"Mr. Gu, "Jinling Gongbao" is willing to give fifty silver dollars, please Mr. correct the name of women in the world! If the gentleman wishes to sign his real name, the pen fee can be raised to 100 silver dollars. ”

Before a newspaper could get a license, the editor-in-chief had already come to the door to ask for a manuscript.

Gu Yanwu was not interested in this: "I'm not in the mood to write, so please be smart." ”

The editor-in-chief thought that the silver was not enough, and said: "Mr. Gu can make his own offer, no matter how much silver he has, he can go back to Bingming's house." ”

"Don't write, don't write, send off!" Gu Yanwu called the long entourage to drive people away.

drove the editor-in-chief away, Gu Yanwu returned to the study alone, staring at the original manuscript of his "Treatise on Counties and Counties" in a daze.

Although he served Emperor Zhao very early, he has always been compiling books in the Hanlin Academy.

Just a few days ago, he submitted his masterpiece "On Counties and Counties" to the emperor for approval.

Zhao Han's Zhu criticism is: I have read it, and I don't understand bullshit. ordered the ministry to find a vacancy for this guy and release him to be the magistrate. After three years of knowing the county, I will revise the "Treatise on Counties and Counties".

These few sentences of instructions hit Gu Yanwu badly, and his confident masterpiece was actually reprimanded by the emperor as "bullshit".

During the Tang Dynasty, Liu Zongyuan wrote a "Theory of Feudalism" to refute that some people at that time wanted to abolish counties and restore feudalism.

The general content of "Feudalism" is as follows:

In the primitive stage, human beings survived with wild beasts and had to rely on tools to survive. At such times, it is necessary to find someone who can distinguish between right and wrong and lead people against natural disasters and wild beasts. Around this leader, a group is formed, and when the group is large, an army is produced, and a chief, a law, and a decree are produced.

In the midst of a long period of war, the people of various ethnic groups needed stronger leaders, so the princes were born. The emergence of a large number of princes leads to a larger-scale war, which requires stronger leaders to settle the situation, so there are princely leaders such as Fang Bo and Lian Shuai. And so on, and finally the Son of Heaven appears.

Liu Zongyuan also proved that feudalism was the primary stage of political form through the discussion from antiquity to the Han and Tang dynasties. Feudalism was not the original intention of the saints, but followed the state of society at that time. The emergence of the county system was the result of the collapse of the feudal system and conformed to the law of social development.

Gu Yanwu's "On Counties and Counties" is obviously based on Liu Zongyuan's "On Feudalism", and further explores that the county system has reached the verge of collapse. Reform is needed again!

Gu Yanwu said that the outbreak of the malaise of the feudal system led to the emergence of the county system. Now, the malaise of the county system also broke out at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and it can be speculated that the county system will also collapse. But to go back to feudalism? No, feudalism is a backward thing, and if it wants to change, it should also change forward, and it should not change backward.

He also discussed that the disadvantage of feudalism lies in the fact that power is too decentralized. The disadvantage of the county system is that power is too centralized, and the emperor is highly centralized and detached from the masses. Therefore, it is necessary to take the county system as the foundation and add some elements of the feudal system. The two phases are reconciled to achieve a state of equilibrium between centralization and decentralization.

There is nothing wrong with the above, but the following details unfolded, and successfully won Zhao Han's "bullshit" comment.

Gu Yanwu said that the county should be changed to a county order and upgraded from seven to five grades. The county magistrate must be familiar with the local customs, and there is no need to stick to the rules of being an official in a different place. Let the county order try to do it for three years, and then correct the evaluation of competence. After three more years, you can be called a parent official if you pass the evaluation. Do it for another three years, and if you are qualified, the emperor should be commended. Do it for another three years, and if you are still competent, give the county order a salary increase, and appoint him as a county order for life. If you retire due to old age, you can recommend the next county candidate. The retired prefectural magistrate worked as a consultant in the county and was paid until his death. Those who are referred also have a three-year probationary period. Several counties were merged into one county, and the Taishou was also appointed every three years......

