Chapter 240: Things Have Changed (Part 7)
"Captain, are you cursing us?"
At the study meeting, someone said angrily. Huo Chong felt that he had made all the mental preparations, but he still felt that his mood was greatly impacted.
Saying this was already a counterattack when the other party was almost in a desperate situation.
Huo Chong cheered up and overcame the unhappiness brought by his mood swings, and waved his hand to stop others who wanted to stand up. At least what this guy said was the true feelings of quite a few people, and people who said such things should not be attacked immediately.
Huo Chong asked, "Do you think that if you own your own land, it will last for thousands of years?"
"Sir, you don't even have your own land, you have nothing!"
"Do you want land, or do you want to be able to farm every year?"
"I...I want them all." This person told the truth.
Huo Chong felt that this answer was normal and not stupid at all, and his mood improved a lot.
Yang Wangfu, who was present at the meeting, angrily said, "You want whatever the teacher gives you!"
One sentence suppressed the opponents and those who opposed in their hearts but didn't say it. Huo Chong thought for a while, "Wang Fu said the solution. Let's do it now! However, I want everyone to understand why we do this. This doesn't mean that some people are wrong. What's wrong with wanting to last for thousands of years? That's right. However, the method of taking advantage of everything will not last for thousands of years. It will also kill many poor people."
At this point, Huo Chong felt that it was time to talk about this issue, so he asked directly: "If you have land to farm every year, you don't have to harm others. This is a kind of life that makes us feel uneasy. Another kind is to occupy everything, but it will kill many poor people. It makes us feel that we are living a peaceful life. There are two ways, which one do you choose?"
After saying this, everyone at the meeting shut their mouths tightly. Many people seemed to not understand what was going on. However, without even opening their mouths, one could sense the threat. The atmosphere triggered the animal instinct of humans to sense danger.
Gao Pang, who was far away in the capital, stretched his body and yawned loudly. This action made Gao Pang feel very relaxed and comfortable. He wiped the tears that oozed unconsciously from the corners of his eyes and looked down at the mock test questions on the table in front of him.
It is now December of the sixth year of Yongzheng, and it is almost the first month of the year of Qianlong. The Enke exam is very urgent, and it will start on the first day of February. Even if I read more in a month, it will not help much. Instead, it is more practical to improve my writing skills.
This article is based on transcendental logic, which is a new high that Gao Pang has reached. Especially since Gao Pang forced himself to write from an "inhuman" perspective, he even felt a sense of sudden enlightenment.
Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism advocates "preserving the principles of heaven and eliminating human desires". Huo Chong said "any discussion of human nature that is divorced from reality is inhuman". With the two mutually reinforcing, Gao Pang felt that he understood what kind of officials the Qing Dynasty needed.
In Gao Pang's opinion, Huo Chong is a person with his own firm ideas. He believes in seeking truth from facts, admitting problems, discovering problems, and solving them. This is Huo Chong's opinion.
The Qing Dynasty was actually similar. Unlike Huo Chong, the Qing Dynasty wanted the results to meet their expectations and requirements.
Transcendentalism and the Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, which do not emphasize human nature, are very consistent with the requirements of the Qing Dynasty. The Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues, unilateral power and unilateral obedience.
Gao Pang picked up the pen and wanted to revise his article. At least in Gao Pang's opinion, too much of his content was a bit too ostentatious. After all, he had just figured it out, and he still felt that the other party would not understand, so he had to speak more directly.
This is probably why the teacher repeatedly reminded Gao Pang not to look down on others before he left. Gao Pang didn’t understand before, but now he feels that he understands. At this time, what is needed is not to explain what the concept is, but to use the content cited by these concepts.
After finishing another draft, Gao Pang casually threw the previous article into the brazier and burned it. Just as he was about to study it again, he heard someone knocking on the door. When he opened the door, he saw the scholar who was traveling with him excitedly said, "Lord Lu is here!"
Gao Pang was a little surprised. Lord Lu was a Jinshi who passed the imperial examination in Zhenjiang and now worked in the six ministries. Gao Pang and his friends had originally wanted to take the initiative to pay a visit to him, but they didn't expect Lord Lu to condescend to do so. As a senior brother, Gao Pang really wanted to meet this former disciple of Mr. Banshan.
When they left the inn, they saw an official in his forties getting off a sedan chair. The leading scholar said quickly, "It's cold outside, let's go inside and greet each other."
It was icy and snowy in December, but Lord Lu didn't care and followed the others into the inn. After introducing themselves to each other, they sat around the brazier and stretched out their hands to warm themselves by the fire.
At this time, the only thing that could be discussed was the imperial examination. Lord Lu readily told everyone the general situation of the imperial examination. After listening for a while, everyone in the group frowned. The eldest brother who was trying to recruit Gao Pang as a son-in-law asked hesitantly: "Are you just trying to recruit all the people this time?"
Lord Lu sighed, "That bastard Huo Chong broke into the capital and committed atrocities in the six ministries of Qipan Street. The Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Personnel were almost wiped out. Other ministries also suffered losses. This..." Lord Lu raised his hand to make an eight, and then said, "In Shengjing. Shengjing has few Jinshi. The court needs to recruit more Manchu Jinshi."
When the candidates heard this, they felt very depressed. They had worked so hard to come to the imperial examination, but they were just here to accompany the examinees?
At this time, the eldest brother who wanted to be Gao Pang's father-in-law asked tentatively: "Master Lu, do you want us to go home immediately?"
"I'm just saying this. I hope you guys won't feel comfortable passing the exam. Even if that's the case, we won't reject any Han candidates. After all, according to the rules, you can't pass the exam with less than 100 Yuan."
Hearing what Lord Lu said, Gao Pangren was amused. The so-called "Manchus are not selected as the first place" is said to be a rule established during the Shunzhi era. In the imperial examinations of the Qing Dynasty, Manchus were not selected as the first or third place. Analyzing the specific questions raised by Huo Chong, it was a gimmick deliberately created by the Qing Dynasty to show off.
It is said that in addition to the rule of whether to get a full or not, there are other rules, that is, the number of Jinshi candidates must be half of the bannermen.
The bannermen made up less than one percent of the Han people, but they occupied half of the Jinshi quota. If Huo Chong had not said it clearly in his manifesto, using it to criticize the so-called "Manchu and Han are one family" as a lie, Gao Pang would not have known it before.
Since this time it was a special examination for the Manchus, that is to say, the many Han candidates who came to Beijing to take the exam could only compete for three places.
Lord Lu saw that Gao Pang was smiling calmly, and the people around him were confused. He couldn't help but become interested in Gao Pang. He asked, "Brother Gao, are you going back?"
Gao Pang shook his head. "I came here just for reference. Even if I know I won't pass, I still have to go through this process."
When Lord Lu heard what Gao Pang said, he was even more pleased. He turned to the oldest candidate and said, "Can you lend me some of the articles you wrote?"
