The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 510: The Problems of Scholars
How to solve the problems of scholars?

This problem seems to have no solution!

No emperor in history has been able to solve this problem.

This does not mean that scholars are hopelessly bad.

There are good people among scholars, or in other words, there are scholars who truly serve the country and the people.

The problem is the ratio of good to bad.

If there are more scholars who truly serve the country and the people, and fewer selfish or even greedy people, a dynasty will prosper.

If the ratio were reversed, the dynasty would definitely decline.

This is what is called a problem of cultural atmosphere.

Why is it said that the Ming Dynasty began to fall during the Jiajing period? It is because Emperor Jiajing completely ruined this atmosphere.

Emperor Jiajing actually made it clear that he would reuse Yan Song, a corrupt official known to the world. This was equivalent to telling all officials that not only was it okay to be corrupt and break the law, but they would also be reused!

If this continues, there will naturally be more and more corrupt officials or selfish officials, so many that they will be everywhere in the court, so many that they will be hopeless, and so many that it will be terrifying!
Historically, by the Chongzhen period, there were hardly any officials in the court who were truly dedicated to the country and the people. It would have been strange if the Ming Dynasty had not perished.

Since the Jiajing period, the proportion of corrupt or selfish officials in the Ming Dynasty was the highest in all dynasties. In the end, almost 99% of the entire court were corrupt or selfish officials. To be honest, this proportion is really scary.

Now the proportion may not have reached 99%, but it is definitely around 70% to 80%.

Although he has been working hard to cultivate the imperial party, the number of the imperial party is at most two or three hundred, which is less than half of the tens of thousands of officials.

This number is not enough to turn the tide and change the trend.

Wanli looked at the first and second floors of the teahouse, which seemed like two completely incompatible worlds. He couldn't help but frown and fell into deep thought.

The morals of scholars have completely deteriorated nowadays. Most scholars with official titles don't even look down on the common people. How can they possibly serve the country and the people?

How to solve this problem?
He frowned and thought for a while, and the waiter came over with a teapot and four teacups.

Shan Sinan quickly picked up the teapot and poured four cups of tea. He pretended to be extremely thirsty, picked up a cup, blew on it, and took a few sips.

This is a poison test.

He pretended to savor the tea for a moment before nodding slightly and saying, "This tea is good."

This means it's time to drink.

Wanli picked up a cup, blew on it, took a sip and tasted it, and then nodded slightly.

This tea is really good, with a strong tea aroma and a mellow taste.

In fact, the taste of tea is not proportional to its price. The taste of tea that costs dozens of coins per pound is not a thousand times different from that of tea that costs dozens of taels per pound.

There is a difference in taste between ordinary tea and Gongcha, but the difference is not that big. It is definitely not a thousand times better, and probably not even ten times better.

He was sipping tea when someone next to him started talking about the imperial examination.

"Old Wang, next year is the imperial examination year. Do you have any relatives taking it?"

"If I had a relative who took the imperial examination, I would be able to sit here and drink tea with you. Do you think it is so easy to pass the imperial examination?
You know that it is always difficult to pass the imperial examinations. It is considered good if one scholar emerges from a hundred scholars. Even less likely is one juren among ten scholars. Even less likely is one among ten thousand scholars to pass the imperial examinations."

"Yes, originally we ordinary families couldn't afford to support a scholar. Even if we can afford it now, it doesn't matter. It's not that easy to pass the imperial examinations.

There is no way around it. The number of imperial examinations that can be passed each year is fixed. Only so many scholars can be selected in one place each year. This cannot be changed.

If this continues, it will only get harder and harder to pass the exams. I'm afraid only one scholar will emerge from among hundreds of scholars, and only one juren will be chosen from among ten thousand."

When Wanli heard this, he suddenly had an idea.

He seemed to have figured out a solution!

If the ratio is not enough, you can make up for it by quantity.

There are indeed more people reading nowadays.

In the past, many ordinary people could not even get enough to eat, so where would they get the money to send their children to school? Not to mention buying books, they couldn’t even afford pens, ink, paper, and inkstone.

It’s different now. Many more people can afford to send their children to school.

Now that everyone has money, they will naturally let their children go to school. Regardless of whether they can pass the imperial examinations, being literate is always better than being illiterate.

If this continues, and the number of awarded titles of scholar, juren and jinshi is not increased, the imperial examination will indeed become increasingly difficult to pass.

Especially for ordinary people, unless there is a genius in the family, they will definitely not be able to pass the exams as well as those scholars who have been studying for generations.

