After traveling through time, I became Han Zhang’s grandson?

The days in the Imperial College were both fulfilling and boring. The fulfilling part was that there were countless classes every day, and the boring part was that all the knowledge was somewhat outdated.

Speaking of the Imperial College (or Imperial Academy), it was the educational management agency and the highest institution of learning in ancient Chinese feudal society.

It has two functions: one is the function of a national administrative agency, and the other is the function of the country's highest institution of learning.

The Song Dynasty followed the Tang system, establishing the Xijing Imperial College (now Luoyang City, Henan Province) and the Dongjing Imperial College (now Kaifeng City, Henan Province), and added the jurisdiction of martial arts.

Because the Imperial College changed its name many times in the Song Dynasty, sometimes it was called the Imperial College and sometimes it was called the Imperial Academy. Its functions were dual as mentioned above.

Cheng Yi, a famous scholar in the Northern Song Dynasty, once served as the judge of the Imperial College in Xijing, and Hu Yuan also served as the judge of the Imperial College in Dongjing in the name of direct lecturer.

The school enrolled children of officials of the seventh rank and above, who were called Guozi students or Jiansheng students.

There was no quota in the early Song Dynasty, but later it was limited to 200 people. However, the actual number was very small, so students could fill in vacancies or attend classes as auditors.

The Imperial College had a judge to oversee the school, and lecturers were responsible for teaching the classics and instructing on moral conduct.

In the third year of the Qingli period of the Northern Song Dynasty (1043), Fan Wencheng entered the Council of State to participate in government affairs and implemented the "Qingli New Deal".

The Yingtianfu Academy was then promoted to the Imperial College of Nanjing (now Shangqiu), and became one of the highest institutions of learning in the Northern Song Dynasty, along with the Imperial Colleges of Dongjing (now Kaifeng) and Xijing (now Luoyang).

Fan Wencheng proposed ten reform proposals, including "refining the imperial examinations and selecting officials", to reform the education system at that time.

Yingtian Prefecture was the first to implement reforms, changing the superficial academic style of the time that advocated poetry and prose, and emphasizing the meaning of classics, current affairs, and practicality.

When Han was young, he and Gu Tingye and others went south to study at the Imperial College in Yingtian Prefecture. Later, they felt that the knowledge taught there was not much different from that in Tokyo Prefecture, so they returned to the capital.

Looking at the textbooks currently being studied in the Imperial College, Han rubbed his chin, wondering whether he should also follow Fan Wencheng's example and innovate the field of education and academia.

"I remember there seemed to be a very famous book in the Song Dynasty. What was it..."

After a long moment of contemplation, Han's eyes lit up, and he slapped his head and laughed, "Isn't this just crazy?!"

"You even forgot a masterpiece like 'Dream Pool Essays'!!!"

"Mengxi Bitan" is a comprehensive note-taking work covering natural sciences, technology, and social and historical phenomena in ancient China.

The content covers various disciplines such as astronomy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, etc., and its value is extraordinary.

The natural science section of the book summarizes the scientific achievements of ancient China, especially during the Northern Song Dynasty.

"Dream Pool Essays" is an encyclopedic work, especially famous for its scientific and technological value.

The book has also received attention internationally, and British science historian Joseph Needham described it as "a milestone in the history of Chinese science."

However, Dream Pool Essays also has some limitations and flaws. Its shortcomings are mainly as follows: first, due to the limitations of the times, some entries in the book are full of ideas and views that maintain the rule of the feudal dynasty;

Secondly, due to the limitations of human cognition at the time, the discussion of some entries in the book was not scientific enough;

Third, mainly due to the author's own reasons, some entries in the book, especially those in the "magical" and "strange" categories, are filled with a strong sense of weirdness, fatalism and idealism, which has become the most criticized aspect of the book.

But generally speaking, it is a type where its merits outweigh its flaws. After all, it is known as the "first encyclopedia of ancient Chinese science and technology"!

Thinking of the author of this book, Shen Kuo, Han suddenly stood up from his seat, rushed out of the Imperial College, and went to the Ministry of Personnel to retrieve the files.

The official who was originally the secretary behind him stood there in a daze, staring at Han's back with a confused expression.

"The Imperial College is boring, but it's not daunting either. Why is this Marquis of Anyang so averse to work?"

The secretary smiled bitterly and cleared the desk of textbooks and various documents.

Since the establishment of the Song Dynasty, the system of three provinces and six ministries has basically been in name only. Except for the three central provinces being merged into the Secretariat, the six subordinate ministries are basically empty shells.

However, Emperor Shenzong was a dog. Although he did not carry out the "Yuanfeng Reform" again, he still arranged various work tasks for the six ministries in order to keep them busy.

For example, officials' personal resumes, promotions, and current situations are all compiled into files and stored in the Ministry of Personnel.

Simply put, the Ministry of Personnel became a repository for officials' archives.

For example, the Ministry of Rites directly became a tool library for sacrifices, compilations, ceremonies, etc.

Whenever there is an activity at the Taichang Liyuan, the arrangements for the ceremony and sacrifice, as well as the props and clothing, are all provided by the Ministry of Rites.

It can be said that Emperor Shenzong took great pains to make those white-collar officials work. Of course, if it weren't for Han's involvement, no one would have been able to do it.

