Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 540: The ceremony has not yet been performed
Zhang Shou came from an era that was denounced by some retro-styled people as a time of collapse of rituals and music, because all hierarchies were once broken and all classes were shattered. So he could be polite, but he was not willing to talk about rituals; he could abide by morals, but he was not willing to abide by old conventions.
Therefore, although he likes history, poetry and songs, and recognizes the beauty of Hanfu, he does not like to promote retro in everything.
You know, he used to feel disgusted when he saw the strict hierarchy in Japanese and Korean dramas, companies and families. He always sneered at some scholars who advocated kneeling to parents and re-performing the ceremony of coming of age, etc. This was no different from the advocacy of the group of old men and young people like Kang Youwei after the fall of the Qing Dynasty that there was no use for kneeling if not kneeling!
Now that he was in the real Ming Dynasty with strict hierarchy, he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. Therefore, he was very grateful to Emperor Taizu for eliminating the kneeling ceremony from the regular court and daily audiences and meetings after he unified the world. Only the grand court was used.
Otherwise, the palace would definitely be the place he least wanted to go, no doubt about it!
But now, Ge Yong was willing to personally come out to help him preside over this ceremony of coming of age, which was equivalent to a coming-of-age ceremony. When Wu, who was brought over from Zhang Garden by Ah Liu, heard about this, she was so happy that she almost cried. Although the lady-in-waiting did not comment, she asked Zhu Ying to take out the clothes prepared for him to wear at the imperial lecture, as if she was planning to pick out a formal dress. Could he object?
Even though he didn't like this kind of formalism, could he live up to the efforts and kindness of his relatives and elders? Without a doubt, he couldn't. So, he could only helplessly watch Ge Yong and Wu discuss the auspicious date, the selection of the main guest and the sponsor, and who to invite to the ceremony. If Zhu Ying hadn't gone to get the things but slipped to his side, he would have been unable to sit still.
Seeing Zhu Ying's mischievous expression that said "I really sympathize with you", he couldn't help but feel angry and said in a low voice, "Yingying, don't be too happy too soon. I can't escape the ceremony of coming of age, and you can't escape the ceremony of coming of age, right?"
After being stunned for a while, Zhu Ying almost laughed out loud. She leaned close to Zhang Shou's ear and chuckled, "Ah Shou, you don't know this, right? Most girls' rites of passage are not held separately. When they get married, they simply add a hairpin and a rite of passage. It's not as grand as yours."
"Also, you don't know that the ceremony of coming of age for high-ranking officials was actually mostly for the sons of high-ranking officials in the past. In this dynasty, there has never been an old precedent where someone like you has become a fifth-rank official, and even has a lot of students, but you haven't really performed the ceremony of coming of age yourself!"
This time Zhu Ying raised her voice a little. When she saw that Ge Yong and Wu, who were discussing heatedly, suddenly quieted down, she revealed a smug smile.
"Besides, the second crown you wear is the Jinxian crown, right? Ah Shou, you are now a fifth-rank official. You have a Jinxian crown in your court robes, and it is a three-beam crown. Now you are officially going through the crown ceremony again. What did you wear at the grand court meeting before? When the four presidents gather in the capital, and so many scholars also gather in the capital waiting for the examination next year, if this matter gets out..."
Before Zhu Ying could finish her long speech, Ge Yong said decisively: "Yingying is right, Zhang Shou has already been crowned! If the ceremony is really held in a grand manner, Zhang Shou will be laughed at if the news gets out!"
Mrs. Wu was also shocked by Zhu Ying's words, but she was inexperienced after all, so she was speechless at this moment.
The lady who had just watched Ge Yong and Wu's heated discussion coughed at this time and said, "Although Emperor Taizu unified the country and restored the Han and Tang costumes, he also restored the ancient rituals as requested by the Ministry of Rites, and the rituals of the ceremony of capping were also made public, but he himself had little interest in these ancient rituals. Therefore, in recent years, not only the common people, but also the civil and military families have mostly performed the ceremony of capping in vain."
"We can simplify the complicated ceremonies, or have the father personally crown his son in the ancestral temple and say a few words of encouragement, or we can just not do it at all and just crown our children and grandchildren when they reach a certain age. Zhang Shou is already a fifth-rank official, so why not tell the public that Grand Tutor Ge had personally crowned him in the Cuiyun Room in the village before? What do you think?"
Seeing Ge Yong's helpless look, Zhang Shou looked at Zhu Ying with gratitude, who was smiling brightly at the moment and had saved him a big trouble. He quickly stood up and walked to Ge Yong, bowing deeply: "Teacher, although you didn't actually crown me in person, many principles of being a man and doing things are taught by words and deeds, which is actually equivalent to crowning me and performing the long hair ceremony."
