Sima Guang was a man of very strong principles. He would never allow Zhang Fei to do whatever he wanted just because he valued him. When he first heard about this, he was very annoyed and felt that this boy was lawless.
You, a writer and businessman in your twenties, actually want to change the country's education by making donations. This is simply the most serious act of bribery.
It wouldn't be excessive to kill him.
Confucianism really attaches great importance to education.
But when he heard that Zhang Fei's purpose was to donate to litigation studies, he felt that there was nothing wrong with it and it was indeed a charity.
Because as far as judicial reform is concerned, the current court does need to train more judicial talents. Although the Song Dynasty has always attached great importance to laws and regulations and stipulated that officials must first learn laws and regulations after entering the officialdom, the emergence of the procuratorate and the police station has made the status of litigation become extremely important.
We must apply rigid laws flexibly.
In this regard, Zhang Fei is absolutely capable of participating in the compilation of litigation textbooks.
The key point is that Sima Guang originally intended to ask him for help.
Just as Zhang Fei himself said, he contributed both money and effort, and was wholeheartedly serving the country.
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However, the cautious Sima Guang did not immediately show leniency to Zhang Fei. He still had to discuss the matter with his ministers. After all, this matter concerned the foundation of his rule and was not something he could decide alone.
Can this precedent be set?
It is possible to ask Zhang Fei to provide assistance in litigation education, or even to let Zhang Fei directly work in the Imperial College, but it is not possible in this way.
After all, this method has never been used before.
Sima Guang was a very cautious person and he would never make a rash judgment.
"Oh...Grand Master Wang?"
Zhang Fei, who had just been kicked out of the Criminal Court, met Wang Anshi on the way.
"You are such a troublemaker, kid."
When Wang Anshi saw Zhang Fei, he laughed.
Previously, the limelight of the new policy was once stolen by Zhang Fei. Recently, things have finally returned to the right track. The court has been debating the new policy. Wang Anshi also thought that Zhang Fei would have nothing to do with it during this period. However, he never expected that Zhang Fei would cause such trouble again.
It immediately attracted attention again.
Zhang Fei immediately said with a look of grievance: "I went through fire and water for Grand Secretary Wang, but Grand Secretary Wang actually laughed at me. This world is so fickle!"
Wang Anshi was stunned for a moment, and then he said quickly, "You have to speak with evidence, this matter has nothing to do with me."
He was very surprised when he heard this before.
I was also frightened by this kid's behavior.
Good job!
As soon as they met, he directly put the blame on Zhang Fei. You should know that this was how Zhang Fei treated Sima Guang last time.
He won't be fooled easily.
"I'm not talking nonsense."
Zhang Fei explained: "Doesn't Grand Secretary Wang know why so many ministers in the court are against the new policy? Are they really all for their own selfish interests?"
Wang Anshi frowned slightly and asked, "Why do you think that is?"
Zhang Fei said: "Because since ancient times, people have always advocated putting benevolence and righteousness first, but Wang Daxueshi's new policy puts profit first, so they will naturally oppose it. This is more of a dispute over concepts."
Wang Anshi sighed deeply and said with emotion: "The country's bad policies all stem from profit. If we don't value profit, how can we find the right remedy?"
He was deeply educated in Confucianism. Doesn't he value benevolence and righteousness?
He has been an official for many years, living alone. When he was an official in a local area, he also benefited the local people. His personal morality is impeccable, and his talent is rare in the world. Isn't this the kind of official that Confucianists hope to see?
It can be seen that he is not unimportant to benevolence and righteousness, but he hopes to find the right remedy for the problem. The country's problem is that it has no money. You can't make money by talking about benevolence and righteousness. You can only talk about money!
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "But there is no textbook that agrees with Master Wang's philosophy. Talents cultivated with such textbooks will only provide a steady stream of enemies for the new policy. If there is no change, in my opinion, the situation of the death of the leader and the demise of the policy will be unavoidable in the future."
Wang Anshi couldn't help but look at Zhang Fei in surprise.
How could he not realize this problem? In fact, he has carried out reforms in education in history. If his education reform is successful this time, it may really change the course of history.
Because he advocated the idea of applying knowledge to the world, combining civil and military skills, having expertise in one subject, and integrating learning with practice.
At the same time, he sought talents who could manage finances and reorganize the army to enrich the country and strengthen the army, rather than those corrupt scholars who usually sat idly by and talked about morality, but were willing to die for the king in times of crisis.
He believed that the court now attached too much importance to articles, which constrained the thoughts of scholars. However, many Confucian studies were useless, and other useful studies, such as medicine, mathematics, martial arts, and even science, were squeezed out.
