Chapter 210 Chapter 209 Crazy Scholar

Zuo Mengeng arrived in Fuchi in person and Li Ping was also stunned.

Of course, Zuo Mengeng originally planned to go to Qizhou, but he didn't expect that Li Ping would actually continue to stay in Fuchi Town, which had no insurance.

Zuo Mengeng was skeptical of Yang Ming's words.

Although there was still a small gap to achieve all the goals, Zuo Mengeng decided to stop.

He was not going to make trouble for himself.

If Li Ping is not in Qizhou and he goes, he will probably have to meet Xu Wenqi, and then there is a high probability that he will be criticized by Xu Wenqi who dares to do things and speak out, and some other troubles may arise.

.

But in the small rich pool, Zuo Mengeng found that he was not good enough to be treated, nor was he good not to be treated.

In the end, Zuo Mengeng, who had completed all important tasks, chose to return before nightfall.

Watching Zuo Mengeng's boat go away, Li Ping couldn't help but think about it more.

Li Ping realized that he had overestimated Zuo Liangyu and Zuo Mengeng.

Zhou Wen also looked thoughtful.

Zhou Wenwen was assisting Ma Yong in managing the defense in Qizhou. This time he came back from Qizhou specifically to give Zuo Menggeng a grand reception.

After listening to the reports from Yang Ming and He Zhuzhu, Li Ping became more convinced of his judgment and began to worry.

He knew that things were by no means simple and he needed to sort them out.

But no matter what, it is still worth being happy for now.

It is always a happy event when Zuo Menggeng sends a large amount of food, weapons, cloth and other materials in the name of supplies and rewards. These things are never too much in wartime.

Moreover, Yang Ming also brought back a dozen scholars who wanted to join the army, which made Li Ping even more happy. Even though only a few of these scholars had scholar status.

There is no doubt that the widespread participation of scholars will contribute to the rapid improvement of the overall cultural level of the army and directly radiate to the improvement of combat effectiveness.

As Mao Zedong said: "An army without culture is a stupid army, and a stupid army cannot defeat the enemy."

The rapid rise to high positions of Zhou Wen and Yang Ming was essentially due to Li Pingzheng's increasingly formalized military's extreme thirst and need for culture.

Especially in the organizational work of the military, it is almost impossible to perform without literacy.

And high-efficiency organs are the most effective guarantee of combat effectiveness.

As for the issues that these scholars might cause about the troops' loyalty to him, Li Ping was no longer very worried.

System design, personnel control, environmental contamination, etc. can greatly reduce hidden dangers.

Zhou Wen is a good example.

In fact, these scholars from the Anqing area were not the first batch of scholars to come to Li Ping in large numbers. They were the scholars from Huangpi County and Xingguo Prefecture, especially Xingguo Prefecture.

This once confused Li Ping.

It seems that the choice of Qiu Ba by a large number of scholars to abandon literature and pursue martial arts should not occur in this dynasty where elegance and martial arts were extremely important.

However, Huangpi County and Xingguo Prefecture had their own specialties after all, so Li Ping didn't think much about it at the time.

But now even scholars from Anqing came all the way to join him. Although Li Ping was happy, he couldn't help but become suspicious again.

Looking at Yang Ming, who was still wearing an expensive and exquisite Huluo shirt with a smile on his face, Li Ping knew that if this problem was not solved as soon as possible, he would probably have trouble sleeping again.

He thought he could try talking to Zhou Wenye, maybe Zhou Wen could know something.

And he was not disappointed.

"General, does he know what the number of people in the Ming Dynasty are now?" Under the candlelight, Zhou Wen sighed and asked the question after only thinking for a moment.

Li Ping asked strangely: "I don't know, why do you ask?"

"There are three hundred students in the county, no less than five hundred thousand. It is conceivable that the number of students who failed to pass the child examination will be even larger." Zhou Wen gave the answer directly.

But Li Ping didn't react. He asked, "Isn't it a good thing to have more scholars?"

Zhou Wen smiled bitterly and said: "But in the seventh year of Xuande's imperial war, there were only 30,000 students. However, the number of official positions in the world has not changed much in these years."

"It means that it is nearly twenty times more difficult to pass the examination! Is it getting more and more difficult to become an official?" Li Ping finally grasped the key point.

Zhou Wen nodded, and then said even more astonishingly: "That's right. For every Confucian student taking the exam, the admission rate is 30 for each candidate. The admission rate for those who take the exam is only 3%, and the admission rate for those who take the Jinshi exam is higher.

Some are about 5 percent. If you are a student now, the chance of becoming a Jinshi in three years is only 0.15 percent."

Percentage is one of Li Ping's practical new learnings, and it is also a mathematical method that is used more frequently in his army. Zhou Wen has mastered and used it proficiently.

"The probability seems a bit low." Li Ping murmured.

Zhou Wen smiled bitterly again and said: "It's not a bit low, it's too low. The vast majority of scholars can't even pass the examination, let alone become officials. They are like beggars, prisoners, and cold bees in late autumn.

