Bringing the Railway to Daming

Zhu Xiong Ying is twenty-two years old this year. He has only been the crown prince for a few months and is full of energy. Although he is much busier than before, he is still very enthusiastic about handling state affairs, just like Zhu Yuanzhang when he handled state affairs.

When the eunuch brought the two memorials, he flipped through them, but only frowned slightly, showing little expression.

He then said, “Father, the matter of the illegal mines in Chuzhou is easy to handle. Regardless of whether it involves military officers or local officials, it can be dealt with according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty.”

"However, the various problems exposed in this school education are probably not unique to Chuzhou. And education is the foundation of the nation's long-term development. Since problems have arisen, we must take them seriously."

Zhu Biao said, "Let's put aside the issue of school education for now. The illegal mines in Chuzhou involve Marquis Wu Zhong of Jinghai."

"He is, after all, the son of the Duke of Hai, the nephew of the Duke of Jiang, and the cousin of Marquis Dingyuan, Wu Gao. This time, his involvement in the illegal mine case is, after all, just a minor mistake. Do you really think we have no regard for our past relationship?"

"Is Father testing his son?" Zhu Xiong Ying laughed. "It is precisely because Wu Zhong's mistake was not too serious that we should handle it impartially so that he will not go astray again."

"On the contrary, if Wu Zhong's crimes are dealt with lightly this time, I'm afraid Wu Zhong and other second- and third-generation military meritors like him will think they can act recklessly because of the legacy of their fathers and grandfathers."

"In this way, sooner or later these people will commit the grave mistake of confiscating their property, exiling them, or even beheading and exterminating their clan. At that time, we will truly be letting down the founding fathers like Wu Zhen who shed blood for the Ming Dynasty."

"Well said." Zhu Biao smiled with satisfaction. "Xiong Ying, when I was your age, I didn't have such good insights into people and things."

Zhu Xiong Ying laughed and said, "Why praise me, Father? I had many renowned teachers, including Teacher Liu, at the Dabentang Academy, who educated me using scientific methods. After graduating from Dabentang, I gained further experience in various fields. It's not surprising that I have such insight."

Scientific educational methods...

Although Zhu Biao knew that Zhu Xiong Ying was right, he was still quite uncomfortable with Zhu Xiong Ying's constant use of the word "science," which made him seem like a die-hard supporter of science.

After all, in Zhu Biao's mind, Confucianism always held the first place and was the core of governing the country, while science could only be ranked second.

It seems that when Zhu Xiong Ying inherits the throne, the status of Confucianism will likely decline, while the status of science may be elevated to a very high level.

Coming to his senses, Zhu Biao said, "Then let's remove Wu Zhong from his post as Deputy Commander of the Guards and let him stay home to reflect on his mistakes. What do you think?"

Zhu Xiong Ying said, "Father, this punishment is still too lenient. I'm afraid it will not be enough to make Wu Zhong repent, nor will it serve as a warning to other second and third-generation military officers."

"Then what do you think should be done in punishment?"

Zhu Xiong Ying: "Your subject believes that in addition to removing Wu Zhong from his post, his rank should be reduced by one grade, and his gains from gold mines and other illegal mines should be confiscated."

"Furthermore, anyone involved in the illegal operation of gold mines, regardless of their relationship with Wu Zhong, will be severely punished. This is the only way to deter others from doing the same!"

Zhu Biao had no objection to severely punishing those directly involved in the illegal gold mining, but when he heard Zhu Xiong Ying say that Wu Zhong's rank would be demoted by one grade, he couldn't help but ask, "Isn't demoting him too harsh a punishment?"

Zhu Xiong Ying said, "It is a bit harsh, but who told Wu Zhong to be the first to commit a crime after Father Emperor ascended the throne? If Father Emperor does not punish him severely this time, I'm afraid the other military officers will think you are easy to talk to and will act even more recklessly."

Zhu Biao thought it made sense and sighed, "Very well, let's do it your way."

