Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 732: Provocation and Betting
In fact, in the morning, Chen San and the other two young men knelt down and apologized for their crimes. If Zhang Shou had not arrived in time, if Ah Liu had not helped them to push the palace to promote blood circulation, and if he had not asked the kitchen to prepare ginger soup for them, they would most likely have really fallen ill.
Faced with that situation at that time, Zhang Shou was wondering whether he should keep three people and wait for the three naughty kids at home to wake up before pulling them over to explain the situation in person. However, Lu Wan and Liu Zhiyuan happened to arrive, and Liu Zhiyuan even brought a naughty kid who was pretending to be a ghost and was supposed to be catching up on sleep at home - Xiao Cheng.
Xiao Cheng is a stubborn person. He thinks that since he is the one playing the ghost, he should take the subsequent responsibilities.
After Peanut and the Fourth Prince fell asleep, he secretly got up, and then pretended to be Zhang Shou's order, went to the stable to get a mount, and hurried out. He originally planned to secretly go to the public school to find Ah Liu to lead the way, and then go to Chen Fang Gaosan's family to explain the tricks of the so-called apprenticeship job. If they insisted on holding him accountable, he would take all the responsibility on himself.
As a result, Xiao Cheng ran into Liu Zhiyuan on the way. Liu Zhiyuan and Xiao Cheng had been neighbors for so many years and knew him very well. When he saw him, he got off the carriage and stopped him. Then he took the kid to the carriage and asked him about it. The shrewd old man Liu knew the kid's character very well. He lied to Xiao Cheng about the whole story in a few words, so he immediately ordered the driver to speed up and rush to the public school.
At this time, after the "carrying a thorn stick to ask for forgiveness", Zhang Shou briefly introduced to Zhu Ying and others how Xiao Cheng rushed to the public school, and then continued: "I discussed with Lu Jijiu and Mr. Liu, and finally felt that in addition to those technical classes, it was a bit presumptuous to simply divide the public school into three levels: junior, middle and senior."
Zhang Chen had come with Zhu Ying today on purpose, wanting to see if there was anything he could do, but he only watched Zhang Shou using irrefutable language to make those women and children excited, and even planning to push a child like Xiao Cheng, who was only a few years older than himself, to be a so-called patrol student. Although he was always quite convinced by others, he was a little unconvinced this time .
If it were as simple as Zhang Shou said, wouldn't he also be able to be a teacher?
Of course, he found Zhang Shou's suggestion of letting the patrol officers discover the talented people among the poor children interesting, so he couldn't help but interrupt and said, "Apart from the advanced classes dedicated to the imperial examinations, the elementary and intermediate classes in the public school recruit those poor children who can't afford to go to school. They have classes once every seven days, so to be honest, they can't learn much."
The parents of Chen Fanggao and the other three families didn't recognize Zhang Chen, but since he was someone who could associate with Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying, they naturally knew that they couldn't afford to offend him. However, Zhang Chen's ruthless words made them feel heartbroken.
Zhang Chen did not take other people's habits into consideration and continued to talk to himself: "In the final analysis, the source of students in the public school is too poor. I heard that even if the students in the advanced class can pass the examination to become a scholar, it is already a blessing, and they may not be able to pass the examination to become a juren in the future. As for the students in the elementary and intermediate classes, it is better to send patrol students to teach them instead of specially recruiting them to occupy the classrooms that cost a lot of money to build."
After he said this, Fang's mother could no longer hold back. She said sharply, "My son is indeed not a very talented person. May I ask this young master, what is your achievement?"
A boy of this age, like her son, might not even have passed the county exam. What big talk!
Zhang Chen always ignored the shallow-minded women like Fang. However, there were still Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying around, so he replied lazily: "I have no official title, and it is impossible for me to take any official title in this life. My father is the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, and he was granted the title of Duke of Qin. I am his only son."
Fang was speechless for a moment, and then she remembered that among Zhang Shou's students, this Duke Qin's eldest son was indeed very famous - and the most famous thing was that there were rumors that someone had severely cheated the eldest prince, who was even the eldest son of the emperor at that time! She was immediately silent, and only felt a little comforted when Zhang Shou spoke to change his mind.
"How can you say that? The public school was originally established to allow children from poor families to study, which is why it received a lot of funding from the Queen Mother, the Emperor, the ladies in the palace, your father, Duke Zhao, and other families. Now you think that children from poor families are not worthy of studying in the public school because of the source of students. Isn't that erasing the most important concept of the public school?"
