Chapter 984: For Sale
Compared with the students in the beginner class and the ultimate class, the academy actually has little knowledge to impart to the scholars in the advanced class who are already famous. Letting these people stay in the academy is, on the one hand, to demonstrate the academy's teaching achievements, and on the other hand, some teaching work can be entrusted to them to offset their expenses in the academy. Of course, the most fundamental reason is the choices made by these people themselves.
For these scholars in the advanced class, it seems a little uneconomical to give up the honors gained through years of hard study and join Haihan and start over from scratch. After all, their fame is not valuable in the eyes of the Haihan people, and they will most likely have to start from the lowest level of scribes. But if you can get good results in the next provincial examination or the general examination, you will immediately become a phoenix, and you will have more options to choose from, at least you will not be reduced to relying on selling letters on the street as a means of making a living.
Everything is of inferior quality, but reading is of high quality. These two sentences have always been regarded as golden rules by scholars of all dynasties. However, since the Tang Dynasty, when subjects were introduced to obtain scholars, only those who passed the "Jinshi" examination could get an official position. The admission rate of Jinshi has always been very low. Only a very small number of scholars in the world can obtain this honor. Most people will not be able to sneak into the system through this single-plank bridge throughout their lives.
This kind of fierce competition is of course a cruel reality that every scholar must face when choosing the path of imperial examination. Therefore, in addition to the ultimate goal of passing the imperial examination and becoming an official, most scholars actually have more realistic plans. , for example, after obtaining the honors within your ability, you will switch to other professions.
A more respectable career with guaranteed income is probably to be a mentor to a serving official. Officials who were born in Kejia studied the Four Books and Five Classics and could only write eight-part essays. Some officials who started their official careers by donating money and donating money could not even write eight-part essays. These rookie officials were required to handle grain and tax collection after they took office. Most of the practical matters such as reviewing people and handling cases, welcoming people to and sending them off, drafting reports, and issuing notices can only be done blindly. Therefore, it is necessary to find some educated and practical assistants to assist them in handling political affairs.
If you are just a bookworm and do not have certain social experience, it will be difficult to win the favor of officials. After all, the position of master does not belong to the orthodox establishment of the yamen, and the salary is paid by the employer officials themselves instead of public expenditures. There is nothing real about it. This is definitely not possible. There is no age limit for the imperial examination, so you can still take the imperial examination after becoming a master. You can receive a generous salary while studying and waiting for the next exam opportunity. This is indeed an excellent way out for scholars.
Of course, if you have an officially recognized reputation, the starting point for becoming a master will definitely be higher. State and county officials generally hire scholars with practical experience, while the senior officials hired by provincial and provincial officials are basically Juren, and these senior senior officials will also more or less hold a part of the real power of the government, and their status is by no means Ordinary scholars are comparable. Moreover, there are examples in history of people who rose from the status of a master to an important minister of a country. For example, Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang in the late Qing Dynasty were both ministers of the humerus who were born as masters.
But having said that, the number of officials is also limited, so not everyone can eat the rice bowl of master. There is also competition in this industry. The proportion of scholars who can be hired as masters is actually higher than that of Jinshi. The official level is not much higher. So most people end up looking for other options.
For example, scholars with good writing skills can professionally ghostwrite official documents. Li Yong, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote more than 800 official documents in his lifetime. The "New Book of Tang" records that "Li Yong received a huge amount of money from writing official documents, which made him a very wealthy man." . "Such document masters, as well as He Zhizhang, Song Zhiwen, Luo Binwang and others, can rely on this special ability to live comfortably.
In addition, there are also scholars who failed to follow the precedent of the saints, open their own academies or tutor the powerful, and rely on the education industry to make a fortune. For example, for the position of mountain director of White Deer Academy, one must have the title of Juren to be qualified to take over. Almost all of the founders of the two-digit academies in Danzhou were failed literati from past dynasties. If you feel like running an academy is troublesome and want to be lazy, you can find a wealthy family to be a tutor. You only need to manage a few students and you can still have enough food and clothing.
Of course, there is another group of people who choose a more direct way of making a living, which is to go into business overseas. Scholars who take this path generally have a good family background, and it is indeed not something that ordinary people can imitate. For example, Shen Wansan of the Ming Dynasty and Wu Bingjian of the Qing Dynasty both chose to follow their fathers in business after failing in the imperial examinations, and then became business tycoons at that time.
