Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 619: All is Mess
Because most of the students of Jiuzhang Hall were from humble backgrounds and lived together in Xiao Cheng's house near the Imperial College, most of them did not have horses or carriages for transportation, and Zhang Shou could not have found dozens of horses in a hurry. After leaving the Imperial College, he simply let Ah Liu and Yang Hao and Zheng Dang, who came with him today, lead their mounts, while he and the others walked out of the city on foot.
Of course, so many people couldn't walk fast, so seeing such a good opportunity, Lu Sanlang and Ji Jiu, who had hurriedly packed up their things with their followers, led the way and spread the news indignantly. When Zhang Shou finally walked out of Xuanwu Gate, he left behind an inner city that was boiling like a pot of boiling water and rotting like a pot of porridge.
Countless people rushed to tell each other, especially in government offices. It seemed as if even the curfew had been removed - after all, those bigwigs who were qualified enough to hold high ranks had all gone to attend the regular court sessions, and the only ones left were low-ranking officials or even low-ranking clerks. In a time when there are no tigers in the mountains, wouldn't it be the monkeys that are making a fuss and causing chaos?
Luo Siye, who was of a higher rank, had also taken advantage of the chaos to sneak into the cabinet because the emperor had previously ordered the rectification of the Imperial College, so he and Zhou Jijiu did not have to go to the regular court to make up the numbers and make themselves known. Of course, although his rank was half a level higher than Zhang Shou, in the cabinet, which was the place closest to the emperor, he had to look at the faces of those secretaries and even petty officials.
For example, all the ministers of the cabinet went to Fengtian Hall to attend court, and he could not enter the most central place, so he could only wait in the outer meeting hall where there was no charcoal basin and it was as cold as an ice cave. And this outer meeting hall was only a place where the secretaries occasionally met people. Even if the ministers met people, they would go to the direct room, and at least two secretaries would be present to show that there was no private communication.
But even though Luo Siye was so cold that he kept pacing and rubbing his hands, and wrapped his cloak tightly over his robe, he did not ask for a sip of hot tea to warm his hands and heart. After all, he had spent a lot of time and energy to enter the cabinet to wait for Academician Kong. By now the news had already reached here, and he could hear the unscrupulous discussions of the passing secretaries and clerks outside through the doors and windows.
"This incident at the Imperial College is really a huge commotion. Throughout the history of the country, has there ever been a case where the Grand Secretary and the Junior Secretary gathered a group of academic officials, instigated the students to cause trouble, and directly locked up all the halls and the Rope Penalty Hall, intending to force the students to drive away a certain academic official and a group of students! The most ridiculous thing is that they actually lost in the end!"
"That's right. Even after all the careful planning, they still failed in the end. It's the most ridiculous! You must know that they used the majority to bully the minority, the superior to bully the inferior, and had all the advantages of time, place and people, but in the end they were suddenly counterattacked and suffered a great defeat. They also provoked the black-faced supervisor to resign and leave. I really don't know what the emperor's reaction will be after he leaves the court!"
"Yesterday, the rumors about the Imperial Household Department spread to everyone, and today it's the Imperial College... Tsk tsk, that Doctor Zhang probably doesn't want a bunch of eunuchs to take the spotlight from him, so he got so excited, right?"
Hearing the laughter outside the window, Luo Siye's face had already turned the color of liver. Knowing that he was waiting inside for Kong Daxueshi to come back and summon him, these people were still talking and laughing so recklessly outside, which showed that they didn't take him seriously at all.
However, this group of students came up with such a stupid idea, but it failed in the end... Is it possible not to be laughed at? Even if he was waiting here at this moment, he was just holding on to a one in ten thousand chance. He even thought on the way that if he had known this would happen, he would not have done it in the first place, but it was too late to regret it now!
Luo Siye waited until his hands and feet were almost frozen, and finally he heard a commotion outside. After the commotion, the various conversations and laughter that could be heard through the doors and windows suddenly stopped.
Obviously, Grand Secretary Kong and the others had already returned from the court. He almost subconsciously rushed to the door, but he almost stumbled and fell as soon as he moved his feet.
His feet were as cold as ice and went numb when he moved. Luo Siye felt embarrassed and sad. He finally moved to the door with difficulty, but just as he was about to lift the curtain, it was opened in front of him.
"Shao Sicheng..." The man seemed to have not expected Luo Siye to come over, and immediately said with a smile, "My elder wants you to go to the direct room."
Seeing the polite words from the visitor, Luo Siye was relieved. As for the four words "my cabinet elder" from the other party's mouth, he did not take it too seriously. After all, the cabinet was not a place where the family's long-term servants could enter and leave. Even if the cabinet elder Kong was only a title away from the prime minister, he could only order the secretaries and clerks around here .
