Starting from this year, Sandingjia has a new definition.
In the past, Sandingjia meant winning three consecutive prizes in the provincial examination, the joint examination, and the palace examination, and winning first place.
In the history of imperial examinations, there were extremely few such people.
The strange thing is that not only these top academics who scored three consecutive exams, but also the top scorers in each subject, their final achievements seemed to be average. In history, those who end up with greater fame are often not the top picks.
On the contrary, during the Jiajing Dynasty, the situation seemed to be different.
Fei Hong, the first Prime Minister and Minister of State, was the number one scholar in Chenghua in the 23rd year.
The second Zhang Fujing was ranked second in the 16th year of Zhengde.
Zhang Bi skipped it.
And now Yang Shen is also the number one scholar in the sixth year of Zhengde.
As for the future... Sandingjia has a new meaning, which is number one in three directions.
At the passing ceremony, Tan Lun, Shen Kun, and Wang Chonggu were called into the hall together.
Today, the three of them are also qualified to take the Royal Road and leave through the middle gate of the Meridian Gate.
Among the three, Shen Kun is the oldest. He and the emperor were actually born in the same year.
Zhu Houcong also looked at him with interest: Judging from the answer sheet, there was no systematic and standardized research at all, just because he was too knowledgeable.
This is a person who is really interested in all kinds of miscellaneous things.
"Tan Zili." Zhu Houcong spoke to Tan Lun first, "You have no formal exams to take. After returning to your hometown to report the good news, you will be conferred upon your return and start training."
Tan Lun thanked him.
Nowadays, there are less and less talk at the Chuanlu Ceremony, and the emperor just wants to see them in person first.
As for Shen Kun and Wang Chonggu, they still need to prepare for the manufacturing subjects. They are the new science scholars who are qualified to take the manufacturing examinations for the enterprise and the Academy of Sciences. They went to the Huangming Assets Bureau and the Polytechnic Institute to prepare for the exams, and they were treated equally.
For the people in the capital, the subsequent parade of Sandingjia was just a lively event.
But for scholars all over the world, the new academic system and new examination syllabus that were subsequently published in "Ming Pao" on March 15th are even more important.
This time, the Ministry of Culture and Education made it clear that there will be no major changes to the examination system and syllabus in the future.
After more than ten years, the Ming Dynasty's imperial examinations changed their appearance and were called science.
Matching this is the academic system of primary school, middle school, and university in social studies. Graduating from primary school, middle school, and university will all have degree certificates for intellectuals, scholars, and bachelors respectively.
This proof, like the origin text given before, is an officially recognized level of learning.
Due to the emergence of the provincial examination and the general examination list, the imperial examination gradually transformed into a channel for the imperial court to select high-level talents. The main list of talents and the candidates were just the qualifications to take the examination.
The imperial court and local governments usually recruit officials, and there is another kind of public examination. This kind of public examination does not matter who is ranked first or second, as long as they have the corresponding degree certificate, they can participate.
At the level of the imperial examination, after the name is changed to science, scholars will be selected by subject in the future. Starting from the provincial examination, there are currently official subjects, business subjects, and science subjects. In the future, there may be liberal arts, agricultural subjects, engineering, and art subjects.
In short: literacy is the beginning of becoming a country's talents in all walks of life, and degree certificates are the basis for judging the level of talents in all walks of life. From scholars, scholars, bachelors to masters who are ranked in the secondary examination, doctors who are listed in the imperial examination, this is the imperial examination
If there is a fork in the middle of the road, people can also be diverted to work in advance.
This is also a new standard that Ming Dynasty is building: to make talents more measurable, with widely recognized degree certificates, talents can flow, and it can be called "all the heroes in the world".
Naturally, there will be a lot of discussion among the people.
What will those old scholars and old judges think in the future?
There are a large number of talented people at the bottom, and their birth status is showing signs of depreciation, which is annoying to them.
The Imperial College in the North and the South will be transformed into specialized study abroad institutions in the future. The children of powerful people must first complete basic education and then directly compete for places in universities in various provinces. This is not as straightforward as in the past.
Already.
