Chapter 34 Regret
Zhu Hao expressed his opinion, which attracted rebuttals, but after he retreated, other candidates were unable to explain their views.
Right now the only one who can express his personal opinions is Master Jing, but he has only just adapted to this form of public debate with all his might. Even though his previous experience in the county government gave him relevant experience, and his good family background gave him insights and levels far beyond his peers, he is still a little immature compared to Zhu Hao.
Yuan Zonggao said: "The view that 'a prince who breaks the law is guilty of the same crime as a commoner' is indeed too radical. The view that 'if the law is not enforced, the upper class will be the one to break it' is not wrong. The law must be followed from top to bottom in order to educate the world."
Yuan Zonggao covered all aspects by both expressing his own opinions and affirming some of Zhu Hao's ideas.
Prince Jing stepped out and said, "Students believe that 'if teaching is not strict, it is the teacher's laziness'. Even if the prince makes a mistake, it cannot be entirely blamed on him. The teacher also has some responsibility. 'If the law is not enforced, it is the upper level that is responsible'. 'The prince is the heir to the throne. He cannot be punished. Punish his tutor Gongzi Qian and tattoo his teacher Gongsun Jia'. Therefore, the prince's violation of the law cannot be punished the same as the common people."
At this time, Master Jing knew that if he didn't come out and say a few words, he would be completely outshined by Zhu Hao.
It's rare that he still has some insight.
Zhu Hao asked loudly: "If the prince is not guilty of the same crime as the common people, why should his tutor Gongzi Qian be punished and his teacher Gongsun Jia be tattooed?"
Mr. Jing's face turned red and he couldn't come up with any new ideas for a long time.
Using the Legalist theory to refute the Legalist thought, kid, you are too young, and it is easy to dig a hole and bury yourself if you speak rashly.
Learn more about debating skills.
Yuan Zonggao smiled and nodded: "We are just discussing your understanding of a sentence. There is no need to confront each other... Who else has any objections?"
The most embarrassed person at this moment was the candidate who hadn't said a word just now.
" Then please state your opinions one by one."
Yuan Zonggao gave everyone a chance to speak. He looked at Zhu Hao first and said, "You seem to have a deep understanding of this. Let you start."
Zhu Hao said: "Scholars do not cultivate their moral conduct and do not follow the rites. Common people do not know the rites and treat the rites as inferiors to common people. This is not rites. Scholars know the law but break it, so they are not great officials. If the punishment is from the lower to the upper, then the law will not exist. Gentlemen know what to do and what they cannot do. They do not do what they cannot do. Otherwise, they will disrupt the law and the moral order. If a prince breaks the law, he will be punished the same as a common person. If the law is passed from the upper to the lower, then the law will exist."
Zhu Hao briefly explained his point of view. Etiquette should be passed down from top to bottom, and laws should also be passed down from top to bottom. People at the top should set an example for those below them, and they should not only restrain the common people but also the superiors.
This should be the most basic spirit of the rule of law.
But in feudal dynasties, this spirit of rule of law was almost impossible to achieve and was just a beautiful vision.
After Zhu Hao expressed his views, he returned to the queue again.
The remaining children looked at each other in confusion, obviously unable to understand. Even Yuan Zonggao fell into deep thought. To an old scholar like him, the question of rule by man or rule by law could not be summarized in just a few words.
Zhu Hao has the idea of "everyone is equal" in his bones, so he can say such words, which perfectly fits the legal concept of treating everyone equally before the law.
"Okay, Zhu Hao, you have expressed your views. Please leave now... If anyone has any other opinions, please speak up."
After a while, Yuan Zonggao came back to his senses, looked at Zhu Hao deeply, and then asked the guards to send him out of the house, which meant that Zhu Hao had completed all the exams for today.
…
…
Zhu Hao followed a palace guard out of the palace's east gate.
I am in a very good mood. I have expressed everything I wanted to express in this exam. As the saying goes, man proposes, God disposes. Everything depends on God's will.
"Brother Hao, are you... okay?"
When Yu San saw Zhu Hao coming out, he hurried forward to greet him.
Zhu Hao nodded.
Yu San didn't care about the content of the exam, and said flattering words: "Brother Hao is so smart, it would be a waste of talent for him to enter the palace, there will be no problem."
In fact, Zhu Hao himself thinks so too.
But this kind of selection exam is originally an internal one. If we really have to use the exam results to decide who will be the companion of the little Prince Xing, wouldn't everyone be able to enter the Prince Xing's palace?
They are just creating the illusion of fairness and justice, and the final result is likely to be an internal decision.
Just as I was about to leave, I heard a child's voice behind me: "Wait a minute."
Zhu Hao turned around and found that it was Master Jing.
Apparently, Master Jing was the second candidate to stand up and express his views and successfully walked out of the palace.
"Is there anything wrong?" Zhu Hao stopped and asked.
Young Master Jing trotted over, his breathing was a little rapid, but his face was full of seriousness. He looked like a little adult, showing a maturity that did not belong to his age.
Walking up to Zhu Hao, Master Jing looked him over carefully before saying, "I didn't expect you to be so impressive. I wonder which gentleman you are worshipping? I'd like to pay you a visit when I have time."
Zhu Hao said: "I said I am self-taught, do you believe it ?"
He didn't want to discuss too much with Master Jing, so he was about to leave after saying that.
"Don't leave yet."
Master Jing insisted, "Can I see you again? If there is time... I want to discuss academic matters with you."
