"What? No one will go to elementary school? How could it be...... Aren't there a lot of people studying in colleges and universities now? The tuition fees of New Oriental and Lanxiang are so expensive, and there are many people who study them? ”

In front of the Yuanying View (Western Building) of Changchun Garden in the three gardens of the Old Summer Palace, the people who are now standing on the position of the water viewing method to watch the fountain have been replaced by Zhu Jishi and Zuo Zongtang Junchen.

Emperor Zhu called Prime Minister Zuo Yuanyingguan not simply to see the fountain, but to talk to him about education. Education is the foundation of a country, and this tune was a cliché long before Emperor Zhu restored the Ming Dynasty. However, to this day, the Ming Empire has not implemented compulsory education, and it seems that there is no such plan, the main reason is, of course, that there is no money. There will never be less than 100 million school-age teenagers in China! If everyone has to enter the school to receive free and compulsory education, the education fund may exceed the total income of the Ming Dynasty N times!

In addition, there is another important reason why Zhu Jishi is not in a hurry to carry out compulsory education in Daming, that is, what compulsory education teaches! Teaching the primary school curriculum for future generations? It's simply unrealistic because there aren't that many elementary school teachers.

Teaching Confucianism...... Forget it! This is not simply a matter of getting the children of the poor and middle peasants to recognize a few words, but it is a question of whose pockets hundreds of millions of dollars of education funds will eventually flow to. If scholars are used to carry out compulsory education, those scholars who have been suppressed will rise again—the principals and teachers of government-run primary schools can barely be regarded as officials, and if the education funds are insufficient, they will have to be given the power to donate money to the villagers so as to continue to control the Chinese countryside. And the last ones to be taught by them are just some little Confucian students who regard the imperial examination examiner as a lifelong dream.

This kind of compulsory education can be ignored.

However, compulsory education is not implemented for the time being. Nor does it mean doing nothing. Coming to the East for almost 7 years. Zhu Jishi has been steadily promoting new education. It's just that teaching and educating people requires a lot of hard work. It is impossible for a few holy decrees to be established, and universities, primary and secondary schools have been established one after another - in China in this era, the Chinese people who have received Western-style education are much more precious than the giant panda! And you can't all be teachers, right? Therefore, this new type of education can only be promoted step by step, first using foreign teachers to train Chinese teachers, and then using Chinese teachers to teach Chinese students, and then more teachers will teach more students.

By the autumn of the fifth year of liberation, not only Hong Kong Jeshi University had produced more than 500 graduates. The first batch of 220 graduates of Guangzhou Jishi University also walked out of the campus. In addition, the number of students enrolled in the university exceeds 5,000 (including the preparatory department), and the number of graduates of the new college exceeds 20,000. In addition, there are more than 10,000 students enrolled in the College of Education, which specializes in training teachers for elementary schools and colleges, and about the same number of students are receiving accelerated teacher training.

Therefore, the first development climax of Daming's new education is coming soon.

However, after listening to Zhu Jishi's idea of "exchanging titles for education funds", Zuo Zongtang raised an unrelated problem: new-style education should not include primary schools, but should start from academies, and under the academies, they should rely on private schools to carry out traditional Confucian education - because not many people will go to that kind of new-style primary school!

Zuo Zongtang pondered and said: "The curriculum of the new-style primary school is knowledgeable, and the Confucianism taught is not profound, and it is not as good as ordinary private schools. If you go to elementary school, you will almost certainly not have a career in public office. How many parents in the world will send their children to such a school that has no chance of a career? Moreover, the tuition fee of this elementary school is also higher than that of private schools, and most of them are still set up in the county town. It's not something that ordinary people can afford. Your Majesty, how many people do you think will go to such an expensive and impractical primary school? ”

Will the primary school not be able to recruit students? Emperor Zhu thought about it carefully, as if Zuo Zongtang's words made some sense, and the things taught in this primary school really had little to do with the imperial examination. It's likely that the parents of those who want their children to go to primary school......

"But the enrollment of the new academy is very good?"

