Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 573: The Imperial Lecture Begins
Although Lu Sanlang was eager to know what his courtesy name would be, and whether it would be as ugly as the name Lu Zhu given by his father Lu Wan, since Zhang Shou was keeping it a secret, he had no choice. After all, compared to letting his unreliable father choose the name, he trusted Zhang Shou more or less.
The day before his coming-of-age ceremony, the first imperial lecture in Wenhua Hall began on October 1. Because it was the day of the grand court meeting, after the grand court meeting, a group of civil and military officials designated by the emperor in advance had gathered in Wenhua Hall. In addition, the princes and princesses, the royal family, and the children of noble officials and officials filled the Wenhua Hall to the brim.
Although Taizu's ancestral teachings were often forgotten, they still played a role to some extent on this occasion. Because a gauze curtain separated men and women, princesses and clan daughters, as well as those nobles and daughters of officials who often visited Qingning Palace and were therefore favored by the empress dowager, were also able to come here.
For example, Zhu Ying sat on her left with her good friend Liu Qing, and on her right with Princess Deyang. Behind her were the other two princesses. The original seating arrangement was naturally impossible to be so equal, allowing her, a daughter of a noble family, to sit with the princesses and daughters of the royal family, but no one could do anything about the eldest lady's eccentricity . Who made the Queen Mother not speak up to stop her?
In addition, when Princess Yongping saw that the Queen Mother remained silent, she gave up her seat to Liu Qing, so that the two of them could sit together, while she herself moved to the side of the two county ladies.
Although others were envious, jealous and resentful of this, no one dared to say anything. They could only watch as Zhu Ying even pulled Liu Qing over to sit among the princesses and clan girls, chatting and laughing in low voices.
As for peeking behind the curtain to see if there is a talented and handsome man, so as to find a marriage partner...
That was not the thin and transparent gauze like the plain-weave Bozhou Qingrong, but the heavy kind used to make gauze robes. Through such a thick layer of gauze, you could at most vaguely see whether the person was fat or thin, but as for the face and facial features, it was impossible to see clearly.
There was a woman who chose a husband through the window screen, and she ended up choosing a man with an extremely straight and upright figure, but a horribly ugly appearance. As a result, most officials and officials no longer look at their husbands through the window screen when discussing marriage. Instead, the unmarried woman brings her maids, and the man brings his followers, and the two groups meet each other openly to avoid becoming a couple with resentment.
In addition, most of the unmarried girls here today are either engaged or have no say in their marriage, so even if they see the best young talents, they can only feel sad - of course, the bigger reason is that most of them are already taken, just like them, so the girls can only listen to the noise outside from time to time, and they really don't have much interest in seeing people.
Just like girls need to behave properly and well in front of the Empress Dowager, even Zhu Ying only whispered with others at most. Most of the children of officials outside were also quite reserved. After all, those who were here today were bigwigs of the court who had entered the ranks of high officials above the fourth rank, and no one wanted to be considered as unstable.
If we talk about people who have a completely indifferent attitude, it is not Zhu Tingfang, who has just taken over the Nancheng Military Division and has never cared much about fame and future - the eldest son Zhu sits like a bell, and his sitting posture attracts many officials to nod and praise, although many people are helpless when they see his cold face - but the group of disciples headed by Zhang Chen and Lu Sanlang, who are now planning how to cheer for Zhang Shou.
Normally they hate this kind of lecture situation, but today the one giving the lecture is their own teacher, so of course they all take it seriously.
In the past, Zhang Chen was the leader among the playboys. Now, although Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu are already the future prince consort and future palace maid, they have not set up their own families. They still follow Zhang Chen's lead. However, Lu Sanlang has become a leader of another faction.
He used his abundant financial resources to successfully win over a group of people who were not loved by their parents, who were called playboys but were actually poor. At this moment, he said as if no one was around: "When the teacher gives a lecture later, you will listen to my instructions. When it is time to applaud, then do it in unison. When it is time to be quiet, then don't make any noise. As for those guys who find fault with everything, haha, don't let them go!"
Although the little fat boy's shouting was not very loud, he did not hide it. For a moment, he attracted many people's attention. Even Zhang Chen couldn't help but glared at him, and then warned him in a low voice: "Hey, don't cause trouble for the teacher!"
