Generally speaking, the topics for teaching are drawn up by the teacher, and the students are only responsible for listening to the transcripts. This is normal.
But today was different. Qi Yu took the initiative to hand over the choice of topics to the students.
As you can imagine, the students almost fought for the chance to show their faces.
Just as they were fighting each other, a person with overwhelming prestige suddenly emerged from the crowd and won the right with an absolute advantage that no one had any objections to.
This person is none other than the famous Guo prodigy Guo Chunhai.
Originally, he came here with a playful mentality, but unexpectedly, he encountered Qi Yu who was agreeing to give lectures. So he stepped forward and took over the right to formulate the topic.
Is this still possible?
Yes.
Although he is not that old, his reputation is very famous. With him appearing in public like this, how can other students have the capital to compete with him?
The adults who were watching had enough money, but if they were asked to argue with a child, they would definitely lose face.
In this way, Guo Chunhai won this privilege with almost no effort.
Let's talk about Liu Quan, she was watching silently and looked at her husband's performance with admiration.
She originally thought that the students would nominate an older child to come forward and answer the question, but in the end, they chose a short little one.
Qi Yu was also startled when he saw this, and thought to himself: Tsk, tsk, we actually meet again.
But I saw that Guo Chunhai was like a young adult. He first stepped forward and bowed, and then said: "Master Qi, the question asked by Wan Sheng is, is the imperial examination system fair?"
As soon as these words came out, there was an immediate silence.
Obviously, this is a sensitive and tricky questioning question, and what he is questioning is the imperial system that can only be understood but not expressed.
Sure enough, newborn calves are not afraid of tigers!
If this were an adult, who would dare to ask this?
But the audience's eyes widened, and they all watched Master Qi's reaction closely.
Now that the academic examination is about to begin, who is not concerned about the fairness of the imperial examination?
Even though everyone seems to be calm on the surface, in their hearts they are stirred up by a single stone.
Qi Yu looked around and said with a faint smile: "This topic is a bit big and needs to be explained in depth. Please feel free to listen."
"yes!"
"Well, then take a seat!"
With Master Qi spreading his hands, the students all sat on the spot and pricked up their ears.
In fact, in addition to these children, there were also many members of the gentry class who were listening. Among them, there was no shortage of learned scholars like Sun Bao.
With Qi Yu's show of hands, this noisy lantern street also turned into silence.
After calming down, Qi Yu said: "Strictly speaking, the question Guo Xiaoyou just asked is a false proposition. Because there is no so-called absolute justice in this world. Therefore, I can only give a one-sided answer to this question.
Argument."
"As the saying goes, no one is perfect, and no one is perfect. In the same way, there is no perfect ideal system in this world. From the perspective of the imperial court, the purpose of the imperial examination is to select talents, and everyone knows its purpose.
The purpose is to avoid the dust of the uncut jade. Objectively speaking, there are indeed two obvious injustices in the imperial examination system in history. "
Guo Chunhai was listening with great interest and couldn't help but interjected and asked: "Oh? What are the two injustices?"
Qi Yu smiled warmly and replied: "The first is because people are unfair; the second is because the environment is unfair. Let me discuss them one by one."
Hearing this, everyone hurriedly echoed: "Students are all ears!"
"Well! Do you know that in the history of the imperial examination, in addition to the two major banquets, the Luming Banquet and the Qionglin Banquet, there was also a flower-hunting banquet for a period of time?"
"What? The Flower Visiting Banquet?"
"That's right! The rules are like this. When the marriage is announced in the Golden Palace, the court will designate a handsome unmarried young man as the new Dingjia Tanhua. The real intention is to select a husband for the royal princess or princess. And accordingly.
The wedding banquet was actually just a ridiculous banquet between a father-in-law and his son-in-law. Later, because this system was suspected of judging people by appearance, it was abolished by the late emperor of our dynasty. The purpose of it was of course to demonstrate the meritocracy of my great minister.
The Heart of Examination. The Flower Banquet is a clear representative of the artificial injustice in the imperial examination."
Speaking of this, Qi Yu couldn't help but smile awkwardly.
You must know that I am the most popular person in the world, so Shicai's remarks are more or less self-ironic.
But having said that, if the late emperor had not decisively abolished this system, my position as the most beautiful woman in Dingjia would probably have been taken by Yin Jun.
Suddenly, Qi Yu coughed dryly and continued: "In addition to judging people by their appearance, there are also some unfair aspects in the imperial examination. For example, improper posture, indecent names, and other factors. Speaking of indecent names, the most important thing is
The unlucky one is none other than Mr. Sun Yue Gong, our great talent in Qiongzhou. Alas, if Emperor Taizong hadn't regarded his vertical writing of Sun Yue Gong as an indecent Sun Bao, perhaps he would have been ranked among
It’s time to stand in the courtroom.”
"What? There is such a thing?"
"really!"
"Ha ha……"
I don’t know whether it was because this thing was too weird, or because the audience’s laughter point was too low. In short, this allusion directly triggered a super loud sound wave that shook the eardrums.
Sun Bao, who was watching from the sidelines, saw that he had become a negative example, and couldn't help but blush with embarrassment.
He secretly thought: I have to blame my father for this...
But when it came to Qi Yu, he said with a serious look on his face: "The above-mentioned injustices are all caused by man-made injustices. Some places have been improved, and some places still have residues. At present, it cannot be completely avoided."
This is a chronic disease of the ritual system that is indeed difficult to eradicate at the moment.
If anyone falls into the trap, consider yourself unlucky, for example, Mr. Sun Bao, who I just mentioned.
After a pause, Qi Yu continued: "Now let's talk about the injustice caused by the environment. This aspect is mainly reflected in the personal family background. To put it bluntly, the educational conditions of children from poor families cannot be compared with those of famous families. Some
Talents are lost at the starting line as soon as they are born. And I, Qi Yu, am one of them. It is precisely because I have suffered in this regard that I vigorously popularize free education so that you children will not make the same mistake as me.
Let’s make the same mistakes and try our best to turn this injustice into relative justice.”
During the tea time, Qi Dalang explained clearly the obvious unfairness in the imperial examination and clarified the doubts of these children who were about to take the imperial examination.
Instead of worrying about gains and losses, it is better to face reality.
Finally, he specifically quoted a famous saying from Cao Cao's "Ling for Seeking Talents" and concluded: "The second and third sons help me to promote the humble, but only their talents can be promoted, and I can use them."