Cai Jing and Su Zhe had already sat down with the guests and Su Xun personally served tea soup. Cai Jing took a sip, then looked at Su Zhe with a smile and said, "It's really not to be hiding, there is actually no suitable candidate for the right prime minister in the heart of the official family. Lu Jifu, Zhang Tianjue, Han Shipu and Su Ziyou are not the ideal right prime minister in the heart of the official family. But someone always needs to do it, so among these people, whoever supports him will be very sure of the prime minister."

Of course Zhao Ji doesn’t like a group of old guys!

Su Dongpo's son Su Hui, Wu Haogu's younger brother Wu Haowen, Mi Fu's son Mi Youren, Zhao Tingzhi's son Zhao Mingcheng, etc., are the candidates Zhao Ji liked. If Ji Yi doesn't become a villain, he is one of them, and he is the most ideal one.

However, these young people are not qualified enough and cannot even enter the Political Affairs Hall for at least 10 years, let alone become the right prime minister.

So this time, Zhao Ji could only choose one of the people he looked down upon as the right servant.

Cai Jing, the Zuo Pushe, has a certain say in this issue. He can at least find reasons to block the other people, and then put some water on Su Zhe, so Su Zhe will become the minister.

"Brother Yuan, is Han Shipu more suitable than me?" Su Che is also an old man. He has already guessed Cai Jing's thoughts.

Lu Huiqing is a very evil person who is annoying to everyone, and a big boss of the new party. He wants to become the right prime minister, and Cai Jing will not have a stable life for a day. Zhang Shangying is not a good match, he is famous for being a fierce man. No one dares to scold him, that is, Zhang Dun can surrender him. Moreover, Zhang Shangying and Lu Huiqing are also himself, both Jinshi in the Yingzong Dynasty. Although his qualifications are a little worse, he is also an old minister of the four dynasties, much older than Cai Jing.

So the two bigwigs of the new party were both stuck by Cai Jing, so the right prime minister would never give them! Then among the old party, it seemed that Han Zhongyan, an honest man, was more suitable.

"Han Shipu is willing to come to Kaifeng Prefecture?" Cai Jing asked with a smile. "He is living a life of a god in Daming Prefecture now, why should he come to Kaifeng Prefecture as a place of trouble?

Moreover, he has been a left-handed prime minister, and he may be a little embarrassed to be a right-handed prime minister.”

Su Che smiled, not saying anything.

Cai Jing took a sip of tea and continued, "But then again, if Brother Ziyou's proposition on empirical learning is the same as Brother Ling, I will stop Brother Ziyou from becoming a minister again no matter what!"

Su Che raised his eyebrows and indeed began to make requirements!

"Is the study of empirical evidence wrong?" Su Che asked.

"Yes!" Cai Jing nodded and said seriously, "Empirical theory and rational theory are both right! Although it is not the orthodox academic of Confucianism, the principle is absolutely good and you can do things well.

But... Brother Ziyou, have you ever thought about how many poor scholars there are in the world? Have you ever thought about the purpose of the imperial examinations not all to select talents for the country, but more importantly, it is actually to give poor scholars in the world a ladder to the sky! However, many disciplines, academies, colleges, and academies introduced by empirical theory and rational theory are actually going to cut off the ladder to the sky for poor scholars in the world!

Brother Ziyou, do you really have the heart to see the ladder that you and I have used have lost in our hands?”

Su Che frowned and said nothing.

The education promoted by the Hontai Academy is high-cost, and it cannot be reduced in the conceivable era. The reason why higher education is popularized in later generations is not that it has low costs, but that productivity has been greatly improved, making it possible for the general public to bear it.

In today's and imaginable era, higher education is destined to be enjoyed by a few people. Not only higher education, but also the "Liuyi Primary School" that is equipped with Yuntai Academy and Biyong Academy, is also aristocratic education, which can only be enjoyed by the descendants of wealthy families. Although "Liuyi Primary School" will recruit some particularly smart poor children for free, the number is not large. Moreover, there are geographical restrictions. After all, only Jiehe Commercial City, Haizhou and Kaifeng Prefecture have the few Liuyi Primary Schools, so it is naturally impossible to recruit a few poor children in a particularly distant place.

For the vast majority of poor children in the world, this expensive new education is inseparable from them.

Cai Jing sighed: "If Wu Chongdao had been born 200 years ago and was the founding hero of Emperor Taizu, you and I, a poor family born in the countryside, would have to farm for the rest of your life and would have no chance to see the light of day!"

In fact, Cai Jing was a second-generation official, not a poor family. Cai Jing's father Cai Zhun was a Jinshi in the first year of Jingyou of Renzong and was a minister. Su Zhe's uncle Su Huan was a Jinshi in the second year of Tiansheng of Renzong, and could barely be considered a second-generation official. However, Cai Zhun and Su Huan were not from official families, and they were not considered rich. If the Song Dynasty had taken the educational route of Yuntai Academy as soon as the country was founded, there would be no Cai Jing, Cai Bian, Su Shi, and Su Zhe's success.

Cai Jing said again: "If the talented and intelligent people in the world cannot pass the imperial examination, will they really be willing to plant the land for the rest of their lives? I am afraid that the world will be in chaos everywhere!"

Su Che finally couldn't help but speak: "Chief Yuan, there are still Jinshi on the left list now... it's still the most expensive ones on the left list!"

