Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 1005: Hongwu Strategy
The next day, the Wuqu Academy was crowded with people for the entrance examination. Fortunately, many Annan students had received their number plates yesterday and arranged in order according to their number plates, so the order was barely in good order.

Wuqu Academy covers a large area, and there are many houses that have not yet been built. There are many seats placed on the open ground, which can accommodate all the students. The students are divided into ordinary and elite classes on the left and right. The students on the left side of the elite class are mostly dressed in luxurious clothes, chatting and laughing, and they are obviously the children of officials from the Annan noble family.

Most of the students on the right looked reserved and wore old clothes. They just followed the instructions silently and sat on the seats on the right.

The two groups of students are clearly divided.

When everyone was seated, the teacher of the academy placed two large boards in the middle of the open space. The topic for the elite course was to write an essay on the theme of "Isn't it a pleasure to learn and practice it from time to time?"

Although it is an art of writing, using this well-known sentence from the Analects of Confucius as the topic can only be said to be the simplest art of writing, and it is not difficult for these Annan students who come from aristocratic families.

Although this question is not difficult, compared with the general subject questions on the other question board, the difference in difficulty is like heaven and earth.

On the question board for the general subject, the question written on it was: "What are the five constant virtues?"

The Five Constant Virtues do not refer to the Five Constant Virtues of later generations, but to the moral principles followed by all countries in this era that are influenced by Chinese Confucian culture, namely "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness."

In other words, as long as you can write these five words, you will pass the general subject exam.

Such simple exam questions really made many elite Annan students who saw the ordinary subject exam questions couldn't help but reveal strange expressions, and they couldn't help but laugh at the "illiterate" students of the ordinary subject.

"You can only answer such ridiculous questions... Do you have the nerve to come and become my disciple?"

"I'm afraid even a three-year-old can answer this test question."

"It's really ridiculous... a peasant is a peasant, yet he still dreams of learning from the saints."...

"No noise during the entrance exam!" a teacher shouted. The students in the elite department lowered their voices, but they kept casting mocking glances at the students in the ordinary department.

On the other hand, in the general medicine department, many students had flushed faces and were sitting with their heads down, fidgeting.

There followed another period of silence that embarrassed the ordinary students. "Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness" only had five words, so the ordinary students who knew how to write naturally finished writing them quickly. However, the essays of the elite students were not finished so quickly, so they lit a stick of incense to keep time during the entire exam.

The time had not yet come, and the ordinary scientists did not dare to leave. They could only sit there anxiously, wondering if they would have to endure the mocking gazes of the elite scientists.

When the incense sticks finally burned out and someone came to collect the test papers, several Ming Dynasty instructors began to mark them on the spot.

The elite students were mostly from noble families. Although the level of the Annan nobles might not be as sophisticated as that of the Ming scholars, they could still write a simple "learning" article easily. Therefore, not many people were eliminated from the elite department.

On the other hand, although the questions in the general subjects were extremely simple, there were many people who could not even read all the characters and were just there to make up the numbers. Therefore, there were many people who could not answer or wrote the wrong characters, and people were constantly asked to leave the teaching center. Once someone in the general subject was asked to leave the teaching center, people in the elite subject would make faces at each other, and some even made noises of ridicule.

This makes it even more embarrassing for students of ordinary subjects.

However, the registration threshold for the general class was much lower, so the number of people who took the exam was also large. Although most of them were eliminated, the number of people left was still comparable to that of the elite class. In the end, there were about 200 people left in the general class, and the same was true for the elite class.

Brothers Li Cheng and Li Cang were among them. Although the questions were not difficult for them, they felt relieved that they had successfully entered the school of King Zhou of the Ming Dynasty and lived up to the instructions of their father, Li Ji'e. Then they heard the instructor say, "You can enter my Wuqu School of the Ming Dynasty tomorrow to study."

"The headmaster of the academy is His Majesty King Zhou of the Ming Dynasty. From today on, all of you can be considered His Majesty King Zhou's disciples."

"But if you want to become His Highness's disciple and receive His Highness's true teachings, you still need to work hard. His Highness has already passed down the message that only those who are excellent in academics and rank among the top will have the opportunity to be accepted as His Highness's disciples."

As he spoke, the instructor looked at the ordinary science students on the right and said, "Not only the elite students, but also the ordinary students like you have a chance."

