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

Chapter 1096: Enlightenment of the People
The news of Zhu Biao and Liu Sanwu's discussion soon reached the ears of some people in the court. The speculation that the emperor might want to re-select the Jinshi of the special examination caused a certain degree of ripples among the high-ranking officials of the court.

"This... the golden list has been issued, how can it be taken back? Where is the dignity of the court?"

"Once this precedent is set, won't all the scholars who fail to get the prize in the future start causing trouble?"

"Yes, yes. If this continues, the imperial examination system in the Ming Dynasty will never have peace..."

"The Northerners are not as talented in literature and skills as others. How can they have the nerve to cause such trouble?"

"Your Majesty is wise and will never do this. Even if this is the case, we should still speak out impartially..."

"Yes! We must not let this happen!"

A group of officials from the south were whispering in front of the Fengtian Gate.

"But the scholars are full of resentment, how can we ignore it? Moreover, the imperial examinations are filled with southerners, isn't this..." An official from the north joined the discussion.

"…So what? If the scholars are still resentful, they should study hard to avenge the shame of this exam."

"That's right. How can we distinguish between the north and the south when selecting talents?"

"Ridiculous. I am not as skilled as others. What can I say?"

"Alas, Lord Chen, what you said is biased. In the south, there are many academies and books are everywhere. In the north, there is no rooster crowing for thousands of miles. Often, you can search a whole city and find only a few books."

"Even if people are asked to study hard, they should at least have a good teacher and books, right? This is not fair..."

"If this continues, in a few decades, all the officials in the court will be from the south. Will there be officials in the northern counties who will speak up for the northern counties?"

"…Why wait decades? Today, the northern scholars have already rioted!"

"In my opinion, we should just divide the list and try it out..."

"How can you divide the list? You are dividing the north and the south!"

Officials from the north and south argued fiercely. Generally speaking, officials from the south insisted on the talent selection ceremony and promoted people based on their talents. Officials from the north, on the other hand, felt that the court needed to be balanced. If they sat back and watched, the court would be filled with southern officials in the future.

The two sides argued in low voices and exchanged sharp words in front of the Fengtian Gate, but overall, the southern officials had the upper hand. After all, the number of southern officials in the court was overwhelming.

Before they could come to an end, an eunuch came to report: "The time has come, everyone, please prepare to enter the court."

Only then did everyone stop arguing and return to their respective seats.

Today is the court meeting on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month. Zhu Biao inherited Zhu's habit of diligence. Every time he held a court meeting on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month, Zhu Biao was extremely solemn.

This was also the meeting between the emperor and most of his ministers in Beijing twice a month. Therefore, Zhu Biao would inform his ministers of all major state affairs during the court meetings on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month in order to learn from their opinions. It was also an occasion for the emperor to directly discuss state affairs with his ministers.

Almost everyone knew what the emperor would say at this court meeting: undoubtedly the current uproar over the impeachment of the northern scholars for cheating in the imperial examinations.

This matter concerns the future policy of selecting talents for the imperial examinations in the imperial court. Therefore, officials from both the north and the south are all full of fighting spirit.

Among these people with high morale, the most enthusiastic one was Liu Sanwu, the chief examiner of the imperial examination. He guessed that His Majesty would definitely push for a re-examination of the imperial examination papers in this imperial examination.

He had made up his mind that even if he had to review the test papers, he would never change his ranking.

He wanted to use his actions to express the "Tao" he adhered to and to protest against the imperial power.

For this, I would not hesitate to die!
The whips were cracked and the eunuchs shouted shrilly, "Civil and military officials, please enter the palace to pay homage to the emperor." The officials lined up in batches and entered the Fengtian Hall in an orderly manner.

On the throne, Zhu Biao, dressed in the imperial uniform, sat on the dragon throne, looking majestic without even getting angry. Judging from his aura, he was about 50% similar to the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. The ministers who entered the palace and stole a glance at Zhu Biao all thought to themselves: It seems that His Majesty is really going to make a big move today.

"My lords, if you have anything to say, please report it early. If not, please leave the court!" After the ceremony, the eunuch beside Zhu Biao conveyed the emperor's message.

All the ministers were silent. Even if they really had some small matters to report, they knew that the main topic today must be the special examination, so they tactfully kept silent.

"Hmm? Do you have anything to say?" Zhu Biao glanced at the civil and military officials, revealing an unfathomable look. "In that case, I will say one thing first, and you can discuss it..."

"It's coming! It's coming!" the ministers shouted in unison in their hearts.