Seeing this, Zhao Han didn't want to read it anymore, and ordered Gu Yanwu to be thrown out to be the magistrate, so that he could feel the specific situation.

The doctor of the Hanlin Academy, who is dignified, can only be the magistrate when he is released. Gu Yanwu was extremely depressed about this, not because his official position was too small, but because he was depressed that he was treated as a straw bag by the emperor.

Because in "On Counties and Counties", Gu Yanwu himself said that most of the former Ming Xiucai were straw bales, and the preferential treatment of the policy must be canceled, and the imperial examination cannot be directly used as a county order, and it is necessary to start from miscellaneous officials or small officials. He didn't look down on the talent of the former Ming, and the emperor obviously didn't look down on him either......

With the original manuscript of his article, Gu Yanwu went out to visit a friend, and soon found Huang Zongxi, who was on vacation.

After reading "On Counties and Counties", Huang Zongxi immediately cried and laughed, and commented: "Brother Ningren, you are doing this behind closed doors." Let those who are familiar with the local customs and customs of the county, relatives and friends are under its rule, and it will inevitably be intertwined in the long run. What's more, the county commander was also allowed to hold this position for life, and even if he retired from old age, he would be the county sacrificial wine (consultant). He can only be a county magistrate all his life, and he can't be promoted, and no matter how noble he is, he will also be greedy for power and money because he can't be promoted. ”

Gu Yanwu explained: "First, the county orders in various places must have both virtue and conduct; Second, the imperial court must constantly evaluate its political performance. ”

Huang Zongxi asked: "Even if the county order has both virtue and virtue, his clan friends also have both virtue and virtue?" What should his clan friends do if they are corrupt and pervert the law in the county under the guise of a county order? Besides, how does the imperial court assess and how does the imperial history supervise? Unrealistic! ”

The political structure envisioned by Gu Yanwu was based on the county as the basic unit and the power of the central government was divided, so that the disadvantages of centralization could be improved.

Good idea, that's all.

Gu Yanwu said: "Since a person with both virtue and virtue is a county order, and his clansmen and friends commit crimes, they must enforce the law impartially!" ”

Huang Zongxi sighed and said, "Brother Ningren, you better go and be a magistrate yourself." When you have been a county magistrate for a few years, you will know the depth inside. ”

Gu Yanwu wanted to speak and stopped, he understood what Huang Zongxi meant, and like the emperor, he felt that he didn't understand practice.

It would be embarrassing to talk any longer, Gu Yanwu changed the topic: "What article is Brother Taichong writing?" ”

Huang Zongxi said: "Jiangning Business Daily made an appointment and asked me to help the woman speak. You don't have to use your real name to get a 60 silver dollar for a pen fee. ”

Gu Yanwu muttered, "You are worth 10 yuan more than me." ”

"Knock knock!"

"Come in."

A sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy pushed the door in and said, "Teacher, the student is going out to visit friends, and he may not come back for dinner in the evening." ”

"Go ahead." Huang Zongxi said.

"The student quits." The boy bowed away and closed the door with his hand.

Gu Yanwu asked, "This student lives in your house?" ”

Huang Zongxi sighed: "It's also pitiful. This son is unusually intelligent, but he was implicated by his father and will not be able to be an official in the future. ”

"What case?" Gu Yanwu said curiously.

Huang Zongxi said in detail: "His name is Yan Ruoxuan, his words are hundred poems, and his ancestral home is Taiyuan. His father was a salt merchant in Yangzhou, and he was squeezed out by Hui merchants and could not gain a foothold in Jianghuai, so he went to Changlu to run a salt factory. Last year, the imperial court rectified the Jianghuai salt business, and the Changlu salt business also cleaned up, and investigated and punished several criminal salt merchants. His father was sentenced to exile in Heilongjiang, his salt industry license was revoked, and his children and grandchildren were not allowed to be officials. This child has always been among the best in Jinling University, and his future was ruined by his father. He also stopped taking classes seriously, but privately worshipped me as a teacher and learned something that was not available in class. ”