"I'm causing trouble?" Lu Sanlang's eyes flashed fiercely, and he looked at Zhang Chen fearlessly. "If someone else provokes me first, can you blame me? I don't know who said that I'm good at talking and can't do anything, and I haven't gotten married yet, and I haven't had the ceremony of coming of age, and I'm mumbling nonsense! Humph, you're an old barking dog who only knows how to scold people, what practical things have you ever done?"
"At least I, Lu Sanlang, diligently led a group of classmates, dug out a group of greedy rats, and unlocked the Taizu secret box that our predecessors were helpless to solve! Even the secret code that is now being used in the army has a contribution from me, the first head of Jiuzhang Hall!"
Even Lu Wan couldn't help but feel her nose almost crooked at the youngest son's words that almost made enemies on all sides and fired all-out attacks. Tomorrow is Lu Sanlang's coming-of-age ceremony. After this damn fat boy's disturbance, will some relatives and friends dare not come? Will the house be surrounded by some people's disciples?
There has to be a limit to offending people, and judging from the adjectives between the lines of Lu Sanlang's words, the person he offended was actually a leading figure in the Censorate. This is really the case of like master, like disciple, just like Zhang Shou, a newborn calf who is not afraid of a tiger!
The more Lu Wan thought about it, the more headache he felt. However, he was appointed by the emperor to join the ranks of high-ranking officials in the ministries and agencies, and he was really far away from that fat son. At this moment, he was out of reach and could not yell at him loudly in the Wenhua Hall. He could only sulk there.
What he didn't expect was that Ge Yong, who was sitting in the front row of the civil and military officials, didn't know whether he had sharp ears and heard Lu Sanlang's clamor or he had already discussed this with his disciple, but he actually laughed.
"Young people are great, full of vigor and vitality, much better than those old guys who are so old but still cling to their old age and even look down on the good of young people !"
After this was said, everyone in the cabinet looked calm. Not to mention Grand Secretary Kong, even the oldest person in terms of seniority, Grand Secretary Wu, was only just over fifty. Even among the six ministers and assistant ministers, there were not many who were particularly old. The censors and attendants of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Six Departments also had a mediocre reaction, because Taizu instructed that grassroots censors should not be over 45 years old.
The one who reacted the most was a certain old deputy censor of the Metropolitan Censorate. He was furious and wanted to confront Ge Yong, trying to create a reputation for the old master as someone who was not afraid of power, but who would have thought that Ge Yong suddenly yawned.
All I heard was the old master lazily saying, "If you are not married, you cannot take on important responsibilities. I don't know what kind of perverse logic this is... Haven't you heard of Huo Qubing's famous saying, 'How can I have a family if the Huns are not yet destroyed?'"
"It's a pity that Huo Qubing, despite his outstanding achievements, didn't marry. In contrast, some people are still neglecting their old age. A man in his sixties, with grandchildren already fifteen or sixteen, actually took in a fifteen-year-old concubine. Wow, this is really a good story."
Although the Imperial Lecture was supposed to be a solemn occasion, ever since the emperor showed that he didn't take it seriously, the Wenhua Hall before the Imperial Lecture had never been quiet over the years. Since the Honglu Temple officials who corrected the etiquette (including the emperor) at the court were forcefully asked to leave the Wenhua Hall, confrontations between the various parties before the Imperial Lecture became a repertoire.
The sudden firing of the old Grand Tutor Ge instantly quieted down the noisy Wenhua Hall. Although most people were confused and didn't know who Ge Yong was talking about, with Lu Sanlang's chuckle and Zhang Chen's sudden realization, those who knew the situation spread the news they knew to the outside world.
Word spread quickly, and the Deputy Chief Censor's secret became known to everyone. Although this kind of private life was mostly just gossip behind other people's backs, many people remembered that among those who opposed Zhang Shou's appointment as the lecturer of the Eastern Palace, this Deputy Chief Censor was indeed the most aggressive.
Zhu Ying, who was just chatting and laughing with Princess Deyang, couldn't help but sneer and said, "Only old people are allowed to take concubines, and young people are not allowed to be single. This is really ridiculous!"
What kind of person is Zhu Ying? The voice was so clear and loud. Moreover, the hall was quite quiet at this moment. It was exactly the same as what Ge Yong had just said. People from all directions heard it in an instant.
Lu Sanlang hurriedly followed behind, shaking his head and saying, "I have only heard that officials are allowed to set fires, but ordinary people are not allowed to light lamps. Miss, what you said is really similar."
