Criticizing Old Zhu's "Eight-legged Essay Selection" and Imprisoning the Thinking of the Scholars!
"This kid is too smart.”
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Tidas with an unfriendly gaze.
He liked smart people.
But he didn't like people who were too smart.
He was a rebel.
Therefore, he knew that if the literati were not content, then the empire that he had fought so hard to win would be finished sooner or later.
In order to control the minds of the people.
In order to stabilize the country.
He had once discussed with Liu Bowen and the other strategists for a long time.
"The imperial examination can indeed select talents."
"However, in your opinion, how can we select loyal talents?”
Zhu Yuanzhang once asked Liu Bowen, Liu Shanchang and others.
Liu Bowen and the others looked at each other.
People were fickle.
Even if this person was loyal for a moment, he might not be loyal forever.
In the end, Zhu Yuanzhang came up with a way to control the world's literati and imprison their thoughts.
That was the eight-part essay!
He would confine the thoughts of the scholars in the world to the Four Books and Five Classics, use Confucianism to brainwash and bind the scholars, and make them loyal to him and Great Ming. This way, Great Ming could continue for thousands of years!
"I have never told anyone about my intentions in recruiting soldiers, not even Liu Bowen, Liu Shan Chang, and the others.”
"I didn't expect that my friend would be able to see through my intentions.”
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Tidas, who was not far away, meaningfully.
"A fifth-grade petty official."
"Board of Rites, doctor."
"Haha, this is interesting."
"There are so many scholars in the world who think they are smart.”
"Even people as smart as Liu Shan Chang and Liu Bo Wen couldn't guess my true intentions.”
"But this brat has guessed it."
"This kid is really smart."
Zhu Yuanzhang thought that this plan was flawless.
No one knew.
However, he did not expect that Tidas's words would expose his thoughts.
In the Ming Dynasty, eight-part essay was popular in the imperial examination.
He was the one who was secretly pushing from behind.
He secretly advocated the eight-part essay and slowly integrated it into the imperial examination system.
From there, he could control the literati and courtiers.
All of this was done silently.
However, a mere fifth-grade doctor from the Board of Rites had exposed his thoughts in front of his son.
After Zhu Yuanzhang broke his defense on the spot, his killing intent was revealed.
This kid was smart and interesting.
but
"This kid. I'm afraid we can't keep him."
Zhu Yuanzhang rubbed his index finger, killing intent flowing in his eyes.
He originally wanted Tidas to be the crown prince's tutor and teach Zhu Biao knowledge.
Tidas's knowledge was comparable to that of a great scholar, enough to be the crown prince's tutor.
Who knew that Tidas would expose his thoughts in public.
This made Zhu Yuanzhang want to kill him.
He knew that the eight-part essay had a huge limitation.
The imperial examination system limited the teaching content to the Four Books and Five Classics.
Imprisonment of thoughts.
Obstructing the enlightenment.
The solution could only be based on the perspective of a great scholar or a saint.
Although it was beneficial to improve the candidate's writing skills and understand the spirit of Confucianism.
However, the literati's thoughts were imprisoned and brainwashed at the same time.
Such a scholar was blindly loyal.
Zhu Yuanzhang felt that there was nothing wrong with this.
He didn't care that the thoughts of scholars were restricted.
As long as the scholars selected by the eight-legged scholar selection had real talent and were loyal to him, the emperor, and the Ming Dynasty, it was enough.
Mao Xiang sensed Zhu Yuanzhang's killing intent and drew his Embroidered Spring Saber.
"Your Majesty, why don't I kill this kid now?”
Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at him indifferently.
"We haven't said anything yet."
"Why are you so anxious?"
"Withdraw your blade."
"Yes, sir!"
Mao Xiang sheathed his sword.
Zhu Yuanzhang suppressed his killing intent and muttered,"
"Let's see what this kid wants to say next.”
"Anyway, there's only us here, no one else.”
"It doesn't matter what this kid says.”
Mao Xiang's heart tightened.
"Should I cover my ears and not listen?”
As the saying goes, the more you listen, the faster you die.
Mao Xiang was the Emperor's knife.
He knew this very well.
He hesitated and stole a glance at Zhu Yuanzhang, then looked at Tidas and the crown prince. Then, he tactfully covered his ears.
Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Mao Xiang from the corner of his eye.
He was quite satisfied with his tactfulness.
Tidas did not know that after Zhu Yuanzhang was exposed by him, killing intent had already risen.
He was still talking to Zhu Biao.
"There is a huge drawback to the eight-legged selection.”
"The content of the examination is rigid and outdated. It has become a shackle that restrains the thoughts of scholars.”
"It also caused many family tragedies.”
"Moreover, the content of the exam focuses on humanities and ethics, ignoring natural sciences.”
"In the long run, scholars only care about memorization and become bookworms. No one studies geography, arithmetic, or astronomy.”
"The scholar who passed the exam was quite talented in writing eight-part essays, but they did not have the qualities to be an official.”
"For example,"
"After that group of scholars passed the exam, they were asked to be officials to settle cases and accounts. They wouldn't do that, right?”
"Are they familiar with Big Ming's laws?”
"As a result, scholars who passed the imperial examination and were good at writing eight-legged essays had to hand over the details of the case to their aides after becoming officials.”
Zhu Yuanzhang felt as if his heart had been shot by an arrow.
His expression turned stiff.
Tidas's words undoubtedly touched Zhu Yuanzhang's heart.
Although the eight-part examination could select loyal people, the selected Jinshi were few and true.
The Imperial Examination was originally meant to gather the talents of the world.
Now that the imperial examination was using eight-legged essay, it actually became an obstacle?
Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but ask himself,"
Could it be that what I did was wrong?
But if I don't do this, then will the ones selected be loyal to me and Big Ming?
Zhu Yuanzhang fell into deep thought.
When Zhu Biao heard Tidas's words, he could not help but rub his nose and reveal an awkward expression.
He understood the pros and cons.
His own father was a scholar.
This caused the thoughts of the scholars in the world to be restricted.
The people selected by the imperial examination did not have real talent.
This was a drawback.
His Imperial Father definitely knew about this drawback.
However, his father had always used the eight-part essay to select scholars, which proved that the eight-part essay was useful.
There were two sides to everything.
There were pros and cons.
The disadvantages were what Tidas had said.
It restrains the thoughts of literati.
The people who were selected by the eight-part essay system did not have the qualities of an official.
There was also a serious bias in humanities and ethics.
Zhu Biao thought that what Tidas said was not a big deal.
If a scholar's thoughts were imprisoned, they would be imprisoned.
As long as they could maintain the rule of the Imperial Family and Great Ming, it would be fine.
As for the people who were selected by the eight-part essay, they did not have the qualities to be officials. This was easy to say. Before they became officials, they had to learn the laws of the Ming Dynasty, such as arithmetic, and adjudication.
These could be nurtured in the later stages.
Zhu Biao believed that as long as he could maintain the rule of the Imperial Family and Great Ming, he could ignore the small drawbacks.
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