Gu Yanwu sighed with emotion: "It's a pity. ”

As soon as the topic changed, Gu Yanwu asked: "Why did Brother Taichong get involved in the women's imperial examination?" ”

Huang Zongxi said with a smile: "There is a pen and silver to take, why not mix?" The women's imperial examination can't turn the sky. You and I are both part-time teachers at Jinling University, so we know the situation in the school. Every year, when new students enter the school, there are one or twenty female students. But in the second year of college, half of the number of female students has dropped, and all of them have dropped out of school and returned to their hometowns to get married. By the third grade, there were very few students still studying. There are at most one or two female students who can graduate normally, and sometimes there is not even one. What can become of such a woman participating in the imperial examination? ”

"Indeed." Gu Yanwu nodded.

Huang Zongxi said: "In the future, I am afraid that the number of female college students who can graduate will not increase, but will become fewer." ”

"Why is this the case?" Gu Yanwu asked.

Huang Zongxi said: "The official of the Ministry of Rites suggested that the middle school be changed to four years, and His Majesty seems to have agreed. In this way, many secondary school courses can be added to make secondary school graduates more educated. It can also make it more difficult to graduate from secondary school, offsetting the pressure of the increasing number of students every year. Don't look at the fact that middle school only adds one year, but the marriageable age of a girl is only a few years. If a woman studies for one more year, it will be more and more difficult to find her in-laws. Even if the family affair has been decided, the in-laws will not allow the girl to mess around at school for too long. ”

"Alas, then I'll write an article too, it's really not easy for a woman to finish college." Gu Yanwu felt pity.

The situation with regard to women's basic education has also changed dramatically.

The dropout rate of girls from the bottom of primary school is getting higher and higher, because the government is not strict about it. Since the government doesn't care, for parents, girls don't need to read so many books, they just need to be able to read and write letters, and they can count and settle accounts.

However, the rate of girls from wealthy families attending secondary school is rising. The number of private girls' schools is increasing, and the wealthy are keen to send their daughters to secondary school, just in time for them to get married. In some developed areas, girls' secondary school graduation (or dropping out) has become the standard for talking about marriage. If you don't finish middle school, you will be looked down upon by families of the same class, and it is not easy to find even the right in-laws.

Girls' education is completely deformed.

Huang Zongxi and Gu Yanwu buried themselves in writing articles in the Huang Mansion.

Yan Ruoxuan, a student of Huang Zongxi, walked leisurely in the direction of the Tribute Courtyard. He has lost his qualifications to be an official, and he has a lot of money at home, so he simply does what he wants, specializing in the study of his favorite knowledge.

Yan Ruoxuan in history, Mao Qiling, a big troll of hard steel on the front, was speechless. Gu Yanwu took the work and went to Yan Ruoxuan to discuss, Yan Ruoxuan suggested that part of the content be revised, and Gu Yanwu was also convinced to revise it.

Wang Yuan, an economist (let's call it that) in the early Qing Dynasty, was Yan Ruoxuan's student.

Wang Yuan's other teacher was Yan Yuan, a great Confucian in the early Qing Dynasty, who openly supported women's rights in Fanlou that day.

Coincidentally, in this time and space, Yan Ruoxuan and Yan Yuan met in advance, and became friends with Tang Zhen from Sichuan.

Coming to the inn where the two friends stayed, Yan Ruoxuan said: "Two virtuous brothers, don't write any more articles about the women's imperial examination, there are more important national events here." If the three of us discuss it properly, we can become officials without the imperial examination, and the younger brother may be able to make an exception to become an official. ”

"What national event?" Yan Yuan asked.

Yan Ruoxuan said: "Today's industry and commerce, especially the textile industry, the imperial court's planning is wrong. Although private businessmen are correcting and counteracting this mistake on their own, the corresponding tax system and official system have not been adjusted. ”

Tang Zhen smiled: "It's really a big deal!" ”

(There is an easter egg chapter at the end of the chapter, I don't know if I can pass the review this time.) ）