People like Liu Sanwu had already held their breath, ready to jump out and loudly oppose as soon as Zhu Biao spoke out the truth.

"I intend to open official schools in various prefectures in the north, select children and young people, and teach them the way of the sage..."

"Your Majesty, this matter must not be..." Liu Sanwu took a step forward. When he heard Zhu Biao say the word "north", he shuddered all over and rushed out without thinking too much.

When I came to my senses, I was stunned.

Opening a government school? Shouldn't we talk about the conflict between northern and southern scholars in the imperial examinations?

"Hmm?" Zhu Biao turned his eyes and said, "My dear Liu, is there anything wrong at this time?"

"This... this..." Liu Sanwu's forehead was immediately covered with sweat. He was stunned for a long time before his mind came to its senses: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty is going to open an official school?"

"Each prefecture already has its own official school. Why does Your Majesty need to do this?"

At this time, all the ministers were also confused: Your Majesty ignored the top priority of the confrontation between the northern and southern scholars, and insisted on talking about official learning at the court meeting... What is his plan?
"Haha, each prefecture has an official school." Zhu Biao laughed. "The original purpose of the official school in the prefecture is to select outstanding scholars, train them, and send them to the capital to take the imperial examination."

"Most of the scholars I have chosen are those who have read the books of sages and come to the capital to seek official positions. What I hope is that more people can read and understand reason."

"All professions in the world have their own traditions, not just Confucius and Mencius. Reading and knowing how to read can help all professions in the world continue to be passed down, and can help the people understand reason and righteousness. Among all professions in the world, is being an official the only one that requires knowing how to read and know how to understand reason?"

"If one day, I hope that all people in the world can understand writing and know reason and righteousness."

"If that day comes, the Chinese heritage will never be cut off. The people will be united, and the Ming dynasty will continue to be passed down."

Zhu Biao said.

His words caused an even greater uproar among the officials. The officials were whispering to each other, and it was almost impossible to stop. The Jinwu in the palace shouted "Silence!" several times, but it failed to suppress the noise.

This... Your Majesty actually wants to enlighten the people!

Such big news made all the officials in the court feel buzzing. Compared with this, even the confrontation between the scholars in the north and the south that they were worried about just now seemed insignificant.

Scholars all have great ideals. In the words of Zhang Zai of the Northern Song Dynasty, it is "to establish a mind for heaven and earth, to establish a destiny for the people, to carry on the lost knowledge of the past sages, and to bring peace to the world for all eternity."

But saying it is one thing, and thinking it in the heart is another. Why are scholars so high and mighty? It is because they have monopolized knowledge and the power of literacy. Because they are scholars, they are so high and mighty, so they can herd the people, and knowledge is unattainable. Because they have acquired knowledge, they are superior to others and unattainable.

And Your Majesty, you actually hope that people in other professions can also learn to read and write? If this is really the case, then where is the superiority of scholars in the future?
Knowledge is the most essential difference between the scholar class and other classes. Although the Ming Dynasty was not as corrupt as Annan, where the gentry monopolized knowledge and the rest had no chance to advance, the scholar class in the Ming Dynasty was also essentially closed.

If you want to become a noble scholar, you have to learn from a teacher, study hard, and endure the pain of learning, only then can you cross the class and become a scholar. Whether you can read and write is the basis for the nobility of scholars.

Now, His Majesty the Emperor wants to spread this foundation to the lower classes, hoping that farmers will be able to read, carpenters will be able to read… Then where is the nobility of scholars? Where is their superiority?

Even if we take a step back, the people now have a blind worship of scholars. If the people are enlightened, will they still be obedient?
How can these people manage the people and "herd the people"?
"Your Majesty, this is absolutely not allowed!" Someone immediately jumped out and advised Zhu Biao.

“The Master said: The people can be made to follow a course, but they cannot be made to understand it.”

"Once the people are enlightened, they will become ambitious and the government will have difficulty controlling them. This will surely lead to chaos in the world... This is the way to disaster and chaos! I beg Your Majesty to revoke your order!"

Several other officials came out to second the proposal, and Zhu Biao said with a smile, "My dear minister, this is wrong."

"'To fail to teach the people to fight is to abandon them; a good man teaches the people for seven years and they can go to war; to raise the good but not teach them is to discourage them', this is also the words of the sage."

"The word 'can' can be divided into two parts: one is should I do it, the other is can I do it."

