Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 767 Meeting Guests, Teachers and Students
Zhang Shou admired those who could go back to ancient times and be well-versed in classics and history, be knowledgeable about both ancient and modern times, and then establish a school of thought and become immortal.
With the knowledge he had accumulated in the later generations, he could barely understand ancient Chinese. After all, he was an excellent student who could get high scores in ancient Chinese reading questions. Because of his memory, he could also recite many poems and articles. After coming to this world, his memory was even strengthened. However, this was far from enough for him to cope with the academic environment of the time, which was full of talented people and great scholars.
The most important thing is that at the best time for his body to grow and develop, there was no corresponding teacher to teach him these things! If there is anyone who can easily learn the Four Books and Five Classics by himself, and then discuss the principles with some famous scholars, it is definitely not him.
After all, his teacher Ge Yong was indeed a great scholar, but the relationship between him and Ge Yong was really hard to describe. To be honest, he only started to read Teacher Ge's works after returning to Beijing, and the mathematics books that Ge Yong left in the bamboo house in Cuiyun had long turned to ashes due to poor preservation.
But thanks to this beautiful misunderstanding, he became Ge Yong's student, and then was able to cheat like he is now... But precisely because Teacher Ge didn't have the time to teach him things like classics and history, so in terms of quoting classics, of course he can't keep up with those old scholars who are truly well-read and like to quote from a wide range of books when they speak.
So, at this time, Zhang Shou stayed in the main hall of the Ge Mansion, facing the celebrities and masters introduced to him by Ge Yong who were said to be highly respected and famous. He seemed to be well-mannered, humble and polite, and talked and laughed at ease, but he was really bored and helpless in his heart.
He also knew that the recognition of scholars in this era was the basis for establishing oneself in the officialdom. Otherwise, even though you were powerful in the past, when the final judgment came after your death, a group of people who held the pens of the Spring and Autumn Annals would throw a lot of dirty water on you. So, even though you were obviously quite talented in writing and had many works, you might be said to be unlearned and vulgar. As for your works...
Haha, if no one prints books, no one buys books, and those works are lost, can you still jump out of the grave and argue with others? After all, the guys who are judged in this way usually have no successors. If someone inherits the mantle and still holds power, the backlash or counterattack of the literati will be constantly pushed back.
Therefore, he certainly understood that Ge Yong had good intentions and really wanted to recommend him as his last disciple to others. Lu Wan and Liu Zhiyuan also had good intentions, because they followed his original idea and hoped to make the public school bigger and stronger, which would inevitably bring in many scholars who had been excluded from the core power circle of the court.
However, it was not a good feeling for people who had no common language and even had very different basic values to sit together and talk about everything. In Zhang Shou's opinion, these people were completely different from his teacher Ge Yong.
Ge Yong is old, but he has a childlike heart. This childlike heart does not mean that Old Master Ge has not lost his childishness and is disrespectful to his elders, but that Ge Yong never thinks that he has reached the top in academics, so he refuses to accept new things. Even the Arabic numerals, which he was reluctant to accept before, he now uses them skillfully under the influence of his student.
Not to mention, Ge Yong was forced to write the mountain of books "New Edition of Ge's Mathematics" without his knowledge. In order to promote it at first, the old man had to acquiesce, but later he simply admitted in public that it was written by his student.
Moreover, Ge Yong has another biggest characteristic, which is that he never likes to brag about the past or his past achievements, and always focuses on the future. If you like to reminisce about the past, you are an old man; but if you like to constantly study new problems and accept new things, no matter how old you are, you are a young man who never grows old in your heart.
Therefore, even though these people were talking about academic matters, they calmly praised Ge Yong as their student, boasting about his achievements and the students he had brought up...but more often than not, most people were indignantly talking about how they had been suppressed by someone in the court in the past, how they were respected by the officials and local people in their hometowns, and how their own students were doing.
Of course, not all of the eight guests today were full of complaints. At least, Zhang Shou only accompanied the two at the last seat, who always listened more and talked less. They would occasionally interrupt when talking about academic issues such as classics and history, but they would definitely not get involved when it came to complaints.
One was a thin middle-aged man in his forties. Ge Yong introduced him as Chen Shizhai, a famous scholar from Guangdong. He passed the provincial examination in his early years, but unfortunately failed the imperial examination. Then Ge Yong called him "Shizhai". Zhang Shou could infer from common sense that the word "Shizhai" was definitely not a courtesy name, but probably a name he gave himself.