"Who doesn't know that I am where I am today because my teacher saw a talent and selected me from the countryside?"
"You little brat, you're pretty good at flattering me!"
Ge Yong helped Zhang Shou up in a bad mood, and then snorted: "Don't I know you? You are afraid of trouble and want to be lazy, right? Humph, but a coming-of-age ceremony is indeed long. You can handle it, but I may not be able to! If you are so afraid of trouble that you don't even hold a wedding, then I, an old man, will respect you!"
Having said this, Ge Yong glanced at Zhu Ying, who had just messed up his plan. But he couldn't get angry at this smiling little girl, because Zhu Ying's reminder had helped him avoid turning back, but his impulsive behavior had become a joke among others. He didn't perform the ceremony of wearing the crown, but he had already become an official and was wearing the crown of a virtuous man. What was this?
Therefore, after insulting Zhang Shou angrily, he finally sat back down and said slowly, "In that case, there is no need to give you a courtesy name until your coming-of-age ceremony. Let's go to your family temple in Zhang Garden."
Zhu Ying's eyes flashed, and she naturally wanted to be the first to know. When she saw Ge Yong dragging Zhang Shou out, she hurriedly wanted to chase him, but was stopped by Ge Yong who stretched out a hand.
She wanted to fight for it again, but Zhang Shou beside Ge Yong also shook his head at her: "Yingying, anyway, it's a good thing you thought it through just now, otherwise you might be laughed at. Don't worry, I'll ask Ah Liu to run another trip later and I promise to be the first to tell you."
Zhu Ying then stopped walking reluctantly. When she turned around, she was surprised to see that Wu had not followed. But when she asked curiously, Wu smiled and said, "This matter should be reported to Ah Shou's parents by Grand Tutor Ge . I won't go there for now. The wedding will be held in November. I need to discuss it with the Madam. Although I have been making various preparations before, I am not sure."
Although the old lady had already understood Wu's personality, she was still afraid that she would rely on her status as an adoptive mother and insist on controlling everything. Seeing her being so frank and thoughtful , she was naturally very pleased, and had to drive Zhu Ying away, who was still listening to the wedding agenda. Not only that, she also sent Jiang Mama, who was by her side, to guard outside to prevent Zhu Ying from eavesdropping.
Zhang Shou didn't know that Zhu Ying was chased out of Qing'an Hall by the lady as soon as he left. When he came out of the Duke of Zhao's mansion and got on Ge Yong's carriage, as the carriage started moving steadily, he heard Ge Yong suddenly sigh.
"If the emperor hadn't suddenly asked me yesterday whether the Third Prince could wear a crown at this age, I wouldn't have remembered that you haven't had the ceremony yet. Fortunately, Xiao Yingying reminded me, otherwise I, an old man who claims to be well-read, would have been embarrassed."
Zhang Shou didn't hear the second half at all. His thoughts were completely distracted by Ge Yong's first half.
The emperor planned to hold a ceremony for the third prince to wear a crown? But how old was the third prince? He would be barely ten years old by the Chinese New Year next year, but according to his full age, the third prince seemed to be only eight years old? For an eight-year-old child to learn plane geometry, what he did before was not to force the growth of seedlings, but to destroy the seedlings, right? The fourth prince was half a year younger than the third prince, so it was not surprising that he could not keep up. Only those who could keep up were geniuses...
Zhang Shou had a lot of thoughts running through his mind until he suddenly heard a loud cough. He looked up and saw Ge Yong staring at him with a stern face. He knew that his distraction had not been hidden from his teacher, so he could only laugh dryly and said, "I was just thinking about the age of the Third Prince... If he is crowned so suddenly, everyone in the court will know what is going on."
“Yes, this is a declaration.”
Ge Yong nodded, then looked at the front of the car: "Don't worry, the driver in front is deaf and dumb, and can't hear anything. The same goes for the guards I brought out today. They are all people who followed Emperor Ruizong in the palace back then. They are deaf and dumb orphans, and don't we have Ah Liu? I'm telling you today because I want to ask you, have you ever thought about being an imperial tutor like me in the future?"
“…”
Zhang Shou wanted to tell the emperor what he said in Qingning Palace today, and then ask for his teacher's opinion. However, he had promised to keep his mouth shut in front of the empress dowager. Even if he didn't, such a thing couldn't be leaked casually. And the question Ge Yong asked him at this time was obviously not to leak the forbidden words, but most likely he was asked by the emperor.
So, after the initial helpless silence, he said in a dry voice: "Why is it so?"
