"Well, can I understand that the selection I mentioned and the building of a school that you just said are two things that are not related to each other and are not contradictory?"

Peter had no intention of being angry.

"Why isn't it relevant? Do you want to delegate the people you have screened out for a position? ”

"Haha, I think the two of us have a wrong understanding of capable people, which is why you are so excited"

Peter snorted and smiled.

"The capable people I am referring to, as I said before, are buried people, these people are stronger than others in some way, for example, the big black bear must be stronger than the little squirrel, and the little squirrel is better at talking than the big black bear. However, there are differences in ability, and there are also differences in size, and the so-called capable person works more, first of all, because he has great ability. But in fact, most of them are ordinary people, but some are better than others. Just like an ordinary wooden barrel, it is made up of multiple slender planks, but the amount of water that the barrel can hold is actually determined by the shortest plank on the barrel, not the longest one. If the barrel is replaced by a human being, the shortest plank of most people is his origin, because there are too many peasants in Russia, and these peasants who have not been forced to join the army because of the outbreak of war will have to work in the fields with their backs to the dirt for the rest of their lives, and they are not allowed to leave the farms. If we put aside their background, in fact, everyone is more or less different, but it is impossible to have a large proportion of capable people, because their ancestors have been farmers in the farm for generations, and it is impossible to receive a good education, so naturally they do not have the corresponding ability to cope with anything other than farm work. It's like those mobilized soldiers, who can't even distinguish between left and right, up and down, southeast, northwest, and northwest, and often walk in unison, and can't remember such a simple action without being whipped with sticks and whips. Do you think such a person is suitable for receiving a universal education like the children of the aristocracy and wealth? The reason why I came up with the screening scheme is precisely because I know the core of the problem, because this is a matter of panning for gold in the desert, not looking for water in an oasis, and the difficulty is not at all at the same level."

"This..."

Ekaterina was speechless for a moment.

"Also, the screening method I am going to use is very simple and practical, even for people who are completely illiterate, as long as they have a brain, they can complete it, and those who are clumsy will naturally not be able to pass. But if you want to educate those clumsy fellows to be like a well-read gentleman, what difference is there between teaching a stone to speak? ”

"You... Do you think God is unfair to the world? ”

"No, no, of course not, it is precisely because God is absolutely fair that these people have the ability to make a difference. There is a proverb that says, 'When a door closes, God will open a window for you,' so some people are good at lifting weights, some people are good at running, some people are good at speaking, and some people are good at arithmetic. In addition, even if the ability is the same, everyone's quality and personality are different, some people are brave and right, and some people are despicable and cunning. But there are also some positions, such as spies, such as diplomats, that require people who are as slippery as foxes, and such people are often not completely loyal, so the monarch will also be wary of them, and even pinch the handle to achieve their goals. This kind of work is obviously not something that can be done by people who have worked in the fields all their lives, and the vast majority of them come from some dark corner of the city or village or town, stealing, robbing and extorting money for a living, and if they are only arrested as criminals and locked up to death, it is just a waste of food. Therefore, it is necessary to know people and make good use of their talents, so that the fox should do treacherous things, the big black bear should rush ahead and wave the bear's paws, and the little squirrel should deal with rabbits and pigs, and should not be given a position beyond their ability because of what they have done before."

"Should a farmer be a farmer for the rest of his life? If it is two peasant couples who are not capable enough, and they also give birth to a child with insufficient ability, and this child is combined with other children with insufficient ability, then won't the ancestors be incapable people for generations and will never be able to pass your screening? ”

Ekaterina couldn't help but continue to retort.

"Hehe, then let me ask you, why do you think there is such a phenomenon of door-to-door matching? Why are aristocrats marrying nobles, rich marrying rich, and low-ranking nobles climbing to the upper nobility laughed at by others? Okay, I don't mean anything else, but you have to be clear that this universal phenomenon is the best result of long-term selection in human society, because the status of the two families is basically equal, so there is no question of who is higher and who is lower, which is what you call equality, because the balance is now balanced. If a rich girl is married to a poor boy, it is equivalent to the rich girl's family giving up their wealth, status and status to subsidize a poor boy. Do people want their families and their children to live worse than they used to be? Also, even if the man and woman love each other very much in the beginning, is life so easy? What would the rich girl's friends, relatives, and others of the same status as her think of this high-climbing person? And how to ensure that this high-climbing person is not taking the initiative to seduce and deceive this rich girl for the sake of status? It's the same with men, they can write a few lines of poetry and sing a few songs, and they can be seen everywhere and are all kinds of merry guys, each of them looking for delicious prey like stallions, all hoping that God will give them a stupid and beautiful big-ass widow, and then the widow will get the whole inheritance as soon as she dies. In this age of moral decay, the right door is the most effective defense to prevent the family from being snooped on by villains..."

"Okay, I see what you mean!"

Catherine felt that she couldn't listen to it anymore, which was extremely contradictory to the Enlightenment ideas she had read and thought about in the past few years, and it was difficult to accept it for a while.