Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 138 Zhu Biao's Hidden Concerns, the Reasons for the Eight-Legged Essay [Two-in-One]

When Zhu Yuanzhang asked about the experiment, Zhu Biao smiled and said, "The experiment was completed successfully. I think it's ready for practical use. However, Liu Kuan and the people from the Science and Technology Department still want to conduct the next stage of experiments. They say they want to test the stability of the train and continue to improve it."

Zhu Yuanzhang paused for a moment, then said, "Although I haven't seen that train, it can carry millions of kilograms of cargo and thousands of soldiers, running day and night, north and south. It is truly a national treasure."

"While such a powerful device can certainly bring many benefits, if an accident occurs, it will be a major disaster. Liu Kuan and the others are right to be cautious."

Zhu Biao said, "I understand this, but I long to see a train running across the land of the Ming Dynasty sooner rather than later."

"Hahaha," Zhu Yuanzhang laughed out loud a few times and said, "You can't eat hot tofu in a hurry. We have plenty of time, so take your time."

Zhu Biao nodded when he heard this, but a hint of imperceptible worry flashed across his eyes.

He is worried about himself.

Although after Liu Kuan's reminder, he not only unloaded many state affairs and was much more relaxed than before, he also practiced the Five Animal Exercises every morning and tried his best to follow the advice of the imperial physician in terms of diet.

But the imperial physicians Dai Sigong and others who had jointly examined him also said so.

He was born with a weaker constitution than the average person, but because he was well cared for, it didn't show.

Therefore, even if he pays attention to maintenance, it would be quite dangerous if he really encounters any disease.

The best thing to do is to try not to get sick.

There were some things that Dai Sigong and others didn't say, but Zhu Biao had some knowledge of medicine. After hearing these words, he understood that even if he took good care of his body, he probably wouldn't live long in the future.

Now he only hopes to die after his parents to fulfill his filial duty.

However, it was precisely because he had a premonition that he would not live long that Zhu Biao was somewhat anxious to develop the Ming Dynasty according to Liu Kuan's suggestions, hoping that while he was alive, the Ming Dynasty could take a few more steps forward on the right path.

He hid this worry very well because he didn't want his parents, wife and children to worry too.

While Zhu Biao was thinking about his own things, he heard Zhu Yuanzhang say, "Biao'er, remember to keep Wang Baobao's affairs secret. Neither your second brother nor Guanyinnu can tell anyone."

Zhu Biao nodded, "I understand."

···
When the sun sets.

In the outer city of the capital, among the locust trees.

Deng finally showed a little bit of good face towards Zhu Chong because Zhu Chong coaxed her a lot and used the wages he had saved from working as a porter to buy some good wine and meat to welcome her.

Deng doesn't care about fine wine and good meat.

Whether she was the eldest daughter of the Duke of Wei or the second wife of the Prince of Qin, what delicious food had she not eaten?
What she cared about was that Zhu Chong specifically gave all the good wine and meat to her, and that bitch Guanyin Nu couldn't taste any of it and could only smell it.

Look, this bitch must have been tempted by the smell of wine and meat, so she went into the kitchen to cook porridge.

There is nothing at home, so I can only cook millet porridge.

But how can millet porridge compare with the fine wine and meat that Zhu Chong bought?

Just as Deng was happily enjoying the wine and meat in an ordinary restaurant in the capital, someone came to the courtyard.

It was actually a eunuch from the palace and a team of the emperor's personal soldiers.

"Your Majesty has issued an oral order. Zhu Chongping's wife, Mrs. Deng, please come out and listen to it!"

Deng was stunned for a moment before she realized that she was the one being talked about.

Although she acted like a spoiled child in front of Zhu Chong, she did not dare to show any disrespect to Zhu Yuanzhang. When she came to her senses, she came out to receive his order.

As a family, Zhu Chong, Guanyin Nu, and Deng also came out to greet them. Of course, Zhu Chong's face was almost full of reluctance.

"My daughter-in-law, Mrs. Deng, respectfully listens to the teachings of the Holy Spirit."

Deng was not really ignorant of etiquette, she was just rude in her heart. At this time, she performed the etiquette in a very formal manner when receiving the imperial edict.

She was both nervous and inexplicably expectant at the moment - after all, her father was the Duke of Weiguo, and he died of illness due to working hard for the Ming Dynasty. His Majesty always treated her with favor, and this time should be no exception, right?
Perhaps this oral order was to ask her to move away from here and reunite with her son in the former Prince Jin's Mansion.

