Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 667: Self-knowledge
The Third Prince's resounding question immediately embarrassed the students who had gathered from all directions. Some of them wanted to ask back, "Can you tell the difference between rice and wheat, Your Highness?" However, their dissatisfied murmurs seemed to be heard by the Third Prince, and they were quickly answered.
"Some people may ask if I can recognize rice and wheat, and if I know how to cultivate the fields. Oh, I am afraid that those who doubt me will be disappointed. I have followed my teacher, Master Zhang, to the fields and rode a buffalo. I also saw my teacher lead the first-year student of Jiuzhang Hall, Ji Jiu, and several students of Banshan Hall to harvest wheat in the fields."
"I am young and weak, so I can't go to harvest wheat with others, but at least I have picked up wheat ears with my fourth brother, and I know the pain of back pain when working! Father is also very fond of farming, and local officials are still trying to persuade farmers, what about you? I came here in person today just to see if anyone would feel ashamed, but all I heard was boiling complaints, and all I saw was a mess!"
"My teacher, the Eastern Palace lecturer Yue Shanzhang of Zhaoming Academy, has shown mercy. If it was my father, or me, I would not give him even 20 points for those nonsense agricultural questions! If you are dissatisfied with those agricultural questions, I would like to compile and print out the agricultural questions of those who are dissatisfied, so that all scholars in the world can have a look!"
As soon as these words were spoken, those students who had been filled with righteous indignation and clamoring the loudest felt burning on their faces and wished they could find a crack in the ground to crawl into. Some even had their thighs trembling, apparently thinking of the consequences of their articles being printed out and read by others, and then spread everywhere, with countless people laughing and making fun of them.
However, the ones who reacted more than them were Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye. They had previously thought that the pie that fell from the sky was so delicious and tempting, but now they felt how difficult the dilemma they were facing was. Not to mention those students, they all wanted to tear up the full score ranking list outside!
But since he knew this was impossible, Zhou Jijiu could only bite the bullet and say, "Your Highness, please calm down. These students are just young and hot-tempered, and have little self-awareness. That's why they acted too radically. They are not questioning the questions set by the Crown Prince, nor are they questioning the results of the grading by the lecturers..."
Ever since King Jiangdu and Xu Heidao said that the examiners of the Eastern Palace were responsible for marking the papers, Zhou Jijiu knew that he would never question the result afterwards. He had originally thought that he would pick the tallest among the short ones, since there would always be a few people from the Imperial College who would become attendants of the Eastern Palace. But who would have thought that the selection that was supposed to only list the final admitted candidates would actually publish the rankings of everyone for the first time!
And just looking at the reactions of these students, we can tell that many people who think highly of themselves have failed, no wonder there is such great indignation! Of course, if the ranking is not announced, and only the admitted people are known, there may be all kinds of messy rumors going around, so the Eastern Palace has now laid everything out in the open, cutting off the way for people to question it!
Therefore, seeing that the Third Prince looked cold after he said this, it was clear that because of what happened today, the Crown Prince, who already had a deep prejudice against the Imperial College, had become even more dissatisfied. Zhou Jijiu could only steel his heart and force a smile and said, "Also, it is said that Banshan Hall also participated in this selection. I wonder what their ranking is and where it is posted?"
The Third Prince's eyes turned completely cold. At this moment, the other naughty kid who had been hiding behind him and pretending to be honest suddenly appeared and smiled at Zhou Jijiu.
"The total scores and rankings of Banshan Hall have been announced, but the third prince thinks that it would be a bit ugly to post them near the Imperial College, after all, everyone has transferred to the public school. Of course, if Da Sicheng insists, it is not impossible to post them."
At this point, the Fourth Prince even emphasized, "Not just the rankings, the agricultural policy questions written by those in Banshan Hall who scored above 70 points can also be posted for everyone to compare! Of course, Zhang Wuji, who has the highest total score in Banshan Hall, will not stand out in the overall ranking of the six halls of the Imperial College."
Zhou Jijiu knew that if the Third Prince grew up from being shy and timid to being steady and reliable, then the Fourth Prince was still as impulsive and reckless as ever, a real troublemaker. Now that people said this, he always felt something was wrong, but he didn't expect that a doctor in the official school behind him couldn't help but speak up.
