Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 1155 Postscript XI·What happened that year

A strong wind blew, and it seemed that it was going to rain.

Xie Yiqin used a paperweight to hold down the letter he was writing, and asked his son to close the window.

"Do you still remember that there are six imperial colleges in Luoyang, Kaifeng, Beijing, Nanjing, Chengdu, and Lanzhou in the country?" Xie Yiqin asked suddenly.

Xie Yan replied: "I can't remember, but I heard Wang Sheng mention it a few days ago."

Xie Yiqin said: "The opening of the imperial college is to allow students from all provinces to study in the imperial college nearby, without having to go to Luoyang and Kaifeng."

The current Ming Dynasty school system is four years of elementary school, three years of middle school, and three years of university. Once all the knowledge is mastered, they can take the imperial examination.

The imperial college is equivalent to a university research institute, and there are a certain number of direct Jinshi quotas. Those who are not awarded Jinshi will become Juren as long as they graduate, and then go directly to participate in the joint examination.

Xie Yiqin asked: "According to the regional division, should there also be an Imperial College in Lingnan?"

Xie Yan nodded: "Indeed."

Xie Yiqin said: "In fact, there is also an Imperial College in Guangdong. Imperial students from Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Jiaozhi, and Nanyang all studied at the Imperial College in Guangzhou before."

"Was the Imperial College in Guangdong abolished by the late emperor?" Xie Yan guessed.

Xie Yiqin said: "At that time, the late emperor was furious and ordered the cancellation of the quota of students directly awarded as Jinshi and the deprivation of the qualification of graduates of the Imperial College to take the imperial examination directly. All the ministers submitted memorials to persuade the late emperor, and the late emperor compromised and abolished the Guangdong Imperial College instead."

Xie Yan asked: "Is the Guangdong Imperial College involved in the case?"

Xie Yiqin said: "The prime minister of the cabinet at that time was a Fujianese who graduated from the Guangdong Imperial College and passed the imperial examination and the palace examination and won the second place. The fifth-ranked cabinet minister was a Guangdongese who was directly awarded as Jinshi by the Guangdong Imperial College. There were also a large number of people from Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Jiaozhi and Nanyang in the cabinet, the court and the temple, and they all belonged to the provinces and regions under the jurisdiction of the Guangdong Imperial College."

"These people controlled the court?" Xie Yan asked.

"They are not that powerful yet," Xie Yiqin said, "but they are in cahoots with officials from Nanjing, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Huainan. Seven provinces and one capital, plus the governor-general's offices in Nanyang, these people are a behemoth when they collude. The navies in the south are also their accomplices."

Xie Yan felt incredible: "Such a large territory, so many officials, how can they work together and everyone obey?"

Xie Yiqin smiled and said, "Of course it is impossible for everyone to work together, and not all officials are in cahoots. But they are very rich in collusion with officials and businessmen, intermarrying with each other, and cultivating students and old officials, and then bribing and winning over concubines, eunuchs, nobles and royal family members, and letting businessmen corrupt local officials transferred from other provinces. It is a huge quagmire, and once you step into it, you can't get out, and even they themselves can't help themselves."

"What is the case in Guangdong?" Xie Yan asked.

Xie Yiqin said: "I don't know. Anyway, officials from several provinces were involved, including three consecutive prime ministers, involving Guangdong's three offices, local officials in Guangdong's prefectures and counties, Guangdong Baoquan Bureau, Guangdong Maritime Customs, Guangdong Salt Administration, Guangdong Imperial College and Fuxue, and the three major navies in the south. They emptied Guangdong Baoquan Bureau, and every time they dealt with the court's supervision, they borrowed money from everywhere. The customs and salt administration also had huge problems, and Guangdong's official school system was completely rotten."

"Not only Guangdong, but the seven provinces, one capital, and various governors' offices were also more or less corrupt."

"They also went to other provinces to invest in repairs Build railways. With the imperial decree and Ming Dynasty banknotes, they extend their tentacles wherever the railways are built. Officials and gentry from other provinces, and even wealthy merchants from various provinces, hate them. "

"Seeing that the truth could no longer be hidden, these people took risks and instigated civil unrest in Java and Jambi. It is an important grain-producing area and cannot be in chaos. Their idea is to force the late emperor to put down the Guangdong case and quell the rebellion, because the overseas troops are also in collusion with them!"

Xie Yan asked: "What did the late emperor do?"

Xie Yiqin said: "Replace the , Hebei, Shandong, Sichuan, Hunan, and Hubei, and all the local officials from the governor-general's office in the seven provinces and one capital. Order these six major grain-producing provinces to stockpile grain and be ready to deal with possible famines at any time. "

"Then, Jambi and Java were left alone. Cavalry and infantry were dispatched from Hebei and Liaoning, and the navy was dispatched from Shandong, and the sea and land were sent south to Guangdong to assist the third batch of imperial envoys to investigate the case. "

"At that time, many officials were frightened and fled for fear of punishment, and even merchants fled overseas with their families. "

"The three major navies in the south were patrolling in Jiaozhi, trying to rebel but not daring, and pleading guilty but afraid Death."

"The late emperor issued an edict to pardon the three admirals and some of the admirals' generals, but deliberately did not pardon all of them, causing the three navies to fight each other."

"Then he ordered the Prince of Nanyu to dispatch the navy, and the Ming court also dispatched all the navies that could be commanded to attack the South Sea together."

