I mentioned were issued by the Administrative Council and the Jinxian Court, and they were also borrowed by me. This money should have originally belonged to the clan, and this point must be made clear."

Zhu Changluo was not trying to implement compulsory education right away, but was just trying to find ways to improve the level of basic education.

But if a government-run primary school was set up in each village, even if only one teacher was hired, it would cost the Ming Dynasty countless tens of thousands of taels of silver every year.

There is still a battle to be fought.

Zhu Changluo looked at Xiao Daheng deeply, and then said: "Well, we have to go one step further on financial matters. Since the war has started, some things should be officially started after the war is won. You should remove yourself from the craftsman register first, which is a good thing. It will give you time to see what changes will happen later." After that, he began to talk to the three of them about the things he planned to do later.

Reform of local government offices, reform of the tax system and collection mechanism, management of various industries...

Xiao Daheng became more and more uneasy as he listened: No wonder only a group of old ministers were used this time. The emperor wanted to win this battle, and there were so many things he wanted to do after he gained great prestige.

Even if they don't have to push it forward personally, they still have to be prepared, right?
"No hurry. The soldiers are fighting outside, and you and I will pave the way for future generations in the center. I will explain the reason why we have to do this in detail, and you can also fill in the gaps." Zhu Changluo thought for a while and waved his hand, "Let's go to the Yangxin Palace. Liu Ruoyu, go and call Shen Yutai and Ye Zhongshu, as well as the other officials outside the Privy Council."

Starting with the abolition of the craftsman register and the request from the Jinxian Academy to further strengthen the education administration, Zhu Changluo simply began to let other important officials except Tian Le and others know his subsequent ideas.

There must always be a process in which the central government officials reach a consensus and discuss the matter together.

The others didn't know why the emperor suddenly summoned them and thought that there was some change in the war in the north.

But the location is in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, so it doesn’t look like it.

When we arrived at the place, we found that it was in the courtyard in front of the main hall of the Palace of Tranquil Longevity, between Yidexuan and Lurenzhai.

As usual, they saw the kind of flip screen that the emperor liked to use.

Many chairs were moved into the yard, and each chair was set up with a small square table with tea on it.

There are less than twenty people in total who are qualified to come here.

Zhu Changluo looked at them and spoke slowly: "Why do we have to fight this war? I have said some things to some people before. Even if I didn't say it in person, you already know it. The new policy I want to implement is far more than the small fights in recent years, and it goes further than what Taiyue Gong wanted to do back then. Whether the people of the world respect me or fear me, I will do it. But in essence, what I want to do is nothing more than to build a real country, a home for one emperor."

The ministers were deeply shocked and pondered the deeper meaning of this.

"Country, family; officials, people; Han, Yi; learning, use..." Zhu Changluo looked at the Jinxian Court, especially at Li Tingji, "There are many different opinions in the Taichang Temple, but they are nothing more than the world. In my opinion, they are missing the point. If you want to talk about the laws of humanities and philosophy, I can say a lot here. Let's talk about them all today."

Many officials who were revered as "great scholars" stared at the emperor with their eyes wide open, somewhat in disbelief.

Although the holy temple has been built, only a stone tablet remains.

Because the emperor's requirement was that the law must be irrefutable and everyone could verify it without any objection.

This does not exist in the Taichang Temple, and no one can convince everyone.

Now the emperor actually said that he could name a lot.

But today Zhu Changluo is ready to tear off some of the cover-ups and get to the bottom of things.

"Since our ancestors, Shennong, Youchao, Suiren, Cangjie... From ancient times to the present, whether it is witchcraft or doctrine, all the knowledge of the hundred schools is like this." Zhu Changluo said calmly, "All knowledge is for the benefit of people. Learning for practical use is a wise saying. Indulging in research and forgetting that it should be useful is to miss the point. I might as well start from the beginning and tell you my opinion on this point."

He doesn't want to be a teacher, but he must really start to sort out his ideas.

Although I don't need to go too far, but why do people live in groups, why is there division of labor, why was writing created, what was the purpose of setting up officials, the existence of emperors after Qin and county officials...

From Zhu Changluo's words, he naturally had a more systematic and logical explanation.

Then we will touch upon the source and logic of power.

Our ancestors have elaborated on many of these contents, but they require a certain level of knowledge and experience. However, Zhu Changluo described them in a very "brutal" and "simple" way.

"I'm sure you've all read my Theory of Investigating Things to Extend Knowledge carefully. Today, the emperor and his subjects are all here, so there's no need to talk about the emperor's mandate from heaven. It's good for both the emperor and his subjects to explain the essence clearly. If it's a law that all knowledge is used by people, then it's also a law that a country uses military force to ensure that its citizens live and work in peace, reproduce, and live better and better lives."

He looked at the crowd and said, "If the ruler and his subjects cannot do this, then the wealth accumulated through taxation will not last long. The people will not be able to live and work in peace and multiply, and their lives will become worse and worse until they can no longer survive. Then the dynasty will be changed and the families will be destroyed. There is nothing to say."

The words are so naked, there is nothing sacred about the monarchy.

Is Zhu Changluo afraid of this? No way.

In fact, throughout the dynasties, how many people who have reached the highest position in the country do not understand these principles?
It is always based on force. The saying "The emperor takes turns to sit on the throne" precisely reflects the difference between wanting to sit on the throne and being able to sit on the throne. Who doesn't want to sit on the throne? To be able to sit on the throne, after all, you must first have strong troops and horses, and then be able to suppress others and bring benefits greater than risks to others.

"There have been no major disturbances over the years because all officials know that although I will strictly implement preferential treatment and exemptions, I will not be like Taizu who thinks that the salaries of officials should be enough for their living. I do not ignore the requirement that the lives of officials should get better and better." Zhu Changluo paused and continued, "So in other words, this has become a math problem that can be applied. How to collect taxes and how to distribute wealth are the choices that are acceptable to me, the officials, and the people."

"It's not static. As I said, it has both quantitative and qualitative differences, and needs to be adjusted constantly according to new situations." He laughed. "If governing a country was so simple and easy, all dynasties would not have lived long enough, no matter how long or short. In the final analysis, they are unable to face changes. Some cannot see it, some see it but cannot think of how to deal with it, and some want to do it but cannot do it."

This was not some sermon by a saint or sage, but the audience all praised it.

Everyone knows the topic will eventually come back.

As expected, the emperor said, "What I want to achieve most is that all scholars in the world will deeply understand and believe this. That is, in the humanities and systems that govern the relationship between people, there is no such thing as ancestral laws or sages. Whatever meets the needs of the current situation is the best at the moment. Since you are all here today, why not tell us what changes have taken place in the current Ming Dynasty compared to the Wanli period? What are the real facts?"

Naturally, there must be sufficient communication before he can express his ideas.

But the ministers' hearts were pounding.

Can you really speak openly?

Is the monarch's authority serious?
"Then I will speak first." Wang Yingjiao spoke, "After I arrived at the Ministry of Revenue..."

A chapter today, a Mid-Autumn Festival gift.

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(End of this chapter)