Chapter 62: Examination
Jinghong returned to the palace early in the morning, bringing with him many bags of things.
It was obvious that he was not well prepared last time, which caused him to suffer a lot in the palace. After he appealed to his family, his father, the county magistrate, naturally prepared some necessary daily necessities for his son, even dry food. He was quite proud and felt that he could finally compete with Zhu Hao, but when he saw the new box Zhu Hao brought, he became discouraged again.
Comparing yourself to others will make you feel nauseous.
When they arrived at the study, Lu Bing had already been there for a while. He was playing Cuju and running around chasing the ball. Zhu Hao shook his head when he saw this and went into the classroom with Jing Hong. He took out his lesson plan book and opened it, thinking about what class he would teach today. He waited for a long time before he saw Zhu San finally arrive.
"Mr. Zhu, what are you teaching us today?"
Zhu San smiled and joked at Zhu Hao.
Zhu Hao closed the book and said nonchalantly, "I have finished teaching the Analects of Confucius: Zi Zhang and Yao Yu. Today I will start teaching the Mencius."
Zhu San smiled and didn't take it too seriously, but Jing Hong seemed very serious.
Jinghong is not only strong-willed, but also very hardworking in study. Since there is no teacher in the class, he can accept Zhu Hao's lectures. He really wants to know how much better Zhu Hao's knowledge is than his.
"A Bing, come in and listen to Mr. Zhu's lecture... If you kick it again, I will throw your Cuju away!"
Apart from his relatively normal attitude towards Zhu Hao, Zhu San maintained his usual strong stance towards Lu Bing and Jing Hong.
Lu Bing pouted, came into the room holding Cuju and sat down reluctantly. To him, this was just a study companion for the prince. He could not understand what was said in class and did not want to listen. The palace asked him to be a study companion purely for his healthy growth in the palace. After all, his parents both had formal "jobs", which meant they were treating the palace as a nursery.
Zhu Hao officially started his lecture.
"Mencius met King Hui of Liang. The king asked, 'You have come from afar, will you be able to benefit our country?' Mencius replied..."
"...King Hui of Liang is King Hui of Wei, and 'Hui' is his posthumous title. In the 30th year of King Xuan of Zhou, the capital of Wei was moved from Anyi to Daliang, which is Kaifeng in Daming , so he is also called King Hui of Liang..."
…
…
In the afternoon, at 2:15 pm.
Palace, study.
Zhu Youlang sat upright behind the desk, holding an ancient scroll, as calm and still as a mountain. Yuan Zonggao stood beside him. In front of the desk stood two little guys, Zhu San and Zhu Houcong.
At this time, Zhu San and Zhu Houcong were very nervous, wondering why their father called them over.
Yuan Zonggao smiled and said, "My two princes, His Royal Highness Prince Xing wants to test your knowledge. Regarding your current studies, just tell us what you have learned."
take an exam……
Or a face-to-face exam...
Most children in any era do not like this kind of teaching method, especially when they do not learn well, the exam is equivalent to ruining the whole thing.
If he fails to pass his father's test, not only will he have more schoolwork in the future, he may even be grounded and forced to study hard behind closed doors.
For a moment, Zhu San and Zhu Houcong had the same thought in their minds...if only they could escape!
While the two children were waiting for their father to test them with sad faces, Zhu Youlu was not in a hurry to give questions. He was still looking through the lesson plans submitted by Sui Gongyan, wanting to know the learning progress of the two children.
When the royal palace invites a tutor to teach the crown prince, they will not leave him alone. The lesson plans must be submitted every once in a while so that the royal palace can keep track of the crown prince's learning situation and use this as a test syllabus to see if the crown prince has mastered what the tutor taught in class. Sometimes Zhu Youlang or Yuan Zonggao will remind the tutor to revise the teaching syllabus and strengthen certain aspects of the content.
" I have recently discussed with Yuan Changshi that we will hire a few more teachers for you in the future. In addition to the necessary teaching of the Four Books and Five Classics, we will also cultivate your abilities in music, chess, calligraphy and painting."
Zhu Youqiu made an opening speech.
The two children had dark lines on their faces.
This clearly shows that he needs to sign up for multiple extracurricular tutoring classes!
There will be more teachers coming to teach in the future, which means they will have less time to play.
Zhu Youju said: "Zeng Zi said: Even a great man like Zhang is hard to be benevolent. What do you think?"