"The rebellious navy was quickly defeated. One of the navies killed the admiral and fled from Malacca to India. The court navy chased them all the way, and they fled all the way to the west, and finally fled to the far west and disappeared."

Xie Yan took a deep breath after hearing this. Emperor Dingtai was really awesome.

Xie Yiqin said: "The corruption case and the subsequent rebellion severely damaged the court. It was at this time that the Qihe Protectorate was in chaos again, and then there was a battle in Mobei. After suppressing the rebellion, he also ordered the construction of the railway. The successive mobilizations of troops consumed the national treasury. "

"The newly elected ministers and many local officials came from provinces with underdeveloped industry and commerce. They were originally extremely dissatisfied with the seven provinces and one capital that had the most developed industry and commerce, and even blamed the industry and commerce in the south for this disaster. "

"So the monarch and his ministers united to reform the law, prohibiting businessmen from investing in the construction of railways, tightening the issuance of mining licenses, and strengthening supervision of all types of industry and commerce."

"Since then, the late emperor has been busy reorganizing the army, and even forced some generals to rebel. When the late emperor came to his senses, he discovered that the reform officials he promoted had all become the new masters of wealthy merchants along the coast."

"At this time, the late emperor was already very old, and most of the government affairs were left to the prince. Although the prince was extremely filial and obeyed the late emperor in everything, his qualifications were mediocre after all. The late emperor asked the prince to start investigating major cases, but the prince tried his best to do it, but it ended hastily."

"The late emperor was furious and dismissed the prime minister and two cabinet ministers, and also dismissed four ministers. But it still didn't help. The government and the public remained the same."

"In the end, the late emperor became mediocre, appointing treacherous villains and belittling upright officials at will. All ministers who dared to speak out and advise were demoted overseas or to poor provinces."

"The traitorous ministers are in power and the people are in dire straits!"

Xie Yan also inquired a lot about the Luoyang Incident: "Could the coup three years ago be a plan set up by the late emperor? Were the prince and the four deceased grandsons murdered?"

"Boom!"

There was lightning and thunder, and there was heavy wind and rain.

Xie Yiqin glanced at the closed doors and windows, and whispered: "It's probably the late emperor who is planning this. Don't go out and talk nonsense about this matter. But the death of the prince, and the deaths of the first two emperors and grandsons, probably have nothing to do with those traitorous officials. They were not that bold at that time.”

At this point, Xie Yiqin looked angry: "As for the death of the last two emperors and grandsons, it is unclear. It is said that the late emperor was too ill to get out of bed. Moreover, the late emperor lived too long, and the two late empresses and princes were both dead. If he left early, the third empress would be unable to support the overall situation. At that time, the court was completely controlled by the cabinet. "

"The late emperor also tried to take power through eunuchs, but the leaders of those eunuchs later supported King Yong in the coup."

Xie Yan didn't know what to say.

The situation of Emperor Dingtai in his later years was so bleak and dangerous.

His two wives were tortured to death by him, and the prince was tortured to death by him. A group of civil and military treacherous officials he promoted controlled the court. The third wife was out of control, the eunuchs he promoted also colluded with treacherous ministers, and even his son King Yong betrayed him.

Xie Yan thought to himself, if I were the Dingtai Emperor, I would drag those guys along and be buried with him!

Kill all the first three rows?

Nothing more than normal!

The new leadership team in the court today may not all be true reformists.

They are the losers who were squeezed out by the traitorous ministers back then. Now that they have finally gained power, they naturally want to hold high the banner of continuing the late emperor's reform wishes and severely retaliate against the traitorous ministers and internal and external party members!

Who knows how many people are dedicated to reform.

Alas, I am a science student, an unemployed civil engineer, and an errand boy who delivers food. I don't understand those political struggles. I'd rather just lie down and be a young master in this life.

By the way, being an ancient chemist.

If possible, you can also be a mathematician or physicist, depending on how much knowledge you have mastered and have not yet published.

I'm going to bed!

When I woke up, it was already early morning.

Last night's heavy rain swept away the sweltering heat for many days, and the weather was quite pleasant.

The sky is clear and the air is fresh. It's a good day to go out.

Xie Yan ran to Wang Sheng and asked, "Are there any newspapers that publish mathematics, physics, and chemistry?"

"Lang Jun is talking about the journal of the Royal Society?" Wang Sheng confirmed.

Xie Yan nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, it's the academic journal. Where can I find it?"

Wang Sheng said: "Journals need to be ordered. In addition, they are also available in the library."

Xie Yan asked: "Are there libraries across the country?"

Wang Sheng explained: "Every city in the country has a public library. The construction was ordered by Emperor Taizong in his later years. The library was built next to the Fuxue and was managed by the Fuxue."

"Anyone can go in and read books on the first floor, but they are not allowed to borrow them. If they get dirty or damaged, they will have to pay for it."

"On the second and third floors, only official students, or scholars with academic titles or above, can go in and read. If you pay a deposit, you can borrow it home to read, but it must be returned within a time limit."

Xie Yan understood that he was a government student and could go to the library to read academic journals at will.

Wang Sheng reminded: "Lang Jun, my husband told you not to go out during the summer vacation. It was really chaotic outside during the reform period. Especially some people are deliberately trying to curry favor with you."

Xie Yan said: "I'm going to change my clothes and put on my hat. Get a stool and sneak out over the wall."

Xie Yan has to write papers and read chemical journals. No one can stop him from becoming a chemist!

Ah, my scalp is so itchy, I'm about to grow a brain, how come I suddenly become smarter?