klisemfg Chapter 564: Prince's School
Chapter 564: Prince's School
As October approached, the atmosphere in the capital city became inexplicably serious, but compared with Xia Wanchun's promotion to the rank, this was a trivial matter.
Being able to be considered a major event in the capital city and under the feet of the emperor must naturally be closely related to the future structure of the court, and this major event is related to the crown prince.
In the second year of Zhaowu, the ministers submitted a memorial to the emperor, requesting him to select an imperial tutor for the crown prince. However, Meng Jun rejected the memorial on the grounds that the crown prince was too young.
However, Meng Jun did not want the princes to continue to repeat the traditional education system. Although the education of princes was very strict during the Qing Dynasty, it could actually be said to be a relatively successful dynasty in educating princes.
But Meng Jun knew that the world was changing. If he studied Confucian classics all day long, he would certainly not be able to cope with the changes in the world in the future.
Meng Jun knew that no matter how he set up the ancestral system, it would be completely unrecognizable in the future after the passage of time, just like the Dahao of Ming Taizu, which became empty words in just a hundred years.
But at least, Meng Jun also hoped to leave behind some thoughts and culture that could be passed down to future generations, so that Confucianism would no longer be so stubborn and rigid. Regardless of success or failure, he had done his best and lived up to history.
After rejecting the memorials submitted by his ministers, Meng Jun established a school in the inner city of the capital. This school taught traditional Confucianism, mathematics, physics, geography and a series of other subjects.
And in this school, there is also a special person, namely, Johann Adam Schall von Bell.
Johann Adam Schall von Bell, a native of Cologne, Germany, was a Catholic Jesuit missionary. He came to Macao in the 48th year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty. When the Qing Dynasty swept across the Central Plains, Schall von Bell came to Beijing. He was very much loved by Fulin. Although Fulin had no power, he gave Schall von Bell great hope for missionary work.
What Johann Adam Schall von Bell did not expect was that the Qing government would lose its ruling power over the Central Plains in such a short period of time. After the Qing government was defeated and withdrew from Beijing, Johann Adam Schall von Bell took advantage of the chaos to hide in a cellar. He only came out of the cellar after the Qian army entered the city.
After meeting Johann Adam Schall von Bell, Meng Jun thought that he was much better at physics than the scholars in the Central Plains. Therefore, in the second year of Zhaowu, Meng Jun established the Imperial School and let Johann Adam Schall von Bell be responsible for teaching physics.
After this school was built, it enrolled more than 200 children from ordinary families, as well as the children of dozens of noble families. Some children of Beijing officials were also enrolled. It has been two years since then.
Now that the prince is six years old, recent days, civil officials have occasionally submitted memorials requesting the selection of a teacher for the prince, but Meng Jun neither opposed nor agreed with this.
Afterwards, Meng Jun issued an edict to send Crown Prince Meng Chengzhao to the Imperial Academy, and this edict caused an uproar in the court and the country.
Ministers submitted memorials one after another, and the palace was filled with voices of worry. The Chief Censor Chen Zilong wrote in a letter, "The Crown Prince is the heir to the throne of the country, and he is the heir to the throne. He is responsible for the well-being of the people. If he attends an ordinary school, it may damage his dignity and be regarded as disrespectful. The education of the Crown Prince should be taught by virtuous teachers, and he should learn the classics. Moreover, what the Crown Prince should learn is the way to govern the country. What benefit will it bring to the country if he attends an ordinary school?"
However, more people were worried that the prince would be in danger of being attacked by the White Dragon Fish after entering school. Most of what they said was true. If there were treacherous people lurking outside, it would be difficult to protect him. If something unexpected happened, the consequences would be disastrous.
Openly, Meng Jun did not reject the memorials of his ministers, but privately, he still secretly sent Crown Prince Meng Chengzhao and third son Meng Chengjin to school, and warned them not to reveal their identities.
Meng Jun was a man of great care. He made such arrangements in order to allow the prince to broaden his horizons and experience the people's sentiments, rather than growing up in the deep palace and knowing nothing about the outside world. Meng Jun also took great pains to ensure the prince's safety.
Meng Jun first ordered Meng Bian to select a group of loyal and skilled martial artists as guards, who disguised themselves and sneaked into the vicinity of the school to prevent any accidents. At the same time, there were also a large number of imperial guards patrolling the periphery closely, day and night. Inside the school, Meng Jun also sent Gao Yi to enter the school to teach martial arts part-time.
Every time he goes to and from school, he uses secret passages to avoid crowded places. The carriages and sedan chairs are all specially camouflaged. They look ordinary on the outside but are actually reinforced on the inside to protect against long-range crossbows and muskets. All itineraries are changed from time to time. With such a multi-pronged approach, the prince's safety should be of no concern.
In private, Meng Bian asked doubtfully: "Your Majesty, this may not be a problem in the short term, but over a long period of time, it may be difficult to conceal!"
In fact, Meng Bian was a little confused. Now, if he wanted some great scholar to teach the prince, he would have to go there to teach him. Why would he go through so much trouble to go to school?
Meng Jun did not answer Meng Bian's question, but only asked him to protect the prince's safety.
A few days later, when the morning light was just beginning to shine and the golden crow was just rising, Crown Prince Meng Chengzhao and Third Prince Meng Chengjin, two young six-year-old figures, escorted by guards who had changed their clothes, left the palace for the first time and entered the Imperial Academy.
In order to hide their true identities, the two changed their names to Li Zhao and Li Jin respectively. They were dressed in simple student attire. Although it was difficult to conceal the nobleness in their eyes and brows, they still looked well-behaved and cute. At first glance, they seemed to be just the boys next door, no different.
"Li Zhao, Li Jin" An old man who looked very serious came towards them, his tone was calm and serious.
"Li Zhao, Li Jin, from today on, you two are students of our academy. You should know that learning is endless and diligence comes first."
The two little kids nodded immediately and said, "We will follow the teacher's instructions."
"Well, this academy advocates both moral and intellectual development, with etiquette as the top priority. All students in the academy must follow the school rules."
The old man said a few more words and then took the two princes to the classroom. It was the time when new students entered school. Li Zhao and Li Jin, two children who had lived in the palace for a long time, were very excited about this novel scene.
For the two princes who were leaving the palace for the first time, this was undoubtedly a brand new experience. Meng Jun didn't know how long he could conceal his identity under this alias, but if Meng Jun wanted to bypass the civil officials group, it seemed that this was the only way left.
Then the teacher said something to the students, telling them not to bully their classmates, to love each other, and to study hard, before distributing textbooks to them.
When Meng Jun established the Imperial Academy, some intelligent people saw that the emperor's move must be to reform the imperial examination system. Therefore, many ministers carefully screened the courses taught in the Imperial Academy.
Finally, after several discussions between the ministers and Meng Jun, Confucianism remained the largest course in the school, and the four subjects of physics, mathematics, geography, and martial arts combined were barely on par with Confucianism. This was already a concession made by the ministers to the emperor.