Chapter 284 New Initiatives in Academic Affairs
Zhao Feiyan said that the two old gentlemen came to her house to ask Brother Yulin for advice, and as a scholar, she definitely wanted to listen along.
The two old gentlemen laughed and said that they had someone report to the little princess before they set out.
He said that they were all not outsiders, so it was okay. Feiyan had already asked someone to bring the four treasures of the study, and sat upright as if to take notes.
Zhao Yulin said that we should discuss it in more detail. In order to avoid the homonym of University and Imperial College so that those defenders of feudal Neo-Confucianism could seize on the theory, it is better to call our Caotang University a Academy. Let's call it Caotang Academy. What do you think?
Everyone nodded, especially Mr. Wu. He was a great Neo-Confucianist himself, with the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues and the supremacy of the emperor in his mind. He certainly knew the meaning of it, and was even more pleased to see Zhao Yulin's proposal to change the name of the school.
Zhao Yulin said that the new academy would not have so many titles. Mr. Wu would be the dean of the academy, and Mr. Zhang would be the first vice dean. Two more vice deans would be appointed to share the responsibilities of the academy. Mr. Liu Haitang would be the director of the academy's office, and the framework of Caotang Academy would be established.
Here, the academy official office mentioned by Zhao Yulin is actually the academy office. However, a few deans and vice-deans would definitely not be able to run the academy. It would be much easier with the academy's official office.
At this point, everyone basically has a clear understanding of the structure of the academy, which is basically the same as the situation in Cuiping Mountain.
Zhang Xiangyang was very familiar with the management of various majors under Cuipingshan Academy. He immediately played the role of a mentor and said with a smile that if several more schools were set up under the academy, such as literature school, mathematics school, music school, medical school, etc., how about the supervisors be called directors and deputy directors?
He spoke in a tone of seeking opinion and looked at Zhao Yulin, wanting to hear his suggestion.
Zhao Yulin nodded and said that it could be tried. Our Caotang Academy should be developed into a first-class university in China, and the president should enjoy the salary of a director-general of the Ministry of Education. All the principals and professors at all levels in the academy should be sorted out, and matching salaries should be obtained and transferred to the government office in full.
This is really exciting. The two old gentlemen were so surprised that their mouths opened wide.
Although scholars are supposed to be indifferent to fame and fortune, it was the first time that the two old gentlemen encountered someone like Zhao Yulin who unscrupulously elevated the status of teachers. It was no exaggeration to describe it as unheard of.
The atmosphere of communication became more lively and relaxed.
Just half a year ago, the prefectural school was a dilapidated, neglected, and empty temple. Now the old school has been completely renovated, new schools have been built at the four gates, and a new university has been built in Caotang.
This is unprecedented in Chengdu. There has never been any prefect, or even any emperor, who has attached so much importance to it and invested so heavily in education.
However, Zhao Yulin also put forward a requirement. He said that only capable people can be teachers, and there are top talents in all 72 professions. We are not restricted by any rules in seeking teachers. There is one requirement that must be strictly checked, that is, they must support our republican vision of a new society and agree with the principle of equality for all. Only such gentlemen can become a member of our academy.
Zhang Xiangyang nodded immediately and said that when he came out, some teachers were still talking about the fact that the emperor's position was unshakable and that the emperor's rule was stable. These truths came from the mouths of teachers and had a great influence on the students.
Zhao Yulin said that since they were all well-educated people, they could have more debates to make things clear.
He asked Zhao Feiyan to have more discussions with teachers and students in the provincial school, and allow such people to leave their jobs and seek better opportunities. We can send them to Jiangdong, open the pass and let them go to the Mongol Empire.
Zhao Yulin believes that an inclusive attitude should be adopted towards academic discussions . If some people are determined and insist on spreading their theories, they should be allowed to display their talents in appropriate places.
Old Mr. Wu Yong was already in a very happy mood. He never thought that Monkey King, who was rumored to be a murderous demon among scholars and who did not wear the golden hoop, could be so sensible.
He kept twirling his beard and nodding, smiling and saying, "Good, very good. In this way, Caotang Academy will definitely be the best school in the world."
After Zhao Yulin sent the guests away, Fenghuang was still talking to Zhao Feiyan.
The little woman touched Feiyan's slender waist, pinched Feiyan's face, looked at Zhao Yulin happily and said, "Our sister has gained weight, why don't you bring Feiyan home?"
Zhao Yulin had just taken a sip of tea when he immediately spat it out, splashing water all over his clothes. He glared at Fenghuang, put down the tea bowl and went to change his clothes.
From behind came the sound of two women laughing heartily.
In the Taiji Academy in Zhending Prefecture, Hebei Province, the Mongol Empire recruited a group of Neo-Confucian scholars such as Zhao Fu and established this top royal academy to teach the principles of Neo-Confucianism to the princes, nobles and children of wealthy families of the Mongol Empire.
Zhao Fu, the person in charge, was drinking with several colleagues. Although this was an important core of the empire, because he was a Han Chinese who was willing to work for Mongolia, he could not get over the issue of forgetting his roots in Neo-Confucianism.
Therefore, no matter how knowledgeable and talented the gentleman is, he is still full of conflicts deep down in his heart.
Mr. Yao told him that Chengdu was going to establish a new Caotang University, so Zhao Qier was going to establish an imperial college. Chengdu was not an imperial city, nor was it a country, so establishing an imperial college was obviously against etiquette.
