The scholars who originally wanted to speak out to refute their views suddenly shut up.
Zhang Liangyou quickly asked: "Does "On History" only appear in policy topics?"
Wei Liangchen explained: "For "Historical Theory", the policy topic is not tested in the current examination. You only need to study it thoroughly. However, after becoming a Jinshi and before being awarded a real official, you must take the official examination in the Ministry of Personnel.
"On History" is a required part of the examination!"
When the scholars heard this, they quickly remembered it in their hearts.
Today's Ming Dynasty Jinshi are divided into first-class, second-class and third-class scholars.
After first-class and second-class internships at the central government, they can be directly awarded official positions.
The top three Jinshi, who accounted for 70% of the total admissions, had to take the Ministry of Civil Affairs examination before being conferred an official position, and were assigned specific positions based on the examination results.
Therefore, the scope of questions in the examination is also very important.
Subjects such as astronomy, geography, physics, agriculture, water conservancy, disaster relief, law, etc. will soon be canceled from the imperial examination and will all be transferred to the civil service examination.
Only mathematics is left, which is still a required test in the imperial examination.
This approach was not a compromise between Ju Ming and traditional Confucian scholars, but an attempt to take care of the vast number of poor scholars.
Educational resources in ancient times were inherently unbalanced, and the education penetration rate at this time was far lower than that of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Then the examination content cannot include too many "miscellaneous studies", otherwise it will be a disaster for poor scholars, and the children of rich families will inevitably monopolize the imperial examinations by relying on "miscellaneous studies".
But one must be left behind to promote the development of natural sciences, so mathematics has become a reserved item.
For poor scholars, mathematics is easier to master than physics, chemistry, astronomy, and geography. The latter subjects require sufficient financial support from their families.
Of course, you can't give up completely.
Ju Ming plans to compile a popular science book to introduce various basic natural knowledge. Let readers in their teens know that the earth revolves around the sun, as well as the principles of friction and leverage.
In order to make the scholars in front of him more active in helping him acquire land, Wei Liangchen continued to reveal more information:
"The next imperial examination will be reformed. "The Great Learning", "The Analects of Confucius", "Mencius", and "The Doctrine of the Mean" are the four books, which together with "Mathematics" are required subjects."
"The "Poetry", "Book", "Li", "Yi", "Spring and Autumn", and "Xunzi" are the six classics. You can choose one of them as the basic classic to participate in the imperial examination."
This information will be announced nationwide next spring, but Wei Liangchen only said it two or three months in advance.
It's not illegal.
It doesn't matter if it causes confusion in public opinion. The court has been quarreling for several years, and the people are expected to quarrel for several more years.
Wei Liangchen said with a smile: "If you have a master of Xunzi, you will study hard. If you use this as the basis for the imperial examination, you will have a great chance of passing the Jinshi examination."
As soon as this statement came out, the situation exploded instantly.
A scholar asked: "Xunzi said that human nature is inherently evil. How should those who take "Xunzi" as the original scripture answer "Mencius" about the theory of "nature being good"?
Wei Liangchen said: "Since one's nature is good and evil, the relevant scriptures will not be examined again."
Suddenly, a disciple of the Hong family asked: "Xunzi still has a theory of false etiquette. Doesn't he also examine etiquette?"
Wei Liangchen said: "The "Li" is a classic of selection and governance, and does not conflict with "Xunzi". If the four books conflict with the pseudo-ritual theory, we will not examine the meaning of the classics again."
Another disciple of the Hong family shouted: "Xunzi's insistence on evil nature and hypocrisy of etiquette has already blasphemed Confucius and Mencius. How can Xunzi be promoted to the classics? This is a great scandal in the world. There must be evil spirits in the court to deceive the holy king!"
Wei Liangchen said: "The promotion of Xunzi was proposed by His Majesty."
The whole place was silent and stunned.
This situation is normal. "Mencius" used to be a book by various scholars, but it also caused a big stir during the promotion of the classics in the Northern Song Dynasty, and even became an accelerant for party disputes.
