Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

In the early morning, the mist-shrouded well exudes a somewhat peaceful and peaceful atmosphere.

"Is the Imperial Master not sleeping?"

Song Li, who was still considered young and vigorous, yawned and walked out of his bedroom in the county government office. He was surprised to find Jiang Xinghuo reading in the morning.

"I slept in prison for more than half a year, sleeping until midnight every day. I have slept enough."

Jiang Xinghuo explained casually and continued reading the book in his hand.

"Everyone in the world says that Lord Mengchang can win scholars, and the soldiers return because of this, and the soldiers rely on their strength to escape from the Qin of tigers and leopards. Sigh! Lord Mengchang has the crowing of chickens and dogs, how can it be said that he can win scholars? Otherwise, those who are good at Qi can win one. Scholars, it is better to go south and conquer the Qin Dynasty. How can we use the power of roosters and dog robbers? The roosters and dogs robbers came out of the door. This is the reason why this scholar did not come."

Although Song Li entered the official position as an Imperial College student during the Hongwu period, his exposition was quite complicated. He asked with a "Huh" sound.

"Is this "Reading the Biography of Lord Mengchang" written by Wang Jinggong?"

"That's the way it is."

Jiang Xinghuo put down the book in his hand, which was Wang Anshi's "Collected Works of Mr. Linchuan". He leaned on the edge of the well with one hand and said with a smile, "What do you think of this article?"

Since the Song Dynasty, although Wang Anshi's reputation has not been very good, as one of the "Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties", his literary attainments are indeed unquestionable.

This article has only four sentences and 88 words, but its discussion is refined, its structure is rigorous, its wording is concise, and its momentum is grand. It has been praised by literary theorists of all ages as a model of "short and long".

Therefore, Song Li answered honestly: "A few words, full of momentum."

After saying that, looking at Jiang Xinghuo leaning on the edge of the well with one hand, Song Li couldn't help but remind him: "Don't fall in."

But unexpectedly, Jiang Xinghuo didn't know if it was his rebellious stage. Instead of listening to Song Li, he picked up the book and stood on the edge of the well.

As the morning breeze blew, Jiang Xinghuo, wearing a green shirt, burst into laughter.

"That's ridiculous!"

Song Li was slightly surprised for a moment and asked puzzledly: "How do you understand this statement?"

It should be noted that Wang Anshi, who was committed to reform and reform throughout his life, emphasized that articles should be conducive to ‘governing education’ and benefiting social progress. He once said, "The so-called literature of saints is what governs religion and government orders," and he also said, "The so-called literature is only for the sake of benefiting the world."

Moreover, "Reading the Biography of Lord Mengchang", as a reversal essay, does not have lengthy citations. The long discussion only uses four sentences and 88 words to complete the entire process of argumentation, argumentation and conclusion. It is done for the purpose of "benefiting the world".

Therefore, Song Li really didn't know where he was wrong.

"Let me ask you, reform and reform, who are these articles written for?"

"Of course it is"

Song Li was about to answer, but suddenly paused: "Of course I want to write it for everyone in the world to see."

"You, you, you still have this thing about scholar-bureaucrats in your heart.

Jiang Xinghuo spread his arms and walked along the edge of the well like a naughty boy. This obsessive-compulsive disorder-like feeling of discomfort made Song Li's heart pound and he felt like there were countless ants crawling on his body.

"What is a man of the world?"

Song Li learned his lesson well this time. In recent days, he had been exposed to it, and of course he knew the national master's philosophy of "people are the foundation of the country" in governing the country.

So, he tried to follow Jiang Xinghuo's lead and replied: "Common people."

Jiang Xinghuo jumped down from the edge of the well, and the "Collected Works of Mr. Linchuan" in his hand was rolled into a bundle.

"Scholars, farmers, industry and merchants are all people of the world."

Seeing Jiang Xinghuo jump down from the well, Song Li felt better, so he came back to his senses and asked helplessly: "What on earth is the master going to say? Don't play riddles anymore."