Then, Zhu Biao took back the memorial, wrote a reply, and sent someone to summon Liu Kuan.

Since the schools of the Ming Dynasty were established based on later models and had no prior experience, they were essentially like blind men crossing a river.

Now that so many problems have arisen, it is natural to summon Liu Kuan to discuss them together and see if there are any relevant experiences from later generations that can be used as a reference. About fifteen minutes later, Liu Kuan arrived at Fengxian Hall.

"Greetings, Your Majesty; greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Liu Kuan maintained the same etiquette, but the people paying their respects had changed. This made him momentarily miss Old Zhu after he finished his bow.

As long as he was certain that Zhu Yuanzhang wouldn't kill him, he felt more at ease with Zhu Yuanzhang sitting on the dragon throne than with Zhu Biao. It was like having a wise and capable elder in the family; as a junior, one always felt less psychological pressure no matter what happened.

Fortunately, Zhu Yuanzhang only abdicated and became the retired emperor; he was still alive. If there were matters that Zhu Biao, Zhu Xiong Ying, and even he himself could not decide, Zhu Yuanzhang could still make the decision.

"Rise." Zhu Biao was unaware that many thoughts had been running through Liu Kuan's mind in an instant. He smiled and gestured for the eunuch to hand over a memorial, saying, "My father, the Emperor, was traveling incognito in Chuzhou and discovered that there were many problems with the local school education."

"Although these may not seem like major problems, education is ultimately related to the cultivation of national talent, and schools in other places may also encounter similar problems as those in Chuzhou."

"I wonder what your brother-in-law thinks about this matter?"

Liu Kuan quickly flipped through the memorial, his brows furrowing. He said, "I didn't expect that the Ming Dynasty's school education would develop these problems so quickly."

Zhu Biao was surprised. "Judging from my brother-in-law's tone, it seems he had anticipated these problems in school education?"

Liu Kuan nodded and said, “Your Majesty, no system can be perfect and without flaws—even a system that seemed quite perfect at the time will develop various loopholes and even drawbacks over time.”

"As mentioned in this memorial, there are bad students in schools who bully and even extort other students. This is known as 'bullying' in later generations and is a very common phenomenon in school education."

"Of course, this is not unique to formal schooling. Small-scale schooling, like that of the Ming Dynasty, probably existed as well. It's just that because there were fewer teachers and students, and the moral standards of the instructors, teachers, and students in official schools were relatively higher, such incidents occurred less frequently."

"As for teachers in schools using tutoring to get students to come to designated places to buy paper, pens, and even study guides, this is a common occurrence in later generations."

"In the end, no one is perfect, and school education needs a lot of teachers, which has led to a reduction in the academic and moral standards required of teachers."

"At the same time, because there are no high barriers to entry for students, the number of students is large, which leads to a higher proportion of bad students."

Liu Kuan's words explained the reasons for the various problems in school education mentioned in the memorial, which made Zhu Biao and Zhu Xiong Ying nod slightly in agreement.

Zhu Biao then asked, "What good solutions do later generations have for these problems?"

Liu Kuan said, "Later generations didn't have any particularly good solutions either—the same problem was even more serious abroad. For example, the United States does not ban guns, so there was a case where students who were bullied bought guns and armed themselves to go to school and shoot indiscriminately in order to retaliate, resulting in a school shooting case that shocked the world."

"Faced with these problems in school education, we can only try to improve the supervision mechanism for school teachers and students, and improve the moral standards of students and teachers through education."

"At the same time, we also promoted how to deal with these issues correctly, and encouraged students to bravely report to teachers and parents if they encounter bullying or arbitrary charges by the school, so that teachers and parents can help solve the problem."

"In fact, these school education problems are not difficult to resolve as long as the parties involved are willing to stand up and appeal to the public."

"The difficulty lies in the fact that such things keep happening, and there are always people involved who silently endure it for various reasons." (End of Chapter)