It can be said that increasing the number of Xiucai, Juren and Jinshi titles awarded is the hope of ordinary people to take the imperial examinations. Why not do it?

Of course, if he does this, the scholars or gentry of today will definitely have strong opinions, as this is equivalent to stealing their jobs.

He could ignore these opinions with his powerful military force, but there was one thing he could not ignore: the will of the people. He had to hold on to them firmly.

Wanli thought about it carefully, urged the three of them to drink their tea quickly, and then stood up and said, "Let's go home."

Upon hearing this, Shan Sinan quickly took out a few copper coins and asked the waiter to collect them.

They often go out to buy New Year's goods, so naturally they bring a lot of copper coins.

Going home means returning to the palace.

However, this time Wanli did not return directly to the Qianqing Palace or the Kunning Palace.

He actually brought little Zhu Changxun to the Yangxin Palace.

At this time, Li Tingji and his men were relatively free because Japan had been conquered and they no longer had to publish Japanese tabloids. Three copies of the Wanli Palace Gazette a month were nothing to them.

They seem to be still studying and not writing any articles.

When Wanli walked in holding little Zhu Changxun, they were all stunned.

Because neither Wanli nor the young Zhu Changxun wore dragon robes, but ordinary cotton clothes.

This is the imperial palace. There seems to be no need for Wanli and young Zhu Changxun to wear casual clothes to conceal their identities, right?

Who doesn’t know that they are the Emperor and the future Crown Prince?

Li Tingji and others were all stunned for a moment, then they quickly stood up and saluted.

Wanli nodded slightly, holding little Zhu Changxun and sitting down in the main seat. Then he smiled and said, "Er Zhang, you have been relatively free recently, right?"

Well, publishing a bulletin every ten days is really nothing to us these days.

Li Tingji nodded awkwardly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, we have already prepared the article for the court newspaper."

You are such an obedient person, you can't just sit here and do nothing.

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "Er Zhang, have you ever considered joining the cabinet to assist in government?"

what?
All I have done over the years is write articles and publish official bulletins. I haven't done anything else!

So he can directly join the cabinet and assist in government affairs?

Li Tingji was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then he said solemnly: "Your Highness, I will obey you completely."

Very good, nothing else matters, this sentence is the most important.

Wanli nodded with satisfaction and said, "Then you should prepare. After the provincial and palace examinations are completed next year, you can join the cabinet to assist in government affairs."

So fast!
Li Tingji quickly stood up and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."

When the other people heard this, they couldn't help but look envious.

This guy actually joined the cabinet like this!
Seeing this, Wanli raised his hand to let Li Tingji sit down, and then comforted him: "Don't worry, write well and publish the court report. It is only a matter of time before you join the cabinet to assist in government affairs."

We can also join the cabinet to assist in government affairs!
Do all the current cabinet ministers come from the Ministry of Finance and Economics?
When the other people heard this, they couldn't help but look surprised and stood up to express their gratitude.

Wanli raised his hand, motioning for everyone to sit down, and then asked, "Do you have the latest world map?"

This naturally exists.

Upon hearing this, Li Tingji quickly stood up and took out a scroll that was almost as tall as himself from the large porcelain vase where the scrolls were kept and unfolded it on the table.

Wanli looked at it carefully, then pointed at the map and said, "Change Dongying to Dongyang Dusi, this to North America Dongdusi, and this to North America Xidusi."

Upon hearing this, Li Tingji stood up without hesitation, supported the map with one hand, picked up the pen and started to make changes.

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "Is it okay to shrink this into a woodblock print and print it in the official newspaper?"

There are dedicated people responsible for scaling the map size.

Li Tingji nodded repeatedly and said, "No problem, I will just order someone to shrink it."

Wanli nodded slightly upon hearing this, and then explained in detail: "This will be printed in the first issue of the new year. The map name must include the year. This is the world map of the 25th year of Wanli.

The first issue of the new year ostensibly introduces the newly opened territories of the Ming Dynasty in recent years, but its actual theme is that as the territory expands, the number of officials must also be expanded accordingly, and the number of candidates selected through the imperial examinations must also increase accordingly.

Now that the territory of the Ming Dynasty has more than tripled, the number of Gongshi selected for next year's imperial examination will more than triple. Furthermore, the number of Xiucai and Juren selected will also increase accordingly."

what?
This means that thousands of Jinshi can be selected at one time!

Upon hearing this, Li Tingji nodded in shock and said, "I understand."

(End of this chapter)