Sure enough, when he followed the visitor into the direct room of Grand Secretary Kong, he saw the other party standing directly on the left side of Grand Secretary Kong, while on the right side stood another blue-clothed official in his thirties, obviously two secretaries. He did not even bother to look at Grand Secretary Kong's face, which looked like a pot-bottomed pancake at the moment. He bowed deeply and told him the whole story in one breath.
Of course, in his words, the riot by the students of the Imperial College was a spontaneous act, and he and a group of academic officials were completely unaware of it. The Shengqian Hall, the Six Halls, the Jiuzhang Hall, and the Banshan Hall were locked because they, the academic officials, were worried that the rest of the people would join in the noise, so they took prompt action to prevent it from happening.
Whether it was Zhang Shou's retort, the escape and fight of the students of Jiuzhang Hall, or even the clamor of the students of Banshan Hall to knock on the palace gate, he accused them all of a host of crimes.
However, although Luo Siye talked a lot, he did not get any response from beginning to end. Academician Kong did not even interrupt him to ask about some details. Faced with this situation, he could not help but feel that something was wrong.
But he had already said what he needed to say. If he stuck his head out, he would be in danger. He could only steel himself and ask, "Lord, Dr. Zhang has now brazenly left the Imperial College with the students of Jiuzhang Hall. Such a domineering behavior has filled all the officials of the Imperial College with righteous indignation..."
"Why are you so indignant? You are allowed to trip others up openly or covertly, but you are not allowed to make trouble for them? Besides, didn't you always feel out of place when Jiuzhangtang was in the Imperial College? Now, a bunch of stupid guys are making a fuss, and he directly leads his people to set up a new stove... No, the stove has been set up a long time ago, aren't you more than happy to do so?"
When Confucius saw Luo Siye looking up in shock, his face looked as if his parents had died, he sneered in his heart and then said word by word: "During the court meeting, the boy from the Xiangyang Earl's family took a large group of people to Qipan Street. If he hadn't been stopped, he would have almost beaten the drum to report the incident. Did you know that?"
At this moment, Luo Siye's face suddenly turned pale.
What is the Dengwen Drum? Others may not know it, but how could he not know it? Once that thing is struck, it will not only reach the sky, but also pierce the sky! It is the highest artifact for filing a complaint across levels. After it is struck, both the complainant and the defendant will be severely punished. It can be said that with that hammer, all the academic officials of their Imperial College may be dismissed!
"Lord..."
"The one who stopped this group of guys was the Fourth Prince who happened to be out of the palace. They had just gotten into trouble yesterday, so today the Fourth Prince gave these students a few stern words of admonition - haha, after all, he had stayed in Banshan Hall for a while. Finally, he, the prince, has some authority now, so everyone borrowed pens and ink on Qipan Street, and the kid from the Xiangyang Earl's family wrote an article himself and presented it directly to the court meeting."
"So, don't think I don't know what happened in the Imperial College. After the routine court meeting today, a lot of people were originally bombarding the Imperial Household Department, but this sudden incident disrupted everything, and everything was in chaos ! My big plan was ruined!"
Scholar Kong couldn't help but be angry. As a Jinshi with a good family background, he would naturally be wary of any eunuch. After all, the lessons from ancient times to the present were too profound. Although Taizu of this dynasty established the ancestral system and the number of eunuchs was small, these eunuchs with a small number and weak presence would always play an unexpected role at critical moments, which made people very vigilant.
The current head of the Imperial Household Department, Chu Kuan, is basically a meritorious official of Emperor Ruizong's restoration, just like Zhu Jing, the Duke of Zhao! Such a person who makes people wary is in charge of the Imperial Household Department. Now the Fourth Prince's big mouth has revealed that the Imperial Household Department has been selected in such a layer, just like the imperial examination. If we don't take advantage of the situation now, when will we attack?
But at this time when everyone should be working together, such a scandal broke out in the Imperial College!
When the emperor heard the news, he was so angry that he kicked over the footstool under the throne and said something that still frightened him now: "I personally inspected and encouraged them in vain, but they only regarded my promises as hollow dumplings. Not only did they have no intention of teaching them, but they also caused such chaos! Cliques are abominable!"
Seeing that Luo Siye was even a little shaky, Academician Kong finally softened his tone after his harsh words just now.
"No matter what, Zhang Shou can't just set up Jiuzhang Hall on his own. After all, it was Emperor Taizu who personally inscribed the plaque and placed great hopes on Jiuzhang Hall. Now that it has been reopened in the Imperial College, it belongs to the Imperial College! For such a major event, the court will have its own opinions. You academic officials had better reflect sincerely and don't just report others!"
