The study room of Qianqing Palace in the Imperial Palace of Beijing.
Emperor Hongzhi sat in his seat, holding a book of all peoples in his hand, and looked at the pile of memorials next to him that was taller than a person. He pondered slightly, thinking carefully in his mind.
Zhang Mao, Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian and others sitting on the stools next to them were also thinking hard, guessing the thoughts and thoughts of Emperor Hongzhi.
The matter got bigger and bigger. It was just a very small matter at first, but I didn't expect that it has now reached a point where it is difficult to deal with it.
On one side were the scholars from the Imperial College, as well as the great Confucian scholars from all over the Ming Dynasty, and officials at all levels in the Ming Dynasty. They wrote a letter asking Emperor Hongzhi to order the closure of the new school.
He believes that this new school that does not teach the teachings of Confucius and Mencius or the classics of the Confucian scholars is misleading people, and at the same time it is the beginning of harming the country and the people, shaking the country and the country. Putting the cart before the horse, the Ming Dynasty will inevitably be in chaos in the future.
On the other side were the people in the Beijing-Tianjin area. They submitted the Wanmin Book to Emperor Hongzhi. They supported the new school and thought it was very good.
My family still has books to read, so I can read and read, and I can master some basic life knowledge and skills, and I can also understand some principles of life and doing things.
The quarrel between the two sides has become more and more serious, so much so that now factories, workshops, and trading firms in the Beijing-Tianjin area have been implicated. Workers have gone on strike, and a large number of factories, workshops, and trading firms have stopped working, causing heavy losses.
Emperor Hongzhi looked left and right. If it were in the past, he would definitely listen to the civil servants and whatever the civil officials said would be whatever they said. However, after experiencing several things over the years, Emperor Hongzhi has also clearly seen what the civil servants say. With their facial expressions, it’s clear what kind of piss-poor these civil servants are.
Therefore, Emperor Hongzhi would take what the civil servants said as a reference, but he would not listen to everything. Instead, he would have his own thoughts and opinions. In addition, through the power of factory guards, Emperor Hongzhi would know more things.
The civil servants below could no longer hide many things from him. They looked at things more comprehensively and naturally started to do things completely differently from before.
Emperor Hongzhi went to see whether this new school was good or not, and the factory guards also conducted a detailed investigation. Emperor Hongzhi knew the purpose of the new school, the content and ideas of teaching.
The students trained by this new school are also different from the students trained by traditional private schools. They do not take the imperial examinations, but work in factories, workshops, firms, etc.
Students in these new schools may not know how to do anything, nor can they recite the Four Books and Five Classics, the true meanings of the philosophers, etc., but the knowledge and skills they have mastered are very good and suitable for work, workshops, businesses and the like. .
With a little training, you can quickly adapt and do quite well.
As for the fact that some officials criticized Liu Jin for spending their own money to run schools, their intentions were profound.
This is obviously an attack on Liu Jin for his evil intentions, seeking to usurp the throne by running a school and overthrowing the old Zhu family.
But Emperor Hongzhi wouldn't believe this at all. He knew Liu Jin's character very well, and since ancient times, would someone who had tried to usurp the throne set up a school?
And even if you just run a school, you still have to sing praises to the current emperor in the school every day and ask everyone to be loyal to the emperor and patriotic?
If this is really the case, then Liu Jin is probably the stupidest careerist in history. How can anyone seeking to usurp the throne still praise the emperor today and ask everyone to be loyal to the emperor and patriotic?
After eliminating these miscellaneous things, the rest is simple.
Emperor Hongzhi immediately saw clearly that through the superficial appearance of this new school and traditional private schools, what he saw was essentially the fear of the dominant Confucianism in the face of the newly rising ideology and culture.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, hundreds of schools of thought contended, and hundreds of schools of thought were dazzling. However, after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty deposed all the schools of thought and only respected Confucianism, Confucianism began to flourish. Over the past year or so, it gradually formed a situation where it now dominates the entire thought, spirit, and education.
Emperors take turns, but no matter who comes to power, they must use their Confucian people to govern the world, and they must use their Confucian ideas to manage the people.
The emergence of new-style schools now is actually not just as simple as not teaching Confucian classics, but more importantly, the new ideas represented by new-style schools. Once they develop and grow, they will shake the dominance of Confucianism in the future.
This is why Confucianism is so excited this time.
After thinking about this clearly, Emperor Hongzhi couldn't help but smile.
I realized the importance of balance last time. This is not only the balance between civil and military affairs, but also the need to gradually balance Confucianism with other schools such as Legalism, Mohism, and Farmers. Confucianism cannot be left alone.
Dominate.
Otherwise, the changing of emperors will have no impact on Confucianism. They are the real emperors and real rulers of this land.
