Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 762: The Power of Deception
"Why is the weather getting colder and colder?"
After finally waiting until the afternoon class was over, when the Fourth Prince came out of the classroom, he was blown by the cold wind in his face. He stamped his feet and rubbed his hands, looking as if he couldn't stand the cold.
However, although he was not wrapped in fur coat like he used to be in the palace, he had a soft silk cotton jacket underneath the half-worn robe. So when he saw Xiao Huasheng and Xiao Cheng following him out, they both looked at him sideways, and then he saw his classmates who changed every day, and he could not complain.
Because although the clothes on these older classmates were not ragged, many of them were wrapped in heavy coats that did not match . It was obvious that these were not their clothes, but most likely those of their fathers, brothers and elders.
He heard from Xiao Huasheng and Xiao Cheng that in the mornings when they came to class in the summer, these students would bathe and change their clothes, and put on their best clothes at home, so as not to be looked down upon by others for smelling bad in the public school. But in this increasingly cold weather, it was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain such cleanliness. For example, he found that the smell emanating from those classmates was really unbearable in the past few days.
But at this moment, he only saw everyone walking away hurriedly in their big coats, their faces full of joy.
Just before the end of get out of class today, Zhang Shoudai Public School's chief priest Lu Wan announced a piece of news. The public school funded a clothing factory in Beijing to order several hundred cotton robes, and also built a large bathhouse in a corner of the public school. From now on, the morning class will be delayed by half an hour every day so that students can take a bath before the morning class, and then change into school uniforms. When school is over, the school uniforms will be left behind to be worn seven days later.
Although the uniforms were only for students to wear during class and could not be taken home, it was clearly stated when the news was announced that everyone's name and class would be embroidered on the uniform, so even if students only came once every seven days, there would definitely be no phenomenon of rotating the same uniform to others, and each student would have his own uniform. As a result, all the students were overjoyed.
After all, for most poor families in the capital, they could take a cold shower in the summer, but in the winter, heating water for a bath became a luxury. The fourth prince wanted to support Zhang Shou's announcement, but after Zhang Shou's announcement, he was frightened by Xiao Cheng's account.
The price of a cotton coat is negligible, but hundreds of them are a huge expense; and the firewood used for one person to bathe is also negligible, but for hundreds of people to bathe, the charcoal or coal, and then the water supply, is also a very large expense. Xiao Huasheng knows the prices very well, and Xiao Cheng is very good at accounting. In the end, the two of them showed the Fourth Prince a very large number.
Just when the Fourth Prince was in a very complicated mood, he heard an annoying voice behind him: "I wish I had thousands of mansions to shelter all the poor scholars in the world. I didn't expect that the public school could do something for a group of poor children that the court couldn't do for the poor scholars."
"Do you think the court doesn't want to do it? How many poor scholars are there in the world? How many can the court take care of? And how many poor children are there in the world? The public school can only take care of these few hundred! If you don't manage the household, you don't know how expensive firewood and rice are. How much do you think it costs for each person to wear a cotton robe and take a bath every day to go to class?"
The Fourth Prince saw Luo Sanhe, who had a conflict with him and was sent by Zhang Shou to continue teaching, come out of the classroom and was still talking nonsense. Thinking of the humiliation he had suffered in front of Xiao Cheng and Xiao Huasheng, he couldn't help but get angry and confronted them directly.
Anyway, all the other students had left by now, so he was not afraid that Zhang Shou would see the argument and then scold him again.
This time, even Xiao Huasheng and Xiao Cheng did not help Luo Sanhe. What he said just now seemed to be correct, but it was too unrealistic. After learning Du Gongbu's "Song of the Thatched Cottage Destroyed by the Autumn Wind", they also listened to Zhang Shou's explanation, so of course they all knew that it was impossible for all the poor scholars in the world to be happy.
The Fourth Prince had won the first battle, so he started to apply what he had learned.
"Besides, you are not a poor scholar. To be more precise, neither you, nor I, nor Xiao Huasheng, nor Xiao Cheng, are scholars at all. Of course, among the students in this public school, even the teachers, there are probably only a few who can be recognized as scholars by the literati who truly hold the power of speech!"
"At best, there are only a few people like Lu Jijiu, Mr. Liu, Tang Jieyuan who taught here before, and Xie Wanquan who opened a public school in Tongzhou. Even Mr. Zhang was ridiculed as an upstart who didn't study classics and history. The elite scholars who call themselves scholars have always been the most difficult group to satisfy in the world. Only when they have enough food and clothing can they know honor and disgrace? No, you are totally wrong!"