When Master Kong promised Luo Siye that he would not sit idly by and watch Jiuzhangtang set up its own school, Zhang Shou and his party had already arrived at the public school after a long walk. After such a long walk in such a cold weather, many people were already freezing to the bone.
However, the person who came earlier informed Lu Wan, who not only greeted them personally at the door, but also prepared a large iron pot for boiling ginger tea. At this time, bowls of steaming ginger tea were served, and the former court leader who had served as the Minister of War was very cheerful and concerned about their well-being. Compared with the treatment in the Imperial College, everyone's hearts were naturally biased.
Of course, the most important thing is that most of the students of Jiuzhang Hall have taught part-time in public schools and received a subsidy. That is why Qi Liang's students who were sent out by Zhang Shou to gain experience not long after attending classes lacked such an experience.
In any case, with an active little fat boy like Lu Sanlang talking about this and that, and after Lu Wan personally led the way in, they saw the spacious courtyard dedicated to the Jiuzhang Hall with six classrooms. Compared with the isolated corner of the Jiuzhang Hall, where two classes of students had to attend lectures in the same classroom, even the students who were hesitant at first were unconsciously moved at this time.
When Lu Wan dragged Liu Zhiyuan out, he introduced him to Zhu Tingfang, the eldest son of the Duke of Zhao, who had just been invited to his teacher after three visits, and the former Minister of War. The students who didn't know were even more shocked. Such a small public school actually gathered two former officials of the Ministry of War? If Lu Wan, the son of the former Minister of War, and Zhang Shou, the future son-in-law of the current Minister of War, were added...
This is simply the Ministry of War’s own small piece of land!
Seeing Liu Zhiyuan getting confused by the fat boy Lu Sanlang and gradually turning gloomy under Lu Wan's flattery, Zhang Shou smiled for a moment, but changed the subject lightly and said, "If we move here, there are advantages but also disadvantages. The disadvantage is that after all, the student population of this public school located in the outer city is complex, and most of them can't even be considered poor families, but poor families."
"That is to say, many of them are young children who come here to try their luck because they don't have to pay to learn to read. Of course, there are also some older people who are illiterate. So sometimes, there are a lot of people here, and it's hard to avoid being noisy."
"There is a lack of knowledgeable teachers here. You will need to take on more teaching duties in your spare time than before. After all, the students here will not take the imperial examinations. All they need to do is learn to read, write and calculate, that's all."
"Also, although the title of Jiansheng is not as valuable as before, it should still be enough to bring honor to the family for many of you. Although I tried my best to keep the word Jiansheng for you when I wrote the letter, the resistance in the court should not be underestimated..."
Liu Zhiyuan saw Zhang Shou telling the students the pros and cons of moving Jiuzhang Hall to the outer city public school. He had just learned about the farce of the Imperial College from someone who had come earlier to report the news. He was angry and disappointed. He was angry that a group of school officials incited the students to cause trouble in order to fight for power, and he was disappointed that he didn't know where the century-old Imperial College would go in the future.
When he was feeling mixed emotions, he suddenly felt his eyes blurred, and when he looked again, he saw a person quietly appeared beside Zhang Shou. He was not surprised, but when the other person spoke, he was still shocked.
"Master, someone has come from the palace. It's the Imperial Concubine Yuquan from Qingning Palace, and the Fourth Prince."
Zhang Shou was slightly stunned, then simply smiled and asked Lu Wan and Lu Sanlang to continue discussing with everyone, while he hurried out with Ah Liu. When he noticed that there was someone behind him, he turned around and found that it was Mr. Liu who didn't say a word but couldn't hide his curiosity, he couldn't help but smile. As for chasing people away, of course he wouldn't do it.
The old man is curious and follows to watch the fun, so why not just let him be?
However, when he saw the person, Yuquan glanced at Liu Zhiyuan, and then directly explained the whole story. He was completely stunned. When he reacted, he saw that the fourth prince had already rushed up and stood directly in front of Ah Liu with his hands hanging down and his head bowed. His left hand was stretched out in a very bachelor manner, with an expression of accepting the punishment.
Ah Liu, who had specially gone to invite Zhang Shou out, ended up having the problem happen to him. He was speechless. He stared at the Fourth Prince for a long time, and finally said quietly, "The young master gave the ruler to Zhang Chen, and then passed it to the eldest lady's second brother, and then kept it at home. I have nothing to do now, so I can't beat him! As for disciplining the prince, I don't have that ability!"
