In fact, Li Zhi's unhappy expression was not directed at Cai Guoxi, but because he was jealous of Hai Rui.

Damn it, Hai Rui was a juren, and so was I. He was a county school teacher, and so was I.

But he was able to become the governor of Yingtian, while I am still a teacher.

Although he also knew that Hai Rui deserved the title of governor, he was unhappy and no amount of reasoning would help.

Today, Li Jiaoshou was trying his best to compete with Hai Rui, to refute him and prove that he was no worse than him.

Anyway, Li Jiaoshou doesn't rely on this small official for a living. If he is not welcome here, I will find another place to stay.

~~

When Hai Rui's sedan chair stopped in front of the gate of the provincial school, Cai Guoxi hurried forward to welcome Prime Minister Hai Zhong to the provincial school.

All officials had been instructed long ago that they were not allowed to kneel before the Zhongcheng in front of the academy gate, but to bow instead to show their respect for teachers and education.

Hai Rui nodded, ordered Ping to leave, and then entered the government school surrounded by a group of officials.

Suzhou Fuxue and Confucian Temple are one entity, with Confucian Temple in the east and Fuxue in the west. From the Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, nearly 500 years, the layout became more and more perfect.

After entering the gate, there are two central axes. On the left is the Confucius Temple complex with the Dacheng Hall as the center, and on the right is the Fuxue complex with the Minglun Hall as the center.

Under the guidance of Prefect Cai, Hai Rui first entered the school, crossed the Xima Bridge, and came to the Dacheng Hall. After burning incense and paying homage to the Great Sage Teacher, he went to the prefectural school in the west.

This is also a north-south building with five entrances. Everyone passed through Pan Palace, Li Gate, and Yi Gate and arrived at Minglun Hall.

The couplet in front of Minglun Hall is engraved with Fan Gong's eternal teachings:

'Worry about the world before you worry about yourself, and be happy about the world after you are happy about yourself'.

More than 200 blue-shirted students from Suzhou Prefecture School had already lined up in the large square in front of the hall, waiting to be received by the governor.

Not everyone with money could go to school in the Ming Dynasty. One had to pass the county, prefectural, and academy examinations before being admitted.

Once you enter school, you become a student, commonly known as a "scholar". Not only are you eligible to take the imperial examinations, you can also start to enjoy various privileges of the scholar-officials such as "tax exemption and military service exemption" and "no need to kneel when meeting an official".

Therefore, the number of students was extremely precious. The imperial court stipulated that there should be 40 students in the prefecture, 30 students in the state, and 20 students in the county, and each of them should be given 6 dou of rice to supplement their living expenses. They were called "staff students".

But there are too many scholars who want to squeeze in through this door... If a scholar does not pass the examination to become a scholar, even at the age of eighty, he can only be called "little friend" by people with official titles. Only if he passes the examination to become a student can everyone be "friends" happily together.

Therefore, the court allowed additional students to be added to the list of students, called "fu students", or "fu students" for short. Fu students did not have government subsidies and could not guarantee the Tongsheng examination, but they could participate in the imperial examination, so there was not much difference.

In addition to the attached students, among the more than 200 students in Suzhou Prefecture School, there are many students from other places who come here to study. Not only do they not receive subsidies, but they also have to pay tuition. However, the teaching quality of Suzhou Prefecture is very high, and there are many students who pass the examinations every year. Therefore, students from other places do not mind spending more money, giving gifts, and using connections to get admitted.

This is why Zhao Hao wanted Li Zhi to be the principal of Suzhou Prefecture School. There are more than two hundred carefully selected students, and there are countless future talents.

Brainwash them in advance...Delete it and instill advanced ideas in them instead. It will definitely be a profitable business!

~~

After the students paid their respects to the governor, Prefect Cai invited Hai Rui to give them a speech.

The scholars in formal attire stood quietly on the large square, looking at Hai Gangfeng standing upright on the steps, wondering what profound ideas this legendary hero would expound.

What Li Zhi hated most was listening to his superiors' speeches, which were empty, boring, and a waste of time. But this time, he perked up and didn't want to miss a single word of Hai Rui's.

"You may have heard that the first official position in this court is the county school instructor. Therefore, I am not an amateur in teaching and educating people, and I can talk about it in a few commonplace ways." Hai Rui's voice was loud and clear, and every word was clear:

"In our view, the mission of the school is to cultivate talents with both moral integrity and ability who are useful to the country. I believe that all of you scholars also have great ambitions and hope to build great achievements for the country in the future. However, to become a useful talent, it is far from enough to just read the books of sages!"

Li Zhi's expression changed when he heard this, and he thought it was quite interesting.

"What else do you need? I would like to point out two points here. I hope you will remember them!" Then Hai Rui continued, "First, morality comes first. Obey the law!"

As Hai Rui spoke, he swept his eyes across the crowd of students and sneered, "This court knows that most of you students are descendants of wealthy families and gentry. Many of you are fearless and lawless, going in and out of government offices and manipulating lawsuits. When you pass the imperial examination and become an official in the future, it is natural that you will find it difficult to change your old habits. You will regard accepting requests as normal and colluding with evil gentry as a matter of course."

"The more talented such an official is, the more harmful he is! This court will never tolerate such a person coming to the fore! Therefore, we will never tolerate students who break the law, take on lawsuits, form gangs, and commit crimes for personal gain!"

"I'm not just saying this to you, I'm also saying this to all the students in the ten prefectures and one state of Yingtian, even the Juren and Jinshi. Once you're found out, you'll be expelled from the imperial examination immediately, and there will be no leniency!"

Normally, Juren and Jinshi candidates must report to the Ministry of Rites before their titles can be revoked, and those with official positions must report to the Ministry of Personnel. But the Yingtian Governor has the royal decree, so he can execute first and report later. He can even cut off your head without any complaints, let alone your titles.

Of course, most officials dare not use this power because it would offend scholars.

But Hai Rui didn't care. He had to make full use of the power in his hands. Otherwise, how could he implement the New Deal in Jiangnan?

Cai Guoxi had always been resistant to Hai Rui, but after hearing this he secretly gave him a thumbs up.

Hai Zhongcheng is very knowledgeable and he got to the point right from the start.

The people of Wuzhong love to sue, especially when a great judge comes along.

It is no exaggeration to say that throughout the Jiangnan region, those people who had suffered injustice in the past and had no way to appeal are now preparing to file a complaint.

They knew that Hai Zhongcheng was the most honest official in the Ming Dynasty and a hero who dared to argue with the emperor about right and wrong for the people. Naturally, he would definitely stand up for them!

The people ran around telling each other that the day of avenging grievances and revenge had finally arrived.

If someone is ready to file a complaint, then naturally someone is ready to respond. Those local tyrants and evil gentry who usually bully the people and do evil things also know that the day of drawing up the list has come.

The gentry brought generous gifts to visit scholars with official titles, asking them to help them with lawsuits. Scholars and candidates had official titles to protect them, were familiar with the law, had smart brains, and were close friends with the officials, so they were born to be lawyers.

In fact, many scholars and candidates made money by taking on lawsuits and helping others get rid of their troubles.

With this decree issued by Hai Rui, all the lawyers were immediately suppressed. Which scholar would dare to show up in the government office openly?

Without lawyers trying to confuse right and wrong and seek reconciliation, the case will naturally be much easier to handle.

Prefect Cai thought to himself that it seemed that Minister Hai was planning to use the case as a starting point to open up the new policy.

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