"If that's the case, then post it up for everyone to judge!"
"Of course." With these words, Zhang Shou, who had just brought Ah Liu to Yilun Hall but was hiding behind other lecturers, appeared calmly. Seeing the gazes of his former colleagues piercing him, he smiled and said, "There are only a few dozen people in Banshan Hall anyway, so it won't be a big deal to rank them."
Seeing Zhang Shou so calm, many school officials began to feel that something was wrong. Although some people secretly complained that the Third Prince had deliberately leaked the questions to everyone in Banshan Hall, even the dumbest people would not voice such doubts.
The emperor is now obviously very fond of the prince. Questioning the prince's cheating is just courting death, isn't that?
The third prince's next words struck a heavy blow to everyone's heart again: "Since the doctor has made such a request and the teacher has agreed, then let's do it this way. Let the imperial attendants outside post the list of Banshan Hall as well. Originally, such a screening was planned to be held once a month, but now seeing the response, let's change it to once a quarter."
"In order to prevent some people from being afraid to take the exam again instead of being ashamed. However, I have already said that this time it is about agricultural policy, and in the future it may be about animal husbandry, maritime transport, and the implementation of water conservancy ditches... There is no need to think about where to prepare a comprehensive model essay to deal with it. After all, no matter how good those model essays are, can they compare with the teachers selected by my father for me?"
"As for contemporary writing, that goes without saying. I don't think the contemporary writings of the students in the Imperial College and the Hanlin Academy, who have passed all the tests and finally passed the selection, will be unable to judge the quality of their writings."
Although they had given themselves a headache to mark the thousands of papers before - and that was with the help of students and even other people - at this moment, upon hearing the high evaluation of them by the Third Prince, most of the lecturers in the Eastern Palace, including Director Yue, could hardly suppress their pride.
Especially when the Third Prince sincerely asked Dean Xiao and others who were unable to participate in the marking of the papers this time, saying that everyone has their own expertise and that if related questions were asked next time, they would be asked to help, several people immediately agreed humbly.
As for helping to cheat? Is that crazy? Their wish was not just to make themselves familiar to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, but to establish a good image in His Royal Highness's mind and build up enough trust - in this regard, Zhang Shou is the best example! Especially since they only have the right to mark the papers, not the right to set the questions, who would want to be criticized?
Besides, how could someone who really has to do favors for others and cannot refuse them waste his time in the Imperial College these days?
Seeing their expressions, many academic officials of the Imperial College naturally felt extremely embarrassed. But even Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye would not rashly take on the responsibility of giving lectures at the East Palace, which was so famous.
Therefore, when the Third Prince, the Crown Prince, once again emphasized that the Imperial College was not a place to just waste time and gain fame, and then headed in the direction of Jianxian Pavilion, they were caught off guard and became even more stunned.
When the third and fourth princes were studying in the Banshan Hall of the Imperial Academy, the academic officials were worried that they would be the emperor's eyes, quietly watching everything going on in the Imperial Academy. But over time, they saw that they rarely stayed in the Imperial Academy except for classes, so they gradually became relieved. Even when the third prince left the Banshan Hall and was admitted to the Jiuzhang Hall, nothing unexpected happened.
Because they have already seen that the Third Prince has never had much interest in the Imperial College. But now, the Crown Prince, who had never been to the Jianxian Pavilion when he was in the Imperial College, suddenly wanted to go to this long-dusty library!
At this moment, Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye thought of the same thing. When Zhang Shou first arrived in the capital last year, didn't he take a bunch of noble young men from Banshan Hall to visit the Imperial College and sweep the Jiuzhang Hall at night?
That time, because the Jiuzhang Hall plaque was locked in the warehouse, the Jiuzhang Hall was covered with dust and in disrepair, and Zhou Jijiu was almost falsely accused. But this time, there was no need for anyone to falsely accuse him, as everyone from Zhou Jijiu down knew what was happening in Jianxian Pavilion!
