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

Chapter 1101 Change Begins with Education

"Workers' Night School... When did His Royal Highness Prince Zhou actually establish a college in Xi'an!" Someone exclaimed while looking at the article in his hand.

In addition to using the example of movable type printing to illustrate the importance of enlightening the people to the country's economic industry, the article also describes how King Zhou Zhu Su tried to open night schools between several factories in Xi'an to enlighten the people among the factory craftsmen.

Most of these workers were refugees who had been displaced by disasters in the past.

In the eyes of these scholars, these craftsmen had no land and were concentrated in factories. They were the lower class of society with a status lower than that of farmers. They were the cause of unrest in the world and one of the main targets of Liu Sanwu's theory that "foolish people are easy to govern."

However, the night school in the Xi'an factory has achieved excellent results. The workers actively enlightened themselves and accepted cultural indoctrination. Not only has their work efficiency been greatly improved, but some people even used the knowledge they learned and combined it with their own experience to improve the production process in the factory, thereby further improving the factory's production efficiency.

Moreover, after the night school was implemented for a period of time, the security efficiency of the factory also improved. After these people mastered a certain level of culture, they had their own understanding of stability and knew that stability was the result of everyone's own efforts.

Therefore, they cherish the hard-earned peace even more, and during the implementation of night school, some cases of people taking the initiative to bravely do good deeds have emerged.

With the knowledge they gained, they also understood how to protect their own rights: they founded a guild, gathered strength through the guild, and fought against the injustice they encountered. They successfully collected evidence on their own and punished a private factory owner who was extremely hidden and unkind.

Because of the knowledge, they knew how to protect themselves through formal channels, and thus avoided a riot caused by excessive oppression.

From this we can see that enlightening the people does not make them difficult to control. On the contrary, it can better regulate their behavior and ensure their safe and happy lives.

Those who are afraid of the people's enlightenment are essentially the same as the factory owner who oppressed the workers. They want to use the policy of keeping the people ignorant so that the people will have no place to turn to and will have to endure humiliation and swallow their anger...

However, the "easy governance" obtained in this way is nothing more than covering one's ears and stealing the bell. Once these fooled people are extremely frustrated, they can only vent their humiliation in the most tragic "uprising" in the end. Instead of doing this, it is better to follow Confucius's "education for all", let them have knowledge, and let them redress the injustice they have suffered through legitimate channels.

This is the same as the early years of the Hongwu Emperor, who distributed "great edicts" to every household and allowed the people to go to the capital to beat the drum to report. As long as the court officials are willing to speak up for the people, "enlightening the people" will only make the people live and work in peace and contentment, and the Ming Dynasty will last longer.

Liu Sanwu's face turned pale. It could be said that there was no best article written by Song Lian. He could just swallow his pride and refute it, just as if the two of them were "discussing the truth". Perhaps he could win back the hearts of some scholars.

Although I am far inferior to Song Lian in terms of fame and qualifications... but perhaps it can still have some effect.

But now it is no longer possible. Zhou Wang's article uses the movable type printing and night school to illustrate Song Lian's theory. In contrast, his "ignorant people are easy to govern" seems like a flower in the mirror or a moon in the water, with no persuasiveness.

After all, new learning advocates that "practice is the only criterion for testing truth"!

"The situation is over!" Liu Sanwu shook his body, and his already old face seemed to have aged several dozen years. He knew that once these two articles were published, the passionate scholars in the capital who were incited by them would definitely split up and would no longer stand with them.

"It turned out to be like this...it turned out to be like this..."

"King Zhou opened a night school for workers and craftsmen in Xi'an. Why... didn't we receive any information before?"

"Also, these two articles...why, why did Your Majesty take them out today..."

Behind Liu Sanwu, the officials were wailing.

Compared to those passionate scholars, most of these officials gathered around Liu Sanwu for their own interests. Most of them were from the south. His Majesty was attacking the southern nobles and had also revealed his intention to increase the proportion of northerners in the court. They urgently needed to use this incident to gain benefits for the southern nobles so that the southerners could gain a better foothold in the court.

But now... they instinctively sensed the murderous intent. These two articles, as well as the news about the "Workers' Night School", were obviously suppressed by His Majesty on purpose. It was not until today when His Majesty knocked on the palace gate and made a report that all these things were released.