During his reign, he strengthened education in medicine, mathematics, martial arts and other professions.
It can be seen that he is very clear about one thing, that is, political reform must start with education.
His problem is that he said it bluntly and did it accordingly, so the consequences are naturally predictable. The man is still alive, but the politics is over.
But at this moment, Zhang Fei's words really touched his heart, which coincided with what he thought!
"Why is Mr. Wang looking at me like that?" Zhang Fei asked pretending to be nervous.
He knew that Wang Anshi had this intention, so he dared to say so. He and Sima Guang did not dare to say so.
Wang Anshi retracted his gaze and asked excitedly, "I wonder what you are going to do?"
Zhang Fei explained: "My original intention was not to change the current textbooks, but to pursue education in other fields, such as mathematics, law, medicine, martial arts, etc.
Because I think that the talents in the court are too single. For example, in terms of finance, the talents of many officials are not as good as those of businessmen. However, the country is a very complex structure, and we cannot use a single knowledge to deal with all problems. "
"Excellent! Excellent! That's very well said!"
Wang Anshi was overjoyed when he heard this. He clapped his hands and said it was wonderful. It was a great pleasure to have a close friend in life. He did not care to explain it to Sima Junshi, and asked hurriedly, "What did you say to Sima Junshi?"
Zhang Fei said: "I just said that I intend to donate to the education of litigation. After all, this is my strong point. If I say this, it will not arouse suspicion."
After hearing this, Wang Anshi immediately looked at Zhang Fei warily, thinking, this kid would not say one thing to one person and another thing to another person.
When you talk to Sima Guang, you tell him that he donated money to the field of litigation; when you talk to me, you tell him that he donated money to the field of mathematics.
Which one is true?
Wang Anshi stroked his beard and pondered for a while, then suddenly sighed, "Education is related to the foundation of a country. It is easier said than done! I can't blame you, you should protect yourself first."
The implication is that since you said you want to donate to litigation, then you should donate to litigation first. As for mathematics and medicine, forget about it.
Zhang Fei knew clearly that the old man was testing him, so he said, "If I can't achieve my goal, I might as well not donate. After all, my money didn't come from the wind."
Wang Anshi asked calmly, "I wonder what you are going to do?"
Zhang Fei said: "I believe that Sima Xueshi will definitely support me. Our Great Song Charity Foundation will donate to the Imperial College to add litigation courses, which will be of great help to Sima Xueshi's judicial reform. Wouldn't Wang Xueshi be envious and jealous?"
Wang Anshi snorted, "Am I that kind of person?"
Come on! Zhang Fei said insincerely: "Grandmaster Wang must be it, otherwise...then my plan will not succeed."
Wang Anshi was stunned. "What do you mean?"
Zhang Fei said: "My plan is that when Grand Secretary Sima persuades the Imperial College to accept our donation, you, Grand Secretary Wang, will start to express your envy, jealousy and hatred, and strongly express your dissatisfaction, and ask our Great Song Charity Foundation to donate to the subjects you need for reform, such as mathematics, medicine, martial arts, etc.
For the Song Dynasty Charity Fund, if the balance is not fair, it will only lead to more losses than gains. After all, Academician Wang is now deeply trusted by the government and cannot be offended!
In this way, Mr. Wang can subtly promote educational reform. "
Wang Anshi's eyes flashed.
He was actually testing Zhang Fei just now. If after all this time you only donated money to litigation studies, it proves that you were just fooling me.
I have to say that Zhang Fei's move was really brilliant. Once Sima Guang asked the Imperial College to accept donations from the Song Dynasty Charity Foundation to strengthen the education of legal talents, he would have a reason to play his role. Not only the charity foundation had to be treated equally, but the court also had to be treated equally. Could it be that my new policy was an illegitimate child? I also need talents!
"Haha... your tricks are really hard to guard against!" Wang Anshi pointed at Zhang Fei and cursed him, then asked, "But what are you trying to achieve by doing this?"
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "First of all, of course I also hope that our Song Dynasty will become rich and powerful. Secondly, I also want to be safe."
"Safety?"
"good."
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "I have told Wang Daxueshi before that most businessmen donate to the Song Dynasty Charity Foundation for the purpose of avoiding taxes, not for the country and the people. At the same time, I have also assured Wang Daxueshi that the money donated by the Song Dynasty Charity Foundation is no less than the taxes paid.
Therefore, I have to rack my brains to spend this money wisely, to satisfy both Wang Daxueshi and Sima Daxue, so that my Song Dynasty Charity Foundation can continue to develop."