In folk academies all over the country, in the past, all the great Confucian scholars gathered together to keep warm. They had rich book resources and knowledgeable teachers. It was easier to take the imperial examination and get twice the result with half the effort. In the future, we will also face a new situation. If you don't graduate from a government-run university, there will be no
Bachelor's degree certificate. If you want to take this new type of imperial examination, it is better to go to a government-run university system to learn the knowledge of each subject.
Yang Tinghe and Fei Hong, who had foresight back then, spent their main energy on universities in local provinces after becoming official. Now more people understand.
No matter how they discuss and express their dissatisfaction, the matter will still be pushed forward.
Three years.
The joint examination and imperial examination in three years' time will be implemented according to the new academic system and new examination syllabus.
Speaking of the syllabus, this time it is also very different.
The difference is that in the past, there was no clear examination syllabus, but the Four Books and Five Classics were adopted. Later, His Majesty's practical studies, dialectics, writings by Wang Shouren, Yang Tinghe and others were added, and some compulsory arithmetic was added.
But this time, the Ministry of Culture and Education issued an official document formulating a real examination syllabus.
In terms of basic skills, you need to know how many words you can read and write, understand grammar, memorize classic poems and understand their meanings, and what styles of articles you can write.
The rest of the homework, including what you need to know about arithmetic, what you need to know about astronomy and geography, what you need to know about historical figures, and what you need to know about physics that has been understood, are all listed clearly in the exam syllabus.
What's more important is that a set of textbooks that have been prepared for many years will be published nationwide.
The Four Books and Five Classics are no longer textbooks that must be memorized by heart, but they are still a reading list that everyone should be able to master when it comes to the provincial examination and the general examination.
The impact is huge.
After removing the glory of Duke Yan, the emperor and the court finally began to establish their own cultural and educational orthodoxy.
This new textbook is orthodox.
The printing press that appeared many years ago and has been continuously improved is running at full speed, and there is a lot of traffic outside the engraving factory in Beijing Light Industry Park.
This time, all private bookstores can come to stock the goods.
The right minister of the Ministry of Culture and Education was on the scene, as was the president of Ming Pao Bank.
"The purpose of establishing new examination syllabus and new textbooks is not to make money! The price of each book has been printed on the book. There are officials from all over the country censors, and there are ordinary people below, but there are complaints about who is hoarding goods.
, sold at a high price, the Publication Department of the Ministry of Etiquette and the Ministry of Commerce canceled the corresponding licenses!"
The pricing of textbooks affects every family who wants to improve their children's education and cannot be ignored.
Pirate printing, counterfeiting, and raising prices are the most important tasks for the right minister in charge of the teaching materials department of the Ministry of Culture and Education in the next three years.
"What you should be thinking about is interpretation and resolving doubts. Different textbooks can be sold in the world by inviting celebrities to compile them and ask them to annotate them in a book. However, whether the annotations are appropriate and there are no errors or omissions will still have to be submitted after the book is completed.
It must be submitted to the Publication and Engraving Department for review and approval, and a book number will be issued before engraving and marketing."
New textbooks will bring about a teaching aid market.
This is unlike the previous Four Books and Five Classics, which have countless time-tested opinions over thousands of years.
Nowadays, there are many more subjects, especially science, business, etc., and I don’t know how many young students are simply confused. In this case, if there are some other reference books, it will naturally be of great help.
It’s not that businessmen don’t understand this truth, and they don’t need officials to remind them.
Suddenly, Huangming University, Institute of Polytechnic Studies, and other officials and famous people had an extra source of income: many businessmen hoped that they would take action in their spare time and give their own opinions on the new textbooks.
Comment.
Don't say it, don't say it, but when you think about the possibility of being held in the hands of thousands of students in the future and reading their opinions, just like other sages whose opinions are regarded as standards, many people get excited.
Businessmen are too lazy to care about what some old scholars denounced: the collapse of rituals and the destruction of music, the uneasiness of sages, and the new market!
Now Zhu Houcong is also looking forward to the fact that after another generation, when he is old, the scientific talents of the Ming Dynasty will finally have an opportunity to explode.
But at this time, another person also came into his sight.
It was Wu Chengen who Shen Kun mentioned during the banquet later.