Just ask those bureaucrats who were assigned to serve as village heads or wardens in rural areas, whether they are now in a situation where things are difficult to handle and even the shit is hard to eat.

Due to the impact of the new policy reforms, the "three redundancy problems" that once plagued the Song Dynasty now have a problem of insufficient officials.

In short, apart from making suggestions to his superiors, Han is basically not in charge of these matters. He is the type of person who only talks but does not do any work.

Therefore, Emperor Shenzong implemented the principle of not letting any official be idle, and sent Han Ming to the Imperial College to teach.

The first day was spent listening to the secretary telling me about the history and regulations of the Imperial College.

The next day was to familiarize ourselves with various textbooks so that we could keep up with the progress when the next class started at the Imperial College.

On the third day, Han was halfway through reading when his mind wandered and he thought of a way to reform official education - introducing a new curriculum!

Who should I turn to for this? Shen Kuo, of course! The author of Dream Pool Essays, isn't he a potential tech giant?

Therefore, there was an incident where Mr. Han was halfway through reading a book when he ran to the Ministry of Personnel to retrieve the files.

The Ministry of Personnel, which had not had any visitors for several years, suddenly received a big job today, requesting the information of an official named "Shen Kuo".

At first they didn't take it seriously, but when they saw the lieutenant accompanying them in person, they suddenly became excited.

"My Lord, rest assured. Although our Ministry of Personnel's archives business has only been in operation for less than two years, we have all the necessary information, and the processes and procedures are absolutely flawless!"

Since the six ministries became empty offices, the titles of Shangshu and Shilang became honorary titles, awarded to a number of central government officials.

Emperor Shenzong could not let a bunch of old men come to the six ministries to look after the warehouses according to their positions, so he could only appoint two "judges in charge of each ministry" to be in charge of the six ministries.

That is what is commonly known as the warehouse head!

Looking at the official from the Ministry of Personnel who was like a lackey, Han almost laughed out loud at Yao Ming's embarrassing expression.

"The Ministry of Personnel is under the jurisdiction of the Three Provinces. The Three Provinces are now merged into the Secretariat, which is the responsibility of the Eastern Palace. It has nothing to do with the Privy Council of the Western Palace of this Marquis."

"Don't be so nervous. I'm not here to inspect, I just want to transfer someone's file."

Han quickly stopped the other person and told him what happened.

"My Lord, please give me your instructions!" The middle-aged official named Zhang You saluted respectfully.

"Shen Kuo!"

Han Ming put his hands behind his back and observed the Ministry of Personnel. It was no longer as empty as it was in previous years. Now it was filled with rolls of documents and bamboo slips like supermarket shelves.

"Shen No. 14——!"

Zhang You nodded first, then shouted as if he was buying vegetables in the market.

Soon, a group of ten people came to the No. 14 "shelf" and began to search, looking for this person in the order of the records of the current dynasty and the previous dynasty.

It was estimated that Shen Kuo was also nearby and was found out in no time.

"My Lord, please take a look!"

Looking at the extremely efficient Ministry of Personnel, Han Ming couldn't help but sigh and smile, "There's something there."

"These are all some fantastic ideas provided by the Marquis. Our Ministry of Personnel has set up nearly one hundred regions based on the Hundred Family Surnames established by Taizu."

Zhang You's words reminded Han of the time when Emperor Shenzong first ascended the throne and asked for advice on abolishing government offices, but was rejected by him.

If the "three redundancies" could be solved by layoffs, they would not have accumulated for a hundred years and eventually become the root cause of the demise of the Song Dynasty.

Therefore, Han thought that "it is better to expand than to cut", "it is better to loosen than to block", and "it is better to increase revenue than to save money", and then he filled up the grassroots positions in Song Dynasty.

Redundant government organizations were also assigned seemingly irrelevant tasks.

When asked whether the functions of the three provinces and six ministries should be restored, Han said that it was okay to maintain the status quo, and then he cited the example of the Ministry of Personnel, which eventually became like this.

"Very good, indeed."

Mr. Han touched his nose, picked up Shen Kuo's file and started reading it.

Shen Kuo (1031-1095), courtesy name Cunzhong and alias Mengxi Zhangren, was a native of Qiantang, Hangzhou (now Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province).

He was born into an official family and followed his father on official travels to various places when he was young.

In the first year of Zhihe (1054), Shen Kuo entered the officialdom with the help of his father and served as the chief clerk of Shuyang County, Haizhou.

. . . . . .

In the eighth year of Jiayou (1063), Shen Kuo passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi. However, because he was ranked outside the top six, he was selected according to the regulations.

The following year, Shen Kuo's term of office expired and he was appointed as a military officer in charge of the prisons in Yangzhou.

In the first year of the Xining reign (1068), Shen Kuo was promoted to the position of proofreader in the Imperial Library, where he had the opportunity to access the imperial collection and further enrich his knowledge.

I flipped through the pages again: In August, his mother passed away, and Shen Kuo resigned from his official position to escort the coffin back to Qiantang.

He went back to his hometown to observe mourning. He left in August of the previous year. It is estimated that he will not be able to return to Beijing to report on his work until the fourth year of Xining, which is next year.

Mr. Han felt a headache, handed the document back to Zhang You, and then said goodbye and left.

"Should we go to Qiantang to look for him? With Shen Kuo, I guess he can handle the Military Equipment Bureau, the Construction Bureau, and the Water Conservancy Bureau..."