Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 527: No One Listens to the Old Tune
Although he could memorize the Four Books and was familiar with the Five Classics, Zhang Shou's understanding of these things was far from his understanding of history books - he read the history books with his own thoughts, so he enjoyed them very much, but as for the Four Books and Five Classics, although he could know every word and sentence by heart because of his extraordinary talent, his understanding was much worse.
As for metaphysics, it was even worse. His understanding was as bad as it could be. For example, the worst course he took in college was a certain philosophy course, nothing else... Of course, because it was a closed-book course, there was no way to cheat!
Therefore, when Director Hong Shan began to seriously talk about his further understanding of the Taoism, Zhang Shou was really confused.
He sat there with a smile on his face, seemingly listening to Master Hong's lecture very seriously, but in fact, he was thinking about what to eat for dinner today. He wondered if the mutton he asked Aunt Liu to buy in the morning would have a strong fishy smell. In addition to braising the lamb chops, should he also make some boiled lamb? Should he put more chili in the bowl of mutton offal soup?
However, Zhu Ying, who had come here specially today and occupied a large Guangye Hall with Wu, and had asked Li Mama, the proud maid of her grandmother, to watch outside, did not know that Zhang Shou was daydreaming. She looked out several times, and when she found that Zhang Shou was still listening calmly with a smile, she could not help but complain.
"Ah Shou is really a very impatient person. If it were me, I would have lost my patience and would have found an excuse to leave long ago!"
Wu was quietly brought here by Zhu Ying today, and the future mother-in-law and daughter-in-law entered the Imperial College as family members. She originally thought that there would be other female relatives from other families coming here to listen to the lectures, but she didn't expect that there would be only the two of them. She couldn't help feeling a little uneasy.
Although she couldn't see clearly the person who was lecturing in Suixing Hall at this time, at least she could hear some voices, and her heart gradually calmed down.
Therefore, even though she did not understand what Director Hong said, her patience was much stronger than Zhu Ying's. She smiled and comforted him, "After all, this is about knowledge. Even if we don't understand, the people below us must understand. Ah Shou has loved reading since he was a child. In the past few years when his health gradually improved, whenever Old Liu went to Beijing, he would often ask people to buy books for him. He knows a lot, so he must feel that he has gained a lot from listening to him."
"That may not be the case." Zhu Ying was usually very close to Wu and would not normally refute her words, but at this moment she said unconvincedly, "Aunt Wu, please don't scare these so-called great scholars. They speak at length, but it's often hard to understand what they mean. Look at the expressions of those guys below."
Zhu Ying pulled Wu over without saying anything, and then pointed at the students and candidates below, even sharply pointing out which district and which person was pretending.
Wu looked at them one by one and found that it was true. She was shocked. She had never had the opportunity to study when she was young, and now she only knew a few words, so she always had a natural respect for scholars.
Therefore, she still respected Zhang Shou's father, the scholar Zhang who had died many years ago. She was also very grateful to the widow Zhang who was also literate and helped her get rid of blindness. She even secretly ordered people to treat the two scholars who were living in her house and were described by Zhang Shou as unimportant well.
What she feared the most was that Zhang Shou would enter the Imperial College at such a young age, but would be looked down upon because of his youth. Whenever she thought of this, she would regret that she had driven away the teacher sent by the Duke of Zhao's mansion because of Zhang Shou's poor health, thus wasting his best time studying. If Zhang Shou had not been studious and even gifted, she would have regretted it now.
So, now that she discovered that scholars could also be lazy and slack off, she couldn't help but say with mixed feelings: "I thought that those who could pass the imperial examination and study in the Imperial Academy would be diligent and not dare to slack off."
"Haha," Zhu Ying snorted disdainfully, "Aunt Wu, you think too much. Some of the candidates are truly talented, but some just happened to guess the right questions, or their essays suited the examiners' tastes, so they got lucky. Not to mention the students of the Imperial College, even the Ruxing Hall, which is known as the top of the six halls, has some veterans who have waited for the qualifications to come in."
"Besides, these students are so slippery that they dared to doze off or even lose focus while their teacher was lecturing. What's more, this old man Hong who is lecturing now is just talking nonsense. Don't take scholars too seriously. Even those who listen carefully are mostly pretending! They are not like sincere gentlemen like Ah Shou who really listen carefully."
