Yi Zhishu was so easy to speak, Zeng Guofan was secretly relieved, Mianyu and Su Shun were surprised, and the atmosphere in the room was immediately relaxed, Mianyu said with a smile: "The country's advance and retreat talents, only name and instrument, if the imperial court can give the provinces a new school annual fifty lifts, it is far better than the imperial examination, the government and the opposition will be eager for the new learning, in this way, I am afraid that the impact on ......the imperial examination is too great." ”

What do you mean? If he is really good at talking, does the amount of new learning in these provinces still want to drop again and again? Yi Zhizu slowly glanced at the three of them, and said in a deep voice: "The prosperity of Xinxue will have an impact on the imperial examination, which is inevitable, and what the imperial court needs to consider is not to balance the imperial examination and Xinxue, but how to perfectly combine the imperial examination and Xinxue."

Nowadays, the new learning has a little foundation in Guangzhou and Shanghai, and to say bigger, it is also Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces, and other provinces in the southeast are just starting, and the new learning to cultivate talents is not a quick success, at least more than ten years, such a long time, is not enough for the imperial court to carry out effective integration? ”

Listening to his tone was not good, Mianyu dared to take an inch, and immediately said: "It is still the national city to think long-term, the imperial examination and the new school are all selected for the national reserve, and they should indeed be effectively integrated." ”

Zeng Guofan nodded secretly when he listened, if he wanted not to abolish the imperial examination, it may be the only way to combine the imperial examination with Xinxue, the other party can put forward this suggestion, it seems that there is indeed no intention of abolishing the imperial examination, and he groaned slightly, before he spoke: "Regarding the reform of the imperial examination, the abolition of the eight-strand text, and the addition of history and geography, can Zhenhai Gong have specific suggestions?" Such as history and geography textbooks ....... ”

"The textbooks and subjects of the imperial examination have always been official, and the imperial court can summon Hongxue and Confucianism to edit and proofread." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "The Qing Dynasty is now gradually opening up the country and integrating into the world, my Qing gentry can no longer sit in the well and watch the sky, only know China, do not know the world, they must also understand the world, whether history or geography, should be divided into two parts: the country and the world, the world part can organize some international students to collect and edit teaching materials." ”

"What Zhenhai Gong said is extremely true." Zeng Guofan was secretly impressed in his heart, and then said: "Regarding geography, it is just a simple mountain and river, geography wins, and administrative division? ”

Yi Zhishu smiled and said: "Since geography can be used as a separate subject, how can it be so simple, in general, geography includes physical geography, human geography, and economic geography. Geomorphology, climate, hydrology, soil, flora, fauna, and many other aspects, you are looking for students returning from Prussia ....... ”

So complicated? Zeng Guofan frowned, "Just compiling the textbook, I'm afraid it will take more than ten years to ......." ”

"This is not an overnight thing, and furthermore, geography will continue to develop and improve, starting with the geography of our country, there is no shortage of geographers in our country, there is no shortage of geographical works." Yi Zhicontent is like a number of treasures, "Li Daoyuan, Shen Kuo, Xu Xiake, Zhang Heng, Xu Guangqi, etc. have left geographical works. ”

This is indeed not an overnight thing, Zeng Guofan secretly thought in his heart, after returning to Beijing, he must ask for the compilation of teaching materials to be set in Shanghai, at least geography must be set in Shanghai.

In order to actively promote new learning, encourage the provinces to build schools, advocate new learning, the imperial court promulgated the "Regulations for the Reward of Each School", and implemented the new school name reward system, the provincial university hall is awarded the amount every year, the middle province award is 50 amounts, and the higher and its equivalent degree of schools are awarded tribute and students, and the amount depends on the size of the school.

As soon as this edict was issued, it immediately caused a sensation in Beijing, and for a time telegrams were frequently circulated, and newspapers of all sizes in the north and south of the great river published them one after another, and reported them in a timely manner, causing a sensation in the government and the public!

The imperial examination is tried every three years, and the number of students and people has a fixed number, and the general large provinces, the township examination is only one hundred, on average, it is only about thirty a year, and the number of medium provinces is only seventy or eighty, and the amount of a year is only twenty or thirty. And this quota is still dedicated to the new school! This is obviously far more than the normal quota for the imperial examination!

Obviously, the imperial court attached far more importance to Xinxue than to the imperial examination, which made all the people of the Qing Dynasty see a shortcut to fame, at least for now!

