Chapter 157: One wave has just subsided and another wave has risen
When Chen Biao got off the boat, the students were waiting at the dock.
They all breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that none of their elders were on Chen Biao's boat.
Only Chang Wei and Chang Mao had stiff expressions, like children who had done something wrong, without any trace of joy in seeing their parents.
"Dad." Chang Wei and Chang Mao stepped forward and said with their heads lowered, "I..."
Chang Yuchun interrupted with a stern face, "Go back first, and talk about it when you get home."
Chang Wei forced a smile and said, "After His Majesty gave me the house, I have already tidied it up and am waiting for my father to come back."
Chang Yuchun said, "Just leave this matter to the servants. Don't worry about the backyard."
Chang Wei's shoulders slumped: "Yes."
Seeing the pitiful appearance of his thirteen-year-old daughter, Chang Yuchun's heart softened and his tone softened: "Ask your mother to make more of your favorite food tonight."
Chang Wei showed her little girl's smile again: "Okay!"
The classmates around Chang Wei couldn't help but shudder.
Even though they were already very familiar with Chang Wei, they still couldn't help but tremble when they saw Chang Wei's expression that didn't match his strength.
Chang Yuchun noticed this and stepped forward sideways to block those people's view of Chang Wei.
Chang Wei clenched his little hands into fists in his sleeves, his eyes dimmed for a moment, but quickly returned to normal, not daring to let his parents see and worry.
Chen Biao expelled the students who were waiting to greet him: "Okay, what are you doing here? You have nothing to do today? Have you fallen behind in your studies while I've been away? How's your internship going? You have an exam tomorrow. I've already prepared the exam papers in Yingtian, you..."
Before Chen Biao finished speaking, the students were already making strange noises of frustration.
Chen Biao immediately laughed out loud, even the fatigue of the journey swept away: "It seems that you are looking forward to tomorrow's test."
Students: “…” No, we’re not looking forward to it at all!
Chen Biao clapped his hands to quiet down the murmuring students and introduced their new junior fellow apprentice to them.
"Zhang Yi and Zhang Er are still in their initiation phase and won't be attending school for the time being. Chen Li and Ming Sheng will attend school with you. You've both served as teaching assistants before, so you know how to teach students," Chen Biao said. "They'll take turns interning with you. You can discuss the arrangements among yourselves."
The students immediately said, “Yes!”
They came forward warmly, surrounded Chen Li and Mingsheng and asked about their well-being.
It was the first time for Chen Li and Mingsheng to be around so many people of their age, and they felt very restrained.
Chen Biao wasn't worried about the two of them not getting along well with his students. After more than six months of internship in Peking, his naive and reckless students had already honed their skills. Chen Li and Mingsheng were no match for them and would probably be "conquered" by them soon.
Chen Biao was very pleased.
When Chen Biao returned to the official residence, Zhu Wenzhen and Li Wenzhong were already waiting there with a roasted whole cow.
Chen Biao told Li Wenzhong the good news that "I heard that my cousin's wife is very beautiful", and Li Wenzhong was almost moved to tears.
Seeing Li Wenzhong's expression, Zhu Wenzhen felt embarrassed to laugh at him anymore, so the embarrassed Zhu Wenzhen laughed even louder and laughed wildly in Li Wenzhong's ear.
Li Wenzhong was in a good mood today and was too lazy to argue with Zhu Wenzhen.
Zhu Wenzheng yelled "boring" and said he would write a letter to his fourth uncle, and that it would be better for Li Wenzhong to remain single. Li Wenzhong then started fighting with Zhu Wenzheng.
Chen Ying guarded the roasted whole cow to prevent them from contaminating the beef they were going to eat today.
While warming himself by the fire, Chen Biao applauded the two men and asked them to fight again.
The younger brothers followed Chen Biao and joined in the fun.
Even though my parents are not at home, the house is still so lively.
When Chen Biao thought about it this way, he no longer felt lonely, but he felt a little sorry for his parents.
But I heard that Beiping may be upgraded to Beijing next year, so the family should be able to be reunited.
After a comfortable night's sleep at home, except for being woken up once by his four younger brothers who pushed him into bed and insisted on sleeping with him, Chen Biao returned to work the next day and gave his students exams with a malicious smile on his face.
The students sitting in the examination room looked as if they had lost their parents, which made Chen Li and Mingsheng nervous as well.
The students were in a very bad mood before the exam, and everyone seemed to have neglected their studies. As soon as he graded the papers, Chen Biao burst into laughter.
These people are all great actors!
Chen Biao shook his head. " Is it shameful to study hard on your own? Why do you have to pretend you haven't studied?"
Chen Chong, with a stern face, ground ink for his long-lost elder brother. "They're not showing it to you, but to others. I guess they're all secretly studying, thinking they can surpass their classmates."
Chen Biao laughed so hard that he couldn't straighten his back. "This is really... I wonder how ugly their expressions will be when the results are announced."
I thought I was fooling others, but it turns out everyone is a liar?