You could have released this information before things got to this point to stop the scholars from knocking on the palace gate and writing petitions, but Your Majesty deliberately waited until things got to this point before taking action to stop them...

Plus, His Majesty's attitude when he entered the palace just now...

These officials only felt their bodies go cold, as if they were being skinned and stuffed with straw.

……

In just a few days, the two articles by Song Lian and Zhu Su caused an uproar among the scholars in the capital. The scholars enthusiastically discussed the matter of enlightening the people. Some supported it and some opposed it. But in short, they could no longer unite to put pressure on the court's decision.

The court meeting at the end of the month a few days later was the deadline set by Zhu Biao. Emperor Yiwen Zhu Biao sat at the head of the table and looked at the ministers below.

"The deadline I mentioned earlier has come. Do you have any suggestions on reopening the special examination and setting up students in the north to enlighten the people?"

In the hall, all the officials were silent. Liu Sanwu stood in the queue of civil officials, praying that they would not be able to come up with a definite proposal, and praying that this matter would be aborted.

To this day, he still believes that enlightening the people will bring disaster to the country and the people... As for the reason, he actually can't explain it clearly.

His reputation has been tied to the theory that "the people are ignorant and easy to govern." For the sake of his own reputation, he instinctively resists change and resists things that he cannot imagine.

Many stubborn old men have this common problem, and Liu Sanwu is no exception.

He hoped that no one in the court would respond to the emperor, but he was soon disappointed. As soon as the emperor finished speaking, Xia Yuanji, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, stepped out.

Xia Yuanji first bowed to the emperor, and then said: "Your Majesty, after calculations by my Ministry of Revenue, the national treasury can now allocate 1.3 million strings of cash to build an academy in the north."

"This is the first batch. If it is effective, our Ministry of Accounts can increase investment in the future."

Minister of Rites Ren Ang also came forward and said, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Rites has already prepared a proposal."

"For the first batch, we intend to establish schools in eight major cities such as Xi'an, Taiyuan, and Shuntian to accumulate experience. Afterwards, we will use these major cities as the foundation and gradually radiate to the surrounding prefectures."

"If there are enough teachers in charge of education and sufficient funds, my Ministry of Rites is willing to guarantee that within 20 years, all prefectures and cities in the north will have official schools, completely changing the current situation of the lack of education in the north."

"Your Majesty, I have made all the preparations for the imperial examination." The person who spoke was the most important official in the court, the Crown Prince's Guardian Ru Yan. "This imperial examination is aimed at recruiting professors to go to the north to enlighten the people. Considering that most people in the north do not know the official language, we adopt the principle of special recruitment and only recruit northern scholars."

"After passing the imperial examination, these scholars will be sent to their hometowns to teach..."

"Because the enlightenment of the people is of great importance, I request that the court establish a new Education Bureau, which will be under the Imperial Academy of the Ministry of Rites and be responsible for the education of the local people. It will also serve as a promotion channel for these Jinshi who teach..."

In just a few words, several important officials had already discussed the matter of enlightening the people, which made Liu Sanwu and others tremble with fear.

This matter... was going too smoothly, really too smoothly. Only then did he realize why Xia Yuanji was unwilling to work with him that day...

It turned out that he had long been aiming to enlighten the people, and was even one of the important driving forces behind the emperor's efforts!

As for the others, the Minister of Rites Ren Ang, the Prince's Guardian Ru Heng...these two were big shots in the court, and they had never spoken out for the purpose of enlightening the people. Previously, Liu Sanwu just thought that these people wanted to stay out of it.

And today, he actually proposed in public how to enlighten the people...

Obviously, these people kept silent until today because of the attention of certain people... Liu Sanwu's heart was finally at peace. The establishment of a new special examination, the construction of an academy, and the enlightenment of the people were unstoppable.

However, the matter was not over yet. Another big shot in the court, the Imperial Censor Ru Taisu, who was known for his uprightness, stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, although the special examination can select scholars to teach, if you want to set up an academy, you still need someone experienced and prudent to supervise it."

"I request Your Majesty to dispatch someone to preside over the establishment of official schools in the eight prefectures in the north."

Zhu Biao smiled when he heard this.

