I

"Mr. Gu, "Jinling Gongbao" is willing to give fifty silver dollars to please Mr. to clear the names of women in the world! If Mr. is willing to sign his real name, the polishing fee can be increased to one hundred silver dollars."

Before a newspaper had even received a license, the editor-in-chief came to ask for articles in person.

Gu Yanwu was not interested in this: "I'm not in the mood to write, you can ask someone else to do it."

The editor-in-chief thought that there was not enough money, so he said: "Mr. Gu can set the price himself. No matter how much money, I can go back to Bingming's boss."

"Don't write, don't write, see the guests off!" Gu Yanwu called Changsui to drive people away.

After driving the editor away, Gu Yanwu returned to his study alone, staring at his original manuscript of "On Counties and Counties" in a daze.

Although he had surrendered to Emperor Zhao very early, he had been compiling books in the Hanlin Academy.

Just a few days ago, he submitted his masterpiece "On Counties and Counties" to the emperor for review.

Zhao Han's comment is: I have read it, it doesn't make sense. He ordered the officials to find a vacancy for this guy and send him out to serve as county magistrate. After serving as county magistrate for three years, I will revise the "Treatise on Counties and Counties".

These few instructions shocked Gu Yanwu so much that his confident masterpiece was actually dismissed by the emperor as "nonsense."

During the Tang Dynasty, Liu Zongyuan wrote an article "On Feudalism" to refute some people at that time who wanted to abolish counties and counties and restore feudalism.

The general content of "On Feudalism" is:

In the primitive stage, human beings lived together with wild beasts and had to use tools to survive. At this time, you need to find someone who can distinguish right from wrong and lead people to resist natural disasters and wild beasts. Around this leader, ethnic groups are formed. When the ethnic groups become large, armies are formed, and leaders, laws and decrees are produced.

During the long-term war, the people of various ethnic groups needed stronger leaders, so princes were created. The emergence of a large number of princes triggered a larger-scale war, which required a stronger leader to settle the matter, so princes leaders such as Fang Bo and Lian Shuai appeared. By analogy, the emperor finally appears.

Liu Zongyuan also proved that feudalism was the primary stage of political form through his discussion from ancient times to the Han and Tang Dynasties. Feudalism was not the original intention of the saint, but followed the social state of the time. The emergence of the county system was the result of the collapse of the feudal system and was in line with the laws of social development.

Gu Yanwu's "On Prefectures and Counties" is obviously based on Liu Zongyuan's "On Feudalism" and further discusses that the prefecture and county system is on the verge of collapse. Reform is needed again!

Gu Yanwu said that the ills of the feudal system broke out, leading to the emergence of the county system. Now, the shortcomings of the county system also broke out in the late Ming Dynasty. It can be speculated that the county system will also collapse. But going back to feudalism? No, the feudal system is backward. If it wants to change, it should be changed forward, not backward.

It also discusses that the shortcoming of feudalism is that power is too dispersed. The shortcoming of the county system is that power is too concentrated, and the emperor is highly centralized and separated from the masses. Therefore, it is necessary to take the county system as the foundation and add some elements of the feudal system. The two phases are reconciled to achieve a balanced state of centralization and decentralization.

There is nothing wrong with the above content, but when the details unfolded next, Zhao Han successfully commented that it was "nonsense".

Gu Yanwu said that the county magistrate should be changed to the county magistrate and promoted from the seventh rank to the fifth rank. The county magistrate must be familiar with the local customs and customs, and there is no need to adhere to the rules of being an official in a different place. Let the county magistrate try to work for three years, evaluate his ability and then correct him. After another three years, if you pass the examination, you can be called a parent officer. After another three years, if he is qualified, the emperor should commend him. After another three years, if he is still competent, the county magistrate will be given a salary increase and appointed as a lifelong county magistrate. If you retire due to old age and illness, you can recommend the next county magistrate. The retired county magistrate worked as a consultant in the county and was paid until his death. Those who are recommended also have a three-year probation period. Several counties were merged into one county, and the prefect was appointed every three years...

