Reopening the imperial examination?

Since ancient times, China's talent selection system has gone through the Shiqing Shilu, the Chaju Zhengbi, the Jiupin Zhongzheng, and it was not until the Sui and Tang dynasties that the imperial examination system was established and continued until the end of the Qing Dynasty. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

From the Sui and Tang dynasties to the present, the imperial examination system has a history of 1,000 years, during which there has been a decline, whether it is the chaos of the martial artists in the late Tang Dynasty and the five dynasties, or the racial discrimination against the third and fourth Han people during the tyrannical Yuan Dynasty, the existence of the imperial examination system has not been completely severed. The subsequent unification dynasties, whether it was the Two Song Dynasty or the Ming and Qing Dynasties, were all times when the imperial examination system was popular.

The reason is not only the so-called tradition, but more importantly, the imperial examination system is more advanced than the previous talent selection system, and the fairness of it is an open door for the poor scholars, rather than being completely controlled by the family as originally it was.

It is undeniable that those who win the imperial examination are from wealthy families of the official gentry and have to occupy the majority, because they have more resources, they can hire famous teachers, they can buy books, they can travel to various places, through these means to achieve better absorption of knowledge, and even bribery examiners and obtain test questions, relying on cheating means to achieve their goals. But this is not a mistake of the imperial examination system, because no matter what era it is, no matter what system it is, powerful people will always have more resources than ordinary people, and the ways to obtain more resources are more diverse, which cannot be changed at all.

In the same way, without the imperial examination, what capital do the poor scholars have to compete with the children of the official eunuchs and the children of the rich family - no matter what the final result is, at least it is better than not even having a chance.

"Chao is Tian Shelang, and Twilight Tianzitang" replaces "the upper grade has no cold door, and the lower grade has no scholars", which has cross-era progressive significance from any point of view, even in the last years of the Ming Dynasty.

There is no doubt about the significance of the imperial examination for scholars, both in terms of preferential exemption and exemption and as a way to enter the officialdom.

At this moment, as Huang Zongxi made his words clear, everyone at the table looked at Chen Wen expectantly. And Chen Wen also knew very well that Huang Zongxi's words did not ask the Yongli Imperial Court, but asked him Chen Wen, not only a test of position, but also a kind of statement of standing in line, during which they were also waiting for the expected return with their eyes, even if it was just a verbal promise.

"Don't hide it from Mr. Lizhou, before I set off for the south, I discussed this matter with Mu Weng and the high-level officials of the Qi Palace. The plan was that after the end of the Northern Expedition, in the final analysis, it failed to fully recover the lost territory, and only held the imperial examination in the southern half of the Yangtze River, which was not justified and unfair to the scholars in the north. ”

"Didn't all those northerners drop their tartars?"

Chen Wen said it very clearly, and it was even more reasonable, and everyone at the table was overjoyed when they heard it. But just as they were about to get up and toast Chen Wen and further shorten the distance between them, a belly slander sounded, and the banquet was immediately silent.

The atmosphere was different, and Wantai asked for a hand, and the man hurriedly got up to confess. On this happy day, Chen Wen didn't blame it, but secretly said in his heart that the stinky problems of these scholars and doctors used to in the Ming Dynasty seemed to be not so easy to pull over for a while, so he continued to drink and feast with Huang Zongxi and others.

Chen Wen disliked the gentry of the late Ming Dynasty, and was dissatisfied with those who claimed to be remnants, but encouraged their nephews to join the Qing court; It is full of hostility to those Donglin Party who claim to be for the country and the people, but in fact cause today's tragedy in order to expand their own interests; He hated those who disregarded courtesy, righteousness and shame and threw themselves into the Qing court to seek glory.

