Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 626: Speculative Arguments
Chief Hong Shan, who had just been eager to try and follow the example of Academician Kong and those large numbers of literary figures to wave the flag and shout out to suggest that the Wenhua Palace do not need illiterate palace maids and eunuchs, was now completely speechless.
I thought Zhang Shou was going to revive the old system of the ministers and the princes reading the Spring and Autumn Annals together, so I hesitated. Xiao Shanzhang and Xu Shanzhang were originally thinking about whether to mention the abuse of power by eunuchs in ancient and modern times, but now they are very glad that they did not lose their minds. However, everyone was chewing on the meaning of Zhang Shou's words "Eastern Palace attendants".
In fact, during the Han and Tang dynasties, the Eastern Palace was often populated by the sons of meritorious officials. But by the Song Dynasty, the imperial examination system was complete, and even the officials in the Eastern Palace were only those who had made achievements. There was no such thing as a relationship of studying together, it was more of an official position.
Therefore, the so-called Eastern Palace tutor of this dynasty, before Zhang Shou's group of students were selected, had always been a part-time job for the noble officials of the Hanlin Academy, more in name than in substance!
Only the people in Jiuzhangtang can be regarded as the real tutors in the Eastern Palace for many years - the ones who accompanied the prince to study... no, it should be said that they have studied with the prince!
But now, many people in Wenhua Hall had to carefully figure out what Zhang Shou meant by the Eastern Palace attendants. If he really wanted the sons of officials to follow him, even if he was just sweeping the floor with a broom, people would probably fight over him until their heads broke! Who wouldn't want their son to be favored by the crown prince when he was young? And judging by the emperor's love for the third prince, he must be the future emperor!
Under the gazes of countless people, especially the curious gazes of the emperor and the third and fourth princes, Zhang Shou said slowly: "From this dynasty to now, both Ciqing Palace and Wenhua Hall have been used as the living quarters of the Eastern Palace. However, because Wenhua Hall is often used for imperial lectures and court meetings, people often think of Ciqing Palace as the Eastern Palace, but they don't know that Ciqing Palace is a place for studying."
"Since this is a place for studying, there is no need to have eunuchs and palace servants all the time. For example, when the third and fourth princes were studying at the Imperial Academy, did they bring people with them?"
The emperor's mind immediately moved. Ciqing Palace was in the southeast of the palace city, while Qianqing Palace was in the north of the palace city. Although the distance between them was not that long, it was still quite a distance. And in the past, when the distance between the emperor and the crown prince was widened, it was easy to cause all kinds of problems, especially since the third prince was still young. In the past, he had always brought him by his side to teach him by example. Now, suddenly sending him to Ciqing Palace, was it too hasty?
Thinking of this, he nodded slightly and said, "Sanlang is still young, I really don't want him to live in Ciqing Palace and study."
Well, although those furnishings and beddings have been prepared long ago, they can be used without any need. As for the Third Prince, it is certainly not appropriate for him to continue living in Concubine He's Palace. He might as well move directly to the Zhaoren Hall of the Qianqing Palace. Anyway, that place is just a library!
Seeing that the emperor gave a very positive response and was obviously planning to keep the third prince by his side, Zhang Shou continued calmly, "Since the crown prince does not live in Ciqing Palace, then aren't the worries of Academician Kong and the others groundless? The cleaning and daily affairs of Ciqing Palace only need to be done in the morning, evening and noon, and there is no need to see each other. How can it be misleading?"
Zhu Ying first came up with a bunch of perverse arguments that were justified, and Zhang Shou followed up with a more correct argument that was different from the others. However, Zhang Shou seemed to have forgotten the word "servant" that he had mentioned at the beginning, and did not mention it at all. So although the emperor laughed heartily, the others wanted to push Zhang Shou to the ground and stomp on him ten thousand times. People who only finish talking are the most abominable!
However, Academician Kong did not bother to care whether Zhang Shou's words "attendants" were meant to curry favor with the numerous civil and military officials. He made up his mind and simply broke the window paper that had just been broken.
"Even with the strictness of the Qianqing Palace, they still sent out a rebellious and unpredictable person like Liu Feng, let alone others! The prince is about to be crowned. Will there be no eunuchs and palace maids accompanying him in the future? This is to prevent problems from happening, and it is not limited to the Ciqing Palace. I hope that the emperor will be able to see through everything and understand our painstaking efforts for the prince!"
Zhu Ying had just seen Zhang Shou speaking freely, but now she saw the question was brought back again, and her eyebrows immediately raised. But just as she was about to repeat what she had just said, the emperor had already beaten her to the punch: "Yingying just said that a scholar would need a maid who could read and write, and a servant who could read and write, but a prince would want to use a vulgar person?"
