[Qing] If you don't work hard, you will be forced to inherit the throne

Guozijian is the highest institution of learning in the Qing Dynasty that continued from the previous dynasty. It not only cultivates talents for the Qing Dynasty, but is also responsible for the management of institutions across the country. Although the management is very loose, at least it is in charge, isn't it?

Kangxi knew that Yinreng followed Sa Hai out of the Forbidden City. The Imperial College was in the east of the capital, and it took about an hour to go back and forth in a carriage. On the way there, Sa Hai also explained the situation of the Imperial College to Yinreng.

"Originally there were two Imperial Colleges in the Qing Dynasty, one was the Imperial College in the capital, and the other was the Imperial College in Nanjing. After the late emperor changed the name of the Imperial College in Nanjing to "Jiangning Fuxue", the Imperial College in Beijing became a veritable highest institution of learning."

The first emperor wanted to put the education of the Qing Dynasty under his nose, and influence other schools in other parts of the world from the Guozijian in the capital, but he only changed the appearance but not the inside.

Sa Hai mentioned a little bit, and then began to mention the highest official in the Imperial College who was in charge of liaison with the Ministry of Rites, the Imperial College Jijiu, named Wang Shizhen.

The position of Lord Wang is to be a bridge between the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Academy. Any important tasks assigned by the Ministry of Rites will be carried out by him. Wang Shizhen also reports to the Ministry of Rites every year in the Imperial Academy.

When Sahai mentioned Wang Shizhen, he also mentioned: "Guozijian's sacrificial wine is a model for the teachers and students of Guozijian. Wang Shizhen is strict with himself and has an upright style. "21 History", repairing the Confucian Temple, leading the teachers and students of the Guozijian to meet the emperor's review, everything went smoothly, and there was never a mistake."

In other words, this is another old man with strong handling ability?

Yinreng suddenly realized, and was full of anticipation to see Mr. Wang.

In his impression, Mr. Wang may be a scholar of Qingliu like Sha Cheng, and the most severe rebuke he said was the sentence: insulting gentlemen.

When he really saw Wang Shimo, Yinfeng was stunned.

Seems a little too young?He looks about as old as the third grandpa, but he is still a young and strong uncle!

Wang Shizhen welcomed Sa Hai into his office, Sa Hai said: "This is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Wang Shimo then paid homage to Yinreng as a courtier.

Yinfeng was young, and he was visited by these famous elders wherever he went. He has been used to it for so many years, and he supported Wang Shizhen without changing his face: "I came here alone to visit the Imperial College with Master Sahai. Master Wang, you don’t have to be cautious about studying. Official affairs will still be handled with Lord Sahai according to the usual practice.”

With Sa Hai's hint, Wang Shizhen then talked about the management of the Imperial College. He was the intermediary between the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial College, and he was still in charge of enrollment, class placement, dormitory placement, curriculum and examination arrangements.In addition, Wang Shizhen personally approved the leave of absence from the prison students.

[This is the principal of the Imperial College, who not only manages political tasks, but also manages the school's academic arrangements, in addition to managing life, omnipotent! 】Yinfeng's eyes gleamed: "Master Wang is in charge of so many things by himself, maybe he can be busy?"

Wang Shizhen was taken aback for a moment, and replied in a gentle voice: "I have three assistants to help me."

Due to the special circumstances of the Qing Dynasty, there was a precedent of three Si Ye in history, who were from the Manchu, Han, and Mongolian tribes.

Guozijian not only had students from various ethnic groups in the Qing Dynasty, but also recruited students from foreign vassals during the reign of the first emperor, such as envoys from the Joseon Dynasty, the Ryukyu Kingdom, and the Wa Kingdom, etc., but these were canceled due to various reasons.

Today's Guozijian is mostly composed of Manchu and Han supervisors. Mongolian supervisors are less than the former two, but there are also many. There are other nationalities, each with several supervisors studying here.

