Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 656: The Grand Master Inspects the Public School
From the Imperial College to the Outer City Public School, the King of Jiangdu certainly would not ride a horse like the young people - although the emperors older than him often liked to ride horses to parade through the streets even when they went out of the palace incognito, but he was afraid of the cold and loved to enjoy life, so he would rather sit comfortably in the carriage with a fur coat and a hand warmer. When he heard the voice of the attendant outside reporting that they had arrived, he actually took a short nap.
He and Xu Heida went to the Imperial College first. Although he did not come in person, he sent someone to announce the exam questions. As for who announced the exam questions... Is there any need to say it? Of course, it was him who just told people in the Imperial College, his useless future son-in-law!
Not feeling at all that he was favoring his friends due to personal connections, Prince Jiangdu yawned and stepped off his horse, only to find that there was not even a ghost in front of the gate. It was nothing like the scene before in the Imperial College where all the academic officials came out to welcome him with great fanfare.
Although he was not a person who cared about empty courtesy, he was still a prince after all, and he certainly would not be happy to be neglected like this. He looked around, wanting to ask if there was not even a gatekeeper, and finally heard a familiar voice: "Father-in-law, you are here so soon!"
The person who rushed out to greet him was none other than Mr. Song. Seeing King Jiangdu looking at him with a smile, he quickly explained, "Mr. Zhang is teaching. After all, this public school is not just about Banshan Hall. Other teachers are also teaching. Liu Zhanshi and Lu Jijiu are here now. They definitely don't take you, the Grand Master, seriously."
This time, King Jiangdu was immediately relieved. Especially when he saw Liu Zhiyuan and Lu Wan really come out together, he immediately changed his face to a smile, where could he see any blame in his expression?
After a few pleasantries, he asked about the exam situation in Banshan Hall. As expected, he saw a very subtle expression on Lu Wan's face, and then his eyes became noticeably vague.
"The three questions that His Royal Highness asked were really well-thought-out. For those guys in Banshan Hall, it would be great if they could answer one question. Not many could answer two, let alone three." Having said this, Lu Wan paused, then said with a wry smile, "If these questions were asked in Jiuzhang Hall, the math question would naturally not be worth mentioning, but the other two questions would probably be difficult for them as well."
"I don't know about Banshan Hall, but the essay titled 'Three years without changing one's father's way' from the Analects is probably difficult for the students at Jiuzhang Hall. There may not be many people who can write this essay well, but there is definitely no one."
The one who refuted Lu Wan was none other than Mr. Song. He did not notice the expression of King Jiangdu rubbing his chin with interest after hearing this, and said to himself: "Because Lu Gaoyuan's bookstore prints a lot of books, among which there are collections of contemporary essays. There are many model essays on the Four Books topic such as "Three Years Without Changing the Way of the Father". It is said that he once gave away the collection of contemporary essays for free in order to promote the mathematical classics."
"And the students of Jiuzhang Hall can earn some money by working part-time in public schools. Nowadays, most of them can afford to buy the mathematics textbooks instead of borrowing them as before. In other words, nine out of ten of them have a few collections of contemporary literature. Even if some people have never read them, or even resell them because they lack money, there must be some who have read them. Even if most of those who have read them don't remember them, there may be some who remember them."
Seeing that Mr. Song was speaking in a serious tone, Lu Wan was immediately amused: "If the Jiuzhang Hall came to take the test, even if I memorized the model essay and copied it onto the test paper, would that mean I had written a good essay? Are the examiners who were marking the papers all dead?"
"The lecturers may not be dead, but they may not have read the popular collections of contemporary literature on the market today!"
Mr. Song refuted Lu Wan seriously. Seeing that he was speechless, he emphasized his tone and said, "Current affairs essays are just a stepping stone. Most of the officials who passed the imperial examinations have no idea where they threw them away, let alone buying collections of contemporary essays and constantly trying to figure out what new essays those contemporary essay masters have. Don't even mention the lectures of those who passed the imperial examinations many years ago..."
"I remember when I took part in the provincial examination in Guangdong, I returned home with nothing. The chief examiner didn't notice that someone had copied most of the model essays, and he chose someone as the seventh runner-up. It was eventually exposed, and it was a huge loss of face. Not only was I humiliated afterwards, but I was also reprimanded by the court, fined, and demoted. And he was the chief examiner!"