However, this is not a reason to block the path of this poor scholar. Chen Wen could not ensure that the status quo of making the best use of people, who could now be achieved by Sun Yu's personal integrity, would not be destroyed with the normal human cycle, let alone break with the Confucian scholar class because of such things. More importantly, he never thought that the imperial examination was as evil as later generations said, and the real cancer was the eight-strand selection, which was the content of the examination rather than the form.

The imperial examination has been inherited for thousands of years, and the eight shares are just something that only exists in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and before that, in the Tang and Song dynasties, the content of the examination has been changing - scriptures, poems, policy theories, and even clear calculations, clear characters, and clear laws, many of which are practical, and they are not at all like the eight shares that limit the thinking of scholars to a box.

In today's civil service training classes, most of the subjects taught are arithmetic, criminal names, etc., but there are very few scriptures and meanings, let alone eight shares. Officials who have passed the examination of the civil service training class must first go to the yamen for a period of internship, have sufficient knowledge and experience, and pay a qualified policy, so that they will not be too deceived by profiteers, inferior gentry, unscrupulous people, and petty officials when they arrive in the locality. What Chen Wen intended was to transform the Confucian scholar class by revising the content of the examination.

"If you want the national football team to win the Hercules Cup, the solution is actually very simple, as long as you add a football test item in the college entrance examination, within three years, football will be hung up as the title of national ball like table tennis, and foreigners can no longer expect any championships."

In the same way, to transform the empty talk of the scholars in the late Ming Dynasty, it is necessary to use the content of the examination to let them wander in the ocean of more practical knowledge, the knowledge is as vast as a sea of smoke, and the mind is full of pondering these things, and there is no time for empty talk, and now the gentry in Jiangsu and Zhejiang who are obsessed with the "Science" magazine are examples.

Thinking of this, a smile crossed the corner of Chen Wen's mouth, and it was fleeting. However, the identity is different, although it is the Huang family marrying the bride, but Chen Wen has always been the focus of the banquet, the smile just now has been captured by many people, each with their own thoughts, the most of them are such as Wantai These people actually heard Chen Wen promise to reopen the imperial examination after the Northern Expedition, and they directly interpreted this smile as Chen Wen was complacent for receiving the morale. Among them, only Huang Zongxi was an exception, because he knew Chen Wen better than everyone here, and that's it.

At the end of the banquet, the guests said goodbye one after another, and Huang Zongxi was worried, so he invited Chen Wen to sit down for a while, wanting to confirm or relieve this worry.

A couple of newcomers had already gone to bed, and even those who listened to the root of the wall had already dispersed early. Chen Wen came to Huang Zongxi's study, casually flipped through the draft of "Mingyi to be Visited" that Huang Zongxi was writing, and did not hurry back until Huang Zongxi sent the guests away and talked to Chen Wen.

"I'm sorry, the guest just sent away."

"It's okay, Mr. Lizhou's new work, I've been looking forward to it for a long time, and now it's a pleasure to be able to see the original with my own eyes."

"Mingyi Interview Record" is the crystallization of Huang Zongxi's thought, which puts forward the democratic idea of "the world is the master, the monarch is the guest", believes that "the chaos of the world is not the rise and fall of one surname, but the sorrow and happiness of the people", and advocates replacing the emperor's "law of one family" with "the law of the world", so as to limit the power of the monarch and ensure the basic rights of the people, which has enlightenment significance.

The "Huang Zongxi's Law" that Chen Wen heard about in his early years came from this work, but to Chen Wen's surprise, this work seemed to be born a little early, and I don't know if it was stimulated by the new policies in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

"This is just the first draft, and it has just had some ideas, many things are not yet mature, do you have any comments and suggestions, but please speak up."

Huang Zongxi's thought is of positive significance from the perspective of later generations, but in this era, Chen Wen is not optimistic about its practical value. If Huang Zongxi's ideas come true, it will not be the ordinary people who will benefit, but the Confucian class he represents, which will only cause greater harm to the country with the atmosphere of the gentry in the late Ming Dynasty and the level of science and technology of the entire era.

