Chapter 1419 - 1328: Education (Part 4)

The aristocracy that has persisted since the end of the Han dynasty monopolizes political power through the official selection system.

Sima Zhao killed the emperor in public, seized power, and in order to control the court, killed many people. The famous Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, including Ji Kang and others, were chopped by him, weren’t they?

Yet even so, the Sima family could not escape the aristocracy. They could kill individuals, but they couldn’t kill all the aristocrats.

Therefore, to consolidate their rule, the Sima family had no choice but to govern jointly with the aristocracy.

However, after Emperor Hui ascended the throne, the aristocracy began to be harvested like chives.

Whenever a king rebelled, a crop was cut down. The worst was when Shi Le and Liu Cong marched south, especially during Shi Le’s interception and killing of Sima Yue, where seventy percent of court officials and eighty percent of aristocrats in Luoyang died at his hands.

Only the old, weak, women, and children survived, and in that battle, half of Jin State’s aristocracy was defeated. After several more major battles, many aristocrats were killed, so there aren’t many left today, and even fewer have a voice in court.

Because they used to flee south in large numbers, as soon as Zhao Hanzhang recaptured territories, she started from the bottom upwards, opening schools everywhere, and took a census, leaving the aristocrats who left their homeland and lost their lands without a foundation.

Now, the Zhao family is the only aristocracy with significant power in Hua Country.

Even the once-flourishing Mrs. Wang’s family is now fragmented, unable to lead the aristocracy against imperial power.

Therefore, Zhao Hanzhang’s virtuous examination was implemented smoothly.

The virtuous examination is the ultimate tool to break the aristocracy’s monopoly, and the new school system is the soil laid under the virtuous examination.

The monopoly on knowledge in Huaxia for thousands of years was originally connected to the outside by a very thin line supported by the conscience of some individuals and Confucius’s saying "education for all," but now it has opened up completely. Thousands of lines connect it to the outside, transmitting its nutrients through these lines, allowing people from all backgrounds to absorb this nourishment through schools and gradually grow stronger.

Zhao Hanzhang does not want to follow the old path of Huang Chao and physically eliminate the aristocracy.

Everything in this world has two sides. Without the aristocracy, the gentry and nobles will replace them as the other side of ordinary civilians.

Therefore, her objective has always been to ensure the interests of the vast majority of civilians, legally safeguarding their rights.

There is no need to be overly obsessed with eliminating some people. Since there are two sides, ensuring the interests of one side and strengthening them can suppress the other side, can’t it?

This is what education should accomplish.

The number of civilians is enormous. As long as one in ten thousand can go from the elementary school to county school, then state school, and Imperial College, finally standing at the court to fight for their interests, her purpose will be achieved.

She hopes that one day, the officials sitting in this hall and in government offices everywhere come from various backgrounds and fields, and their path of advancement is relatively fair, then she will be satisfied.

Thus, education is established as one of the most important national policies, standing alongside agriculture before the economy.

It is widely known that agriculture in Huaxia has always been regarded as the foundation of the nation, with basic national taxes relying entirely on agriculture.

People can survive without clothes and housing, but not without food, so protecting agriculture is to preserve life.

Zhao Hanzhang placed education at the same level of importance as agriculture, which indicates her high regard for education.

She cannot guarantee that every child can attend county school but can strive to let every child attend the three-year elementary school.

During these three years, they can learn commonly used characters, basic arithmetic, easily count to a hundred, and learn many famous sayings about life.

To ensure they learn the most useful things that might affect their entire lives within a limited time, Zhao Hanzhang commanded the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial College to edit textbooks together, personally supervise, and provide guidance.

The newly compiled textbooks were repeatedly rejected, even the good-tempered Zhao Cheng was somewhat irritated.

He Xun was almost bald and couldn’t help but advise Zhao Cheng, "Zitu might as well enter the palace to inquire Your Majesty about what kind of textbooks she wants?"

Xun Fan silently pushed out a stack of paper.

He Xun no longer looked at it, "Your Majesty asked for commonly used characters to be learned within three years and the principles of being a person and doing things. So, we compiled ’Thousand Character Classic’ and ’The Analects’ separately, but then she said the content was too heavy, and the children might not learn it;

So we reduced the content and added explanations of local dialects to unify the elegant language, but Your Majesty felt we were teaching too slowly and the knowledge was too scattered, not conducive to memory, and also said there was too little substance." He Xun pushed back the stack of requirements, "I can recite Your Majesty’s requirements by heart, yet I don’t feel any version is inconsistent with her requirements, but our drafts have been rejected five times!"

He wanted to know her more specific requirements, such as what exactly she was dissatisfied with in the five submitted versions?

But Xun Fan was not in a hurry and comforted him, "The schools are still using old textbooks, and there are several months left until the August 19th start of school. As long as we submit the drafts two months in advance, we have time."

He Xun felt he was calm and stable enough, but unexpectedly, Xun Fan was even more stable, prompting him to turn his head towards Zhao Cheng.

Zhao Cheng pondered with lowered eyes, then lifted his head after a short while, and resolutely said, "I will meet with Your Majesty."

They can hold steady, but he cannot afford to slack off like this. He must complete the textbooks within two months.

Zhao Cheng immediately went to the palace.

Zhao Hanzhang had been waiting for him, and as soon as he began to speak, Zhao Hanzhang said, "Have you ever taught rural children aged seven to ten?"

Zhao Cheng frowned, "I have taught fifth and sixth graders."

"Those who stand out from elementary school and enter county school are already smarter than average children," Zhao Hanzhang said. "What I need now is for three-year students to not waste their time in school and to understand eighty percent of the knowledge taught by the teacher, including simple arithmetic, the commonly used characters they need for life, and some basic principles of being a person. That’s it."

That’s not simple at all!

Zhao Cheng’s face was stern, "Your Majesty, they only have three years, and you still want us to educate through entertainment..."

"Joy is the origin of learning," Zhao Hanzhang said. "I don’t want them to only stop at the third grade. After three years, some children will enter county school to continue studying, but more children will either willingly or want to go home to farm."

"This doesn’t mean their learning journey ends there. It’s not like before. My announcements and newspapers are scattered everywhere, and in the future, paper media will become more abundant. They can learn about a broader world and more knowledge through newspapers."

"Books are also becoming cheaper. As long as they have the will and spend a little money, they can buy books they want and continue learning," Zhao Hanzhang said, "So I need you to instill in them the desire to learn, and not bow to hardships or fate."