Chapter 031: Become a disciple of the top scholar
"As the ancients said, a single word is worth a thousand gold. Yichen, your eight-character answer today is truly worth every pearl."
At this moment, Lin Zhen no longer regarded Shen Yichen as an ordinary student. With this kind of knowledge and insights, this boy will surely become a great talent in the future.
"Mr. Zhuangyuan, you are too kind. I am just lucky to be born this late."
Shen Yichen acted very modestly, part of which was out of courtesy, and part of which was because he truly felt unworthy of the title.
Because the answer of good laws and good governance was not created by Shen Yichen alone, but was the experience gained from the continuous development and progress of later society.
"Brother Dunsheng, since Yichen has completed the test, you must fulfill your promise now ."
"Otherwise, I will have to take advantage of you and accept Shen Yichen as my last disciple."
Sun Tixue said this with a regretful tone. Compared to Lin Zhen, he had seen Shen Yichen's talent earlier.
It was just that the timing was not right at the family dinner, and due to his status as a school official, there was no communication between the two parties.
Now, facing Shen Yichen's performance, he felt more and more appreciative. If Li Tingxiu and Lin Zhen had not had an agreement beforehand, Sun Tixue really planned to snatch Shen Yichen away and accept him as his last disciple.
"I feel ashamed to receive your kindness, Lord Superintendent."
"There is nothing I am not willing to accept. Even the top scholar would accept you as his disciple, and I would accept you as well."
Hearing Sun Tixue's explicit words, Lin Zhen said with a smile: "Brother Yixuan, don't forget that you are the Tixue official. If you rashly accept a student as your disciple, aren't you afraid that someone will accuse you of favoritism during the college entrance examination?"
"I have been an inspector for half my life, and I have always been upright and honest. I am not afraid of being gossiped about."
"The Grand Master has devoted himself to the cause and is a role model for our generation."
Li Tingxiu stood up and saluted. He himself was a teacher, so he respected and admired people like Sun Tixue who dedicated his life to education.
“It is so.”
Lin Zhen nodded in agreement. Only by having personally experienced the role of an inspector could one understand the difficulties involved. He also admired Sun Tixue's decades of perseverance.
After finishing speaking, Lin Zhen looked at Shen Yichen and said, "Yichen, do you have a preference for the scriptures?"
Since you want to choose a sutra as your own, the prerequisite is that you must be interested in it, so that you can learn it more effectively.
"My Lord, I have no particular preference."
"How about studying the Book of Shang?"
Hearing this, Shen Yichen was overjoyed, because it meant that Lin Zhen wanted to accept him as his disciple!
Because before Lin Zhen passed the imperial examination, he studied at Changtai County School, and the classic he specialized in was "The Book of Documents".
After becoming the top scholar in the imperial examination, Lin Zhen's level of understanding of classics made him a literary master, with a high status and authority in the field of "Shangshu" in the Ming Dynasty.
"I wish to study the Book of Shang as my main scripture"
After understanding Lin Zhen's meaning, Shen Yichen quickly took advantage of the situation and directly changed his self-proclaimed title from "junior student" to "disciple".
"Okay, then I will accept you as my disciple."
Lin Zhen was also straightforward and directly accepted Shen Yichen as his disciple.
Sun Tixue immediately congratulated him, "Congratulations, Brother Dunsheng, you are so happy to have a beloved disciple."
"Yichen, remember to study hard in the future and don't damage your reputation as the top scholar."
Li Tingxiu instructed Shen Yichen that as a top scholar, accepting a student as his disciple was a great favor.
From now on, Shen Yichen's words, actions, and knowledge will not only represent himself, but also his master Lin Zhen. If he is not careful, it will bring shame to the top scholar.
“Students understand.”
Shen Yichen bowed and agreed. If you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight. While the disciple of the top scholar enjoys the glory, he also carries high expectations.
After Li Tingxiu finished giving his instructions, he stood up and walked towards the carriage outside the yard, and took out a bundle from the carriage.
"Wei Chu, what is this?"
Seeing Li Tingxiu suddenly walk in with a bag, Lin Zhen was a little confused.
"Since you have already become my master, how can I not perform the ceremony of becoming my master? Here are the six gifts and the tuition fee. Yichen, you should prepare to perform the ceremony of becoming my master."
Hearing that Li Tingxiu had even prepared the six gifts and tuition fees for becoming his disciple , Lin Zhen couldn't help but smile. This old friend of his really came here with the confidence that success would be a sure thing.