When Wu heard Zhu Ying praising Zhang Shou, she immediately forgot to criticize the scholars for not paying attention, and completely turned into a loving mother who was happy to hear others praise her son. At that moment, she looked at Zhang Shou's contented look and nodded in agreement, "Ah Shou has been serious about everything since he was a child. His demeanor and bearing are most like yours. "
If Zhang Shou knew that his acting of pretending to listen attentively actually won the unanimous praise of Wu and Zhu Ying, the future mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, he would definitely be in tears and laughter. However, not only the two hiding in Guangye Hall to watch the fun, but even Lu Sanlang beside him, yawned for who knows how many times, but still did not wait for the closing words of Hong Shanchang.
Not long after the lecture began, Lu Sanlang deliberately exchanged seats with Xu Heida from the Shengqian Hall. Because of his lead, other students from the Jiuzhang Hall followed suit and carefully asked to exchange seats with Xu Heida, who readily agreed to the request every time. As a result, the black-faced supervisor of the Shengqian Hall moved his seat again and again, and even sat at the edge.
Ji Jiu, who had been sitting next to the head monk to show his magnanimity, decided not to change seats because there was a stern-faced supervisor next to him.
Lu Sanlang, however, would not think that he, his senior, had set a bad example for others. He endured it again and again, and finally he could not bear it any longer and asked in a low voice: "Young sir, will this old guy ever stop ? It's amazing that you can listen to him! Zhang Chen and the others are smart. They used the excuse of investigating that strange theft and arson case to not even come!"
Zhang Shou didn't move, not even blinking: "Zhang Chen and the others have something important to do, so there's no need to force yourself. As for listening to the lecture, you're too impatient. Just keep a calm mind and you'll be able to listen naturally."
Nonsense, he had gotten through even more boring classes in the past by daydreaming like this, but now it was just a matter of listening to a lecture of more than half an hour of nonsense, no big deal!
Not only that, he could still hear the movements around him while he was distracted, without worrying about being discovered. But the next moment, he heard the third prince, who was always the most kind-hearted, mutter something.
"But what Principal Hong said is too confusing."
It was really too much of a stretch to let a child this young to listen to philosophy. Zhang Shou thought so in his heart, but he didn't realize that letting such a young child study mathematics with a group of people was also forcing the growth of seedlings - if Lu Sanlang was indeed a genius with great talent in mathematics and business, then the little Third Prince was even more of a genius.
Therefore, he slightly tilted his head closer to the Third Prince and said with a soft smile: "Zheng Rong, mathematics, physics and chemistry are important, but literature, history and philosophy are equally important and should not be neglected."
Knowing the titles of mathematics, physics, chemistry, literature, history and philosophy, the Third Prince would certainly be confused. Therefore, after giving such a very general lesson, he whispered: "Don't frown, don't be at a loss, and don't shake your head, because this will make the people who have been observing you feel dissatisfied and contemptuous. Regardless of whether you can understand or not, you must try your best to listen... At least make yourself appear to be trying hard to listen."
Lu Sanlang pricked up his ears to listen to Zhang Shou's admonition to the third prince. When he heard the first part, he couldn't help but nod secretly, thinking that Zhang Shou had grasped the key point. But when he heard the very light sentence at the end, he almost choked and coughed.
Could it be that Zhang Shou was just pretending? But just when he thought so, he found that Zhang Shou's lips moved, and he was actually explaining some very simple terms based on what Hong Shanchang said, and told them to the third prince. He was just eavesdropping at first, but unknowingly he completely forgot about Hong Shanchang on the stage and listened carefully to Zhang Shou's explanation.
Zhang Shou was not really that interested in philosophy, but he had a good foundation in literature and history. He would also tell the Third Prince about how a bunch of Neo-Confucianists from the Northern Song Dynasty to the Southern Song Dynasty interpreted the word "Li" and what it meant to preserve the principles of heaven and eliminate human desires. What was the difference between the word "Li" and the truth in mathematics...
Fortunately, Zhang Shou was surrounded by students from Jiuzhang Hall, and most of them were impatient to listen to Hong Shanchang's long speech. Therefore, even if they found that Zhang Shou was instilling some subtle things to the third prince, the number of people who were eavesdropping like Lu Sanlang was far greater than those who were listening to Hong Shanchang's lectures.
In the eyes of Dean Hong, not only did his carefully prepared lectures fail to achieve the desired effect, but many students, from the students to the candidates, were actually drowsy. He could not help but feel sad and disappointed. If this was in Yuzhang Academy, he would have scolded them harshly, but now that he wanted to scold, he could not help but think of the earnest instructions of his mentor, the old Dean.
