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Daqin Palace, Jianjia Hall.
The spring curtain is half-open, flying catkins stain the painted corners, the east wind blows the pearl curtain, and the curling animal smoke dissipates.
The beauty is like jade, her palace dress is like clouds, her eyes are full of longing, and her slender jade fingers lightly touch a section of clouds in Wushan.
Liu Rushi was naturally beautiful and graceful. She loved discussing academic matters. Qin Mu asked about the impact of the imperial examination system on the economy. These were exactly her favorite topics, so she was full of energy and blended with the spring scenery outside the curtain, which became even more touching.
"Your Majesty, I think carefully that the imperial examination system and the economy actually influence each other. I remember your Majesty said that the economic base determines the superstructure. Now I think this sentence is the truth. Before the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the social and economic foundation was weak, and ordinary people could not afford to go to school. Those who could afford to go to school were basically people from aristocratic families. Even if the imperial examination system was established at that time, only people from aristocratic families were eligible to participate. It was actually difficult to break the situation where the aristocratic families controlled the official positions.
By the Sui and Tang dynasties, the social economy had made great progress, people's livelihood was prosperous, and more people could afford to read. It was at this time that the significance of establishing the Kexing system was reflected.
This is what Your Majesty said: the economic base determines the superstructure, and conversely, the superstructure affects economic development. This is inevitable.
The imperial examination system was undoubtedly a superstructure. After its establishment, this system integrated studying, taking exams, and becoming an official into one, opening up equal opportunities to almost everyone. This encouraged a large number of people to actively enter academies or private schools to study, promoted the development of educational institutions, and in turn led to the vigorous development of industries such as libraries, printing, papermaking, ink making, and pen making.
In some places, if the whole county made pens, it would be enough to make people rich. For example, in the Hangzhou area during the Song Dynasty, there were thousands of printing workshops alone, with more than 100,000 people working in the industry. It was a prosperous time, and these were only the direct impacts.
There are also many indirect effects. For example, many people provide services for colleges, students, libraries, printing, papermaking, ink making, pen making and other industries. Colleges need to do a lot of business to develop, and students need to travel to learn in order to increase their knowledge, which has led to the flow of a lot of people and promoted the development of industries such as restaurants and inns.
Especially in the capital, when the year of the Ministry of Rites examination came, tens of thousands of scholars flocked to the capital, and these people brought more or less followers with them. These people had to consume three meals a day, and it was often the case that the restaurants and inns in the capital were not enough, so the people rented small courtyards. Even temples rented out meditation rooms. If you calculate carefully, the imperial examination held every three years has stimulated consumption and promoted the economy, which is very amazing.
The imperial examination system even promoted the development of foreign trade to a great extent. People from neighboring countries and even Western countries came to study from thousands of miles away. The exchanges of personnel and knowledge, as well as the mutual visits of diplomatic missions between countries, the transportation, traffic and commodity trading during this period all played a positive role in promoting foreign trade.
For example, in the trade between the dynasties and Korea, Japan and other countries, a very important commodity was classic books, writing brushes, inkstones, famous paintings and calligraphy, etc. The trade volume was very large, and the demand was far greater than the supply, ... "
Liu Rushi said a lot in one breath, and what she said was meaningful. There is no doubt that the imperial examination was so popular that its impact on the social economy was enormous.
Of course, this influence has both good and bad sides.
The imperial examination system was beneficial to maintaining the stability and development of the small peasant economy. This system clarified the social hierarchy of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans to a large extent. The main content of the examination was Confucian classics, which meant that all scholars could only study these Confucian classics, which was equivalent to unifying and restricting thoughts in disguise.
In order to pass the imperial examinations, most scholars were obsessed with Confucian classics and actively refused to learn natural sciences that directly promoted the development of productivity. This resulted in a homogenous knowledge structure for the entire society, with very few professional and practical talents.
In a word, the establishment of the imperial examination system was equivalent to infinitely elevating the status of Confucian classics. Apart from this, other disciplines were almost all denounced as "strange and lewd skills."
Moreover, the imperial examination system constantly strengthened the concept of "scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans". Merchants were regarded as inferior, resulting in restrictions and discrimination on business development. Not only did scholars look down on merchants, but merchants themselves also felt inferior.
After becoming rich, most businessmen did not think about how to expand their production scale, but instead tried their best to change their status, purchase land, and transform from businessmen to farmers, because only after becoming farmers would they have the opportunity to become scholars.
