Chapter 195 The imperial examination reform across the ages
The main reason why Zhu Cihong left such an edict to Zhang Yan was because he wanted to be a responsible emperor.
As for why the throne was passed to the emperor's sister instead of the two emperor's brothers, of course he and the emperor's sister were very close, and Princess Kunxing was in Nanjing. If not her, who would it be passed to?
As for the others, he is already dead, so he doesn’t care.
Of course, both Zhu Cihong and Zhang Yan knew that this edict would definitely not be used and would eventually be burned.
Therefore, Zhu Cixiang did not tell anyone else, including Princess Kunxing herself, and Zhang Yan did not persuade her that it would be ridiculous to pass the throne to her sister.
Because it was unnecessary, even Zhang Yan felt that what Zhu Cixi did was unnecessary and unlucky, so she wanted to burn the edict directly.
Zhu Cixiang was not at all anxious about the new policy reforms in various provinces, but the reform of the imperial examination could not be delayed any longer.
Originally, he planned to announce the reform of the imperial examination while promoting the New Deal in each province. The reform of the imperial examination was also the simplest and could be solved with an edict.
Because it doesn't matter whether you oppose or agree. Anyway, if you want to be an official in the imperial examination, you have to take the test according to the new regulations of the imperial court. If you don't take the test, some people will take the test.
Although they were mentally prepared, Zhang Yan and Ma Shiying were extremely shocked when Zhu Cihong showed them the edict reforming the imperial examination.
First of all, the first and most shocking thing is that from now on, anyone, regardless of gender, old or young, high or low, can directly participate in the college examination.
After passing the imperial examination, both men and women will be awarded the title of scholar, and those with lowly status and slave status will be re-registered and naturalized by the Ministry of Rites.
Those who have obtained the title of scholar can see that officials do not have to kneel or be tortured. They can take part in the provincial examination to obtain the title of scholar. Men can participate in the assessment of the civil service department, but women cannot participate.
Of course, the main thing that shocked the two of them was that the college exam was too easy and even a bit childish.
Ma Shiying did not dare to question, but Zhang Yan had no worries and said with a wry smile: "Hang'er, regardless of gender, old or young, everyone, high or low, can take the college exam directly, but... But this exam is too easy, isn't it?
, I am afraid that as long as a person who is literate can study those ten simple numbers for a period of time, he can probably pass the examination as a scholar, right?"
It's not surprising that Zhang Yan said this, because she felt that if she took the exam now, she would probably be able to pass the imperial examination at the very least. After studying for another year and a half, it would not be impossible to pass the imperial examination.
"Haha, what I said is right, but I want to encourage everyone in the world to become a scholar."
Zhu Cixiang smiled slightly, and then said with a solemn expression.
It is definitely unrealistic to abolition slavery and make everyone equal, so we can only give everyone a hope and a chance to become a better person.
That's why he set the examination level of the college examination at a very low level. There are only two subjects in the college examination, divided into liberal arts and technical subjects. Both of them adopt the test paper format, and the questions will be uniformly set by the Ministry of Rites.
Basically, as long as you have read the Three Character Classic, Hundred Family Surnames, Thousand-Character Classic, The Analects of Confucius, Disciple's Guide and other enlightenment books, and can write them silently, you can almost pass the liberal arts.
It doesn't matter if the characters are ugly, as long as they can be recognized, even if the characters are simplified, it won't affect your grades.
The technical subjects are even simpler. As long as you can skillfully quote ten Arabic numerals, perform simple operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, and calculate the areas of some figures, you will be able to pass.
Basically, with the level of Chinese and Mathematics of the third grade of elementary school in the previous life, one can pass the exam to become a scholar.
Compared with the college examination, the provincial examination is much more difficult to pass. The liberal arts subject requires additional tests on the Four Books and Five Classics and history. The technical subjects are also more profound, with the addition of Tianyuan Shu, that is, equations.
But in general, it is much easier than today's provincial examination.
The treatment for a scholar is similar to that of a scholar. The only difference is that after passing the official examination, the scholar will be awarded the ninth rank, while the scholar will be awarded the eighth rank. The starting point is higher. Of course, women are also unable to participate in the official examination.
