Chapter 357: The Imperial Will

Another avenue Zhu Youjian thought of was mobilizing retired officials and wealthy merchants to donate funds for education and establish schools throughout the realm.

Especially in Jiangnan, where peace had long prevailed and prosperity grew by the day, most people were no longer troubled by concerns of food and clothing. The conditions for founding academies, expanding private schools, and enlarging student enrollment were fully in place — the time was ripe for promoting culture and building schools.

Although Jiangnan had always been a land where literary culture flourished, the literacy rate among ordinary folk remained low.

With the flourishing of commerce and maritime trade, large numbers of handicraft workshops had risen like bamboo shoots after spring rain across Jiangnan, yet many techniques were hitting bottlenecks that greatly constrained the development of productive forces.

Enabling more skilled artisans to read and write, thereby acquiring more knowledge and seeking breakthroughs and innovations at various technical levels — this should be an essential path for advancing the handicraft industry.

Zhu Youjian intended to make the wealthy merchants of Jiangnan the main force for establishing schools, with retired officials and gentry serving as a supplement to the former.

In truth, the great merchants of Jiangnan had long maintained the custom of patronizing scholars, only they had focused their attention on government students with real prospects in the imperial examinations.

Because this kind of advance investment would bring them extremely generous returns in the future — once the scholars they sponsored passed the examinations and became officials, they would receive special consideration and rewards in business dealings. Under this mutually beneficial relationship, the Jiangnan interest bloc had gradually taken shape.

But Zhu Youjian's plan was to open commoner schools, not this kind of elite speculative venture. Such a money-losing proposition would likely be very hard for the merchants to accept.

If one wanted these people to help the court complete this kind of universal compulsory education without giving them any benefits, that would be nothing short of a fool's dream.

Although Zhu Youjian could mobilize the forces of the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard and use the method of killing the chicken to frighten the monkeys to force their compliance, such means of breaking laws and rules ran contrary to his original intentions.

Letting more people learn to read and understand reason, teaching them to abide by laws and discipline even as knowledge changed the world, and spreading this concept throughout the whole Ming realm — that was the result Zhu Youjian most wished to see.

And if he himself set the precedent of breaking the rules, it would be very hard to command obedience thereafter.

The reason Zhu Youjian wanted Jiangnan merchants to participate in running schools was not that he valued their silver — what he valued was the network of connections this group possessed.

Moreover, given the merchants' flexible minds and ways of thinking, entrusting the schools to them should yield better results than if the government ran them.

Zhu Youjian could well foresee the outcome of this matter: once the schools were established, the merchants would certainly keep watch over them. Should they discover promising seedlings among the poor commoners' children, they would take measures to give them special attention — conversely, they would try to cultivate such children into official material. Even if only one in ten grew to maturity, it would still be a profit for them.

As for the other children of ordinary aptitude, they would surely adopt a hands-off approach and stop concerning themselves, so long as they could muddle through.

This self-congratulatory cleverness of theirs actually played right into Zhu Youjian's hands. His purpose in running schools was merely to raise the nation's literacy rate, not to cultivate more officials.

The key now was how to entice them into establishing more schools and to use the connections they commanded to supply more teaching staff. As for other problems, they were of no consequence whatsoever.

After thinking it over again and again, Zhu Youjian decided to test the waters with the method of rewarding merit with honorary titles. If this approach proved mediocre in effect, he would think of other ways.

It takes ten years to grow a tree but a hundred years to nurture a man. Promoting education was not a matter of a single morning or evening; there was no need to be overly hasty. Rushing was useless — haste makes waste, and that was the principle.

These so-called honorary titles were not true ranks of nobility, but merely honorific distinctions. With such an honorific, one could refrain from kneeling before officials — similar in qualification to a government student, but a notch higher in standing.

This plan would not yet provoke unanimous opposition from court officials, because there was precedent for it.

Back when he had first crossed over and the court's finances were in dire straits, Hou Xun had raised just such a proposal — it was only because the situation had improved so rapidly that the suggestion had been shelved.

As time passed, the Solar Term of Minor Snow arrived before anyone noticed, and pedestrians on the roads gradually dwindled due to the cold weather.

