Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 563: Hot
Mr. Song at home was taking Yang Zhan to visit the workshop, and because of Guan Qiu's words, he took people to see the glass workshop that cost a lot of money but had no results for the time being. At this time, Zhang Shou announced a news after finishing the morning class in Jiuzhang Hall that day.
"The Third Prince hasn't come to Jiuzhang Hall for several days. You should know the reason. The Ministry of Rites has submitted the ceremony for enthroning the Eastern Palace, but the Emperor is not satisfied, so it is being revised. However, this important matter will be completed before the New Year. And because of the Third Prince's initiative, the Emperor has decided to select someone from Jiuzhang Hall to serve as a tutor in the Eastern Palace."
Although Zhang Shou had mentioned this idea before, and everyone was very excited, no one expected that this thing would not only be successful, but also get the emperor's nod in such a short time. In an instant, cheers came from the huge classroom, and even Ji Jiu, who was a little reserved, couldn't hide the smile on his face.
What Zhang Shou said next caused an even greater uproar.
"In order not to delay the progress of everyone including the Third Prince, there are a total of six tutors, and one group is replaced every month. The top six are selected as tutors to the Eastern Palace every month, so, you know what I mean." Zhang Shou's mouth curled slightly, revealing a smile that students often privately described as devilish. "The monthly exam is the selection standard. Of course, the six tutors in the palace that month are not included in the ranking."
Since those who were able to enter the Jiuzhang Hall were all the best at mathematics in this era, who could not figure out the selection method Zhang Shou mentioned? In other words, one group of six people would enter the palace, and the remaining six would be decided in the next monthly exam. When the first group of six returned, if the remaining people were not motivated, then it was very likely that these two groups of twelve people would always rotate!
Others can only watch as the threshold of the East Palace is so close, but they will never be able to cross it!
Seeing everyone looking at each other, as if looking for the most threatening person, Zhang Shou said calmly: "Of course, in order to avoid abnormal competition between classmates, if someone is sick or injured and can't enter the palace to study this month, then... hehe, he will wait until next month. If he is still not well next month, he will enter the palace to study next month."
"And the quota that he vacated due to injury this month will remain vacant and will not be passed to the next person. And the quota he occupies next month and even the month after next will squeeze out the original sixth place. Also, don't be too happy too soon. Compared with Madam Hong, the tutor of Princess Yongping, whose rank is comparable to that of a close friend of the prince, you tutors have no actual rank."
Hearing this, Ji Jiu took a deep breath. In other words, if someone was playing tricks behind the scenes and caused the person who was supposed to be selected to be unable to enter the palace to read due to illness or injury, then this month's quota would be wasted, and it would be better to leave it vacant than to let someone take up the place.
Once the person who missed the opportunity recovers from his illness and injury and returns to play, he will take up the spot for others in the next round or even the round after that! In this way, the person who played tricks would lose more than he gained, and would instead attract more resentment from others!
Although the tutor has no rank, being able to work hard to show himself in front of the Crown Prince of the East Palace is an unprecedented opportunity! Not to mention others, I am afraid that even Zhang Chen and others who Zhang Shou has always been close to may envy their opportunity! However, this method of forcing people to give in with injuries and illnesses is not working, so what about secretly forcing others to show mercy during the exam so that you can be recommended?
Ji Jiu, who had long been accustomed to all kinds of crooked ways in the Imperial College, had just come up with such an idea, but he only heard Zhang Shou say: "I know that you have always been relatively harmonious with your classmates, but when it comes to interests, it is inevitable that some people will be lucky. So, I have a statement in advance today. If anyone encounters any coercion or inducement, you can tell me directly. As long as you find any such behavior..."
"Expel him from Jiuzhang Hall, expel him from the Imperial College, and never employ him again. I will not show any leniency!"
Except when assigning questions, Zhang Shou was always a very easy-to-talk-to teacher. When he occasionally found out that students had copied homework or cheated in exams, he would just give a warning and would not punish them. As for sending people to the prison to be beaten with a small bamboo board, that had never happened.
Therefore, no one had ever seen such a stern tone from him, and naturally everyone was silent for a moment.
Ji Jiu was the first to see the opportunity and stood up to show his determination. The others then realized what was going on and hurriedly followed. When Zhang Shou announced the end of the get out of class, many people were still sitting there, still savoring Zhang Shou's words.