"After they have enough food and clothing, they want to have a say. With a say, they want to make decisions. To make decisions, they can't help but scold corrupt officials and the court. After scolding the court, they boast that they are talented but not appreciated. After boasting that they are talented but not appreciated, they can't help but recall the past and the present... Well, now it is my Great Ming Dynasty that dominates the world and has no rivals. Otherwise, they would not only recall the past and the present."
"If there is a great power overseas that is stronger than the Ming Dynasty, they might brag about that other country and belittle our country to show off their foresight! Therefore, people like poor scholars, who take the court's money, may not necessarily speak well of the court, and it is impossible for everyone to be happy! Besides, have you ever seen a guy who lives in a mansion, drives a BMW, but keeps saying that he is a poor scholar?"
"Mr. Zhang never said that he was a poor scholar. He always admitted that he was a lucky upstart. Those guys who wear fur coats and enjoy the snow and wish for a colder weather, but feel sad for the world when they write poems and essays, never really contribute to the governance of the local area, but only find fault with the law-abiding officials. Such people are simply shameless!"
"What's the point of just sighing about the hardships of people's lives? People who only talk but don't do anything are the most hateful! Even those who donate porridge and clothes to do superficial good deeds are better than this kind of guy!"
The Fourth Prince tried hard to recall some of the words that Zhang Shou had inadvertently revealed, and at this moment he poured them out in one breath like beans pouring out of a bamboo tube. Seeing that Luo Sanhe was looking at him with eyes full of disbelief, he felt extremely disappointed.
You want to show off your knowledge in front of me? You must be kidding. I grew up listening to my father's "heresies"!
In the words of my father, Emperor Taizu's head was full of inappropriate and bizarre ideas, so he traveled around the world and never heard from him again. However, the Zheng family's love of these novel ideas was passed down.
Therefore, my father liked Zhang Shou’s novel ideas very much. He also liked the differences between Zhang Shou and other teachers. Especially when he learned to speak in Zhang Shou’s tone, especially when he refuted others, that feeling was so refreshing!
Well, fortunately he has a good memory and often likes to prick up his ears and pay attention to every word Zhang Shou says. Even if he doesn’t understand it very well, he will memorize it first. Now it comes in handy!
Seeing Luo Sanhe's face turn pale again after being told off by the Fourth Prince, and the Fourth Prince being so proud of himself, Xiao Huasheng finally couldn't stand it anymore. He coughed in annoyance and was about to expose the Fourth Prince for just parroting him, but he didn't expect the Fourth Prince to get ahead of him and admit it directly.
"These are all what I learned from my teacher every day! So, if you want to be a good teacher in the public school, you have a long way to go. It's not enough to just mechanically apply what you learned in the inner hall of the Imperial Household Department! By the way, I made a bet with Zhang Chen before, do you want to make that bet with me now?"
"Although you were born in the common people, you have long been separated from the common people since you entered the inner school. This time you come with me to Tongzhou, do you want to try to select talents from poor families? You, me, and Zhang Chen, the three of us will compete together! Of course, to be precise, I am not alone, after all, I am younger than you, so I have to add Xiao Huasheng and Xiao Cheng!"
"You know, even if we three were put together, we still haven't read as many books as you! But three cobblers are better than Zhuge Liang. If you don't dare, forget it!"
Seeing Luo Sanhe's serious expression, Xiao Huasheng wanted to cover his face. Even the relatively honest Xiao Cheng showed an expression that he couldn't bear to watch - is the Fourth Prince addicted to gambling? He even tricked the people that his own brother, the Crown Prince, sent to assist him into gambling?
The fourth prince looked at the other party with confidence. Finally, he got the answer he wanted: "Since it's a bet, what's the stakes?"
I didn't expect this idiot to be so smart... He even knew how to make a bet! The fourth prince thought so in his heart, but his face remained calm: "I made a bet with Zhang Chen. Whoever wins can order the other person to do anything and respect him unconditionally in the future. Since you have joined, the bet is of course the same. Although you are a eunuch, the bet does not depend on your background, but only on the winner!"