Outside the Imperial College's archway, the breakfast vendors were facing the situation of so many people but so poor business today, and many of them were about to cry. On normal days, everything would be sold out in less than an hour, but today not even a third of the goods were sold. Some people even had their goods taken away by some students in the shoving and pushing, and they did not get paid.
Moreover, the vendor who had just been cursing with full of energy, now felt a little scared under the angry gazes of his peers. Even though he just cursed a student, he might be from a wealthy family and have good connections with officials. If he goes back and tells the government, how can they continue their small business?
But he couldn't lose face, and under the glare of others, he could only snort coldly: "These guys should be reasonable! Isn't His Royal Highness the Crown Prince here? He is giving instructions inside. At worst, I can stop him and kowtow to him to beg for mercy..."
"Chu Da Jiao, stop flattering yourself. Do you dare to stop the Crown Prince of the East Palace? Rush out and kneel there. If you can speak coherently, I will read your name backwards!"
The man's teasing was immediately interrupted by another laugh: "Wang Da, don't take advantage of Chu Da Jiao. Your name, if turned around, would become Da Wang... Oh, if you really have the guts to change your name, I'll admire you!"
Although they still had the energy to tease each other, their panic was genuine. Some people secretly peeked at the men in black cloaks standing at the foot of the wall, but found that they were still as motionless as stakes.
These vendors were all born and raised in the capital. They were familiar with the guards at the gates inside and outside the capital, and had also looked at the strong soldiers of the Sharp Cavalry Battalion at the palace gate from afar, but they had never seen a living person standing in such a posture. If they read more books, they might wonder if this was a puppet.
However, they didn't have much experience after all. After laughing and joking, they found that the other party didn't respond at all. No one came to ask a question, so they began to sigh. As the sun rose higher, the time limit for pushing the cart to do business here was about to expire, and the group of people began to get anxious.
At this moment, a man suddenly ran out and shouted to the men in black cloaks, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has ordered that the list of Banshan Hall be posted as well!"
As soon as these words came out, the vendors saw the black-cloaked men who they had thought were clay sculptures or wooden statues finally move. However, these people did not work as well-trained as they had imagined. Instead, they looked at each other, and finally someone asked, "We posted the list last night, but there is no list of Banshan Hall?"
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, a slow voice rang out: "I have the list of Banshan Hall here. I originally wanted to post it at the public school. Since His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has ordered it, then post it!"
Hua Qi appeared and saw that the imperial attendants who had just started to move their bodies suddenly stood straight, even a little stiff. The smile on his face deepened, so he held the yellow list in one hand and the paste in the other and greeted them again.
Seeing that a few people finally came forward as if awakened from a dream, he handed over the list and paste in his hand. When a few people hurried back and found the last empty seat and started working there, he said with a smile: "From last night to now, you have been busy all night, got up early and stayed here, which is also hard work."
Although the imperial attendants would never shout out "serving the people", they were still very familiar with saying a few humble words with fear and trepidation. However, before they could be polite due to their coldness and hunger, Hua Qi smiled and spoke again.
"Although you drank a bowl of mutton soup to ward off the cold at midnight, you probably haven't had time to eat breakfast yet, right? The scene of all those students jostle to look at the list just now has caused the breakfast vendors here to lose business, so there should be some compensation. After you post the list, go buy all the unsold breakfasts from the vendors."
"This is my way of rewarding you for your hard work all night, and making up for the fact that they didn't do much business this morning."
The vendors who were looking around could not help but feel overjoyed when they heard this conversation. However, before the cunning ones could even think about asking for too much, they were frightened by Hua Qi's next words.
"After eating, if you feel that any of the restaurants are selling inferior products, shortchanging customers, or making things that are not authentic, please remember to tell me. I will go back and have a good talk with Lin Lao Hu, the head of the criminal department of Shuntian Prefecture!"
Realizing that they were facing an official who was kind but not easy to fool, the vendors did not dare to ask for exorbitant prices and sold all the remaining stocks honestly. Even though the 20 or 30 imperial attendants practiced martial arts to strengthen their bodies and had big appetites, they were still dumbfounded when they found out that there were dozens of bowls of noodles, hundreds of steamed buns, hundreds of sesame cakes, and hundreds of dumplings left. Even if they were big eaters, they couldn't eat all of this!