Wang Anshi supports the upgrading of Mencius and is a "respecting Mencius school".
Sima Guang opposed the upgrading of Mencius and was a "suspecting Mencius".
Sima Guang and Er Cheng had a very good relationship, and their schools were close relatives. But what is ridiculous is that Er Cheng also belonged to the "Zun Meng School" and chose to side with Wang Anshi.
As for the scholars of the Hong family in front of us, the reason why they are now opposed to the upgrading of "Xunzi" is because they all belong to the "Xunzi depreciation school"!
The attitude towards Xunzi in the Northern Song Dynasty was very complicated.
Some people regard Xunzi as a sage.
Some people put Mencius and Xunzi together.
Some people acknowledge Xunzi's orthodoxy, but deny some of Xunzi's teachings.
Some people completely deny Xunzi.
Wang Anshi, Sima Guang, Er Cheng, Zhang Zai... all tended to deny Xunzi.
Huang Tingjian was a disciple of Sima Guang. His hostile attitude towards Xunzi was even more intense than that of Sima Guang. He believed that Xunzi deliberately touched Mencius and was a wild man without orthodox inheritance.
When Leitang Academy was most prosperous, it was precisely because Huang Tingjian was teaching.
These Hong family disciples in front of me are all Sima Guang's disciples.
Don't completely deny Sima Guang's knowledge just because of what he did.
In history, a large number of civil servants who promoted Yue Fei or were close friends with Yue Fei were Sima Guang's disciples.
Xunzi was criticized not only for his theory of evil nature, but also for his theory of false etiquette.
Mainstream Confucianism believes that etiquette comes from nature and arises naturally.
Zhang Zai even said that etiquette does not need to come from humans, the etiquette of heaven and earth exists naturally.
Xunzi only recognized that heaven and earth are the objects of imitation by saints in making rituals. "Rituals are born from the hypocrisy of saints." It is impossible for the rituals of heaven and earth to exist independently and be separated from human affairs.
And this is precisely the motivation for Ju Ming to upgrade "Xunzi" into classics.
"Xunzi: Theory of Heaven" says: Heaven's behavior is constant, and it does not exist for Yao, nor does it perish for Jie.
The laws of nature are there. If you use them well, you will be lucky; if you use them poorly, you will be unlucky. Solar eclipses and meteors are just changes in the sky and the earth, and they will appear when wise rulers and tyrants are in power. Why does it rain when you pray for rain? Because you don't
Praying for rain will also bring rain.
All things are only part of the laws of nature, and one thing is only a part of all things.
Don't make generalizations.
Laozi only saw flexibility and contraction, but not aggressive expansion. Mozi only saw the benefits of equality and equality, but could not see the role of class differences.
Ju Ming likes these very much.
But the entire "Xunzi" must be re-annotated because it also contains flaws and negative content.
…
Wei Liangchen revealed information about the reform of the imperial examination and elaborated on the "On History" that might be tested. As expected, these scholars were more willing to follow him to become a landowner.
After all, in the past, it was just young people who were full of enthusiasm, and it was possible that Zhangtian would shrink back when he encountered obstacles.
Now it is profitable, allowing them to persist.
After registering with the governor, there was a possibility of obtaining important secret information, so many scholars were determined to follow Wei Liangchen.
Even the scholars of the Hong family, although dissatisfied with the promotion of Xunzi, were willing to follow Wei Liangchen.
When Wei Liangchen returned to Nanchang with many scholars, Li Bing was immediately dumbfounded.
Wei Liangchen called Zhang Liangyou over and said, "Take some scholars and go to Nanchang Mansion to study and spread what I have said."
Zhang Liangyou understood immediately and took his classmates to the school.
Not only did he reveal information about the reform of the imperial examination, but he also told an elaborate story about how Wei Liangchen overcame the Chen, Hu, and Hong tribes.
There are also children of small clans and merchants among the Nanchang government schools.
They were worried that it would be difficult to get ahead, but when Zhang Liangyou and others fooled them, they excitedly ran to Wei Liangchen to sign up.