"This means that, scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, who are our enemies of the reform? Who are our friends of the reform? How should we refute our enemies' erroneous remarks that slander the reform? How should we explain to our friends what the reform is changing?"

"First, I want to write something for ordinary farmers to read, not this kind of thing."

After that, Jiang Xinghuo pointed to the document he threw by the well. The county official had put a lot of thought into showing off his literary talents in front of the imperial master, so he dropped the book bag. Unfortunately, it became a gift to him. The blind man ogle.

Jiang Xinghuo, who is even half a scholar, cannot understand some extremely uncommon allusions and words. How do you expect ordinary people to understand? Not to mention the way of writing, which is almost parallel prose. It is gorgeous, but it is a pity that it is just a pile of rhetoric and no human words. Che Lulu talks a lot, but it is not useful at all.

Song Li picked it up and looked at it, and understood what Jiang Xinghuo meant.

"Scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, farmers are the ones we can be friends with during the reform, so if we want to explain the contents of the reform to them clearly, we can't use a method that they don't understand. What standard should that be? Those who wrote the document below may not have bad intentions. The founding of the Ming Dynasty This has been going on for so many years, the National Master should have made a decision, otherwise the following people will be thinking about changes over and over again, which will not only be difficult to handle, but also waste time."

Jiang Xinghuo gave the standard answer simply and neatly.

"Bai Letian said, 'Old women can understand it, and women and children can understand it.' So I wrote it according to this standard."

"become."

Jiang Xinghuo pondered for a moment and then added: "Secondly, those who study 'roosters, dogs, thieves' and 'wonderful skills and silver crafts' are not necessarily true 'scholars'."

Song Li almost changed his mind and understood what the national master meant.

The timeline of the world does not move with Jiang Xinghuo. During the period of peace in Jiangnan, the core characters were lost due to the reform. Although Yao Guangxiao, Zhuo Jing and others continued to implement the reform content such as the Kao Cheng Law. , but after all, in terms of public opinion, we cannot go further through praying for rain.

There were many scholars in the capital who clung to the traditional Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucian theory and tried their best to attack the content related to the reform.

Moreover, this trend is getting bigger and bigger.

Debating scriptures is of course important, but now it is even more important for the reform to do things down-to-earth and cultivate the first batch of handicraft workshops.

After all, if there is no tangible change in productivity, then reform is undoubtedly water without a source.

Therefore, although the news from the capital reached here, neither Song Li nor Jiang Xinghuo responded.

But seeing Jiang Xinghuo mentioning this now, I think the Imperial Master was a little worried.

"The Imperial Master is talking about matters related to the Science Department of the Imperial Academy."

"Yes, but it's not just that."

Jiang Xinghuo looked up at the big tree with green leaves, and vaguely saw the shadow of the old crooked neck tree in the prison that Zhu Gaoxu had pulled out.

What I want to say here is that what Wang Anshi criticized was the traditional view that "Mengchangjun can win scholars". He believed that the crowing of chickens and dog thieves only fulfilled Lord Mengchang's reputation as a scholar, but did not have the ability to stabilize the country and stabilize the country, so they were not considered real scholars. On the contrary, a scholar should be big enough to be used by the world, and small enough to be used by the world. Therefore, the requirement of a scholar should be that he should be a minister of the six officials when he lives, and a general of the six armies when he goes out. Wang Anshi's "Reading" "The Biography of Lord Mengchang" is called "Reflections after Reading", but in fact it uses the topic to express one's own views on talents.

But just like the conflict between Principal Jiang and Principal Qiu on the concept of officer training, the officers Qiu Fu wants to train all read "Spring and Autumn". No, they are all hundreds of thousands of army commanders who read "Six Tao", but in reality After graduating from high school, you can only command dozens of soldiers. The mismatch in ability requirements is self-evident.

The same goes for officials.

Regardless of whether they are officials with a background of Jinshi or a graduate of the Imperial College, it is true that they have read the Four Books and Five Classics, and it is also true that they should undergo adaptive training such as "Observing Government" for a period of time after taking office. The gap is still too big and cannot be made up in a short while.