"My dear friends, what do you think about this matter?"
Emperor Hongzhi glanced around and looked at the ministers present and asked.
"Your Majesty, I think this matter is not difficult to handle."
Liu Jian thought for a while and was the first to stand up. As the chief minister of the cabinet, he must take a stand.
"Oh, tell me~"
Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly, indicating for him to continue speaking.
"First of all, we must be sure that running a new school is indeed good. No matter what, its starting point is to enable more people to read and write, and to spread knowledge and skills. It is a good place to teach and educate people."
"What's more, this new school is related to the issue of children in thousands of families studying and going to school, so it cannot be stopped, and it should be strongly encouraged and supported."
"Because the teaching methods and models of new schools are very suitable for large-scale promotion. A school can easily have hundreds or thousands of children studying. If it is a traditional private school, it may need a lot of teachers. But in new schools,
Dozens of teachers are enough."
"This means that using a new school model can allow more children to study and learn knowledge. At the same time, they can also learn to be loyal to the emperor and patriotism, know etiquette, justice, integrity, and be loyal, benevolent, and righteous."
Liu Jian clearly expressed his support for the new school. He saw the benefits of this new school. This model is very good, suitable for large-scale promotion, and suitable for more children to study and learn.
Traditional private schools often have only two or three teachers, and some even have only one teacher, regardless of class, grade, etc. This teaching efficiency is very low, and the level of the teacher often determines the level of the students.
New schools are different. They are like an assembly line. One teacher only teaches one subject, one grade, and by studying one subject, you will naturally become more proficient.
Students are divided into grades, and the difficulty of learning increases from easy to difficult, and they gradually master more and deeper knowledge and skills. The students cultivated in this way will naturally be better and learn faster.
"Hmm~"
Emperor Hongzhi nodded with satisfaction. He was worthy of being his teacher. It was indeed a roundworm in his stomach. He also meant the same thing. Not only should the new school not be stopped, but it should also be vigorously promoted.
Emperor Hongzhi has already decided that Liu Jin can fund the school, and so can he. He is the emperor, and he should set an example. Anyway, there is no shortage of money now. With the money used to run the school, he can also do something good for himself.
Reputation.
"Secondly, what the prince said is not without some truth. The Tao of Confucius and Mencius and the true meaning of the disciples are the most suitable way to govern the country and secure it. This has been true in all dynasties."
"The courses taught by the new-style schools are all about specific content and knowledge in a certain aspect, and there is very little content about governing the country and ensuring peace of the country. Therefore, students who graduate from this new-style school are not suitable for selection as officials."
"So I think that, on the one hand, we should require new schools to strongly teach the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, and increase the content of the classics of the Confucius, so that students can learn the wisdom of the sages."
"On the other hand, the imperial court should set rules. In the future, imperial officials will still be admitted through the imperial examination. Students studying in new-style schools are not allowed to take the imperial examination and cannot be selected and hired as imperial officials."
"Finally, the imperial court should allocate more funds to build private schools and academies so that more children can attend private schools and academies, and continue to promote the teachings of Confucius and Mencius and the true meaning of Confucianism."
"In this case, things will naturally calm down."
What Liu Jian means is actually very simple: to take the middle road.
The reason why Confucianism reacted so fiercely is simply because they were worried about losing their dominance in the future and losing Confucianism's monopoly on officialdom. If this is the case, then the court should simply make it stipulate that if you want to be an official or a civil servant, you must attend a private school and follow the tradition.
private school route.
At the same time, the imperial court also allocated money to build more private schools and academies, so that more people could attend private schools and academies, enter Confucianism, and learn the ways of Confucius and Mencius, which could be regarded as promoting and prospering Confucianism.
Secondly, this new school cannot be stopped. There are too many children from ordinary families studying in the Beijing-Tianjin area. If it were to be stopped, the impact would be huge.
If you are not careful at that time, it is very likely that something big will happen.
What's more, there are indeed many things worth promoting and affirming in new-style schools. Reading, literacy, and acquiring knowledge and skills are good things in themselves. Right and wrong must be clearly distinguished, and good and bad things must be clearly distinguished.
Of course, as the chief minister of the cabinet, Liu Jian also knew very well that Emperor Hongzhi's current attitude was that enough was enough, and it was almost done.
Of course, not only Emperor Hongzhi, but also the big bosses in the industry also meant this. Everyone’s factories, workshops, trading houses, ships, etc. must continue to make money, and every day of shutdown means a day of loss.
"Your Majesty, I think what Mr. Liu said is true~"
Li Dongyang stood up and expressed his opinion that this method of handling was more appropriate.
"I also think that what Liu Gong said is true~"
Zhang Mao, Xie Qian and others also stood up and expressed their opinions one after another, and did what Liu Jian said.
