Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 104 Wang Yangming Recommends Himself

University?

The officials were quite surprised. They had never thought that Emperor Zhu Houzhao would suddenly propose to open a school, and even thought of a name for the school.

However, the term "university" to refer to an institution of academic study is not unfamiliar to ministers.

Because there has been a distinction between universities and primary schools since the Zhou Dynasty. Universities are schools for adults, and primary schools, as the name suggests, are schools for children and teenagers.

The civil servants believed that since His Majesty the Emperor wanted to transform the Leopard House into a place for academic research and establish the Imperial University of Peking, it would naturally be better than the original function of the Leopard House. It was also enough to show that His Majesty the Emperor Zhu Houzhao had no intention of returning to the Leopard House for fun and had great ambitions to promote education. Naturally, no one objected. They even felt that His Majesty the Emperor Zhu Houzhao's thoughts were obviously more thorough and reasonable than those of their ministers.

But now that the idea of ​​renovating the Leopard House into the Imperial University has been raised, some ministers have raised objections. Huo Songlin, the Imperial College's chief priest, stood up at this time:

"Your Majesty, it is a good policy to change the Leopard House into a place for study, but I think this move is a bit redundant. The court already has the Northern and Southern Imperial Colleges, why add another university? If Your Majesty wants to build a university, it is better to build a Biyong, imitate the ancient sages, and choose great scholars to live in the royal garden, so that Your Majesty can often ask about the meaning of classics."

The so-called Biyong is the place where the emperor studied, meaning it is the university where the emperor attended.

Huo Songlin, the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, obviously intended to change Zhu Houzhao's mind and turn his idea of ​​building a university into a place for the emperor to study himself. After all, in this way, there would not be two schools of the nature of "Imperial College", and his own power and the interests of the vast majority of Imperial College students would not be affected.

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but roll his eyes. He wanted to build a university, but he didn't think of finding a few corrupt scholars to talk nonsense in his ears:

"Since we already have the Imperial Lecture, why do we need to build Biyong? The university I am building is not the Imperial College of the Imperial College. The Imperial College is now just a place to support officials, not a place for academic research. The Imperial University I want to build is only for academic research, only to provide a place for scholars to study and understand the truth, not a place to help them get promoted and make money!"

Although knowledge changes destiny, and it may be easier to achieve the realistic goal of promotion and wealth whether entering the Imperial College or entering a university later, it is undeniable that the original purpose of the university as Zhu Houzhao said was indeed not to select officials for the court, and it was not to train scholars like the Imperial College only to take the imperial examinations and become court officials.

Huo Songlin, the Imperial College's chief academic officer, was so frightened when he saw Zhu Houzhao rolling his eyes that he could not help but apologize: "Your Majesty, please do not blame me for my ignorance!"

"Forget it, I have no intention of punishing you," Zhu Houzhao did not expect that his dissatisfied look could scare an official who was one of the nine ministers of the court so much, and he said helplessly.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for not punishing me! Since Your Majesty said that Imperial University is not a place for selecting officials, I have no objection."

Huo Songlin, the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, was most worried that the Imperial University might deprive the students of the Imperial College of their opportunities to take the imperial examinations and become officials. In this way, the interests of the officials of the Imperial College would also be affected. After all, no one would come to the Imperial College at that time, but would go to the university. How could they build their own network and reap the benefits?

Now that Zhu Houzhao said that Imperial University was not a place for selecting officials, Huo Songlin naturally had no objection.

"The selection of officials is the responsibility of the Ministry of Personnel. How can I change it without authorization? The Imperial University of Peking is only for the purpose of promoting learning. All the Jinshi candidates in the world are said to be the disciples of the emperor. But even though they are my disciples, I have not taught them anything. It is better to select the best talents in the world to enter the university and teach them. In the future, those who pass the Jinshi can apply to the Imperial University of Peking according to their wishes!"

Zhu Houzhao then asked: "Now, who among you is willing to be the chief priest of the Imperial University, or who are you willing to recommend?"

Jijiu means the principal. Zhu Houzhao wanted to change the Leopard House into the Imperial University of Peking, so naturally there had to be a principal.

After Zhu Houzhao finished asking the question, the entire court suddenly fell silent. All the civil servants just looked at each other, and no one was willing to come out and be the first chief academic officer of the Imperial University of Peking.