"Every month, our school will hold a school-wide exam, and all students from the general and elite classes will be treated equally and participate as one."

"If ordinary science students can get the top score in the exam, they will have the opportunity to be accepted as a disciple by His Highness."

"How can these guys who only know how to write five words have a chance to be on the top of the list?" Someone among the elite students suddenly said this, followed by a burst of hilarious laughter.

Some of the ordinary students blushed, but they didn't dare to say anything.

"The King of Zhou brought these peasants to serve as foils for us." Li Cang thought in the crowd. "He can pretend to be 'teaching everyone' to build up his reputation, and he can also find a group of people to serve as foils so that the children of the noble families who are enrolled will not have a bad ranking and can be satisfied with everyone... This King of Zhou really knows how to deal with the world."

He did not think that those peasants who had no family heritage and had little access to books could pass the exams better than the children of the noble families. "I had thought that if this wise man really wanted to teach the common people of Great Yue, there would be some hidden dangers. Now it seems that he is unwilling to risk the disapproval of the noble families of Great Yue."

The reason why the Annan nobles were able to monopolize the bureaucracy was essentially because they relied on their monopoly of knowledge in the entire Annan territory. If the prince of the Ming Dynasty really lost his mind and wanted to mix the children of the Annan nobles with the peasants to "educate all without distinction", then as a noble, he would certainly be extremely disgusted.

It would be much more reasonable to divide it into two subjects. The so-called monthly examinations seem to treat everyone equally, but in fact, their elite subjects must trample on the so-called ordinary subjects... This will only further prove that the Annan nobles are right to monopolize official positions. This Ming Highness is obviously trying to please Annan in a subtle way, so as to win the favor and support of the Annan nobles for the Ming court.

That’s right, only in this way can both sides achieve a win-win situation... Li Cang thought to himself.

He felt that his analysis of this so-called Wu Qu Academy was extremely accurate.

……

"I set up the academy not to have the children of the noble families trample on ordinary people." In the backyard of the Wuqu Port government office, Zhu Su said to Huang Guan, who was left by him to take charge of the academy. "The children of poor families and merchants in the ordinary subjects are the ones we really want to win over."

"But we cannot win over the target too blatantly... Instead, we need to subtly and quietly stir up opposition between them, and we must always stand in the position of the arbitrator and adjudicate their disputes impartially."

"In this way, the ordinary class, who are a disadvantaged group, will naturally be fond of us. And the samurai of the elite class will not be able to make any comments on our actions. You must remember this."

Huang Guan quickly wrote down what Zhu Su said on paper, and asked, "Your Highness, what is the deep meaning of this move? If it just makes these two groups of students hostile to each other, what good will it do us..."

"You must know that we are taking risks by doing this. We still need the support of the Annan nobles. If we cause the Li Jixian and other nobles to become alert and reject us, we will be unable to move forward in Annan."

"But is it really necessary to provoke a few students into a small fight?"

"There are many noble families in Annam, and the country has been fighting with Champa for a long time. All industries are in decline, and industries such as papermaking are particularly underdeveloped. Most books have to be imported from the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, the knowledge of the Annanese is mostly monopolized by the noble families. In addition to monopolizing knowledge, the noble families also monopolized the Annan imperial examination with the help of knowledge, so that all power in the Annan court is controlled by them. Their families are rich and prosperous from generation to generation, while other people have no chance to advance." Zhu Su said.

"Shang Bin, do you think that these people who have not been able to advance have any resentment in their hearts?"

Huang Guan was stunned, thought for a moment, and said, "Then I think there is resentment. But Your Highness, what does this have to do with the division of subjects in the academy?"

"Haha," Zhu Su laughed. "The reason why the academy is divided into different subjects is actually to clearly divide these Annan students into different classes."

"Those who have inherited the tradition and know the way of the saints and have applied for the elite category are naturally the children of the Annan nobles; and those who have applied for the ordinary category are naturally the ordinary people of Annan who have no chance of advancement."

"Don't forget, the ultimate goal of our Ming Dynasty is to recover the old territory of the Tang Dynasty and change Annan into the old Jiaozhi County of our China. While our Central Plains was in chaos, Annan has been independent for a hundred years. Most Annan people are unwilling to admit that they are also the origin of our China. Although our Ming Dynasty is a strong dragon, if Annan resists, even if we can conquer Annan, how can we maintain long-term stability?"