Just when the deputy censor was furious and was about to fight back, he heard the sound of a whip from outside, followed by the word "su". Although the complicated rituals of the imperial lecture were all moved to the previous grand court meeting by the emperor, the proper etiquette at this time could not be omitted.
Therefore, not only did the Deputy Censor-in-Chief shut up immediately, but those who had just been sitting also stood up hurriedly and stood in awe to greet them. Soon, a group of people came in from outside, and the emperor walked in front leisurely, as if he was walking on the street.
Behind him, all four princes were present, even the eldest and second princes, who had not appeared in public for the past few months, followed closely behind the emperor. However, compared to the bright crowns and robes of the third and fourth princes, neither of them wore the crowns and robes of the princes, especially the eldest prince, whose brown clothes were particularly conspicuous among the red and purple in the court.
Before those who were not informed could think about what this scene meant, they saw the emperor walk to the throne in the middle and sit down and nod slightly. Immediately afterwards, two strong eunuchs appeared beside the eldest prince and the second prince respectively.
Then, the two haggard princes, no longer arrogant and domineering as before, were escorted to their respective seats. Their seats were located below a group of ministers, not only away from the sons of officials, but also a long distance away from the famous scholars.
Thinking back to the time of the imperial lectures, these two princes attended all of them. Although they did not have a seat at that time, they stood beside the emperor, which naturally highlighted their status as older and legitimate princes. Now things are different now, and I don't know how many people sighed in their hearts when watching this scene.
At this moment, the only person left by the emperor to stand by his side was the third prince.
As for the fourth prince, he slipped under everyone's eyes to the side of the female relatives of the Queen Mother behind the gauze curtain. Although they were seven years old and did not sit at the same table, the fourth prince smiled and peeled oranges for the Queen Mother, and did not mix with the girls. Who could say he was wrong? The Queen Mother knew the big heart of this little guy, so of course she would not drive him away.
It was obvious that the Fourth Prince did not want to share the attention on the Third Prince, the future Crown Prince, by staying by the Emperor's side, nor did he want to hang out with the First and Second Princes, and he was even less willing to stay alone in his original seat for the entire duration of the Imperial Lecture.
She was just about to ask Zhu Ying to come and take the fourth prince away, when suddenly the emperor coughed and said, "Today is the first day of the Imperial Lecture. The Imperial Lecture is not unique to our dynasty, but from its inception to today, most of the lectures have been rehashed. Although it can be said that it is a review of the past to learn new things, it is still nothing new. Today, let me invite my teacher, Grand Master Ge, to talk about the arithmetic classics."
The civil and military officials below were waiting for the emperor to call Zhang Shou out directly, so that they could find fault with him before and after the event. However, they did not expect that the emperor would directly pick Ge Yong, who was the imperial teacher and had long been a first-rank grand tutor!
Even the Deputy Censor-in-Chief, who had been ridiculed by Ge Yong in public before and was so angry that his lungs were about to explode , could not say anything about this arrangement. After all, whether in terms of his closeness to the emperor or his respected status in the court and among the scholars, it was normal to say that Ge Yong was the number one figure in the court besides the emperor.
However, it would be fine if Ge Yong was talking about the classics, but he was actually talking about the arithmetic? Looking at this huge Wenhua Hall, how many people could understand him?
At this moment, apart from the Third Prince, the only person who was truly in high spirits was probably the chubby Lu Sanlang. The little fat man sat up straight almost instantly, and was about to cheer for his ancestor, but he didn't expect to be directly named by the emperor.
"Lu Sanlang, you wait for Grand Master Ge to sit over there and talk. I'll leave the tasks of serving tea and water to you!"
Although the emperor only ordered him to do odd jobs, Lu Sanlang was still extremely happy. He stood up without thinking, ran to Ge Yong, and helped the ancestor up with a smile on his face.
Seeing how he carefully helped Ge Yong to sit behind the podium, Lu Wan was displeased. Even as a father, he had never enjoyed such service from his son!
However, Ge Yong had long been accustomed to the fat boy's hospitality and courtesy. At this moment, he took the monk fruit tea handed to him by the fat boy himself, and said slowly: "Since the emperor asked me to talk about mathematics today, I will tell you about the knowledge in the latest volumes of "New Edition of Mathematics"..." Although he was embarrassed to mention the name Ge directly, it was no problem for him to stun these people!
