Just when the second primary school in Qizhou was completed and opened, there was a big discussion in the political hall of the Imperial Palace of the Holy Sect City, which was thousands of miles away.

Xu Xiangguang, Minister of Education, Li Shanlan, Vice Minister and Executive Vice President of the Whampoa Military Academy, Cheng Huancai, Vice Minister, and several doctoral scholars were debating in front of the hall.

Feng Yunshan sat in the hall and listened to the arguments of these subordinates without impatience.

Cheng Huancai can be regarded as Feng Yunshan's wife and uncle, and he can also be regarded as a relative of the emperor. He is the younger brother of the original governor of Huguang Cheng Sandpiper, at the age of 30, he was awarded the Hanlin Academy to edit, supplement the imperial history of Huguang Dao, and later served as the governor of Hengzhou Prefecture in Hunan, Hubei Yanfa Daotai, Hubei and Hunan according to the inspector, and now he is also in his sixties, following his brother Cheng Sandpipe, who has become the abbot, and returned to the Chinese Empire.

However, in order to avoid Cheng's authority being too great and making it difficult for Feng Yunshan, Cheng Lingnan took the initiative to propose that his father Cheng Yancai and his uncle Cheng Huancai both be idle at home, but Feng Yunshan did not shy away from appointing Cheng Huancai as a full-time deputy minister of the Ministry of Education.

"Your Majesty, the term 'education' was originally found in Mencius? On the Heart", Meng Shengrenyun: 'A gentleman has three joys, and the king does not exist with the world. Both parents exist, brothers have no reason, and they are happy; Look up to the sky, bow down to people, and be happy; Get the world's talents and educate them, and the three music are also. The original education system had to be based on the scriptures of the saints! But now these eight shares are no longer suitable for today's era. ”

"The Ming and Qing dynasties continued to use the old system, with four books and texts, the Manchu Qing Dynasty Kangxi had stopped eight shares, examination strategy, did not long spin to restore the old system. For a while, the literature was prosperous, and the Confucian scholars were able to deduce the original and clarify the righteousness. The income of the science system, there is no lack of talent through the scriptures, but the fashion is becoming more and more popular, the style and style are becoming more and more obscure, and the examination field is performing, most of them are perfunctory according to the topic, and there are few inventions in the scriptures, and those who are shallow and sparse are all selected indiscriminately. If you don't change with the times, how can you learn and pull out real talents. Weichen suggested that the Eight Shares of Scholars could be abolished, and in the future imperial examinations, those who used the four books and texts would be changed to try the strategy. However, based on the four books and five experiences as the basis for selecting officials, the emphasis on virtue still needs to be the foundation and cannot be lost, as long as it is supplemented by Western studies. Xu Xiangguang, Minister of Education, spoke eloquently.

Cheng Huancai also nodded frequently, and then said: "What Lord Xu said is extremely true! Although there are drawbacks, there are also merits. Confucian classics, which have been extended for thousands of years, naturally have their own uniqueness. Your Majesty, Weichen thought that after all, our Chinese Empire was also a Confucian and Mencian sage with far-reaching influence, so he rashly abandoned the way of Confucius and Mencius, and only used foreign learning from the West, fearing that the foundation would be unstable. ”

And Li Shanlan frowned and said, "Your Majesty, Weichen has a different opinion on this!" Weichen believes that it is necessary to completely abolish the eight-share scholars, and also completely change the form of taking scholars, so as to fundamentally promote the reform of education! Since last year, the magistrates of all provinces and prefectures have been ordered to conduct detailed inspections of their colleges and universities, and all of them have been converted into schools for part-time study of Western studies in secondary schools. As for the school-level subjects, the large academy in the provincial capital should be regarded as the higher school, and the prefecture and county should be reduced to the middle school or technician school in descending order. In the ancestral temples in the countryside, those who are not in the ceremony will be informed by the local officials and the people, and they will all be changed to primary schools. Now in the past year, the Chinese Empire has set up three levels of schools: primary, secondary, and higher, and Wechen suggested continuing to expand the number of schools and improve the education subjects. Once the academy is widely established and the subjects are perfected, the imperial examination can be completely abolished and scholars can be taken directly from the academy. ”

