Chapter 892 0887 [Undergraduate and Associate Degree]

Chui Gong Hall.

The Minister of Rites, Huan Guo, sat aside and watched the emperor review the memorials.

After a long while, Ju Ming put down his pen and asked: "Is there already a commotion among the scholars?"

Huan Guo replied: "Xunzi's promotion of the classics has caused a lot of criticism. Two days ago at the Peony Flower Party, there were scholars gathering to discuss the Tao."

"What are you talking about?" Zhu Ming asked.

Huan Guo said: "Good nature and hypocritical etiquette."

Ju Ming smiled and said, "What are you thinking?"

Huan Guo responded very tactfully: "I respect Mencius."

Ju Ming said: "Take your time. In the autumn of this year, we will start taking the "Xunzi" exam. The number of scholars and candidates in the "Xunzi Branch" can be smaller for the time being."

"The officials are wise." Huan Guo flattered him against his will.

Before Ju Ming officially ascended the throne, he had already revealed his intention to upgrade "Xunzi" to the classics.

Hu Guo has always been opposed.

In other words, there were not many people in the entire court who supported it.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, the promotion of "Mencius" experienced a lot of push and pull, and even almost intensified party strife. Only because many people in the old party supported the upgrading of "Mencius" did they not make the matter completely serious.

"Mencius" has attracted criticism in this way, so it is conceivable that "Xunzi" is more difficult to convince the public.

But Ju Ming insisted on his opinion, and the ministers naturally could not object.

The emperor's normal operation should be to ask a certain minister to make suggestions and trigger a war of words. Then, the emperor stood up and took sides, and finally achieved the goal of Xunzi's promotion of scriptures.

Ju Ming didn’t do this and raised it directly in person!

After several years of persuasion by cabinet ministers, two prime ministers changed, but Ju Ming brought up the matter again every year.

The ministers are tired and can do whatever they want. They can only save the country by taking curves.

As the Minister of Rites, Huan Guo was pushed out by the ministers to take charge of the matter and was responsible for re-annotating the meaning of "Xunzi" - since it cannot be stopped, then try to guide it in the right direction.

Ju Ming suddenly said: "I intend to restore and reform the system."

Huan Guo's scalp was numb after hearing this, and he vaguely guessed what the emperor wanted to do.

It must be related to those miscellaneous studies!

"Bang bang!"

There was a stack of manuscripts on the desk. Ju Ming tapped it twice with his fingertips: "Here is the reform strategy for science and technology. You can take it and check for omissions and fill in the gaps, and then discuss it with the cabinet. Go ahead."

"According to the order."

The eunuch brought the manuscripts, and Huan Guo bowed to take them, and then left with the manuscripts.

Unable to wait to return to the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites, Huan Guo launched a reform plan for the system and science.

At first glance, it’s true!

The imperial examination held every three years is called "Changke".

Irregular imperial examinations are called "Enke".

The examination contents of Changke and Enke are the same and they fall under the category of regular imperial examinations.

In addition, there are also manufacturing departments.

The art department specializes in recruiting special talents. "Laozi", "Xunzi", and "Yangtze" are the contents that often appear in the art exams. Mathematics, law, medicine...these can also be included in the system.

It’s possible that the emperor had a fit one day and suddenly took the examination of "Han Feizi" and "Mozi" in the academic department!

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial examination questions have been relatively confusing. Because Ju Ming added various miscellaneous subjects, it was like turning all regular subjects into system subjects.

Now it is about to be formalized. The reform plan is as follows:

First, "Mathematics" should be included in the regular subjects as a required test, and "Xunzi" should be included in the regular subjects as an optional test. That is, those revealed by Wei Liangchen in Jiangxi.

Second, Taixue Shangshe Examination and Zhike were merged. That is to say, the system subjects that are held from time to time are changed to the system subjects that must be tested every year. The main candidates for the formal subjects are Taipei students, and private students can also register independently.

Third, mathematics, astronomy, geography, chemistry, physics, law, smelting, machinery, shipbuilding, medicine, agriculture, water conservancy, Laozi, Yangtze, Guanzi, dynasty history books... are all included in the scope of the system. And it is divided into two categories: Zhuzi (including history) and practical learning. Each category has quotas for Jinshi and Juren.

Fourth, Taipei students can also choose to take regular subjects, which is the traditional formal imperial examination.

Fifth, there are 18 Jinshi quotas for imperial examinations every year, and they enjoy the same treatment as ordinary imperial examinations. There are also 30 quotas for candidates, who can be directly awarded the position of art and crafts officers, and the appointment of officers will be directed according to different professions.

Sixth, Ming Dynasty has established more than ten vocational schools in medicine, smelting, shipbuilding, etc. Based on test scores, the school selects a group of students from these vocational schools to go to Beijing every year to take courses, and is responsible for the students' traveling expenses.

After Huan Guo read the plan carefully, he began to worry about whether the admission of eighteen academic scholars every year would affect the quota of regular academic scholars every three years.

After all, the Ming Dynasty's admission to Jinshi was very strict, unlike the crazy increase in the number of people in the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty.

At this time, there was no eight-part essay in the imperial examination, and the ministers did not have a strong attitude towards this matter.

In the field of science, it is very normal for the emperor to select professional talents. It was only held occasionally in the past, but now it is held every year.

Don't look at "Xunzi" because of its two major views of evil nature and hypocrisy of etiquette, it is spurned by the vast majority of readers. However, during the Song Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, Xunzi appeared very frequently as a policy topic in formal imperial examinations.

"Xunzi" has been tested in the imperial examinations of the two Song Dynasties more times than "Historical Records" and "Laozi".