Compared with the college examination and the provincial examination, the general examination is much more complicated. The general examination will consist of separate examinations.
In the future, the examination will be divided into three major categories. The first category is formal subjects, including political science, law, agriculture, and business.
Political Science is similar to the traditional examination.
Of course, the eight-legged format must be abolished, and more emphasis should be placed on policy and argumentation. When the court proposes a topic, you must not only quote from classics, but also have your own opinions.
In the political science examination of the National Examination, admission is not based on passing standards, but is also based on the traditional proportion. After admission, candidates will also be awarded a Jinshi background, and will be awarded a seventh-grade official status, either as a county magistrate or a minor official in various places, or directly as an eight-level official.
rise.
Law, agriculture, and business majors mainly examine law, agriculture, and commerce. Those who pass the exam are admitted. They are also awarded a Jinshi background and an eighth-level official status, and can enter the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Dali Temple.
Of course, officials in the four departments do not always have to be officials in the departments they are good at. It is just that the initial officialdom is distributed like this.
As for the examination for the main subjects, it will also be specially used to select actual officials in the future. Only those with meritorious qualifications can participate, and female candidates are not allowed to participate.
The second category is liberal arts. The subjects will be very complicated, including poetry, poetry, music, chess, calligraphy, painting, etc. As long as you have the title of scholar, you can directly take the liberal arts examination, regardless of gender.
No matter how many people take the exam in each subject, only the top three in each session will be selected as Jinshi and awarded the eighth-grade official status.
At that time, the imperial court will establish a literary college and recruit apprentices to arrange teaching for these Jinshi. They will only have official salaries and no bonuses or money to support integrity.
The last category is engineering, which includes arithmetic, astronomy, physics, chemistry, mechanics, biology, mechanics, and medicine.
Anyone can participate in the Engineering Examination, regardless of whether they have merit or not. There is no restriction on men or women. Except for arithmetic, which requires a written test, in the other subjects, if you are illiterate, you can speak directly without a written test.
Regarding astronomy, physics, chemistry, mechanics, biology, mechanics, and medicine, Zhu Cihong only knew a few superficial things, but it was enough. He only needed to know how to classify them.
Human thought and creativity are unlimited. He only needs to set up these subjects first and briefly talk about what chemistry, physics, biology, mechanics, etc. are. In the future, those who are interested will naturally study them and come to take the exam.
At that time, he only needs to select the talents among them, so the final examiner of these subjects is him, the emperor.
It is unrealistic for him, the emperor, to develop these sciences. He does not have the energy or ability.
What he can do is to classify these subjects clearly, and then encourage interested people to tinker with them on their own.
Of course, for better encouragement, he will also establish a Tiangong College at that time. Anyone who passes his assessment and becomes a Jinshi in engineering will be awarded a seventh-grade official status, a bachelor's degree from Tiangong College, or the title of bachelor.
After entering Tiangong College, you can teach and tinker with the stuff you want while teaching. There is a fixed fund every year. If you achieve good results, you will not only get bonuses, but you can also upgrade your grade. The temptation is not big, but don't say it.
Taking the exam, people in this era who can distinguish between these are probably the only ones who are weak and sharp-edged.
No, Zhang Yan and Ma Shiying at this moment cannot understand this so-called engineering major at all.
Arithmetic, medicine, and astronomy are no strangers to each other, and they can also understand mechanics literally. But in the four subjects of physics, chemistry, biology, and mechanics, even Zhu Cixiang has already explained what biology is, what chemistry is, and what physics is.
, the two of them were still in a fog, as if they were listening to a book from heaven.
"Hong'er, I really can't understand this kind of physics and chemistry. How can I establish Tiangong College?"
"Your Majesty, I am ignorant and have little knowledge and cannot understand."
Zhang Yan looked at a loss, while Ma Shiying looked like he was about to cry. As the second minister of the cabinet and the minister of the Ming Dynasty's resurgence, he found that he could not understand what his majesty said. How could this not make him panic?
