Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 533 Imperial Examination Reform

In response to Yang En's suggestion, Meng Jun evaded the question, saying, "The prince is too young. It won't be too late to wait another two years!"

Now the Crown Prince Meng Chengzhao is four years old. Many ministers in the court are eager to make a move on the issue of the Crown Prince's education. The Crown Prince is the heir to the throne of the country. Whoever becomes the Crown Prince's teacher will become the emperor's teacher in the future.

Therefore, many ministers did not buy the emperor's argument that the prince was still too young, and many ministers wrote letters to the emperor from time to time, either recommending themselves or recommending ministers of high moral character and prestige.

Even Qian Qianyi thought he had a chance, so he shamelessly asked a secretary to write a letter to recommend himself as the prince's teacher.

After receiving the memorial from this Jieshi Zhong, Meng Jun was really shocked. How could such a fool be a minister of the new dynasty? This time Meng Jun did not exile him to Hainan, but directly issued an order to dismiss him from office and never employ him again.

Meng Jun's approach to the prince's education was different from that of other civil officials. He did not want the prince to continue to repeat the traditional education system.

Meng Jun also didn't want to let a child face a few old scholars every day and study Confucian classics all day long. In his spare time, Meng Jun also read a lot of Confucian classics, such as "Shangshu", "Zhouli", "Zuo Zhuan", "Analects of Confucius", "Mencius" and other books.

These classics are naturally very good, but Meng Jun believes that Confucianism can be studied, but if one is an emperor, then relying solely on Confucianism is not enough to cope with the world that is about to change.

Therefore, Meng Jun decided to establish another school in the capital, which would be a replica of the school he had founded in Nanjing. At that time, the sons of the crown prince, princes, nobles, ministers, and even the sons of ordinary people could all attend school.

Although Meng Jun was willing to reform education, the main focus at that time was on military and politics. Without Meng Jun's strong promotion of education, traditional Confucianism had no motivation or desire to carry out educational reforms.

The first batch of students of the new-style school founded by Meng Jun when he was in Jinling are about to graduate. Meng Jun knows that if he wants to make the new-style education truly take root, he must provide these students who have received the new-style education with a channel for advancement.

Only when new learning has a way out can it continue to exist, instead of being controlled by people and disappearing when they die. The most effective way is to become an official.

It was just that Meng Jun tentatively proposed at the court meeting to grant the status of scholar to new graduates. However, even such a slight temptation caused an uproar in the court, and many ministers strongly opposed it.

There was even an old minister, Xu Weiliang, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, who wept bitterly at the palace gate, saying, "Your Majesty's reforms may upset the hearts of scholars. The imperial examination system has been followed by all dynasties. After ten years of hard study, one's name will be on the list of successful candidates. There is no shortage of hardships. Your Majesty's move today will allow new students to obtain the title of scholar without any training. Isn't this a disrespect for the Confucian scholars?"

At this point, Xu Weiliang kowtowed repeatedly and urged: "Your Majesty, all dynasties have ruled the world with Confucianism, and this has not changed for thousands of years. Your Majesty wants to replace Confucianism with new learning, and the world will inevitably be in turmoil. I risk my life to ask Your Majesty to think twice! !"

Meng Jun never told anyone that he wanted to replace Confucianism with new learning. He just wanted to influence people slowly and subtly. But he didn't expect that his true thoughts would be guessed by others just at the beginning.

Meng Jun sighed inwardly. Anyone who could rise to a high position was not a stupid person. Now that he was the emperor, if he made the slightest move, countless people would stare at him and make various interpretations.

People like to label officials, good officials, bad officials, but in fact, besides good and bad, there are more reasons why they just have different stances. Those who oppose reform are not necessarily bad people, and those who support it are not necessarily good people.

Xu Weiliang entered officialdom in the 12th year of Chongzhen. After Li Zicheng captured Beijing, he resigned from his post and fled from the Qing court. He first served Emperor Hongguang. After the fall of Hongguang, he fled to Longwu. Even in the most critical moments, Xu Weiliang never thought of surrendering to the Qing court. After the fall of the Longwu court, Xu Weiliang fled to Meng Jun.

Under Meng Jun's rule, Xu Weiliang was an honest official. He served successively as magistrate of Changxing, prefect of Taizhou, provincial governor of Guangdong, and governor of Henan. He was finally promoted to a Beijing official and vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Xu Weiliang was in tears and spoke earnestly. He was worried that if the emperor made reforms easily, it would lead to resentment among the scholars and even shake the foundation of the country. Therefore, he knew that this move would cause dissatisfaction among the emperor, but he still spoke frankly.

Meng Jun was silent for a long time after hearing this. After the court was dismissed, the news of what happened in the court was quickly spread all over the world by people with ulterior motives. For example, Du Yinxi immediately submitted a memorial to Meng Jun after hearing the news, advising him, "Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish. Your Majesty must not act too hastily. The world is just beginning to settle down. It is better to be quiet than to act!"

I recalled the novels I had read before, in which it was so easy for the male protagonist to reform himself. But I had just started, and there were objections everywhere.

However, Meng Jun was very determined to reform, and he would not be deterred by opposition from some people. After thinking for a long time, Meng Jun summoned important officials in the court to discuss the reform of the imperial examination system.

The imperial examination system of the Ming Dynasty adopted a fixed essay format called the eight-part essay. This essay format had strict requirements, including the introduction, the continuation of the topic, the beginning of the lecture, the beginning of the essay, the middle part, the last part and the conclusion, which restricted the examinee's freedom of thought and innovation.

The eight-legged essay restricted candidates' freedom of thought and innovative spirit, and overemphasized literary accomplishment and moral qualities. This system emphasized literature over science. Therefore, Meng Jun decided to abolish the rigid eight-legged essay system of the early Ming Dynasty and switch to an examination that emphasized both literature and science.

However, Meng Jun also accepted the advice of his ministers and did not act too hastily. At the beginning, he could have eight questions for liberal arts and two for science. Later, the number of questions was gradually increased, and finally it became an imperial examination that emphasized both liberal arts and science.

With Meng Jun's edict, and a series of publicity and announcements through local government offices and newspapers, scholars from all over the Qian Dynasty knew about this great change.

At one time, a large number of scholars expressed that the court's move had lost the support of the people. Words like "talented but without morals, even as an official, would bring even greater disasters" spread everywhere, especially in the south of the Yangtze River. Many gentry used their connections to find people to write letters, trying to persuade the court to withdraw the order for reform.

But after waiting for a long time, these petitions were like a stone sinking into the sea, with no response. Some people who were interested in the matter openly denounced the court's national policy with their friends, but secretly studied books on mathematics and physics.

Although countless scholars and students all over the country were dissatisfied with the changes in the imperial examination system, the market was the most sensitive. Books on mathematics and physics, such as "Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art", "Zhoubi Suanjing", "Elements of Geometry", "Heavenly Creations", "Physical Light", etc., were in high demand. Many people sought to buy these books privately, and some unscrupulous businessmen could hype up the price of a single book and even sell it for as much as one hundred taels.