"There are two progressive sayings here, that is to say, those who study science and those who study Neo-Confucianism should both be 'scholars'; and since they are 'scholars' and the preparatory class for 'officials', there should always be A standard 'shi' of the Spring and Autumn Period has the Six Arts of a Gentleman." Jiang Xinghuo said with a smile.

But who is Song Li? A minister, a serious official of the country, could not hear the underlying meaning in Jiang Xinghuo's words.

Song Li simply said: "How to set the standard for cultivating 'scholars' and who will set it, it all involves the fundamentals of the success or failure of the reform."

"We need to build a new school."

Jiang Xinghuo looked at Song Li steadily and said:

"A pre-service training school to train 'scholars' who comply with the rules of the imperial court and are about to become 'officials'."

Song Li faced the rising red sun and saw the determination in Jiang Xinghuo's eyes.

Jiang Xinghuo raised the "Collected Works of Mr. Linchuan" and said seriously as the pages of the book flashed by like a revolving lantern in the morning light.

"Where did Wang Anshi's reform fail?"

Without waiting for Song Li's answer, Jiang Xinghuo said affirmatively.

"I have thought about it for a long time, and it is nothing more than these two points. First, the reform did not cultivate a new class of people who benefited; second, the reform did not know how to gather the majority."

"Future generations will grieve and fail to take note of it, which will also make future generations grieve for future generations again. We must not repeat Wang Anshi's failure."

Jiang Xinghuo patted the back of his hand with the scroll and paced by the well.

"How can we learn lessons? We have been doing it step by step to cultivate a new beneficiary class. Although there are twists and turns, although it is not easy, overall there is no big trouble. We must do the most important thing of 'establishing a manual workshop area' before we see it. It’s the first step that’s difficult.”

"I have said so much today, and the most important thing I want to tell you is the latter one."

Jiang Xinghuo stopped and said sincerely: "Daben, for me, reform is an ideal; for you, reform is the future. You have to understand your own future clearly."

We have been together for a long time, and it would be a lie to say that I am not inspired by Jiang Xinghuo's ideal of "saving the world" at all. Song Li moved his lips, wanting to say something, but in the end he only nodded wordlessly. .

"What are the social components of the Ming Dynasty? Scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, Emperor Taizu Gao has stipulated it very clearly."

"Before, you said that the people of the world are the common people. I said that is wrong. I said that the scholars, farmers, industry and merchants are all the people of the world. This means that our enemy is not a certain class!"

"Rather, we must gather scholars, peasants, workers, and businessmen together, gather these people under the banner of reform, and then attack those conservative and stubborn scholars, thereby promoting great changes in the entire world."

"Only in this way can the reform be successful."

"Otherwise, like Wang Anshi's reform, which pushed everyone in the world to the opposite side, how could it succeed?"

Of course Song Li knew that this was what Jiang Xinghuo said from the bottom of his heart, and he truly regarded him as one of his own. Of course, this was not a means of "gathering together" the Imperial Master, but it showed the sincerity in his words.

In fact, Song Li really thought about it.

For a pragmatic person like Song Li, talking about world affairs in prison is not a real skill. What he does after being released from prison is what truly shows his heroic skills.

So what social strata did the National Master gather in the short four months after he was released from prison?

When Song Li thought about it carefully, the first thing that popped into his mind was "work".

Craftsmen are highly valued by Jiang Xinghuo. It is no exaggeration to say that the best craftsmen in the world are now in Jiang Xinghuo's hands.

Whether it is a hot air balloon, a new matchlock gun, or a bronze field cannon, the immediate and outstanding performance illustrates the great role of craftsmen and the energy they can burst out.

The promotion system of craftsmen, the reward mechanism, and the guidance of skilled craftsmen are all things that Jiang Xinghuo has planned in the reform plan and has already been partially implemented.

As for the biggest shackles for craftsmen - the craftsmanship system, it is not appropriate to change it rashly now. It only needs to be subtle and subtle, and when the time comes, it will naturally happen.

The reform led by Jiang Xinghuo can change the current low social status of craftsmen and the rigid innovation mechanism.