After all, these civil servants now all know that since the Imperial University has no function of selecting officials, there is naturally no political benefit to be gained. The Imperial College is already unpopular enough, but at least it is noble and can train a few high-school students.

But what can a university do? Although those who passed the imperial examination can enter the university voluntarily, these people also know that if someone really passed the imperial examination, no one would be willing to enter the university. Even if there are those who are willing, they will not be selected as Hanlin. It is even more meaningless for high-ranking officials in the capital like themselves. It is better for them to stick to their current important positions, or wait to be promoted to one of the six ministries in the future, or directly enter the cabinet as a minister.

"I am willing to do so." But at this time, Wang Yangming, the lecturer of the Hanlin Academy, stood up. All the ministers except the Minister of Revenue Wang Hua could not help but smile knowingly, because they themselves did not want to be in charge of the Imperial University of Peking, but they also did not want no one to be in charge, because that would be tantamount to not giving face to His Majesty, and they were afraid that His Majesty would be angry.

"This boy is worthy of being the son of the No. 1 scholar. He can take on great responsibilities!"

"Very good! It is worthy of being the treasure tree of the royal family. It has a bright future!"

……

Although the senior officials present all expressed their approval of Wang Yangming, the Minister of Revenue Wang Hua's face was obviously darkened and he was very unhappy. If he was not in the court now, he would have wanted to slap his son a few times. He thought to himself, "Can you, a mere Hanlin official, keep a low profile? So many bigwigs in the court are silent, why are you coming forward to join in the fun? You have finally been favored by His Majesty and become a Hanlin official, and now you have volunteered to be the chief academic officer of the Imperial University of Peking. What future can you have by being the chief academic officer of the Imperial University of Peking!"
But no matter what, Zhu Houzhao was quite satisfied with this, and said: "It is rare that you have recommended yourself. You are really a role model for young officials. I will draft an imperial decree to promote Wang Yangming to the position of Jijiu of the Imperial University of Peking without salary, set as the fourth rank, and grant him the title of Zhongshun Doctor, enjoying the treatment of the fourth rank!"

"According to the order!"

At that time, Ma Wensheng and other cabinet ministers were busy receiving the imperial edict.

Most of the censors from the six departments had already been killed, so naturally no one raised any objections.

In this way, Wang Yangming was suddenly promoted to a fourth-rank official, but his father, the Minister of Revenue Wang Hua, was not happy.

And none of the ministers objected to this.

Seeing that these civil servants were gloating, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but laugh in his heart, thinking that they all had a short-term vision. Although he would not allow the Imperial University of Peking to be a place for selecting officials, who said that he would not make use of people from the Imperial University system.

"In this case, Wang Shouren, please stay after the court is dismissed. I will discuss the establishment of Imperial University with you and other ministers in the cabinet. If there are other matters to discuss now, you can raise them first!" Zhu Houzhao said.

At this time, Ma Wensheng stood up again and said, "Your Majesty, due to the regicide case, the capital's government offices and local government offices are in urgent need of officials. If they are not filled immediately, the government's orders may not be implemented. Therefore, I think we must fill the positions as soon as possible."

Zhu Houzhao had to admit that what Ma Wensheng said made sense. Most of the people involved in this major case had been killed, which made Zhu Houzhao's imperial majesty reach an unprecedented level and his imperial power was greatly enhanced.

But new problems also arose. First of all, the empire's administrative system had a serious shortage of officials. In addition, the number of township officials and scholars who maintained local order had also decreased significantly, resulting in chaos in many places.

"It is indeed a top priority to fill an official post, but unfortunately the prince is not here, and the position of the Minister of Personnel has to be re-selected." Just as Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, an eunuch came running over and said, "Your Majesty, the Minister of Personnel Wang Shu is asking to see you outside the palace gate!"

……

Many thanks to the book friend Xiqun-Duwu for giving 500 Qidian coins as a reward. After the three cabinet ministers, the story enters a new chapter. Farming will increase, and the intensity of the political struggle will be reduced. I hope that book friends can continue to follow it. After all, the protagonist has not yet trained a truly powerful standing army, has not yet recovered Hetao, has not punished or even eliminated the little prince who invaded the border town, and has not yet established a complete industrial system. Uh, the protagonist is still a virgin and a single dog.

(End of this chapter)