Zhang Shou, who had just walked out of Jiuzhang Hall, saw a man suddenly walking towards him, as fast as a ghost. If it was the first time he encountered this, he would certainly feel scared, but he had encountered this situation many times before, so he naturally remained calm.
"Xu Jiancheng, are you so free? Why do you come to hang out here when you have nothing to do?"
Xu Heizi stared at Zhang Shou with his eyes, and no expression could be seen on his dark face - because his dark face never changed, it was difficult for ordinary people to tell his joy, anger, sorrow or happiness.
He did not keep anyone in suspense. After a moment of silence, he said frankly, "News just came from the palace that the emperor asked Princess Yongping to be his tutor. Hong, the daughter of the headmaster of Yuzhang Academy, taught the third prince painting. As soon as the news came, the Doctoral Hall exploded. A lot of people clamored to write letters to persuade the emperor to do something about it, but the Grand Secretary and Junior Secretary in the Public Hall did not make any move."
That was because Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye knew that even teaching the future crown prince to paint was still a small matter in the palace, and there was no room for outsiders to interfere. If the emperor wanted, there would not even be any official news about this matter. The reason why they were blowing the wind first was already considered as the emperor's communication.
Zhang Shou thought so in his heart, but of course he couldn't show the expression that I already knew it, so he smiled and said, "The Third Prince has always liked painting. It is said that Madam Hong has been taught by the painter from Jiangxi since she was a child. Teaching the Third Prince to paint should be a piece of cake."
Xu Heida originally wanted to say that there are differences between men and women, but when he thought about how Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying often went out together when their engagement was not yet clear, he thought it would be meaningless if they thought he was deliberately mocking them, so he changed his words.
"But people's words are scary. If the Imperial College doesn't make a fuss about this matter, other people in the court will. As for you, Dr. Zhang, and the students of Jiuzhang Hall, what will you do after the Third Prince enters the Eastern Palace?"
Zhang Shou knew when he heard this that Xu Heida had just arrived and had not heard the news he had just announced to the students. He did not know whether the palace deliberately controlled the release of news, or whether Xu Jiancheng of the Shengqian Hall had long been marginalized, so other people in the Imperial College had already known about it, but he had not received the corresponding news. He only thought about it for a moment, and then told the truth.
Sure enough, as soon as he mentioned the selection method for the Eastern Palace tutors, Xu Heida's dark face seemed to light up, and he volunteered to say, "In that case, does the Jiuzhang Hall need me to invigilate the exam? I will definitely strictly control it and prevent any cheating."
Zhang Shou immediately laughed. This black-faced supervisor had a weak presence among the Imperial College officials, but among the many students, Xu Heida had a strong . Because he would suddenly appear outside a hall and use his hawk-like eyes to catch some students who violated the rules.
Daydreaming in class, whispering, and even peeking at other messy books... These little behaviors of distraction in class that Zhang Shou was most familiar with, but Xu Heida didn't care. No matter how stern he was, he knew that some things could not be forbidden.
This Supervisor of the Shengqian Hall was responsible for two things: one was absenteeism from classes, and the other was cheating in exams.
Therefore, Zhang Shou certainly would not doubt the other party's extraordinary professionalism, and nodded happily, saying, "In that case, I'll trouble Xu Jiancheng to help. Anyway, you have been the invigilator here more than once or twice, and you are experienced. Naturally, I need you to intimidate those students. Although I have said it before, I am afraid that they will be blinded by the benefits. As for the degree of it, it depends on you, Xu Jiancheng."
Xu Heida nodded in understanding, and then without saying much, he bowed and turned to leave. But after walking a few steps, he suddenly stopped again, and then said without turning back: "Dr. Zhang did not abandon the students of Jiuzhang Hall just because he became the prince's teacher. Instead, he found a way out for them. This is the first time I have seen a teacher like you in all my years at the Imperial College."
"Others can only teach and answer questions, but you have even solved the future of your students. No wonder your students are praising you as a teacher. It's even more amazing these days. In the bookstores outside, almost all of Master Ge's books have been snapped up. I heard that countless people are planning to apply for the Jiuzhang Hall next year. Don't worry, I will keep what you said confidential for now."
Uh, is it so exaggerated... Wouldn't it be even more exaggerated if he knew the news about the tutor?
Zhang Shou sent away Xu Heida, who came uninvited, and thought about the grand occasion of thousands of people outside pursuing mathematics, he couldn't help but feel angry and amused. No wonder the saying "leaders lead by example" has always been a tried and tested truth from ancient times to the present, but it turns out that using a tiger's skin as a banner is more effective than anything else.