Therefore, craftsmen must be on the side of the reform camp.

The second person who appeared in Song Li's mind was the businessman, and Jiang Xinghuo also mentioned it to Song Li.

The business class is profit-seeking, weak, and cunning. They need to strive for it but also be wary of it.

In name, the things of Emperor Taizu Gao of the Ming Dynasty still have to be used, and businessmen have to rise. This is not a contradiction.

The third one is a farmer. In addition to the Changzhou government killing corrupt officials to win over the people, the same purpose is now being put down in Jiangnan.

As mentioned just now, Jiang Xinghuo is preparing a new farmland policy for the Jiangnan prefectures.

Of course, it is not the more radical kind, but to re-clear the land, give more protection and support to the farmers, and at the same time use the sword to force the gentry to make a deed to adjust the current land rent of the tenant farmers.

Want to be a "law-abiding gentleman"?

Do you want to avoid being arrested as a White Lotus cultist?

Yes, but you were not active before, now you have to spend more money!

Unlike the gentry in Huating County, this matter can no longer be solved by paying grain.

Give me all the land around Dahuangpu!

Building roads, leveling land, establishing handicraft workshops, and building corresponding public infrastructure in new cities all require money and effort!

And according to the requirements of the "law-abiding gentry", those who used to monopolize money and food and use various deception and deception methods to deceive the tenant farmers must simply settle their accounts, right? It’s okay if you don’t want to settle accounts, just reduce the tenant farmers’ land rent a little so that they can take a breather.

Of course, it's not that there are no die-hard elements, even those who are labeled as "remnants of the White Lotus Sect" and refuse to give in.

According to Jiang Xinghuo's prediction, there should be quite a few such people. After all, there are too many officials from Songjiang Prefecture in the court, and some of them cannot obtain evidence.

But it doesn’t matter. If we don’t give in now, when the new manufacturing method takes shape on a large scale, the tenant farmers will still choose to leave the land.

Therefore, Jiang Xinghuo was not afraid of what the local gentry would choose.

As for the fourth one, that is, the non-commissioned officers, as Jiang Xinghuo just mentioned, it is necessary to establish a new training school for "non-commissioned officers".

Song Li could certainly imagine how much of a shock this existence similar to the Ming Royal Military Academy, which trained reserve officers, would cause in the temple once it was successfully recreated.

This also means that a new generation of civil servants who support the reform will continue to emerge, and the conservative faction will lose their new generation power. Even if they can still have the upper hand and occupy the mainstream of public opinion at the moment, they are destined to be in trouble after being kicked out of the cauldron. It cannot last.

And if you think about it carefully, the Imperial Guard has really managed to gather the majority of scholars, farmers, industry and merchants, and only attack a very small number of "scholars" among them.

It can be said to be in sharp contrast to the scene when Wang Anshi's political reform was in which everyone was the enemy of his father, and everyone rebelled and separated from their relatives.

"Unknowingly, with step by step steps on the ground, the National Master has actually made preparations for 'gathering the majority' without anyone noticing?"

After realizing it, Song Li looked at Jiang Xinghuo with a trace of imperceptible admiration.

Moreover, he was also curious.

How should the national teacher accomplish the task of establishing a new civil service training school?

After all, this is different from establishing a military academy. The reason for establishing a military academy is that the Ming Dynasty had always had plans to restart the "martial arts" in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and after the Jingnan Campaign, it did have the idea of ​​​​taking the institution for training officers into the hands of the court. , this is an important measure for Zhu Di to consolidate his military power. For the noble military ministers, it is also a good thing to allow their little boys to have a serious way out, so the establishment of the military academy did not encounter any decent obstacles.

But establishing a civil service training school is quite different.

"National Master, you said..."

Song Li hesitated for a long time, and finally couldn't help but ask:

"Are these people who have been trained really 'scholars'?"

Although in today's Ming Dynasty, the 'literary-official class' in the true sense of the Song Dynasty has long since disappeared, but in the hearts of many people, they still retain that stubbornness.