However, the above examples are difficult for local scholars in Danzhou to realize. The main reason is that the governance of Danzhou no longer belongs to the Ming Dynasty. All the Ming officials on Hainan Island either chose to join Haihan or were unemployed. There was no market demand for the profession of master, so there was no way to talk about employment opportunities. As for writing official documents, even the yamen have stopped operating, so there is no official document to be written. In the past two years, all the official documents submitted have been done by the specialized department of Haihan, leaving civilian literati to do odd jobs. There is no chance.
As for doing business in the sea, Haihan is very welcoming. In the past two years, some scholars with wealthy families and flexible minds have indeed seized the business opportunities and become distribution agents or plantation farmers who cooperate with Haihan. But this method is not available to everyone. After all, most scholars in this era still insist that merchants are a relatively humble profession and are unwilling to let go of their dignity as literati. And those who have such plans may not have the corresponding abilities and capital to start, and may not even be able to cross the threshold to enter the industry.
If none of the above paths work or are unwilling to take them, and are unwilling to put aside their status and serve Haihan, then they can only stay here and dawdle. Anyway, relying on the income from being a substitute teacher in the academy, at least for a while I can still get by with three meals a day. Fan Changyi originally didn't want to arrange for Ning Qi to visit the advanced class, but later he changed his mind - if the Haihan people took a fancy to someone during this period and took him away directly, it would also be of great benefit to the reputation of White Deer Academy.
This is not impossible to happen. After all, the cultural quality of scholars who can obtain honors in the imperial examinations is not too bad, and everyone here must be approved by Fan Changyi before they can stay in the academy to continue studying the classics and history. They are considered to be somewhat capable. Fan Changyi believes that although these people still want to obtain the Ming Dynasty's honors, it does not mean that they are loyal to the Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, how could they willingly stay in the "enemy-occupied areas" and they should have moved away long ago. The greater possibility is that these people have the mentality of waiting for the price, hoping to get a better offer based on their status as a scholar or a scholar.
Judging from Ning Qi's previous attitude, Fan Changyi felt that this high-ranking Haihan official was very interested in the students of White Deer Academy, and those in the advanced class were considered the elites in the academy, and they often studied Haihan frequently. Various policies, if Ning Qi asked them questions like before, these people's answers would be more organized.
Ning Qi also learned about the situation of this advanced class when he came. When he arrived in the hall, he went straight to the topic: "Everyone here has been to the provincial capital and even the capital city, and has seen the cultural people in the world, so I will not show any official lords in front of you. ”
Everyone in the hall laughed a few times in admiration, and felt that this big shot's attitude was quite approachable, at least much better than those academic officials I had seen before who looked at people through their nostrils.
Ning Qi continued: "I have visited the junior and intermediate classes of the academy before, and also communicated with the students, and have a general understanding of the academy's education methods. I don't want to randomly check everyone's understanding of Haihan here. You are already familiar with the textbooks. Since you can recite the Four Books and Five Classics by heart, the new textbooks, which are only a few dozen pages, will certainly not be a problem for you. Today I want to hear what you think of the current Haihan, good or bad. You can talk about it. You don’t have to worry about being punished for it. We at Haihan don’t have a literary prison. As long as you tell the truth and make sense, you will still have a chance to get rewarded.”
Ning Qi's idea is to take today's opportunity to understand the real thoughts in the minds of folk intellectuals, especially those scholars who have not yet chosen to work for Haihan. However, he also knew that he had a high position and the people below him might not dare to tell the truth in front of him, so he emphasized it. The literary inquisition of the Ming Dynasty was no weaker than that of other dynasties. Because of his background, Ming Taizu was particularly sensitive to words such as monk, thief, bandit, and bandit, and would not let go of even fake words or homonymous words. Wording like "ze" is the same as "thief", "生" is the same as "monk", and "道" is the same as "thief" will also be regarded as disrespectful by them. During the reign of Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, as many as several people were sentenced to death for this. Among the unlucky people who were executed because of the Literary Prison, there were also high-ranking court officials such as Hanlin editors, censors, prefects, etc.
