Zheng Xuan looked at Liu Bei's face in a daze, his eyes moved, and he showed a hint of a smile, so he also raised his teacup and touched Liu Bei's teacup.

"The Son of Heaven toasts tea, it's not delicious, Your Majesty's meaning is clearly to ask me, an old man, to continue to work in the position of the secretary of the school."

"There have been rumors before that you plan to beg for bones after the first imperial examination, is it true?"

"Really."

Zheng Xuan nodded and said: "Five years ago, I was forced to do this school book, in the past five years, I have done some things, but I am also exhausted, after all, I am old, my body and spirit are far less than before, I want to hold on for a little longer, I want to finish some things, but after all, I find that I am unable to do it." ”

"You've done a lot."

Liu Bei silently took a sip of tea and put down the teacup: "As the secretary of the school, you have really done a lot of things, and your life is all outstanding for the Great Han Kingdom, which everyone in the world will recognize." ”

Liu Bei did not exaggerate this sentence at all.

After taking office as the secretary of the school, Zheng Xuan put all his energy into the construction of the school, and did his best to promote the government school system under the school.

He was the first to propose to Liu Bei that if he wanted to open up the wisdom of the people, it was not enough to only have Taixue and more than a dozen state schools, and if he wanted to teach more students, he should at least push the government-run schools to the county level, and each county should have at least one government-run school, so that more students could enroll in the nearest school.

Not only that, but he admired the existence of the collective farms and studied the literacy work within the collective farms, which he considered to be well done and should be further expanded.

He said above that as long as the time is ripe, it is possible to set up a collective farm, and each collective farm should set up a Mongolian school dedicated to teaching young children to read and write, so that new children can master reading and writing skills from the beginning and get rid of illiteracy.

And when they grow up and need to read and learn further, they can seamlessly connect, and they don't need to learn to read and write in the county school, and they can directly learn the knowledge of textbooks.

Considering the production needs of the young children and the farmers on the farm, Zheng Xuan hopes to provide them with a certain amount of study subsidies.

The tradition of managing rice in the current state school is good.

The cost of raising a full-time student is too heavy for ordinary families to afford, so the imperial court must show its sincerity, as long as they go to the government to study, they will take care of the meals, two or three meals a day, which can greatly reduce the living burden of the peasant households.

In addition, Zheng Xuan also thinks that it is not enough to extend the school to the county level.

Now the population is small, the students are small, and more than a hundred schools are barely enough.

However, with the further growth of the population in the future, there will be more and more young children, and within twenty or thirty years, each county will need to have a government-run school to barely keep up with the demand for a new population.

Finally, in the performance, Zheng Xuan put forward his future plan.

In the future, the school should not focus on Taixue and state studies, but should take the collective farms and counties as the basic units, set up Mongolian schools in the collective farms, and set up government-run county schools in the counties, and the Mongolian schools should be in charge of the reading and writing skills of young children, and the county schools should begin to teach the content of book knowledge and cultivate the knowledge of young children from an early age.

Zheng Xuan's performance was discussed by Liu Bei in eight parts, and the controversy at that time was very great, and in the end, many economic factors were refuted by Zheng Xuan.

Some officials said that they had to provide meals for students because of the large-scale operation of running schools, but the consumption was too great, and the imperial court could not afford to subsidize it.

Zheng Xuan directly took the treasury income data of the household department, as well as the subsidy expenditure of three meals a day for state school students calculated by himself, and threw the two data directly in front of the official, and directly said that if there is a problem in the economy, it is that there are too many corrupt officials and corrupt officials in the imperial court, and it is definitely not that the income of the imperial court is insufficient.

From any point of view, the income of the imperial court is absolutely sufficient, if it is not enough, it is definitely embezzled, corrupted by some damn corrupt officials, and the solution is very simple, kill a group of corrupt officials, raid their homes, and have all the funds.

"Instead of keeping the money and being corrupted by corrupt officials, it is better to take it out and subsidize it to more students, what do you think?"

Then there was a deathly silence in the debate arena at that time, which made Liu Bei want to laugh out loud.

Indeed, any problem can be solved by killing people to achieve the best and most intuitive solution, and it is impossible for the imperial court to have insufficient money, and if it is not enough, it must have been misappropriated in some link.

Killing, simple and brutal, can solve everything.

And the point of controversy that remains in the end is the point that it is impossible to train so many people to master knowledge in the end.

The person who raised this question was Yan Wen, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, who put it very bluntly.