It is not applicable to the advanced ideas of the current era, and perhaps Huang Zongxi's original intention was precisely to achieve the intention of the Confucian scholar class to rule the country in an all-round way, to bully the monarch and to ruin the people. However, on this issue, Chen Wen did not intend to argue with Huang Zongxi, Huang Zongxi was never the kind of alternative who could betray his own class, nor was he an enlightened person who could listen to his words as a martial artist, so there was no need for him to talk nonsense.

"Mr. Lizhou specifically asked me to stay, it won't be just for this manuscript, right?"

Chen Wen diverted the topic, Huang Zongxi also frowned, and after rearranging the wording, he asked Chen Wen: "Furen, you plan to reform the imperial examination system, right?" ”

Huang Zongxi's words came out, Chen Wen's heart was shocked, he had never underestimated the IQ of this great Confucian in the late Ming Dynasty, an ordinary person would never come up with those theories, but at this moment, Huang Zongxi had already thought that he could take action by easily promising to reopen the imperial examination, but he was really startled.

Chen Wen was surprised to work the tip of the knife all year round, but he was not afraid of such a scholar, even if he was still a man with both civil and military skills.

Huang Zongxi's eyes were fixed on Chen Wen, Chen Wen was surprised in his heart, but his face did not show it at all, at this moment, after listening to Huang Zongxi's question, he smiled slightly, and replied: "I do have this idea, does Mr. Lizhou have a good way to teach me?" ”

Chen Wen was like this, Huang Zongxi's face sank, and then said: "Furen, the imperial examination has been carried out for thousands of years, and now the country is in ruins, and it really can't withstand the turmoil. ”

"Turmoil?"

Chen Wen shook his head, and then said: "Why did Mr. Lizhou say this, I don't plan to abolish the imperial examination, I just revise some contents. To put it plainly, I don't like the current eight shares, but for more than 200 years in the Ming Dynasty, the test is all this, and I have no intention of abolishing it directly, so I always have to come step by step, little by little. I'm in the prime of spring and autumn now, and I still have this confidence to live and see the results I want. ”

After talking eloquently, Huang Zongxi knew very well that what Chen Wen said did not deceive in the slightest. With the previous inquiry about the reopening of the imperial examination, Huang Zongxi's mentality is also affected by continuity, and he is very moved by Chen Wen's confession, but Chen Wen wants to move the eight shares to take the scholar, but it still makes him difficult to accept.

However, with Huang Zongxi's understanding of Chen Wen, this martial artist who was denounced by him as the remnants of the eunuch party not only has independent thinking, but also has a firm will to implement his ideas throughout, which is not something he can easily reverse. Seeing this, he had to change the topic and stop mentioning the matter. Just chatting and talking, but soon quarreled again.

"Furen, the Jiangnan gentry do have illegal things, but the tyrannical yuan is cruel, and it took more than two hundred years for the emperor to regain the character of the Chinese scholars, so he still has to take care of something."

"Does Mr. Lizhou think that offenders cannot be punished?"

Chen Wen's face was not good, and Huang Zongxi also hurriedly explained: "No, no, the punishment still has to be punished, but it is too harsh, it is detrimental to the morale of the scholars, and it is also a kind of damage to Furen's reputation." ”

Huang Zongxi is like this, Chen Wen can understand, but it doesn't mean that he can listen to it. Listening to Huang Zongxi's persuasive words, Chen Wen sneered: "Don't hide it from Mr. Lizhou, I, Chen Wen, have never cared about any reputation. In this world, do more wrong, do less wrong, don't do good, but I was born to do things, if I hesitate because of this, there will be no grand occasion of recovering half of the south of the Yangtze River today, let alone the great cause of expelling the Tartars in the future. ”

"In my opinion, the gentry in Jiangnan are too unpleasant. The Ming Dynasty has raised soldiers for 300 years, and most of them are hypocrites, and this kind of morale has no future at all, so I must take action to reverse it, otherwise after a hundred years, the country will be dragged down by this kind of morale, and repeat the mistakes of the emperor, that is the biggest regret for me. ”

Over the years, Chen Wen has suffered countless insults due to the erosion of the interests of the palace, the guards, and the gentry, but at the same time, those military households and ordinary people who have benefited from Chen Wen's efforts have also praised his good deeds on a larger scale.