Perhaps Master Jing felt the gap in knowledge between himself and Zhu Hao. If the other party was much older than him, he might not feel so frustrated. But the problem was that Zhu Hao was about the same age as him, but his knowledge was far superior. In the first round, he wrote faster than him and his calligraphy was praised. In the second round, he answered all the questions correctly. In the third debate, he was the leader.
This was something that a child who had been used to being praised as a "child prodigy" since childhood could not accept for a while.
Zhu Hao smiled and said, "If we are lucky, we can enter the palace together and accompany the little prince to study. Then we can discuss academic matters."
What this means is that unless you and I can go to Prince Xing's palace together as study companions, this may very well be our last chance to meet.
"Young Master, you're out? Let's go! The Master is waiting..."
At this time, the servants of the county magistrate's mansion had come to greet them, but after greeting them, they found that their young master only had eyes for Zhu Hao and ignored everyone else.
"Master Jing, you are the son of an official, but I am from a military family. We were born and raised in completely different environments. If it weren't for this exam, it would be difficult for us to get together... Only after entering Prince Xing's Mansion can you and I have the same goal... Goodbye!"
Zhu Hao didn't waste any more words with Master Jing. He smiled and bowed to say goodbye to Master Jing, then left accompanied by Yu San.
…
…
Prince Xing's Palace.
Yuan Zonggao ordered all the candidates to be sent away, and immediately went to see Prince Xing Zhu Youluo with the contents sorted out by the clerk, including the on-site record of the last debate between Zhu Hao and others.
"Yuan Changshi, you can just inform me, why did you come here in person?"
Zhu Youqi did not take this matter to heart. He just wanted to choose a study partner for his child and let the chief historian in the mansion do it. Why should he do it himself?
Yuan Zonggao said: "Please have King Xing read the content of the last test."
After saying that, he handed the minutes of the last exam to Zhu Youluo.
Zhu Youqiu opened the file and his face was full of smiles when he saw the title. Apparently, this was the topic he usually raised with his staff in the palace when criticizing current affairs and reviewing the pros and cons of government affairs.
But when he saw Zhu Hao's remarks, his smile gradually faded and his expression became serious.
"This...is this the argument of those...children present?"
Zhu Youqiu found it unbelievable.
Yuan Zonggao nodded and said, "If the questions were not set by me and I know that I have never revealed them to anyone else, I would have to suspect that someone leaked the questions in advance and asked an expert to summarize and organize them... Even so, you can answer in this way, and not be humble or arrogant, and not blindly cater to the examination atmosphere of the palace. It is amazing..."
Zhu Youqiu said, "That's true. It's rare for a child to express his opinions without avoiding the powerful. He will surely achieve great things in the future. He should stay in the palace."
"but……"
Yuan Zonggao's face showed obvious embarrassment.
Zhu Youqiu asked in confusion: "Could it be that this boy does not want to stay in Prince Xing's mansion?"
"No, no!"
Yuan Zonggao shook his head. "I asked the officials of the Changshi Division who were in charge of selecting study companions, and learned that this boy was from the family of Captain Zhu of the Jinyiwei..."
One sentence brought the situation to a standstill.
It was obvious that the Zhu family was sent to Anlu to monitor Prince Xing's Mansion. Even if Prince Xing had not clearly expressed his attitude before, how could he be completely unaware of it?
"Zhu family..."
Zhu Youqi's face was gloomy. "Does Yuan Changshi mean to not let him enter the palace?"
Yuan Zonggao shook his head again: "As I said before, if we don't let him enter the palace, those in the court who covet our palace will definitely become more aggressive... On the contrary, we should bring this boy into the palace and guard him against it, so that he can take out the irrelevant news. It will be difficult to distinguish the truth from the false, and it will make it difficult for the surveillance to take care of everything."
"Since you have thought it through, Yuan Changshi, why are you still worried?"
Zhu Youqiu had actually considered this matter a long time ago.
We are not afraid that the insiders in the palace will take the news out, but we are afraid that you are not capable of sending the news. We are even more afraid that we don’t know who the enemy is and what measures they will take.
Yuan Zonggao shook his head: "It's a pity that such a good talent cannot be accepted by the prince. If he can grow up with the prince and offer advice in the future... maybe he can become the prince's right-hand man."
Zhu Youqi then realized that Yuan Zonggao's regret was that a talent like Zhu Hao came from a family that was hostile to the palace and therefore could not be recruited for his own use.
"There are so many talented people in this world. Since ancient times, there have been many cases of Zhongyong being injured. Why should we worry about just one person? I wonder if Yuan Changshi has any other candidates he likes?"
Zhu Youqi's implication is that since we can choose Zhu Hao to enter the palace, knowing that he is a spy and still using him, shouldn't we also choose a talented and knowledgeable companion for my son?
Yuan Zonggao said: "The son of the new magistrate of Changshou is quite talented and can be a companion to the prince. As for his daily studies, he needs a study partner and a playmate. The son of Lu Dianzhang... although he is young, he is quite heroic and may be useful."
Yuan Zonggao recommended Master Jing because his test scores were second only to Zhu Hao's, and he was also a rare child who could handle big occasions with ease.
As for recommending Lu Bing, it was not based on his academic performance at all.
Rather, since Lu Bing was born in the royal palace and is a "family member" of the palace, his loyalty can be guaranteed. Even if he is not a good student, as long as he studies and plays with the prince and is loyal to Prince Xiaoxing, he can be made his confidant when he grows up. Why should we care whether his talent meets the admission standards?
