"Colleagues, is there anyone who opposes the Council?" Fang Yun spoke while the Empress Dowager was thinking.
Many officials looked at Sheng Boyuan.
Sheng Boyuan looked ahead as if he did not see the reaction of the officials.
Many officials narrowed their eyes and stared at Sheng Boyuan. They were even prepared to attack him if he dared to continue opposing.
In the imperial court, there were all kinds of schools.
Now, the Punishment Hall, Works Hall, War Hall, Agriculture Hall, and Medical Hall were all on Fang Yun's side. These Jingguo officials had no choice but to stand with Fang Yun like the other halls. This was because Fang Yun had made great contributions to the various schools and opened up the Holy Path. Not to mention other things, just to repay the kindness, they could not oppose Fang Yun.
The ones who really opposed Fang Yun were some of the Confucian officials and more than half of the miscellaneous school officials.
There were too many Confucian scholars, so there would always be support and opposition.
The reason why the miscellaneous school objected was because Zong Sheng was now in charge of the school. Since the Zong family was opposing Fang Yun, it was very difficult for them to be on good terms with Fang Yun, so they would rather rely on the royal family.
But now, none of the miscellaneous school officials stood up to oppose Fang Yun. This was because no matter how they looked at it, this Council seemed to be strengthening the Holy Path of the miscellaneous school. So, not only would they not oppose it, but they would also support it.
Just like Fang Yun's reforms to the imperial court previously, they were beneficial to the miscellaneous school in many aspects, so they did not fully oppose it. They only opposed some of the reforms that were beneficial to the other schools.
No one spoke. Sheng Boyuan coughed lightly and said, "May I ask Fang Xusheng, how will this village school and the Council be established and operated?"
Fang Yundao said, "The village school is very simple. Since we want to learn the ancient methods, we might as well build a place in or near the school where people can enter and exit freely. Those who have free time can enter and discuss politics and communicate with each other. The Council will send officials to the village school. If someone proposes a good way of governance, the officials of the Council will record it. Of course, those people can also take the initiative to look for the officials of the Council. Once the way of governance is adopted by the imperial court and achieves good results, the proposer can be rewarded with money, food, land, or a title. They can even enter the Council. "
"Anyone can enter? Can peddlers, beggars, and madams also enter? "Sheng Boyuan asked.
Fang Yundao: "As long as you have a profession or identity recognized by the imperial court, you can enter. Peddlers and servants could enter, as well as farmers and workers. As for beggars, they were not considered to have a proper livelihood, so they were not allowed to enter. As for casinos and brothels, I personally prefer to ban them completely. However, I have previously proposed this, but it was met with opposition, so we will discuss it later. Gambling houses and brothels were also considered a business. As long as they did not violate the law, they could naturally enter. The village school isn't as complicated as everyone thinks. You can say that it's a different kind of park. I'm sure everyone knows about the park I built in Ning An City, right? "
Cao Dean smiled and said, "I understand what Fang Xusheng is trying to say. He's trying to recruit all the Street Lodgers, Street End Ministers, High Officials of Speech, and others into the village school."
The officials laughed along with him.
"In that case, won't scholars be no different from other people?" Sheng Boyuan asked.
"Is there a difference between scholars and other people? Do they have an extra eye or an extra mouth? "Fang Yun pretended to be surprised and asked.
Sheng Boyuan snorted and said, "I'm referring to knowledge. There are many things that are difficult for non-scholars to truly participate in. Those boastful people on the streets and alleys are not beneficial to the imperial court. "
Fang Yun recalled Sheng Boyuan's experience and said, "I heard that Minister Sheng has been rich since he was young. He has everything he needs. In terms of literacy, he is far better than ordinary farmers. If Jingguo wants to promulgate laws or decrees related to agriculture, they must understand the farmers and listen to their opinions. At least in terms of agriculture, 90% of the farmers in Jingguo are more knowledgeable than Minister Sheng. "
"You're being unreasonable," Sheng Boyuan said.
Fang Yun smiled and said, "Minister Sheng, you've misunderstood. Each of us has limited time and energy. We are not omniscient and omnipotent. So, since we want to govern the country, we must listen to the opinions of people from all walks of life, even if they are not scholars. Even Kong Sheng admitted that he is not as good as a farmer in farming and not as good as a gardener in pruning. It is normal and right for us to admit our shortcomings. Let's give a very simple example. Some of the technical improvements in the workshop were first discovered by ordinary workers. Can we say that those ordinary workers are not knowledgeable? At least, I think that they are very knowledgeable. They are more knowledgeable in their own fields than we are. The reason why we sometimes think that they are not knowledgeable is because we are ignorant most of the time. "
Fang Yun's words were a little rude, but Sheng Boyuan surprisingly did not refute him.
After a few breaths, Sheng Boyuan said, "The village school is only a place to discuss political affairs. What is the function of the Senate? How do we recruit those people into the Senate? If we let them become officials directly, won't we break the rules of the imperial court? "
Fang Yun smiled and said, "Who said that those who enter the Senate must be officials? Are those who enter the yamen officials officials? Are those who have no rank officials officials officials? The Council of Governmental Affairs is managed by the imperial court. Therefore, some of the main management positions in the Council of Governmental Affairs are indeed officials. However, they don't necessarily need to be officials to make suggestions. Therefore, we should give new identities to the people in the Council of Governmental Affairs who are good at making suggestions for Jing Country. Whether they are scholars or not, since they are giving advice to the country, we should not treat them lightly. We should treat them as scholars. Therefore, we can make them scholars. Strictly speaking, they are scholars in the Senate. "
"What is the rank of a scholar in the Senate? What authority does he have? "Sheng Boyuan asked.
Fang Yun smiled and said, "There is no rank for a scholar in the Senate. It is just a title that is exclusive to the Senate. No matter what status they have at other times, when they are the scholars of the Council of Ministers, they do not have any special privileges. Their duty is to give good opinions or suggestions to the imperial court, to help improve the imperial court, and to make the imperial court and Jing country better. "
"You just said that they do not necessarily need to be officials. Do you mean that officials can also enter the Senate?" Sheng Boyuan asked.
Fang Yundao said, "Of course. People from all walks of life can participate in the Senate. Naturally, officials can too. However, the Senate is Jingguo's Senate, not an official's Senate. Therefore, I have tentatively decided that the proportion of officials among the scholars in the Senate should not exceed 30%. "
"Who are the other 70% for?" Sheng Boyuan asked.
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