The intrigues among these students are really cute.
After the test papers were released, the students' faces were indeed very grim. However, they still congratulated their classmates hypocritically and insisted that they were lucky.
Chen Biao laughed so hard that he couldn't straighten his back again.
"Alright, alright, stop acting." Chen Biao said with a smile, "We're going to need you to be busy for a while as we prepare for the winter. Next spring, when the river thaws, I'll give you two months off. Go home and spend some time with your parents."
The students looked happy but also anxious. They did miss home a little, but they didn't want to go home and get beaten.
After rearranging the students' homework and internship content, Chen Biao began to deal with the backlog of official business.
He had four deputies: Chen Lin, Zhu Tong, Liu Lian, and Song Yan. Zhu Wenzhen and Li Wenzhong also often came to help. There were not many things left for Chen Biao to do, and most of them were just for him to review.
Although Peking was still not self-sufficient, the situation had improved significantly, with half the amount of grain needed to be transported from the south.
With such political achievements, Chen Biao ranks among the best among all the prefects in the Ming Dynasty.
When the seaport is built next year, Chen Biao hopes that half of the grain tax will be supplemented by overseas trade, which will continue to reduce the burden on the south.
Among the official duties facing Chen Biao, in addition to the two most important issues of military farming and seaports, there were also education and border markets.
Emperor Hongwu did not plan to hold the imperial examination immediately. He wanted to implement a recommendation system first, allowing already famous hermits and former officials of the Yuan Dynasty to serve as officials in the Ming Dynasty. In the next few years, he would promote education suitable for the Ming Dynasty, cultivate a group of students suitable for the Ming Dynasty, and then hold the imperial examination.
The Hongwu Emperor also planned to reform the imperial examination system, eliminating the poetry test. As for what kind of test to take, he was still discussing it with his trusted ministers.
The curriculum at Yingtian Elementary School was excellent, capable of cultivating practical talents. However, such complex subjects would be difficult for the poor to learn, and ultimately the imperial examination would become a competition for the rich.
Emperor Hongwu and his ministers were racking their brains over how to strike a balance.
Chen Biao also wrote a proposal. However, he did not think his proposal would be adopted because it would increase the cost of training officials for the country, and the Ming Dynasty did not have the money.
Chen Biao believed that the imperial examination and the establishment of basic schools in various places should be given equal importance; the imperial examination was only the first threshold to becoming an official. The training of officials in the Hanlin Academy should be professionalized, and all Jinshi candidates should undergo comprehensive learning similar to that of Yingtian Primary School, and then take the exam for whichever department they want to join.
To put it bluntly, some civil service examinations in later generations were put together based on current realities, with the exception of changing the essay and practical ability tests into imperial examinations.
Chen Biao doesn't care about official evaluations. He cares about basic education.
After the basic education schools are implemented, when Chen’s shop is recruiting people, it will put up the requirement of “a diploma from a certain level of school is required”, which will encourage other businessmen to follow suit and make people who want a good job study voluntarily.
Later, he would also suggest to Emperor Hongwu that when government offices recruited clerks, it would be better to require a "diploma" to let the people know that even if they failed the imperial examination, studying still had other benefits.
In addition, Chen Biao subtly reminded Emperor Hongwu not to give generous treatment in terms of taxes and labor service to scholars and officials in order to promote education, otherwise corruption and annexation would begin from the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty.
I hope Emperor Hongwu can understand his subtle reminder.
The prefects had considerable autonomy. Chen Biao reminded the Hongwu Emperor that he would first implement this in Peking.
He had already prepared basic education textbooks, and educating the soldiers had given him a lot of experience.
He also found a way to fill the gap in teachers - soldiers who had received enlightenment could act as teachers.
The honor of being a teacher can further stimulate the soldiers' enthusiasm for learning, and allow them to pass the time so that they don't disturb the people because they have nothing to do; the people will have a better impression of the Ming army after accepting the teachings of the Ming army soldiers, and it will also be easier to recruit soldiers in the future.
Chen Biao called Xu Shuzhen and Chen Huoxing to arrange the selection of teachers for the basic school from the soldiers: "When selecting teachers, we must not only consider their academic knowledge, but also their discipline and training results. Don't put the cart before the horse."
After Xu Shuzhen agreed, Chen Biao continued, "The top five students in overall performance are all interning under you. Are their internship results really as good as their internship reports?"
After Chen Biao left for so long, the top five in terms of age have become Geng Tianbi, Chen Chong, Zhou Ji, Chang Wei, and Chen Tan. Only the first and second places have changed positions.
The five of them were obviously slightly more talented than their other classmates.
However, among the younger people, Chen Biao had some favorites, as they only lost out due to age. For example, Chang Yuchun's eldest son Chang Mao ranked sixth, closely following his third brother.
Chen Chong lost to Geng Tianbi, and Chen Jin was bitten by Chang Mao. They are both very motivated to study , and Chen Biao is very pleased.
Xu Shuzhen smiled and said, "I dare not lie."