In the past, the Third Prince was just an ordinary prince, and his application for Jiuzhang Hall would at most cause a sensation. Now, the Third Prince is about to be promoted to the Crown Prince, and cannot go to Jiuzhang Hall to study. Instead, he will be invited to the palace to continue teaching mathematics, and even the students of Jiuzhang Hall will be recruited to be the Crown Prince's tutors. Of course, even the children of officials cannot resist this temptation.
I wonder how many people will chase and intercept Lu Sanlang when he returns?
The preparations for the crown prince's appointment were proceeding in an orderly manner, and the news from the palace was like a naughty boy throwing stones into the water, one after another. First, the emperor appointed Princess Yongping's tutor Hong to teach the third prince to paint. This news immediately caused an uproar among a large number of people in the court, and various petitions piled up like snowflakes in the Tongzhengsi.
As a result, the emperor's response was to refute it by citing the example of the five sisters of the Song family in the Tang Dynasty who served as female scholars in the palace. And before the court was dismissed the next day, when a strong official tried to persuade him, the emperor was impatient and just said a few words.
"The Hong family has a long history of learning. Several generations of the family have studied the Analects of Confucius. The students of Yuzhang Academy are also the best at this section. I originally wanted to ask Hong to teach Sanlang the Analects, but Sanlang himself felt that this was a bit inappropriate, so I asked her to teach painting."
"If you object, I will just stick to what I said before and let her teach the Analects!"
Academician Kong was so angry that he kept talking nonsense, especially when he saw the emperor walk away with a defiant look on his face, and then the officials of the Honglu Temple who were praising him hurriedly shouted to dismiss the court. He couldn't help but think of the legend he had heard before.
It is said that when the emperor first took power, he was so impatient that he almost angered to death several high-ranking officials such as the cabinet ministers and chancellors... At that time, he was just a young man who had just passed the imperial examination and was just joking with others when he heard the rumor, but he never expected that he would experience it personally in his lifetime!
The emperor, who is about to celebrate his fortieth birthday, can be so unreasonable!
However, the scholar Kong, who was almost angry to death, was not the most pitiful. The official who was ready to risk his life to persuade the emperor found that he was completely ignored by the emperor and was left in the cold wind in front of the Fengtian Palace. He felt that he was the most pitiful.
He even thought desperately that he should just go all the way and wait until the emperor really invited Hong to teach the Analects, and then make a death-defying remonstrance. But this thought only flashed through his mind, because he had already thought of what the emperor had just said.
It was the Third Prince who changed the Emperor's will and changed Hong's job from teaching the Analects to teaching painting... It seems that the future Crown Prince will be much more sensible than the current Emperor!
However, compared to the future Crown Prince who was praised by officials as the embodiment of knowledge and wisdom after the court was dismissed, Hong Shanchang was almost going crazy. His daughter was summoned to see Princess Yongping before, and when she came back to tell him that she also met the Third Prince, who invited her to teach painting, he felt very complicated.
He felt that painting was just a trivial art, and if Mrs. Hong agreed to it, it would be a disgrace to their noble family. He only acquiesced because the painting skill was inherited from his senior brother, the famous third place winner in the imperial examination in Jiangxi.
But now, the news came that the emperor had originally planned to let his daughter teach the future prince the Analects, but the third prince evaded the idea by saying that she would teach him painting!
He was angry that the emperor would rather use Hong than ask him to be the teacher of the Eastern Palace; he was also angry that the future prince's strategy of evading the issue was so poor - even if he felt that Hong, a woman, was not suitable, he should have thought of him!
In a rage, Dean Hong was too lazy to stay in Yashe. In addition, he and Dean Yue didn't get along at all, so he simply went out for a walk that day. But he regretted it not long after he left. Because everyone was talking about the newly-minted first Donggong Master (majoring in painting), he almost wanted to turn around and stay in Yashe.
However, he did not want to go back to see the faces of Yue Shanzhang and others, and scolding his virtuous daughter would make him, as a father, seem very intolerant, so he simply walked angrily to a less crowded place, until he found that there was a crowd of people on the roadside ahead, and then his face darkened, and then he saw the words "San San Bookstore". The next moment, he heard a shouting voice that almost made him suffocate: "Mr. Lu San, please teach me some experience in mathematics, we also want to take the Jiuzhang Hall exam next year!"