Seeing Lu Wan's expression, which was the only one he had ever seen, King Jiangdu thought it was very interesting. He knew he shouldn't laugh, but he still laughed out loud: "My dear son-in-law, you are right. These scholars worked hard to hone their skills before they entered the government, but after they entered the government, they threw their stepping stones aside... Hey, Lord Duan Yin, I'm not talking about you!"
Although he had retired, he was specially re-employed by the emperor this time and was even forced to be a secretary in the Zhanshi Palace. Liu Zhiyuan already found it strange, and now when he was called Duan Yin by Prince Jiangdu, he suddenly felt uncomfortable.
But just now, Mr. Song and King Jiangdu said in such a joking tone that the Eight-part Essay was just a stepping stone to the door, and it would be thrown away casually after the door was opened. Even if he partially agreed, he could not show such an attitude in front of outsiders, otherwise people would know that he, the top scholar, actually despised the eight-part essay... That would be really a mess!
However, he really hated the eight-legged essay... He was already over 50 when he became the top scholar. Apart from studying, he had spent the best years of his life studying this useless stuff. Even if he eventually won the palace examination, so what?
At the moment, he could only change the subject with a cold face and said, "Well, since King Jiangdu is here, please go to Banshan Hall and take a good look, so as to avoid doubts in the future, saying that someone is giving these candidates convenience. By the way, although Banshan Hall has been divided before, it has not yet been decided what classes they will have, so let these people teach these folk children more."
"It's not to let them know about the sufferings of the people, it's purely to temper the temperament of these guys. I don't ask them to have great prospects such as becoming generals or ministers, even if they can just be rich and idle, but I just hope that they don't become a scourge!"
Of course, Prince Jiangdu was absolutely convinced of Liu Zhiyuan. How could it be possible for such an old man to be appointed by the emperor to assist the crown prince if he did not have sufficient ability!
He immediately agreed vigorously, and even said enthusiastically that it would be better for the clan members in the clan school to become teachers in the public school to gain some training. However, he was blocked by Liu Zhiyuan's sneer.
"All the clan members in the clan school are spoiled. Who can trust their parents at home when they go to a place like the outer city? These old men should just take a good rest. Unlike Banshan Hall, most of them are half-baked and unloved by their parents at home. Others are not good, but they can recite the Three Character Classic, Hundred Family Names, and Thousand Character Classic by heart, which is still acceptable at least."
Seeing Liu Zhiyuan's objection, King Jiangdu laughed and took back his impulsive words, but he couldn't help wondering whether to send his useless sons over to hone them. He didn't ask them to become talented, but only hoped that they could shoulder the burden in the future and not let the family business collapse.
In order to make up for the unrealistic suggestion he had just made, he then stepped forward with a smile and supported Liu Zhiyuan. His humble appearance, that of a member of the royal family, was so dazed that even Lu Wan was a little stunned.
Mr. Song, who had just brought up the topic, shrank his head. As he followed Lu Wan, he couldn't help but ask softly, "Jiu Lu, my future father-in-law seems to be very respectful to teachers and elders?"
What a bullshit to respect teachers and elders! Back then, King Jiangdu, the Emperor, and King Lu were simply the three evils of the capital! However, with the Emperor who is still independent until now standing in front of him, and King Lu who was looking for death to attract attention, King Jiangdu seemed gentle and harmless!
Lu Wan wanted to expose the Grand Chancellor who had transformed into a wise king, but thinking about his age, he was already a father, and Song Juren had always called him father-in-law. In the end, he decided to save some face for him and just warned Song Juren indifferently: "Your father-in-law has a temperament a bit like the emperor, you should keep this in mind in the future."
Although the three words "follow the emperor" sounded plain, even though Mr. Song was nicknamed "stupid" by Ah Liu, he had been in the capital for so long and had experienced something he had never dared to think about in his life, such as the selection of imperial chefs. His heart full of inappropriate thoughts had gradually condensed into a delicate mind, but it definitely did not have nine orifices. At most, he could barely open two or three of the nine orifices.
But even so, he thought of the emperor's capricious temperament, and then thought of the day when he went to the Jiangdu Palace. At first, he was regarded as a scourge by the Jiangdu Prince and his son, but when Princess Hailing explained clearly, the Jiangdu Prince changed his anger into joy under his deliberate flattery, and finally accepted him as his son-in-law. At this moment, he hurriedly put several labels on this future father-in-law in his mind.
Moody, unpredictable, and eccentric... In short, he must be extra careful in the future!
He helped Liu Zhiyuan to patrol the Banshan Hall and found that most of the boys who were answering the questions had sad faces as expected. King Jiangdu did not care that it was an exam and actually reprimanded them.