Zhao Fu spoke softly and asked for wine without making any comment. The servant immediately picked up Wu Gufeng and served wine to the gentlemen.
Mr. Zhao Fu was originally an academic official in Chengdu. A few years ago, he was worried that the Mongolian army would invade Chengdu, so he fled to Jinghu in the name of studying. Unexpectedly, Zhao Yulin defended the Shukou in Hanzhong, and Jinghu became a dangerous place. The old man had extremely bad luck and was unfortunately captured. Under the persuasion of many literati, he surrendered and defected, and became the head of Taiji Academy.
This person collected, compiled, and sorted out a large number of historical books and wrote a large number of Neo-Confucian articles. He made great contributions to the spread of Han Neo-Confucianism in the Mongol Empire and had a very high reputation in Hebei.
However, his academic articles and teaching achievements were all circulated among the upper classes of the empire, and were not as accessible to the people as the mass education advocated by the Divine Might Army.
The Shenwei Army writes articles in vernacular Chinese, which is required to be concise and clear so that anyone who can read can understand it.
Mr. Zhao Fu was still carefully considering the words "zhi, hu, ye, zhe, ye, yan, zai", and he would even drink a cup of tea to think about where to put a comma. Although every piece of his article was of excellent quality, it made ordinary students feel like they were incomprehensible. Ordinary people could not understand it at all and had to listen to the teacher's interpretation before they could understand it.
In addition, the print run of their academy's books and articles is limited, and they are only used for communication and study among students within the academy. If others want books, they have to copy them.
The major academies under the Shenwei Army used the high-end version of the printing technology invented by Bi Sheng. The latest printing press was manufactured by the craftsmen of Cuiping Guigu with extraordinary imagination. It was directly used for typeset printing and was supplied to academies and study rooms in the city. As long as the people wanted to buy, they could always buy their favorite books in the large study rooms.
In particular, the newspaper invented by Zhao Yulin is well-known and deeply loved by the people.
This kind of newspaper, which contains current political news, gossip and commercial advertisements, is very popular among the people and has a huge circulation. People learn to read by reading newspapers, which is equivalent to carrying out independent learning for the whole people.
However, Taiji Academy still disdains to be a businessman and publish a newspaper, and is willing to be a landlord of thousands of acres of land to collect rent. The school funding is not as guaranteed as the academy under the control of the Shenwei Army, and the income from publishing the newspaper can be arranged independently.
Some time ago, if Mr. Zhao Fu wanted to publish a book or do something he liked, he still had to rely on the support of his Mongolian master, so it was naturally difficult to expand the space for running schools.
Mr. Yao said jealously that Zhao Qier was willing to spend money to buy people's hearts. After the Shenwei Army renovated Zhongnan Mountain, Taoist Yin had already announced to Jianghu that he would resign as the leader of the Quanzhen Sect and pass the throne to Taoist Zeng of Zhongnan Mountain. In fact, he was moving the headquarters of the Quanzhen Sect back to Zhongnan Mountain in the Song Dynasty.
He then said sourly that Zhao Qi'er was going to spend one million strings of cash to build a new university to teach his foot music and snake numbers and to promote simplified characters and vernacular Chinese. He was really a country bumpkin who didn't know how high the heavens were and how deep the earth was, which was an insult to Confucius.
"You are still a scholar, there is no need to insult others like this."
Zhao Fu stopped him in a deep voice, he said that Zhao Yulin was teaching his subordinates not to call them northern barbarians, they should respect their opponents, we are still Han people , why should we call them abandoned children?
He thought that Zhao Yulin's Zhao-style numerical symbols were very good, and they were very easy to calculate and write. The foot-board notes were even more amazing, far superior to the previous ways of recording music creation, and were a progress in civilization.
He said that Commander Zhao was teaching the Shenwei Army to respect their opponents, and to call them the Mongolian Army and the Mongolians instead of calling them the Northern Barbarians. This shows how broad-minded this man is.
Lord Yao might as well keep an eye on it. In the future, China will definitely be ruled by the Zhao family of the Divine Power Army.
The teachers who were drinking together were shocked that Zhao Fu could say such outrageous words. They were serving the Mongolian Lord and were singing praises for the Mongol Empire.
Someone immediately lowered his voice and said: Be careful, the walls have ears, don't let the northern barbarians get hold of you and lose your life...
Zhao Yulin changed his clothes and came out, but Zhao Feiyan was missing. Instead, Ma Linger came back early. He was still looking around, and Fenghuang asked him with a smile what he was looking for.
The little princess has gone back a long time ago.
Ma Linger said with a smile, "Let's carry Feiyan into the house. Our brother looks so distracted and miserable."
Zhao Yulin stared at him and asked if he had any.
It's just a visit. I wanted to discuss academic matters with her.
Ma Linger was very happy. She went up to Zhao Yulin, hugged him and said that Lord Hua had told him that all the gentlemen agreed and asked her to be the transport envoy.
Fenghuang immediately went up to Ma Ling and slapped him on the face as a reward. Ma Ling laughed and scolded her for licking her in a weird way, saying how could a woman kiss a woman?
Fenghuang said proudly that she had returned to being a military discipline inspector, and that a mere transport envoy was nothing.
The two women started arguing in the room, and Zhao Yulin went to sit in the study.
Not long after, the assistant sent an invitation to go to Wenjiang County tomorrow to attend the launching ceremony of the excavation of Yangliu River. This is the major farmland water conservancy project that Lao Cao promised when he redeemed the land.