[The local government school recommends students to study in the Imperial College every year, so the students here are all the top students in the country, and they come from all over the country.As for whether it is fair or not, excellent students are not only raised by nature, but they are born with extraordinary talents and rich educational resources. These students can appear here, and the family will definitely not be too bad.After all, in the Qing Dynasty, if a poor family wants to cultivate a scholar, it takes the strength of the whole family. Only those with good family backgrounds have the opportunity to read good books. 】Yinfeng was quite interested in Guozijian. He raised his head and looked at the words behind Wang Shizhen: "Justice, Chongzhi, Guangye, Taoism, sincerity, straightforwardness..." (1)

Wang Shizhen heard him read aloud, and then explained: "This is the six branch halls of the Imperial College, and the content of each class is different."

Wang Shizhen told Yinfeng: Among them, there are three introductory classes with relatively simple teaching content, and the study of Taoism and sincerity is further in-depth, while the "Spontaneity Hall" gathers candidates who are about to take the imperial examination, and their homework is mainly about reviewing the past. , I am overwhelmed by large and small examination papers every day.

Under the leadership of Sahai and Wang Shizhen, Yinreng followed them into the Jixian Gate, then into the Taixue Gate, and finally went outside the "Fraud Hall" to take the exam for the official candidates.

You can hear the pins and needles in the "Whispering Hall". Candidates sit in front of the desk with concentration, or close their eyes and think deeply, or write vigorously, with different expressions.

The invigilator Xuezheng and the teaching assistants were wandering in the hall, and a stick of thick incense was set in the hall and was slowly burning.

Outside such a serious examination room, Yinfeng took a quick glance and stopped moving forward.

Yinfeng: Xiaomei went to have a look on Gu's behalf?

Baihu got Yinfeng's order, relying on no one to see him, he entered the examination room in a hurry, this person took a look, that person took a look.

[They are taking the eight-legged essay! 】

The so-called eight-legged essay is also an examination tradition inherited from the Ming Dynasty.When the eight-part essay, the imperial examination style, first appeared, it was to standardize the imperial examination and make the examination more fair and orderly.

It's just that the style of stereotyped essay is too restrictive, the rules are strict and old-fashioned, and it is also required to write essays only in the words of sages, without free argumentation, and it is forbidden to pile up words and sentences, and the number of words is strictly controlled!

Yinreng read Xiaomei's projected article, one head and two big, and thought with lingering fear: Fortunately, Gu is the son of Khan Ama, so he doesn't need to take the imperial examination.

After leaving the vicinity of the "Fraud Hall", Wang Shizhen said: "A few years ago, His Highness the Crown Prince proposed a very wonderful method of adding exams."

This method can not only alleviate the tension of the supervising students about the imperial examination from the root, but also verify the students' mastery through continuous examinations, and can also more intuitively present the teaching quality of the gentlemen.

Yinfeng: "..."

He thought about those obscure articles just now that were rigidly framed by rules and full of classics and meanings of Confucius and Mencius, and he had a bad feeling: "Could it be just a test for stereotyped essays?"

Wang Shizhen froze for a moment, then laughed dumbfoundedly: "The imperial examination is for eight-legged essays, so the supervisors should also take the exams for eight-legged essays."

Although there are precedents for the emperor to directly promote Guozijian middle school supervisors, there are very few precedents, and most of them will step into the imperial examination room in the future.

Yinfeng felt his back was hairy, so the students who passed the eight-legged essay exam ranked first, second and third, and then chose the best people to be officials and govern the world?

He has never been asked to write stereotyped essays since he studied. Master Du did not restrain him when he taught him how to write essays. When the four princes and Taifus taught Yinfeng, they only explained to him what stereotyped essays were, but they did not Will really let him use the sages in the scriptures to piece together stereotyped essays.

He didn't need to write it himself, nor did the other princes and elder brothers, but the examinees in the Guozijian had to take the eight-legged essay.

"Shouldn't the imperial examinations be about governing the country and about policy theory?"

Wang Shizhen smiled and said: "It's about governing the country and policy theory, but it should be written in the style of stereotyped essays."

Yinfeng: "Why?"

This style of writing has greatly restrained the candidates, and the entire article is empty and boring. When writing an article, it seems that the hands and feet have been cut off and become a stick in a urn.