However, let alone the fact that the Ming Dynasty today is very different from the Ming Dynasty in history, even in the Ming Dynasty in history, he might still remember some people's courtesy names, but he knew nothing about their pseudonyms. Besides, he had not met any historical celebrities in the past year, so he did not think too much about it. He just felt that compared to those guys who relied on their age to bully others, this person was neither humble nor arrogant, and was really pleasing to the eye. He should be a true Confucian.
The young man named Liang, whose courtesy name was Shuhou and who was sitting below him and was said to be his disciple, had much less patience. From the same perspective, Zhang Shou could see clearly that he had been quietly adjusting his sitting position. Perhaps the young man felt that since he was sitting at the last seat, others were too busy chatting with Ge Yong to notice him.
But since Zhang Shou had seen it, he couldn't help but find it interesting. So when the servant of Ge's mansion brought tea, he stood up and handed a cup to Ge Yong in the name of respecting his teacher, and then handed it to other guests one by one.
The elderly people couldn't help but praise Zhang Shou for his act of respecting teachers and elders, and then took the opportunity to introduce their own students and juniors to Ge Yong - there is no doubt that most of them will take part in the imperial examination next year.
While they were talking, they were all quietly glancing at the teacher and student at the end.
Ge Yong sent them a letter to invite them to his house to present papers, saying that he had invited other people and the place was limited, so he would ask them to bring their students and nephews next time if there was a chance, but these two, who were obviously teachers and students, made an exception. As for the other party's fame, they had not heard much about the reputation of Guangdong Chen Shizhai, and from the tone of his voice, he had failed the examination several times and was still young, so it must be a long time before he could establish a school.
And Liang Shuhou, whom Chen Shizhai brought with him, looked no more than fifteen or sixteen years old. At most, he was a young and successful scholar. How could there be anything about him that was worthy of Ge Yong's attention?
Zhang Shou noticed the peculiarity of the teacher and student, and also noticed the hidden hostility and isolation of the other old men towards people. However, he certainly did not care about their attitudes and continued to serve tea with a smile. When it came to the last two, Chen Shizhai stood up first to return the greeting and said that he was not willing to trouble them. Liang Shuhou then stood up and snatched the tea he had handed over and gave it to his own teacher.
Then, the young boy chuckled and said, "I am lucky enough to be able to step into the Ge Mansion today. I don't know how I got lucky. Logically, I should be the one serving tea and water to everyone. How dare I trouble you, Master Zhang?"
He paused here, and then coughed awkwardly: "But I was so nervous before coming here that my mouth was dry. I drank a lot of tea, and now I can't sit still. Can Master Zhang be so kind as to show me the way?"
Seeing someone talk about going to the toilet so directly, Zhang Shou didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Then he saw that the teacher Chen Shizhai also looked unbearable. He didn't hear Ge Yong's objection from the main seat behind him, so he smiled and said, "I just drank a lot of tea, and I also plan to go to the toilet. Come with me."
Bringing his disciple... who was actually a student accepted by coincidence, to the capital together, Chen Shizhai felt that he was really careless, and this young boy would have countless troubles. At this moment, he didn't need to think to know that his student was very interested in Zhang Shou, who was only a little older than him, so he used the excuse of going to the toilet to talk to him.
But the problem is that Zhang Shou is young and has little experience, but he married the daughter of the Duke of Zhao and is now the teacher of the Crown Prince of the East Palace. He is also trusted by the emperor. Can such a person be judged by the mind of an ordinary young man? Although he is willing to serve as an official and do his best for the country and the people, his wish is to distance himself from the powerful.
For people like them who have no roots in the capital or in the court, it would be unwise to rashly step into the vortex of political struggle!
However, before Chen Shizhai could say anything, he saw Zhang Shou had already led his people out with a smile. Even though he disapproved of his student's rash behavior, he couldn't chase him out by himself - did he also say that he drank too much tea and wanted to go to the toilet? But the result of him having to stay was that someone had already made a sarcastic remark.
"This student from Shizhai is really casual enough."
The word "casual" is not a good word in this situation, or in any situation. Even though Chen Shizhai is kind to others and doesn't like to argue with others, he couldn't help but get angry at this moment.
