Chapter 125: Adapting measures to local conditions
The First Prince of the Ming Dynasty Text Volume Chapter 125: Adapting to Local Conditions Zhu Biao thought for a while and said: "I think we should focus on policy theory rather than the meaning of classics."
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned. He had already planned to stipulate the definition of the classics test as an iron rule in the future. It would be better to fix the format so that the candidates could only answer the questions according to the contents of the Four Books and Five Classics.
If anyone dares to question this decision, it is natural to let them know what the unfathomable power of God is.
But he didn't expect it to be his own son, so Zhu Yuanzhang could only prepare to have a good chat. After all, the family business would be passed on to him in the future. Otherwise, when he stepped down and his son changed his position, he wouldn't be able to control it.
Zhu Yuanzhang said in a deep voice: "Biao'er, why do you think it's not good to test the meaning of classics? Although the policy theory focuses on current affairs, most of them are just empty talk by the candidates who don't know the heights of the world. They talk about how to govern the country and bring peace to the world, but they actually don't even know how to govern the country.
We don’t know how to manage even a single county.”
Zhu Biao nodded and said seriously: "I think that if you only test the classics and meanings, it will be easy to produce a group of nerds who only know the Four Books and Five Classics. Such officials will be nothing more than puppets of the local gentry when they get there. What's the use of doing so."
Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly laughed: "You are still too young. Do you think we set the content of the exam just to target those scholars?"
Zhu Biao was stunned, and Zhu Yuanzhang pulled his son to him: "What is the biggest problem of our Ming Dynasty now?"
Zhu Biao looked at his father and said: "Local officials are in short supply, and aristocratic clans control the lifeblood of the local area, making it impossible for the court's decrees to be implemented quickly."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded: "Among the students coming to take the exam now, how many of them come from poor families?"
Zhu Biao made a mental calculation and replied: "Most of those who can study in troubled times and have the money to go to Beijing to take the exam are from wealthy families."
In ancient times, it was no joke to make a poor family rich.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at him and said: "These high-ranking families have thousands of books in their homes, and they have special teachers to teach them. The vision of their children is definitely not comparable to that of small families from poor families. Those who come from humble backgrounds have many books in their homes besides the Four Books and Five Classics."
If this book were to examine policy theory, then the first and second students would all be children of aristocratic families."
Only then did Zhu Biao come back to his senses. He was only thinking about the conflicts between the north and the south and the harm of the stereotyped recruitment of scholars, but he forgot the most important issue at present.
The contents of the Scripture Testing are all from the Four Books and Five Classics. These books are now very popular and the price is affordable to the public.
In this way, both students in the capital and students in the frontiers thousands of miles away will have unified teaching materials. Everyone can compete on the same starting line, so that students from poor families can have the opportunity to "be a farmhouse minister in the morning and ascend to the emperor's hall in the evening."
Chance.
Otherwise, if the content of the exam is mainly based on policy questions, which are more dependent on personal knowledge reserves and vision, then at a time when books were not yet popular, educational inequality would inevitably occur.
Rich families can buy a lot of books for their children to study, but poor families not only cannot afford books, but also cannot even buy corresponding books in many places. Some precious books are single copies and will not be printed at all.
This is tantamount to closing the opportunity for students from disadvantaged backgrounds to climb the ladder.
For the examiners who mark the papers, the examination can also be relatively fair and impartial in scoring the examination papers. As long as the candidates' answers meet the standards in all aspects, the examiners cannot eliminate them due to personal preferences. This also relatively reduces the number of inspections.
Situations of fraud.
Looking at his son's face, Zhu Yuanzhang knew that he understood. He patted his shoulder and said, "Testing classics and defining standards is good for poor students. This is also their only way out."
Zhu Biao nodded slowly. Although he came from a later generation, his personal vision and knowledge also had limitations. Just this time, when he heard the scripture test, he thought of the criticized eight-legged essay to recruit scholars in later generations, but he forgot
This is probably the perfect choice for the current era.
After all, after the emergence of the Eight-legged essay to select scholars, the rulers of the Ming and Qing dynasties used the Eight-legged essay to conduct imperial examinations. They could not have known that the talents selected in this way had great flaws, but they may not have originally intended for the students to learn
A discipline that applies to the world.
The main purpose of taking the eight-part essay test is to select those who are most willing to work hard among the students in the world. As for specific work abilities, it is too late to develop them slowly after passing the test.
As long as students are willing to put in the hard work and endure hardships, there is no need to worry that they will not be able to learn specific work tasks. Just like Xu Jie, Zhang Juzheng and others, they also came from the imperial examinations in the Ming Dynasty.
Looking back now, there are many mistakes in my method. Examining classics and meanings in the south and relying on policy theory in the north cannot convince the scholars who failed, and it will easily intensify conflicts when the time comes.
Zhu Biao suddenly felt a little confused. Zhu Yuanzhang comforted his son: "It would be great if you could understand the pros and cons of this matter first. Besides, it is not impossible to change things in the future according to local conditions."
Zhu Biao put aside his confusion and said, "Should we divide the army into two groups, the north and the south, and take a hundred and fifty soldiers from each side?"
Zhu Yuanzhang pondered for a while, and after thinking about it just now, he made a decision and said: "Biao'er, you are afraid that there will be too many southern scholars in the court in the future."
Zhu Biao nodded, and Zhu Yuanzhang said: "But have you ever thought about it. The release of the North-South List seemed to balance the number of scholars in the North, Central and South, but it also intensified the contradiction between the North and the South.
"Everyone knows that the literary talents of southern scholars are higher than those of northern scholars. How can the southern scholars who may have failed be convinced, if they are not as strong as others, but because of the region, people who are obviously inferior to themselves become new scholars."
Zhu Biao gritted his teeth and began to reflect in his heart. After the Northern Expedition, he was indeed a little arrogant. Although he was still the gentle and jade-like prince on the surface, his arrogance had grown.
Zhu Yuanzhang reached out and pinched his son's clenched teeth: "Biao'er, you pursue safety in doing things, but many things in the world don't need to be done so properly, just like this."
Zhu Biao's teeth were pinched by his father, and he naturally loosened his clenched teeth: "Please give me some advice, Father."
Zhu Yuanzhang said slowly: "As long as the scholars are chosen fairly, it can be foreseen that there will definitely be more southern scholars in the court in the future, but so what? Do the suppressed northern scholars have any other choice besides relying on you?"
Zhu Biaoguang wanted to achieve a balance, but he forgot that there was a referee above the court. Only he could decide the outcome of that side. As long as the officials from the north and south of the third rank and above were kept roughly balanced, the court would not.
Zhu Biao was embarrassed this time. He vowed to Song Lian that he could convince his father, but he was given a lesson.
Fortunately, only Song Lian knew about it, and he was also his teacher, so he would never tell anyone.
Zhu Biao bowed to his father and said, "My son, Jin, has learned a lesson.
Zhu Yuanzhang said nothing more and waved his hand to let his son go out. He still had memorials to review, which meant that his son had no other choice, so he was willing to waste time explaining.