Just as Deng was imagining escaping her misery, she heard the eunuch announce, "The Emperor said: 'Daughter Deng, the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Wei, we are conscious of Deng Yu's hard work and great contributions, and his death in the service of state, so we are pretending to be ignorant of your misdeeds in the Qin Palace.'"

"Much of the Second Brother's evil deeds were instigated by you. Now that he has been demoted to a commoner, we have brought you here to share his hard times. Our original intention was to teach you to repent, temper yourself, and mend your ways."

"Who would have thought that not only would you not show any remorse, but you would actually become even more aggressive, acting recklessly and vehemently, completely losing the demeanor of a Duke's daughter and a Prince's concubine."

"How can you teach our grandson well with such a horrible appearance? If you continue like this, you will never see our grandson Shang Bing again!"

"Appreciate this!"

Deng was shocked after hearing this.

She never expected that this oral order was actually a reprimand, and even a warning that she could never see Shang Bing again.

"Did Mrs. Deng hear clearly?" asked the eunuch.

Deng came to her senses and shouted like crazy, "I want to see His Majesty! I want to see Shang Bing!"

The eunuch said, "It seems that you have heard everything, Madam Deng. I will report your words to the Emperor truthfully."

After saying this, he bowed and left.

Deng sat down in the muddy courtyard, no longer howling, but as if she had lost her soul.

···
···
Just after the Lantern Festival, the Ming Dynasty court, under the control of Zhu Yuanzhang, made a lot of big moves.

The first major event was the formal establishment of the Yunnan Provincial Administration!

Zhongqing Road was changed to Yunnan Prefecture, and Runan Hou Mei Sizu and Pingzhang Pan Yuanming were ordered to temporarily serve as the left and right provincial governors to sort out Yunnan's political affairs.

During this time and space, although the Ming army won a great victory at Baishi River a month ahead of schedule, the subsequent process of taking Yunnan was not much different from that in history.

First, the Yuan Liang Wang Ba Zha La Wal secretly escaped to Luozuo Mountain in fear, but he did not commit suicide, but was killed by the tiger squat cannons of the Ming army that entered the mountain to pursue him.

It is said that the death was quite horrific and very undignified.

This man was considered a fake dragon in the chaotic times at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, but he ended up like this. Even Zhu Yuanzhang sighed when he heard the news.

First, the main force of the Yunnan Yuan army was destroyed in a battle, and the Yuan Liang Prince was killed. Then, the remaining Yuan army led by Yuan Liang Prince's right prime minister Shi Bu was once again defeated at the Chishui River, and the other remaining Yuan forces in Yunnan began to surrender.

At first, some people fought hard against the Ming army, but were defeated and surrendered.

Then some people waited for the Ming army to attack the city and surrendered it.

Afterwards, the Wumeng, Wusa, Dongchuan, Mangbu, Jianchang and other barbarian tribes were shocked to hear that the Ming army had won successive victories over the Yuan army, and they surrendered.

Even when the Ming army was still a hundred miles away, separated by one or two prefectures, the barbarian tribes sent envoys with seals granted by the Yuan court to surrender to the army led by Fu Youde, Mu Ying and Lan Yu.

It seemed that they were afraid that if they surrendered too slowly, they would be listed as targets of attack by the Ming army, or that they would be attacked by the surrounding barbarians who had already surrendered to the Ming.

Thus, from the beginning of November when the Ming army entered Yunnan to the beginning of December, in just over a month, the Ming army had taken over three-quarters of Yunnan, leaving only the Duan family still occupying western Yunnan.

There were only three real major battles here. The first was the Baishi River where the main force of the Yuan army was defeated, the second was the capture of Qujing, and the third was the Battle of Chishui River where the hope of the Yuan army was completely cut off.

Although there were many remaining battles, they were not worth mentioning.

When the good news from Yunnan came one after another, Zhu Yuanzhang was not carried away by the victory. Instead, as he had planned long ago, he sent a series of imperial edicts to the armies led by Fu Youde, Mu Ying and Lan Yu to guide the next move of the Ming army.

For example, you should treat the surrendered barbarian tribes well, but you must remain vigilant and be careful of the other party's tricks like poisoning.

For example, if there are soldiers in the army who are unable to adapt to the climate and soil of Yunnan and become ill, each guard can allow 100 people to return to their original guard post.

Then, he reminded Fu You and others to send the captured main generals of the Yuan army and their families, as well as the surrendered envoys of the barbarian tribes, to the capital as soon as possible.

