Chapter 054 Zhaowen Academy
Watching his mother's celebrations, Shen Yichen felt deeply touched. Not only had he been looked down upon over the years, but his mother had also suffered a lot of grievances.
Just to avoid putting pressure on herself, mother Shen has never shown it before, and today can be considered a kind of release.
After resting at home for a day, Shen Yichen came to the private school of Duke Chengguo's Mansion. Although he estimated that his teacher Li Tingxiu should have known the news that he had won the case.
However, Shen Yichen still wanted to tell him in person that if he had not met a teacher like Li Tingxiu, he probably would not have had the chance to win the first place in the case.
Because the county exam was on holiday, there were no students attending the outer courtyard private school, so Shen Yichen went straight to the study. If nothing unexpected happened, the teacher would definitely be there.
Sure enough, when Shen Yichen came to the study, he saw Li Tingxiu sitting in front of the desk reading a book in his hand.
Seeing Shen Yichen appear at the door, Li Tingxiu was not very excited, but just said lightly: "You did well in the county exam this time, and you were selected as the first."
In fact, it was not that Li Tingxiu was not excited, but he was already too excited after learning about it yesterday. Besides, in front of his students, he still needed to maintain a little dignity as a teacher, and at the same time, he couldn't let Shen Yichen get too cocky, after all, being the first in the county case was only the first step.
"Yes, I have lived up to your teachings."
"The county exam is just the beginning. There will be a provincial exam in April. You must remember not to slack off."
“Students understand.”
Li Tingxiu didn't need to tell him this, as Shen Yichen knew that the county exam was just the first hurdle and he hadn't even passed the exam to become a student.
So from the beginning to the end, he was not proud of his position as the top judge in the county.
After praising and admonishing him for a few times, Li Tingxiu suddenly remembered something and said, "By the way, Yichen, you haven't informed Master Lin about your winning the case, right?"
"Yes sir, I plan to go there in a minute."
Today Shen Yichen would definitely tell both teachers the good news, but honestly speaking, his feelings for his private tutor Li Tingxiu were still deeper, even though Lin Zhen could help him more in his future career.
So Shen Yichen first came to the private school in the outer courtyard of Duke Chengguo's Mansion, and then went to Lin Zhen to report the good news.
"It's not too early now, so you can go first."
Li Tingxiu urged.
Li Tingxiu was very pleased that Shen Yichen thought of himself first and did not forget the kindness of his teacher.
However, society is very realistic. From the perspective of the Ming Dynasty, the seat teacher should be greater than the professional teacher, and ultimately greater than the mentor.
Lin Zhen was not a man who cared about every little thing, and he did not care about the entanglement of interests when accepting Shen Yichen as his disciple. But the more so, the more precious this teacher's kindness was, and Shen Yichen should pay attention to it.
"Well, the student will take his leave."
Shen Yichen knew exactly what Li Tingxiu meant, so he didn't act pretentiously or politely. He just bowed and turned to leave.
Looking at Shen Yichen's departing back, Li Tingxiu couldn't help but smile. The uneducated and unskilled playboy in the past was now about to transform into a talented person.
Shen Yichen called a carriage and came to the courtyard where his master Lin Zhen lived, but he was disappointed. Lin Zhen was not at home, but was giving a lecture at Zhaowen Academy.
In the past few months since he became Lin Zhen's apprentice, Shen Yichen has always come to the courtyard to ask for advice and study, and has never been to Zhaowen Academy. One reason is that the journey is far, and most academies are built in quiet places.
Another point is that Lin Zhen had never disclosed his identity before, so visiting him rashly in the name of a disciple might cause some problems.
But this time, Shen Yichen had to go even if he didn't want to. The reason was simple. He had already visited Li Tingxiu. If he didn't tell Lin Zhen the good news in time, it would cause great controversy if it was spread out after a day.
In ancient times, the three teachers were important: heaven, earth, the emperor, parents, and teachers. If any of them were not properly treated, it would not be acceptable. So Shen Yichen immediately called for a carriage to turn around and head to Zhaowen Academy in Purple Mountain, Nanjing.
Zhaowen Academy is currently the largest private academy in Yingtian Prefecture. It was first built in the Yuan Dynasty. However, at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the development of the entire academy basically stagnated.
The reason is that the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty were worried about the rebellion of the lower Han people, so they strictly controlled cultural and educational undertakings. On the surface, official propaganda strongly advocated the establishment of private academies, but in reality, each academy had officials appointed by the court in charge, and the content of the lectures was fixed.
In the early Ming Dynasty, restrictions on lecture content were lifted, but Zhaowen Academy still did not revitalize.
But the reason this time was completely different from that in the Yuan Dynasty. It was purely because the imperial court attached great importance to the imperial examination system and vigorously developed official education, which led to no one being willing to go to private academies.
This is similar to the difference between public and private schools in later generations. Unless it is a top private school with amazing teacher resources, most people will still choose public schools under the same competitiveness, as the tuition is much cheaper anyway.
Later, during the Chenghua period of Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, due to the corruption of the imperial examination system, official schools gradually collapsed, so a large number of scholars and officials stood up to revive or establish academies.
Therefore, the more famous Ming Dynasty academies in later generations, such as Chongzheng Academy, Yangming Academy, Donglin Academy, etc., were basically established in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.
