Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 409: Teaching and Learning
Huang Zhifu never dreamed that he had dodged in advance and even mixed in with the ordinary carriages and horses with his two followers, but he would be discovered by the most arrogant and domineering daughter of the capital. He wanted to pretend that he didn't know who the other party was calling, but the two followers beside him immediately raised their heads as if they had heard an imperial decree.
Therefore, he could only look up and force a smile that was uglier than crying. However, he forgot that he didn't sleep well the previous night, and coupled with the fatigue from traveling during the day, his haggard face looked even more haggard. Although he didn't look like a skeleton, it looked even more suspicious to Zhu Ying.
After looking up, down, left and right for a while, Miss Zhu frowned and asked, "Do you know me?"
Prefect Huang's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately shook his head like a rattle in panic: "No... I don't know him!"
"Why are you hiding from me when you don't know me?" Zhu Ying narrowed her eyes, and her suspicion grew. "If you don't do anything wrong, you won't be afraid of ghosts knocking on your door. I think you have something to hide, you are either a traitor or a thief! Someone, take these three to me first, and when we get to the capital, take them to the Shuntian government office and compare them with the arrest warrants to see if they are wanted criminals!"
Seeing this scene, Zhang Shou, who was in a dilemma, had to step out and stop them, saying, "Yingying, I just don't know how to face you. That's Hejian Prefect Huang, not some suspicious person!"
When Zhu Ying heard the words "Hejian Huang Zhifu", she couldn't help but frowned and asked suspiciously: "Who is Hejian Huang Zhifu? I don't know him. Why is he, a prefect, hiding when he sees me? Am I a monster?" The more she thought about it, the more she felt something was wrong. She stared at the man from top to bottom, left to right, but she was completely confused.
Seeing that Zhu Ying didn't remember his origins after hearing about it, Prefect Huang regretted it so much that his intestines turned green. If he had known that Zhu Ying had such a bad memory, why would he hide? Wouldn't he have just pretended to be an irrelevant person in the back? At this moment, he just hoped that Zhang Shou and Ge Yong would not explain too much and let him get away with it.
Finally, his wish came true. Zhang Shou laughed and said, "Yingying, just forget it. It's not a big deal."
Ge Yong naturally didn't bother to remind Zhu Ying that you kicked someone's son off the mountain. He just heard it from others. He coughed unhappily and changed the subject directly: "Little Yingying, I heard that you were so bold that you scolded the Prime Minister Jiang in public at Tianxia Taiping Building on Qipan Street, and your father confined you to your home?"
It was only when Prefect Huang arrived at Tongzhou Luhe Posthouse yesterday that he learned that Prime Minister Jiang Ge Lao had suddenly become the former Prime Minister. When he heard Ge Yong's words revealing the key, he immediately took a breath of cold air. It was already scary that the daughter of a rich family could bully his stupid son casually, but now this person was so fierce that she even dared to scold the Prime Minister?
"Who said I was grounded?"
Zhu Ying raised her eyebrows and protested unconvincedly, "I had a quarrel with those nonsense scholars in Tianxia Taiping Building before, and I scolded Old Man Jiang. Even if Old Man Jiang was here, I would dare to scold him! But Grandpa Ge, please don't slander my father. I was sick because of those guys. My father even hired a royal doctor for me and said that he and Old Man Jiang are irreconcilable!"
"My father is the one who protects me and my elder brother the most. Old man Jiang first ordered people to frame him and my elder brother, and now he is doing something to my elder brother and Ah Shou. How can we tolerate this! Besides, that stubborn and conservative old man should have stepped down long ago! Humph, no matter what, I have scolded him from the current Prime Minister to the former Prime Minister!"
Zhang Shou then realized that Zhao Guogong Zhu Jing had actually said such a cruel thing after Zhu Ying had caused such a scene - maybe there would be other corresponding measures as a follow-up, it really is true that like father, like daughter. However, when he saw the dodging Huang Zhifu with a pale face, he knew that he was indeed frightened.
Just when Prefect Huang was hesitating and wanted to leave but didn't dare to, Zhu Ying suddenly cried out, "I remember who Prefect Huang of Hejian is! Well, it's you who raised that outspoken, irresponsible, and narrow-minded son who caused trouble in Cangzhou!"
Zhang Shou saw that Magistrate Huang was so frightened that he almost fell off his horse, so he kindly advised: "Yingying, a son is a son, and a father is a father. How can you confuse the two? Besides, Magistrate Huang sincerely apologized last night. He is also very sad to raise such a son. You should not blame him too much."
Zhu Ying then glanced over suspiciously: "Oh, Ah Shou, are you saying that he actually feels repentant?"
