Chapter 230 Education and Movable Type
"Embassy? Did Liuyun tell you that he wants to come back?"
Jin Sui could only explain: "This kid has been practicing without anyone to guide him, and he has become a little bit obsessed. He needs to come back and correct it, otherwise, you, a good warrior, will become a fool."
Gu Changxiao looked at Jinsui seriously, thinking he was going to say something, but he blurted out, "Liuyun is not a smart kid!"
Jin Sui was extremely speechless. He really wanted to say, this is called what kind of master you have, what kind of soldiers you bring out! In a way, Liu Yun's stubbornness is the same as Gu Changxiao's.
"I'm afraid he'll hate me in the future, so can you transfer him back?"
Although Gu Changxiao didn't know why Jinsui was afraid that Liuyun hated her, he still followed his instructions and sent a general from the northwest to replace Liuyun, and Liuyun immediately rushed back to the border town.
The message was slow to arrive. Jin Sui calculated that it would take until next spring for Liu Yun to get back after receiving it. How could he tell Liu Yun that there was no immortal technique at all, and that the Qiankun bag could not be cultivated through practice? It was really frustrating! He thought of another frustrating guy: "When will Black Tiger come back? Baozhu is about to give birth."
Gu Changxiao was not sure either: "The last time we learned of Black Tiger's whereabouts, he had already led his troops to Suiye City. Even if he turns around, it will take until next summer. If he doesn't turn around, I'm afraid it will take until the year after next."
Jin Sui thought about the map and hissed. If Hei Hu was really determined to chase the Hu people to the end, he would have to chase them all the way through the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions and maybe even reach India.
Gu Changxiao cannot be blamed for Hei Hu's stubbornness. To be honest, Hei Hu was a soldier she trained. Well, Crouching Dragon and Phoenix, Gu Changxiao and I should not laugh at each other's ability to lead troops.
Only Han Xing is the most reassuring.
The twelfth lunar month arrived in the busyness. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Jinsui took all the female students of the college to the refugee camp to cook Laba porridge. All the people received one portion of porridge per person.
Grandpa Ling brought all the Taoist priests in the Taoist temple and set up a tent on the outskirts of the city to boil medicinal tea and dispense medicine. Because there were too many people in line, the Black Feather Camp came over to maintain order.
After hearing the news, Jin Sui also rushed to see, and she discovered that Yan Shiyi and a group of rich young men were among the people in the queue. She was immediately furious, and if she hadn't been concerned about the large crowds, she would have wanted to kick Yan Shiyi.
Call him out of the team: "Why are you causing trouble?"
Yan Shiyi was even angrier than her: "Why did you interrupt my queue? How did I cause trouble? I was queuing up to get medicine like everyone else, and I didn't cut in line!"
Jin Sui thought so, but she still felt it was strange: "I mean, why are you queuing up to get a bowl of medicinal tea? If you want to drink it, you can just ask my grandfather for it."
Yan Shiyi said proudly: "Your own granddaughter didn't know this! Taoist Ling said that the medicinal tea on Laba is very special. Drinking it today will protect you from all diseases."
Jin Sui: ... Grandpa, you are really working too hard to promote the Taoist temple! However, when she looked at the raw materials used by Grandpa, she found that they were indeed good medicinal materials. Some of them were very expensive to sell, but Grandpa was willing to use them to make medicine.
He also boiled it according to the prescription, which can cure lung heat, cold, stomach, headache and brain fever...
The imperial physician from the Imperial Medical Bureau also came to see him secretly. The prescriptions were all worth a fortune, and the medicinal materials were all precious and good ones. At the same time, he admired Taoist Ling's generosity.
Jin Sui also discovered a prescription that actually contained penicillin. She said to her grandfather: “How dare you give this to the people!”
Grandpa was angry and said, "How can it be random eating? I give it according to the condition of the patient. You don't understand. Some people don't believe in medicine, but insist on seeking Taoist monks. I give them the medicine, which is better than letting them go to evil monks!
I don't charge any money, I've cured the disease and brought fame to the Taoist temple, what's wrong with that?"
Jin Sui thought so too. Since the capital was moved, people from all walks of life in Chang'an flocked to the border town. The court made a lot of efforts to crack down on the evil monks who were misleading the people.
Instead of letting the lower-class people seek to believe in an evil way, it is better to give them an upright Taoist temple or Buddhist temple to believe in.
She felt that she should discuss this issue with Gu Changxiao. Gu Changxiao did not quite agree with the monks from Chang'an coming to the border town to build temples, but the lower-class people were not aware of these problems. Instead of suppressing them blindly, it would be better to let some of them go.
But unlike Chang'an, the properties and fields under the Taoist temples and Buddhist temples in our border town are also subject to tax.
