Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 1241 Postscript 97·Xie Prince Consort also goes to Shu to do business

A few days before the winter solstice, official schools across the country are on holiday.

It's just that public schools have a unified holiday, and private schools can make their own arrangements.

For example, at Tuanxiu Academy in Gong County, some teachers and students stay on campus and will not even go home during the Chinese New Year. The eldest brother Xie Hong went to the mountains over there and had to study hard until next fall before returning to his hometown to marry his fiancée's cousin.

"What the hell, there are so many white papers!"

Xie Yan is grading the final chemistry test paper.

Luoyang Imperial College has two thousand students, one thousand of whom major in science, taught by six chemistry lecturers.

Xie Yan corrected part of the final answer sheet, and from time to time he encountered bastards who turned in blank papers.

After grading the test papers in his hands in a few seconds, Xie Yan picked out a few excellent papers and gave them to other teachers for cross-marking.

Exam papers with excellent grades require cross-review by more than three people.

If it is a school promotion exam, you may even have to hide your name.

"Are there so many blank papers in previous years?" Xie Yan asked.

The chemistry lecturer at the next table sighed helplessly: "It happens every year. The further back the class is, the more students will hand in blank papers."

Another chemistry lecturer also finished grading the papers he was assigned and picked out the top papers: "During the reigns of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong, all the students were diligent and hardworking even in the Imperial College. Alas, how can it be like now? "

Another teacher said: "At that time, you didn't have to be rich and powerful to get into the Imperial College. There was only one Imperial College in the country, and the entrance exam was particularly difficult."

Another teacher said: "Today's entrance exam is also difficult. It's just that the competition is not about knowledge, but the power or connections in the family. Do you want to recruit the grandson of the elder? Do you want the nephew of the minister? You know they are here. You're just messing around, but if someone says hello, you have to accept it."

"..."

The final chemistry scores of the foreign students were tallied up on the same day.

Xie Yan checked carefully: 58 people in Class A, 172 people in Class B, 339 people in Class C, and 431 people in Class D.

Such data left Xie Yan extremely speechless.

Due to major adjustments in chemistry content, this year's final exam questions are very simple. If you listen attentively, you will definitely get a B grade.

What does this mean?

This shows that 77% of foreign science students do not study seriously at all, they are just here to mess around!

After returning home and having dinner, Xie Yan went straight to the study.

Zhu Tangxi followed curiously: "What is Liulang writing?"

Xie Yan said: "As a bachelor of Furong, I can write letters directly to the officials."

Then he explained in detail: "This year's Waishe Chemistry exam couldn't be simpler. Even if you don't listen to a single class and just recite the class notes for a few days, you can still get at least a B grade. The result? 77% None of the foreign science students have reached this level!”

"This situation has been going on for decades," Zhu Tangxi said. "The officials and teachers of Taixue actually can't make the decision."

Xie Yan said: "Since I am a lecturer at Taixue, I should be loyal to my duties. As for whether the court orders rectification, that is their business. If I don't write to His Majesty, I am derelict in my duty. If they don't change the letter after I write it, then It's their fault."

Zhu Tangxi smiled and said: "I didn't expect Liulang to be so upright and unconventional."

Xie Yan said: "Just for peace of mind, I'm not afraid of offending anyone anyway."

"It's a good thing you didn't become an official, otherwise you would have made countless enemies," Zhu Tangxi couldn't help but sigh, and then added, "If Liu Lang had been born forty years earlier, his father would have been happy, and he might have become an important minister in the court now."

Xie Yan chuckled and said, "I'm not that capable. Writing this letter is just a thought."

…

As long as you are a bachelor of the Royal Society, you are qualified to write secret letters to the emperor. This was the rule set by Taizong back then.

Taizong would even reply to the letter himself, and even scolded people in the letter: "If there is nothing important, don't write it, and stop flattering me. If you have the time, you might as well do more experiments. You don't even do experiments, just go to the livestock pen to look at the pigs." Playing in the mud."

The scholar who received this letter actually built a pigsty and declared to the outside world that he was "raising pigs according to the order." And wrote to Taizong again to report this matter!

The secret letters of the bachelors were not sent to the cabinet, but were submitted directly to the emperor by the Tongzhengyuan.