"Ma Aiqing, it doesn't matter if you don't understand. I have no intention of letting you understand. The cabinet only needs to do what it needs to do. The cabinet does not need to worry about these things. I will personally preside over the exams."
After speaking, he looked at Zhang Yan and said: "Auntie, you only need to find two places to hang up the signs at the Tiangong College and the College of Literature and Art, and then recruit some young children and teach them to read and digit first.
That’s it, you don’t need to worry about other things.”
"It's so simple."
Zhang Yan nodded and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Immediately, Zhu Cihong gave Ma Shiying some instructions and asked him to resign. He immediately published the imperial edict to the world. Two years later, the second imperial examination of the Shenwu Dynasty was officially held.
From now on, the imperial examination will be held once a year, and the provincial examination will be held in March, held uniformly in the provincial capitals, and presided over by the rites department of each province.
After being selected as a scholar, you can immediately go to Nanjing to take the provincial examination in June, or you can take it again the following year. There is no restriction on this.
The examination is scheduled to be held in Nanjing in October every year for the time being.
In the future, the imperial examination will also be divided into four levels, namely the provincial examination, the provincial examination, the general examination and the palace examination.
Among them, the imperial examinations for major subjects and liberal arts are just a formality, but the examination for engineering majors is mainly a formality.
For example, in physics, you only need to come up with a theory and the emperor thinks it makes sense, then you will pass the examination and become a Jinshi. If you not only come up with a theory but can also prove it with experiments, you will be directly awarded the title of Bachelor.
Chemistry is the opposite. Although you don't know the causal relationship, as long as you extract the physical object and get the emperor's approval, you can pass the test. If you not only make the physical object but also explain the causal relationship clearly, you will also be able to do it.
He was directly awarded the title of bachelor.
Originally, Zhu Cihong thought that after his imperial examination reform edict was released, it would cause huge shock and opposition, but the fact was that the shock was indeed very large, but there were surprisingly few voices, which surprised Zhu Cixiang.
But he was too lazy to care about this anymore, and after explaining to Zhang Yan and Princess Kunxing, he set off for Beijing.
Countless people throughout Jiangnan are frantically looking for books related to arithmetic, and countless people are also familiar with the ten numbers in the imperial edict, as well as related symbols and formulas.
The reason why scholars in the south of the Yangtze River did not oppose His Majesty's imperial examination reform is because today's imperial examination is undoubtedly much simpler than before when thousands of troops and horses crossed the single-plank bridge.
Nowadays, as long as a scholar learns arithmetic, it is almost certain that he will pass the examination.
In the same way, as long as a person learns arithmetic, he will be a good candidate and become an official.
Compared with studying the Four Books and Five Classics, those ten numbers and related formulas, Tianyuan Technique, are really not too simple.
Because those things are dead, as long as you are willing to spend two or three months studying them, you can master them.
After all, whoever can pass the scholar examination is an idiot? At least his memory is not comparable to that of ordinary people.
As for liberal arts and engineering, what does it have to do with them? Who wants to take exams? If you take the exams, you will only be a false official with a crappy future.
But those who love calligraphy and are good at music don't think so, especially some famous prostitutes in the Qinhuai River.
Similarly, all those who could read and write, shopkeepers who could write and count, or housekeepers and servants of large families began to learn arithmetic secretly. After all, there was no harm in becoming a scholar.
However, some deceitful magicians, charlatans, and some Taoist priests who were hiding in Taoist temples in the mountains to practice immortality and alchemy, after hearing the edict’s explanation of the classification of astronomy, physics, and chemistry, their eyes lit up and their hearts skipped a beat.
After Zhu Cihong left, there was a wave of learning ten Arabic numerals and arithmetic throughout Jiangnan.
Countless related books were found, reprinted and sold in large quantities, especially the latest issues of the Propaganda Supervision newspaper, which became a hot commodity and were copied for more than ten taels of silver each.
Because each of the latest issues of the Royal Palace Newspaper has a section that explains knowledge related to arithmetic by name. Many of the formulas on it are not found in other books.
And when calculating according to these formulas, it is indeed unfavorable, causing countless people to say that there must be a genius proficient in arithmetic in the prison.