Wei Liangqing's excerpts and the secret report of the deputy Qianhu of the Danongzhou Thousand Households were placed on Zhu Youxiao's desk, and Zhu Youxiao said to Wei Zhongxian with a smile after reading it: "These two little guys have done a good job, they know what they can do and what they can't do, and the factory ministers have taught them well." ”

Wei Zhongxian said with a smile: "It's all taught by the saints well, and the two of them sometimes mess around, but they won't forget the point of being loyal to the country." ”

Zhu Youxiao said with a smile: "Their method is very good, although we have a lot of domestic people now, but if we want to open up overseas territories, after all, there are still a few of them, and if we wait for another ten years, I will have a large number of young people who can use it, and before that, it is a good way to hire people from other races." ”

Ye Xianggao said: "Your Majesty, we must prevent the number of aliens from exceeding the number of my Ming Dynasty, and we must persevere in Sinicization education." ”

Fang Congzhe, Xu Guangqi and others nodded together, they are all Confucian disciples, and the thoughts of non-our race whose hearts must be different are deeply rooted in their hearts, but Confucianism has always believed that if Yi Di enters China, then China will be. As long as they accept Chinese Wenhua, they can be regarded as Chinese, so they are very concerned about the cultivation of foreign races.

Zhu Youxiao said with a smile: "Master Fang, Master Ye, when it comes to the country's major matters that really concern the life of the nation, I still need to ask you. Why do you have to do it now? "It turns out that Fang Congzhe and Ye Xianggao have been asking for Zhishi for the past two years, Zhu Youxiao has been delaying again and again, and today is the ninth time that the two of them have asked for Zhishi, and they can't drag it out.

Fang Congzhe said with a smile: "Lao Chen has been the first assistant twice, and he has assisted three generations of emperors for seventeen years, and this last ten years is the most comfortable ten years for Lao Chen." Seeing that His Majesty tried his best to promote Confucianism, and gave the people of the world an easier way to rise with examinations and schools, the old minister often admired His Majesty's foresight. His Majesty is affectionate and affectionate, and has not let go of his ministers, which makes his ministers even more frightened. ”

Zhu Youxiao naturally knew that the two of them had made up their minds, and he muttered for a long time: "I have a reluctant request, and I want to discuss it with the two Aiqing. ”

When the two of them heard that the emperor's words were loose, they were naturally overjoyed, and Ye Xianggao said: "Your Majesty has an order, and the ministers dare not disobey." Fang Congzhe also nodded again and again.

Zhu Youxiao said: "I want to appoint Master Fang Ye as the left and right attendant of the Ministry of Education, and I don't need to go to the government to look at things, but just give Yang Shangshu the helm." Three months later, it will be officially announced. This matter is too wronged by the two Aiqing, so I feel embarrassed myself. ”

Fang Congzhe and Ye Xianggao had passed away at this time in their original history, and the reason why they were still alive in this time and space was of course greatly related to the fact that they had been serving as the first assistant of the cabinet and the emperor's trust. As soon as the emperor said this, the two of them already understood what the emperor meant. Because the emperor said before that officials should be able to go up and down, the kind of feeling like being a scholar and then being a squire is a bad habit and must be refuted.

In fact, the officials of the Ming Dynasty are already much stronger than the officials of later generations, but this kind of atmosphere of being able to go up and down is still relatively strong. Zhu Youxiao felt that it was better to introduce a good example than to talk about a thousand great truths, and now that there are two good examples, of course he wants to take the opportunity to reverse this not very good trend.

Fang Congzhe and Ye Xianggao bowed down together and said, "Obey the holy decree." ”

Zhu Youxiao hurriedly stepped forward to help the two of them up and said, "I have wronged the two gentlemen." ”

Ye Xianggao smiled and said: "This matter is beneficial to the Ming Dynasty, and it can be said that it is an honor for the ministers to be pushed out by His Majesty to be a person, how can they be wronged?" ”

Fang Congzhe also smiled: "It is a blessing for the minister to be able to do his last part for the court and share the last worry for His Majesty in the ancient years." ”

The next day, the emperor decreed: Jia Fang from Zhe Taishi, plus Ye to Gao Taifu, remove Fang Congzhe from the first auxiliary position of the cabinet, and remove Ye from the second auxiliary position of the Gao cabinet. Fang Congzhe was appointed as the left attendant of the Ministry of Education, and Ye Xianggao was appointed as the right attendant of the Ministry of Education.

Xu Guangqi, the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, was appointed as the first assistant of the cabinet, Sun Chengzong, the secretary of the Ministry of War, was appointed as the second assistant of the cabinet, and Yuan Keli, the governor of Denglai, was appointed to the cabinet with the title of secretary of the Ministry of Rites.

This holy decree shook the officials of the world, and the former first and second assistants of the cabinet went to serve as the chamberlain of the Ministry of Education, which gave a strong warning to many officials who were messing around, not to think about slowly rising according to their seniority. Since the emperor can even appoint the head of the cabinet as a squire, that prefect may one day be appointed as a prefect or even a canon.

Of course, some flexible people also saw a problem, the emperor attached too much importance to the Ministry of Education. There was financial support in front of him, regardless of money, and now he has put the former first assistant in the position of the squire, which is clearly intended to greatly strengthen the Ministry of Education.

Sure enough, two days later, the emperor decreed the promulgation of the Child Protection Law. It began to be implemented nationwide in the tenth year of the Apocalypse.

There are many provisions in the Child Protection Act, the most important of which are two. One is that after the birth of all babies in the Ming Dynasty, their right to life will be immediately protected by the Ming Emperor, and all those who kill babies and underage children without permission will depend on the severity of the circumstances. will be sentenced to a minimum of 10 years' hard labor and a maximum of halve.

Infants are not gendered in this law, and the term "manslaughter" here refers to all acts of voluntary killing unless the crime is imposed by a court of law and the death penalty is imposed. That is, if a parent kills an underage child, he will also be sentenced. In his edict, the Emperor condemned the practice of drowning female babies in certain places, and angrily rebuked: "Is your mother not a daughter? ”

The second is that boys between the ages of six and fifteen, who live within 10 miles of the school, should attend a primary school for at least one year. If you have excellent grades and can be recommended to the intermediate school, you must enter the middle school to continue your studies. If there is a violation, the father will be fined 200 yuan. At the same time, girls are encouraged to attend primary schools, and in addition to free learning like boys, each girl who attends school is rewarded with 50 yuan from her parents, and another 100 yuan if recommended for admission to intermediate schools.

Thanks to Zhu Youxiao's construction of schools regardless of the cost, the areas with schools within ten miles of the two capitals have accounted for 50 percent, Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang have accounted for 30 percent, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Huguang, and Fujian have accounted for 20 percent, and other provinces are relatively few, such as Yunnan and Guizhou, except for the larger cities where there are schools, there are almost no other places.

Of course, the construction of schools in various places is speeding up, and the increase in normal schools has led to a substantial increase in the number of teachers, but after all, it is only a few years since large-scale education was established, and this thing cannot be completed in a day. Zhu Youxiang also knows the truth of urgency, but he also knows that the speed of this popularization will be faster and faster.