Save the Bachelor of Heaven

 After the prisoner presentation ceremony, Yonghuang officially returned to the palace.

"How about it? Will you gain a lot from joining the army this time?" Xiang Nan asked him.

“What a great harvest.” Yong Huang nodded, “Huang Ama, I now know how difficult it was for our ancestors to expand their territory and conquer the Central Plains. We also know why Huang Ama advocates the development of science and technology.

To be honest, without the explosive packs provided by Huang Ama, those watchtowers alone would have made it difficult for my tens of thousands of troops to move forward. There are also cannons and spears developed by Huang Ama, which also have great advantages against Jinchuan and Jinchuan.

Although the Jinchuans and Jinchuans were brave and fearless of death, their weapons were too backward. Bows, arrows, swords and guns could not compare with spears and cannons, and they were simply defeated at the first touch.

So Huang Ama is right to say that our Qing Dynasty should pay attention to the research and development of new weapons and should no longer be obsessed with archery and horse riding. Otherwise, Jinchuan and Jinchuan are our role models. "

“Yes, I finally have some insights.” Xiang Nan nodded and said, “Yong Huang, remember that ‘if you fall behind, you will be beaten’, this is an unbreakable truth.

Jinchuan and Jinchuan may not be brave or cunning, but why they were wiped out by our Qing Dynasty is because they were too backward. Weapons are backward, our strength is backward, and our population is backward. So we must not make the same mistakes again. "

“Yes, I deeply agree.” Yong Huang nodded.

“Then you went out and saw the outside world. What do you think of the people’s lives?” Xiang Nan asked again.

“The people live a prosperous and healthy life, singing and dancing wherever they go, and they all praise the emperor as a wise king and a holy master.” Yong Huang immediately replied.

"I don't want to listen to these empty words, tell the truth." Xiang Nan waved his hand and said.

“My son is telling the truth,” Yong Huang said quickly.

Xiang Nan suddenly darkened his face and said coldly, "An ancient saying goes, 'Knowing shame is close to courage.' It's not terrible for a person to make mistakes, but if he doesn't even have the courage to admit it, how can he expect that he can change for the better in the future."

"Yes, Huang Ama." Seeing what he said, Yong Huang could only tell the truth, "The life of the people at the bottom is indeed not very good.

I have been traveling all the way from the capital to Tianfu. Along the way I have seen many people who have no clothes on their bodies, no food to eat, no fixed homes, and some who are so poor that they sell their sons and daughters. "

"This is the truth." Xiang Nan nodded and said, "The people are suffering, so don't listen to those officials praising the prosperous times or the sage, and then start to feel complacent.

As long as one person is hungry in the world, it is still our responsibility. Yonghuang, this time you went to see the world and learned about the sufferings of the people.

I hope you will keep this experience in mind to remind yourself not to be careless, arrogant and greedy for pleasure. "

“Yes, Emperor Ama, I obey your orders.” Yong Huang bowed and said.

"Okay, let's go see your mother. She has been worried about you every day since you left for the war. She goes to Anhua Hall to pray for you every day," Xiang Nan said again.

 “Yes, Huang Ama.” Yong Huang nodded.

 …

 After pacifying Jinchuan and Jinchuan, Xiang Nan's reputation in the court and among the people reached a higher level.

 Subsequently, he carried out in-depth reforms of the imperial examination.

　　Although the imperial examinations in the past were all about eight-legged essays, not all those who passed the exam were nerds.

 After all, there are millions of scholars across the country, and the imperial examination is only held every three years, and only two to three hundred people are admitted to the imperial examination each time. It is equivalent to saying that only one person in ten thousand is lucky enough to pass the Jinshi examination and have the opportunity to become an official. It is impossible that such people are not smart. However, although such people are smart, their subjects are too biased. They are all liberal arts. Although their writing is first-rate, most of them are not up to standard in science and engineering.

 For this reason, science has not been taken seriously for a long time in all dynasties. Many scientific and technological inventions have even been called "wonderful and ingenious skills" and denounced. Not only has many useful technologies been lost, but technological innovation has also stagnated.

 This is naturally not possible. You must know that the past hundred years have been the golden age of the explosion of science and technology in Western countries. Navigation technology, firearms technology, steam engines, electromagnetism, chemistry, physics... are all advancing by leaps and bounds.

Only the Chinese people still hold on to the "Four Books and Five Classics" written thousands of years ago. They are stalling and falling far behind. Therefore, Xiang Nan decided to reform the imperial examination.

 In the sixth year of Qianlong's reign, he had already added the four major subjects of geography, physics, mathematics, and foreign languages ​​to state-run schools such as county schools, government schools, state schools, and Imperial College.

 And in the subsequent imperial examinations, these four subjects were added. Of course, in name only, the scores in these four subjects are for reference only and are not included in the total score.

 But now Xiang Nan requires that the scores in these four subjects will account for half of the total score in the imperial examination. In other words, even if the stereotyped article is well written, it will get 100 points. If you don't know anything about the other four subjects, you will only get 50 points, which is also a failure.

 Under such a decree, many readers were dumbfounded.

 Because when Xiang Nan added subjects in the county school, government school, state school, and Imperial College, they didn't care.

Because the number of students recruited by government schools is limited, and many scholars look down on government schools such as county schools, they usually just go to some schools and study at home, or go to private schools, or attend their own private schools... Therefore, they are interested in these four subjects. I know almost nothing about the subject.

As a result, these four subjects were required to be tested in the imperial examination, and the scores accounted for half of the total score, which made them anxious.

Even if they are full of talent and knowledge and have thoroughly studied the Four Books and Five Classics, but they know nothing about geography, physics, mathematics, or foreign languages, they will not be able to pass the exam. What should they do?

 Fortunately, there were still three years until the next imperial examination, so they hurriedly made amends and studied everywhere.

 …

 In addition, Xiang Nan also ordered the Ministry of Household Affairs to allocate tens of millions of taels of silver to build schools in various townships across the country. The Ministry of Rites was responsible for dispatching teachers, with the same treatment as ninth-grade officials.

In addition to teaching "Three Character Classic", "Hundred Family Surnames" and "Thousand Character Classic", each school also teaches basic mathematics, basic geography and basic physics.

In order to ensure that every child has access to books, the school not only waives tuition fees, but also waives book fees and provides paper, pens, ink and inkstones.

 In ancient times, going to school was very expensive.

 During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, only three generations of well-off families could support one scholar.

 First of all, tuition is an issue. Not to mention private schools and schools, even for elementary schools in rural areas, the teacher has to charge one stone of grain a year for tuition, which is equivalent to the income of one acre of land.

 Secondly, paper, pen, ink and inkstone also cost money. When Ouyang Xiu was a child, his family was poor and had no money to buy pens and ink, so his mother could only teach him to write on the sand;

 Thirdly, people in ancient times matured precociously. They started working with adults at the age of four or five, and were already regarded as strong laborers by the age of ten. If you study off-the-job, you will have less labor for the family.

 Fourthly, the knowledge taught in primary schools is limited, and it would be good to be admitted as a scholar at most. Scholars were only exempted from corvee service, and only outstanding scholars among Linsheng could receive Linmi subsidies from the government.

 If you want to take the college entrance examination, you only need to study under a famous teacher, but the cost will be even higher.