In addition, "Yangzi", which is less common in later generations, has more imperial examination policy topics than "Xunzi".

When you scold, you should scold, when you use it, you should use it, without interfering with each other!

The ranking of Confucian sages in the Song Dynasty turned out to be like this: Confucius, Mencius, Xunzi, Yang Xiong, and Han Yu.

And this kind of ranking also has official endorsement. In the seventh year of Yuanfeng, Xunzi, Yang Xiong and Han Yu entered the Confucian Temple together.

…

This was Zhu Ming's first time as an emperor. Although he had many ideas, he had to make adjustments constantly.

The imperial examination had been ruined by his father and son, and now it was just a step further.

He had been thinking about how natural sciences and professional subjects should be integrated into the imperial examination system.

After thinking about it, he finally thought of the system examination.

Because this thing was originally used to recruit professional talents.

So anything that was not tested in the regular imperial examination could be thrown in.

History and various schools of thought were listed as the major categories of various schools of thought in the system examination. After admission, they were used to conduct literary and historical research.

Specialized subjects and natural sciences were listed as the major categories of practical studies in the system examination. After admission, they were used to promote scientific development and serve as technical officials.

Picking up another report from the Ministry of War, Zhu Ming read it carefully and put it aside.

This was last year's military report, and they had already fought with Annan.

To fight in the central and northern regions of Vietnam, you must choose the right time to fight.

The rainy season is from April to September of the lunar calendar every year. It is hot and humid, and it is very easy to have non-combat casualties. The dry season is from October to March of the following year, which is relatively dry and not that hot.

Therefore, winter was chosen for the battle.

In late October of the lunar calendar last year, Champa sent troops from the south to attack Annan.

At the same time, Zhenla sent troops from the southwest, and Jinchi Kingdom sent troops from the west. Yang Zaixing sent troops from the north and asked the Shanghai army to harass from the east.

Annan was attacked from all sides!

The report that Zhu Ming just read was sent by Yang Zaixing in winter, because it was delayed because of heavy snow in the north.

…

Luoyang Peony Flower Fair is held every year.

But it is not uniform.

There are flower fairs with government participation and flower fairs with temple participation. These two types of flower fairs are larger in scale.

There are also flower fairs organized by merchants and scholars, which are smaller in scale and have uncertain locations.

At this moment, Liu Yannian is participating in the scholar flower fair.

They brought their families with them, chose a beautiful place, and even set up tents to stay overnight.

Appreciating flowers, competing in flower competitions, drinking, poetry competitions, having fun, and occasionally giving or trading peonies.

Today's flower fair is a debate.

"How absurd is the theory of human nature being evil!"

A scholar said loudly: "Compassion, shame, refusal, and right and wrong represent the four virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom. These are the four ends of human nature. I respect Mencius, and human nature must be good. This comes naturally from heaven and earth."

As soon as he finished speaking, a scholar retorted: "No, no. Human nature is neither good nor evil, but emotions are good and evil. Emotions come from nature."

This person is obviously a disciple of Wang Anshi, who initially advocated the theory of human nature being good. Later, it became that human nature is neither good nor evil, but emotions are good and evil. Human nature is innate, and emotions are acquired.

However, Wang Anshi finally admitted that human nature is good and evil, and his views are similar to those of Yang Xiong.

"You are all wrong," another scholar stood up soon, "Human nature is evil. How can a baby know how to be humble? If one of the twin brothers is hungry, he will definitely grab the food of his brother. What does a baby know? How can he know how to be humble? This is his nature!"

"Nonsense!"

The scholar who supported the goodness of human nature said angrily.

The scholars who supported the view that human nature is evil asked: "You said human nature is good, then babies must know how to give up their pears. I have only heard of Kong Rong giving up his pears, but I have never heard of babies giving up their pears. It is precisely because human nature is evil that we must strictly implement education to let children get rid of evil and promote good. Even when people grow up, they still have evil thoughts from time to time. The so-called gentleman is cautious when alone, which means to reflect on himself at all times and suppress and eliminate the evil in his heart."

The scholars who supported the view that human nature is good asked in return: "Why do children who have never read books know how to respect their parents?"

"Is education just reading? Parents' words and deeds are also education."

"Mencius said that human nature is like water. The highest good is like water. There is no water that does not flow downwards, and there is no bad human nature. Can you say that water does not flow downwards?"

"Mencius said that human nature is like water. Does that mean that human nature must be like water? I also said that human nature is like fire!"

"How dare you question Mencius!"

"Is Mencius right? I learned from your majesty. Your majesty said that everything needs bold assumptions and careful verification. How can human nature be verified like water? Can you prove it? I tell you, water flows down because of gravity, because of the gravity of the earth! If the earth has no gravity, water can also flow up."

"Nonsense! How can water flow up?"

"It can flow up without the gravity of the earth. Without gravity, people can still fly!"

"Stop arguing! Human nature is a mixture of good and evil. If you learn well, you are good, and if you learn bad, you are evil."

"Bullshit, human nature is good."

"No, human nature is evil!"

"..."

The news that the court wanted to promote "Xunzi" to the classics spread, and such debates could be seen almost every day inside and outside Luoyang City.

Mencius' prestige at this time was not as good as that of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and he had not yet become an absolute saint.

And the real saint Confucius did not evaluate the good and evil of human nature, but only said "nature is similar".

Liu Yannian sat beside him and listened quietly. He felt that good and evil should not be discussed, as it was impossible to distinguish them.

If you want to attack Xunzi, you should start with the "theory of ritual and falsehood"!

(It's my birthday today, so I went out to play during the day.)