This statement cannot be said to be straightforward, it is simply too explicit.
It’s that simple to spend money to buy peace.
Wang Anshi really had no choice but to believe it. He didn't care about Zhang Fei's little trick. Spending money to buy security was a matter of course. What was hateful were those who used the security given by the court to evade taxes.
Of course he chose to support Zhang Fei's plan.
For him, this was simply pie in the sky. It was not that he could not complete the education reform without Zhang Fei, but by using the Song Dynasty Charity Foundation to promote the reform, the resistance would be relatively reduced, allowing him to devote more energy to reforms in other areas.
If successful, it will definitely be the smallest cost in exchange for the biggest reward.
However, the person who paid the most attention to education was not Wang Anshi or Sima Guang, but Emperor Shenzong Zhao Xu, because education is directly related to imperial power. Every monarch in history has attached great importance to this matter.
Although Zhao Xu knew about this, he didn't know what Zhang Fei's real intention was.
This must be clarified.
Zhang Fei had just said goodbye to Wang Anshi and had not yet left the imperial city when Zhao Xu sent someone to secretly call him into the palace.
Zhang Fei wasn't even given a chance to breathe.
Facing Zhao Xu, Zhang Fei naturally did not dare to hide anything and told him the whole story, including the true purpose of Xiangguo Temple.
"It turned out to be Xiangguo Temple."
Zhao Xu was a little surprised.
He previously thought that all this was Zhang Fei's idea, but he never imagined that there was someone else behind the scenes.
Of course, Zhang Fei also told Zhao Xu that the real purpose of Xiangguo Temple was not to reform education, but was just worried that it would attract attention, so it wanted to use this opportunity to gain the support of some up-and-coming talents.
Zhang Feiyan said, "To be honest with you, Your Majesty, I also came up with this plan from the intentions of Xiangguo Temple, but I didn't know if it would work, so I didn't tell Your Majesty in advance."
This was really the truth. He had never thought of infiltrating the Imperial College before, at least not for the time being, because he also knew that this was very sensitive. He needed to wait for a perfect opportunity. It was Xiangguo Temple that took the initiative to propose to donate to the Imperial College, and Zhang Fei decided to go with the flow and give it a try.
Zhao Xu asked again: "What are your plans now?"
Zhang Fei hesitated for a moment, "If Your Majesty wants to surpass Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang, in my opinion, this education is the only chance."
Zhao Xu was stunned for a moment, then leaned forward and asked hurriedly, "What do you mean?"
This statement is really very powerful for any emperor. Who doesn't want to surpass Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang? But generally, emperors with such ambitions are good at both civil and military affairs. This is also what Zhao Xu planned, but no one has ever said that education is the only chance.
This is the first time I've heard this statement.
Zhang Fei explained: "Between the two, Emperor Taizong of Tang was almost impeccable, both in terms of civil governance and military achievements. The most prosperous era in the world was when doors were left unlocked at night and lost items were not picked up on the roads. The territory he conquered was basically what an emperor could conquer in his entire life.
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In other words, even if Your Majesty did all this, at most you could be on par with Emperor Taizong of Tang. But since Emperor Taizong of Tang was there first, if Your Majesty did not surpass him, you would still be inferior to him.
Then, if we think about it, what else can be surpassed? That is undoubtedly learning, which is also the strength of our dynasty. For example, in terms of jurisprudence, our dynasty's "Song Xing Tong" is completely inherited from "Tang Lu Shu Yi". Even if we improve some laws and regulations on this basis, it cannot be considered as surpassing. In fact, it can better reflect the value of "Tang Lu Shu Yi". However, if the judicial reform is successful and the entire judicial system is changed, we can get rid of the shadow of "Tang Lu Shu Yi".
Because the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems did not exist in the Tang Dynasty, and were completely created in our dynasty, they will surely go down in history, and future generations will no longer use the Tang Law Commentary to summarize our dynasty’s legal thought.”
Zhao Xu said thoughtfully: "Although what you said makes sense, the world still values civil and military achievements more. Even if a public security, procuratorial and judicial system is famous in history, the influence it can have is extremely limited."
Zhang Fei said: "Your Majesty, this is wrong. The key to influence lies in whether you can achieve great success because people often yearn for success. If the prosperity of our Song Dynasty is completely based on the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, its influence will surely be admired by future generations.
Of course, the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs are just one example. Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the success of all prosperous times has been attributed to Confucianism. However, if Your Majesty can find a new way, integrate the strengths of hundreds of schools of thought, and create a prosperous era, then Your Majesty will be a pioneer and a founder, and will be able to surpass Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. "
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