Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 615: Battle of the Imperial Academy
The north wind blew hard overnight , and the snow was still falling when I opened the door. Although these two lines are not good poems, they can indeed describe the current scene in the capital.
Even though the first snow has fallen and the weather is freezing, most people in this world cannot sleep until they wake up naturally, and have to get up early to fight for their livelihood or their future. Even those who have no worries about their livelihood and future, some people reluctantly leave their warm beds, struggle to wash and dress, and then go out looking refreshed but actually drowsy.
Among those who got up like this in such a cold weather was Zhang Shou...and of course Zhu Ying was also indispensable.
Zhang Shou was used to going to bed early and getting up early. The only reason he couldn't get up was because it was cold and the day got light late. Moreover, he stayed up late last night to finish writing the memorial for the relocation of Jiuzhangtang to the public school outside the city. Although he, as a doctor of the Imperial College, did not have to attend the morning court today, he planned to rush to the Ministry of Public Administration to submit the memorial, and by the way, watch the excitement at Dong'anmen before coming back, gloating over the scene of Chang court going on a snowy day.
As for Zhu Ying, it was extremely difficult for her to get up, because the eldest lady almost never got up early on weekdays, especially in cold weather. However, she had to ask for an audience before the matter of the girls' school was settled, and then take over the matter from Princess Yongping, so she washed, dressed and ate breakfast as if she was going to a war.
When she went to Qing'an Hall for her morning inspection as if she was going to the market and then left, the entire Zhu family was shocked. It was not even eight o'clock in the morning, when had Miss Zhu ever left so early?
Miss Zhu, who was very active, took a car and took advantage of the early morning and few pedestrians on the road. She arrived at Dong'an Gate in less than two quarters of an hour. As a result, she happened to see from a distance that the court officials who were waiting in line to attend the regular court had blocked the Dong'an Gate. You know, the system had just been changed this year. The big courts such as the first day of the first month and the winter solstice and the new moon and full moon courts would go through the left and right gates of Chang'an, but the regular courts would go through the Dong'an Gate.
Zhan Jin and Liu Yin, who were following Zhu Ying, originally thought that the young lady would ride a horse today, but when they finally saw that she decided to take a car when it was snowing, they felt relieved. As for Zhu Ying, she had opened the curtains to look outside and didn't care about the cold wind, which was really a small matter. Seeing Zhu Ying waving at the car window, they just thought that she had met a young lady from a familiar family.
But they soon found out they were wrong, because after Zhu Ying waved, someone suddenly rode towards them on horseback. When the two met, they looked again and realized who else could it be but Zhang Shou?
Even Zhan Jin and Liu Yin thought it was a coincidence. The couple looked at each other, laughed in silence, and also thought it was a coincidence. Zhu Ying looked at the court officials who were cowering like quails due to the cold, and chuckled in a very unkind way.
"They say that Grandpa Taizu was kind and pushed the winter court session to the middle of the day. He was really considerate of his subjects. But I think Grandpa Taizu was afraid of the cold and wanted to sleep a little longer. God knows how much effort I put in to get up this morning! Think about it, it's not easy for you, A Shou, to be a teacher. You have to get up early like your students every day. Who among the other Imperial College doctors is as hard-working as you!"
"No choice, set an example." Zhang Shou smiled bitterly and shrugged, thinking that there are not so many entertainments these days, and it is not so hard to go to bed early at night and get up early in the morning. But only when you are a teacher, you will feel that teachers have a harder life than students. After all, students have a limited number of years to study, but teachers often have to work for a lifetime... For example, when will he stop being a teacher?
The two chatted for a while, and then said goodbye as they watched the court officials starting to file into the palace not far away. Zhang Shou planned to go to the Jiuzhang Hall of the Imperial College, and then organize representatives of the previous and next two classes of students to go to the outer city to inspect the lecture halls of the public school - with the generous sponsorship of the emperor and Zhu Ying, the public school has a large area and classrooms can be selected at will. As for Zhu Ying, she naturally hurried to the palace to see the empress dowager.
However, the two soon discovered that the series of events yesterday, after a day and a night of fermentation, had already formed an extraordinary storm.
As soon as Zhang Shou entered the Imperial College, he saw a large group of students gathered together, and they were very angry. As someone shouted that the Fourth Prince had said in the Wanping County Court that the students of the Imperial College were not as good as those in the Silijian Academy, many students followed suit and made a lot of noise. He found that no academic officials showed up, and even Xu Heida, the supervisor of the Shengqian Hall who usually came out to maintain order in the Imperial College, was not there.
"Master," Ah Liu approached Zhang Shou calmly and said softly, "Someone is watching you. He has bad intentions."
