Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 410 Let’s take the Jiuzhang Hall exam
The emperor granted a sedan chair, which was a great honor to senior officials. Since Emperor Taizu, there were only about 10 to 20 officials who had received such treatment. The current emperor only had Ge Yong, and the former Prime Minister Jiang Ge Lao did not receive such treatment. Of course, according to what Jiang Ge Lao himself said to outsiders, even if he was given the sedan chair, he would definitely refuse it. How could he, the Prime Minister, say he was old?
However, Jiang Ge Lao did not have such treatment but wanted to boast of his honor to show his youth and strength, but Ge Yong was not interested in showing his integrity as a minister when the emperor respected his teacher. Although the emperor's carriage was indeed specially made, the old man was still tired after traveling for several days and coming to see the emperor as soon as he arrived in the capital, not to mention that he had to climb Wansui Mountain soon!
Therefore, Ge Yong got on the sedan chair without any hesitation. Seeing the bamboo sunshade oil umbrella put up, he breathed a sigh of relief as he was familiar with the pace of the sedan chair bearers in the palace. He simply closed his eyes and planned to take a nap.
Zhang Shou saw four people steadily lifting the sedan chair and moving forward with a steady pace and very little shaking. He turned his head and glanced at Zhu Ying and said, "It's quite far from here to Wansui Mountain. Yingying, do you want to go back to the mansion and wait for me?"
Since he had been to the palace once, he had discovered that the layout of this palace was almost the same as the Forbidden City in later generations. It was obviously the work of Emperor Taizu, whose map ability was fully upgraded. In this case, the so-called Wansui Mountain was obvious. Wasn't it Jingshan Mountain behind the Forbidden City?
According to the map he was familiar with, it was not far from Dong'anmen of the Outer Imperial City to the foot of Jingshan Mountain in the north, but climbing the mountain still took some effort. In such a hot day, why should Zhu Ying go through the trouble to accompany him?
Zhu Ying glanced at Zhang Shou in a reproachful manner, but did not speak. Instead, she looked at Chu Kuan with a half-smile. Under her gaze, Chu Kuan immediately smiled and said, "It does take a long time to go from Dong'an Gate to Wansui Mountain. If you want to go, why not ride a horse?" Without waiting for Zhu Ying to answer, he nodded slightly to Zhang Shou and said, "Dr. Zhang, you have worked hard on this trip to Cangzhou. The emperor has specially granted you the right to ride a horse in the outer imperial city."
Zhang Shou felt tired after riding in a carriage all the way. Even if he had to walk to Wansui Mountain, he could only accept it. It would be best if he could save energy. Therefore, he thanked the emperor for his consideration in front of Chu Kuan. When Chu Kuan waved his hand, two soldiers who looked like imperial guards came up with two horses. He jumped on the horse, but soon he found that someone had grabbed the reins.
When Chu Kuan saw that it was Ah Liu who took the initiative to lead Zhang Shou's horse, obviously to accompany him into the palace, his eyes condensed slightly, and then he pretended not to see it. He ordered a young eunuch who followed him to lead Zhu Ying's mount, and then he got on his own horse with a nimble posture.
As for Lu Sanlang, who was escorted all the way to Dong'an Gate, the emperor did not want to see him, so he would not take the initiative to join in the fun like Zhu Ying did - he did not have the face to do so - so, after sending his master, teacher and mistress into the palace, he quickly took his two future juniors and Xiaohuasheng to watch the Tao, packed up the people and luggage and sent them directly to Zhang Garden.
Zhang Shou had been to the palace before, but this was his first time to Wansui Mountain. Moreover, the route he took this time was different from his previous visit to the Forbidden City, where he went out the back door and entered Jingshan Park. He was with Zhu Ying, so he was not afraid of being accused of violating a taboo, so he simply looked around openly. His tourist-like behavior also attracted Zhu Ying, a part-time tour guide, to explain along the way.
"After passing the Dongshangbei Gate, along the riverside are the direct offices of the six ministries and major military governors' offices. If there is any emergency at night, they can be sent to the Qianqing Palace through the Donghua Gate..."
"Ah Shou, look, the one on the east side is the Nei Cheng Yun warehouse. In fact, the word Cheng Yun is usually omitted, so it is the Nei Ku. There are many good things in it, such as gold, silver, gems, rhinoceros horns, pearls, agates, feather yarns and satins...all obtained by the royal ships in the South Seas trade. When I was a child, Mingyue and I followed the emperor in. The emperor said that we could take anything we liked as long as we could carry it."