Zhu Houcong did not expect that Shen Kun and Wu Chengen were still good friends.
From his mouth, Zhu Houcong learned about Wu Chengen's previous experience.
According to Shen Kun, Wu Chengen should not be nearly forty years old and still not famous far and wide. His wife is the great-granddaughter of Ye Qi, a Huai'an native who was the Minister of Household Affairs during the Hongzhi period. When Ye Qi died, it was Li Dongyang who gave him the gift.
The epitaph written by Ye Qi's nephew was also a Jinshi. Although Wu Chengen's family was a businessman, his wife's family was still very influential in Huai'an.
As for Wu Chengen himself, he has been memorized since he was a child and is extremely smart.
Shen Kun said that the two of them are very similar, and both like all kinds of books and knowledge. According to Shen Kun, Wu Chengen's favorite things are mostly related to literature and art, such as painting, calligraphy, Go, poetry, gods and ghosts...
Even so, Wu Chengen was highly appreciated by the prefect of Huai'an when he was studying at Longxi Academy.
Shen Kun felt that the emperor valued miscellaneous studies, and maybe Wu Chengen would have his own opportunity, so he mentioned him in front of the emperor.
Taking advantage of the banquet given after the palace examination to recommend a friend, what kind of friendship is this? Shen Kun was sweating in his heart. Unexpectedly, the emperor seemed to be more interested in Wu Chengen than him, and asked a lot of questions.
In the minds of Tan Lun and Wang Chonggu at that time, this was the emperor's opportunity to convey to the Jinshi scholars that he valued the direction of the Academy of Sciences - otherwise, how could he "favor" only one person?
Zhu Houcong is thinking about a question these days: when Wu Chengen comes, should he lend him all his "brains" and let him write another "ancient and wonderful book"?
After all, he likes fairies, ghosts, lemurs, monsters, and monkeys, right?
That's right, Zhu Houcong directly issued an order to go to Huai'an to recruit Wu Cheng'en to Beijing.
For many years, Zhu Houcong has always had a problem that he didn't know how to use his efforts: how to let the Ming Dynasty monarchs and people remember that there was an ambitious goal ahead that could be achieved after his death.
The idea of creating a world-wide unity party and proposing this ideal will only allow the ministers to make a great contribution to leave a name in history while he is still alive, which may last for one or two, two or three generations.
But if you are too far ahead, I'm afraid there will still be inertia and internal problems will brew.
Maybe the steam engine was used extremely well, and industry and commerce were quite developed, but there was no motivation to develop more powerful technologies. In the end, the Ming Dynasty turned into a steampunk Ming Dynasty and could not enter the more advanced electronic age.
Zhu Houcong couldn't help but talk to Zheng Kui and others about internal combustion engines, motors, and computers before they even understood steam engines...
How is that different from talking about gods and ghosts?
But Shen Kun mentioned Wu Chengen and inspired Zhu Houcong.
If Wu Chengen is allowed to take action, with his ability to construct a grand novel, can he also incorporate these technologies and scenes that will appear in the future?
When ordinary people watch the excitement, people who understand science can vaguely feel that the various technologies and tools there seem to have their own reasons.
When the time comes, let Wu Cheng'en write a character in the book to boast about his treasure and say: My ears are carved with fine gold, and I can calculate the mysteries of heaven and earth. In addition, I can travel around the world without falling to the earth. I am a clairvoyant who is above the nine heavens.
What I see is sent to this wind ear in the form of invisible Dao patterns. It interprets it by itself and tells me the truth. How can you fathom the power of this physical Dao?
Look, doesn’t this smell just come?
It just so happens that Zhu Houcong only knows the general principles of many things, and if he presents them in this way, then he will praise them with the dignity of the emperor, and interested people will naturally read them carefully.
Just... will Wu Chengen look at himself like he's looking at gods and ghosts?
The news has spread to Huai'an Mansion that Shen Kun was ranked one of the Three Tripods in the imperial examination.
When a businessman's family gave birth to such a glorious descendant, his old father was naturally weeping with joy and held a banquet for the guests.
As a good friend of Shen Kun, Wu Chengen was also among the guests.