There were indeed quite a few people looking at him at this moment, and Zhang Shou had long been accustomed to such scenes of thousands of eyes watching him, and he could already remain calm. However, the current situation was different from the curious onlookers, the crowds watching the excitement, and even more different from the scenes he had faced in the past. And the last three words of Ah Liu, "with malicious intent", pointed out the risks involved.
Of course Zhang Shou remembered that just a few days ago, because the news that he was going to move Jiuzhangtang out of the Imperial College suddenly spread wildly in the Imperial College, some people shouted at him to get out of the Imperial College. On that occasion, Lu Sanlang took the lead , and finally Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye had to come out to smooth things over.
Afterwards, Zhu Ying investigated and accidentally found out that it was the people sent from the outer office of the Imperial Household Department who were responsible, so he went to block the door.
And now, the Fourth Prince's words that the students of the Imperial College were not as good as the abandoned children in the Imperial Household Department had spread so quickly. How much more so than the impact of the original rumor?
Zhang Shou was distracted for a moment when someone suddenly shouted, "The Fourth Prince is just a child. He said that. Isn't it because Dr. Zhang, as a lecturer in the Eastern Palace, teaches the Third Prince, the future Crown Prince, as well as the Fourth Prince? You are a scholar after all. Are you going to be in cahoots with a bunch of eunuchs?"
Seeing a large group of people gathered around, Zhang Shou sneered and said calmly, "Yesterday, a bad man who was not good at studying and had bad intentions bumped into an innocent candidate who fell into the water. He jumped into the water to rescue him, summoned a doctor, sent him to the government office for trial, and sought justice for him. All these things were done by me and the Zhu family of the Duke of Zhao's mansion. What else have you done except shouting nonsense here?"
Without waiting for anyone to argue, he suddenly shouted, "You are only good at talking, is this what a student of the Imperial College should be like? You are only good at blaming others and don't know how to reflect on yourself, is this what a student of the Imperial College should be like? You are only good at hearsay and don't know how to distinguish right from wrong, is this what a student of the Imperial College should be like? Just look at the ugly way you are ignoring your studies and making a scene here, I, as a doctor of the Imperial College, feel ashamed!"
At this point, he raised his voice even more: "At this hour, there are so many people gathered here making a lot of noise, but there is not a single academic official coming out to maintain order. Could it be that not only is the morale of the students in the Imperial College corrupt, but even the teachers have all become muddleheaded and idle?"
At this moment, Ah Liu, who had just looked expressionless but was actually tense all over, prepared to carry... no, to run away with Zhang Shou on his back if the situation got bad, couldn't help but be stunned, and then the corners of his mouth curled up greatly.
If it weren't for the fact that his face was expressionless, he would have laughed so hard that his face would be distorted. You, a bunch of students who are just wasting their time in the Imperial College, you, the old officials who are unwilling to do your job of teaching and educating people, and you, who are always scheming for promotion, are actually trying to play tricks on my young master and bicker with him?
A bunch of scum!
Zhang Shou's angry rebuke really pissed off the noisy students. No one knew who shouted and took the lead, but a large group of people rushed forward, intending to fight if their words failed! Faced with such a big battle, Zhang Shou saw Ah Liu take a step forward, as if he was going to fight, so he smiled and reached out to hold the man's shoulder.
"A Liu, why use a butcher knife to kill a chicken?"
Just as he uttered these words, he suddenly heard an extremely angry shout: "How dare you lock up the Jiuzhang Hall and try to lock us up? Dream on! Junior brothers, follow me and show these useless people what it means to be a self-reliant and hardworking hero!"
When Zhang Shou stopped Ah Liu, he just remembered that when he came in through the university archway of the Imperial College, he saw Zhang Chen's followers looking around. He thought that these guys who were easily moved must have heard the news and might be hiding somewhere. Anyway, even if they really forced their way forward, Ah Liu could knock down a group of these scumbag students with a combat power of only one at most.
But he never expected that before he could even see the shadows of Zhang Chen and the others, Lu Sanlang had already arrived with reinforcements roaring! Moreover, the little fat man's shouting also revealed a lot of unusual information, such as being locked in Jiuzhang Hall... Of course, don't listen to the words "self-reliance" and "hard work" that he mentioned casually to others!
He only saw the dozens of students rushing towards him, and in an instant, the back team started to get in chaos. The chubby Lu Sanlang was holding a chair in his hand, and he smashed anyone he saw. His agility formed a sharp contrast with his bloated figure. As for the other Jiuzhangtang students behind him, they were not as tough as him, and each of them had a thick stack of books in his hands.