Prefect Huang nodded quickly and said, "Yes, yes, I deeply regret it, deeply regret it!"
Ge Yong lifted the curtain and saw that Prefect Huang was so moved by Zhang Shou's intercession that he was both angry and amused. "He wanted to confess every little thing yesterday. He can be considered to have admitted his mistakes and corrected them. You should stop holding the father accountable for his son's sins. Huang Xian, you should go into the city first. There are so many people blocking the road!"
Huang Xian, who was already feeling very uncomfortable, was looking forward to hearing this. At this moment, he felt that the Ge family was really a very generous person. He hurriedly bowed and said with tears of gratitude: "Thank you, Master Ge, for your tolerance, and thank you, Doctor Zhang, for your generosity. I will definitely discipline my son well in the future and make him change his ways... I will take my leave first!"
Seeing that Prefect Huang was frightened and fled with his two followers, Zhang Shou saw that Zhu Ying was still staring at his back, so he smiled and said, "Teacher, what you just said is right. Last night, he even revealed in public how he had such a rich fortune. He is an interesting person..."
After hearing Zhang Shou's brief account of what Prefect Huang had said and done when he visited her last night, Zhu Ying was a little surprised. She looked out and saw that the carriage Zhang Shou and Ge Yong were in was very spacious, so she simply rode closer. Seeing that Ah Liu, who was driving, had made room for her, she smiled at the young man, then jumped off the horse and got into the carriage.
I asked her about the whole process with great interest, and she was amazed: "I wondered how that stupid guy was taught, it turns out that he was educated by his parents with money! They spend every penny carefully, but they try their best to stuff money on their son. I don't know what to say... Although my father and grandmother spoiled me, they didn't make themselves suffer!"
Ge Yong was immediately amused: "You are still comparing yourself with that stupid boy?"
"I was just giving an example. Grandpa Ge, you just like to take advantage of my words!" Zhu Ying was immediately annoyed. "Besides, even if what the prefect surnamed Huang said is true, he can't be an official, and his wife can't keep the property she has worked so hard for so many years! He doesn't even think about the fact that even if he becomes an official with a high rank, it will be in vain if he doesn't teach his son well!"
As she spoke, she said proudly: "Just like how old man Jiang raised such a treacherous grandson, even if he had a glorious reputation in his lifetime, it would be ruined! What's more, the prefect surnamed Huang is just like old man Jiang, neither of them is that wise! Parents should learn from my family and Aunt Wu, look at how well they taught my eldest brother and Ah Shou!" Well, she would not speak ill of the emperor behind his back...
"Cough cough... cough cough cough!" This time, Zhang Shou, who was smiling as a bystander, was finally choked and started coughing. He really didn't expect that after expressing his feelings about the Huang family's family education problem, Zhu Ying would actually use him and Zhu Tingfang as positive examples.
Hearing this, Ge Yong couldn't help but join in the fun and said, "Your eldest brother is great. Looking at the civil and military officials in the capital, no one dares to say that he is not excellent. In the future, he will surpass his father. Maybe even your father can't compare to him. As for Zhang Shou?"
He glanced at Zhang Shou and said with some disdain, "This kid is too evil, he doesn't count!" Before Zhu Ying could get angry, he added earnestly, "I'm not scolding him, I'm praising him! Even though your elder brother is good at both civil and military affairs, he's still a genius, but your precious fiancé, he can do things that others can't even do!"
Even I, an old man, don’t know how to do it. How is that acceptable?
Zhu Ying then turned from anger to joy, nodding her head repeatedly and saying, "Grandpa Ge, you are right. Ah Shou is indeed amazing in some areas. Even my grandmother and my father and mother say so! So, I have a good eye. I felt that he was extraordinary the first time I saw him!"
Zhang Shou didn't expect that he would not only be implicated, but also be blamed for Ge Yong's few comments. He clasped his hands together helplessly and said, "Teacher, I am just an ordinary person. Please let me go. Yingying's elder brother is the child of other families. He is the person that other families use as a role model when educating their children and grandchildren. As for me, I am still far from the standard of elder brother Zhu."
"Heh." Ge Yong laughed with an ambiguous tone, and then said nonchalantly, "In short, the luckiest person is Yingying's father. Not only did he give birth to a good son, but he also found a good son-in-law. Now even his little son, who he despised so much, has a chance to turn things around. I don't know how many people are envious of him now."
Outside the carriage, Lu Sanlang, who had just turned his horse and caught up with the carriage, finally found an opportunity to interrupt and said with a smile: "Master Ge is right. My father is so envious of Duke Zhao. He always says that he only regrets that he doesn't have a daughter, otherwise he would have a capable son-in-law like Mr. Xiao..."
