Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 670: Coming one after another
Although many students hoped that the ranking list of the selection of attendants for the Eastern Palace would not be spread because it was too embarrassing, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince personally went to the Imperial College and reprimanded the agitated teachers and students in public. He then spoke such powerful words in front of the many scholars who heard the news and rushed to watch the excitement. For a time, many places in the capital were discussing this matter.
Apart from the much-talked-about topic of ranking, the biggest topic was what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said.
Most officials believed that the third prince wanted to express the central idea of encouraging candidates not to think about being attendants to the Eastern Palace, but to focus on the proper path of the imperial examination. However, none of the higher-ranking officials with a longer-term vision saw it so simply. Including Confucius, the third prince's determination to be inclusive was seen from the examination questions for selecting attendants to the Eastern Palace in the future.
His Royal Highness not only encouraged most of the candidates not to think that being a servant of the Eastern Palace was a good opportunity, and thus to compete with a group of students for a way out, but also warned the students that being a servant of the Eastern Palace did not only require people who were good at writing essays, which made it sound as if the servants of the Eastern Palace were more inclined to miscellaneous studies. In this way, they were perfectly distinguished from the Jinshi who came from the imperial examinations.
This is certainly a somewhat alarming sign, but the problem is that the attendants of the Eastern Palace have no rank and are not lifelong. Instead, they are rotated every three months, and firstly, the court does not need to pay for it, and secondly, it does not need to send people to help with the selection - not including the Prince of Jiangdu and the Chief Clerk Xu Heida, who are considered idlers by the court officials - what else can they say?
As for the fact that under this wave of turmoil, many students in the Imperial College hurriedly ended their studies and left the academy, and then went to the Ministry of Personnel to wait for selection, that is another story.
It is said that within one day, the Imperial College approved the departure of more than 600 students. This was probably another strange phenomenon after those who were previously qualified to enter the academy were scrambling to get into the Imperial College.
Amidst such turmoil, the first public class of Jiuzhangtang after it moved from the Imperial College to the public school seemed to have caused much less noise, because people's attention was all drawn to the turmoil in the Imperial College.
But the only reason this commotion was small was that this public lecture fell off the list of hot topics among the people. Among the astronomical and numerological talents who were summoned to the capital, among the candidates who went to the capital to take the exam, and especially among the famous scholars who went to the capital after the three presidents were appointed as lecturers in the Eastern Palace, this matter still had a very high priority. I don't know how many people were ready to register for invitations to go and see it.
Especially those who had seen the "automatic boat" at the Wenhua Hall were very curious about what Zhang Shou would come up with this time. So, on the day when the public school registered the names, birthplaces and native places, the two hundred invitations issued were snapped up in an instant.
Therefore, early in the morning of the open class, the public school in the outer city, which occupied a large area, welcomed the most stringent defense. Zhu Tingfang directly sent out two-thirds of the troops of the South City Military Department without reservation, casting a net everywhere in the outer city, arresting all kinds of suspicious people, and the servants and generals of the Zhaoguo Mansion were patrolling around the public school in case of emergency.
Apart from the remaining one-third of the Nancheng Army, the ones truly responsible for maintaining order at the scene were the imperial attendants led by Hua Qi who had just taken office.
Fifty or sixty imperial attendants, from formal to trainee, entered the public school with invitations that looked exactly the same as others, like colored sand mixed in the desert, with their eyes alertly staring at the crowd around them. Thinking of Hua Qi's words in the morning, many people still felt a sense of pride that they were superior to others. After all, many scholars had never received this invitation today.
"Today, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will also come with many lecturers, which is a rare and lively event. If it were just for defense, you wouldn't need this invitation letter. However, since the imperial attendants are not always illiterate, you will be able to attend classes with many scholars including His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"
"Because you may understand better than some scholars!"
Eunuchs were not allowed to read and their status was firmly locked in the lowest group, so they would not abuse their power. This was the inherent understanding of some emperors when they established the rules of the palace, believing that they had fully learned the lessons of the previous dynasties.
However, the literacy rate of high-ranking eunuchs tends to increase with the continuation of the dynasty - of course, a certain dynasty with a pigtail-like structure whose national literacy rate took a historical turn is not included in this range. Moreover, among the eunuchs who are not very literate or have low cultural level, there are also strange people like Liu Jin and Wei Zhongxian, which shows that the emperor's reliance on eunuchs has nothing to do with literacy.