No matter how picky a tourist is, if there is such a beautiful tour guide with a pleasant voice, most of them will be more tolerant. Moreover, Zhang Shou is now visiting the imperial palace, so he is very satisfied with a tour guide. At this moment, he listened to Zhu Ying's eloquent introduction with great interest. When he heard Zhu Ying deliberately keeping him in suspense, he naturally asked questions.
"Yingying, what did you take at that time?"
"I used to like all those shiny things, but my grandmother told me since I was a child that we should not be greedy." Zhu Ying smiled, but still talked about Princess Yongping first. "Mingyue took a string of big pearls, and I... I chose a few colorful feathers and asked the palace craftsmen to make a shuttlecock for me."
Zhang Shou was still guessing, but he was also shocked by Zhu Ying's amazing thinking when she was a child. Princess Yongping, who was still young, chose a string of pearls, which was considered very restrained. But for Zhu Ying, who liked beautiful clothes and beautiful jewelry, she actually chose feathers that looked beautiful and rare, but were not that valuable, and made them into shuttlecocks?
"When I went to visit other families with my grandmother, a maid bullied me for not having a mother and showed off her shuttlecock. When I went there again, I brought this new shuttlecock with me, and she never dared to say a word in front of me again. Moreover, every time the shuttlecock was broken, the emperor sent someone to select feathers for me to make a new one. It's not a loss for me to use the opportunity of selecting things in the inner treasury in exchange for the most beautiful shuttlecock in the capital."
Even though Chu Kuan was right beside her, Zhu Ying still talked freely about the old days without any reservations, as if there was nothing she couldn't tell others about her childhood thoughts.
Zhang Shou thought about Zhu Ying's age at that time, and he felt that it was not strange that the little girl at that time did not like gold and silver jewelry but loved shuttlecock. There is no doubt that the shuttlecock, which has always been the most beautiful in the capital, should have made Zhu Ying very proud when she was a child.
After introducing the Neichengyunku, Zhu Ying, the diligent tour guide, then introduced the Zhongshufang and Beihuafang to Zhang Shou. She even explained a lot about the moat surrounding the inner city.
It was because Emperor Taizu thought that a moat was unnecessary for the palace. If any rebellious troops crossed the outer imperial city and attacked the palace, the emperor would just hang himself. I don't know if it was a prophecy, but the palace was occupied twice, once during the reign of Emperor Yingzong and once during the reign of Emperor Ruizong.
As for Zhu Ying's comment that the moat was of no use during the two palace riots, Chu Kuan seemed not to have heard it and did not say a word. Instead, he quietly observed Zhang Shou's reaction.
However, Zhang Shou did not express any extra emotion or comment from beginning to end. Most of the time, he just nodded, sighed, shook his head, and smiled, not revealing his true emotions in front of others. After entering the Imperial Garden at the north-south gate and going around to the central Wansui Gate, Zhang Shou got off the horse and immediately went to the side of the sedan chair to help Ge Yong, who had taken a peaceful nap, down.
For the next leg of the mountain climb, even though Ge Yong had been honored with an imperial sedan chair, he would not actually sit in the sedan chair to climb the Wansui Mountain named after him by Emperor Taizu, because the implication was too .
It is now autumn according to the solar terms , and the weather is not as hot as the real summer. In addition, Wansui Mountain is covered with grass and trees, and the roads opened up on the mountain are all paved with bluestone. The trees on both sides have been planted since the reign of Taizu, and now they are tall and majestic. When people walk among them, the mountain breeze blows, and it is still cool and shady.
Ge Yong usually exercises a lot, and with Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying supporting him, he walked slowly but steadily. But when he climbed halfway up the mountain, the old man couldn't take it anymore. He signaled to stop and stood there panting: "I'm old, I can't climb mountains anymore, let me rest."
"Teacher, you have been traveling for days to come back from Cangzhou. I summoned you immediately without letting you rest. This is really inconsiderate."
Hearing these sudden words, Zhang Shou looked up and saw several familiar figures appearing above the mountain road. It was the emperor walking towards him quickly, and the third and fourth princes followed behind hand in hand, and behind them were several guards with swords. Apart from them, there was no eunuch or palace maid to be seen.
The emperor hurried to the front of the crowd and helped Ge Yong, who was bowing and saluting, up with one hand. He then nodded slightly to Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying to indicate that they didn't need to be polite. Then he glared at Chu Kuan and said, "Didn't you grant him a sedan chair? Why are you letting the teacher climb the mountain on foot?"