After reading this article, Zhao Han didn't want to read any more and ordered Gu Yanwu to be thrown out as the county magistrate to let him feel the specific situation.

He was a dignified doctor from the Hanlin Academy, but he could only serve as a county magistrate after being exiled. Gu Yanwu was extremely depressed about this, not because his official position was too small, but because he was treated as a fool by the emperor.

Because in "On Counties and Counties", Gu Yanwu himself said that most of the former Ming scholars were idiots, and preferential policies must be cancelled. Even if you pass the imperial examination, you cannot directly become a county magistrate. You need to start as a miscellaneous official or a minor official. He looked down upon the talented scholar Qian Ming, and the emperor obviously looked down upon him as well...

Taking the original manuscript of his article, Gu Yanwu went out to visit his friends and soon found Huang Zongxi who was on vacation.

After Huang Zongxi read "On Counties and Counties", he immediately couldn't laugh or cry, and commented: "Brother Ning Ren, you are working behind closed doors. If you let someone who is familiar with the local customs and customs be the county magistrate, and your relatives, tribesmen and friends will be under his rule, it will inevitably become entangled in the long run. More What's more, the county magistrate is allowed to hold this position for life, and even if he retires, he will still serve as the county's sacrificial wine (consultant). He can only be the county magistrate for the rest of his life and cannot be promoted. No matter how noble a person is, he will be greedy for power and money because he cannot be promoted. "

Gu Yanwu explained: "First, county magistrates in various places must have both moral and moral integrity; second, the court must constantly assess their political performance."

Huang Zongxi asked: "Even if the county magistrate is both virtuous and virtuous, his tribesmen and friends are also virtuous? What should he do if his tribesmen and friends, under the guise of the county magistrate, are corrupt and perverting the law in the county? Furthermore, how will the imperial court assess it?" How can Shi supervise this? It’s unrealistic!”

The political structure envisaged by Gu Yanwu is to use counties as the basic units to decentralize the power of the central government, which can improve the shortcomings of centralization.

It's a good idea, that's all.

Gu Yanwu said: "Since a person with both moral character and moral integrity serves as a county magistrate, if a friend of the tribe commits an offense, he must enforce the law impartially!"

Huang Zongxi sighed: "Brother Ning Ren, you'd better be a county magistrate yourself first. After you have been a county magistrate for a few years, you will know the depth of it."

Gu Yanwu hesitated to speak. He understood what Huang Zongxi meant and felt like the emperor that he was ignorant of practical matters.

It would be awkward to continue talking, so Gu Yanwu changed the subject: "What article is Brother Taichong writing?"

Huang Zongxi said: "Jiangning Business Daily made an appointment for me to speak for the woman. I don't have to use my real name, and I can get 60 silver dollars as a writing fee."

Gu Yanwu muttered: "You are worth 10 yuan more than me."

"Dong dong dong!"

"Come in."

A boy of sixteen or seventeen years old pushed open the door and said, "Teacher, the student is going out to visit friends and may not come back for dinner at night."

"Go." Huang Zongxi said.

"Student, please leave." The young man bowed and left, closing the door behind him.

Gu Yanwu asked: "This student lives in your home?"

Huang Zongxi sighed: "It's also pitiful. This son is extremely intelligent, but he is implicated by his father and will not be able to be an official in the future."

"What case?" Gu Yanwu asked curiously.

Huang Zongxi said in detail: "His name is Yan Ruochu, his courtesy name is Bai Shi, and his ancestral home is Taiyuan. His father was a salt merchant in Yangzhou. He was squeezed out by Hui merchants and could not gain a foothold in Jianghuai, so he went to Changlu to run a salt farm. Last year, the imperial court rectified the salt affairs in Jianghuai. Changlu Salt Affairs also followed suit and investigated and dealt with several criminal salt merchants. His father was sentenced to exile in Heilongjiang, his salt industry license was revoked, and his descendants were not allowed to be officials for three generations. This child has always been among the best in Jinling University, and his future was given to him by his father. It’s ruined. He no longer attends classes seriously, but privately worships me as his teacher and learns things that are not available in class.”