Therefore, the imperial examination system has a huge inhibitory effect on the development of industry and commerce. This system can only promote the stability and development of the small peasant economy, and it is a tight shackle for the capital economy and industrial revolution that Qin Mu is determined to promote.
Previously, Qin Mu built a polytechnic college, various scientific research institutions, established the Royal Science Award, and added courses in physics, chemistry, geometry, and mathematics, all in an attempt to reverse the serious distortions in values and knowledge systems caused by the policy of "respecting Confucianism alone."
But if we think about it carefully, if we don’t change the distortion of the entire social ideology caused by the imperial examination, all the previous efforts will probably only be temporary solutions and not a fundamental solution.
There are still only a few people who are truly willing to learn other scientific knowledge. Most scholars are still obsessed with piles of old papers, spending their entire lives studying classics, reciting Confucian classics day after day, and spending all their youth and energy on Confucian classics.
The whole society still uses "passing the imperial examination" to measure a person's success or failure, his value and status. Most young men who are able to read and write will still mortgage their success or failure, honor or disgrace in life to the imperial examination.
Reforming the imperial examination system is the fundamental solution to problems such as the slow development of natural sciences and distorted social values.
However, the imperial examination system has gradually developed from the Sui and Tang dynasties to today, and has already formed a huge influence, and even a kind of overall social psychological inertia. How easy is it to reform it
Qin Mu drank the fragrant tea served by Liu Rushi and thought carefully. Liu Rushi had said a lot before, and she thought it made sense, but she did not see the emperor showing joy because of it;
She was smart and realized immediately that the question the emperor asked her was definitely not simple. She was sensitive to the fact that there was probably another institutional change that would affect everyone and the entire society brewing in the emperor's mind...
Qin Mu was thinking about something, holding a pen in his hand and casually dipping it in ink. Liu Rushi thought he had thought of something, so she hurried over to spread out the paper and pressed the edge of the paper with a white jade paperweight.
Qin Mu didn't wait for her to press the edge of the paper, and wrote a few lines:
Ten years of waiting for one's life,
I have been away from all news for half a year.
My hair is as white as snow and my heart is as dead as death.
Still a failed scholar in Chang'an.
After finishing the poem, Qin Mu used up most of the blank paper. He did not care and did not even touch the ink. He casually wrote down in a smaller and more sloppy handwriting below:
When I failed the exam, I cried bitterly to everyone I met.
What do you want to achieve in life
The hair on my temples is covered with a sprig of laurel,
Tears and blood are dripping down my face to write this letter thousands of miles away.
After finishing writing, Qin Mu threw the pen into the Lotus and Carp Inkstone. The red ink in the inkstone splashed out and sprinkled between the lines of the poem bit by bit, like the freshly dripped blood and tears of a failed candidate, scarlet and dazzling.
Qin Mu was a little tired, leaning on the imperial chair with his eyes closed, rubbing his temples. Liu Rushi felt a little uneasy, and hurried over to help him massage his temples, "Your Majesty, you..." She hesitated to speak. Qin Mu had failed three times in the exam, and Liu Rushi thought he was thinking about these old things. The pressure he was under in his heart at that time might be exactly the same as what was written in these two poems.
Qin Mu leaned his head against her chest. Her breasts were soft, gentle and comfortable. Qin Mu couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief, and then asked casually: "Ru Shi, do you think the mentality of the person who wrote these two poems is normal?"
"This... failed person is probably like this... "
"About that? Haha, you're right, but is this mentality normal? Is it really normal? What is the purpose of life? Is it that other things besides the imperial examination can no longer reflect the value of life? Will I die if I can't pass the imperial examination? What's the meaning of having hair as white as snow and a heart as dead as death? Does this society only need officials and politicians? This is a seriously distorted social mentality!"
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ps: I personally think that if we want society to develop in the right direction, the most important thing is not military expansion, but the change of ideas. To change the ideas of the entire society, the fundamental solution should be to change the constraints of the imperial examination system, but this is difficult. I feel like I am walking on thin ice when writing this, and I write very slowly. I originally had a draft to ensure the normal update time, but now, the draft has been used up. I will try my best to ensure that there will still be two updates, but the update time tomorrow may be uncertain. At the same time, facing such a big proposition that professional scholars also need to face with caution, I need to kill a lot of brain cells to continue writing. I hope everyone will encourage me more. Monthly tickets, subscriptions, rewards, every support from you, I am grateful for tears, this is also my greatest motivation, thank you everyone. (To be continued...)
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