Then Wei Liangchen dispatched officials and asked each of them to take a group of students to various prefectures and counties in Jiangxi to clear land.
Wei Liangchen personally led the team and fought directly to Fuzhou Prefecture.
There are descendants of Yan Shu, Wang Anshi and other famous officials' families there!
Continuing to the southeast, there are Zeng Gong and Zeng Bu families. The Zeng family alone produced seven famous ministers in succession.
Continuing to the southwest, there are the descendants of Ouyang Xiu's family.
There are too many wealthy families in Jiangxi. How do you ask local officials to divide their families into acres?
The head of the Wang clan of this generation is Wang Hua, the grandson of Wang Anshang, the third brother of Wang Anshi.
Wang Hua and his clansmen greeted him at the pier. After the two parties greeted each other, Wei Liangchen asked, "Are the descendants of Duke Wang Jin here?"
A young man stood up and said: "Wang Jue, who was born late, pays homage to Governor Wei."
This is Wang Anshi's second great-grandson, and there is another great-grandson who is already an official.
Wei Liangchen did not talk about business, but asked: "How is learning?"
Wang Jue replied: "The late student has passed the national examination, but failed the imperial examination in Beijing. He is currently studying hard at home."
Wei Liangchen encouraged him: "The great-grandson of Wang Jinggong, as long as he keeps working hard, he will be able to reach high school one day."
"Thank you very much, Governor, for your encouragement." Wang Jue bowed.
Wei Liangchen said: "Your Majesty admires Wang Jinggong very much, and asked me to come to Fuzhou to express condolences to the Wang family. Your Majesty said that when Wang Jingong reformed the law, he broke through many obstacles in the north and had to pay taxes on every square field. It is a pity that he did not fulfill his full contribution. The treacherous minister was too evil.
As a result, there has been no farmland in the south."
Suddenly, Wei Liangchen said loudly: "Your Majesty told me that when I come to Jiangxi this time, I must inherit the legacy of Wang Jinggong. The great things that Wang Jinggong did not finish back then must be completed in Jiangxi no matter what. After the Jiangxi tenants are settled,
Your Majesty went to the Confucian Temple in person to inform Wang Jinggong of the good news!"
After saying these words, the Wang clan members were directly put on the fire.
Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to do.
The emperor is still waiting to pay homage to Wang Anshi in the Confucian Temple. If the Wang family prevents Tan Ding from entering the family, then all the unfaithfulness and unfilial piety will be taken into account.
The family's reputation has been completely ruined, how can they survive in the future?
Wang Jue took the lead in bowing: "I will live up to my ancestors' ambitions when I am born later. I will personally guide the officials to manage the land of the Wang family!"
Historically, this Wang Jue participated in the Northern Expedition and died.
The patriarch, Wang Hua, had no choice but to express his attitude: "The Wang family will definitely cooperate with Zhang Tian to ensure that the reputation of our ancestors is not dishonored."
Wei Liangchen asked again: "Why didn't the Yan family come to greet you?"
Wang Hua replied: "His home is further away, maybe he is still on his way here."
While he was talking, several boats were approaching from afar.
Yan Zhun, the head of the Yan clan, was helped off the boat.
After greeting each other, Wei Liangchen said: "Wang has agreed to cooperate with Zhang Tian. I wonder what Yan's intention is?"
Yan Zhun subconsciously looked at Wang Hua.
Wang Hua stared straight ahead without saying a word.
Wang Jue said: "If the great-grandfather of the younger generation is still alive, he will definitely be willing to share the family."
Yan Zhun immediately understood that the Wang family was burdened by their reputation and encountered the governor's visit, so they had to cooperate with the court to their fullest.
Looking at the troops and scholars brought by Wei Liangchen, Yan Zhun had to relent: "The Yan family will not lag behind others."
"Very good. Each of your two families will provide a hundred literate people. Follow me to check out the Zeng family's land." Wei Liangchen said with a smile and continued to play the trick of pulling people into trouble.
These wealthy families in Jiangxi were almost ruined by Wei Liangchen.
