Then some remnants realized that if hard tactics didn't work, they would try softer ones, such as controlling the price of paper and books and prohibiting educated people from taking positions in schools.
Then the female protagonist directly used papermaking and printing techniques to solve the textbook problem, but the lack of teachers was indeed a problem, and the emperor could not force people to take up positions.
Upon learning this, the female lead offered another suggestion: to directly adopt the modern civil service exam system. The emperor then issued a law stating that from then on, the only way to become an official was through the civil service exam, and only university graduates were eligible to take the exam. This immediately broke down the resistance of the rebels, and the emperor's main message was: if you don't let me have a good time, then you won't have a good time either.
After all, I can slowly train teachers if there are few. As for you, no one from your aristocratic family holds an official position. You might have some influence in the first few years, but wait five or eight years and see who still cares about you. In the end, those aristocratic families joined together and sent representatives to talk to the emperor, wanting to ask him what he really wanted.
Seeing that he had already crippled them and that the remaining men were no longer a threat, the emperor agreed to their request for peace talks.
The peace talks were held in the palace. The emperor made many demands, including making land public and changing the official selection system to a civil service examination system. At first, the powerful families disagreed and insisted on a fight to the death.
The emperor snorted coldly: "Fish to the death? I don't believe it. Let me be frank with you, do you know what the first thing I will do after Great Wei has recovered and recovered?"
Before anyone could speak, the emperor continued, "I'm telling you, the agricultural tax will be gradually reduced and eventually even eliminated. The second thing is six years of compulsory education. All citizens of the Great Wei will receive free primary school education for six years."
"Once these two things are done, even if you rebel, who will follow you? Fight to the death with me? Do you think you're my Italian cannon?!"
After a few words, the emperor had these people completely demoralized. Of course, the emperor also knew that the aristocratic families could not be eradicated. Killing these people would only result in more people. What the country needed now was to recuperate and rebuild, not to start a war lightly. Afterward, he made these people hand over most of their property, dispersed them, and assigned them to teach at academies.
Of course, in return, they had to be given a reward. The emperor promised that he would not hold past offenses against them from now on, and they would also have the right to take the civil service exam. Finally, the emperor said, "You have been studying for generations, so you can't be inferior to those who have just started studying, can you?"
After dealing with the powerful families, when the primary school was about to start enrolling students, the female protagonist remembered the issue of girls going to school and taking the civil service exam. This time, the resistance was even greater than that of opening the school. The emperor and the female protagonist together could only get the officials in the court to agree to the establishment of a girls' school, and the civil service exam was still put on hold.
Jiang Yue was not surprised by this result. The establishment of the Academy of Sciences had been a great help, and that was because the female lead had made so many contributions. However, as the female lead's contributions became more and more significant, she would eventually agree.
In the following years, the female lead mainly focused on research and development. She also began researching and developing ships, since high-yield sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes were still overseas. This time, Jiang Yue did not directly provide the seeds. Some things cannot be forced too much. This kind of progress was too big a leap for a feudal dynasty.
Take Fan Xian's mother from "Joy of Life" for example. She wanted to skip the feudal society entirely. She didn't even consider whether the emperor would agree. To be honest, Jiang Yue was a little surprised that the Ninth Prince would agree to what the female lead was doing.
After the first five-year plan, the national strength of the Great Wei Dynasty reached an unprecedented level. The female protagonist also developed a seagoing vessel and is now out at sea to find sweet potatoes and potatoes.
The female protagonist made a lot of money by making glass. She cultivated grains in greenhouses that were resistant to lodging, had many ears, full grains, and strong trait retention. Every time she made progress, she would share some of the improved seeds with the emperor to plant in various places. As the grain production increased, the female protagonist's reputation also improved, and many families erected longevity tablets for her.
Last year, the Ninth Prince was heartbroken after his failed attempt to win her heart. He went back home to get married and have children, since the dynasty still needed someone to inherit it. The following year, the ship sent out by the female lead returned, bringing back a lot of potato, sweet potato, and corn seeds, as well as two ships full of gold and silver jewelry.
The female protagonist didn't take any of the gold, silver, or jewels; they were all deposited into the national treasury. As for the seeds, she put them in a greenhouse to cultivate, and once they were ready, she handed them over to the emperor. After the second five-year plan was completed, there was no longer an agricultural tax; instead, a public grain system was adopted as a transitional measure, since the emperor also needed to support his army.
With a strong and well-equipped army, the emperor also had the idea of expanding his territory. Within two or three years, he had dealt with the barbarian tribes and other foreign tribes. At the same time, the emperor's prestige reached its peak.
Later, fearing that the emperor would become complacent and lose ambition, the female lead gave him a world map. The Ninth Prince was dumbfounded when he saw the world map. He thought his territory was already large enough, but it turned out that he had only occupied such a small part. Afterwards, he summoned his trusted ministers, studied it, and announced it through the central military newspaper. The people of Wei were in an uproar.
With the opening of schools and literacy classes in recent years, everyone has learned some characters. In addition, the newspaper content is mostly in vernacular Chinese and the pictures are easy to understand. What shocked everyone was not that there were other continents, but that the land was round.
The prevailing view now is that the heavens are flat and the earth is round. When this was said, everyone was stunned and demanded that the female lead give an explanation. Even after she conducted experiments, some people still didn't believe her. She had no choice but to produce a globe. After that, whether others believed her or not was none of her business.
The female lead didn't have time to argue about such things. The train was about to undergo trial operation. After nearly ten years, the locomotive was finally built. Although it was still an experimental product, the most difficult stage of going from zero to one was over. All that was left was to slowly optimize it.
As expected, the trial run was a great success. Now, they are gradually increasing the power and laying railways. The Great Wei is busy with the major railway construction, and the finance department is spending huge sums of money every day, which is very painful. However, at this time, the little Japanese came to show their superiority. They directly stole a ship from the Great Wei and even threatened to attack the Great Wei.
Isn't this just walking right into the line of fire? While the court was still discussing how to fight, the female lead's DNA had already awakened, and she directly suggested killing them all. In the end, the Minister of Finance thought it was too cruel and wasteful, and finally decided to kill all the soldiers and transport the rest back to repair the railway.
Despite her strong arguments, the female protagonist was eventually persuaded by the emperor. With some reluctance, she returned to the Academy of Sciences to continue her research. With its powerful ships and cannons, and many eager to make a name for themselves after years of peace, Japan was destroyed within six months. As agreed before the war, the construction of railways was handed over to the Ministry of Works.
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