Gu Yanwu sighed: "What a pity."

The topic changed and Gu Yanwu asked: "Why did Brother Taichong get involved in the women's imperial examination?"

Huang Zongxi smiled and said: "There is money to be made for polishing pens, why not get involved? The women's imperial examination will not change the world. You and I are both part-time teachers at Jinling University and know the situation in the school. Every year when freshmen enroll, there are ten or twenty Female students. But by the second year of college, the number of female students has dropped by half, and they have all dropped out of school and gone back to their hometowns to get married. By the third grade, there are very few who are still studying. There are at most one female student in a class who can graduate normally. Two, sometimes even none. What will happen if so few women take part in the imperial examination?"

"Indeed." Gu Yanwu nodded.

Huang Zongxi said: "In the future, I am afraid that there will not be more female college students who can graduate, but fewer."

"Why is there such a conclusion?" Gu Yanwu asked.

Huang Zongxi said: "Officials from the Ministry of Rites suggested that middle school should be changed to four years, and His Majesty seems to agree. In this way, many middle school courses can be added, making middle school graduates more knowledgeable. It can also make it more difficult to graduate from middle school. , to offset the pressure from the increasing number of students every year. Even though middle school only adds one year, the marriageable age for women is only a few years. If a woman studies for one more year, it will become increasingly difficult to find a husband. Even if she has already made a decision, If the marriage is arranged, the husband’s family will not allow the girl to hang out in school for too long.”

"Well, let me write an article, too. It's really hard for a woman to finish college." Gu Yanwu felt pity.

The basic education situation for women has also undergone tremendous changes.

The primary school dropout rate for girls from lower-income families is getting higher and higher because the government is not strict enough to catch them. Since the government doesn't care, for parents, there is no need for girls to read so many books, as long as they can read and write letters and count and calculate accounts.

However, the middle school enrollment rate of girls from wealthy families continues to rise. The number of private girls' schools is increasing, and rich people are keen to send their daughters to middle school, so that they can get married after middle school. In some developed areas, it has become standard for women to graduate from high school (or drop out of school) when discussing marriage. A lady who has not finished middle school will be looked down upon by families of the same class, and it is even difficult to find a well-matched in-law.

Women's education is completely deformed.

Huang Zongxi and Gu Yanwu were busy writing articles in Huang's house.

Huang Zongxi's student Yan Ruocha took a leisurely stroll towards the Gongyuan. He has lost the qualifications to be an official, and his family has a lot of money. Now he simply does whatever he wants and specializes in studying the knowledge he likes.

Yan Ruochu in history, Mao Qiling, the hard-steel troll on the front, was made speechless by Mao Qiling on the contrary. Gu Yanwu took the work and went to Yan Ruochu to discuss it. Yan Ruochu suggested modifying some contents, and Gu Yanwu also made the modifications convinced.

Wang Yuan, the economist (let's call him that) in the early Qing Dynasty, was Yan Ruocha's student.

Another teacher of Wang Yuan was Yan Yuan, a great Confucian in the early Qing Dynasty who openly supported women’s rights that day at Fanlou.

By coincidence, in this time and space, Yan Ruochu and Yan Yuan met in advance and became friends with Tang Zhen from Sichuan.

Arriving at the inn where the two friends were staying, Yan Ruochu said: "Two wise brothers, don't write any more articles about women's imperial examinations. Foolish brothers, there are more important national affairs here. If the three of us can discuss things properly, we can be officials without the imperial examination. Maybe I can make an exception and become an official."

"What major national event?" Yan Yuan asked.

Yan Ruochu said: "Today's industry and commerce, especially the textile industry, the court's planning is wrong. Although private businessmen are correcting and offsetting this mistake on their own, the corresponding tax system and official system have not been adjusted accordingly."

Tang Zhen smiled and said: "It is indeed a big deal!"

(There is an Easter egg chapter at the end of the chapter. I don’t know if it will pass the review this time.)