The southeastern provinces were boiling at the time, and the new school was immediately surrounded by water, scrambling to sign up for admission, because the new school implements free admission, free education system, whether it is a gentry, a wealthy businessman or a poor family, as long as there are children in the family who meet the admission conditions, they have rushed to the new school to register.

Although Yuanqi spares no effort in the implementation of new education, and is willing to invest money, but the biggest bottleneck is the teachers, because of the serious shortage of teachers, the southeastern provinces are only at the county level to open a new school, and it is a county, as the news spreads, the people near the county have also poured into the county with school-age children, overcrowded, and the new schools in the prefectures and counties have sent power to the emergency.

Shanghai, Zhenhai Mansion, Lotus Garden, Tingyuxuan.

Tingyuxuan is located on the lakeside, is a two-storey small building, the front of the first floor is the courtyard, the back is a platform extending to the lake, very suitable for viewing, Prince Gong Yixun, Prince Hui Mianyu, Prince Yi Zaiyuan, Alcohol County Wang Yifang, Minister of Military Aircraft Su Shun, Wen Xiang and Zeng Guofan and other people sit or stand on the platform to enjoy the scenery and chat.

Yi Zhishu walked over slowly accompanied by Zhao Liewen, and when a group of people saw him come in, they greeted him one after another, and bowed their hands, "You can all be regarded as old acquaintances and old friends, there is no need to be formal on this occasion today, everyone is free to do so." ”

Hearing this, Mianyu smiled and said: "This proposal is good, there is no need to be formal in private, everyone can speak freely." ”

"Feel free to do so." Yi Zhixiang paced to the fence with a smile, sitting on the railing, today's weather is a little cloudy, there is no sun, he chose to meet everyone here, not because it is clean, but because it is open, and the group has a few old smoking guns, it is really inappropriate to stay in the room.

Seeing Yi Zhi's contentment chose to sit on the fence by the lake, a group of people wanted to be restrained but could not be restrained, simply scattered and sat at will, Yi Xun took the lead in speaking: "It is better to read ten thousand books than to travel thousands of miles, the ancients did not deceive me, this visit to the West, traveling around the world, is not only an eye-opener, but also makes us aware of the huge gap between my Qing Dynasty and the Western countries...... ”

Yi Zhi nodded and said: "The foreign mission can clearly see the huge gap between the Qing Dynasty and Western countries, and Yuan Qi's thoughts are not in vain. ”

Wang Yitong said with a smile: "Brother Guocheng proposed that the imperial court form a large-scale delegation to visit the West, the purpose is to make the imperial court realize the gap between the Qing Dynasty and Western countries? ”

"People have to die more than people, goods have to be thrown away, and everything is afraid of comparison." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "The Qing Dynasty encountered the crisis of two Western invasions, and finally turned the danger into a disaster, and when the government and the opposition were jubilant, perhaps I know best that the Qing Dynasty will face a greater crisis."

If it were not for the fact that the Nanyang naval fleet was equipped with new breech-loading rifled guns and had the strength to blockade the Bohai Sea, this war, even if the Tianjin-Beijing land battle could be won, would have been protracted.

With the strength shown by Britain and France in the Crimean War, if this war continues, it will inevitably be our Qing Dynasty that will be defeated, so God bless me for this war to win a complete victory! However, this time there is God bless, will there be God next time?

With the current military strength and comprehensive national strength of the Qing Dynasty, is it capable of dealing with a war of the scale of the Crimean War? Is it capable of dealing with a large-scale war with more than a million troops? ”

"Nope!" Yi Zhicontent said in a firm tone: "Compare with Britain and France, you will find that we have a huge gap with the two countries in terms of economy, politics, military, culture and education, if we can't clearly realize this now, we will not be able to deal with the crisis of the next Western invasion!"

It is gratifying that after surviving the crisis of Western invasion twice in a row, especially in the case of the second great victory, you can still clearly understand the huge gap between the Qing Dynasty and the Western powers. ”

Hearing these words, Mianyu glanced at Zaiyuan, and smiled secretly in her heart, what the imperial court realized was not the huge gap between the Qing Dynasty and Western countries, but the huge gap with Yuanqi! If it weren't for Yuan Qi's pressure on the imperial court, it would be impossible for the imperial court to approve of the reform and innovation proposed by Yixun and others!