Zhu Di, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty who succeeded to the throne, also completely inherited Zhu Yuanzhang's tyranny of literary prison. After killing Fang Xiaoru, he also ordered that "those who hide Fang Xiaoru's poems will be punished until death." There were many people who lost their lives because of this. Later, Wuzong and Shizong also committed similar atrocities of literary inquisition. Although in the late Ming Dynasty, due to the chaos in the world, the emperor did not have the time to think about these things. However, the prudent words and deeds of civil literati have become a standard. I have made a habit of it and always remember not to discuss the government's affairs arbitrarily.
After Ning Qi finished speaking, everyone in the hall suddenly became silent, and their reaction was far inferior to that of the two classes they had seen before. These scholars have been to big cities and seen the world, and they also know better what to do and what to say. The habits they have developed over a long period of time have made them have no sense of trust in Ning Qi's comfort, and naturally they will not immediately trust Ning Qi. Respond to the topic he started.
Fan Changyi was a little anxious when he saw this. He knew that this high-ranking official from Haihan was really easy to talk to. If he missed this opportunity, these poor scholars might not have such a good chance to perform in the future. He quickly offered help: "Chief Ning But the big shot in charge of culture and education in the Haihan Executive Committee, you guys, being able to meet Chief Ning is a blessing that has been cultivated for several lifetimes, so don’t cherish it!”
After Fan Changyi scolded him, someone finally had the courage to raise his hand. After Ning Qi nodded, the man stood up, bowed deeply, and then said: "Student Pan Mo, I dare to ask a few questions. If there is anything inappropriate, I hope the leader will forgive you."
Ning Qi said: "You can speak freely without any scruples."
Pan Mo bowed again and then said in a deep voice: "The student is from Mutang Town, Danzhou. He passed the provincial examination in the fifth year of Chongzhen. At that time, Haihan sponsored most of the cost of going to Guangzhou to take the examination, and the student has been Very grateful.”
Ning Qi nodded and responded: "We at Haihan have always attached great importance to culture and education. For the imperial examination held every three years, of course, local candidates must be able to rush to the examination room in the best condition to take the exam."
Pan Mo said: "Students just don't understand this. Since Haihan intends to recruit scholars, why send us and other scholars to take the exam? It should be noted that the higher the fame achieved in the Ming Dynasty, the lower the possibility of serving Haihan. Yes. Chief Ning, can you explain the reason? ”
Ning Qi responded: "Before I answer your question, I would also like to ask you to answer a few questions. Pan Mo, judging from your age, you must be in your twenties. You must have participated in the Autumn Festival more than once, right?"
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Pan Mo responded: "The student was admitted as a scholar when he was eighteen years old. After that, he took the exam three times in the autumn, but his qualifications were stupid. He won the exam only after taking the exam for the third time."
Ning Qi said: "Then let me ask you, in these three exams, what has been the change in the number of people traveling from Danzhou to Guangzhou to take the exam?"
Pan Mo said: "In the provincial examination in the sixth year of Tianqi, there were about a hundred people in Danzhou who took the exam. In the second year of Chongzhen, students remember that there were about seventy or eighty people. However, this time in the fifth year of Chongzhen, only a few thirty students passed the examination in Danzhou. Come and take the exam.”
Ning Qi asked: "Then do you know why even though transportation conditions have become more convenient in recent years, fewer and fewer students go to Guangzhou to take exams?"
Pan Mo thought for a moment before answering: "The students thought it might be related to the arrival of Haihan. Before Haihan arrived in Danzhou, he hired literati at high prices to work in Sanya, which attracted many failed literati to abandon their studies and join Haihan. . Later, after taking over the local area, more people chose Haihan instead of Daming as their target. ”
"You're right." Ning Qi took over the conversation and said: "On one side is a single-plank bridge with little hope, and on the other side is generous benefits within reach. I think most people will choose the latter out of practical considerations. Take the exam The number of people is decreasing year by year, which shows that the conditions we offer are enough to meet the needs of most people and make them give up seeking a way out from Ming Dynasty. But no matter how good the conditions we offer, it is impossible to satisfy everyone, and we cannot. We don’t intend to force all scholars to serve us. We can provide a little help to those who are willing to continue taking the imperial examination. Maybe some of them will actually become imperial officials in the future, which is also a good relationship.”
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(End of chapter)