Therefore, when Emperor Taizu made the rules in the early years of this dynasty, he only strictly limited the number of eunuchs and their ranks. As for those who castrated themselves, none of them were allowed to be employed and were all sent to Liaodong to cultivate the land. However, he did not restrict the eunuchs from being able to read and write. On the contrary, with the promotion of Wang An, the eunuch in charge of ceremonies, even the blue-clothed servants in the outer imperial city had a high literacy rate.
As for the imperial attendants, they naturally read more books than ordinary servants, and many of them could even recite one or two passages from various classics and history books. Most of the people who taught them were retired imperial attendants from the Imperial Household Department, who were replaced every month, and they wanted to teach them to be loyal. Not only did they recite a lot of books, but they also recited a lot of miscellaneous books, such as "Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art", which was not studied by scholars outside the palace, but they also recited a few passages.
Of course, it was just memorizing. If he was really that talented in studying, he would not have chosen the path of fighting and killing as a royal attendant. Carrying two pieces of scriptures on his back to pretend to be a scholar who knows a little about mathematics would be quite confusing when he was on a mission.
After all, sometimes when they go out, it is to intercept some important account books. If they get the things but cannot understand them, and lose the watermelon to pick up sesame seeds, how can they complete the mission?
At this moment, they mixed in the crowd to beware of those who might have ill intentions, wrapped their scarves around their necks to cover up the changes in their Adam's apples, and even discussed some academic issues with others in false voices. When several candidates around him talked about the demonstration in Wenhua Hall as a witchcraft, a certain imperial attendant snorted contemptuously.
Seeing people glaring at him, he sneered disdainfully, "Back then, Scholar Zhang refuted a certain university scholar who shouted that this was a sorcery in the Wenhua Palace. I didn't expect that an ignorant person like you would sneak in today. This invitation is simply wasted!"
After scolding, the young imperial attendant actually started talking seriously about some principles that Zhang Shou had once explained in public - Zhang Shou had of course explained the principle of automatic sailing to the third prince in detail, and the third prince told the emperor everything when he returned to the Qianqing Palace, and the emperor ordered people to record it, and the Silijian also had corresponding backups.
At that time, Chu Kuan, who had not yet been "sent away" to Ciqing Palace to serve the prince, gave a copy of this notebook, as well as all the old and new works of Zhang Shou that he bought from Lu Sanlang's bookshop, to the imperial attendants. In the intervals between their daily practice, they would also take a look at it, just as a leisure activity outside of training, although they all had bitter faces when they read it.
It was impossible to understand by oneself, but they were used to memorizing a few paragraphs and using them for show when needed. So, Hua Qi, who was also in the crowd, saw that the imperial attendant had stunned everyone around him, especially the guy who just shouted about the magic. His face turned red, but he couldn't refute it. He couldn't help but laugh.
To be honest, Liu's kung fu is much better than these people, but when it comes to professionalism in such occasions, Liu can't even compare to them... Of course, he can't compare to them, after all, he has never been a royal attendant.
Alas, back then, he really followed Emperor Ruizong to fight in the Northern Expedition. Who could have been better at being a scout and caught the emperor's eye? Later, when there were no more wars, his scout skills gradually became useless, so he was used for other purposes by Emperor Ruizong and the current emperor. It was a sad story...
Just when Hua Qi was blending in with the crowd, reflecting on how his education of Ah Liu had gone off the right track over the years and how Zhang Shou had not corrected him, he heard a lot of noise coming from outside.
Knowing that it was the Third Prince, the Crown Prince, who had brought the East Palace lecturers, and of course the Fourth Prince, his follower, would definitely come as well, he continued to hide in the crowd with great interest, waiting to see Zhang Shou's reaction.
Anyway, when he came over that day, he simply forgot about this matter... As for coming to inform me later, that is of course impossible. How could he be so free?
Hua Qi didn't see Zhang Shou's reaction at all, because Zhang Shou was nowhere to be seen. After a burst of shouting, a large group of people came out and began to maintain order gently but firmly. He suddenly remembered that Zhang Shou was not a lone commander, and he had many students to command.