Chen Biao said, "I dare not lie, but I can only say good things and not bad things. As their teacher, I have to help them find their shortcomings and fill them. If I don't know their shortcomings, how can I teach them?"
Xu Shuzhen was stunned for a moment, then immediately clasped her fists and said, "I'll redo my internship report right away!"
Chen Biao shook his head. "No need to redo it. Just add a list of their shortcomings. Even if they are small shortcomings or emotional instability, you must tell me in detail. Teaching students is like fighting a war. A small omission can lead to a complete defeat."
Xu Shuzhen clasped her fists again and said yes.
Chen Biao then said to Chen Huoxing, "Chen Li and Mingsheng will be here for internship soon. Please take better care of them. If they ask, just make up an excuse, like you have the same last name as Chen Li, or you're friendly to Mingsheng."
Chen Huoxing was not as good as Xu Shuzhen in fighting and commanding troops, but he was very good at appeasing people.
Chen Huoxing smiled and said, "Don't worry, Prefect Chen, I will definitely not let them notice. I will just think that everyone in the barracks is a good person."
Chen Biao laughed: "Okay."
After seeing off Xu Shuzhen and Chen Huoxing, Chen Biao stretched and asked someone to invite Chang Yuchun and his three brothers.
Chang Yuchun and Chen Biao's three brothers came to the study at the same time. Chen Biao was looking up at the large map on the wall.
Chang Yuchun was shocked when he saw the map: "Where did this map come from?"
Chen Biao said: "I drew it."
He drew the general outline of the world map from memory, and made adjustments based on the map given by his father and the good map bought at a high price from overseas, and finally got this map.
Chen Biao was not satisfied with this map.
All he remembered were administrative maps that he had memorized from his frequent business trips, but no detailed maps of natural resources or topography.
Only liberal arts students know how to draw maps, science students don't need to.
At this moment, he wished he was a liberal arts student.
In ancient times, a detailed map was a terrifying golden finger.
Chang Yuchun saw the disgust on Chen Biao's face and swallowed his compliments.
He felt that if he said something complimenting, Chen Biao would definitely say something that would be very unpleasant to his heart.
Zhu Wenzheng said excitedly: "Biao'er, you asked us to look at the map. Are you going out to fight? "
Chen Biao kicked Zhu Wenzheng's calf in anger and said, "Hey! Where can I get the money and food? Can you show me some?"
Zhu Wenzheng immediately became discouraged: "Alas, still can't fight? I'm almost bored to death."
Chen Biao said, "Isn't it because you always push the work onto Brother Zhong and Brother Ying?! Don't get off topic. I asked you to come here to discuss how to defend against the Mongol raids from the south."
Zhu Wenzheng's expression immediately turned serious: "Looting?! Didn't we drive away the Yuan Dynasty?! They still dare to come and plunder?!"
Chen Biao said, "There are more Mongols than just the Yuan dynasty. On the contrary, because the Yuan dynasty was in decline, the grassland tribes no longer obeyed its commands, and the looting began again."
Although Zhu Wenzhen and others were battle-hardened generals, they did not know much about the grassland tribes.
They came from humble backgrounds, and after so many years of study, their understanding of the Central Plains was already quite impressive. Outside of the Central Plains, they were a "blind spot."
In fact, it’s not just them. Even some emperors who fought with the grasslands every year may not necessarily understand the affairs of the grasslands.
In those days, communication relied entirely on human transmission, making it extremely difficult to obtain information outside one's own sphere of influence. The Western Han Dynasty sacrificed countless envoys to gain a clear understanding of the Xiongnu's influence in the Western Regions.
When two armies or two countries are at war, not killing envoys has always been just a "moral advocacy."
Who doesn't know that "envoys" are often spies? It would be strange if they weren't executed.
The Ming Dynasty now had neither the time nor the ability to send "envoys" to visit the grasslands and the Western Regions, so all Ming people, including Zhu Yuanzhang, could only guess the current situation of the grasslands from the documents seized from the Yuan Dynasty palace.
Chen Biao has read all these documents. Combined with his understanding of Mongolia in modern society and the information obtained by the caravans he sent out, Chen Biao is probably the person who knows the grassland tribes best in this era.
"The Tatars, a branch of the Yuan Dynasty imperial family, ruled the steppe tribes east of the Mongolian Plateau. The Oirat tribes, centered around the Dzungarians, were ruled by the Oirat, whose nobles included the Choros family. The Uriankhai tribe was the third largest of the Mongol tribes, but the weakest, and was controlled by the Tatars."
"After Genghis Khan became powerful, the Mongol tribes revered him as the King of Mongolia, and Borjigin was called the Golden Family. Borjigin was both the Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty and the overlord of Mongolia."
"The Oirat tribe was on par with the Tatars, and they regarded the Borjigin family as the Mongol queens. They intermarried with the Borjigin family for generations, and only guarded the western part of the desert."
Chen Biao frowned: "Now, Wala is advancing eastward."