"Based on the meaning of the sage's other words, the word '可' in this sentence should mean 'can'. The sage does not mean to fool the people, but only points out the current situation of 'people living in daily life without knowing it' and laments it."

"The sage also lamented that the people were ignorant, but now it has been thousands of years since the sage's time. If we don't enlighten the people, when will we be able to realize the sage's ideal world?"

Zhu Biao's knowledge of Confucianism was no less than that of these court officials. In addition to his current status as the emperor, this interpretation of "the people can be made to follow it but not to know it" can basically be regarded as the final conclusion of this controversial sage's words.

Several officials who opposed the teaching were speechless for a moment. Liu Sanwu also disagreed with enlightening the people. In his opinion, knowledge was a precious thing, and imparting knowledge should be done with great care. How could it be easily imparted to the humble people?

After thinking hard for a while, he came up with a reason, so he said, "Your Majesty, it will cost a lot to enlighten the people."

"I hope Your Majesty will think twice before acting..."

"Haha, Mr. Liu is worrying too much. I have naturally thought about it twice." Zhu Biao's face was calm.

"The national treasury received several beds of gold shipped from Japan and Fengmingzhou a few days ago."

"These gold and silver piled up in the national treasury are also dead things. Moreover, I only want to implement this measure in the north for the time being."

"Absolutely no problem." Zhu Biao said confidently.

Liu Sanwu was stunned. He knew that Daming was very rich now, but he didn't know it was so rich.

Has the money in the national treasury become so abundant?
At that moment, some people came forward to persuade Zhu Biao that he should not be so wasteful and should just pile the money in the national treasury, as who knows when the money might be needed for an emergency.
But at this time, there were already many new academic articles demonstrating the relationship between wealth and economy, and soon someone raised a counter-argument that too much money in the treasury was not a blessing for the Ming Dynasty. It was more likely to restrict the development of the Ming Dynasty. Only by circulating these gold and silver could we create a steady stream of tax revenue and wealth for the country. Otherwise, the gold and silver in the treasury would only pile up more and more, and the Ming Dynasty would become poorer and poorer.

Although this theory is not yet conclusive, it is clear that it cannot be used as an excuse to refute Zhu Biao. Then someone asked: "Your Majesty wants to set up more schools, where will the teachers come from?"

"Now, all the teachers in the prefectural schools are officials. Could it be that Your Highness is planning to recruit a large number of officials to serve as teachers?"

"Haha, we can't recruit them in large numbers," Zhu Biao said. "So, I plan to follow my father's example of selecting tax officials and hold another special examination."

"This special examination is specially designed for selecting teachers for official schools. Because I only plan to use the north as a pilot for the time being, therefore, this special examination will only recruit northern scholars." The map of Yan State was finally unfolded to the end, and Zhu Biao's true intention was finally revealed.

The hall was cleared again, and then the noise became even louder. Countless people came out to advise that this must not be done.

Most of the northern officials were still waiting to see what was happening, but after hearing this, they were moved and began to support Zhu Biao's decision.

You know, after the last reform of the imperial examination, most of the current imperial examination candidates are sent down to the grassroots level for training, and at most become a county magistrate or something like that. It is simply wishful thinking to want to become a high-ranking official in Beijing once you pass the examination.

And this official school instructor... who is in charge of teaching, is actually a job that is even more noble than that of a county magistrate, and he works in the provincial capital. It is much more comfortable than those Jinshi who go to remote counties to make political achievements.

Moreover, if the old practice of the Taxation Bureau in selecting scholars is followed, this instructor must have a rank and can be promoted in the future... In this way, he is even more advantageous than the previous special examination Jinshi.

This clearly shows that Your Majesty values ​​northerners and wants to use this opportunity to support northern scholars!

Seeing that all the officials in the court were confused by this nuclear bomb, those who opposed it were like a pile of scattered sand, while those who supported it quickly reacted and began to unite around the reasons Zhu Biao put forward. Among them, there were also those who supported enlightening the people and were truly concerned about the country. They had already put aside the conflict between the scholars in the north and south and began to carefully think about whether this matter was good or bad for the Ming Dynasty... Zhu Biao smiled.

Using this as an excuse, he could gather scholars from the north, promote the enlightenment of the people, and resolve the disputes between the northern and southern lists at the same time. This could be said to kill two birds with one stone... As for the resistance in promoting the enlightenment of the people, Zhu Biao believed that with the indignation and unity of the northern scholars, this matter would surely succeed.

This is... the east wind that my father left for me.

(End of this chapter)