Arriving at the gate of Zhaowen Academy, Shen Yichen informed the gatekeeper of his purpose. After the publicity of the Winter Solstice Poetry Festival, his identity as the top scholar's disciple was now known to everyone.
After verifying his identity, the doorman informed him of the location of the lecture hall where Lin Zhen was. Shen Yichen walked alone up the winding stone stairs and came to the gate of the academy step by step.
Compared with the palaces of the dukes and marquises in Nanjing, the gate of Zhaowen Academy is very plain and simple. Apart from the four large characters "Zhaowen Academy" hanging high on the beam, there is nothing else, not even the basic door couplet.
Shen Yichen lifted his leg and stepped over the threshold, and was greeted by the sound of reading aloud. The most outstanding students from Yingtian Prefecture gathered here, and the flourishing literary style naturally needed no explanation. It was in sharp contrast to the private school in the outer courtyard of Duke Chengguo's Mansion, which was often filled with sounds of play and fighting.
Walking along the wooden corridor, Shen Yichen arrived at the "Ming Academy" that the doorman had told him about. Lin Zhen was standing on the podium giving lectures to the students, and the content of the lectures was exactly about the interpretation of the meaning of the "Book of Documents".
Since there was no prior notice, Lin Zhen did not know that Shen Yichen was already standing outside the lecture hall. As a disciple, Shen Yichen naturally could not rush in and interrupt the teacher's teaching.
So he just stood quietly outside the door waiting, until Lin Zhen saw a figure standing outside the window out of the corner of his eye, and then he realized that it was Shen Yichen.
"Students, please recite on your own. I am busy now, so I will be back soon."
After giving the instructions, Lin Zhen walked straight towards Shen Yichen outside the lecture hall with a happy look on his face.
"I am sorry for being so rude and disturbing your class."
Seeing Lin Zhen coming out, Shen Yichen quickly bowed and apologized.
In theory, his sudden visit and interruption of the teacher's lecture was extremely rude.
But Shen Yichen didn't know this beforehand. Now that he was here, he couldn't just go back home.
"It's okay, Yichen, why did you come here suddenly?"
Lin Zhen asked. In fact, he had a vague idea of the reason why Shen Yichen came. However, he still hoped to hear from Shen Yichen himself about the disciple's success in the exam.
"Sir, the county exam has ended, and I have been selected as the top candidate."
"Well, it really lived up to expectations!"
Even though he already knew the answer, Lin Zhen was very happy at this moment.
Being the first in a county case was just a small honor for Lin Zhen, who was the top scholar. He was more happy that his vision was correct and Shen Yichen did not disappoint him.
Lin Zhen's "OK" was so passionate that it alarmed the students who were reciting articles in the lecture hall. They all leaned forward to see what made the teacher so excited.
"Who is this young scholar who can make you so happy?"
A student who didn't know Shen Yichen asked curiously.
You should know that some time ago, when the ministers of Nanjing ministries and agencies came to Zhaowen Academy for inspection, Lin Zhen looked like a gentleman with whom he had a casual relationship, not as enthusiastic as he is today.
"I don't know, but it looks familiar."
Another student replied that he was a student who participated in the Winter Solstice Poetry Festival and had seen Shen Yichen before. However, it had been several months since then and he only saw her once so he didn't have a deep impression of her. So he just felt that she looked familiar.
"I know who he is."
In the lecture hall, Xu Donghai stared at Shen Yichen in the corridor and said this coldly.
"who is it?"
"Shen Yichen from the Duke of Chengguo's Mansion."
"It's him?"
When the students of Zhaowen Academy heard this name, there was an uproar. Shen Yichen became Lin Zhen's disciple as a student and won the championship of the Winter Solstice Poetry Festival. His experience was well-known.
I didn’t expect to meet the real person today!
"No wonder the gentleman attaches so much importance to it. It's really enviable."
"It is said that he was selected as the first in the county examination ahead of schedule. I guess he came here to announce the good news."
"Looking at his handsome appearance, no wonder the rumor spread that Qinhuai Qujue invited him to spend the night together."
Various discussions were heard, most of which were filled with envy.
Because although the students of Zhaowen Academy also called Lin Zhen "sir" and called themselves students, their status was still far inferior to that of Shen Yichen, who was a formal disciple.
Seeing Lin Zhen treat them so warmly again today, his love for them was beyond words, and made the students present extremely envious.
I don’t know what kind of luck Shen Yichen had, that a student could receive such love from the top scholar.
"Humph, he is just the top judge in a county, not even a famous person. Don't disgrace your status!"
At this time, a student from Zhaowen Academy stood up to refute, his tone full of anger.
As students of Zhaowen Academy, these people should be the pride of Nanjing City. Many of them have achieved the titles of scholar and juren. But now they are actually envying and praising a student. This really brings down the reputation of the academy and the status of the students!
"Feng Zichu is right. All the students in our Zhaowen Academy are top-notch. How could they be outdone by a schoolboy?"
Xu Donghai stood up and agreed with what the previous student said. He had always suspected that there was something fishy about Shen Yichen, who was the first in the case. He was extremely dissatisfied with his loss in the county exam, so he naturally would not say anything good for him today.
Sure enough, when these two sentences came out, the other students kept silent, because if anyone continued to praise him, it would be tantamount to admitting that they were not as good as Shen Yichen.
Although many students here acknowledge Shen Yichen's excellence, they also have their own pride in being academic masters, and it is absolutely impossible for them to admit that they are not as good as a fellow student.
