"And then it was renamed Kirin Mountain?"

Tang Chen felt that this logic was a bit problematic, but considering the ancient social customs of patriarchy, it was reasonable.

"No, no, no, if it's just to send a child, it's better to worship Guanyin. Zeng Lao smiled, "There is a second half of the story, and later when this doll grew up, she was quick and talented, and finally won the champion, which is recorded in even the history books." Looks like it's called Lin Heng, right?"

The second brother nodded and said, "That's right, Lin Heng, the champion of the Yuan Dynasty, is indeed a person from our area. In the third year of the Yuan Dynasty, Lin Hengden entered the Shidi and took the first place in the palace test. At the age of 53, Emperor Shun was still loyal to the imperial court when he knew the mandate of heaven, and gave him the right to return to his hometown to 'race the horse circle mountain, Gupi Zhenhai', and collect land rent as a pension in his old age. Six years later, he resigned and returned to his hometown, and lived in seclusion at the foot of Longhua Baoshan until the end of his life. After Lin Heng died, he was buried in Jinshan Pingshan. Knowing that the county built a champion workshop for it, it stood in the bachelor's house, and built a shrine to worship. ”

Tang Chen was stunned: "What, this...... I remember the teacher said that there was no imperial examination in the Yuan Dynasty?!"

The second brother raised his eyebrows and scolded angrily: "Look at it, look at it, another student who has been poisoned by the current education." What does it mean that the Yuan Dynasty did not have the imperial examination, have you ever understood the Yuan Dynasty? If nothing else, let's just say that the current education, this teaching material, is just a bunch of bullshit brick families, relying on their own imagination, they make up nonsense, and how many students have been poisoned?

The more he talked, the more excited he became, and Zeng Lao and the fourth brother hurriedly held him down and persuaded him to dissipate his anger in unison.

Zeng Lao smiled bitterly and said, "Master Tang, you don't know anything about this. In our place, we have known since childhood that there were imperial examinations in the Yuan Dynasty. I think Master Tang, your impression of 'the Yuan Dynasty did not have the imperial examination' should come from those literary history books. When some literary histories talk about the literature of the Yuan Dynasty, especially the prosperity of Yuan Qu, they often believe that it was precisely because the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty did not attach importance to intellectuals and did not take the imperial examination that talented intellectuals turned to literature, especially the creation of Yuan operas and miscellaneous operas. This conclusion is also a bit too absolute.

The Yuan Dynasty did not pay attention to all intellectuals, but only to those intellectuals who liked to boast about "poems, lyrics, songs, and fu" but did not understand the art of the world. The Mongolian heroes who rose in Mobei were still 'simple and unliterate' for a long time after entering the Central Plains, which invisibly interrupted a path to advancement for those poets and lyricists. Of course, these poets and lyricists who lost the opportunity to rise to the throne were dissatisfied with the rulers of the time. This dissatisfaction was exploited by the nationalists, and then evolved into a very emotional complaint of 'Confucianism is better than advocating', which gave rise to the laughter and anger in the Yuan song.

When talking about the imperial examination system, ordinary historiographical works or reference books cite the Tang and Song dynasties first, and the Ming and Qing dynasties later, and rarely mention the Yuan Dynasty, thus creating the illusion that the Yuan Dynasty did not hold imperial examinations at all, but this is not the case. ”

Tang Chen nodded and expressed his understanding: "Actually, this history book was originally written by the victors, and it is also normal, after all, the Yuan Dynasty was ruled by the Mongols. ”

Zeng Lao said: "That's right, this is all the psychological work of 'not my race, its heart must be different'. The Yuan Dynasty was the first national regime in Chinese history ruled by ethnic minorities, and although the Liao, Jin, and Wuhu and Sixteen Kingdoms were also "barbarians" as emperors, the territory under their jurisdiction was, after all, only a part of China's territory. However, the intellectuals of the Yuan Dynasty were faced with the reality that 'the world is as black as a crow', at least they themselves think so psychologically, compared with the Liao, Jin and other minority regimes, most of the supreme rulers of the Yuan Empire have a low level of Han culture, so some intellectuals who 'have not met talents' feel that they are 'not abandoned by the monarch', and they can't help but complain a little.

If it is counted from the time when Taizu Temujin took office as Genghis Khan, to the time of Yuan Taizong, there has been more than 30 years without opening a department to take scholars, Taizong later to Yuan Renzong, nearly 80 years and then stopped taking the department, although many high-level decision-makers are responsible for reopening the scientific examination, but those students do not know these high-level secrets, they only see the strange phenomenon of 'scholars without entering the ranks, or learning knives and pens, thinking that they are officials, or serving servants, doing things as bureaucrats, or as skilled sellers as craftsmen and merchants', so they issued 'Eight Initiatives, Nine Confucianism, The complaints of the ten beggars, in later generations, there were people who read books and did not seek to understand and liked to shock the world, so they "deduced" that the Yuan Dynasty had never held the imperial examination.

Although China's imperial examination has been implemented as early as the time of Emperor Wen of Sui, but by the end of the Qing Dynasty when it 'died', this more than 1,000 years of time is not every dynasty has been constantly opening subjects, each dynasty even if it opens a subject, often has its own characteristics, the Yuan Dynasty only opened virtue, Ming Jing two subjects, the scope of the examination seems to be a little smaller, but it is by no means 'unprecedented', the Sui Dynasty just implemented the imperial examination when there are only 'Zhi Xing Xiu, Qingping Ganji' two subjects, can not be based on the number of subjects to determine its merits.

We do not deny the fact that the Yuan Dynasty immediately won the world, starting from Mobei, and did not hold the imperial examination for a considerable period of time at the beginning of the founding of the country. However, we should also admit that after the middle of the Yuan Dynasty, there was a history of selecting a group of scholars every three years. Throughout the history of the Yuan Dynasty, we find that knowledge and talent are an eternal theme, and there is no 'cultural desert' in every dynasty in China's thousands of years of history, and the process of civilization has never been interrupted. Any ruler of any dynasty who wants to govern the world well, always has to rely on the help of some scholars.

The crux of the matter is that the intellectuals are only a part of the intellectuals who are relied on and reused by those in power. It is impossible for there to be many British rulers like Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, who are willing to let 'all the heroes of the world go into my pocket', but Chinese intellectuals often have the problem of 'feeling good about themselves', and their favorite syllogism is: I am an intellectual, and those in power do not value me, so those in power do not attach importance to intellectuals! President John F. Kennedy famously said: 'Don't ask what the country does to you, first ask what you have done for the country!'

For those who like to engage in 'syllogism' reasoning and often complain about 'not being able to give up the monarch', it may be advisable to suggest that they settle down and think about what Kennedy said......"

After Tang Chen listened to Elder Zeng's tirade, he couldn't help but be a little stunned, this passage really subverted Tang Chen's three views, but Tang Chen knew that what Elder Zeng said was not wrong at all, because the historical facts were laid out, and they could not be refuted at all. He was just surprised, how could Zeng Lao be so familiar with the history of the Yuan Dynasty?

Seeming to understand the confusion in Tang Chen's heart, Zeng Lao smiled and said, "Master Tang, don't forget that I'm still a collector enthusiast, and I'm going crazy if I want a piece of Yuan Qinghua." But there are only a few surviving Yuan blue and white flowers, and I can't afford them even if I am bankrupt......!

Tang Chen suddenly realized: "Sure enough, interest is the best teacher!"

(End of chapter)