The envelope is covered with wax, and opening it privately is a serious crime of deceiving the emperor.

Chui Gong Hall.

Queen Mother Ye is reviewing memorials.

The present memorial was submitted by the Minister of Guanglu Temple. Saying that it has been snowy recently, I requested to cancel the Winter Solstice Festival.

Every year during the Winter Solstice, more than 95% of the reasons for suspension are due to snow.

Civil and military officials went out in the snow in the middle of the night, and had to queue up many times in the imperial city. Standing for two hours in the wind and snow, there might be a lot of people with colds and fevers.

The cabinet has approved the suspension of the petition.

Queen Mother Ye naturally has no need to object. Who doesn’t want to sleep a little longer? He immediately picked up his pen and wrote the word "can".

The Great Court Meeting is one of the highest etiquettes. Even if it is to be suspended, it must be approved by the emperor himself.

After approving the memorial, Queen Mother Ye felt a little bored, so she stood up and walked around the palace, stretching her legs and feet.

An eunuch came over and added some charcoal to the brazier.

Before Empress Dowager Ye finished her walk, suddenly someone from Zhongshushe who was affiliated with Tongzhengyuan came to the outside of the palace with a secret letter and asked for an audience.

"What's the matter?"

"Reporting to the saint, this is a secret letter from the consort Xie."

Queen Mother Ye couldn't laugh or cry when she heard this. Xie Laoliu could enter the palace at any time, but she had to write a secret letter.

This kind of secret message should be sent tomorrow.

Today's expedited delivery can only be said that the Tongzhengyuan is very discerning.

Queen Mother Ye sat by the fire pot to open the letter. After reading it carefully, she handed it to Tao Jinfeng and said with a smile: "I thought he only wanted to please the princess besides doing academic work. But I didn't expect that he dared to tell the truth."

Tao Jinfeng received the secret letter.

Queen Mother Ye said: "Guess what he wrote in the letter? He said that Wuyou Cave harbors dirt and evil and must be cleaned regularly. If the Imperial Academy does not rectify it, it will only hide dirt in the outer building at this time. In the future, I am afraid that the inner building will , the upper house will also become a worry-free cave.”

Tao Jinfeng read the letter and sighed: "What a pity."

"What's the pity?" Queen Mother Ye asked.

Tao Jinfeng said: "Xie Consort is a courageous man. If he enters politics, he will do great things."

Queen Mother Ye said: "Send the letter to the cabinet."

…

cabinet.

In the middle of winter, Yuan Huaiyi did not sleep, but was dealing with military-related government affairs.

Apart from military matters, Yuan Huaiyi was too lazy to touch on other things.

Similarly, the other six cabinet ministers reciprocated the favor and basically would not oppose Yuan Huaiyi's military decisions.

There is no mistake in every song, one post, one content, one 6 one, one book, one book, take a look!

There are many military affairs in winter, most of which are related to logistics support.

These things had already been arranged when winter first came, and now they are receiving orders from various places one after another. The Ministry of War has full authority to handle the matter. It only needs to inform the cabinet without even alerting the Queen Mother.

In addition, the army must be mobilized to break the ice and open the river to navigation. The Ministry of War has already made arrangements. Now they are returning to their jobs one after another because the relevant rivers are completely frozen and there is no need for the army to break the ice.

"Mr. Yuan, the Prime Minister has invited me."

"Coming."

Yuan Huaiyi, who was originally in high spirits, was invited to attend an extraordinary cabinet meeting, but he started yawning halfway through.

His body had developed a conditioned reflex, and he wanted to sleep as soon as he approached the conference room.

Yuan Huaiyi bowed his hands to other cabinet ministers, then found his own chair and sat down. The chairs have cotton cushions and backrests, are covered with velvet, and even have blankets to cover the legs.

A letter was handed over.

Deng Gongwu said: "This is the secret letter of the bachelor's degree written by Prince Consort Xie to His Majesty. To be honest, I am very surprised. When I was young, although there were many non-educators in the Imperial College's foreign residences, it was definitely not more than 30%. Only a few years have passed, and the number of students living outside the Imperial College has actually reached 77%! "

Yang Zhengfu said: "This matter must be dealt with, otherwise the Imperial Academy will really die."

