Chapter 411 Lingnan Road Teaching Order
"Lingnan is a remote and remote area inhabited by hundreds of people. For thousands of years, it has been poor and backward! There is not a single great scholar.
Dayuling Mountain is about to be excavated. I hope that all students will go to Lingnan to teach and help the prefectures and counties to set up official schools.
"Do any of you have any sons or nephews willing to go?" the emperor asked.
There was silence below.
Damn Yu Wencheng, he caused all this trouble. Can’t we all just have a good New Year?
Now, let's talk about teaching in Lingnan. Who would go? Only crazy people would go to that shitty place!
"Where is Minister Lu of the Ministry of Works?" The emperor pointed out Lu Hezhou.
"Your Majesty, I am a humble and inexperienced person who is still studying. How dare I mislead other young people?" Lu Hezhou's heart skipped a beat and he quickly refused.
Dalang has already entered the officialdom, and Erlang has just been admitted to the Imperial College. With some effort in the future, they will also have a good future.
What were you going to Lingnan for? That damned place. Didn't you see Wang Duanfang banished to Rong County and then exiled to Danzhou? Their property was confiscated.
"Minister Wang?" The emperor looked at Wang Gui again.
Wang Gui's face froze. How could the fire burn him?
Wang Gui was an official of the previous dynasty. In the first year of Wude, he was appointed as the Prince's Secretary to assist Crown Prince Li Jiancheng.
In the seventh year of Wude, the conflict between Crown Prince Li Jiancheng and King of Qin intensified. Wang Gui failed to fulfill his duty to persuade the crown prince and was exiled.
After the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Wang Gui and Wei Zheng were recalled together and appointed as Counselors.
He made many suggestions and was deeply trusted by the emperor. He was appointed as the Minister of the Imperial Household and the Right Assistant to the Crown Prince.
Because he asked the Minister Gao Shilian to submit a secret memorial to the emperor, Gao Shilian withheld the secret memorial.
Gao Shilian was convicted and demoted, and Wang Gui replaced Gao Shilian as the acting Shizhong.
"Your Majesty, I..." Wang Gui paused and glanced secretly at the two prime ministers.
Du Xiang raised his hand and stroked his beard.
"Your Majesty, my nephews and nephews are dull and untalented! I'm afraid they will fail to live up to your grace!" Wang Gui bowed.
"Yes!" His Majesty nodded. "Where are the ministers?"
The ministers bowed their heads and remained silent, some of them secretly glanced at Su Bucheng.
Didn't your family come back from Lingnan? You're quite capable. All the children from Lingnan were admitted to mathematics. Why are you going there again?
Su Bucheng's mind raced. What did the emperor mean? Why weren't Minister Lu and Minister Wang angry after they refused? Could there be a deeper meaning?
"Since there is no one, then let Fang Qing read it!" The emperor said to Prime Minister Fang.
Fang Xiang pulled out a memorial from his sleeve and read aloud, "Order for Tang Dynasty students to teach in Lingnan Province..."
The ministers were puzzled at first, thinking that every family had to be forced to send their children to Lingnan to teach in schools, but the more they listened, the more they felt something was wrong.
This decree only encourages common people to teach in Lingnan. After three years, they can get a letter of recommendation from the county government or the state government and go to Chang'an to take the supplementary examination.
After passing the exam, one can enter the Imperial College to study and then directly participate in the imperial examinations.
In addition to the local tribute and local official schools, another way to take the imperial examination is to start as an official in Lingnan without taking the examination and count the resume.
According to the rules, clerks are clerks and officials are officials.
Officials must be assessed, selected, and appointed by the imperial court; clerks are selected by local officials, and there is a huge difference between the two.
However, if they go to Lingnan to teach, clerks are allowed to be transferred to officials. In the specific implementation, there will be performance assessments and time limits.
Although it is harsh, it is still a channel, and there will always be people who can make it through it.
Students from poor families are not afraid of the difficult road ahead, but they are afraid of not having a ladder to climb.
The ministers then understood that the emperor did not want their children to participate at all, and this was clearly a channel reserved for the poor.
It doesn’t matter if you are a noble of the third rank or above, your sons and nephews will be admitted directly to the Imperial College, and they will not be able to take the imperial examinations if they cannot graduate.