"As for the subjects, they can be broadly divided into secondary schools and Western studies, and then classified into different levels. In addition to this, there are two more that must be carried out. The first is to introduce Western studies, increase the number of government-sent students, and hire Western teachers to teach in the Imperial Academy; The second is to pay attention to universal education. According to Wechen's understanding of Western countries, what each country pays attention to is that ordinary people are not cultivating a small number of talents, but creating a majority of citizens. ”

As soon as Li Shanlan finished speaking, Feng Yunshan couldn't help but admire: "What Li Aiqing said is very good! ”

As he spoke, he also ignored the fact that everyone was still arguing, and directly asked Fu Shanxiang, who was with him, to take out the education reform strategy that he had already prepared, and said: "Zhong Aiqing doesn't have to argue, I have made up my mind." From now on, the empire will carry out a new education system in full swing. ”

After speaking, Feng Yunshan directly appointed Li Shanlan as the Minister of Education, Cheng Huancai was still the Vice Minister of Education, and Xu Xiangguang, the former Minister of Education, was transferred to the governor of Jiaozhi and Nippon Province.

The crowd was stunned. Li Shanlan was even more panicked: "Your Majesty, Weichen doesn't dare." Since Lord Xu became Minister of Education, the Empire's education has achieved remarkable results, and I ask Your Majesty to think twice. Moreover, it is already difficult for Weichen to serve as deputy minister, and it is really difficult to do it. ”

Feng Yunshan said with a smile: "Li Aiqing, Xu Aiqing is the governor of Jiaori, and the position is more important than you, the minister of education. I also use it because of my talents. It was precisely because of Xu Aiqing's achievements in educating the villagers that I wanted to put him where he was needed more, and the newly annexed provinces of Jiaozhi and Nichin, which were in dire need of imperial officials to educate the local people, Xu Aiqing was the best candidate. Xu Aiqing, are you willing? ”

Xu Xiangguang hurriedly bowed: "Weichen thank Your Majesty for your grace!" Wherever Your Majesty asks Wechen to go, Wechen will go! ”

Of course Xu Xiangguang is happy, since Feng Yunshan led his troops to occupy Guangzhou City, he has taken refuge in Feng Yunshan, starting from a Taoist platform in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and becoming the current governor, a total of just over three years, this promotion speed is fast enough.

Although he was dismissed from the official position of Minister of Education, he would not think that the emperor had an opinion of him, after all, he also knew that he was indeed not suitable for the emperor's way of thinking, and Li Shanlan, who had studied Eastern and Western Confucianism and Western studies, was indeed more suitable for the position of Minister of Education than him. On the contrary, for the transfer of him as the governor of Jiaori, this is the first governor since the establishment of the Chinese Empire, and it is also the homeland of the Qin and Han dynasties that governs Jiaozhi. Thinking of this, Xu Xiangguang's heart became hot.

Li Shanlan had no choice but to follow and thank you: "Weichen Xie Your Majesty's appreciation, you will be ruined, and you will die and live up to Your Majesty's expectations." ”

Feng Yunshan nodded with satisfaction, and he asked Fu Shanxiang beside him to directly list the education reform strategy that had been prepared long ago. Originally, the primary and intermediate schools that emerged from last year were only pilots, but now it seems that it is indeed an educational method suitable for this era, so until today, Feng Yunshan decided to officially implement it more thoroughly in all provinces across the country.

Among the educational reform strategies that Fu Shanxiang came up with, the first was the promulgation of the "Provisional Regulations on Education in the Chinese Empire" and the "Provisional Regulations on the Standards of the General Education Curriculum".

The system of graded schools has been implemented throughout the country, so that all children over the age of eight, both male and female, must attend the nearest primary school. Those who are more than 10 miles away from home can stay in the school.

