A few days later, Liu Fu saw off his father, Liu Laowu, and sent men to escort him back to the capital.
Liu Laowu was quite satisfied with his trip to Liaodong and gained a lot.
With Changsun Wuji and Xiao He by his side, Liu Laowu was so excited that snot bubbles were coming out of his nose. Before leaving, he excitedly grabbed Liu Fu's hand and said many things from his heart.
"Old Eight, we are very grateful to you. You are the best gift that God has given to our Liu family."
"We are so proud of you for raising such an outstanding son!"
Hearing Liu Laowu's words, Liu Fu felt a warmth in his heart.
Even Liu Fu was extremely happy to receive such important praise from his father.
After seeing Liu Laowu off, Liu Fu began to formally implement the imperial examination system.
During this period, he spent his mall points to summon many craftsmen, teachers, and other useful talents from various places.
The imperial examination system, which was reformed by Liu Fu, did not only test knowledge of the Analects, the Four Books and Five Classics, or literary talent.
The idea that half of the Analects can govern the world is utter nonsense!
Any skill that can be used for survival, whether it be a craftsman's skill, arithmetic, literary talent, martial arts, or any practical profession, can be included in the scope of scientific examination.
Not only that, he also built thousands of halls in various places to ensure that every child could have a place in the school.
Then came the teaching.
But Liu Fu encountered many problems from the very beginning.
For example, the teachers, although he summoned many back, and there were already many teachers in Liaodong, what these teachers taught was still mostly the Four Books and Five Classics.
These Zhihu (a Chinese Q&A website) experts are not very useful. For ordinary people, it is far less practical to learn arithmetic, which is much more useful in daily transactions.
But changing the minds of these gentlemen is not an easy task.
When Liu Fu told these teachers that they should teach less of the Four Books and Five Classics and focus mainly on literacy, along with arithmetic, more and more teachers began to criticize Liu Fu and were extremely dissatisfied with him.
These bookworms were different from those who were afraid of death; they were not afraid of death at all. For the sake of so-called scholarly integrity, they dared to speak frankly and even criticize Liu Fu with strong words.
But no one expected that Liu Fu, who should have been the one to solve this problem, would step in and take all the blame for him before he could even make a move.
The person who helped Liu Fu solve all his problems was none other than Hai Rui.
No one ever imagined that Hai Rui, an upright and incorruptible man who always spoke out against the powerful and refused to submit to authority, would one day stand up and defend others.
Even Zhuge Liang and Xun Yu were greatly surprised by Hai Rui's performance this time, and thought that this guy was really an extraordinary person.
Even Liu Fu has started to take a liking to this little old man.
On that day, Hai Rui summoned all those who had criticized Liu Fu or were dissatisfied with him to his Censorate office, and then had a heated debate with them.
During the Ming Dynasty, Hai Rui had already hurled insults at Emperor Wanli. He didn't care about classical Chinese texts and called the eight-legged essay a scourge, expressing his dissatisfaction with the Confucian system's constraints on others.
This is even more true now, when teachers bring out classical Chinese texts and claim them as the books of sages, demanding that everyone study them.
Hai Rui then asked them in return whether they could make a living after learning these Zhihu (a Chinese Q&A website) tips.
Now that you've learned these tips from Zhihu users, will you be able to cut vegetables yourself?
Can you live on your own?
Is it possible to cook for yourself and earn your own money?
Or is it that once you learn it, money will magically grow legs and run into your pocket?
Obviously not.
These teachers even refused to teach arithmetic, which was incomprehensible to Hai Rui, who then cursed and raged at them.
"It's just a few simple numbers. When you buy vegetables, cloth, or meat, don't you calculate the cost when you go to the market? Doesn't calculating the cost involve arithmetic?"
"Do you think those so-called 'Zhihu' experts can actually settle accounts based on what Confucius said?"
Influenced by Liu Laowu and Liu Fu, Hai Rui has gradually started to use foul language and has become increasingly irritable.
But honestly, when faced with these pedantic bookworms, it's impossible not to get irritated.
Hai Rui successfully refuted all the teachers, persuading them to return to school to teach arithmetic, including teaching the children to read from scratch.
However, despite the widespread discussion among the public, people still find the matter somewhat unbelievable.
Putting everything else aside, let's just talk about the price of the book.
There was no printing press in this world; all books were copied word by word by hand and then bound.
A book is very expensive because the cost of manual copying, paper, and sewing all add up to at least three to five taels of silver per book.
The people were thinking to themselves, "An arithmetic book costs five taels of silver, and a literacy book costs another five taels of silver. Then there are the costs of pens, ink, paper, and inkstones, as well as the fees for teachers and school fees. Who can afford to pay so much for their children's education?"
They felt that even Liu Fu's fiefdom couldn't afford so much money, considering there were so many children in the entire Liaodong region.
That would be such a huge expense!
Ultimately, what the people feared most was not just these expenses, but the government's revenue.
Throughout history, 100% of the gold and silver used by the imperial court for expenditures were collected from the common people.
When those dynasties first came to power, many ministers appeared to be very wise and virtuous. However, within a few years, they would begin to become corrupt and even more ruthless, squeezing money from the people.
Although the people of Liaodong were grateful to Liu Fu, they were still afraid that if Liu Fu spent money in such large sums...
In the end, the money still comes from the sheep, so will they continue to extract money from them?
They were clearly overthinking it.
After Liu Fu made his promise, some people sent their children to school with some skepticism.
They hadn't expected that Liu Fu's newly opened school would have such different teaching methods and processes compared to the past.
In the past, teachers would spend half a year teaching a group of children the Three Character Classic, and another half a year teaching them to recite the Hundred Family Surnames.
All in all, a year has passed. If nothing unexpected happens, this teacher has already made several taels of silver from teaching just one child.
But now, in Liu Fukai's new-style school, children can learn simple arithmetic after only three to five days of schooling.
These things are very practical in real life. When you go to the market to buy groceries, or even when you sell something, you can quickly and easily calculate the accounts with arithmetic.
That's not all. Soon, a miscellaneous scholar appeared in the academy, who specialized in teaching how to handle everyday problems in life.
They teach everything from simple medical disinfection and renovation to farming and planting various crops, as well as a small part of painting, carving, and all sorts of other things.
It even includes music lessons.
In this kind of school that teaches everything, many children who are interested in all kinds of subjects quickly emerged.
And that's exactly what Liu Fu wanted.
Soon, more and more children chose their favorite things, began to learn more about what they liked, and embarked on their own unique paths.
A few months later, a major change took place in Liaodong. The most exciting thing was that the potatoes and sweet potatoes that had been planted earlier were finally ready for harvest.
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