Chapter 53: The Eunuch Army
[[[CP|W:250|H:190|A:L|U:file1.qidian./chapters/201010/14/1705845634226510058156176751233.jpg]]] (The picture is of the Ji'an Temple, also known as the location of the Ming dynasty's Imperial Censorate, and the Neishu Hall is also located here)
It was King Chengen who woke him up in a daze.
Yang woke up from his reform, rubbed his eyes and said: "Big companion? What time is it?"
"It's now two o'clock in the morning." Wang Cheng'en carefully helped Yang Renbai put on his clothes while answering.
"Alright, let's go to Master Sun then. I was delayed this morning." Yang Reform went to Sun Chengzong every day to train his body, regarding the gun problem, he had to be careful.
……
"Ah, right, Da Ban, I heard Cao Hua Chun say that he was educated in the palace and learned all about poetry, books, and painting. Is there such an institution in the imperial palace?" Yang had only heard before the reform that eunuchs in the Ming dynasty were not allowed to recognize characters, for fear of leaking the emperor's secrets. For example, sneaking a peek at the emperor's review of memorials, looking at revised documents, and so on, also feared that eunuchs would pass messages outside the palace, hiding notes and so on.
"I report to Your Majesty, there is a Nei Shu Tang within the Imperial Censorate, responsible for selecting and training clever young eunuchs, so they can serve in various places within the palace in the future." Wang Cheng'en replied.
"This... Yang Reform is shocking again! The inner court isn't just for show, it even has its own training institution. Training its own successors, this is truly - awesome. [Nei Shu Tang is actually the eunuch school.]"
"What are they teaching in that Neishu Hall?" Yang Gaoli was very curious, what were they teaching in Neishu Hall? Poetry and lyrics? Wind, flowers, snow, and night? Classics and history? Taking the imperial examination? Wind, flowers, snow, and night? Bah! How could eunuchs have wind, flowers, snow, and night? Classics and history? Eunuchs wouldn't take the imperial examination either. Reading classics and history would be just for understanding, at most. Poetry and lyrics, were eunuchs going to flirt with women too?
Yang reform thought for half a day and still couldn't figure out what this eunuch school reads and teaches.
"Big Companion, what are they learning in this inner book hall?" Yang Gaizhi was very curious.
"Your Majesty, in the inner book hall, the primary task is to learn to recognize characters first, and then read the classics, histories, poetry, and essays. Although there are teachings on these subjects, they do not need to be studied for the purpose of taking exams, so it's just about understanding, without requiring a high level of proficiency. It's different from what the scholars outside study." Wang Cheng'en replied.
"Is this about teaching math?" Yang Reform was really looking forward to the inner school hall coming up with a math teacher or something, wouldn't that mean that by adding physics and geography, he could also teach? Wouldn't that be in line with his own "nine-year compulsory education"? Yang Reform suddenly realized that cultivating talent, the system of cultivating talent, can actually be done within the palace, without having to go outside and discuss it with officials, without considering the reactions of outsiders. Matters within the imperial palace are not for people from the outer court to worry about.
"Your Majesty, in terms of numbers and calculations, it's also taught a bit, at least to be able to count, this is the most basic requirement. The palace is not like the outside world, where one needs to take exams for official positions, so it's more practical." King Cheng'en said smoothly.
Yang's reform is like heavenly music! Haha, now this has potential, yeah, it's interesting. I need to cultivate my own talent team, completely bypassing the literary and official circles outside, and start with the palace first. Once a precedent is set and my own talent system is established, everything will be easier. This is truly something that makes me happier than earning 30-50 million.
"Wait, Taibai, don't go to Sun Shifu's place yet, let's take a look at this Neishu Hall first. This is interesting, I want to take a look." Yang was eager for reform.
"...Yes, Your Majesty..." Wang Chengen was surprised! Why did he suddenly want to go see the Neishu Hall? What is that emperor doing going to that place? It's really strange. But since the emperor wants to go see the eunuchs' school, then so be it.
……
Forbidden City, Imperial Censorate, Inner Library Hall.
"...Your humble servant greets Your Majesty, may the Emperor live for ten thousand years, ten thousand years, and ten thousand more years..." A large group of people knelt at the entrance of the eunuch school to welcome the emperor.
"En, all calm down." Watching others kowtow really feels great.
Everyone got up from the ground and retreated to one side. The first eunuch, with a humble and reverent attitude, walked over and reported: "Your Majesty, I report that Zhang De'an, the servant in charge of the inner library of the Imperial Palace, requests an audience with Your Majesty." He then performed another ritual bow.
"Zhang De'an? Hmm, get up, not bad. What does your Neishu Tang teach?" Yang Gaizhi asked eagerly.