"I admire you for wanting to help the world, but you also need to know that after training so many people, will they be willing to continue to work in agriculture after they have mastered the knowledge? What I say may not sound good, but only people who can't read and write will feel comfortable staying on a piece of land for the rest of their lives to engage in agricultural production, right? ”

Yan Wen's statement has been widely resonated, and many officials support Yan Wen's statement, believing that he is right.

After recognizing words, reading books, and having knowledge, will you be willing to face the loess with your back to the sky for the rest of your life?

What if they all want to do decent jobs and are not willing to engage in agricultural production, not to mention whether there are so many decent jobs, and only say that there are no farmers in the agriculture-oriented Han Kingdom to farm the land?

"If there is no one to grow food, there will be no food, and if there is no food, where will the tax revenue from the imperial court be able to build schools, and so many subsidies for students? Where does this money come from? Can we build so many schools and recruit so many students? Don't you think about this fundamental question? ”

Zheng Xuan didn't panic at all in the face of this question, but just sneered.

"Not to mention that plowing the land and cultivating the land is also a profound knowledge, just mastering the knowledge of serving the crops can make my old decay exhaust my efforts, why, do you still want to go through the Five Classics and the Fourteen Laws again? It's just that now it's not the fourteen family laws, it's changed to the fourteen states, right? ”

Zheng Xuan smiled coldly, and Yan Wen's face changed in an instant, and he immediately looked at Liu Bei, who was sitting on the top with an unchanged face, and hurriedly went out to confess to Liu Bei.

"Your Majesty! The minister has no such thoughts! Absolutely nothing! The minister will never support the recurrence of such things as the Fourteen Family Law! ”

Yan Wen and all the officials present understood what kind of person the current emperor Liu Bei was, and even part of the reason why he was able to ascend the throne as emperor was because he had destroyed the academic inheritance of the Fourteen Family Laws.

Talking about the fourteen family laws in front of him...... You're kind of a lantern in the pit.

That's why Yan Wen quickly admitted his mistake and resolutely severed his connection with this matter.

Liu Bei looked at Yan Wen for a while and nodded.

"This is a matter of discussion, not a crime, there is no need to say it so seriously, Zheng Butang, don't say it so seriously."

Zheng Xuan bowed.

"Yui."

This was said lightly, but Yan Wen heard it at the time - don't say it so seriously, doesn't it mean that this thing is very serious?

A little carelessness is not just a matter of losing the official hat!

As a result, Yan Wen never talked about related topics at this meeting again, and the participants also smelled something, knowing that the emperor himself might very much agree with some of Zheng Xuan's ideas.

At the subsequent meeting, Zheng Xuan also talked about his views on related issues.

"In the past, some people in my generation thought that once the people's wisdom was opened, the people's hearts would not be ancient, and there would definitely be a large number of traitors and criminals.

Even the reason why these people don't want to open the people's wisdom is very simple, that is, what Yan Butang just said, they are worried that no one will produce food, and by the way, they are worried that there are too many people competing for official positions and the like, in short, they don't want to lose their current status, right? ”

Zheng Xuan was quite a bit of a reliance on the old and selling the old at that time.

With his super qualifications and special relationship with Emperor Liu Bei, he opened up his face to a group of colleagues, couldn't raise his head when a group of bureaucrats said it, and said that Yan Wen was red-faced, and even his eyes flashed when he looked at Zheng Xuan.

But they couldn't say a word at that time, so they could only watch Zheng Xuan ridicule over there, and pulled out all the dark and unsightly thoughts of some people.

If Liu Bei hadn't sat on top of the high hall to town this scene, it is estimated that the council hall would have staged a full military performance of the Third Reich on the spot.

But in the end, Zheng Xuan also gave an objective view on this matter.

"Once people have knowledge, they will naturally open their eyes to the world, and they will naturally have new ideas, and some people will try their best to leave the land, which is a natural situation, and I think that with the opening of people's wisdom and the deepening of education, there will indeed be many people who will leave the land, but this is normal.

First, the population of the Han Dynasty will continue to increase, some people will leave, and some people will fill up, which may not affect agricultural production, which can be done by the Ministry of Agriculture to do a follow-up survey, and second, what kind of people are so arrogant that agricultural production does not need knowledge? ”

Zheng Xuan said and set his eyes on Yan Wen again, Yan Wen was so angry that he was so angry that he still didn't dare to say anything after feeling Liu Bei's gaze, so he could only secretly clench his fists and lower his head.

The atmosphere of the whole court seemed a little strange.

"From land reclamation to drainage to soil turning to seedlings, and then to daily farming, watering, and insect removal, there is a lot to be done in every link, so that a piece of land can grow food that can be eaten in the stomach.