"The nobles are the vested interests of Annan. They have been able to pass down wealth and honor from generation to generation because the Annan court is still in existence. My Great Ming wants to make Annan a county, but will they agree?"

"Since they are unwilling, we naturally have to find a way to support a group of people who are willing to support our Ming Dynasty to rule Annan... and these ordinary students are potential supporters of our Ming Dynasty."

"The more dissatisfied they are with the nobles, the more likely they are to support the Ming Dynasty... Do you understand what I mean?"

"I understand." Huang Guan thought for a long time and finally nodded. Then he said: "Your Highness originally wanted to use these people as seeds to cultivate a group of Annan people who support our Ming Dynasty... However, the power of these people is far different from those noble families."

"Can our Ming Dynasty really rely on them?"

After all, they were literati of the feudal era, and their heads were determined by their butts. Even if they were as smart as Huang Guanzhe, they still failed to fully understand the power of the people and believed that the gentry were the most fundamental force that determined the general trend of the world.

Zhu Su did not explain in detail to him, but just said: "Not all the people in the general department are ordinary people."

"Most of them are poor families with small businesses and merchants. These people cannot get involved in the court because the government is controlled by the nobles, but if they unite, their power will not be weak."

"We can never rely on the Annan nobles. The only people we can support are these humble families. From another perspective, as long as the Ming Dynasty can provide them with a chance to advance, they will surely be loyal to the Ming Dynasty, right?"

Huang Guan was convinced. He nodded, his eyes sparkling with wonder, and praised: "Your Highness is very far-sighted. A teaching academy has such a long-term plan."

“The students really admire him.”

"Haha, there's no need to say more polite words." Zhu Su said with a smile. "Those nobles who are in the elite department are probably just here to gild their reputations. Few of them will seriously learn from our Ming Dynasty's rule."

"You can just randomly arrange some seemingly reasonable courses in the elite department, focusing on something that is vague and mysterious, but in fact does not explain anything clearly."

"On the contrary, the general subjects... the curriculum must be comprehensive. In addition to the various basics I have just learned, the history of Annan, 'There is no high or low in learning', 'Are there any different kinds of kings, princes, generals and ministers?' and the like must be taught with emphasis."

"We must make them feel competitive against the injustice of their fate. Only then can we take action."

"The students understand." Huang Guan laughed. After fighting the religious scammers in Sindhu for so many years, he was now very familiar with brainwashing.

Zhu Su gave Huang Guan many instructions on the details. After Huang Guan wrote them down on paper, he took his leave.

After arranging the first step for the Ming Dynasty to win the hearts of the people of Annan, Zhu Su sat on the chair and poured himself a cup of tea. Then he thought of the instructions that Zhu had given him in the palace the night before he set out for Annan.

"In history, when the fourth prince conquered Annan, after much reflection, it was because his methods were not good enough." Zhu shook his gray-haired head to show his disdain for the methods of the fourth prince Zhu Di. "It's just a small place like Annan, and we lost it again. Isn't it shameful?"

"Old Fourth is still too rash in his actions. That's why I summoned you to the palace at night so that we can have a good talk."

"Please speak, father." Zhu Su said respectfully.

"The fourth brother acted too hastily. When he saw that Li Jili was trying to seize power and usurp the throne, he hastily mobilized his troops in his name." Old Zhu pointed to the position of Annan in the Kunyu Wanguotu on the screen and analyzed to Zhu Su.

"That bastard has fought many battles but doesn't know how to know himself and the enemy. When the Ming Dynasty attacked Annan, we were unstoppable at the beginning, but then rebellions broke out one after another, forcing the Ming Dynasty to give up this place. Why? Because it was unpopular."

"At first, the Fourth Prince punished the people and conquered the traitor Le Qui Ly, so the people of Annan were naturally willing to support him... But after the success, the Fourth Prince did not give the Annan people enough benefits, but directly transferred a group of officials from the imperial court, thinking that this would allow him to rule Annan."

"How can this be possible? Isn't this just reckless? It caused the loss of such a large piece of land. This bastard really pissed me off."

"He hasn't learned anything from me!" Old Zhu said with heartache as he looked at the vast territory of Annan.

(End of this chapter)