Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 467: Is it really not a pre-selected appointment?
The third prince was totally unexpectedly assigned to the first group, and he felt like he was about to panic. He and the fourth prince were only a little bit different in age, and they grew up together under the emperor's lap. He even hid behind the dragon throne to watch the emperor receive (and scold) ministers, but in the end he was only scolded by the emperor. In short, he and the fourth prince have always been inseparable.
However, at this moment, he was going to be the first to go in for an interview, not alone, but with five other people who were more than twice his age and completely strangers. Holding the note tightly, he felt his hands and feet cold, and even had the urge to run away.
Seeing his brother's pale face, the Fourth Prince immediately rushed to the Third Prince and took out to exchange with him. But at this moment, a hand suddenly stretched out and clamped his wrist. Turning his head to see that it was Ah Liu, the Fourth Prince immediately shouted: "For such a small matter of grouping, can't I exchange with the Third Brother?"
"No." Ah Liu looked straight at the somewhat anxious Fourth Prince without dodging. He saw that the man was not like those people who retreated in a moment under his gaze, including Zhu Er and Lu Sanlang. Instead, he was glaring at him like an angry little lion. He was not at all the naughty neighborhood boy when he talked to him in the past. However, he still did not back down.
"The purpose of drawing lots is to be fair and just. If everyone were to switch groups with others like you, the Fourth Prince, then there would be no point in drawing lots." Following this voice, Zhang Shou had already come out of the Jiuzhang Hall. Seeing that the Fourth Prince was like a deflated ball, lowering his head and saying nothing, and the Third Prince's face turned pale and blue, he smiled gently.
"You two have a deep brotherly love, which is a good thing. But no matter how good your relationship is, there will be things you need to face alone in the future. At that time, will you still look for each other to rely on? Third Prince, you were able to use three solutions to a simple problem before, and now you are still worried about a small interview?"
The Third Prince did not expect Zhang Shou to praise him, and he blushed. This obvious provocation would work every time for the Fourth Prince, but it was useless for him because he never had confidence. Moreover, the problem he solved with three methods was actually solved together with the Fourth Prince, three of which were contributed by the Fourth Prince, and he only came up with two of them reluctantly.
The Fourth Prince gave him three options without hesitation, and even argued that younger brothers should give way to older brothers, so he had no choice but to write them down as well. So, now that he thought of this, he not only failed to cheer up, but became even more timid.
After hesitating for a moment, he saw Zhang Shou beckoning the other members of the first group into the Jiuzhang Hall. This time, his mind went blank even more. At this moment, he suddenly felt someone touching his head from behind.
“When you are in doubt, look forward and charge forward!”
The third prince was slightly startled and turned his head to see that it was Ah Liu who touched his head. He was slightly startled at first, but then he did not feel offended, but felt a little grateful. He always knew that Ah Liu did not talk much to outsiders, and there was no doubt that he was comforting him at this time, so he said in a low voice as usual, "Thank you, Sixth Brother, but I'm afraid..."
Before the Third Prince could finish his sentence, Ah Liu gave him a gentle push on the back and said calmly, "If you are afraid, then do it first and think later!" He paused, then added, "The young master said this is called a reckless move."
Although he had never heard of the new term "mang yi bo", these three words were easy to understand, and the third prince suddenly realized it. Turning his head and seeing Ah Liu nodding at him, he repeatedly chewed the words "do first, think later", hesitated for a while, and finally stretched out his hands and slapped his face hard. After two slaps, he finally woke up a little.
However, the Third Prince’s understanding of “rushing forward” was quite different from what Ah Liu meant.
When he strode into the Nine Chapters Hall with his head held high, others could actually feel the tragic and majestic feeling of the wind whistling and the cold water of Yi River, and the hero never coming back once he left. Especially the Fourth Prince, he felt the same way and couldn't help but wipe his eyes, then clenched his fist to encourage others.
"Third brother, you can do it. Believe in yourself!"
Yue Shanzhang saw everything that had just happened, but he felt that the situation was ridiculous. The distinction between superiors and subordinates seemed to have long been invalid here. Zhang Shou treated the third and fourth princes as if they were ordinary students, and that indifferent young man who was urging the lottery to be drawn dared to treat the third prince with such a friendly attitude?
Did he know that when the eldest prince was imprisoned and the second prince was once guilty, the third prince, who was ranked first in the order of seniority, was actually the strongest contender for the position of crown prince?