However, before he could fight back, he heard Ge Yong above him suddenly laugh: "We older people should be more tolerant. You know, young friend Shuhou is only about the same age as Jiuzhang."
Calling Shuhou "young friend" affectionately, Ge Yong said nonchalantly emerged from youth. Jiuzhang, at such a young age, can come up with new insights on many issues that I have no idea about. Of course, other young talents are not necessarily inferior to him. For example, your student Shizhai is really a young talent with a heroic appearance. Not only did he win the first place in the college examination at a young age, but also..."
He paused, and seeing the strange looks in the eyes of the others, he said slowly, "Moreover, he was listed on the August Laureate List, and ranked at the top. In the end, I don't know how many eyes fell on him. Am I right?"
When these words came out, the whole room was in uproar. The boy surnamed Liang was only a few years old. They were angry that Ge Yong had told them not to bring students, but they clearly acquiesced... and they might even have explicitly agreed to Chen Shizhai bringing a student. As a result, Ge Yong now said that this little kid was already a juren?
Among these elderly people, some were Jinshi and some were Juren - after all, the minimum requirement for a famous scholar traveling around the capital in those days was to be at least a Juren. Otherwise, how would you, a down-and-out scholar, have the nerve to associate with the powerful?
After all, there is a big difference between so-called celebrities and noble men.
Those noble men who were willing to live in poverty and teach and educate people were always unwilling to be officials or come to the capital. They devoted themselves to studying and teaching in the countryside. Although they were not interested in the imperial examinations and were unwilling to take the examinations for fame, they were recommended by countless local officials and even high-ranking officials in the court, but they were unwilling to go to the capital to serve as officials.
As for the celebrities and the story of the shortcut to Zhongnan Mountain, they have already clearly portrayed the faces of many people.
So, at this moment, Chen Shizhai saw that the faces of other people present turned red and white, especially the old man who first questioned, whose face was as gloomy as the eve of a thunderstorm. Although he knew that Ge Yong's words were well-intentioned, he still felt a little bad. After all, becoming famous at a young age is not necessarily a good thing in many cases.
Once he becomes the target of public criticism, fails in this subject, and then fails in a few subjects, the rumors alone can easily make a young man with lofty ambitions frustrated to death...
Liang Shuhou in the outer room didn't know that his sudden impulse had caused a small disturbance inside. He followed Zhang Shou out of Ge Yong's study and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Seeing that Zhang Shou didn't notice his presumptuous behavior, he couldn't help but take two steps forward and shorten the distance between them.
"Master Zhang, did you feel that kind of occasion was particularly dull and boring just now?"
After a moment of surprise, Zhang Shou smiled and said without even turning his head: "You too, right? I saw you changing your postures at least five or six times while sitting there. It's obvious that you couldn't sit still any longer, so you had to pee."
The words "urinating" sound extremely vulgar at first, but Liang Shuhou, who was praised by Ge Yong as being heroic, felt that it was extremely appropriate and nodded repeatedly, "That's right, that's right. I just think that since Master Ge invited everyone to discuss academic matters, it's either a debate or a lecture. Isn't it a bit putting the cart before the horse to just quote scriptures and make connections?"
Quoting classics to build relationships... This kid is really bold! This adjective is really wonderful!
Zhang Shou almost laughed out loud, but luckily he held back and maintained his image as an elegant gentleman. When they reached the toilet in the back, he wanted to ask if he should pretend, but Liang Shuhou, who was so young, didn't even want to pretend. He looked around for a while before straightening his chest and looking at Zhang Shou.
"When Grand Tutor Ge introduced me and my teacher to you and others just now, he was a little vague. My surname is Liang, my given name is Chu, my courtesy name is Shuhou, and I am the third child in my family. My teacher's surname is Chen, his taboo name is Xianzhang, his courtesy name is Gongfu, and his pseudonym is Shizhai. But in Guangdong, everyone calls him Mr. Baisha. You didn't know it before, but you will definitely remember us as teacher and student in the future!"
Mr. Baisha? Mr. Baisha Chen Xianzhang? One of the four famous Confucian scholars enshrined in the Confucius Temple in the Ming Dynasty? The originator of Wang Yangming's philosophy of mind? How could such a person not be blown away by the butterfly's wings? At this moment, Zhang Shou felt for the first time that history, which had taken a detour, seemed to have returned.
