Chapter 47: The Turbulence of Change (2)

The dragon gate is closed and over. For many scholars, this year's hard work has ended, hope has ended, and all that remains is waiting. The scholars in China have the highest status, "everything is inferior, only reading is high." However, this year's candidates are no longer like in previous years. There are few candidates who are proud of themselves after coming out of the examination room. More candidates gather together and discuss their own destiny. For them, this year's exam is the most unconfident. Some scholars who are at the forefront of China have already found some changes in this exam, but they can't explain clearly where China will go, because the articles of Confucius and Mencius have not mentioned it.

The correction of the test paper began with the anxious waiting of the candidates. For the candidates, it was a long and tormenting period. If they knew that their test papers were completely corrected by some young men who had returned from Prussia and were only twenty years old, they would probably vomit blood, but their fate was completely controlled by these young men. Because they came back from Europe and understood the West, they returned to China with passion. Their first task was to correct the test paper knowledge. Next, there was a broader world waiting for them to soar. They would take off with the new China. They were witnesses and one of the implementation of China's rise.

Although Yang Yi had already met the results of the exam, Yang Yi was still disappointed when he saw these messy answers. This is the Chinese scholar. To this day, most people still want to use saints articles to interpret the ever-changing West. The sound of gunfire from Europeans has not awakened many people. This is the case with scholars, let alone the common people?

However, Yang Yi still saw hope, and some books opened their eyes. They learned about the world through all channels and understood this world that they didn’t know much. Only these trendsetters who opened their eyes to see the world will become the backbone of the nation. Another thing that made Yang Yi happy was that most of these calm scholars came from the southeast coast, where there were seeds sown by Yang Yi and were also the place with the most contact with the West. Although they only accounted for a small number, Yang Yi still saw hope and hope for the reform of China’s education system and the government system.

The results of the exam were announced. There were only 30 candidates in 2,000 provinces, which was less than the past. I don’t know how many people did. Scholars didn’t understand and were shocked. In the next few days, the streets were filled with a craze for studying, which made Beijing’s service industry prosper.

But another thing that followed shocked them even more. The imperial examination system was cancelled by a notice from the court.

All scholars were stunned, but the young ones were fine, but those who were older could not stand it. It was not an exaggeration to say that this news was a bolt from the blue, and it was not an exaggeration to say that it was a catastrophe. The current imperial examination system was abolished, and the Western education system was completely imitated, and a new education system was established. The news spread, and Beijing was shocked and the world was shocked. Countless Confucius and Mencius disciples cried bitterly and killed the ground with their heads. More than 1,800 scholars in Beijing jointly wrote a letter asking the court to take back the imperial edict. What's more, hundreds of scholars ran to the gate of the palace to sit quietly, took a hunger strike, and protested the court's move.

A "China Times" quietly appeared on the storm. It has pictures and texts and spicy words. While constantly introducing the advanced Western scientific and cultural culture, it also constantly criticizes the world and criticizes the corruption of China's current education system. The key problem is that this newspaper is free, and the little beggars on the street are gathered up, put on new uniforms, send newspapers all over the street in the morning, paste newspapers everywhere, and read books and read in the afternoon.

As soon as the newspaper came out, the angry sight of scholars was shifted most of the angry sight. The Confucius and Mencius culture that had been passed down for thousands of years was the ancestral tombs of these scholars. Now some people are criticizing it, which is equivalent to digging their ancestral tombs. Is that great? No, you must fight back. Angry scholars are looking for places for newspapers in groups, but they can't find them. Even if you ask those newspaper boys, the newspaper boys are still asking questions. The matter is not over. In a few days, many submission stations of the China Times appeared in Beijing, and they have set up signs of making friends with literature. Judging from the posture, this newspaper is going to fight an article battle with scholars.

The angry scholars finally found a place to vent. The court's yamen cannot be attacked, and if there are soldiers to guard it, can't we deal with your newspaper? Although this is the first time they have heard of the term newspaper.

The scholars ran to the submission office with great momentum, intending to smash the y, but when they ran to the scene, they saw that there were gentlemen everywhere, and they were not talking and making friends with literature. They were welcome to submit articles, and they were paid for submissions, and other notices. Seeing these notices, the fight could not be fought. These propaganda notices were pointed at the fatal points of scholars. Scholars must not do things that are insulting. What should I do? Isn’t it a friend with one article? Isn’t it necessary to fight a battle? Writing articles is the strength of scholars. Since there is still money to take, I will accompany them to the end. So some scholars with self-proclaimed literary talent began to refute articles in newspapers based on the teachings of Confucius and Mencius. At first, these people still had the mentality of trying it out. As a result, the manuscript fee was quickly dropped, and several columns were opened in the newspaper for everyone to quarrel.