After Zhang Shou refuted Zhang Chen, he saw that he was not convinced. He suddenly remembered what Zhu Ying told him, that Duke Qin Zhang Chuan hoped to teach Zhang Chen a lesson that would be unforgettable. In other words, it was to severely knock down his arrogance. Although that was directed at Zhang Chen's view on choosing a mate, he suddenly felt that this seemed to be a very interesting opportunity.
He then glanced at Zhu Ying calmly.
Zhu Ying also thought of the entrustment of Qin Guogong Zhang Chuan because of Zhang Chen's attitude. Seeing Zhang Shou looking at him, she knew that Zhang Shou wanted her to help, so she deliberately said impatiently: "Zhang Chen, you can't look down on people like this. Aren't many officials in the court also from humble families?"
"Can a poor family be compared to a poor family?" Zhang Chen would never argue with Zhu Ying normally, but this time the eldest lady who always looked down on the old men in the court actually used court officials as an example, and he couldn't help but retort, "Even if I don't read, I know that during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, it was said that there were no poor families in the upper class and no gentry in the lower class. It can be seen that only those commoner landlords in the lower class are poor families!"
Hearing this, the Fourth Prince couldn't help but look from behind Zhu Ying to look at Xiao Cheng - because Xiao Cheng had said something similar. People also relayed Zhu Tingfang's words, saying that in the eyes of those in the officialdom, the so-called poor family must have at least one official who was a seventh-rank or above Jinshi in their ancestry, but then the family fell into decline, and only then would the descendants be qualified to call themselves poor.
Therefore, most officials would not take scholars who had no official title or family background seriously, let alone regard them as real scholars. Because the word "family" can was seen as a nouveau riche who rose to prominence because of their marriage and military merits, and was still a long way from being a real noble family.
After Zhang Chen confronted Zhu Ying, he realized that there was something wrong with his attitude. But if he apologized directly, it seemed a bit embarrassing, so he could only forcefully change the subject.
"So, I think what the young master said before, selecting students to teach the poor children in the capital who have no chance to study, is a good idea. Those who don't want to study will definitely fish for three days and dry the net for two days. In that case, as long as they can read the book a few times, remember a few idioms, and do the simplest math like three plus two equals five, that will be enough."
"But if they are really qualified and willing to study hard, then we should select them and put them in public schools. This is the way to select talents." But at this point, he suddenly changed his tone and said, "However, such a big thing, how can we just hand it over to a child like Xiao Cheng? I don't look down on Xiao Xiao, he is different from those students in Jiuzhang Hall."
"After all, the students of Jiuzhang Hall are all literate and not young anymore. They often teach or substitute for other teachers. But even though he was the adopted brother of Boss Zhu, he was too young at first and they have been separated for several years. He has only read a few books in less than a year, but it is still too early for him to be a teacher, right? Young master, don't think everyone is as gifted as you!"
Although Chen's mother and Gao's mother all felt depressed and uncomfortable after hearing Zhang Chen's initial sharp evaluation, they also knew that their ancestors had never produced a ninth-rank official, let alone an official, so they could not open their mouths to refute. Instead, they were secretly worried that Zhang Shou wanted to change the system, so they drove their sons out of the public school.
After all, they dropped out of school because they heard Fang's mother bragging, so they were tempted by their family background and almost fell into someone's trap. Now the so-called third manager of the Hua family was locked up in the back room, so they naturally regretted it.
Therefore, after understanding that Zhang Chen's last words were against Zhang Shou sending Xiao Cheng to teach the children, the two pairs of parents looked at each other. Chen's father, who had read books, was relieved. He hurriedly said, "Master Zhang, although the children of the four neighbors are indeed from poor families and have poor qualifications, and perhaps there is no one who can be taught, it would be more appropriate to send a more mature patrol student."
"I definitely don't dislike this little brother Xiao..."
He was just thinking about how to say it more tactfully and gently when the Fourth Prince suddenly interrupted, "Why don't you dislike Xiao Cheng? You are just like Zhang Chen, disliking him because he is young, uneducated, and can't teach students well. He might even mislead the students, right?"
Because Zhu Ying and Zhang Shou were around, the Fourth Prince didn't dare act as recklessly as he did in the past and he always stayed by their side, acting like an obedient child who listened to what others said.
But Zhang Shou just casually used Xiao Cheng as an example, and Zhang Chen then pointed out that Xiao Cheng was not competent for the job, which made him unhappy. Although they had only been friends for a few days, the fourth prince thought he was the most loyal.