"Your Majesty, inside the Neishu Hall, it's mainly about recognizing characters and understanding texts... then there are the classics, histories, and collections..." Zhang De'an reported respectfully.
"What about arithmetic?" Yang asked.
"Your Majesty, it is essential for a teacher to know how to read and write as well as basic arithmetic." Zhang Da'an replied respectfully.
"Is there anything else?"
"Anything else? Inform the Emperor, is it about poetry and songs? Only intelligent people learn this kind of thing..." Zhang De'an didn't know what the Emperor was going to ask.
"Not... never mind, tell me about the teachers here." Yang asked again.
"I report to Your Majesty, they are all people from the palace, with several instructors and four tutors from the Hanlin Academy." Zhang De'an tried his best to please the emperor.
"What's the connection between the Imperial Academy and eunuchs studying? Are they planning to take the imperial examination too?" Yang Reform was very displeased. The place where eunuchs studied also had people from the Imperial Academy involved? At least, it was scholars who had passed the imperial examination coming here to teach, these Confucian scholars really controlled the country's educational resources! Even within the palace walls, they wouldn't let go. Yang Reform was speechless. This class of Confucian scholars really had their fingers in every pie, even among their most hated and greatest enemies - the eunuchs, the eunuchs' school - Neishu Hall also had to have a few people mixed in, but eunuchs didn't take the imperial examination, what's the point of having Imperial Academy people come and teach? Could it be that these eunuchs would become scholars and enter the Imperial Academy in the future? Yang Reform was extremely displeased.
Everyone else was speechless, and the emperor muttered to himself, seemingly talking about the Hanlin Academy.
"How many students are there here?" Yang asked again after a moment of discontent.
"I report to Your Majesty, there are about 400 or 500 students, all of whom started entering the Imperial Academy at around 10 years old..." Zhang De'an explained in detail.
"Four or five hundred students? Then how many eunuchs are there in this imperial palace?" Yang Reform wanted to see the proportion of eunuchs who received education.
"... Zhang De'an was speechless, how many eunuchs are in this palace, is that something I can know and answer? He didn't dare to speak immediately, fortunately, Wang Cheng'en took over the conversation, speaking softly: "Your Majesty, there are more than 1 million people on the register, of which about 900,000 are in the capital city, and outside... guarding, defending, weaving, mining, supervising the army, etc..."
"Ah! 100,000?" Yang Gaoli was shocked! 100,000 people, how many is that? It's almost as big as an army group. An army group of eunuchs? Eunuch troops?...Yang Gaoli was struck by the absurdity of it all and felt this joke was a bit too cold! Castration, real castration!"
Yang felt his spirit had withered and dimmed a lot.
Arrived at the classroom of Neishu Hall.
A group of eunuchs were studying. When they saw the emperor coming, they all got excited, hoping that the emperor would take a liking to them and they would rise to prominence. Their eyes shone with hope.
Yang Reform looked at this group of little eunuchs and felt a deep sense of sorrow, desolation, and heartache. These were the genuine "flowers of the motherland", yet they had been ruined like this. Sent into the palace to become eunuchs, they had undergone castration, becoming neither male nor female... Looking at these naive, excited, and tense little eunuchs, Yang Reform felt a real discomfort in his heart...
But now is not the time to sigh about the fate of these eunuchs, Yang's own fate has yet to be settled, if he doesn't work hard and get rich, it will be a dead end!
Making money requires having people to do things for you, otherwise you can't just carry a box around asking for money everywhere, even if you're Superman, it's impossible. Therefore, you must have your own personnel system, your own talent pool, and reliable, trustworthy people who can follow your instructions. With these people, your ideas can be executed, otherwise relying on those pig-like elite teammates will eventually get you killed. This is the most urgent task for Yang's reform right now, a problem that needs to be solved immediately.
Yang Reform perked up, mustered his spirits and followed the eunuch Zhang De'an, who was in charge of the inner school, to visit various places in the imperial library with great enthusiasm. He also chatted with several instructors from the Hanlin Academy, encouraging them to teach well.
Yang had a plan in mind, preparing to start with the Neishu Tang, where eunuchs learned knowledge, reforming the content of education, adding courses such as geography, physics, and astronomy, imitating what he had learned from his own "nine-year compulsory education", changing the knowledge structure of these eunuch students, transforming them into people with a similar knowledge system to his own, establishing a preliminary talent system for himself.
However, this matter still needs to wait until after seeing a few more people before it can be implemented. One cannot just rush into battle with their shirt off, after all.
This is going to be a big deal! Yang's determination to reform was even more resolute.
