Chapter 298: Giving up the training to teach mathematics in the county school and going back to manage the family business
Zhu Gang took a sip of tea and continued, "Next, Mr. Wang plans to spend a lot of time and energy to train these five young men in an all-round way.

He wanted to choose the most outstanding one among these people to be his son-in-law and eventually marry into the Wang family.

Mr. Wang will not treat the other four people who failed to be selected unfairly.

He will arrange some tasks within the capabilities of the unsuccessful candidates based on the actual situation.

After all, the fact that these people can make it into the final candidate list already shows that they have certain abilities.

In this way, under the careful teaching and strong support of Mr. Wang, these five young men gradually grew into outstanding talents in all aspects.

There is no trace of their original poor family at all. They look like five rich young men.

However, whether they can pass the assessment in the end, Mr. Wang still needs to see their business ability. "

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly thought of the upcoming imperial examinations, "Now the court is eager to recruit talents, and the calls for reopening the imperial examinations are getting louder and louder.

I wonder how the preparations are going in this regard?"

Zhu Biao said in a serious tone, "After several discussions at court meetings, Minister of Rites Li Yun has scheduled the provincial examination for August.

The provincial examination is held in February, and the palace examination is held in March.

The dates for the township and municipal examinations were set on the ninth, twelfth, and fifteenth days of the month.

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said, "It is too late to schedule the provincial examination in August.

Tomorrow, let the Ministry of Personnel investigate the community schools in various places to see whether the "scholars" hired are talented enough to participate in the imperial examinations. "

According to the relevant regulations of the Ming Dynasty: the admission age of community school students is generally limited to under fifteen years old.

There is no need to take an exam for admission, and there is no limit on the number of students admitted. Anyone who wishes to study can enroll.

However, after students enter the school, they need to pay for all expenses themselves.

Of course, most of the teachers of community schools were hired from the public by local governments.

These community school teachers hired by the government were respectfully called "teacher trainers" by students, while the government generally called them "scholars."

The status of community school teachers was not high, mainly because the imperial court would not grant them any official titles.

These people receive neither monthly salaries nor any other financial assistance.

In order to fill the official vacancies in the daimyo, Zhu Yuanzhang allowed community school teachers to take the imperial examinations, which undoubtedly created a rare opportunity for them.

However, what the Ming Dynasty court was best at was conspiracy, intrigue, and double-dealing.

I think this is the only place where playing pranks on people is studied as a subject.

After this period of exploration, Zhu Gang has realized that he cannot change his father's natural defects in governing the country.

But the imperial examination was a major event concerning official administration after all, so Zhu Gang decided to put forward more pertinent suggestions.

"In order to prevent the reappearance of people like Zhang Yi, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, who are just sitting there doing nothing but eating, I suggest that we restore the Ming Suan subject from the Tang Dynasty's imperial examination.

In addition to geometric functions, the topics of Ming Suan should also include astronomy and calendar, which are closely related to mathematics. "

Zhu Biao could not help but frowned, "Before you got the Zhoubi Suanjing, the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, and the Sunzi Suanjing from the Imperial College.

"Xiahou Yang Mathematical Classic", "Haidao Mathematical Classic", and "Wucao Mathematical Classic".

"Zhang Qiujian's Mathematical Classic", "Mathematical Arithmetic of the Five Classics", "Mathematical Arithmetic of the Collection", and "Ji Gu Mathematical Classic".

The tribute students said they couldn’t understand much of the content.”

Zhu Gang sighed, "These mathematical classics are all works in the history of ancient Chinese mathematics. Although the authors of some of them are no longer traceable, the time when they were written is also controversial.

However, some of the mathematical theorems and formulas in it became famous in later generations, such as the Pythagorean theorem in the Zhoubi Suanjing.

Some of them have been partially lost, such as "Zhuishu", which is the work of Zu Chongzhi and his son Zu Gengzhi, the famous calculator of pi.

Some are very practical, such as "Haidao Suanjing".

It contains calculation examples on island height, ravine depth, city size, and river width.

They can be used to calculate the height, depth, width and distance of some huge or unmeasurable objects.

Some mathematical problems are still talked about today and are even included in textbooks.

For example, in the "Sun Zi Suan Jing" (The Mathematical Classic of Sun Zi), everyone who went to school in Taiyuan Prefecture had done this math problem.

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard Zhu Gang mention Taiyuan Prefecture again, his eyes suddenly became sharp.

"Do students from all counties and prefectures in Taiyuan Prefecture have the opportunity to study mathematics?"

Zhu Gang nodded and said, "Those who go to school in Taiyuan Prefecture are divided into Ming Suan Ke and Ming Jing Ke from the time they enter community schools at the age of ten.

For all mathematics students in the Ming Dynasty Department of Mathematics, the study of mathematical classics can be divided into two categories of electives.

One category is to study "Zhuishu" and "Jigu Suanjing", and the other category is to study the remaining mathematical classics.

In addition, there are two textbooks, "Records of Mathematics" and "Three Classes of Numbers", which are compulsory courses for these two types of students.

According to the regulations: the semester for these two types of mathematics students is tentatively set at three years, and they can only take part in the Mingsuan examination held by Taiyuan Prefecture after the expiration of the semester.

There are two future prospects for mathematics students in community schools: those with excellent grades can pass the Mingsuan exam and enter the prefectural, state, or county schools to become a Mingsuan teacher in the prefectural, state, or county schools.

Of course, they only make up a very small proportion of all the students in the community school, and the rest have to make a living on their own. "

Zhu Biao said with regret in his tone: "After studying mathematics for three full years, even if you are just a child, you are qualified to take on some low-level official positions.

It would be a waste of talent to let them fend for themselves.”

Zhu Gang said helplessly: "As a teacher in the prefectures, counties and cities, the imperial court will not pay these people a salary.

In contrast, mathematics students who make a living on their own are more likely to obtain more favorable living conditions.

In this situation, no matter who you are, you will know what choice to make.”

The class hierarchy in the Ming Dynasty, like that in other dynasties, maintained very strict divisions.

Aristocratic family: a local clan that has had high-ranking officials in the imperial court for more than three generations.

Aristocratic family: a family whose profession is to study and become an official.

Local tycoons: A family that has great reputation in the local area and controls most of the resources.

Poor family: a declining aristocratic family or noble family.

Common people: refers to ordinary people.

Refugees: people without houses or land.

Rogue people: people who have no proper jobs.

Becoming a teacher in the mathematics department of a prefecture, state or county school, although one could not receive a salary from the court, at least one could be considered to have entered the ranks of an official.

Zhu Yuanzhang really couldn't understand why someone would give up such a good opportunity and choose to make a living on his own.

"Third brother, those math students who chose to make a living on their own, didn't you try to find a way to retain them?"

Zhu Gang smiled and explained: "In fact, these mathematics students, on the surface, are trying to make a living on their own, but in fact they are just going back to help manage the family business.

In exchange, their parents need to sponsor a poor student from a commoner family while their children are in school."

(End of this chapter)