Seeing the joy in the Shen family, he was happy for Shen Kun but also felt a little sad. Seeing Shen Kun's father, he also thought of his late father.
Both families are local businessmen. They are not very big, but they are well-off and even wealthy families.
The two businessman fathers also have the same wish, hoping that their descendants can obtain fame and become successful.
For this reason, Wu Cheng'en's father named him Cheng'en, with the courtesy name Ruzhong, in the hope that he would be able to obtain a good name in the future, inherit the emperor's favor, and become a loyal minister who would leave a name in history.
However, until his father's death, Wu Cheng'en still failed to pass the imperial examination, and the Jinshi examination was naturally further out of reach.
In the grand Shen family, Wu Chengen was just a frustrated scholar and not an important guest.
Shen Kun's father was there accompanying local officials from Huai'an Prefecture, and there were also many businessmen and friends sitting at a table not far from Wu Chengen.
Gossips reached Wu Chengen's ears.
"I heard that it was just a lack of intelligence and I chose this path to stand out among the dwarfs."
"Yeah, it's not an official subject, and I won't be able to become an official in the future. Such a big deal, it's like winning the real number one."
"If you can't be an official, what's the use?"
Wu Cheng'en was a little angry for his friend, and said to the scholars and friends at the same table: "Bo Zai will try to win the first place, and now he is one of the three tripods, so he can compete for the top spot in the engineering department. I can't say, it's better.
The days are just like the old Tang Dynasty, when good news spread frequently and he was awarded the title of earl!"
"I can't say it, I really can't say it! Since His Majesty became emperor, he has opened two courses. This time, he only studies business, and among the science subjects, two more leaders will be named earls. Since Bo Zai is the head of the science subjects, this earl has great hope."
"Bo Zai is a late bloomer!"
"What nonsense are you talking about? You're not even forty now. Don't you see, Mr. Zhang is already forty-seven years old. Once he was in the emperor's heart, he soared into the sky!"
Shen Kun, who has not been able to get a Jinshi degree for many years, most of the scholars who usually come and go are relatively middle and lower class.
Stocks with strong potential are naturally in another circle.
Sitting here now, listening to some businessmen friends of Shen Kun's father complaining and looking very unsightly, they naturally share the same hatred.
And their words are also very reasonable.
Under the lofty conversation, the table next to them became quiet for a while. But looking at their thoughtful expressions, they didn't seem to be ashamed, but were thinking about something new.
After a while, I saw the Shen family's housekeeper walking over in a hurry. After looking around, he went straight to Wu Chengen's table.
"Wu Xiucai, you are sitting here! Hurry, your government has sent someone to look for you. There is an imperial edict! The father-in-law who came from the post office to deliver the edict is waiting at your house!"
Everyone was startled, and the one with a loud voice couldn't help asking: "Imperial decree?"
The sound attracted the prefect of Huai'an and others sitting over there to look over.
Wu Chengen was a little confused: "Butler Shen, are you trying to frame me?"
"How dare I! Go back to your house quickly to receive the order!"
Wu Chengen didn't understand why, he was a little dizzy now.
The prefect of Huai'an was also speculating, but remained calm.
Today, the Tongyi Bureau controls the delivery of official documents. At the same time, as an enterprise managed by the Huangming Assets Bureau, after the emperor abolished eunuchs from various places, he also arranged for them to have another use, that is, to be stationed in enterprises in various places as supervisors. eunuch.
At the same time, if the emperor has any imperial decree, it can be delivered first through the Tongyi Bureau, and then the supervisory eunuchs in various enterprises can deliver the decree, which can also improve efficiency.
But why is there a special decree passed to a scholar here?
Things are too unusual, but without knowing the cause, they shouldn't take any action.
After handing over many powers to the State Council, another manifestation of the emperor's increased control over the vast empire was the money bag of the Huangming Assets Bureau, as well as the ability to rely on the specialized Tongyi Bureau to directly transmit decrees to various places.
God knows if this scholar has another identity secretly, or if something else happened here in Huai'an.
In any case, they thought that Wu Chengen was indeed related to the emperor's latest long-term plan and the entire country's future for hundreds of years.