"That's not the case," Hou Guang said, "all the students in the Imperial College's outer residences study at their own expense, and they are not supported by the imperial government's finances. As long as the inner and upper residences are strictly controlled, the Imperial College will never be in ruins."

Ge Congxin shook his head: "Etiquette is the foundation of the country. Just like cheating in the imperial examination, even if it is not verified, it is just a rumor that must be dealt with. The imperial college is almost in ruins. If we continue to let it go, I am afraid it will not take more than twenty years. It spread to Neishe."

Yuan Huaiyi put down the letter and began to take a nap as usual.

Zhang Yu said: "This matter involves a lot. Just a strict entrance examination may not work at all."

Deng Gongwu thought for a while: "Shorten the time for withdrawal from Taixue, from four years to two years. If you fail the exam in the first year of admission, your room, board and tuition will be doubled in the second year. If you fail to pass the exam after two years of admission, you will be dismissed directly. !”

"It's feasible." The cabinet ministers agreed.

Deng Gongwu's method did not block the way into Taixue, and the children of powerful and wealthy people could still enter.

Therefore, there is no resistance to implementation.

And among the rich and powerful, who doesn’t want to see their children and grandchildren studying hard? Increasing punishment and shortening the expulsion time also forces students to study seriously.

It’s been two years since I entered school and I still failed the exam, so it’s a waste of time to study. Go do something else as soon as possible.

The meeting was short and ended in less than ten minutes.

Ge Congxin joked: "Is this considered a political discussion, Prince Consort?"

Yang Zhengfu said: "He is a lecturer of Taixue and a Bachelor of Furong. It is normal for him to report to His Majesty what he saw and heard. Moreover, he only raised problems and did not say how to solve them. So it does not count as discussing politics."

Deng Gongwu said: "I will take advantage of the meeting to say a few words. The people in Wuyou Cave in Luoyang have now been transported to Shanghai to board the ship. Next year, all major cities in the country will be inspected and all will be done according to this method. There is also Taixue The seven imperial schools across the country must be investigated and rectified. Luoyang cannot be alone!"

Zhang Yu said: "Actually, the social studies problems in various prefectures and counties are even bigger."

Deng Gongwu said: "Hey, let the local officials investigate themselves."

Historically, sociology appeared in the Yuan Dynasty and lasted until the end of the Qing Dynasty.

During the Yuan Dynasty, fifty households formed a community and set up schools for literacy education. The required funds shall be paid by the local governments themselves.

By the Ming Dynasty, social studies had become rural semi-public schools. Part of the funds were provided by local governments, and part of the funds were donated by gentry and merchants. The teaching contents include legal knowledge, agricultural knowledge, historical calculation, etiquette and morality, etc. School starts only during slack periods.

Until the Qing Dynasty, one social school was established in each township, and the funding for running the school was similar to that in the Ming Dynasty. The age limit for admission is between 12 and 20 years old.

In the Ming Dynasty of this time and space, under the promotion of Emperor Taizong, sociology was established even in urban areas. Moreover, school funding mainly comes from local finance and also accepts donations from gentry and merchants.

So far, sociology has developed into a big problem.

One is "eating on empty wages".

Some social studies and students only exist on paper. School funds were misappropriated by officials!

Anyway, it is the local finance that provides the money, and the central government rarely sends people to investigate, and even if they want to, they can't find out.

Second, illegal occupation of land.

Local officials colluded with evil gentry and seized the farmland of ordinary people on the pretext of setting up school land. Then, the so-called school land was subcontracted to evil gentry for farming.

The people whose land was occupied became tenants of the school land without knowing it, but in fact they became tenants of the evil gentry.

The community and township literacy schools set up by Zhu Ming have been ruined by corrupt officials, local tyrants and evil gentry.

But they can still continue to operate, and every year a large number of low-level teenagers can get rid of illiteracy, and even a few of them have passed the examination for scholars. Even if they pass the examination for Juren, they can turn to other industries to complete the class leap!

Deng Gongwu felt that he had a lot of things to do, and there were not enough censors.

The mess of community schools can only be put on hold for the time being.