Before he could finish his words, Zhang Shou hit him so hard that he retracted his head: "Yes, yes, your father has a son like you who often betrays him, so of course he wants a daughter who is as caring as a cotton-padded jacket!"
Ge Yong, however, quite likes the fat boy as his disciple. Firstly, he has never thought that Lu Sanlang, a playboy and of such a stature, actually has a talent for mathematics. He is the youngest of his outstanding disciples. Secondly, Lu Sanlang is sweet-mouthed and good at talking, which is much better than his disciples who are either serious or busy with their official duties.
So, seeing that Lu Sanlang was embarrassed, he joked, "Little Fatty of the Lu Family, stop flattering me. You have been in charge of Jiuzhang Hall these days when your young master is away. Is everything going well?"
"Needless to say, I, the head monk, am no pushover!" Lu Sanlang held his head high, his pride evident in his words. "In addition to those sent to Wang Datou for internship, there are also a group of people appointed by the emperor to the Ministry of Revenue and Guanglu Temple for auditing. The others have almost learned the solid geometry and trigonometric functions in Ge's New Compilation of Mathematics..."
Hearing Lu Sanlang excitedly mentioning the words "Ge's New Mathematics", Ge Yong's smile froze on his face. He turned his head to look, but saw Zhang Shou listening to Lu Sanlang talking about the teaching progress - in fact, it should be said that the self-study progress, while occasionally giving some pointers, and even his mouth twitched slightly.
Zhang Shou seemed not to notice the teacher's stiff expression, and said earnestly: "The New Edition of Ge's Mathematics is the result of many years of hard work by the teacher. It draws on the strengths of mathematical classics such as the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, and extracts the essence from Western mathematics. It abandons the difficult descriptions in the previous classics and uses numbers and symbols to explain the truth. It has the beauty of simplicity..."
Although he wanted to hold it back, Ge Yong finally couldn't help himself after hearing Zhang Shou's endless exposition of the importance of that set of textbooks, and even his claim that a new book would be printed soon - in fact, they were the two manuscripts he was studying.
He raised his eyebrows and said unhappily, "Zhang Shou, you are the doctor of the Imperial College in charge of Jiuzhang Hall. You were away for a few months and now that you are back, you should take good care of the students. How can a teacher let students study on their own all day long?"
Zhang Shou was already used to the teacher's nitpicking, so he smiled and said, "Teacher, what you said is not right. Nowadays, whether it is the Imperial College or other academies, don't they all have less time for lectures and more time for self-study? For example, it was a rare occasion for me to give lectures every day in Jiuzhang Hall and Banshan Hall. It is most common for students to complement each other."
Seeing Ge Yong was immediately speechless, Zhang Shou certainly would not continue to pursue the issue and accuse the education model that is actually very unreliable these days. Instead, he said nonchalantly: "Now that Banshan Hall has branches, each hall has someone to supervise it. I can't take care of it all by myself. After I meet the emperor and report the situation in Cangzhou, my focus will naturally shift to Jiuzhang Hall."
At this point, Zhang Shou pointed to the carriage behind him and said to Lu Sanlang, "If nothing unexpected happens, the two students I brought back from Cangzhou will enter the second term of Jiuzhang Hall. By then, you will be a senior, so you can give them more guidance if you have nothing to do."
Lu Sanlang was immediately overjoyed to be promoted from the head of the temple to a senior. He immediately put on the airs of a senior and said solemnly and dignifiedly: "Young master, rest assured, as a senior, I will definitely help the juniors!"
After saying this, Lu Sanlang immediately turned his horse and hurried to the back, this time his posture was surprisingly agile. When he left, Zhu Ying burst out laughing, and couldn't help but think of the way Lu Sanlang shocked her father Zhu Jing a few days ago, and his unexpected call of "Little Master's Wife".
As an imperial envoy, he should have waited at the post station outside the capital, but Ge Yong had already received the emperor's order and went to the palace to meet the emperor after returning to Beijing, so he naturally brought his student Zhang Shou with him, and Zhu Ying simply followed him. After entering Chaoyang Gate and returning to the noisy and bustling capital, the group went straight to Dong'an Gate from Dengshikou Hutong, but they saw Chu Kuan waiting there in person.
As soon as they met, the head of the Imperial Household Department said with a smile: "Old Master Ge and Doctor Zhang are back! The emperor is with the third and fourth princes at Wansui Mountain. Please move, Old Master Ge, the emperor has specially granted you a sedan chair."