During this period of time, he has been hiding his edge and watching Liu Sanwu and others divide the scholars in the court into north and south. What is his purpose?
Isn't it just to catch all those officials who only care about the differences between the North and the South and only want to consolidate the interests of the South, so that they can be dealt with all at once?

Now is the time to settle accounts... Zhu Biao raised his hand gently: "Okay."

"I have made up my mind. I will dispatch officials, Hanlin scholars and censors from the court to serve as educational supervisors in the north."

"The cabinet has drawn up a list of names. All the ministers on the list should go north and serve as supervisors for me..."

"Yang Qing, please read this list to the adults."

Yang Shiqi responded and unfolded a list that had been prepared long ago, and read it out loud in the hall. The first person on the list was Liu Sanwu, and the others were either those who had followed Liu Sanwu to knock on the gates of the palace to submit petitions, or those who were the most enthusiastic in impeachment in the past few days... Most of them were officials who opposed the establishment of a special examination for northerners and opposed the balance of power between the north and the south in the court.

This list was like a book of life and death, and the officials whose names were read all looked pale. How could they not know that the emperor had been silent for the past few days, waiting for them to jump out so that he could record their names on this list?
Most of them were Hanlin or imperial censors like Liu Sanwu. After being reprimanded by the emperor a few days ago, they thought that they had only raised some objections. The current emperor was known for his benevolence and would not be punished for his words...

It was not until today that they suddenly realized that although the emperor could not punish them for this, he still had many ways to deal with them.

The north! In the eyes of these southerners, it was a bitter and cold barren land, full of beggars everywhere. Sending them to the north was no different from sending them into exile.
Moreover, they were in charge of teaching... This was almost like depriving them of all their power... and they were now away from the center of power.

But this treatment is still reasonable and there is no fault at all!

"Lord Liu?" Seeing Liu Sanwu in a trance, Zhu Biao asked with a smile. Liu Sanwu suddenly came back to his senses, but his face was extremely ugly.

"Does Lord Liu have anything to say?" Zhu Biao asked.

"Your Majesty..." Liu Sanwu's face was pale, and cold sweat had seeped out of his forehead. He thought hard and finally came up with an excuse to shirk responsibility. "Your Majesty's list includes most of the Hanlin and Censors in the capital."

"If we go north, how will we deal with the affairs of the Imperial Academy and the Censorate in the capital?"

"Haha, my dear, you don't have to worry too much about this matter." Zhu Biao said with a smile.

He would be more than happy to be able to send away those officials who wanted to divide the court into the north and the south, so how could he leave this loophole?

"My father and I have already made a plan. The shortage of personnel in the Censorate can be supplemented by the military supervisors accompanying the army."

"These military supervisors have seen a lot of the world in the army, understood the sufferings of the people, and are familiar with military affairs. They can serve as censors and advocate for the people and soldiers."

"As for Hanlin, any person from any prefecture school or even the public who has outstanding expertise, regardless of Confucianism, can be appointed as a Hanlin by the imperial court."

"The world is changing with each passing day. I'm sure you've all seen the power of the study of things. The rules of the Hanlin Academy should also be changed. As a hundred disciplines flourish, the Hanlin Academy should also be open to a hundred disciplines. Anyone who is proficient in various disciplines can become a Hanlin."

"Only when you have actual achievements can you speak meaningfully and not delay the great affairs of the world. From now on, all the posts of censors and imperial scholars will follow this example. If you do well in the academy, you can also come to the capital again and serve as imperial censors in the imperial academy."

"The Imperial Censor is a clean official. A scholar who has learned a lot of skills should serve the country and the people. Officials who are incompetent in practical work but hold high positions and regard themselves as clean officials and just sit back and talk about their personalities should no longer exist."

Liu Sanwu's face froze, but it looked even uglier. "Delaying the world's affairs", "incompetent in practical work", "thinking of themselves as clean officials"... these words seemed to be directed at them by His Majesty.

They were unwilling to admit northerners, and would rather watch the court be filled with southerners, causing resentment among northerners but also wanting to establish a good reputation for themselves. This finally angered His Majesty... So, His Majesty exiled them to the north.

Don't you despise the northerners? I will send you all to the north! ... I guess that's what your majesty is thinking.

Your Majesty...you resent them deeply!

(End of this chapter)