Therefore, he stood up without hesitation, but after retorting to Chen's father, he abandoned the honest former accountant and turned his attention to Zhang Chen again: "Zhang Chen, you just said that it is enough for ordinary children to understand a few idioms, write a few words, and do some basic addition and subtraction. If that's the case, why can't Xiao Cheng be competent?"
Xiao Cheng is not a strong-willed person. He agreed to Zhang Shou before only because of Zhang Shou's encouraging look that said he could do it. But after Zhang Chen and Chen's father questioned him one after another, he became less confident.
Therefore, when the Fourth Prince suddenly stood up and fought so hard for him, he didn't know whether he should be moved or confused. As a result, his true friend Peanut actually started to agree with the Fourth Prince.
"That's right, Master Zhang, you are against Xiao Cheng coming to teach because you think he has little education and is young, so he can't hold the fort, and he may not be able to pick out those who are talented and hardworking. But I ask you, do you think it is more important for people who hold such a powerful selection power to be educated, or is it more important for them to have a pure mind and good character?"
"There are indeed many people who are experienced, steady, mature, and more knowledgeable than Xiao Cheng, but will they be unwilling to recommend truly outstanding talents because of selfishness and jealousy, and instead think of the hardships they suffered when they were young, so they use the excuse of tempering themselves to hide those diligent and studious talents?"
At this point, Peanut patted his chest loudly: "Although I haven't read much, and compared with real scholars, I can't even compare with a little finger, but if you allow it, I am willing to help Xiao Cheng! I dare say that we have no selfish motives. As for selecting talents, the public school is not a palace examination to select the champion, don't we just need to pick people with better qualifications than us?"
Seeing Zhang Chen speechless after being choked by Peanut's help, the Fourth Prince suddenly cheered up and shouted, "Peanut is right! The purpose of patrolling is to help poor kids learn to read and do math, and understand a little bit about how to behave in society. Isn't it more important to select talents? How about we make a bet, the three of us will fight against you alone!"
He hooked his finger at Zhang Chen provocatively, then raised his head and said, "You look down on Xiao Cheng, then why don't you try being a patrol officer yourself? During this month, no one is allowed to use the manpower of their family. You must select the children who are above the standard in terms of talent and effort as mentioned by the teacher based on your own observations! What do you think? Do you dare to bet?"
How could Zhang Chen tolerate being despised by the Fourth Prince? He was so angry that he said without thinking: "Okay, let's bet!"
Zhu Ying never thought that her original plan would not work at all, and Zhang Chen was provoked by the naughty boy like the Fourth Prince. She glanced at Zhang Shou with anger and amusement, and seeing that he looked like he was just looking for trouble, she coughed and said, "Zhang Chen, don't gamble with others. If you lose, who knows what Zheng Yan will do to you when he gets home?"
"I will lose?" Zhang Chen was furious. "Even if I am uneducated, I have read more books than they have walked!"
Fang's mother, Chen's father and mother, Gao's father and mother, who were standing by, were already dumbfounded. Seeing that the kid who came yesterday and claimed to be the head of the temple, Zheng Yan, had already started to bargain and set a bet with the eldest son of the Qin State, they felt confused and didn't know whether they should just watch silently or say something to stop this ridiculous gambling.
But at this moment, they saw Zhang Shou waving his hand, as if asking them to come over and talk. The other four were still a little hesitant, but Fang's mother was the first to quickly walk over and said with a smile on her face, "Master Zhang, what do you want?"
"I said before that after discussing with Lu Jijiu and Mr. Liu, we all agreed that the public school system needs to be changed."
Seeing Fang's mother's smile frozen there for a moment, and the faces of the two couples who came over later also changed, Zhang Shou knew what they were thinking, so he said in a friendly manner: "For a so-called high-paying apprenticeship job, you have to let your child drop out of school, but in the end you are deceived by villains. Is it worth it? Now you will sigh and say that it is obviously not worth it, but what about at that time?"
"The seven-day class schedule in the public school seemed to reduce the burden on the students' families, but it was still not enough. Just like what Chen Jiasanlang said before, because they have to rest one day every seven days, no one wants people like him, whether they are helpers or apprentices. He can only do odd jobs and help with chores at home."
"My Sanlang is a sensible man. It was me who delayed his development before." Father Chen wanted to fight for it again, but Zhang Shou just shook his hand.
"In the public school, those students who are interested in the imperial examinations will naturally study classics and history, and will be changed to . As for the other students in the existing elementary and intermediate classes, I plan to provide them with different financial aids based on their wishes or yours."