Jiuzhangtang's books are extremely complicated to print because they contain various graphics for demonstration. Therefore, Lu Sanlang specifically instructed the bookshop to use large paper for printing. Compared with ordinary thread-bound books, the book is both larger and thicker. At this time, it is a set of four volumes with a hard cover on the outside. It is as invincible as a brick when it hits someone!
In addition, they were filled with resentment from being locked up in Jiuzhang Hall, and they suddenly attacked from the rear. Led by Lu Sanlang who looked like a mad tiger, a large group of people were simply unstoppable. However, in an instant, what Zhang Shou saw was that the group of guys who had just been defeated in the quarrel were now defeated again after using force.
Ah Liu had already retracted his steps and retreated behind Zhang Shou. Seeing a group of students defeating the enemy, he was quite indifferent, but he still muttered in a low voice: "They really have no method in fighting. Next time I will teach them a few moves."
"You better take it easy!"
Zhang Shou only felt that the muscles on his face twitched twice. If this little fat boy who seemed to have strong fighting ability and other students really learned Ah Liu's simple and direct fighting method, God knows what use it would be - by the way, this little fat boy was really brave at the beginning. When that group of rebels came to Cuiyun Room, Zhang Chen was scared, but the little fat boy could still calmly cooperate with the acting!
This mentality is really... Thinking of this, he suddenly whispered to Ah Liu behind him. Ah Liu was a little resistant at first, but when he saw Zhang Shou glanced at him sternly, he had no choice but to do as he was told and quietly left.
Seeing the one-sided battle, Zhang Shou could of course just fold his hands and watch, like watching a play, but those who were originally prepared to watch the play could no longer sit still. Just now, when Zhang Shou scolded the students, he swept all the school officials in at once. They could still hold on to the hope that they could see Zhang Shou being driven out of the Imperial College by the students, or Zhang Shou sending his followers to beat up the students, so they stayed away.
But now a group of troublemakers have been chased and beaten by the students of Jiuzhang Hall and are crying for their parents. If they don’t come out, are they waiting for Zhang Shou to bring the people from Jiuzhang Hall to kill them directly in the Doctoral Hall?
Therefore, Zhou Jijiu took the lead, followed by Luo Siye, and a large number of academic officials such as doctoral assistants came out at once, with a sense of power in numbers that would make them right and their voices louder. However, when they just appeared and had not yet established a firm foothold, they were greeted with a sneer from Zhang Shou.
"Just now, the head of Jiuzhang Hall, Lu Gaoyuan, said that they were locked in Jiuzhang Hall. Now that Da Sicheng and Shao Sicheng have come with you late, could it be that they are also locked in the Doctoral Hall? You have always been proud of your status and don't care about the students' affairs that are not related to their studies, but Xu Jiancheng of Shengqian Hall is still missing. Could it be that he is also trapped in Shengqian Hall?"
After hearing this, the group of school officials suddenly changed color. Just at this moment, they heard a very familiar voice, but they definitely didn't want to hear it at this moment.
"Dr. Zhang is right. I used to pride myself on enforcing discipline, but today I was locked up in the prison! The clerks kept saying they were following orders, but I want to ask, whose orders were they following?"
Xu Heizi rushed out with a big stride, his face was even darker than usual. He went straight to Zhou Jijiu and the others and asked them mercilessly: "Did you follow the order of the Grand Secretary? Or the order of the Junior Secretary? Or was it the order of one of the doctoral assistants? The Imperial College is a place for studying the books of sages, but now it has been reduced to a place for students to cause trouble again and again..."
"Ask yourselves, are you worthy of the emperor's painstaking efforts in entrusting this highest institution of learning in the Ming Dynasty to you?"
Before, he was scolded by Zhang Shou in front of a group of troublesome students, and now he was scolded by Xu Heida again. Not to mention Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye, even a group of doctors could not tolerate it at this moment!
Although Xu Heida, the Supervisor of the Shengqian Hall, may have some authority in front of the students, it is really not worth mentioning in front of these serious Jinshi. Someone immediately scolded him angrily: "Xu Heida, you are so bold! You have no way to manage your subordinates, allowing petty officials who do their own thing to come out and a group of lawless students to come out. Now you come to blame the Grand Secretary, the Junior Secretary and us!"
Before he could finish his words, Xu Heidao casually pulled out the hairpin in his hair and threw off the black hat on his head. At this moment, the black-faced supervisor, who was obviously just a minor official, stood up straight, just like he used to scold the students.
"Although I am only a juren, I have been studying hard and observing etiquette. I only hope to restore the Imperial College to its former glory of the sound of reading and the harmony between teachers and students. Now it is a filthy place full of smoke and calculations. It is better not to stay here!"