[Big friend, don’t you think it’s also a kind of ability to express the words of a sage without appearing to be a pile of words and sentences, and to stand out without being delicate or artificial? 】Yinfeng: No, I don't think so at all. I feel that there is something wrong with the method of using stereotyped essays to select scholars.

The exam of "Spontaneity Class" was coming to an end. After the teaching assistants and students had collected all the test papers, the superintendent, on behalf of the supervisor, led everyone to read by themselves and complete the newly assigned homework.

Wang Shizhen didn't answer why, he avoided the important and said lightly: "This is the system left by the predecessors."

Where do so many come from?The words of the sages are the most important. The studies of the sages, especially Zhu Xi's studies, had a great influence on later generations. The Qing followed the Ming Dynasty and completely inherited these.

Yinfeng saw the man who looked like Mr. You led the two students out of the "Spontaneity Hall" with a fierce face, and severely reprimanded them while leading them. Wang Shizhen explained: "This is the supervisor of the Imperial Academy."

Wang Shizhen stepped forward and asked the Manchu supervisor named Engui: "What mistakes did these two supervisors make?"

Engui said: "These two spoke softly in the test. If they are suspected, they will take it lightly and contempt the holy teachings. They will be severely punished!"

En Guihu said with a stern face: "The teaching assistant saw the two of them, and he only wanted to warn them, but he actually planned to let it go. Asking for instructions to sacrifice wine, the teaching assistant is not responsible. They are suspected of helping the tyrant, and should be punished together."

The Manchu and Han supervisors in the Guozijian were in charge of the entire Guozijian teachers and students. After Engui finished talking about the matter, another Han supervisor came to complain.

He went to investigate the dormitory of the prison students in the Zhengyi Hall, and found that some prison students violated the rules and raised birds in the dormitory.

All matters big and small in the Guozijian are handled by Jijiu. Usually, Wang Shizhen does not appear here, and the two supervisors can only find three Siye. Now that Wang Shizhen appears here for the first time, he must not be caught by the two supervisors. , Qi Qi reported to him the current situation of candidates' violations in recent days, and both of them asked Wang Shizhen to restrain the style of study of the Guozijian with a severely punishing attitude.

In the end, under Wang Shizhen's handling, the supervisor who raised the bird was arranged to clean the Confucian Temple for one month, while the two supervisors who had whispered to each other in the exam were punished to have their exam scores invalidated, and one paper was retaken. People cleaned the toilets for two months.

Wang Shizhen did not evade this matter, and when the supervisors were satisfied, he turned the prison student who had committed the crime to the Shengjian Hall. He smiled and explained: "There are many young people in the Imperial College, and they have a wild and unruly temperament. They should be controlled and let them Take your temper."

Wang Shizhen, he will not get angry, no matter what he faces, he can deal with it calmly, pressing on the top of the two fiery supervisors, which has played a good role in mitigating in the Imperial College.

Sa Hai nodded. He is in the current position, and he has a natural affinity for this group of young and immature students, this group of future fresh blood of the imperial court.He hates the students who have made mistakes, and hopes that these people can set foot in the officialdom and become his colleagues in the future, so as to live up to the cultivation of the Ministry of Rites.

After visiting the Guozijian, Yinreng returned to the palace, spread out his notes, and painstakingly meditated on a performance he wanted to give to Kangxi.

He wanted to vigorously criticize the restraint of candidates by the unscientific style of stereotyped essays, and wanted to persuade Kangxi to use a more practical method to recruit talents. It took so many years?"

This shouldn't be the case, since Khan Ama is so wise, he wouldn't be ignorant of the harm of stereotyped selection.

Yinfeng couldn't figure it out, Khan Ama was asleep in the middle of the night, so waking him up from his dream at this time, wouldn't it be a beating for nothing?

But if he doesn't ask clearly, he can't sleep peacefully.

So he ran to Cao Zhen's room and pulled Cao Zhen who was sleeping with the big white goose up.