The purpose of Huang Zongxi's words, Chen Wenyan can not know, but although he rose in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, he has never regarded the gentry in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, especially those remnants of Donglin, as a member of his own group.

Chen Wen has always relied on the military-political group of the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Ming Army, as well as the military landlord class and the emerging factory owners behind them, and even the embryonic bourgeoisie, and he has always been the representative of these classes. It's ridiculous that many Confucian scholars denounced Chen Wen as a figure like Huang Chao and Li Zicheng because of his harshness towards the gentry, which is really blind to their dog eyes.

In Chen Wen's view, if Confucian scholars are willing to integrate into the process, they must first go through the transformation of the civil service training class and the Huaxia Revival Association, or re-establish their class attributes, otherwise they will not be recognized within the group. In fact, Chen Wen had already expected that there might be more than half a word of speculation between him and Huang Zongxi before he set off for the south, but now it seems that it is also a prescience.

After exchanging a few words of nonsense without any nutrition, Chen Wen got up and said goodbye. In this regard, Huang Zongxi is also helpless, but with Chen Wen's current status and power, he has to worry about those potential opponents of future reforms, because Chen Wen has a firmer determination and ruthless methods, many of which are unprecedented methods.

stayed up all night, and early the next morning, Huang Baijia brought Wang Yi's daughter, his wife who was marrying Ming Media, to greet Huang Zongxi.

Morning and dusk is the daily etiquette of serving parents, Huang Baijia is the son of Huang Zongxi, and he has done nothing wrong, and Wang Yi's daughter, under the teaching of Wang Jiang's mother, wife, Sun Yu's wife Yi Qing and Chen Wen's wife Zhou Yueying, she is also extraordinarily polite and courteous, even Huang Zongxi can't find the slightest fault, and sighs that Wang Yi has a daughter.

After the salute, Huang Wang's family was taken away by her husband, and Huang Baijia asked Huang Zongxi about yesterday's incident after the maids and servants at home had withdrawn.

"You don't need to know these things, you just need to know, newlywed, but don't forget to read. You have to read the eight shares, and you have to read the textbooks of the civil service training class, not only for you, but also for your two brothers. As a father, you don't plan to enter the field again, you have to take the next fame test as soon as possible is the right way. ”

After saying this, the depression in Huang Zongxi's heart could not be dissipated. Seeing this, he spread out a piece of manuscript paper, picked up the pen and wrote a few big characters on it-Xing Chaolu * Qi Wang Shijia.

Huang Zongxi looked at it carefully, but felt that it was an eyesore, so he simply turned the manuscript paper into a ball and threw it on the ground, and then wrote on the next manuscript paper "Xing Dynasty Record, Yue Wang's Family" These big characters.

It's just that this time, he was still a little dissatisfied, but he couldn't pay attention to it for a while, so he simply stopped dwelling on the title, and directly picked up the pen and wrote the content.

"The king of Yue, Chen's also, the text of the text, the small character Furen, the north is directly affiliated with the Tianjin Wei people. His ancestors were three or four ......"

"Father, why do you want to use King Yue, isn't that the title of Sun Wei who can be canonized?"

Huang Baijia stood on the side, but obviously couldn't figure out his father's thoughts. Just hearing his son's question, Huang Zongxi did snort coldly, and then said: "King Yue is the reward of the two famous kings and the restoration of Nanjing. And the seal of the King of Qi is the world's heroes devouring friendly armies and persecuting the Son of Heaven. ”