Although Lu Sanlang was also surprised that the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince were assigned to the same place, it had already happened and the Third Prince had accepted his fate. He could only accept it even if he was worried. As for whether there was something fishy about this grouping, let alone suspicion, even if it was confirmed, what else could he do? Because it must have been Zhang Shou's suggestion and Ah Liu's execution!
He had long been accustomed to the indifference of Zhang Shou and A Liu, master and servant, who did not regard the prince as a human being - there is a saying that goes, like master, like servant - so at this moment he could only clap his hands, and when he saw the crowd of onlookers and other group interviewees gradually quieted down, he forced a smile and spoke again.
"You will go in for the interview according to the numbers you were assigned by drawing lots. Remember to follow the teacher's instructions. By the way, the written test was judged by Song Tuiguan from Shuntian Prefecture, and Xu Heizi from the Shengqian Hall of the Imperial College was the assistant... Xu Heida and Xu Jiancheng assisted you. They were the ones who reviewed your written test papers together with the teacher's answers... As for today, I, the head of the dormitory, will help the teacher."
After seeing that Lu Sanlang had finished his words and had no objection to the gathering of other onlookers, he went straight into the Jiuzhang Hall. Principal Yue winked at a few students, and seeing that they had all mixed into the crowd, he leisurely fell behind at the end.
Although he was not shy about letting people know that he had just arrived in Beijing and came to the Imperial College to see the second round of enrollment for the Jiuzhang Hall, as the headmaster of the Zhaoming Academy, he was still proud of his status and did not want to mingle with a group of ordinary scholars. However, soon, he heard a voice: "The Grand Master and the Junior Master are here!"
Dean Yue had already heard about Zhang Shou's promotion before he arrived in the capital. Coupled with the past experience of Yang Yiming, a doctor of the Imperial College, who had a fight with Zhang Shou and was betrayed by his students and eventually felled into disgrace, in his opinion, the other students of the Imperial College and Zhang Shou were two parties that could never be reconciled.
So, when he saw that there was only the scholar Zhang Shou in charge of the second round of enrollment at Jiuzhang Hall, and that even the previous written test was assisted by an outsider, Song Tui Guan, and at most only the Supervisor of Shengqian Hall, he became more and more confident in his judgment.
However, now Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye actually came together, he couldn't help but feel a little confused, but when the crowd made way for them, and Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye who appeared hurriedly walked directly towards the Fourth Prince, he sneered to himself.
He had thought that these two were trying to create the illusion of stability, unity and harmony among the Imperial College students in front of outsiders. But now it seemed that these two were too lazy to even put on such a show. They came here just for the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince to take the exam today.
Sure enough, he saw Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye approaching and chatting with the Fourth Prince in a kind and teacher-like manner. However, it was more like Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye were talking unilaterally, while the Fourth Prince only hummed absentmindedly from time to time, his eyes always looking into the Nine Chapters Hall.
Since there were already several students paying attention to what the interview of Jiuzhangtang was like, Yue Shanzhang simply observed the Fourth Prince quietly from the side. The young prince showed an impatient expression several times, but every time he seemed to be about to lose his temper, he would force himself to hold it back, but his wandering eyes showed that he was very unhappy at the time.
Perhaps it was because the person in charge was confused, but the bystander was clear. Shanzhang Yue found that Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye were completely unaware of this, because the two were still chattering and talking to the fourth prince with a smile. Seeing this scene, he finally had enough and said politely to the people around him: "Can you please make way? I have something to say to Zhou Dasicheng."
Most of those who could enter the Imperial College with their vouchers on the Imperial College Open Day were either eager to learn or ambitious scholars. In short, their ages might vary greatly, but there were few fools. Therefore, after hearing what Yue Shanzhang said, most people took a closer look at his clothes, appearance and demeanor, and quickly gave way.
But when the captain who had just led the team over saw that Yue Shanzhang was about to step forward, he was startled and quickly chased after him and asked, "Yue Shanzhang, what are you doing..."
"Haha, Zhou Dasicheng and I are old acquaintances. Since I'm here today, I have to pay him a visit." Captain Yue was naturally quite suspicious of this overly clever captain. While explaining casually, he quickened his pace and soon passed through the crowd and came in front of Zhou Jijiu, Luo Siye and the Fourth Prince.