In fact, Lin Zhen was wrong about this. Otherwise, Li Tingxiu would not have prepared the six gifts and the gift in secret, but would have asked Shen Yichen to prepare them in advance. In addition, he would not have put them in the carriage until Lin Zhen agreed to take them out.
Although the two were old friends from the same hometown and the same age, Li Tingxiu failed the imperial examination while Lin Zhen won the top spot in the imperial examination. So there was always a gap in their status.
Using old friendship to "force" Lin Zhen to accept Shen Yichen as his disciple is something Li Tingxiu cannot and does not want to do. He wants Shen Yichen to impress him with his talent.
Therefore, Li Tingxiu was not sure about accepting Shen Yichen as his disciple. If it succeeded, he would prepare the six gifts and the gift of tuition to perform the apprenticeship ceremony. If it failed, he would just pretend that he had never prepared these things and he would not let Shen Yichen know.
After everything was ready, Shen Yichen first performed the ritual of washing. Under the guidance of the teacher, he put his hands in the basin and washed them once, then wiped them dry, which meant to cleanse his hands and mind, remove impurities and retain essence. He hoped that he could concentrate on his studies in the future without distractions, which also showed his sincerity and respect for his apprenticeship.
After the washing ceremony, the next step is the kowtow ceremony. However, the first person to be worshipped is not the teacher. Instead, one kneels down to worship the great sage Confucius first, and then worships the gentleman, to show respect for the sage and the gentleman.
The next step is to present six gifts, which are celery (symbolizing diligence and love of study, diligence leads to excellence), lotus seeds (lotus seeds are bitter, symbolizing painstaking education), red beans (symbolizing good luck), red dates (symbolizing early admission to high school), longans (symbolizing complete merit), and dried lean meat strips (to express the disciple's heart).
After all the formalities are completed, the last step is to offer tea. When the teacher drinks the tea, he will give a lecture to the student, which usually talks about the rules of the sect and his expectations for the student. Only when this step is completed can the apprenticeship ceremony be truly completed.
"Yi Chen, among the Five Classics, the Book of Poetry, the Book of Rites, and the Book of Changes are more about benevolence, righteousness, and morality, while the Book of History and the Spring and Autumn Annals are more about family, country, and the world. As a descendant of the Duke of Chengguo, I hope that you will take the world as your responsibility and the people as your foundation."
"Yes, I will follow your instructions."
"In addition, I am currently serving as a lecturer at Zhaowen Academy. If you are willing, you can go to Zhaowen Academy to study. If you are not willing, you can come to this courtyard to find me at any time if you have any questions about the scriptures."
After all, Lin Zhen was not Shen Yichen's full-time tutor. He was also a professor at the academy and could not teach every day like Li Tingxiu did.
So Shen Yichen had two choices. One was to go to Zhaowen Academy to study. Zhaowen Academy was the best academy in Yingtian Prefecture, with several famous scholars. Scholars from all over Nanzhili flocked to it.
Secondly, if Shen Yichen is unwilling to change schools, then he can only come to this courtyard to seek advice and study, which is relatively more troublesome.
"Sir, I am still used to studying in the government private school."
Shen Yichen didn't want to go to Zhaowen Academy, because to be honest, the Four Books and Five Classics were purely for exam-oriented education needs for him, rather than a real academic pursuit.
As long as you can pass the imperial examination, it doesn’t matter where you study.
"I have never forgotten the kindness of my teacher . That's great!"
It was obvious that Lin Zhen misunderstood Shen Yichen, and mistook his refusal to go to a better school as a sign of reluctance to leave Li Tingxiu. Lin Zhen admired this kind of character of respecting teachers and cherishing affection.
Of course, Shen Yichen would not be stupid enough to expose such a misunderstanding, so he could only laugh it off.
"Oh, there is one more thing. On the winter solstice, a poetry gathering will be held on the banks of the Qinhuai River. Many talented people from Nanzhili will attend, and I will be the chief judge of this poetry gathering."
"When I first heard about Linjiangxian, I planned to invite the author to attend the meeting. Now you are my disciple, I can save you the trouble of inviting him. Just go and attend the meeting directly."
Lin Zhen originally thought that Shen Yichen would be happy to attend such a world-famous poetry gathering, but he did not expect that Shen Yichen would look hesitant after hearing about it.
"Sir, this...can this disciple choose not to participate?"