Then, he informed the commander-in-chief of the gains and losses of all dynasties in the southwest, and summarized their experience, saying that he should learn from Zhuge Liang, recruit heroes from the barbarian tribes as Liao generals, trade with the barbarians, and obtain their gold, silver, cattle and horses for military use.

Of course, the most important intention was to establish the Yunnan Commandery and its subordinate guard posts.

As for the decree issued before the establishment of the Yunnan Provincial Administration, it was to let generals such as Fu Youde make preparations to destroy the Duan family and take Dali!
The second major event was the establishment of the Ming Dynasty Navy Governor's Office!

All existing Ming naval forces were placed under the jurisdiction of the Naval Governorate, under the Inland Waterway Division. Furthermore, three naval branches, the Beiyang, Donghai, and Nanhai, would be established, with headquarters in Dengzhou, Ningbo, and Guangzhou, respectively.

In addition, the Daming Treasure Shipyard was established in the capital, specializing in the development of sea vessels and warships.

When the knowledgeable people in the court and the opposition heard the news, they immediately realized that Zhu Yuanzhang, like his predecessors, had turned his attention to the ocean.

For a moment, some were happy and some were sad.

The third major event was to determine the time of the imperial examination and the more specific scope of the examination.

As in history, the provincial examination was scheduled for early August.

As for the scope of the examination - although the court announced last year that "Confucianism accounts for two-thirds of the compulsory examination and mathematics accounts for one-third of the compulsory examination", it did not specify which books would be tested.

There are numerous Confucian classics, not to mention the vast number of works by our predecessors; even many mathematical works were circulated at the time.

If the imperial court does not specify what the exam will be about, how can candidates study in a targeted manner?

Therefore, as soon as the relevant news was announced, it attracted the attention and discussion of scholars from all over the country.

Confucianism remained much the same as in history, based primarily on the Four Books and Five Classics, but with the addition of several classic works by historians and legalists.

As for mathematics, several mathematical works that were relatively famous in the early Ming Dynasty, such as "Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art", are listed.

Upon hearing this news, many scholars of common origin and ordinary talent wailed, and some even complained about Old Zhu...
The eighteenth day of the first lunar month.

Moon rising building.

This is a teahouse with an elegant name but relatively affordable prices.

At this time, Liu Kuan was drinking tea in a compartment on the second floor, listening to some scholars in the compartments on the left and right and in the hall outside discussing the content of the provincial examination.

A young scholar in the hall said, "They say the current ruler came from a poor family and has a heart for common people like us. Back then, they promoted official education and established policies that would benefit students, so that those from poor backgrounds could also receive education and even enter the officialdom through their studies."

"But now, not only has the provincial exam added mathematics, but the Confucianism section, in addition to the Four Books and Five Classics, also requires knowledge of several classics by historians and legalists."

"Books are hard to come by. Even Mr. Qianxi (Song Lian's pseudonym), who came from a prominent family, had to copy books to read some Confucian works, let alone us?"

"Apart from the Four Books and Five Classics, which other books published by the imperial court could poor scholars easily read?"

"We finally reopened the imperial examinations, but now they have these regulations. Isn't this making things difficult for us?"

After this person finished speaking, he immediately attracted a lot of agreement in the hall.

"Yes."

"In my opinion, he doesn't want to hold the imperial examination at all. He messes it up so that we can give up."

"You've been high and mighty for over a decade, how could you possibly lower your head to look down upon poor scholars like us?"

"···"

Hearing the faint sounds of discussion outside, Liu Kuan first shook his head, thinking that these people were ridiculous.

They can come to Yuesheng Tower to drink tea and chat, and they even have the nerve to say that they are poor - if they are poor, then shouldn’t the real poor people in Huaishu be called beggars?

Then, Liu Kuan remembered the discussion he had with Lao Zhu about this matter years ago.

I remember it was snowing that day, but not as heavy as the first snow.

Liu Kuan braved the snow and arrived at Fengxian Hall. He bowed and heard Old Zhu say quietly from his dragon throne, "Yesterday, I discussed for a long time with several officials from the Ministry of Rites and some veteran scholars about the scope of next year's provincial examinations, but we still couldn't come to a conclusion."

"Liu Kuan, do you have any suggestions on this matter?"

He was initially slightly surprised, then a little worried, thinking to himself, "Could it be that even with the addition of mathematics, natural sciences, and various crafts, the eight-legged essay will still be created?"

So he talked about how Zhu Yuanzhang used the Four Books and Five Classics and eight-legged essays to select scholars in later generations, and pointed out that this examination method would restrict people's thinking and was not conducive to the development of science and technology. Therefore, he was criticized and even scolded by many people in later generations.