Furthermore, if we do not want the people to become ignorant, we must increase our efforts in education. It is too difficult to achieve universal literacy. At least half of the children of this generation should receive an education, and all the children of the next generation should receive an education.
If there always exists a policy of keeping the people ignorant, in which the people can be led astray but not allowed to know, then the evil ways and demonic monks will never be completely eliminated.
Soon Gu Changxiao came with several officials. Seeing that Ling Daoguan was so respected by the people, Gu Changxiao was deeply moved, just like Jinsui.
When Jin Sui mentioned the issue of universal education for all, some officials thought she was daydreaming and that the people should each perform their duties, with farmers tilling the fields, fishermen fishing, and salt farmers making salt.
If everyone goes to school, who will do the work? Besides, it takes many years to study. If young and strong laborers do not work to study for the imperial examination, then the whole world will be full of scholars, and the country will be ruined!
Jin Sui was speechless: "Who says that one must take the imperial examination to study? The purpose of studying is to understand reason and open one's mind, not to become an official!"
The official still thought she was too naive, so he changed his topic and said, "Miss Ling said that she wanted all children in the world to learn to read. To read, you need teachers, writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. How can we have so many teachers? How can ordinary people afford writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones? How can we have so many books?"
Jin Sui suddenly asked, "Where is this gentleman from?"
The official said proudly, "Liu family of Yangzhou."
Jin Sui just said "oh" and ignored him. As expected, he came from a scholar family, so he despised her words and thought it was useless for common people to study.
This is the arrogance of the noble families. They think that scholars are superior to others and it is their privilege. The lives of ordinary people are worthless. Are they worthy of books if they are born in the mud? Seeing Jin Sui did not say anything, he thought he had convinced the other party and became more and more complacent. But he highly praised Grandpa Ling's approach and thought it was conducive to educating the people.
Only Gu Changxiao knew that he did not convince Jinsui, but instead aroused Jinsui's resentment.
Sure enough, in the next few days, Gu Changxiao sent someone to deliver a letter to Jinsui, and the result was always that Miss Ling was in the study and no one was allowed to disturb her.
After waiting for three days, Jinsui still didn't reply. Gu Changxiao couldn't wait any longer, so after the morning court, he rode to the academy.
I heard from Chen Yunniang that meals were delivered to the door for the past three days and Jinsui never left the room.
Gu Changxiao knocked on the door and called her, "Sui Sui, it's me."
Jin Sui opened the door excitedly: "It's done!"
I saw that her hair was crooked and her long hair was tied up with a hairband. There was a lot of ink on her hands and face, and there was ink on the apron she was wearing as well.
Gu Changxiao and Chen Yunniang both looked into her room and saw nothing unusual. They couldn't help but wonder, "What happened?"
Jinsui pulled Gu Changxiao and Chen Yunniang into the house and brought out a basket of things for him to see.
"Look, let me show you a magic trick. See what this is?"
Gu Changxiao picked up a piece from the basket. It was a small square piece. The material seemed to be fired clay, and it was carved with the Chinese character "人".
He didn't answer, but watched Jinsui pick out dozens of words from the mud, arrange them in a special box, then cover them with white paper, brush them with ink, take them down, blow dry, and hand them to the two people.
"When people are born, their nature is good. Natures are similar, but habits make them different..."
"This is?"
Chen Yunniang saw enlightenment readings and said with a smile: "Our college should also prepare a batch of enlightenment books. There will be more students after the spring."
However, Gu Changxiao saw through Jinsui's intention at a glance. He was as excited as if he had seen Yuhuo for the first time. He looked at the small fonts and printing tools as if they were treasures.
"Sui Sui plans to print a book?"
Jin Sui smiled and said, "It's much more convenient than your positive engraving printing, isn't it? With movable type printing, the type blocks are used and then thrown away, and can be combined at will to print any book you want.
With this printing technology, haha, we will no longer lack enlightenment books!
Let the books that the nobles have hidden away gather dust! In the future, books will no longer be as expensive as gold, but will be affordable for ordinary people! I said that I want to enlighten children all over the world, and I will definitely do it! If there is a lack of books, I will print them! If there is a lack of teachers, I will train them! If there is a lack of pens, ink, paper and inkstone, I will produce them!
Humph, when more and more children from poor families rise up, we will see how frivolous these children from scholar families can be! "
Gu Changxiao had the same doubts as the official: "But if every child in the world is allowed to go to school, what will happen to other industries?"
Jin Sui laughed: "You think so too? I've already said that letting them study doesn't mean they should all take the imperial examinations to become officials. My plan is this: the court will build public elementary schools in every town, and children must go to school when they turn seven years old. The first three years are compulsory education, which means tuition is free.
