***
In the front, the Qin generals such as Meng Ke, Ma Yongzhen and Li Dingguo were dividing their troops to attack cities and seize land. Their momentum was as fierce as fire and their speed was as fast as wind. Their spearheads were already heading straight for northern Zhili and Shanxi.
The infantry and cavalry were fighting completely separately, with the cavalry flying through and quickly attacking various strategic points;
The infantry pushed forward like a wave, advancing northward layer by layer, sweeping away all the smell of meat.
There were frequent reports of victory from the front, and the battle situation was encouraging. In the rear, Qin Mu and a group of assistants were busy allocating food and grass, selecting officials, providing relief to the victims, and pacifying the local people. It can be said that they were busy with a myriad of things.
On this day, the King of Qin arrived at Shangqiu, the seat of Guide Prefecture. Shangqiu was once known as Song State, Suiyang, Nanjing Prefecture, and Yingtian Prefecture.
After Qin Mu arrived in Shangqiu, the first thing he did was to change the name of Shangqiu back to Sui Yang, which naturally had other intentions.
He didn't even have time to take care of important captives like Duoduo and Ning Wanwo who were held here. He had someone post a call for talents that day and sent people to visit local scholars with good reputations.
There is a lake in Qiaoyang City, where Liu Wu, the King of Liang in the Western Han Dynasty, built the East Garden, which is 300 li square and 70 li wide. He built a large palace with a double-story corridor, and the palace is connected to the platform for 30 li. It integrates palaces, pavilions, mountains and rivers, exotic flowers and plants, rare birds and animals, and a mausoleum.
Visitors wander among the exotic flowers and luxuriant forests and bamboos, and see the fog rising from the high buildings and the flying pavilions. In the palaces and pavilions, there are endless colorful clothes and green sleeves, and endless music and singing every night. Whether it is sunny or moonlit, it is beautiful beyond words.
Later generations called it Liangyuan. The reason why Liangyuan is famous is not simply because of its beautiful gardens and magnificent buildings, but more importantly, it contains cultural heritage.
Liangyuan is the main stronghold of Liangyuan literature in the Western Han Dynasty, represented by Zou Yang, Yan Ji, Mei Cheng, Sima Xiangru, Gongsun Gui, and Yang Sheng.
Later generations such as Xie Huilian, Li Bai, Du Fu, Gao Shi, Wang Changling, Cen Shen, Li Shangyin, Wang Bo, Li He, Qin Guan and others all came to Liangyuan. Li Bai even lived there for ten years and could not bear to leave, leaving behind the famous poem Liangyuan Yin.
In the Song Dynasty, Yingtian Academy, built on the site of Liangyuan, was known as one of the four major academies of the Northern Song Dynasty, along with Songyang Academy, Yuelu Academy, and Bailudong Academy.
It attracted a large number of famous scholars such as Fan Zhongyan to give lectures, and cultivated a large number of figures who had a profound influence on Chinese history and culture, such as Wang Yaochen, Zhao Xun, Zhang Fangping, Fu Bi, Sun Fu, and Shi Jie.
In the seventh year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty, Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng ordered the demolition of all academies in the country, and Yingtian Academy did not escape this disaster.
Qin Mu didn't know why Zhang Juzheng ordered the demolition of all academies in the world. Recalling the brilliant contribution Suiyang had made to Chinese culture, Qin Mu stopped his horse on the ruins and sighed sincerely: "At dusk in Liangyuan, crows fly around. As far as the eye can see, there are only three or four desolate houses. I don't know if the people in the courtyard trees have all left. In spring, the old flowers bloom again."
After hearing his sigh, Sima An asked softly, "Does the King of Qin intend to rebuild Yingtian Academy?"
"Mr. Sima, do you think it is not possible?"
"King Qin, please do not forget that academies are often the source of factional disputes in the court. During the Jiaqing and Wanli years of the Ming Dynasty, academies flourished in various places. It became a trend. There were also good and bad people in the academies. Many people with ulterior motives competed to enter the academies to give lectures, teach students, and establish schools.
At the same time, they used the opportunity of lectures to discuss state affairs, form cliques, and attack dissidents, which led to increasingly fierce party struggles in the court. Zhang Juzheng hated this particularly and ordered the demolition of 64 academies across the country. The King of Qin now wants to rebuild the academy, and I think he should be very cautious. Has the King of Qin forgotten the matter of Donglin Academy? "
Qin Mu rode his horse among the ruins, with Hongniangzi as his close guard on his right and Sima An as his companion on his left. Although the sun had already set, its power was still there, and the heat was overwhelming.
Qin Mu stopped his horse under an ancient willow tree, looked at the barren wilderness and said, "I will not forget what Mr. Sima said, but in the past few decades, the north has suffered from famine and wars, and education has lagged behind. The lack of talent will cause a serious imbalance between the north and the south of the Qin Dynasty. Especially the literary style of the south of the Yangtze River is delicate and soft. If the court is full of southern officials, the future of the Qin Dynasty will be in vain."
"The King of Qin has far-reaching concerns, but I think that to solve this problem, reviving the academy is not necessarily a good solution."