It was difficult for officials below the third rank.
The most common officials in the hands of the aristocratic families are fourth and fifth rank officials. It is difficult to get higher ranks without the merit of following the dragon. The only advantage is the number.
These students from poor families emerged as a new force, and the first thing they took away was the resources in their hands.
This decree caused an uproar in the court, "Your Majesty, this is absolutely unacceptable!"
Spokespersons led by the Wang, Lu, and Cui families all opposed it.
"This is unfair to other students! They have also studied hard for ten years, but they must go through layers of screening before they are eligible to take the imperial examination.
Going to Lingnan to teach for three years allows students to skip the provincial and prefectural examinations, which will discourage other students."
"If you feel it is unfair, you can go to Lingnan to teach for three years and get the same opportunities!" The emperor said lightly. These were anticipated during the discussion last night.
"Minister Fang, after stamping the seal, it will be immediately issued to all provinces, prefectures, and county governments." The emperor did not intend to get entangled with this group of people anymore.
This decree divided the court into two factions, but as everyone was busy celebrating the New Year, the opposition was not strong.
After the New Year, people came to their senses again. If they continued to make noise and obstruct, it would be impossible to push it forward.
"Yes!" Fang Xiang stamped his seal and signed the Zhongshu Order in front of everyone.
It was then taken over by subordinates from the Secretariat and issued to each circuit, prefecture, and county.
"If you have something to report, please come forward. If not, please dismiss the court!" Xu Zhi said in a sharp voice.
The emperor stood up, and the last grand court meeting of the third year of Zhenguan ended.
Su Bucheng silently followed the ministers out of the court and returned to the yamen.
"Congratulations, Lord Su!" Li Hongshi bowed with a smile.
"Your Excellency is too polite!" Su Bucheng didn't know why the prefect was congratulating him.
"Yesterday, all of your nephews and nieces, as well as students from Lingnan, made the list. It's a cause for celebration!" Li Hongshi said with a smile.
"It was just luck!" Su Bucheng said politely.
"Hey, Lord Su, have you been offended recently?" Li Hongshi leaned close to Su Bucheng and whispered.
"Why do you say that, sir?" Su Bucheng remained calm.
"Don't you find it strange that people are targeting your Su family as soon as there is any movement in Lingnan?" Li Hongshi asked.
"The inspector general reports upon hearing the news. It's his job!" Su Bucheng smiled.
"?" Li Hongshi stared at Su Bucheng's face for a long time and said, "There are so many people in Lingnan, why is no one paying attention but only your Su family?"
"Who knows!" Su Bucheng smiled awkwardly.
After returning to Chang'an, Wang Duanfang's daughter married the second son of Minister Lu, and Wang Duanfang overthrew himself in the court.
He guessed the cause of his misfortune. It wasn't some locust extermination at all. It was just a handle used by the Lu family to break off the engagement!
What happened next confirmed my guess one by one.
It seems that the Lu and Wang families are behind today's events.
The engagement had already been called off, so why was he still clinging to it? His own eldest daughter had been humiliated and had her engagement broken off, so why was he still refusing to give in?
The Su family dug up the ancestral graves of the Lu and Wang families? Do the wealthy and powerful families bully the poor and the humble?
Su Bucheng took a deep breath and felt depressed.
"Why was the Lingnan Dao teaching order suddenly issued?" Li Hongshi stroked his beard. "Could something have happened in Lingnan?"
"Maybe!" Su Bucheng didn't show it on his face, but he guessed in his heart that it must be related to his eldest daughter.
It was she who proposed to set up the village school, and she was also the one who made sure that the children could study abroad.
She was the only one who came up with the idea of paying attention to Lingnan education and linking teaching in Lingnan with the career advancement of poor students.
It’s a shame to say that I came from a poor family and have been an official for twenty years. I have focused on agriculture and devoted myself to farming.
I have been in Lingnan for nearly a year, but I have never thought about building a Lingnan official school, nor have I ever thought about finding a way out for the poor.
No one, including the heads of various prefectures in Lingnan, paid attention to it and tacitly accepted Lingnan's backward situation.
Alas! The one in the Su family who truly has vision and insight is actually the eldest daughter, and I am ashamed of myself.
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