At four o'clock in the afternoon, after completing the last subject of "Science Comprehensive", Shang Luo walked out of the examination room. Today is not a college entrance exam, just a children's exam, and that more important exam will be a few days away.

He was lucky, the previously assigned examination room was in our school, so he didn't have to rush to all kinds of corner examination rooms early in the morning to "catch the exam".

The children's test is an examination for the selection of talents - although it is said to be a "selection", the pass rate of fresh graduates is more than 85%, and the pass rate can often reach more than 90% in places like Liangjing or Fujian and Huguang, which are good at exams.

After all, the content of the test is quite simple at the level of high school students, because it is actually just a junior high school knowledge point.

But as simple as it is, the significance of this exam is important. Because of the examination of Xiucai, can be regarded as a part of the "scholars". This is very important, and there are a large number of ancient laws in the Da Ming Law, which have been inherited from the Tang Law, which strictly distinguish between the political treatment of scholars and people.

This did not cause any problems in the period of the founding of the national dynasty such as the Hongwu year, because it was not even the early modern period, and it is very appropriate to say that it is "ancient". In terms of ancient ethics, it is reasonable to distinguish between scholars and people, and this has been the case since ancient times. But in modern times, such laws have become inappropriate as cities have expanded.

In particular, when the imperial court abolished all forced labor and gradually shifted the tax base from the countryside to the cities, many of the laws governing the peasants became completely unnecessary. On the contrary, it will increase the cost of agricultural production and reduce the already low motivation for production.

So several generations ago, a key reform came out of the cabinet: the pass rate of the Xiucai exam was greatly improved. From 10% at the beginning, it has gradually increased to nearly 90% now. If you can't pass the test in one year, you can continue to take the test until you pass the test. As long as you are admitted to Xiucai, you can directly follow the treatment of scholars.

In this way, without the need for large-scale changes to the law, the way of governance can be adapted to the new currents of thought that were rapidly expanding due to industrialization at the time. Because in terms of setting, Xiucai naturally has many privileges. For example, Xiucai can unconditionally receive an allowance from the place where his household registration is located; Xiucai can directly deliver posts to the county government; Xiucai, as a scholar, can see officials without kneeling; Xiucai cannot be punished with corporal punishment; Xiucai can wear the clothes of scholars and so on.

If these are cultivated one by one, it will be simply the opposite of Tiangang, and the filial piety tomb will have to emit black smoke. But after such a compromise, everyone was comfortable. Moreover, with the popularization of compulsory education, it is also in line with the course of history to confer a degree on the vast majority of people.

As long as everyone is a scholar, and all men, women, and children are talented, then feudal etiquette will not be able to eat people—at least not so easily like those "Shengdou small people" in ancient times.

However, this is the case of passing the test - if you can't pass the test, although there is only a small probability of not passing the test, then the problem is big.

"Huh." Shang Luo came out of the examination room and shook his head, "It's also a matter, although there is nothing to worry about." ”

[In other words, what will happen if you don't get in? 】

"If you don't get in, it's a lot of fun! Those who are not admitted may not even have the opportunity to have a single independent account, so they can only follow their parents. This leads to many problems, such as the fact that property is calculated according to the family rather than the individual, and if you do not have the right to open your own household, even basic social activities will be problematic. After all, the imperial examination is republican, the imperial examination is republic, and the first step of the imperial examination cannot be done, and it is even difficult to be a man. ”

[Good guys, who are those who are not showmen yet? 】

"He who has committed a crime and has been deprived of his fame. Those people will be sent to Haozhou. It's miserable to think about, that's tantamount to expulsion. There are also barbarians who have no nationality in the first place, and if they are not Chinese, they are not qualified to take the exam at all. And then again, there are really people who can't pass the test, people with mental disabilities, these people are really blocked out of this system. ”

[It's nothing, anyway, I was supposed to live with my parents.] 】

"Yes, but consider the very rare circumstances, such as severe dyslexia. There are actually many people with dyslexia, but there are not many people who are serious enough to be judged as dyslexia, and these people have normal intelligence but just can't take the test, which is fatal. Although this is a rare and rare situation, at the scale of hundreds of billions of people, thousands of people are still trapped here. I heard that day that the imperial court was going to open the examination room directly. Tsk"

He shook his head: "Soon the world will take another step up." ”

Suddenly, the phone rang.

"Are you done?" Zhu Xianene asked on the phone, "How do you feel?" ”

"Your call was really timely, and I was just thinking about it. It wasn't really much before I touched it, but I didn't remember it until I passed it myself. Now we are awarding the qualifications of scholars based on the 'Xiucai Examination' at the junior high school level, right? But there are always some 'natural drop rates', and some people just can't pass the exam. ”

"The number is 4.21 percent." Zhu Xianene replied, "I remember it very clearly. We've been trying to figure it down, and compulsory education has spread to all places as much as possible, and now even the deep mountains of Yungui can provide complete compulsory education - of course, we took the opportunity to do a new round of land reform, that's another matter. But, you're aware of it, right? Our society, which is based on the imperial examination republic, may also be promoted to the republican system of cultivation in the future. In the future, if you are not a qi practitioner, I am afraid it will be difficult to keep up with the rhythm of others. ”

"Hmm"

"So, do you have an estimate for that? The natural drop-off rate is the same as the natural poverty rate, which is a natural law, and we can only find a way to reduce it, and there is no way to make this number disappear, which is not a big problem in itself. But if there are too few people who can cultivate immortals, my society may return to the early modern period, and even the deconstruction of ancient times. ”

"Say." Shang Luo asked, "In ancient times, how many shows did the whole country come?" ”

Shang Luo planned to use the proportion of Xiucai to measure whether the scale of the Qi Cultivator was appropriate. After all, no matter how bad it is, it is not impossible to return to Hongwu Nian. The immortal cultivator valve that really became the gate valve of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties is finished.

"Let me put it this way, at that time, the annual admission of Xiucai was only 1/10,000 of the total population, or even 1/20,000, which is less than the proportion of doctoral students admitted now, and now there are only hundreds of thousands of people with doctoral degrees in the country, which is almost the proportion of Xiucai in the early modern period."

"Good guy, it turns out that the talent who took the first step in the imperial examination back then is as difficult as being admitted as a doctoral student now?"

(End of chapter)