"Should I learn from the lesson of Liu Feng in the Palace of Heavenly Purity? From now on, it would be best if the eunuchs around me are illiterate, so as not to be bewitched me?"
The emperor used his own words to ridicule everyone, and Zhu Ying immediately laughed brightly. But immediately afterwards, Academician Kong took an extremely tough stance: "If the emperor must use people who can read and write, it is not a bad idea, but they must be both loyal and filial, and can recite the "Book of Filial Piety" by heart! There is an old saying that goes, seek loyal ministers from the door of filial sons, this is a true saying!"
"I have already said that Liu Feng was just spreading rumors in front of Si Lang. What he said about the Imperial Household Department abandoning family ties and hometown ties is pure nonsense! I remember that an imperial censor impeached someone from the Imperial Household Department for spending money to buy a mansion outside to bring his relatives to Beijing after he became successful, and also built a temple and repaired tombs in the countryside. At that time, no one said that family ties were hard to give up and hometown ties were hard to give up, they just said that they were extravagant!"
"So much so that the official who had managed two small houses was directly dismissed. At that time, no one praised him for his filial piety!"
At this point, the emperor finally lost his patience to continue the topic. He glanced at him and signaled a eunuch to ring the golden bell. He then said in a deep voice: "In short, this matter will be put aside until the crown prince is canonized! As for the lectures in the East Palace, since you have recommended them one by one, I will select ten people from them tomorrow, two people per day, and give lectures in the East Palace every five days."
"Well, it's getting late, let's start the lecture!"
The emperor was determined to shelve this proposal, even though Academician Kong was extremely unwilling. However, his enthusiasm had been repeatedly dampened by Zhu Ying and Zhang Shou today. Seeing that no one among those who supported the proposal dared to stand up and oppose it, he could not help but feel very depressed.
At this time, he could not help but despise Wu Ge Lao, a yes-man, and even more so Zhang Yu, a newcomer who was obviously inexperienced but refused to follow him, a senior. If the three cabinet members could be of one mind, why would he have to rely on the literary attendants and Confucian scholars who were attending today's lecture to achieve his goals in a hurry?
Zhang Shou completed the task of "assisting" Zhu Ying. Seeing that Academician Kong returned to his original position in and was about to retreat back to his original team. However, he was surprised that the Fourth Prince suddenly rushed over and grabbed his sleeve without saying a word.
"Teacher, the emperor wants you to come over and talk." After saying this, the fourth prince looked at Zhu Ying again, "Sister Yingying too."
Zhu Ying had always regarded the emperor as a half-father, so it didn't matter at this time, and he went forward without hesitation. Zhang Shou glanced at the fourth prince's left hand that was grabbing his sleeve, and suddenly grabbed the thin wrist, turned it over and looked at the palm, and saw that the redness and swelling had subsided a lot, so he breathed a sigh of relief.
When the Fourth Prince saw this, he immediately retracted his hand, but looked at Zhang Shou's left hand awkwardly, only to be laughed at by Zhang Shou.
"You have been beaten twice as hard as I have and you are still safe and sound, let alone me? Bring me the copy of "On Teachers" later. I want to test you to see if you just copied it or if you have understood it thoroughly."
"If you read a book a hundred times, its meaning will become clear, let alone copying it." The fourth prince was very confident. It was not until he followed Zhang Shou to the emperor that he whispered, "I copied "On Teachers" voluntarily... Teacher, my hands are almost swollen from copying these days!"
Seeing that the Fourth Prince was actually complaining to Zhang Shou in a pitiful manner, and knowing how determined he was to defend Zhang Shou just now, the Emperor could not help but glance at the Third Prince whose face was filled with relief, and suddenly felt that he, as a real father, was a little miserable.
Who has been protecting you two little guys all this time, raising one of you to be lawless and the other to be naive and shy? Now, you two have grown up, but you all keep talking about your teacher and forget about him, your father!
After the bitter experience, the emperor adjusted his mindset quite quickly. While the lecture had already begun, he quietly affirmed Zhu Ying's action of standing up for the Third Prince. Then he looked at Zhang Shou and said, "Jiu Zhang, you are not interested in the wine. What did you mean by the Eastern Palace attendants just now?"
"You know, from the palace officials in the Han Dynasty to the three guards and the thousand bulls in the Tang Dynasty, they all relied on being closest to the emperor to get the first chance to rise to the top. However, the palace officials in the Han Dynasty were more important, and almost all the high-ranking officials of the 2,000-stone rank came from them, while the three guards and the thousand bulls in the Tang Dynasty were less important, and were only in name only. Which kind are you, the attendant of the Eastern Palace?"
"Moreover, you need to know that if the Eastern Palace attendants are selected from the children of officials, it will undoubtedly undermine the fairness of the imperial examination. In the future, the children of officials will have already become famous in the Eastern Palace before they enter the officialdom. How can those poor families with so-called scholarly backgrounds be willing to accept this? Not to mention the talents in the market and farmers!"