In the study of the rear residence of a four-courtyard mansion in the western part of the capital, Wen Tiren, who had just finished his shift, removed his black gauze cap, doffed his official robe and boots, and — attended by a maidservant — changed into a loose blue Daoist robe and slipped on a pair of light, comfortable brocade slippers. His whole body immediately felt utterly relaxed.

"Go, summon the Second Young Master to the study!"

Wen Tiren gave the order after sitting down in the chair.

"Yes, Master!"

The maidservant curtsied and left the study, pulling the door gently shut behind her as she headed toward the side courtyard.

Before long, Wen Kan — dressed in a blue straight robe with his hair bound up by a ribbon — knocked on the door and pushed it open to enter.

"Your son greets Father. May I ask what instructions Father has for summoning me?"

Wen Kan saluted Wen Tiren and asked respectfully.

"Zhenyu, in a few days the Court of Agriculture will officially begin operations. As one of its few principal officials, are you fully prepared? What plans do you have once you take up the post? Tell me, your father, all about it!"

Wen Tiren looked at his second son, who was past thirty, his expression no different from usual.

None of his three sons had any particular distinction in scholarship. The eldest and third sons held only the rank of government student; only this second son had barely passed the provincial examination several years ago.

Wen Tiren had originally wanted to find his second son a post as County Magistrate, but because of his feud with Wang Yongguang, the former Minister of Personnel, he had never been able to realize this wish. Helpless, he could only have his son wait at home for a suitable opportunity and position.

In the first half of the eighth year of Chongzhen, Wen Tiren finally seized his chance and toppled Wang Yongguang in one stroke, thereby avenging his earlier grievance.

Shortly afterward, with the tacit approval of Zhou Yun, then Vice Minister of Personnel on the left, Wen Tiren — disregarding the opposition and disdain of the other Grand Secretaries — brazenly inserted his second son into the position of Secretariat Drafter, seventh rank, in the Grand Secretariat, and publicly justified it in fine-sounding terms: recommending the worthy without avoiding one's own kin.

In Wen Tiren's plan, before retiring he would ultimately swallow his pride and beg the Emperor once, to place this most promising son in the position of Judge of Shuntian Prefecture, then take his other two sons back to their hometown of Wucheng — that would count as having done his utmost.

Unexpectedly, in these past few years, as the Emperor's temperament had changed greatly, he had shown Wen Tiren even more trust and favor — not only granting hereditary privilege to his eldest son, but also, without the slightest warning, bestowing upon his second son a position far superior to that of a sixth-rank Judge.

The Emperor's favor made Wen Tiren even more loyal, while also giving him greater ambitions for his descendants' futures.

"Reporting to Father, your son originally had little familiarity with the jurisdiction of the Court of Agriculture. After learning of the new post bestowed upon me, I hurriedly searched for relevant documents and materials to prepare for use. These past few days I have made some small gains, so I should not appear at a loss in matters of the Court."

Although Wen Kan had no exceptional brilliance in scholarship, having been influenced by Wen Tiren since childhood, he had a considerable knack for the ways of officialdom. He was smooth and diplomatic in dealing with people and quite skilled at gauging his superiors' intentions.

"As for how the Court's affairs should be conducted, your son believes it best to follow the wishes of the two Vice Directors. I will speak little and do much, so as not to incur the displeasure of my superiors."

Seeing a look of gratification on his father's face, Wen Kan promptly laid out his preliminary plans.

"My son has done well! This is precisely the way of being an official — especially a subordinate official! I was afraid you might rely on my power and influence to be overbearing and intimidate your superiors, earning a bad reputation that would spread to the palace and displease His Majesty, bringing harm to your father's name. Since my son understands this principle, I have no more worries!"

Wen Tiren stroked his beard, a rare smile appearing on his face.

"Pray set your mind at ease, Father. How could your son be a man who knows not when to advance and retreat? Your son believes that although His Majesty has placed you in the position of Grand Minister of Agriculture, what he truly wants is to elevate the standing of the Court of Agriculture — but he has held back out of deference to the mouths of the many officials. Once the Court of Agriculture achieves considerable accomplishments, His Majesty will surely raise it to a rank equal to the Six Ministries. Your son feels the Court of Agriculture has great prospects!"