Chapter 68 Section 7 Principal Zhu's Horrible School Rules

Although the remuneration is so good, if you have the opportunity to go back to the Hongwu era by time shuttle, I still advise you not to enjoy the emperor's compulsory education.Because, if you enter a state school, it is very likely that you will not be able to come out alive. It's not sensational.There is no free lunch in the world, and the school regulations formulated by Emperor Hongwu are not something ordinary people can bear. First let's take a look at what we learn in school.The homework of schools at all levels was directly assigned by the emperor, and the content was "Imperial Imperial Examination" (that is, the emperor's quotations), "Daming Laws" (that is, criminal law), in addition to the Four Books and Five Classics and "Shuo Yuan".The emperor stipulated that Taixue students write one piece of calligraphy every day, memorize one hundred words of "Dagao" every three days, one hundred words of this classic, one hundred words of four books, and six compositions every month.

The homework doesn't seem to be heavy, but the school rules are a bit scary.There are fifty-six school rules in total, some of which are similar to today's rules, such as wearing school uniforms, not being late for roll call, and not drinking alcohol at night.However, there are also some rules that are a bit strange: 1. Associations are not allowed, and all literature clubs and poetry clubs are strictly banned. 2. It is not allowed to discuss whether the food in the school cafeteria is good or not. 3. Criticism of people and things is absolutely prohibited. The strangest one is this rule:

Farmers, businessmen and businessmen can talk about all military and civilian benefits, but students are not allowed to speak. That is to say, all the people in the world, anyone else can express their opinions and make suggestions on the major policies of the country, only students are not allowed!The purpose, of course, is to weed out the possibility of students participating in politics. It seems that although Zhu Yuanzhang was in the Middle Ages, he could sense the natural connection between students and radical political mentality with his superhuman political sensitivity. In order to implement these school rules, Zhu Yuanzhang specially assigned two yamen servants to the school for what purpose?Hit the board.Once there is a violation, the students are dragged to the teacher's office called "Shengjian Hall", take off their pants, press them on the ground, and beat them hard.Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated that the judgment should be made entirely by the teachers, and the students had no right to appeal.

Hitting the board is a light punishment, and it can even lead to exile.There is this one in the school regulations: "As a student, filial piety, loyalty, loyalty, and righteousness should be the foundation. Teachers, relatives and friends must be fostered to develop a heart of loyalty for future use. Anyone who dares to insult teachers and complain about things is guilty of crimes. If it is indecent, the prisoner will be given a hundred sticks and sent to the army in Yunnan." However, wherever there are students, dissent seems inevitable.Due to the strict school regulations, some students were starved to death during the tenure of Song Na, the first principal of Tai Tai, and many students committed suicide.Student Zhao Lin was very dissatisfied with the principal's cruelty, and published an anonymous poster (post without head) to express his opinion on the principal.This incident was reported to the emperor as a serious political incident. Zhu Yuanzhang was furious and ordered to kill the found criminal Zhao Lin, and set up a long pole in the Guozijian to hang his head on it for public display.Ten years later, Zhu Yuanzhang once visited Taixue. Thinking of this incident, he was still angry, and called all the staff and students to lecture:

Every student you listen to: Song Na used to make sacrificial wine, the school rules were so serious, and scholars are willing to learn from them every time they follow the rules, so everyone taught is useful, and the court is so good.Later, when he passed away, he was sent back to his hometown for burial with gifts. Along the way, there were priests offering sacrifices to him. Nowadays, every time that young scholar official comes to study, the school rules he sets are followed every time.Anyone who dares to resist, act mischievously, or violate the school rules will not be spared if they come to play with wine at the sacrifice!The whole family went to the smoky ground, or served as an army, or as an official, or as a leader.

From now on, the school regulations will be strict, and if there are any undocumented students who dare to slander the teacher by posting a headless post like before, they will be allowed to come forward, or they will be tied up in the future, and they will be rewarded with two big silvers.If someone who has pasted the ticket before knows, or comes out, or binds the future, he will generally be rewarded with two big silver.The prisoner was delayed, Xiao Ling was in front of the prison, the whole family was confiscated, and the population was sent to the smoky ground.This! The pole hanging from Zhao Lin's head had been erected for more than 160 years before it was removed.

While focusing on school education, Zhu Yuanzhang also reformed the imperial examination system.The imperial examination system he set pays more attention to form, and the rules are more cumbersome. Slightly imitating Song Jingyi, replacing the tone of the ancients. The body uses the pairing, which is called stereotyped..." Relative to true knowledge, he pays more attention to unified specifications, unified tone, and unified thinking, so as to form formatted knowledge molecular. Stereotyped essays are confined to the classics and meanings of Confucius and Mencius, and only take Zhu Zi's commentaries. They must speak for the sages, and they are not allowed to go beyond the threshold.It has serious formalism, such as how to solve the problem, how to support the problem... There are strict regulations, and even the number of words is limited to 500 or 700 words.This reform made the imperial examination system completely reduced to a tool of torture for killing talents. In order to earn fame, scholars can only read their heads and ponder over time and literature, and have no energy to think about the righteousness behind the books. It is equivalent to burning books".

Under Zhu's system design, intellectuals can only grow according to his standards.They can only "take excerpts from the scriptures as their ambition, and what they cut is only the notes of the four sons' one scriptures, whether they are glimpses or drills, and the rest are sloppy." , are all overwhelmed."Thoughts are severely restrained, and intelligence is stifled. "When talking to him, stare at him, and his tongue is too strong to be right."Therefore, during the Hongwu period, there was often the phenomenon of "not choosing talents for admission, and not considering the importance of appointments", so that Zhu Yuanzhang himself lamented from time to time: "Since I came to the throne, although the edicts to seek talents have been issued many times, I have been awarded the best." It’s not working.”

"I have been in the imperial court for 30 years, and I have been diligently seeking talents, but there are few people who can not be expected. Those who are in charge of the constitution have no enthusiasm, and those who are herdsmen have no real words!"