"When you get to the capital, think more about self-discipline and returning to propriety. Don't be impatient, and don't be irritable..."
So, with deep resentment and dissatisfaction, Hong Shanchang finally walked down the platform, and the applause in response was quite enthusiastic, which was the only thing that made him feel relieved. However, he didn't know that a certain foul-mouthed scholar had already made sarcastic remarks behind his back.
"If he knew that everyone applauded not because he spoke well, but to thank him for finally finishing, I wonder if he would faint! He might as well take out the Four Books and Five Classics to talk about, which is much more interesting than these things. Neo-Confucianism... Haha, there were so many Neo-Confucianists in the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties. We in Guangdong also had lecturers with much higher levels than him. Why should we listen to him?"
Although Fang Qing and Mr. Song have always been enemies, when comparing his own teacher, Principal Yue, and Principal Hong, he couldn't help but say, "It's indeed too old-fashioned... No, it should be said that it's too stereotyped. You know, the emperor summoned several principals to the capital this time, supposedly to promote various subjects and let a hundred flowers bloom, but he advocated the word "rational" instead, which is not in line with the emperor's will."
When the old scholar beside him heard Fang Qing say this, his eyes lit up. Before the third judge Xiao started speaking, he immediately asked, "Brother, how did you know that the emperor wanted to promote all subjects and let a hundred flowers bloom this time?"
Fang Qing just spoke his mind for a moment, and when the old scholar asked him again, he realized that he had made a mistake. However, he wanted to ignore the conversation, but the old scholar was sitting next to him, and even the people around him who had just heard the comments between him and Song Juren looked at him, and he immediately felt a little sweat on his back.
At this time, it was again Mr. Song who calmly came to the rescue and said, "Isn't this obvious? The previous Principal Yue of Zhaoming Academy was good at agricultural science, and Zhaoming Academy has trained many talents in farmland irrigation. The newly appointed Principal Xiao of Taihu Academy is also a powerful figure. It is said that he is very good at building bridges. Many bridges in Nanzhili and Zhejiang were drawn by him."
Seeing that many people were looking at him, he became even more proud. "Not only building bridges, the students in Taihu Academy even come from boating families. It is said that some of them are very good at the star-pulling technique commonly used at sea. As for Huating Academy..."
Mr. Song paused, then shrugged and said, "That's also unusual. Principal Xu is very good at construction and gardens. Many gardens in Suzhou, Yangzhou and Songjiang were designed by him, but he doesn't publicize them much. In fact, even the Zhang Garden where Doctor Zhang from the Imperial College lives now was designed by him..."
Having shown off to this point, he suddenly stopped talking, with a very unnatural look on his face.
Zhang Shou's Zhang Garden... that is not an ordinary house, it is the villa of Prince Lu, the emperor's younger brother who was rumored to have colluded with Prince Ye to commit evil and died in an unclear manner. How could that Principal Xu bring up the villa he designed for such a prince? He never mentioned it in all these years. If he showed it off, wouldn't he be causing trouble for no reason?
He originally just wanted to help Fang Qing out, so how come he was suddenly infected?
However, the words had already been spoken, and some people around understood it, but there were also people who did not realize it at all. Instead, they asked with great interest what other gardens Xu Shan had designed...Mr. Song, who was quick-witted, could only bring out all the famous gardens he could think of, and even introduced in detail one of the gardens he had visited.
Finally, he heard a voice that sounded like heavenly music to him: "Have you said enough? Shut up! What's so great about these things? You've been there before, so what? You didn't design them. You're shallow! Listen carefully!"
If he had been ridiculed like this at other times, Mr. Song would have retorted, but at this moment he shut up obediently, and then he was relieved to see that those around him who had been asking questions also shut up one by one. Although some people cast an annoyed look at the young scholar who stopped them, Mr. Song was only grateful at this moment. With this interruption, no one finally talked to him!
Song Juren listened to the lectures of Xiao Shanzhang and Xu Shanzhang with fear, but he didn't pay attention to what they said. Finally, he saw a familiar figure standing up and walking forward calmly. When the person walked into the Suixing Hall, he turned around and looked around. Although he couldn't see clearly from his position, he seemed to feel that the person was looking in his direction and even smiled at him.