Dabai flapped his wings at Yinfeng angrily, as if blaming him for waking himself up from his dream: "Quack quack quack!—"

Cao Zhen rubbed her eyes, and said in a daze: "You have doubts in your heart, and I can't help you, because my knowledge is much shallower than yours. Why don't you ask the elder brother? Hasn't he already started Have you studied in the department?"

Yinfeng: "That's right! Brother usually sleeps late, so he probably hasn't fallen asleep at this time."

So he left the dazed Cao Zhen and went to Yinti's residence alone.

It is true that Yinti has not slept yet. He was reading military books in elder brother's room, and when he saw Yinfeng coming to look for him, he was surprised and said, "It's rare to see you come to me at this time."

Normally at this time Yinreng would be nestling in Yuqing Palace watching cartoons, and would not easily step out of the house.

After Yinreng sat down, he said all his doubts first.

Yinti was silent for a moment, and asked back: "Do you know that in the second year after Khan Ama ascended the throne, he ordered the abolition of stereotyped essays?"

Yinfeng: "Huh? What's the matter?! Big brother is worthy of being the 'Bai Xiaosheng' in the harem. I've never heard Khan Ama talk about it."

Yinti scolded with a smile: "You don't know when you can get rid of your habit of being nicknamed by others. It's fine if you give it to Nalan Mingzhu, but give it to brother?"

"I'm just complimenting you. Tell me quickly, why did stereotyped essays recover?"

"After the abolition of stereotyped essays in the second year of Khan Ama's accession to the throne, it took five years. The court at that time could not find a better alternative method. In addition, the literati respected the words of the sages of Confucius and Mencius. Restoring the stereotyped essay, the matter was left behind."

"In that year, the Shandong Dilong turned over, to a greater extent than the Dilong turned over when you were four years old. It was also the year that the imperial court imposed a sea ban again, and the following year, Oboi died."

Yinti raised his mouth a little, and after a little association, Yinti could guess how difficult Khan Amma was at that time.

"You want to abolish stereotyped writing? I don't think so. Abolishing stereotyped writing is a big disrespect of literati. Even though Khan Ama has long wanted to abolish stereotyped writing, there is no way so far."

The more Yinti stopped Yinreng from doing this, the more he would not listen to persuasion, and would dive right into the bull's horns.

Yinti rubbed the center of his brows helplessly: Hey, this silly brother has a stubborn temper like a cow, and he is so mad.

Nalan Mingzhu wholeheartedly wanted to shake the position of prince given by Yinreng, but Yinti was worried every day that Yinreng would lose his position as prince.

With the stupid brother's stubborn temper, where Nalan Mingzhu was needed to attack him, he was about to play himself to the opposite of the civil servants.

"Do you know how much effort the scholars in the world have put into these stereotyped essays, and how many of the courtiers won by using stereotyped essays?" Yinti said sternly: "The way of Confucius and Mencius, and the learning of Zhu Xi, have been engraved into the The bone marrow of a literati, if you want to touch this, believe it or not, even if you know you are right, Khan Ama will not come to help you?"

"I don't believe it."

Yinfeng winked at him: "The Khan Ama gang never cares about right or wrong."

Yinxuan: "..."

This stinky brother, no matter when, he still shows off to him that he is favored!

The author has something to say: Wang Shizhen changed his name to Wang Shizhen/Wang Shizheng later, in order to avoid personal names, everyone understands.

The name of North Korea comes from Baidu: At the end of the 14th century, the Li Dynasty replaced Goryeo, and the country name "Chosun" (the name of the ancient country built by Jizi), "Hening" (the place where Li Chenggui was born), etc., was ruled by Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yuanzhang chose the name of the new country as "North Korea".In the 25th year of Ming Hongwu (1392), Li Chenggui overthrew the Goryeo Dynasty, established himself as king, and established the Joseon Dynasty.

In addition, regarding Guozijian, it comes from "Educational Management Activities of Guozijian in Ming and Qing Dynasties"

PPS: Stereotyped essays were abolished by Emperor Kangxi, but they were not abolished. During the Qianlong period, some courtiers also proposed to abolish stereotyped essays, because the disadvantages were too great, but the result was still not abolished.