The meaning behind his words was the same as when he was in the Imperial College. The prince gave the same three questions to the Six Halls and the Banshan Hall of the Imperial College. If the final answer was not optimistic, then the so-called quota would be written off. It is better to have no place than to have unqualified people.
Faced with such shocking news, Zhang Dakuai suddenly changed color and completely forgot that this was an exam. He stood up and asked, "Then may I ask your Majesty, what if our Banshan Hall answers the questions better in the end?"
King Jiangdu looked at the big guy in surprise, but he didn't recognize him. After hearing Liu Zhiyuan's explanation, he realized that he was the son of the Earl of Xiangyang. He laughed immediately: "Oh, you are very ambitious, kid? Not bad, not bad. I can promise you that if more people in your Banshan Hall can answer these three questions beautifully, but there are none in the six halls of the Imperial College..."
"Then their places will be given to you!"
Faced with this final statement, the others were so excited that they started to stir a little, but then fell into silence. I don't know how many people stared at the three questions they had copied down, wishing they could swallow the ink-stained paper. Although the King of Jiangdu made such a statement, they really didn't know how to do it!
The math problems seemed simple, but when you think about it carefully, it seems that it is not the case... Of course, there were some students who had studied math with Zhang Shou in the Cuiyun Room in Rongshui Village, and now they had some ideas, but it would take time to transform those stupid ideas into real problem-solving methods.
As for contemporary writing, if they could write good eight-part essays, would they have to spend their days in the Banshan Hall? Not to mention farming, most of them, not to mention that they had never worked in the fields, probably couldn't even tell the difference between rice and wheat!
So, when they continued to think hard at their desks after the silence, some people really tried their best to show their best ability, such as Zhang Dakui, but there were more people who tried to show their learning attitude by filling the papers as much as possible - even if they wrote some messy things...
King Jiangdu obviously had no intention of just standing there and watching these people racking their brains to answer the questions, but he quietly inspected other classrooms accompanied by everyone.
Seeing that children of different ages were taking enlightenment classes such as "Three Character Classic", "Hundred Family Names" and "Thousand Character Classic", some were guiding the children to recite the Nine-Nine Song, and some were even teaching addition and subtraction. There were even students who were obviously from Jiuzhang Hall, explaining the most basic natural knowledge. He couldn't help but sigh.
"No wonder people say that public schools are just for learning superficial things, but I think it's good to be superficial. Not everyone can pass the imperial examination and become the top scholar. If you can write and calculate, even if you are reading government notices and calculating taxes, you won't be easily deceived!"
Having said that, he thought to himself that he had heard that there were many people in the southeast who could read, and even more who understood the laws of the Ming Dynasty, so many lawyers gathered there, and many local officials hated it so much that they even privately quoted the saying that the people can be made to follow what they want but not to know what they want.
He recalled that the emperor had mentioned to him at the beginning that emperors of all dynasties claimed to be wise rulers, and any mistakes were attributed to treacherous ministers; officials claimed to be wise ministers, and if there were any mistakes, it was the fault of corrupt officials and cunning servants; and although it was difficult for petty officials and servants to push the responsibility down, when they were forced into a corner and had no other choice, they would put all the blame on corrupt officials and vagrants.
But they don't know that when the so-called treacherous people and vagrants finally become harmful, it will be like a huge wave capsizing a boat! If you can't read, you won't capsize the boat? Then where did all the rebellions and riots throughout the ages come from! As long as the world is peaceful, everyone has enough food and clothing, and knows some simple principles, why would the villagers have the leisure to rebel?
Thinking about all these things, King Jiangdu finally arrived in front of Jiuzhang Hall, and heard Zhang Shou's voice.
"We have already seen the sails of the ship before entering the harbor and the change in the length of the shadow left by the tall tree at noon, which proves that the earth is probably round. So we can't help but ask, if it is not the sky that is round and the earth that is round, then on such a land, let's assume that we are on the top and will not fall off, then..."
"Then what about the people under the sphere? Why don't they fall down? Why does water flow to lower places? Why do ripe fruits fall from trees? Why did the iron blocks of different sizes fall to the ground almost at the same time in the experiment we did at the Zhang Garden Observatory last time?"
Listening to all these whys, King Jiangdu felt his head was a mess. He looked at Lu Wan and Liu Zhiyuan again, and they were not much better than him. He sucked his teeth lightly, then heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Fortunately, Master Zhang left the Imperial College, otherwise what he said would have caused the Imperial College to explode!"