It became lively. The students and the editors of the newspaper fought against each other, and each had their own opinions and attacked each other. The newspaper firmly believed that the current imperial examination system was no longer suitable for the needs of national development and needed to change. The scholars' faction desperately refuted that as soon as the battle started, even the students who were on a hunger strike could not be able to do it. They were originally hunger-stricken and had to read the unpleasant words in the newspaper. How could they bear it? Hurry up and eat some free food from the official and start the pen, and they wanted to fight back. I heard that the newspaper was issued in China and was for scholars all over the world to read it. This was amazing. How could they slander their ancestors and sages like this?

The so-called scholar's rebellion will not last for three years, not to mention that there are places where people can make money by writing articles and quarrels. Seeing the things they wrote are circulated in everyone's hands, the vanity of scholars is greatly satisfied. Moreover, in order to facilitate everyone's quarrel, this newspaper actually turned the quarrel column into a large column of more than twenty pages, so that everyone can make enough quarrels. During the quarrel, most of these scholars were subtly influenced by their opponents and passedably received a lot of knowledge about the West. Because the first few pages of the newspaper are to introduce the world's major events and the situation in the West.

The scholars who stayed in Beijing moved their positions within a few days, but the local area was not so calm. With the promotion of this reform system, the local area became lively, and scholars kept hitting the local government offices.

The governments in various places were prepared for a long time, and they were arrested for trouble, and then they had good food and accommodation to entertain, and they were asked to read books and newspapers, translated books from the West, and read the China Times. The relatively quiet places in the country were Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and inland Anhui, which were relatively calm. After all, these places were Yang Qi's home, and basically all received Yang Yi's education reform, and a large number of new-style schools appeared.

Although I was prepared for a long time, there were still people with ulterior motives who took advantage of this time to fuel the fire and incite trouble. The troops from all over the country who had been arranged were dispatched immediately to kill these buds in the cradle. However, the impact of this incident was still far-reaching. The incidents caused by this incident continued for more than a year, but fortunately no major incident occurred.

History is destined to continue to happen in 1862. The abolition of the imperial examinations has not yet subsided. New schools in various places are still being established. The court has issued a reform system, which directly led to mutinies in the northwest and northeast.

What system is causing such a big fight? That is to cut braids, cut off all those who have braids in the country, and now they can poke a hornet's nest. Originally, Yang Yi used the Beijing coup to suppress the Manchus' ruling foundation, which had already made the iron-hat kings in the Northeast unbearable. Now Yang Yi has come to this trick, which is to dig the ancestral graves of the Manchus and cut off the dragon veins of the Qing Dynasty. Of course, they will make trouble. The princes in the Northeast joined forces to rebel.

On March 20, 1862, the imperial examination system was abolished. In April, the imperial court issued an order to cut his braids. In early May, the northeast and northwest were rebelled.

On May 10, the eight Iron Hat Kings in the Northeast joined forces with 16 Mongolian princes to gather 600,000 troops, divided the troops into two groups, heading straight to Beijing, heading north, and attacking Ulan Uto, the important border town of Ulan Uto. China was caught in a civil war again.

The Northeast is the last foundation of the Manchus. If the Manchus want to uproot the rule of the Manchus, the Northeast problem must be solved. It can be said that Yang Yi took the risk of ordering to cut his braids at this time, and he wanted to take advantage of the remaining power after the Beijing coup to eradicate the Manchus' power in one fell swoop. Sure enough, the iron-hat kings of the Eight Banners could no longer sit still, and even the Mongolian princes who had always had a good relationship were pulled down.

The rebels who went south to Beijing were divided into two groups, intending to leave Zhangjiakou, run to Rehe, and exit Shanhaiguan along Jinzhou. The changes in the Northeast and Mongolia should be considered as Yang Yi's expectations. Before the rebels were launched, Yang Yi had mobilized a large army and was ready for battle in Zhangjiakou and Shanhaiguan. Under the leadership of Nie Shicheng, 200,000 troops of the Northeast Military Region also gathered in the Ulan-Uto area to block the rebels and destroy the rebels' attempt to open up the Russian channel. Yang Yi was not very worried about the rebels' weapons. Since the rebels got the news in advance, they had already run away in advance. Only a few were killed by the rebels. Yang Yi was worried about the Iron Cavalry of Mongolia. After the expansion of the new army, most of the new recruits joined, and the troops did not have much experience in fighting cavalry. If they were a little careless, it would be a disaster. Most of the rebels were cavalry, which should be faced.

In Beijing, Yang Yi ordered the troops to implement comprehensive martial law in Beijing to strictly prevent spies from causing chaos, and the emperor and the queen mother were also firmly controlled in the palace. What made Yang Yi relieved was that the Han people did not have much reaction to cutting braids, so just cut them. Keeping them is indeed a burden.
Chapter completed!