However, after the three-year enlightenment, when entering middle school, whether to study or learn a skill depends on the choice of students and parents. At present, the treasury of the imperial court is not abundant, and there are still several tough battles to fight.
When the national treasury is full and financial resources are sufficient, we will increase the three-year compulsory education to five years. And our subjects of study will not be just Confucianism as in the current aristocratic schools.
We teach Confucianism, mathematics, the study of things, and ideological and political studies. Your Majesty has also discovered that compared to literati, we lack talented craftsmen, mathematics, and the study of things. These must be cultivated from an early age. "
Gu Changxiao pondered for a long time: "I understand Sui Sui's intention. Sui Sui has a far-sighted vision, better than those officials and better than me!"
Jin Sui waved his hand and said, "Don't flatter me like that. Don't think I don't see that officials also know the importance of education.
It’s just that they don’t want the people to study for their own benefit and the benefit of the gentry! After all, the people benefit from studying, and the court benefits from their studies, and the court comes second.”
Gu Changxiao added: "The movable type printing technology should not be made public for the time being. The military industry should take over and print books at the base. If the officials knew about it, some people would definitely come to stop it or secretly sabotage it.
And the elementary schools cannot be promoted all over the country at once, so they should be opened first in the border towns and the sixteen states of Yan. "
Jinsui suggested: "Your Majesty, have you ever thought about why many scholars and candidates are unwilling to become teachers, but insist on taking the imperial examination?"
“Because being a teacher did not bring them the honor and reward they expected, or because the court included teachers in the civil service system.
The imperial court initiated a formal teacher assessment, and after obtaining the qualification, teachers could enter public schools to teach, receive salaries from the imperial court, and obtain official titles.
Although they are not officials, they are still civil servants of the imperial court. In this case, do you think there will be many scholars and candidates who have no hope of passing the imperial examination willing to become teachers?"
Gu Changxiao's eyes lit up. This not only solved the problem of insufficient teachers, but also provided another way out for those scholars and juren who had been teaching for many years.
Sui Sui also has unique insights into government affairs! Gu Changxiao knew that now was not the time to praise his wife, so he immediately said: "After we get married, I will hold a special examination. In addition to the spring examination, I will take the opportunity to propose a civil service examination. Anyone with a meritorious title can participate.
We cannot just mention the teacher qualification examination, as doing so will surely alert those officials and lead to their opposition.
We can include many professions in the civil service, and after passing the examination, we can assign positions for those who have passed the examination to choose from. In this way, if an official objects, he will be cursed by scholars all over the world. "
Now it was Jin Sui's turn to flatter Gu Chang Xiao: "Your Majesty is more thoughtful than I am!
In this way, by the time they discover our true intentions, it will be too late. If they then want to oppose the establishment of public schools and universal education, they will be enemies of the world.”
What Gu Changxiao is worried about now is: "But if this happens, the court will have to support even more civil servants."
Jin Sui hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, rest assured. Once maritime trade is opened up and the treasury is well-stocked, the court will not lack money to support civil servants."
“It’s just that we need to determine the positions of civil servants from the very beginning. We cannot have idle posts or positions that would breed good-for-nothings.
In addition to universal education, we can implement the policy of poverty alleviation for all, recruit civil servants, and assign them to poor and backward areas to help them become rich. "
Chen Yunniang had quietly left and served tea and snacks to the two of them. The charcoal stove was burning brightly, and His Majesty and the Queen were chatting about a topic that was obviously not something she could listen to.
Jinsui raised another point: "I think your majesty can issue two more decrees when you hold the imperial examination next spring. One is to measure the land. I have seen records that the land was measured when the dynasty was founded, and it has not been measured for many years.
The other is a national census, which includes not only registered civilians but also refugees and slaves. If any nobles secretly keep slaves, they will be severely punished. "
Gu Changxiao agreed. It was ridiculous to think that an emperor could not even give a specific number of the land and population of his country! Especially when the previous emperor was alive, the nobles expanded wantonly, occupied the mountains, forests and farmland, and hid tenants and slaves. Although after he ascended the throne, he cracked down on the expansion of the nobles and implemented land reform.
However, there were still remote states where the policy was not properly implemented, so he immediately decided to set up an imperial envoy team to go to various states and counties to strictly enforce land surveys and population censuses.
Next year is destined to be a year of extreme internal competition among the court officials. The idle situation in Chang'an will never return. The emperor and empress will make them see their limits. Daxia has so many things to do and the court does not want to support an idle person! After Laba, the New Year is approaching. Not only the Ministry of Rites, but also Grandpa Ling warned the two that they could not meet before the wedding, which was too unlucky.
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