After hearing this, Old Zhu didn't get angry, but just frowned slightly.

Then he said, "In fact, after the Hu Weiyong case ended in the 13th year of Hongwu, we had the idea of ​​reopening the imperial examination system."

"Because Hu Weiyong was able to arrange so many of his followers in the court, the imperial examination system played an indispensable role."

"We finally managed to depose a prime minister, so naturally we don't want anyone else to become a powerful official through the recommendation system."

"So I thought of the imperial examination system – the fact that it thrived throughout the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties, and was even revived during the Yuan Dynasty, shows how useful it was for selecting talent for the imperial court."

"If the imperial examination doesn't work, then let's do the imperial examination!"

"Then we convened many senior scholars to discuss how the imperial examination should be conducted and what specific content should be tested."

"After just a few discussions, we came up with a plan—very similar to what you just described: the Four Books and Five Classics, and the Eight-Legged Essay for the Imperial Examination!"

At that moment, Zhu Yuanzhang paused, looked at him with his sharp eyes, and asked, "Liu Kuan, do you know why?"

He was a little confused at the time and shook his head.

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed and said with emotion, "Using the Four Books and Five Classics as the content and the eight-legged essay as the selection criteria, this imperial examination system, which seemed very good at the time, was not something we could have come up with after a few discussions with a few veteran scholars. It's just a rehash of what others have said before."

"Eight-part essays first appeared in the Tang Dynasty. They became quite famous in the early Song Dynasty and began to be valued by scholars. By the time the Song Dynasty settled in the south of the Yangtze River, it had become the mainstream writing style for the imperial examinations."

"At that time, several senior scholars highly praised the eight-part essay, and I also realized that it could constrain the thinking of scholars. That is why I came up with the idea of ​​using the eight-part essay to select scholars."

"I'm not afraid to tell you that I chose this method for selfish reasons. I wanted to use the eight-legged essay to control the thoughts of scholars throughout the world, so that they would remember the principles of loyalty and filial piety, and honestly help me and my descendants govern the Ming Dynasty without any delusions."

"But when we chose the eight-legged essay, it wasn't all out of selfishness. We also wanted to make the imperial examination fairer. Do you know why we said that?"

He thought to himself: How should I know?

Then I thought that if Zhu Yuanzhang dared to say on the Internet in the future that he selected scholars with the eight-legged essay in order to make the imperial examination fair, he would probably be criticized by netizens.

No one in the Ming Dynasty dared to criticize Zhu Yuanzhang, and he was no exception.

So he shook his head at that time to indicate that he didn't know.

　Thank you for your understanding.

　　My grandmother's funeral was mainly handled by the elders and clan members in the family. When I came back, I mostly helped out, but it wasn't very busy, so I updated 4,000 words in the evening.

　　It’s just that I can’t help feeling sad and not in a good state.

　　Less than a year after my grandfather passed away, my grandmother passed away so suddenly.

　　In fact, since I started middle school, I have rarely seen my grandmother. I mostly see her when I go back to my hometown during the Chinese New Year.

　　Compared to my childhood, the impression I have of my grandmother as an adult is that she is just an ordinary old lady.

　　She is the eldest sister in the family. She has lived through 1959 and understands the dangers and difficulties of the world very well.

　　But because I never went to school and even lacked education from my elders (my mother died early), I was always labeled as "ignorant" when I grew up - superstitious, patriarchal, greedy, etc.

　　This is also a characteristic of many ordinary old ladies of their generation.

　　However, what comes to my mind now are mostly the shining points in her life and the kindness she has shown me.

　　She is very hardworking and frugal.

　　Although illiterate, she still dared to travel with an older sister to nearby counties and cities in her fifties, selling cheap clothes and socks to earn money to support the family. When I was in elementary school, I had stomach problems, and she carried me to the doctor for several days in a row.

　　When I was in my early sixties, he sent me to Guangzhou to go to school. Because I had eaten a lot of meat and fish for several days in a row, and was thirsty when playing outside but was reluctant to buy water, I suffered a stroke and became half paralyzed.

　　Although he tried hard to recover later, he still had a limp in one leg and his hands and feet were not very convenient.

　　A few years later, she developed coronary heart disease. After graduating from university, I accompanied her in the hospital every year.

　　She is a person who can't sit still and is very active. A few years ago, she fell and had a cerebral hemorrhage. She was rescued but she was a little confused. Her coronary heart disease did not recur... Who would have thought that she would eventually fall to her death.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)