"That's because His Majesty's imperial examination has to be taken to the West!" Zuo Zongtang touched his beard and said with a smile, "And now the Confucianism taught in the various academies of the Ming Dynasty is quite profound, and the probability of the academy students being selected is very high, even if they fail the exam, they can still go to the university to take the army and navy military academy, and they have the same chance to become an official...... His Majesty once decreed that anyone who graduated from Jishi University could obtain fame. Although these lifters are not worth much in the officialdom, they are definitely not as good as those who are born on the right path (since the 5th year of the liberation, the Ming Dynasty's lifting exam has also begun, and it is still a year. In another 5 years, the Jinshi exam will also begin, and it will also be tried once a year, but because these two imperial examinations are similar to the official promotion test, they are not a single examination, and there are many cats in it, so it is not as important as the Xiucai test, which is an official entrance test), but it is also a shortcut after all. ”

Uh, it's still studying for the sake of being an official! And these imperial examination officials seem to treat college graduates as donation classes......

Zhu Jishi took down the "Water Observation Method" behind his back, stood still in front of the big fountain, and said with some emotion: "Reading is to be an official...... The current private schools and Confucian academies are all instilled with this set of truths, but this world not only needs officials, but also needs skilled craftsmen, businessmen, and soldiers! For example, the construction of this great water method and the Yuanying view are both a kind of science, which is called architecture in the West, as well as medicine, chemistry, biology, and bacteriology that I am proficient in, all of which are of great benefit to the country and the people. But most of the Ming scholars disdain it...... These knowledge is also broad and profound, and it is necessary to lay a good foundation from an early age and learn step by step, not those old scholars in their thirties who can study a two-year crash course. But now, the elite of my Ming country is still imprisoned by the imperial examination! ”

Zuo Zongtang listened to Zhu Jishi's words, thinking that he had moved his mind to abolish the imperial examination, and hurriedly persuaded: "Your Majesty, if there is no imperial examination, my Ming world will never have today's peace." Although this imperial examination is used to imprison the wise man, it is also a way for the Lang of the Farm House to rise. ”

Zhu Jishi frowned: "I know that I don't want to change the old rules of being an official in the exam, it's just that I ...... A country's talented people cannot all be imprisoned by the imperial examination. Zuo Xiang, you have to think of a way to get the best of both worlds for me. ”

Hearing this, Zuo Zongtang couldn't help but scold himself in his heart. Didn't you mention anything about the stubble that no one in elementary school reads? Now it's okay, I have to find a way for the emperor, and I have to have the best of both worlds......

Zuo Zongtang squinted his eyes and thought for a long time before he said, "Your Majesty, you still have to make a fuss about the imperial examination...... Next time, the talents of the eight southeastern provinces might as well try to divide the subjects. ”

"How do you divide it?" The emperor was interested in authenticity.

"Your Majesty, the method of this imperial examination is different from now at the beginning, not only the "Four Books" and "Five Classics", but divided into Xiucai, Ming Jing, Jinshi, Ming Shu, Ming Law, Ming Calculation and other subjects, which are assessed separately. Those who are admitted are all done by officials. ”

"This ancient test method is better than now!" Emperor Zhu nodded, and said to himself, "Three years later, the Xiucai test in the eight southeastern provinces, as well as the second round of Xiucai in the rest of the Han provinces, will start to be divided into six subjects, including Xiucai, Wu Xiucai, Ming Law, Ming Calculation, Tongwen, and Engineering.

In the future, anyone who wants to be an official in charge of judicial affairs must pass the examination of the clear law, an official in charge of finance and taxation must pass the examination of the clear calculation, an official in the field of foreign affairs must pass the examination of the same text, and an official in charge of engineering and construction must pass the examination of engineering studies......

He looked at Zuo Zongtang, who had a solemn face, and sighed: "Of course, civil officials who have become such official positions can continue to do it, and the number of people who take Xiucai should account for more than 5 percent of the proportion of scholars in the entire imperial examination, and Wu Xiucai, Ming Law, Ming Calculation, Tongwen, and Engineering each account for 10 percent, is this okay?" ”

This time, forty percent of the quota will be divided! Moreover, it is easier for officials who clearly display the four subjects of Ming Law, Ming Calculation, Tongwen, and Engineering to get the real shortage of fat! Besides, civil officials who have nothing to do with justice, finance and taxation, foreign affairs, and engineering are all Qingshui Yamen nine times out of ten! (To be continued......)