Like a sick bird out of a cage, like a stalked dog, like a poisonous fly, like a dove with broken eggs, this is the true portrayal of most of the current students in the country, and the majority of children are even more miserable."

The "Qi Shi" (Qi Si), in which students' living conditions are as if they are mentally ill, comes from "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" written by Pu Songling in the Qing Dynasty, and is borrowed here.

Pu Songling himself was such a person who failed to win in the examination room. He failed to pass the examination for many years. Later, he had no choice but to switch to business. He did well and made a lot of money. He opened a teahouse and said

A story can be worth the price of tea, so "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" was written.

However, Zhou Wen's vivid metaphors for students made Li Ping feel a bit confused. He was still not used to informal and informal language, but Li Ping's mind quickly mapped out a familiar scene: Fan Jin passed the exam.

He blurted it out immediately.

Fan Jin in "The Scholars" is also such an example before passing the exam.

Butcher Hu came to congratulate Fan Jin when he won the scholarship. Later, when he found out that Fan Jin was old and the master gave him alms, his expression changed and he cursed Fan Jin. Fan Jin's living conditions before he won the exam were very poor, and his status was

It was also very low, which was also the true situation of many students at that time.

That's why he went crazy after winning the lottery.

Although "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" and "The Scholars" were both written in the Qing Dynasty, they are quite similar to those in the late Ming Dynasty. The imperial examination system in the Qing Dynasty basically followed the Ming system, and because the society was generally stable, there were many scholars who took the imperial examination path.

, the admission rate to the imperial examination is also very low.

"What! Who is Fan Jin?"

Faced with what Li Ping blurted out, Zhou Wen was confused. It was impossible for him to have read "The Scholars" whose author was not even born yet, and it was even less possible for him to know who Fan Jin was.

"It's nothing. I remembered a student I had heard of before, who was in a similar state to the one you described. You continue." Li Ping hurriedly covered it up.

Zhou Wen looked at Li Ping strangely. He was probably used to it and did not hesitate. Instead, he continued: "Because it is too difficult to take the scientific examination, and the scientific examination is very expensive and requires a lot of money at home."

It is necessary to have enough money to support them. Many students from poor families have to give up their towels early, and even many people from well-off families are unwilling to persist. It has become a very common thing to give up a lot of towels."

"Then why don't you study?" Li Ping asked curiously.

As a descendant, Li Ping had a stereotype of ancient scholars, and it was difficult to imagine what scholars could do if they didn't study. Do they have to work in farming and support their families?

"Many people choose to do business." Zhou Wen's answer was very bland and unsurprising.

"Doing business?" But Li Ping was surprised.

Didn’t ancient scholars look down upon the skills of merchants the most?

But Zhou Wen really didn't lie on this issue.

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, a large number of students abandoned their turbans, which was a very unique social phenomenon. It was also a unique phenomenon that a large number of scholars became businessmen.

The social status of merchants in the Ming Dynasty was actually much higher than that in previous dynasties. At least there was no rule that the sons of merchants were not allowed to serve as officials or participate in the imperial examinations. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, two famous elders, Zhang Siwei and Wang Chonggu, were both from a family of salt merchants.

One was born into a wealthy businessman family.

"Sikuquanshu·Nian'an Collected Works" also records such a story.

Zhou Xian, a native of Zhengde, had to support four people. He and his brother took the imperial examination together, which cost a lot and his mother could not afford it alone, so Zhou Xian gave up the imperial examination and went into business.

Of course, this is also one of the important reasons why businessmen groups in the Ming Dynasty had a huge influence on the government.

For example, it is difficult to collect taxes.

However, Zhou Wen did not understand Li Ping's surprise. He thought that Li Ping was not satisfied with this "well-known" and unsubstantial answer.

So he went on to say: "Of course, at this time of trouble for the country, they also have more choices. Aren't there some who were influenced by me and Yang Yukun and came to us to join the army? Others just simply

He went to join the bandit army to become an official. Those who have studied will always be unwilling to do so."

"I'll go!" Li Ping couldn't help but curse.

He not only understood one problem, but understood two problems at the same time, and even the other problem was bigger and more fatal.

Zhou Wen was indeed not given for free.

Li Ping has always been very concerned about the news about Li Zicheng, but due to the military confrontation, the information that can be transmitted is often fragmented, and the authenticity is difficult to distinguish.

But Li Ping still confirmed that Li Zicheng returned to Xiangyang after retreating from Hanyang and established a political power in Xiangyang in March. At the same time, Li Zicheng also dug up the Xianling Tomb and transported the dismantled building materials back to Xiangyang for construction.

This is undoubtedly the rhythm of upgrading into a new era.

Then Li Zicheng launched a huge fight and achieved one person's sole power, basically removing all obstacles to becoming the emperor.

No wonder he stopped his army in Wuchang.

People have bigger ideas and desires.
To be continued...