Therefore, Song Li's worries and concerns were not without reason.

After all, the concept of "scholar" or "scholar-official" is too special. It is not only a social class, but also an all-round and multi-angle thinking mode and even value concept.

Of course, Confucianism has always been a skin, and the things inside are not only different from Confucius's time, but also far from Dong Zhongshu's time.

But the question is, if the Imperial Academy wants to build a new civil service training school, should it include "science"? If so, will it conflict with the Science Department of the Imperial Academy? Moreover, the establishment of a new office in the Imperial College was controversial, but the resistance was not great.

But if a new civil service training school is built that is related to the future and destiny of scholars, the stakes involved are really too great!

"Are you talking about using science to train civil servants?"

Seeing Song Li nodding, Jiang Xinghuo smiled and said, "If that's not the case, that's a matter for the Imperial College."

"What about this school?"

"What he teaches is, of course, the knowledge of how to be an official."

Song Li didn't speak, but his eyes revealed everything.

He didn't believe it.

This is the last pride of this feudal bureaucrat.

I admit that you are very strong.

I admit that you know everything about astronomy, geography, economics, diplomacy, philosophy, and alchemy.

But don’t you know how to be an official?

If you even understood this, our last fig leaf would be gone!

Just like a group of people who like an item but find that the item itself is a fake. No matter how beautiful the fake is, it is just a few more laughs.

But what if there are facts in front of us that prove that this so-called "fake" is genuine?

That is of course another matter.

"Can the National Preceptor speak?"

"nature."

Jiang Xinghuo nodded, he understood Song Li's worries very well.

"What are we going to talk about? Can the National Master reveal it in advance?"

""Administrative Law", "Introduction to Administration", "Organizational System and Structure Operation of Administrative Departments", "Principles for Selecting, Employing, Educating, Encouraging and Retaining Personnel for Civil Service". There are many things I can talk about. I'm over at the military academy. I also owe a lot of classes.”

"We are too busy right now. Once we have completed the establishment of the Greater Huangpu Handicraft Factory District, resettled the people who were held hostage by the White Lotus Sect rebels, and cultivated the first cotton textile industry, we will naturally have to do it one by one when we return to Nanjing. "

"You have to do things one by one, and eat the food one bite at a time. You can't eat a big fat meal in one bite."

Jiang Xinghuo almost laughed and said, "Why, Ben, are you still worried that I can't teach?"

Song Li also laughed when he heard this.

Unknowingly, the two of them had been chatting until the purple clouds dispersed and the red sun began to rise.

With no way out, Cao Song, a member of the Jinyiwei Baihu who was determined to follow Jiang Xinghuo, appeared at the door.

"What's up?"

"Wang Zhenfu (Wang Bin's official position, fifth rank, full name Jingwei Commander Si Zhenfu Si Zhenfu) wants to report to the imperial master that the city-wide search has been completed, and a total of 230 remaining members of the White Lotus Sect have been killed. Seven people."

"Where are the civilian casualties?" Jiang Xinghuo asked.

Cao Song hesitated for a moment, subconsciously looking away from the side of his face that was scalded and disfigured by Zhao Haichuan with an oil pan, and whispered: "Since the White Lotus bandit colluded with the Shuimen captain to invade the city, there have been a total of 458 civilian casualties. More than a thousand people are missing. However, most of these missing people are hiding to avoid military disasters. They should all come out after the situation in the city is completely stabilized."

Song Li asked aloud: "Aside from Chen Wenliang, the leader of the White Lotus Sect who was killed by the formation last night, what other bandit leaders of the White Lotus Sect have been captured?"

This is of course a very important question. It stands to reason that even if the White Lotus Sect can hide, after hiding under the nose of Ming Dynasty for so many years, an army of thousands of people should not be commanded by the helmsman. There must be more High-level people take charge.

And last night, people from the cavalry did see that these people from the White Lotus Sect had another person in charge of the overall command. It seemed that this person did not evacuate from Watergate by boat, but was dragged away. Soon, the White Lotus Sect After the army collapsed, they fled into hiding somewhere in the city.