"You asked me why it came to this. I can only answer you that I don't know either." Ge Yong rubbed his temple in annoyance, and then whispered, "Perhaps, when summoning those heads of schools to gather in the capital, the emperor is not going to choose the prince's teacher, but the future emperor's teacher. Of course, the emperor only has me as his teacher, but this time it may not be the case. One, two, three, or even more are possible."
"From ancient times to the present, there have been many people who have served as imperial teachers, but few have left a name for themselves, and even fewer have had a good ending."
As an imperial tutor, Ge Yong did not shy away from talking about the fate of imperial tutors throughout history: "Even though Wang Jinggong of the Song Dynasty was so famous, Emperor Shenzong listened to him for a while, but he was appointed as prime minister twice and dismissed twice, and in the end, his fate was just to avoid being listed as a treacherous minister in the history of the Song Dynasty compiled by the Yuan people. As for the others, Zhou Gong and Huo Guang, who didn't serve as an actual imperial tutor?"
Zhang Shou was not surprised that Ge Yong would cite the last two examples. He was probably under a lot of pressure when he was the tutor of the young emperor. But what he was thinking was Zhang Juzheng, who was famous in another time and space.
How tragic was the fate of "Mr. Zhang", whom the young Emperor Shenzong once claimed to respect?
Ge Yong noticed Zhang Shou's mood change, so he sighed again and said, "To be honest, when the emperor sent the third and fourth princes to Banshan Hall, I never thought that the situation would take such a sharp turn for the worse. Oh, the court is quite stable, but the first and second princes who used to fight like black-eyed chickens would fall so quickly. This is too unexpected."
"If the emperor had to bite the bullet and choose the less bad one between the two of them before, then after several incidents, especially the incident in Cangzhou, the emperor had already made up his mind to put aside these two royal scums who were more likely to cause trouble than to accomplish anything. Therefore, the third and fourth princes both like you as a teacher, and you stand out."
At this moment, Zhang Shou didn't know whether he should feel honored or smile bitterly.
You have to know that when the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince were sent to him, they were still two little boys with no hope of entering the Eastern Palace. He just treated them as children who came for enlightenment and taught them casually, that was all.
However, thinking of the stories about Emperor Gaozong and Emperor Sejong that Chu Kuan and Zhu Ying had told him successively, how Emperor Sejong was frail and sickly, and power fell into the hands of others; how Emperor Gaozong's stepmother and biological mother died early, and that the imperial teacher and the reserve talents prepared by Emperor Taizong were purged and marginalized by ministers with ulterior motives... Thinking of the third prince's current age, he felt that he seemed to understand the emperor's eagerness to choose a famous teacher.
He wanted to ask Ge Yong how the emperor was doing, but he swallowed the words back. If the emperor was not in good health, then he would naturally choose a famous teacher for the third prince, just in case of any accidents, so that he would have a successor who was adaptable and worldly-wise; and if the emperor was in good health... then the tiny third prince would also have a great advantage!
Because if the emperor could live another twenty years, the eldest and second princes would not be able to survive that long, but the third prince could. Twenty years later, the third prince would only be twenty-nine years old, which was the prime of his life.
However, thinking of the Third Prince who was intelligent, shy, serious, stubborn in some aspects, and caring for his younger brother, Zhang Shou finally said softly: "I don't care about the Imperial Master, but I am willing to continue to be the Third Prince's teacher. Of course, I will only teach him mathematics. However, when Yingying and I went to Wansui Mountain to meet him and the Fourth Prince today, I promised one thing."
Zhang Shou mentioned the foreign history lesson. Seeing Ge Yong looking at him strangely, his eyes were clearly asking how he knew so much about foreign history. He smiled and said, "Teacher, there are so many people who have studied these historical materials from the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties to the Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties. I am young and inexperienced, so I won't talk about those foreign histories..."
"What else can I say? The shallow historical lectures I gave at Banshan Hall can only fool those ignorant and incompetent people."
Ge Yong was speechless. He didn't say much on the way until the carriage finally stopped at the gate of Zhang Garden. He followed Zhang Shou out of the carriage and walked along the main road to the east of the ancestral temple, which had been rebuilt almost completely. He then whispered, "Prince Lu planned to build this place into a temple to worship his biological mother, Concubine De, but now it's yours."
After saying this abruptly, he turned to look at Zhang Shou and said word by word: "I actually thought of many nicknames for you, but there are only two that I like the most. The first is Zichang, which comes from Gongye Chang, a disciple of Confucius and a famous gentleman. The second is Yuanhe. Yuan means the beginning, and He means neither hard nor soft. Putting them together, it means the beginning of a new era, harmony and longevity."
