Powerful Song Dynasty

Chapter 716 The Development of the Academy

Under Wang Xiu's deliberately low-key handling of the lazy return to the imperial court, it did not cause much controversy, and did not even attract much attention from scholars.

It was just a civil strife among the captives, and those who died were either captives and noble chieftains, or traitors and thieves, the more dead the better, at least this was the most sincere thought of the scholars.

Besides, the New Year's Day is approaching, and everyone is thinking of ways to have a good year. The imperial court has recovered Hebei and wants to celebrate the first or second day. When the time comes, the family will get together to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year. No one has too much concern something else.

If there is something that interests the local citizens, it is that the Yujie Avenue from Xuandemen to Zhuquemen to Nanxunmen will be changed into black asphalt avenues, and the green brick paving will be completely abandoned. Walking on the road is comfortable. what!

Some people even rumored that all the main streets should be paved with white cement boards, and some should be paved with asphalt.

Of course, it is not news to some big businessmen who walk in Hangzhou and Suzhou. The main official roads in Suzhou and Hangzhou are basically cement roads, and the cars are fast and smooth on them. They are no strangers to it.

Most of the residents walking here are very new, whether it is an asphalt avenue or a cement avenue, it is a new thing to come there.It is true that the cement asphalt road and the underground drainage system have made the street very clean without any water accumulation, which makes everyone feel very satisfied, and their satisfaction with the imperial court continues to rise.

Nothing else, let alone any hypocrisy. As citizens, whoever can make their lives more comfortable, make their travel more convenient, and allow them to maintain a petty bourgeois life, they will support whoever, this is not inevitable nor accidental. It is an objective law, without any novelty.

Various tabloids reported ambiguously on the road change in Jiangning Prefecture, but they gave high praise to the road construction and enriched the people. They continued to report the comments of the ruling and opposition figures on the construction of the cement road in the form of columns, and gradually involved the imperial court's industrial and commercial policies.

There is no way to do this, Wang Xiu insists on a moderate freedom of speech, which is in line with the founding of the Song Dynasty's non-criminal speech.Of course, there are no rules and no rules, and tabloid publications still have rules. You can spread rumors, as long as you are not maliciously slandering, everything is up to you, and the government will not intervene.

Some people extended the topic, lashing out at presiding over trade and developing industry and commerce, and some even launched hysterical attacks on Wang Xiu.

It is said that Wang Xiu is a minister who is only interested in profit after succeeding Cai Jing, and Cai Yi is even worse than Wang Xiu in Hangzhou. He specializes in exploiting overseas barbarians. For a few taels, a chicken will become a bald chicken, which is simply gentle.

Then again, it was not easy for Cai Yi in Hangzhou, nor was it easy for Fan Zongyin. They grasped the direction of Wang Xiu's policy and were reviled by those losers. They even pointed the finger at the judges Zhongli Rui and Fei Su. Boring.

However, they dismissed these remarks. In Zhong Lirui's words, they were all sour remarks, saying that grapes are sour if they can't eat grapes.

Yuquanshan Academy is the well-deserved leader of the two Zhejiang scholars. Hangzhou news has a huge influence on the whole Hangzhou. Liu Renfeng has a clear direction for tabloids. As long as it does not involve military affairs and personal attacks, even if you scold the sky, it will be fine. Hangzhou News Never use influence to refute, or even publish your article, and give you a certain amount of remuneration. The treatment is very generous.

The style of study in the academy is extremely open, commenting on the gains and losses of current affairs, exchanging views on righteousness and interests, and breaking out news that caused quite a stir from time to time, the commentators became famous almost overnight and were talked about by the world, which attracted many young people with aspirations to take the entrance examination.

Although the entrance examination is extremely strict, the academy's reputation, strong financial resources, and luxurious teachers are enough to make scholars eager for it. Every year, more than half of the scholars are rejected, higher than the average Jinshi.

There is really no way, they are taking the elite route, if you are not capable, don't come in, the people who come in are all elites, if you don't accept it, go for it.

The influx of wealth makes the students very generous. Once you enter the academy, you will pay a nominal fee for board and lodging. Even the clothes are the same style of school uniform. You don’t need to pay for it, especially suitable for students from poor families.

At the suggestion of Li Qingzhao and other professors, Liu Renfeng agreed to set up a special fund to subsidize those students who are both excellent in character and learning but from poor families, so that they can study at ease. Wang Xiu personally titled the special fund into two types: bursary and scholarship.

The stipend is not only in the almost free campus life, but also subsidizes the poor students with several hundred renminbi a month to subsidize their families, so that they can study with peace of mind and don't have to worry about daily necessities at home.

The scholarship is even more generous. As long as the grades reach the prescribed rankings, no matter whether the students are rich or poor, they can get a scholarship of [-] per year. Scholarships and grants can be superimposed. As long as you have the ability, you can enjoy both.

However, the assessment is very rigorous and needs to be approved by the academy, and even the head of the mountain is not allowed to confirm it privately.

Four hundred guan is not a small amount of wealth for the children of rich families, it is equivalent to a month's salary of the envoy, don't underestimate it, think it is a month's salary!You must know that it was the highest salary in the Song Dynasty, and the monthly salary of a brave soldier was only two shimi, or [-] yuan, which shows the gold content of the scholarship.

For those poor scholars, it is a great temptation. If the stipend of [-] cash per month can make their families barely food and clothing.

The scholarship, which is hundreds of times higher than the bursary, is enough for them to live a life without worrying about food and clothing for several years, and their families will also have no worries about food and clothing.

Even rich kids are jealous. A scholarship is not only a material satisfaction, but also a spiritual encouragement. It is recognized that you are an outstanding person in the academy. Anyone who receives a scholarship is recognized as a Jinshi.

However, people say that Zhang Ling, Lin Silang, Gu Liang, Zhao Fei and others are the richest people in the Academy. They are all masters of the Academy, and once they have achieved results, they become the targets of businessmen.

What is worthy of Shilin's admiration is that they seem to have no special concept of money, and they don't even know how much money they have. They concentrate on making crafts and theoretical research.

Let's say, Lin Silang is dressed in a commoner blue shirt all year round, his hair is a bit gray after washing, and his hair is also messy. Who would know that he is rich.

Well, more than a dozen people including Zhang Ling and Gu Liang are no longer in Yuquanshan Academy, but they were hired by Hong Zhen to teach at Zhongshan Academy.

Of course, Yuquanshan Research Institute is still powerful and the world's leading academy, while Zhongshan Academy is still at a disadvantage.

(End of this chapter)