such as Yue Linyuan

After offering incense in the ancestral hall, Si Yuanting respectfully worshiped the spiritual tablets of Si Chongde and the ancestors of the Si family, and then stayed in the ancestral hall for a stick of incense before leaving.

In the past few years, he was unable to worship his parents and the ancestors of the Si family in a dignified way. Since the Zhen Guohou Mansion was built, he would go to the ancestral hall to offer incense and worship every day when he returned to the mansion.

Seeing him coming out of the ancestral hall, a house slave hurried forward and said, "My lord, please see me, Lord Guozijian Liang."

Si Yuanting nodded, then moved to the main hall.

In the main hall, Liang Chen was sitting on a chair, and there were several ancient books on the coffee table beside him. When he saw Si Yuanting approaching, he got up and cupped his hands and said, "Master Si, I came to visit suddenly, I hope I don't disturb Master Si's handling of business."

He strode to the seat in the main hall and sat down, Si Yuanting said: "Master Liang is too worried. Master Liang is here today, is it because of the reform of government schools?"

"Exactly." Liang Chen never wastes time beating around the bush when talking with Si Yuanting, and cut straight to the point: "Master Si, it's a good thing for His Majesty to reform the official school system, and as one of those who come from a poor family, I naturally support it. However, Master Si should also know that if the several prohibitions issued by the late emperor are not withdrawn, it will be difficult to make any real changes in the content learned."

"Regarding this point, Master Liang, you can rest assured. According to the regulations of our ancestors, the implementation of the new policy will have to wait until the second year of the new emperor's accession to the throne. Your Majesty has already made it clear to me that the ban issued by the late emperor will be lifted next year." Si Yuanting also understood. Liang Chen pointed out that the teaching books they have used in recent years, except for the Four Books and Five Classics, are all books re-edited according to the ban. Under the restrictions of the ban, it is impossible to compile teaching books that can meet Chu Yuezhi's expectations.

"If the ban can really be lifted, then I think these ancient books that I have risked my life to collect may be useful." Liang Chen put his hand on the few ancient books he brought, and said: " Over the years, the late Emperor ordered to burn too many books secretly, and I managed to save a small part of them, and today I brought a few of them, and I would like to ask Lord Si to have a look at them."

In fact, he didn't have so many ambitions when he entered the officialdom. What he wanted most was to get in touch with the ancient books that were going to be burned in advance through some special channels, and try his best to keep them, so he didn't like to fight and just wanted to If he survives, as long as he can stand in the court for a day, he will be able to keep those opportunities that are truly beneficial to the world and scholars, and are the painstaking works of countless literati.

Si Yuanting glanced at the house slave standing beside him, and the house slave immediately went over to fetch the few ancient books and handed them to Si Yuanting.

Bowing his head and quickly flipping through the topmost ancient book, Si Yuanting's eyes flashed with light, and said: "I thought this ancient book would be hard to find in the world, but I didn't expect Master Liang to preserve it."

"I'm ashamed to say that these are not the original works, but the carbon copies I copied in a short time, and because of the urgent situation at that time, the time did not allow it. The last two copies were not complete based on my memory, and I copied them down. There are some mistakes and omissions." Liang Chen believes that Han Chuang has studied hard for many years, and he dare not speak of other abilities, but his ability to endorse is unquestionable. Some of these ancient books can be replaced by the original by him, but most of them are his. In a very short period of time, I forced myself to memorize the entire book and then copied it out.

"Even if it is not the original work, Master Liang is able to preserve these ancient books as much as possible under the limited time and strict restrictive environment. It is the fortune of scholars and students in the world. Master Liang has spent a lot of energy. Yuan Ting hereby Thank you for everyone first." Si Yuanting put down the ancient books as he spoke, stood up and bowed to Liang Chen to thank him.

"Master Si, this is really disgraceful to Liangmou. Liangmou was able to keep these ancient books, all thanks to Sir Si's extraordinary promotion of Liangmou as a sacrifice to the Imperial Academy. Liangmou will never forget this kindness." Liang Chen felt conscious. Unable to bear the thank you gift from Si Yuanting, he hurriedly got up and stretched out his hands to support Si Yuanting's arm, and continued: "Actually, I came here today to discuss with Master Si about re-editing the teaching books. What should be done in terms of content? trade-off."

"In terms of trade-offs, the Four Books and Five Classics are not completely unacceptable, but in the provincial examination, it is stipulated that the relevant content of the "Four Books" should be more than [-] words, and the "Five Classics" should be more than [-] words. The standard answers are all in the "Four Books" In the Encyclopedia of the Five Classics; and the second test question, one test theory, five verdicts, one choice of edict, imperial edict, table, and internal medicine; the third test question, five questions about classics and policies, the premise is that it cannot break through the "Four Books", The scope of the "Five Classics" and its annotations. This is like forcing students to answer according to standard answers, completely losing their own thinking ability. No matter how good the Four Books and Five Classics are, they have lost their own meaning in the so-called standard answers." Si Yuanting Although he has never participated in the provincial examination, in order to understand the situation of the students taking the examination in recent years, he has asked people to show him the test questions of the local examination for three consecutive years. .