"The left list is the most expensive?" Cai Jing looked at Su Che, "Who said this?"

Who said it? Anyway, it was not what Zhao Ji said. In the imperial edict, Zhao Ji was both a Jinshi, both on the left and right list, and there was no distinction between the upper and lower levels. Moreover, there was no requirement that the right list of Jinshi could only be a military officer, the right list of Jinshi, but it was a military officer, and the right list of Jinshi, but it was a military officer!

In addition, there is also a Law School in the seven colleges below Yuntai Academy, which teaches people to be officials to make decisions. He hired the best lawyers and ranks of Kaifeng Prefecture as professors, compiled the laws of the Song Dynasty and various tricks in the official yamen into textbooks and carefully taught them, and even arranged to go to Jiehe Shangshi City and Jingdong Shangshi City for internships. If the students of the Law School become civil servants, I don’t know how much better than the traditional Jinshi who only knows how to read the books of sages!

"What do people in the world think?" Su Che said, "The Jinshi of the Left List is 400 of the millions of scholars in the world, and they are also obtained by taking the exam step by step based on their ability. The Jinshi of the Right List is only 200 of the 2,000 people from the three academies, and they do not need to pass the test. How can they compare with the left list?"

Compared with the right list, the biggest advantage of the left list is fairness! Almost everyone (men) can participate.

The right-ranking list is unfair. Apart from the three university palaces, they can only be recommended by the commanders of local prefectures and prefectures. Because the right-ranking Jinshi cannot be evaluated at all levels, there are not so many officials in the local area who know the knowledge of empirical schools, and the papers cannot be obtained. How to take the exam? Moreover, the right-ranking list also requires the martial arts and the skill of archery and horses. There are no horses in most parts of the Song Dynasty, so how to take the exam?

However, people at the level of Su Che and Cai Jing know that the ability of Jinshi on the right list must be generally stronger than that on the left list. The result of long-term competition between the two in the officialdom must be that they will win the right list.

Therefore, the right-hand list is now at a quota of 200 people, and it is likely to become 400 or even 600 people in the future, and eventually the left-hand list is completely squeezed out...

After hearing what Su Che said, Cai Jing knew it. Su Che was indeed a fellow traveler!

Cai Jing sighed and said, "Brother Ziyou, in fact, the purpose of opposing the right-list Jinshi is all out of public aspirations! If it is out of selfishness, will your descendants still be afraid that they will not be able to enter the Yuntai Academy? If they can enter the Yuntai Academy, will the right-list Jinshi be sure to win it? But in this way, the road to heaven for poor families will be blocked, and the wealth and honor of the world will be monopolized by the generations of wealthy and powerful families. The situation will only be more serious than when the gentry and high sects control the world!"

Not to mention, Cai Tsengxiang’s public intention is really impossible to refute. Because the elite education represented by the Yuntai Academy is indeed beneficial to Cai Jing’s descendants.

Su Che nodded and whispered: "But Wu Chongdao is one of the seven bachelors of Su Jun after all!"

Wu Haogu was appointed as his teacher. Although he was an "evil Confucian scholar", his knowledge was still recognized, so he now added one of the Sixth Bachelor of Sumen and became the Seventh Bachelor of Su.

Moreover, Su Dongpo is dead now, which means no one can expel Wu Haogu from his sect.

In addition, Su Che is not convenient to deal with Wu Haogu. After all, the Su family has received a lot of favors from Wu Haogu. If he jumped out and bite Wu Haogu, he would be regarded as unjust by Shilin.

Cai Jing laughed: "Just stand by and watch."

...

"Metallurgical Academy? Alchemist!?"

"No, no, now we mainly study copper and iron, and have little to do with gold."

"What is there to study about copper and iron?"

"Why don't there? The copper and iron business is much larger than gold..."

"That's right!"

"Brother Yizhi, then let's go and meet the master craftsman of Li Guojian."

Su Dongpo's coffin had arrived in Pengcheng, Xuzhou, but he did not go to Haizhou immediately, but stayed in Xuzhou for a while. Because Wu Haogu had something to do in Xuzhou, he wanted to go to Liguojian to see several iron smelting craftsmen invited by Zhu Xingshu and Zhou Daxia. When he set off, he met Ji Yi and pulled him up.

Wu Haogu is not going to enter the fiercely competitive iron smelting industry immediately, but is preparing to start with R&D and open a Metallurgy Academy in Jiehe Shang City.

According to what Wu Haogu knows, the metallurgical technology of the Song Dynasty showed a certain degree of regression compared to the Tang Dynasty. The production of iron should have increased, but the quality has declined, and it is even less than that of the Western Xia. The Western Xia sword and the Qing Tang armor are loved by everyone in the army of the Northern Song Dynasty. What's more, even Japanese swords can be sold into high-quality products in the Song Dynasty.

Such a situation was simply unimaginable in the Tang Dynasty!

The decline in the Song Dynasty's military power and the regression of iron smelting technology are also important reasons. If there is no horse, it can be thrown to the Tang Dynasty. Even iron cannot be refined. This is not a matter with the people of the Tang Dynasty, right?

So Wu Haogu, the Song Confucian scholar, planned to improve the iron smelting technology level of the Song Dynasty very early on. However, planning is one thing, but really going to get on the horse is another.
Chapter completed!