The school is divided into junior school, intermediate school, and senior school. Among them, the primary school implements a five-year system, and villages and townships with insufficient conditions or small populations can only set up a three-year incomplete primary school, and the remaining two years will go to a village with a larger population or a complete primary school in the town. The Four Books and Five Classics of the original private school were abolished in the primary school and a new teaching content was introduced. Among them, in the first three years, courses such as self-cultivation, Chinese literature, arithmetic, games, and gymnastics were offered; In the next two years, courses such as Chinese history, geography, naturalism, physics and chemistry, painting, and handicrafts were added.

The five years of primary education in the primary school are compulsory and must be accepted by all school-age children, and the tuition fees are fully paid for by the State treasury.

The Intermediate School is also five years long, and is divided into an ordinary Intermediate School and a specialized school. The general intermediate school offers courses such as self-cultivation, Chinese literature, mathematics, Chinese and foreign history, Chinese and foreign geography, physics, chemistry, and biology. The junior intermediate school is a vocational and technical school that Feng Yunshan deliberately imitated in later generations, and opened similar to Wuchang Iron and Steel Technician School, Shaozhou Coal School, Jingdezhen Porcelain School, Guangzhou Railway School, etc. Intermediate schools are set up in prefectures, counties, prefectures, or provinces.

The senior schools are all in the provincial government office or Wujing. The senior school is also divided into the general senior school and the junior high school. The junior high schools are all called schools, and the most are military academies and industrial schools.

Ordinary senior schools require students from ordinary intermediate schools to participate in the unified enrollment examination at the provincial level, and they are uniformly admitted according to the ranking of good or bad grades. The junior high school admits students not only from ordinary intermediate schools, but also from the military, factories, and civil society.

Fu Shanxiang directly announced several senior schools that have been built and are under construction. Among them, the provincial school palace of each province was automatically converted into the ordinary senior school of the province, such as the Guangxi school palace was changed to the Guangxi higher school. The Whampoa Military Academy is a military higher education school, the full name of which is the Imperial Chinese Army Military Academy.

At the same time, many senior schools were set up in Shengjing (now Nanjing), such as the Imperial Shengjing School, the Imperial Chinese Military Medical School, the First Normal School of the Chinese Empire, the Chinese Imperial Academy of Sinology, the Chinese Imperial Mining School, the Chinese Imperial Transportation School, and the Chinese Imperial Architecture School. The Imperial Chinese Ocean School, the Imperial Chinese Business School, the Imperial Chinese Textile School, and the Second Normal School of the Chinese Empire were established in Nanjing (now Guangzhou), the Imperial Chinese Railway School in Tokyo (now Shanghai), and the Imperial Chinese Naval Officer School in Fuzhou.

In this way, all the former Confucian temples and school palaces left behind by the Manchu Qing Dynasty were transformed by the local government into schools of different levels.

Feng Yunshan also asked the Ministry of Education to promulgate the educational purpose, human qualifications, age, curriculum, and length of time of various schools such as primary, intermediate, and senior schools. The purpose of primary education is to pay attention to the physical and mental development of children, to develop the foundation of national morality, and to teach the knowledge and skills necessary for life. Although the instructor is temporarily replaced by the former private school teacher, he must obtain a certificate of permission from the government at or above the prefectural level, and he is not allowed to inflict corporal punishment on the student. Primary education was paid for by the Empire and was compulsory.

The education of the intermediate school is mainly aimed at improving general education and creating a sound citizen, and the purpose is to teach the knowledge and skills necessary for agriculture, industry and commerce. In principle, the provincial government and the provincial government shall allocate funds to pay for the expenses.

The purpose of the higher education hall is to teach advanced academics, cultivate master's talents, and meet the needs of the country; It is divided into 8 subjects: military, Chinese studies, science, law, commerce, medicine, agriculture and engineering.

All institutions of higher learning are directly funded by the Imperial Cabinet in the principle of direct access to the Ministry of Education and the direct establishment of the Empire.