Seeing that Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye had noticed something immediately, and Luo Siye even immediately stepped in front of the Fourth Prince as if he were an assassin with ill intentions, Yue Shanzhang smiled and bowed, saying, "I am Yue Bufan from Zhaoming Academy, and I greet the Grand Secretary and Junior Secretary."
The four words "Zhaoming Academy" are definitely not well-known to ordinary people in the capital. However, the open day of the Imperial College is attended by scholars from all walks of life. Even though they are of different ages, their knowledge is far better than that of ordinary people. Of course, they know what these four words mean. It is a famous academy in Guangdong. Even though it is not the largest in scale, the quality of its students is extremely high.
This academy was not established in the early years of this dynasty, but it has become famous in the past forty years, especially its three consecutive presidents who were known to be proficient in various subjects and knowledgeable. Although they only took a superficial look at the imperial examinations and began to concentrate on teaching and educating people in the academy , and took over as president after accumulating experience, many Jinshi from Fujian and Guangdong came from Zhaoming Academy.
Among these scholars, there were students from Zhaoming Academy. Yue Bufan had not seen them just now because he was behind them. Now that they had appeared, of course some people hurried forward to greet them. Yue Bufan smiled and raised his hand to indicate that they did not need to greet him. When he saw that Zhou Jijiu and Luo Sicheng's faces had become quite enthusiastic, he knew that they understood that he was summoned to the capital this time, perhaps to be a teacher to the prince.
Although they were not necessarily happy to see an outsider suddenly become the prince's teacher, they would certainly be happy to see one or more people to check and balance Zhang Shou.
Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye were known as the most important figures in the academic world, and they were the principal and deputy principals of the Imperial College. They really felt wronged at this time. The Imperial College used to be useless, with poor students, and the principals were half-hearted. The school system was almost non-existent, and the academic atmosphere was lax. The so-called highest institution of learning was just a nice name. If it weren't for the stubborn people like Xu Heida who supported the various systems, I'm afraid it would have been in name only.
But now this so-called revival is all driven by Zhang Shou. They are like horses pulling a cart, being driven by a whip from behind. It seems that their status has been improved, but they actually have no sense of existence. How can they not be miserable?
Therefore, after Zhou Jijiu Luo Siye and Yue Shanzhang exchanged greetings, he immediately wanted to introduce him to the Fourth Prince, but unexpectedly, the Fourth Prince suddenly took two short steps and ran to the door of Jiuzhang Hall. At this time, among the other scholars who saw Yue Shanzhang appear but were still distracted and paying attention to the situation in Jiuzhang Hall, someone started to shout.
"Dr. Zhang just instructed that each can ask two questions on the spot and let others answer them. There is no need for a final answer, as long as the correct idea is available. In the end, whoever answers the most questions will win!"
"I have heard of interviews before, but this is the first time I have seen such a unique interview! Candidates set questions for each other, which is much fairer than the examiners in the past! I thought Dr. Zhang would definitely favor the third prince!"
Yue Shanchang and Zhou Jijiu Luo Siye looked at the Fourth Prince who was looking out the door, as if he was about to rush in to help. Their expressions were different for a moment. They were all adults with their own minds, and no one would talk nonsense like the rioting crowd. Especially Yue Shanchang, who had just been ridiculed by the captain for saying that Zhang Shou was unique, so he kept silent.
The Third Prince in the Jiuzhang Hall was once again in a state of confusion. The courage he had mustered up when Ah Liu encouraged him was completely gone. What he did not expect was that Zhang Shou glanced at him and the others and then said, "It is said that we should respect the old and love the young. Let's start with the youngest. Third Prince, you start first."
Me? The Third Prince almost pointed his finger at his nose, his face was full of confusion and fear. His frightened expression fell on the eyes of others, and the five people who were originally grouped with him and the prince couldn't help but feel strange.
Could it be that this interview...isn't really an internal appointment?
Seeing Zhang Shou nod to him, the Third Prince felt a huge buzz in his head and couldn't think of anything. He opened his mouth groggily, not knowing what to say.
Suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind, and he remembered a difficult question Zhang Shou had asked him when he left Banshan Hall. He immediately said loudly as if he had found a treasure: "There are four numbers, which add up to forty, and the sum of one, two, three or four of them can form any number within forty. What are these four numbers?"