"I have read history. During the Song and Jin dynasties, the north was occupied by the barbarians for a long time. After the Yuan Dynasty unified the country, there was also a serious imbalance in the culture between the north and the south. So the king issued an edict: The places where the ancient scholars have been to culture, the places where the famous and virtuous have studied, and the places where the families of good people provide money and grain to support the scholars, shall be established as academies.
Through this move, 296 academies were established, which greatly promoted the development of academies and quickly narrowed the cultural gap between the north and the south. As the saying goes, we should learn from past experience. Our Great Qin is now facing similar problems. Building more academies in the north may be a fundamental solution. "
When Qin Mu mentioned the academies of the Yuan Dynasty, Sima An did not refute it for a while, because the academies of the Yuan Dynasty were different from those of the Tang, Song and Ming Dynasties. Although the academies of the Yuan Dynasty were also private academies, they were strictly controlled by the government and did not have the teaching characteristics of academies with debates and arguments.
If Qin Mu wanted to promote the strictly controlled academies of the Yuan Dynasty, it would be barely feasible. After all, the court had limited financial resources and the number of students that the official schools could accommodate was also limited.
If private academies are vigorously developed in the north, it will be a great supplement to official schools, thus shortening the cultural gap between the north and the south as soon as possible, allowing talents with northern spirit to continuously enter the Qin court, and preventing the Qin as a whole from becoming increasingly docile.
In the current court of the Qin Dynasty, there is a huge contrast between civil officials and military officials. Civil officials are almost all from the south. On the contrary, military generals, such as Meng Ke, Ning Yuan, Cui Feng, Huo Sheng, Ling Zhan, Li Guo, Gao Yigong, Li Dingguo, Liu Meng, Su Jin, Li Jiu, etc., are all from the north. Only a few generals such as Ma Yongzhen are from the south, and they are from southern Jiangxi, where the people are more ruthless.
Now is a time of war, and the status of military generals is very high, and they can generally compete with civil officials. However, as the world is gradually pacified, civil officials will inevitably have more say. Therefore, this situation of civil and military confrontation cannot be maintained for a long time. To fundamentally solve the problem of imbalance between the North and the South, we must eventually introduce more talents who can govern the country from the North.
As the saying goes, it is easy to conquer the world but difficult to rule it. Now for Qin Mu, he should put the issue of governing the world first. Qin Mu knows that the cultivation of talents is not a matter of three or two years, but the situation that all the high-ranking officials of the Qin Dynasty are from the south must be changed as soon as possible.
He and Sima An discussed for a long time under the shade of willow trees, and decided that starting from the next imperial examination, they would divide the examination into two lists, north and south, as they did in the early Ming Dynasty, in order to attract as many talents from the north as possible.
It can be said that this is something that is forced upon us. Hopefully, with the precedent of the Ming Dynasty, there will be less resistance when the imperial examination is divided into the north and south lists.
After returning to the city, Lady Hong has been speaking softly and gently, especially;
When they went to bed at night, she took the initiative to cling to him, playing the flute, and then gently flattering him, allowing him to have as much pleasure as he wanted. As a result, Qin Mu showed his divine power that night, sending her to the clouds twice, leaving her limp as mud;
After the clouds cleared and the rain stopped, Hong Niang lay down for a long time. After she had recovered a little strength, she got up and rubbed her soft and creamy breasts back and forth on Qin Mu's back, showing her utmost courtesy.
Qin Mu enjoyed it while secretly laughing.
Lady Hong waited on him until he felt comfortable, then she spoke: "King Qin, I remember that King Qin said that your inner treasury has a lot of money, is it intended to be used to run a school?"
"Puchi!" Qin Mu finally couldn't help laughing. "You, I really don't know how to describe you. This kind of lovemaking is a pleasure for men and women. Do you have to ask me for something to be so attentive? And you're still calling me concubine, this is really unprecedented."
"I..." Hongniang was greatly embarrassed. She had always been frank in front of Qin Mu and had never called herself a concubine in such a humble manner.
Qin Mu stretched out his hand and gently rubbed her hips, smiling and said, "Tell me, what's the matter?"
"You said that to solve the cultural imbalance between the north and the south, we must establish academies. You also said that the money saved in the inner treasury is used to establish schools. King Qin, Henan is so dilapidated. Can you use the money in the inner treasury to establish more schools in Henan so that more children can afford to go to school?"
"I'm telling you, why is Ying'er so attentive tonight? It seems like she's set her eyes on my underwear, hahaha..."
"Please don't laugh. I have had a hard life since I was young. I didn't have the opportunity to go to school. I won't hide it from you. I used to be disdainful of your poetry and couplets, but I was actually very inferior in my heart. You can say anything about me tonight. I just hope that more children in my hometown can read and learn to write..."
"No, I'm not laughing at you. It's just that I am the ruler of the world, so I can't be partial to one and neglect the other. Ahem!"
"What bad idea are you planning?"
"Ying'er, you have practiced cartilage skills, so you can curl up your body and pose in various positions at will. How about this... tonight, can you perform for me?"
"You bad guy, why are you still not satisfied... ...hiss...oh....ok, you tell me what to do... um..."
****************************************
ps: Regarding the matter of choosing the capital, I would like to thank everyone for their suggestions, which gave me a lot of inspiration. Thank you!
Please recommend and subscribe!
.(To be continued..)
...