Zhu Ying did not expect that the emperor summoned Zhang Shou to ask about serious matters. Even though the lecturer was quite talented and his speech was very good, she still unconsciously became distracted, fearing that the emperor would blame Zhang Shou.
"Your Majesty is right." Zhang Shou's answer to the emperor's sharp question was very straightforward. "So, Your Majesty said before that ten people would be selected to lecture and take turns to serve in the Eastern Palace. And after the Nine Chapters Hall examination, the best students will be selected to serve as attendants, and they will also take turns. So, can the attendants be selected in the same way? If you think it is unfair to only select the children of officials, why not select them from the Imperial College?"
"The Ruxing Hall is the most important of the six halls, so we should select several or even dozens of people from the Ruxing Hall, and then have them serve as attendants in the Eastern Palace for half a month or even a month, and listen to the lectures of the Eastern Palace lecturers. Firstly, with someone to listen to the lectures together, the Third and Fourth Princes cannot be lazy under the watchful eyes of the public, otherwise they will be embarrassed and sent out of the palace. Secondly, isn't this an opportunity to publicize their character and talents?"
"The most important thing is that, perhaps in this way, the Imperial College can be revitalized, and the world will not necessarily regard the Imperial College as useless anymore. As long as the emperor sets the questions, selects a strong person to personally supervise the exam, and sends people to patrol the exam, why worry about others playing tricks?"
"If you are worried that there are also talents left out in the other five halls, then it is okay to give one or two places to the other five halls. But if that is the case, and you don't want to favor one over the other, then it is not a bad idea to give one or two places to the Banshan Hall. After all, those are the children of officials."
If the famous scholar who was lecturing below had not been speaking passionately at this moment, and the emperor had not had to smile and nod from time to time to act like a wise ruler who was listening carefully (in this respect, the emperor had made great progress compared to the time when he was in power and refused to even pretend to do so), he would have been so amused by Zhang Shou's nonchalant idea that he laughed out loud.
However, he had to admit that when the Imperial College had become so rotten, perhaps this idea was still feasible.
Even when Lu Wan and Ciqing Palace were planning to set up a public school to educate more common people, why couldn't they do the same? Selecting talents from the Imperial Academy and teaching them separately, not to mention preparing a team for the third prince, at least it would allow him to come into contact with as many outstanding people as possible, so that he could understand his own strengths and weaknesses. Isn't this very appropriate?
If someone can stand out in this round of substitutions, how can he not stand out in the imperial examinations in the future?
Thinking of this, the emperor nodded with a smile and said, "Jiu Zhang's ideas are often unconventional, but after careful consideration, I can only say one word - good!"
Seeing Zhu Ying standing beside the emperor, her beautiful eyes moving and her gaze flying, her Shu brocade skirt under the light complementing the pearls and jade on her body, just like gold and jade brilliance; seeing Zhang Shou in a green robe, elegant as bamboo, standing leisurely, occasionally chatting and laughing with the emperor, calm and composed, not the slightest bit embarrassed; even though countless people had long felt that this couple was truly made for each other, they still couldn't help but secretly stare at them.
Even the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince, who were standing together at this moment, could not help but look at the two of them frequently. But the Fourth Prince suddenly felt a pain in his stomach, and his face changed drastically. He wanted to hold on, but the pain came like waves, so he had no choice but to tell the Third Prince to apologize to his father, and then he ran away through the small door at the back.
After running to the bathroom like a rabbit, he only took a short while to relieve the overwhelming burden and came out refreshed. As a result, he ran into someone as soon as he reached the door. Seeing that the guy with a dark face was Zhang Chen, he remembered what he had heard from the third prince before, and quickly reached out to stop the man.
"Zhang Chen, I heard that it was you who secretly released Lu Gaoyuan and the others from the Imperial College that day, but why were you so sneaky and disappeared afterwards?"
Zhang Chen stared at the Fourth Prince's left hand for a few more times, until he seemed to be angry out of shame, he said listlessly: "Need I say more? Zhu Ying blocked the door of the Imperial Household Department and was said to have her family shut down the ancestral hall. I helped her trace it back to the Imperial Household Department, and of course I was also locked up at home by my father. That day I also secretly ran to the Imperial College, hoping to find a teacher to ask for mercy for my father."
"Who knew that something like that would happen! After I broke the door lock and released the person, I was taken back by the guards who came after me!"
At this point, the eldest son of the Duke of Qin sighed deeply, and became even more dejected. "As a result, this matter was reported to my father. My father never cared about me, but this time he was furious. He even said that you, a prince, had been punished, so he should also take care of me, a rebellious son! He did it himself, and I couldn't get out of bed for several days. I can only leave today!"