Luo Sanhe didn't expect the stakes to be so wide and generous. Although this was just a unilateral statement from the Fourth Prince and didn't represent Zhang Chen, he had no interest in winning over Zhang Chen. On the contrary, the Fourth Prince... He was thinking at this moment that if he won, could he then ask the Fourth Prince to behave himself and be a good prince?
So he took a deep breath and said firmly: "Well, I'll make a bet with you!"
When Zhang Shou learned about this newly-made bet from the arrogant Fourth Prince, he wanted to give a thumbs-up to the naughty boy's creativity. He couldn't refuse or put aside the person specially sent by the Crown Prince, even if he was recommended by Chu Kuan, so he thought of a dirty trick, but he didn't expect the Fourth Prince to become more and more courageous and directly set a big trap to trap the person.
However, since Luo Sanhe also came with the Fourth Prince, even if he really wanted to praise the Fourth Prince, he still had to put on a stern face and criticize the naughty kid very seriously. Something to the effect was that this was someone sent by your third brother, the Crown Prince, so how could he be like this and that... But before he could say a few words, Luo Sanhe said the rest for him.
"Master Zhang, I volunteer, and I only ask for your approval. It doesn't matter if Master Zhang disagrees. Anyway, I just need to decide the winner with the Fourth Prince. I just don't know who will be the judge then?"
Seeing Luo Sanhe's expression of "I have the right to doubt whether the judgment is unfair", Zhang Shou immediately laughed. At this time, he heard Ah Liu's voice coming from outside: "Master, I'm back."
Zhang Shou certainly remembered that Ah Liu had gone out with Zhu Ying earlier, but now that she suddenly came back, he knew that Zhu Ying's situation must have come to an end. Thinking of what he had agreed to do with the Third Prince when he went to Ciqing Palace to teach, he immediately called Ah Liu in and asked with a smile, "How is the progress of the women's school?"
Ah Liu knew what Zhang Shou wanted to hear. In addition, there were outsiders here, so he avoided mentioning the dispute between Zhu Ying and Princess Yongping, and only emphasized that Ti Chukuan had asked someone to be the judge on behalf of the Third Prince.
Sure enough, when Luo Sanhe heard that the judge was a teacher from a girls' school, his brows immediately furrowed into big lumps.
But the fourth prince exclaimed, "Is it Miss Ye who encountered a young thug who teased and robbed someone, then cut off one of the person's ears in the street, beat those lackeys to a pulp, and then took the person to the Shuntian government office? When the eldest and second brothers heard that it was such a girl, they hurriedly tried every means to screen her out of the final selection. No one wanted to marry such a tigress back home!"
After all, Luo Sanhe was once a minister of the Imperial Household Department. When the Fourth Prince said this, he immediately understood who this person was. However, he also heard rumors that after the Ye family passed the re-election, they became famous, so the elders of the competitor's family lost their minds for a while and instigated a young man who had just arrived in the North and did not know his place, to try to ruin the reputation of the Ye family.
Of course, this kick hit a wall...Afterwards, Song Tuiguan of Shuntian Prefecture personally visited and apologized, but was directly refused entry by Ye, who said that it was enough to judge impartially and there was no need for an apology.
She also said to the public that Shuntian Prefecture was not in charge of just one or two streets, and it was impossible to be all-encompassing. After this incident, if anyone wanted to take advantage of her again, they would have to be prepared to have their ears or even their heads cut off! As for how the eldest and second princes reacted after this incident, Ye didn't care at all, because she said that a guy with bad character was not qualified to be her husband.
Luo Sanhe was somewhat close to Qian Ren, the current seal holder of the Imperial Household Department, and he had heard from this eunuch Qian that there was another little-known speculation, which was that... maybe the one who instigated the evil young man to attack Ye was none other than the second prince, or even the eldest prince. Because the emperor suddenly set the premise that the prince's consort could only be selected from those below the fifth rank, they were all very dissatisfied!
At the beginning, the Second Prince only heard the rumor that Liu Qing, the daughter of the Minister of Works, might be the future principal wife, but he dared to block the road and shout and curse in the street. What’s more, the father and grandfather of the Ye family were no longer officials?
So, when Ah Liu did not answer the Fourth Prince's question, but instead carefully repeated Ye's words, even including the fact that even if I beat them up, I would be rude to them, Luo Sanhe could not help but glance at the Fourth Prince. He thought he would see the other party's fear or dissatisfaction, but who knew that the Fourth Prince's face was full of energy.
"As long as the judgment is fair, why should I be afraid?"