Even if the knowledge is learned, from a novice to a farming veteran, there is a distance of three or five years, a skilled farmer, for the Han Kingdom, is the most valuable wealth, when the history of the state and the history of the Youzhou thorn in order to compete for experienced farmers, almost fought, this is the proof.

Therefore, the old minister thought that it was not only for the purpose of selecting outstanding people to become officials, but also for the purpose of allowing those with dull qualifications to master enough knowledge of agriculture and astronomy, so that they could better grasp the knowledge of production.

If you don't want to continue cultivating the land, then study hard, get good grades, take the imperial examination, and become an official, while those who are not so determined will learn enough agricultural knowledge to return to the land and find a suitable livelihood for themselves.

As for what thoughts they will have in their hearts, whether they will be restless, whether there will be anything that your colleagues don't like very much, with all due respect to this old man, I will be in charge of heaven and earth, and I will also manage what people think, are you managing too much, should you put all these thoughts on handling official business? ”

Zheng Xuan's words at that time almost ridiculed the entire court, only Liu Bei stood up and applauded him, expressing absolute support for his remarks, thinking that this was a real golden and jade good word.

Since then, there seem to be few people in the court who continue to maintain private contacts with Zheng Xuan.

There is news from the Ministry of Industry that Yan Butang is extremely dissatisfied with Zheng Butang, and the relationship between the Ministry of Industry and the School Department is very stiff, and many things need the coordination of the cabinet to handle.

But Zheng Xuan didn't feel that he was wrong.

And to this day, Liu Bei doesn't feel that Zheng Xuan has done anything wrong, his evaluation of Zheng Xuan is getting higher and higher, and he feels that Zheng Xuan is a person who really understands life.

It's just a pity that there are too few such people, and his age is indeed too old, and his energy is seriously lacking.

Zheng Xuan himself seems to think so.

"The old minister knows that he is an undesirable person in the court, and he has survived by relying on a little old face, and the longer he stays, the more annoying he becomes, so after doing what he should do, it is time to leave.

Like Zigan, after the end of the field, he left, and now he is carefree in his hometown to retire, indulge in the landscape, and tease his grandson, how happy is he? Not long ago, he wrote a letter to Lao Chen, saying that he wanted Lao Chen to resign as soon as possible and go to Zhuo County to reunite with him.

So Your Majesty, this is really the last time, the old minister has really reached the time when he has to leave, the old minister has nothing more to do, and if he continues to do it, I am afraid it will cause greater court disputes, which should not be what His Majesty wants to see. ”

Zheng Xuan was solemnly dressed, sat upright, and made a request to Liu Bei that he rarely made.

For this request, Liu Bei was silent.

After a long time, Liu Bei reached out and poured tea into Zheng Xuan's teacup.

"There is very little black tea roasted here, the process is complicated, and it is not easy to make, so the price will be relatively high for a long time, when you leave Luoyang, I will send you more, drink it when it is cold, it can warm the stomach and intestines, and it has great benefits for the body."

Zheng Xuan was stunned.

Leaning less, he reacted and watched Liu Bei's eyes soften.

"Guanghe four years, Zhongping six years, Jian'an five years, Zhenguan six years, before and after twenty-one years, Your Majesty, the old minister and Your Majesty walked for twenty-one years, there is a beginning and an end, it is really a great fortune in life."

Zheng Xuan straightened his clothes, walked in front of Liu Bei, and bowed down.

Liu Shouzhi helped Zheng Xuan up.

"Twenty-one years, Zheng Gong has always been a good teacher, extremely loving and caring, although there is no name of teachers and students, there are teachers and students, Zheng Gong's kindness, Bei will never forget."

Liu Bei straightened his clothes, knelt in front of Zheng Xuan, and bowed down.

It is not the worship of the Son of Heaven.

It's a worship of students.

For the worship of the students, Zheng Xuan accepted it calmly, and Liu Bei accepted his gift calmly before.

Leaning less, Zheng Xuan helped Liu Bei up and patted him on the shoulder with a smile.

"Xuande, in the days to come, you will be the only one in this court, and no one will be able to guide you on how to do things, and no one will need to do this, so it's good to do it."

"Keep it in mind."

Liu Bei said with a smile: "In order for Zheng Gonghe and the teacher to indulge in the mountains and rivers and tease with his grandson, Bei should do his best to make the Han Dynasty stronger and more prosperous." ”

Zheng Xuan smiled and nodded.

There was no more dialogue between the two, but their hearts were already connected.

(End of chapter)