Since Cao Song did not make a special report at the moment, it means that this person has not been found yet, and since he has not been found, it is a huge hidden danger. Who knows if there are still back-up men of the White Lotus Sect hidden in the city? Although the probability is not high, it is necessary to guard against it.

Cao Song didn't hesitate and simply shook his head. This was not his responsibility.

Jiang Xinghuo did not blame him, but put away the pile of documents beside the well and planned to return to the house.

Today's schedule is still very tight. Now we have to deal with the aftermath of yesterday's raid, including the resettlement of the people, the reconstruction of buildings, and the use of reliable generals to set up defenses. At the same time, we have to interrogate the captured members of the White Lotus Sect to find out whether there are any More intrigue.

In short, there are many things, although Jiang Xinghuo does not need to do many things, he still needs to know and make corresponding instructions and judgments, so the whole morning will definitely be spent here.

Tomorrow, we will follow the fleet to the front line of Taihu Lake to complete the counter-insurgency against the White Lotus Sect rebels, so the remaining matters must be dealt with today.

In the afternoon, we have to explore the Greater Huangpu area where the barrier lake was blown up. There are sufficient water sources and excellent shipping conditions there. At the same time, it is only a preliminary dredging. The Huangpu River still needs more water conservancy facilities and management, and governance The good Huangpu River will undoubtedly become the best source of power for water-powered spinning wheels.

In the evening, I probably just had a friendly chat with the local gentry in Shanghai County.

The content of the conversation was nothing more than what was mentioned just now, including food, labor, land, rent reduction, etc.

With a lot of things waiting for him, Jiang Xinghuo naturally didn't have time to waste on tracking down the hiding commander of the White Lotus Sect.

And no matter how big the county is, even if he hides again, where can he hide? You can dig it out three feet into the ground, unless you dig a tunnel to escape.

Therefore, although Jiang Xinghuo was a little worried, he was not too worried.

Just when Jiang Xinghuo was about to go back to work, Zheng He suddenly appeared at the door of the spacious courtyard in the backyard of the county government office.

"National Master, there is someone claiming to be the Left Protector of the White Lotus Sect. He has important secrets and asks to see you!"

Niu Zhen, the left protector of the White Lotus Sect, came in lying down.

After last night's fierce battle, he already had wounds on his body. Although he was temporarily suppressed by the White Lotus Sect's secret pills, they were definitely not much better.

Originally, Niu Zhen planned to win over Tang Yin, the saint of the White Lotus Sect, to join him in resisting the leader.

Unfortunately, Tian Tianyu's ruthlessness and decisiveness in doing things were beyond Niu Zhen's expectations.

He wasn't doing well yet, but within a few hours, the secret guards of the White Lotus Sect's torture hall came to the door.

This kind of efficiency is extremely terrifying. You must know that at this time, the city is still full of Ming troops continuing to pursue and patrol!

If it weren't for the few men who followed him to help him resist, Niu Zhen would have been a completely cold corpse and would never see the sun this morning.

But even so, the injuries were getting worse. He struggled all the way to the street, attracting the attention of the Ming soldiers who were responsible for martial law patrols. He saved his life and was carried over.

Jiang Xinghuo looked at the scene in front of him and felt a little familiar.

After a moment of silence, Jiang Xinghuo said, "Call Huikong over. He knows a little bit about medical skills. Give him some treatment."

Huikong quickly came to the courtyard, looked at the dying White Lotus Sect Zuo Dharma Protector in front of him, then looked at the national master Jiang Xinghuo, and said unskilledly: "Little monk."

"Stop talking, let's do the surgery first. Remember to sew it beautifully this time. Last time Zhao Haichuan complained that the wound looked like clothes sewn by his mother."

PS: [Important reminder (there is no charge for this content)] Chapters 316 to 356 are about the rectification of officialdom and the suppression of rebellions in Jiangnan. They do not contain any theoretical knowledge. They are all practical content. If you are not interested, you can jump directly to Chapter 366. "Class" will contain theoretical knowledge content from now on.