Yi Xun said in a deep voice: "Will the West invade again?" ”

"If we are not strong enough, Western invasions are inevitable, and they are frequent." Yi Zhi said with a full jaw: "Now is the era of hegemony, aside from England and France, Prussia, the United States, Tsarist Russia, Austria-Hungary, and the Kingdom of Sardinia are all ambitious. ”

Yi Yan continued: "Brother Guocheng's meaning, the imperial court must change the law to become strong, enrich the country and strengthen the army, otherwise it will inevitably be a series of wars." ”

Hearing this, Yi Zhizhi smiled, "Didn't you come to Shanghai with such a large lineup to change the law?" ”

"I came to Shanghai this time to change the law." Seeing that it was broken, Yi Xun simply pointed out cheerfully, "The imperial court also realizes that there is a huge gap with the Western powers, and it has to change the law to become stronger, so the imperial court plans to implement a series of changes, including military, economic, cultural and educational, political, legal and other aspects, and we have specially come to consult the opinions of the brother Guocheng." ”

"The imperial court is determined to change the law to become strong, enrich the country and strengthen the army, which is the luck of the Qing Dynasty and the people." Yi Zhizhi said without thinking: "Yuanqi will respond positively and vigorously support and cooperate. ”

This can be said to be an empty word, but it shows the attitude, no one present is surprised, after all, Yi Zhizhi has secretly encouraged the court to change the law many times, and Fang Cai's words are also encouraging the court to change the law and try to be strong, but his attitude makes everyone feel unsure!

Although Yuan Qi did not explicitly divide the place, but in fact it is no different from the separation, has always been faintly competing with the imperial court, the imperial court changed the law to innovate in order to enrich the country and strengthen the army, it stands to reason, Yuan Qi should be opposed, and do everything possible to obstruct it is reasonable, but he just supports, and even does not hesitate to force the imperial court to carry out the reform of the law, the implementation of new learning, the reform of the imperial examination, in fact, is the innovation of education.

Although everyone was puzzled, no one dared to ask directly, but in fact, they couldn't ask, and even if they asked, the other party couldn't tell the truth.

Yixun said with a warm face and a spring breeze on his face: "Everyone knows that Brother Guocheng has always put state affairs first, and Yuanqi also focuses on the overall situation everywhere. ”

Yi Zhizhi lit a cigarette and said in a relaxed tone: "Can you explain in detail about this change and innovation?" ”

"Brother Guocheng is familiar with China and the West, has profound knowledge, has a broad vision, and has far-reaching concerns." Yixun said with a smile: "This time, we came not only to win Yuan Qi's strong support for the imperial court's change, but also to listen to Brother Guocheng's high opinion on the change. ”

After a pause, he continued: "In terms of culture and education, it is to promote new learning and reform the imperial examination, and in terms of military affairs, it is to reform the old and make the new, focus on reducing the old army and training the new army, and starting next year, the original green battalions and defense and courage in various provinces will be reduced by 23/10 year by year, and all will be eliminated in three to five years. ”

Yi Zhishu nodded slightly, "The green camp is already useless, and it is inevitable to abolish it, but what about local defense?" ”

Yi Xun said: "A number of battalions were selected from the green battalions in various provinces, divided into three parts: standing standby, continuous reserve and patrol police, all of which were trained in new guns and artillery to make them a strong force. ”

"The three parts of standby, renewal and patrol are remarkable." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "However, the green battalion has rotted from the roots, continue to select from the green battalion, and the style and habits of the troops will be inherited, and in a few years, it will still be the green battalion it is today." ”

"Then according to the opinion of Brother Guocheng.....

"Implement a conscription system, re-recruit, for a period of three or five years, discharge from the army at the end of the term, and recruit new soldiers." Yi Zhicontent said slowly: "In this way, it can not only ensure the combat strength of the army, but also cultivate a large number of qualified soldiers, and serve the people, once there is a war, a large number of qualified soldiers who have undergone strict training can be quickly recruited, but in peacetime, the army is not large, which is conducive to reducing the financial pressure of the imperial court." ”

The cost of recruiting soldiers is not comparable to that of the Green Battalion! Yixun was slandered in his heart, but he didn't say anything, glanced at Zeng Guofan, and saw that he was writing a note, so he deliberately paused for a while.

After a slight sigh, he continued: "In terms of economy, it is to revitalize agriculture, industry and commerce, encourage the cultivation of wasteland, expand the area of cultivated land, improve agricultural technology, vigorously build water conservancy, set up agricultural experimental fields, and introduce new varieties, new technologies, and new agricultural tools for Japanese crops.

In the case of industry and commerce, the imperial court planned to set up a Ministry of Commerce, which was to encourage and support the private sector in various localities to set up factories, set up commercial companies, set up joint-stock enterprises by means of offering shares, implement the simultaneous development of government-run enterprises and private enterprises, and formulate articles of association to protect the rights and interests of private businesses and protect private property. ”