At this moment, Lu Sanlang, Ji Jiu, and Zhang Dakutou, the three dormitory heads, were directing the other students to organize the people who were wandering outside to stop wandering outside and immediately enter the largest lecture hall in the public school.
In response to someone's request to stay and take a closer look at His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Lu Sanlang replied with a smile that when they entered the lecture hall, the Third Prince would be in the most conspicuous position and everyone would see him; Ji Jiu's answer was that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would go on stage to speak in person later; as for Zhang Dakugou, the son of the Earl of Xiangyang, he was much simpler and more brutal, and he threatened directly when he spoke.
"Your Highness is a precious person. If he gets bumped into by the crowd, who will be responsible? If you want to see His Highness, it's simple. Study hard and either pass the exam to become an attendant of the Eastern Palace or pass the imperial examination to become a lecturer for His Highness!"
"What's the point of just standing on tiptoe and watching? If you really have the ambition, you can stand in front of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in the future!"
But you have to admit, what Zhang the big guy said was actually more effective than the gentle persuasion of Lu Sanlang and Ji Jiu.
Soon, the three of them, along with the students from Jiuzhang Hall and Banshan Hall, drove everyone into the lecture hall. As someone shouted that the seats were numbered on the invitations and that they needed to sit according to their numbers, there was another moment of chaos, but as two clever kids came out with a group of very young students from the public school to maintain order, things quickly returned to normal.
"Eight rows, one seat? See? It's at the very front over there. Go inside. Each person has an invitation. Check your seat number yourself!"
"Why are you sitting at the edge? Mr. Juren, I know you have a good reputation, so you don't have to talk nonsense! The seat number was already written on the invitation. Did you forget that you just picked the invitation from the box when you came to register?"
"Yes, that's right. In order to avoid complaints about first come first served or other factors such as not having good seats, we use lottery to draw invitations. You are unlucky, who can you blame?"
Peanut and Xiao Cheng worked together. They were young and had clear voices. When they talked, the people who were complaining or finding faults found that everyone was looking at them, so they could only swallow their anger and sit down. While the two of them were busy, they also taught the children who were also acting as "volunteers" in the lecture hall how to help people find seats more efficiently, which made Hua Qi, who was mixed in the crowd watching the fun, twitch his mouth.
As the saying goes, "Birds of a feather flock together." Anyone who has spent some time with Zhang Shou will find that they have the guts to confront others!
No one should know about , Lu Sanlang and the others were able to lie calmly with their eyes open, saying that all the seats had been arranged. Isn't this fooling people?
As soon as Hua Qi came in, he found that the lecture hall was full of benches. The only difference was that each bench had three numbers engraved on it, which meant that it could seat three people. From the first row to the last row, they were all arranged in the same way, without any difference. He could not see that there were any VIP seats reserved in advance for the Third Prince and his party, which could be seen by everyone in the audience.
Unless it was... on that high podium! He looked up and saw a row of chairs not far behind the podium!
Soon, he heard a loud voice, it was Lu Sanlang: "Okay, everyone who has found a seat please sit down, Lu Jijiu and Liu Duanyin have already welcomed His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in! His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has instructed that today is different from the past, there is no need to perform formalities to greet him, everything should be kept simple. If you want to show respect, just stand up and nod when the Crown Prince comes in!"
The crowd that had just been complaining or whispering suddenly became quiet. However, some people could not help wondering why only Liu Zhiyuan and Lu Wan went to greet the crown prince, where was Zhang Shou? However, when the third prince and his party appeared, everyone stood up to greet them, and in their excitement, they temporarily forgot about the real protagonist of the day, Zhang Shou.
Although Lu Wan and Liu Zhiyuan guessed that the third prince might come, they didn't get any confirmation beforehand, and Zhang Shou treated him calmly, so they didn't want to interfere. But when they went to pick him up, they found that Zhang Shou was not there, and they were so scared.
Lu Wan, who was most familiar with Zhang Shou, was thinking that the seemingly elegant and graceful scholar Zhang was going to cause trouble again! Sure enough, when he saw the third prince gently tell everyone to sit down, his fat son ran up to him with a big smile on his face and said, "Your Highness, your seats are on the podium. In addition, the teacher is going to demonstrate an experiment in public today, so I need you to be my assistant!"