"The "Encyclopedia of Four Books and Five Classics" can be invalidated. I proposed to reclassify the content of the study. I personally think that the ancient books you brought today can be included in the three courses of Confucian classics. Presumably Master Liang also knows. Guozixue, Taixue, and Simenxue were actually divided according to the status of their fathers and ancestors in the Tang Dynasty. They were aimed at the children of bureaucrats above the third rank, fifth rank, and seventh rank respectively. The content they learned were all Confucian classics. But now His Majesty has ordered the official school The system reform is to focus on cultivating talents who are not bound by the relationship between the clan and the nobles. Not to mention the complicated relationships between the clan and the nobles, most of them don't know the sufferings of the people and don't know how to listen. listen.

"Therefore, the suggestion I can give now is actually very simple. It is to first divide the Confucian classics into the Great Classics, the Middle Classics and the Small Classics. Those who master the Three Classics must master one of the Major, Middle and Small Classics; and master the Five Classics. For those who want to master all classics, choose one of the other two classics; "Book of Filial Piety" and "The Analects of Confucius" should be listed as the content that must be mastered. On this basis, these ancient books preserved by Mr. Liang, It can be used as an extra-curricular reading. Select chapters according to the needs for students to read intensively, and make them think and analyze the content of ancient books. There is no standard answer for this. As long as students have something to say, they can have their own ideas and opinions That counts as homework done.”

Si Yuanting said seriously, these changes are actually what he has always wanted to do, but he suffered from lack of help, and it is impossible for Chu Yuelei to let him do so, so no matter how much he planned, he could only silently put it aside .

The power of the clan and gentry should not be underestimated. Nearly two-thirds of the officials in the court were from the clan and gentry. Without the support of the emperor, it would be impossible to promote the reform, even at the beginning.

In order to stabilize the imperial court, he had made false claims with these clansmen and nobles for many years, and he also saw clearly in this relationship how deep these people's roots were and how far their hands stretched.So when Chu Yuezhi proposed reforming thinking and education at the beginning, he subconsciously felt that it was too difficult, and he might die in the womb.

But now, Chu Yuezhi's toughness was beyond his expectation. After the news of the reform of the official school, many gentry couldn't hold back, and began to test Chu Yuezhi's attitude, but before they officially reformed the official school It started to jump, and the news that Tang Yiqian, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, was preparing a new proposal for the examination also came out. This really made most court officials from the gentry family look like cats whose tails were stepped on, and the memorials began to be sent out repeatedly. When it came to Chu Yuezhi's imperial case, many courtiers asked to see him.

However, in the face of these memorials, Chu Yuezhi just put them aside and ignored them, and threw them to him when he was really bored; and all the ministers who asked for an audience disappeared.Chu Yuezhi told him that the reform will officially start next year, and these people are starting to jump on it now, but they don't know if they have such a long time to go on until next year to implement the reform.

Liang Chen nodded in agreement while listening to Si Yuanting's words. He was quite consistent with Si Yuanting in terms of political views. When he was summoned by Chu Yuezhi before, the reason why he hesitated was because he knew that he would face a lot of resistance. , The major changes in the content of the imperial examinations will not be effective in a short period of time. He is personally very worried that such reforms will end up halfway.

But after returning home, he also thought about it carefully. Regardless of the outcome of the reform, everything is difficult at the beginning. At least they started, and they have already taken the first step.

"Master Si, your suggestion is very useful to me. I don't know how many of these ancient books Sir Si have read. Would it be convenient for you to discuss the contents with me and see what chapters are suitable for teaching students." Liang Chen usually It is also rare to find a bosom friend who can talk deeply, so every time I can talk to Si Yuanting, I will seize the opportunity to talk about those topics that are not suitable for discussion with others on weekdays.

"I was lucky enough to read these few ancient books when I was young, and I have nothing else to do right now. It just so happens that I can learn from Mr. Liang." Si Yuanting naturally would not reject this kind of ideological collision. He also admired Liang Chen quite a lot.Turning sideways, Si Yuanting said to his servant: "Confess, I'm busy with government affairs today, so it's inconvenient to see guests again, if it's not something urgent, then just push it off."

Picking up those ancient books, Si Yuanting made a gesture of invitation to Liang Chen: "Master Liang, let's change places and talk to my study, this way please."

For the next few hours, the two kept discussing the contents of the ancient books in depth in the study room. During this period, Liang Chen borrowed pen and ink to carefully write down their respective views, and wrote down notes on Si Yuanting's views, fully memorizing them. I wrote several pages of notes.

The two chatted very happily, and didn't even notice that the dinner time was over. In the end, Si Yuanting's servant knocked on the door outside the study to remind him. Liang Chen realized that it was too late and that he had borrowed too much time from Si Yuanting. I don't want to bother you anymore, so I'll go back home first.

After Si Yuanting sent Liang Chen away, he realized that it was past the usual time to return to the palace, so he immediately packed up his things, not even sitting in the official sedan chair, and rode directly to the palace.

The palace gate had already been unlocked, and when Si Yuanting returned to the palace gate that he used to go in and out on weekdays, he saw Wang Zhong standing in front of the palace gate. As soon as he saw him, he ran forward, regardless of whether his superior, Yuan Ting, was riding on his horse. Coming quickly, it is actually very dangerous for him to rush forward like this. He raised his head nervously and said to Si Yuanting who was on the horse: "Master Si, why are you coming back now? His Majesty has been waiting for you all night!"