"If I take a sedan chair to the Wansui Mountain today, the impeachment books will be piled up in the Tongzheng Department tomorrow. Why bother?" Ge Yong smiled unhappily. When he saw the third and fourth princes, he said meaningfully, "It's just like the emperor only brought the two little princes to climb the Wansui Mountain today. There are many people who will inquire about this matter or even advise against it tomorrow."
"Why should I care about them? I finally got rid of old man Jiang, this immovable Buddha, can't I relax a little?" The emperor raised his eyebrows and complained angrily, "There are people trying to figure out my words and deeds all day long, and they are annoying me!"
Ge Yong sneered, but this time he did not try to persuade her, but just stood there quietly.
Faced with such an unyielding teacher, the emperor could not help but pull at his short, spirited beard in boredom, and then waved to the third and fourth princes to come forward: "Sanlang, Silang, haven't you met your Grandmaster Ge and your teacher yet?"
The third and fourth princes had just heard Ge Yong say that their father shouldn't have taken them to the Longevity Mountain alone, and they felt a little aggrieved. But when they heard the emperor ask them to come and pay respect to their teacher, they immediately stepped forward side by side and saluted respectfully. But when they saw Zhang Shou, the outspoken fourth prince saw Zhang Shou coming up to support them, so he grabbed Zhang Shou's sleeve.
"Teacher, can't you really come back to teach me and my third brother?"
Zhang Shou was a little surprised, especially when he saw the Third Prince looking at him eagerly. He didn't expect that he would receive such recognition and expectations after only teaching the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince for half a year.
After thinking about it in his mind, he did not look at the emperor's expression at this moment, but just gently touched the fourth prince's head. Then, when he saw that the third prince also looked expectant, he also rubbed the third prince's little head.
After two head-touching kills, he smiled and said, "There's not much I can teach you."
Without waiting for the Fourth Prince to object, he continued, "I have recently been helping the teacher compile mathematics and physics textbooks so that more people can be exposed to the world beyond the Four Books and Five Classics. And I will soon recruit the second batch of students for Jiuzhang Hall, so that more talented people who previously saw no future because the imperial examinations only tested the Four Books and Five Classics will have another hope."
"So, I will be very busy and will not be able to teach you wholeheartedly. What you need is a teacher who is wholehearted, not someone like me who is half-hearted, sometimes writing books, sometimes tinkering with interesting inventions, and sometimes even like this time, being sent by the emperor to see if there is anything I can help with... You can come to me anytime if you have any questions, and you don't have to be a teacher or a student."
The fourth prince's eyes, filled with strong expectations, finally dimmed.
He lowered his head deeply and said in a tone of strong reluctance: "But teacher, you are different from other teachers."
It is different... Because now there is only one me in the world, but if there are many teachers like me in the world, then the world will really change dramatically. Europe is about to end the dark and long Middle Ages and usher in an era of vigorous development. If people in the world cannot change their thinking at this time, then this backwardness will last for hundreds of years.
Zhang Shou squatted down so that he could look at the two talented little princes in front of him, and then said word by word: "If you want me to be your teacher, there is actually another way. That is to pass the entrance examination and enter Jiuzhang Hall."
At that moment, the Fourth Prince's eyes, which had been dimming, burst into an incomparable light. Not only him, but also the Third Prince, who had just let the Fourth Prince get ahead, was like this. The latter, who had always been well-behaved, even shouted out of his mind, "Teacher, are you serious?"
"Of course I take it seriously!" Zhang Shou smiled and stretched out his finger, saying calmly, "If you don't believe me, we can pinky promise!"
Just as he said this, he suddenly realized that these were two princes who were raised in the deep palace, and they probably wouldn't know such a folk trick as pinky-pinching. But before he could retract his little finger, the fourth prince stretched out his little finger without hesitation and hooked it with his, and then the third prince also hurriedly joined in.
The two little guys shouted in almost the same rhythm: "Pin it up and don't change it for a hundred years!"
Ge Yong, who had been watching quietly on the side, only glanced at the emperor at this moment and whispered jokingly: "Should I say, like father, like son?"
When the Empress Dowager gave the Emperor to him to teach, God knows what kind of a fool he was! He didn't know how many ways he had to think of to get such a guy to study hard at the desk, but he would always make pinky promises to him, fearing that he would lie to fool him - he didn't think about whether such a childish thing as pinky promises would work if he really fooled him.
Zhu Ying noticed that the emperor was helping Ge Yong up the mountain, so she stepped forward and pulled the third and fourth princes by the hand, then said with a smile: "Since we have made an agreement, remember to study hard in the future. Ah Shou must be looking forward to seeing you in Jiuzhang Hall!"