The exam has begun.
The first question left the two little ones dumbfounded.
Taking a passage from The Analects of Confucius as the test question and asking the examinee for his or her opinion on it, even if it is not an eight-legged essay, it is also a routine for imperial examination essays.
Isn't it too difficult for two children who are only seven or eight years old and have only been learning for two years to answer such questions, and they often make mistakes when reciting the "Analects of Confucius"?
Yuan Zonggao was slightly stunned and wanted to remind Zhu Youqiu... Prince Xing, you have too high expectations for your two children. How should you ask them to answer?
Zhu Youlu only made questions based on Sui Gongyan's lesson plan. He never thought that his questions were beyond the syllabus and he did not take into account the children's age and the level of their ability to grasp.
"Fourth child, you speak!" Seeing that the other two children did not come out to answer, Zhu Youqiu thought that they did not learn well and immediately frowned.
"me……"
Zhu Houcong was about to cry. The only thing he could remember was that this sentence came from the Analects of Confucius, but because he was too playful and absent-minded in class, he didn't even know what it meant. He might not make mistakes if he recited it, but that was all he could do. If he was asked to express his opinion...
Zhu San blinked beside him and vaguely remembered something.
Zhu Youqiu asked with a dark face: "How do you usually learn?"
"King Xing..."
Yuan Zonggao couldn't help but want to stand up and say a few words for the two younger ones.
At this moment, Zhu San said: "Father, I know."
Zhu Youlu and Yuan Zonggao looked at her at the same time. Zhu Youlu frowned and shouted, "Speak!"
Zhu San seemed very confident: "Zeng Zi said that Zi Zhang is very handsome and it is difficult to be as benevolent as him."
The literal meaning was explained, but this was obviously not the answer Zhu Youlu wanted to hear, so he immediately asked: "Why is it so?"
Zhu Sandao said: "Because Fan said, 'Zi Zhang has more than enough on the outside but less than on the inside, so none of his disciples would agree with him as a benevolent person.' Confucius said, 'Strong, resolute, wooden and taciturn are close to benevolence.' It is better to be deficient on the outside but more than enough on the inside, so that one can be benevolent. His benevolence is not true benevolence. That is why Zhu Zi commented on Zi Zhang, 'He is so self-righteous that he cannot be helped to be benevolent, nor can he be helped to be benevolent.'"
After the conversation, Zhu Youqiu frowned and seemed not very satisfied.
I'm asking you your own opinion. Are you using the contents of the Annotated Analects to fool people? I'm asking you. Do you think I'm asking about the answer given by Zhu Xi?
Zhu Youqiu said: "Look at what you said. I am asking you about your understanding of this, not asking you to memorize it by rote."
Zhu San originally wanted to perform well in front of his father, but upon hearing this he lowered his head in despair, looking aggrieved.
Zhu Houcong on the side glanced at his sister, and that look... was full of admiration, as if saying, wow, sister, you are so amazing, how do you know all this knowledge?
Yuan Zonggao then stepped forward to explain: "Your Highness Prince Xing, in fact, the two princes have not yet learned the contents of the Annotated Four Books. It is not easy for them to understand it to this extent through the literal meaning."
Zhu Youqiu was stunned for a moment, and suddenly realized that the question he had asked was beyond the scope of the syllabus.
Yuan Zonggao looked at Zhu San and asked curiously, "The insights proposed by the Third Prince are also a fusion of my own ideas. It can be said that he has a unique understanding of cause and effect."
Zhu San thought he had made a fool of himself, but when he heard Yuan Zonggao's words, he was overjoyed and a smile appeared on his face again.
Zhu Youqiu thought about his daughter's answer and nodded, "Indeed, I have gained some insights of my own... By the way, third brother, you haven't studied the Annotated Four Books yet, where do you get these insights from?"
Zhu San was stunned.
She wanted to say that she was self-taught, but then she thought, if my bragging was discovered and they asked me other questions, wouldn’t everything be exposed?
"Father, it was... Zhu Hao who taught me..."
Zhu San spoke honestly.
The content of Zhu Hao's lectures these days is the last two sections of "The Analects" and the first two sections of "Mencius". These are the contents that Sui Gongyan has already taught before, and Zhu Hao did not add anything superfluous. He just intuitively felt that the class here should not lag behind Sui Gongyan's teaching progress.
His teaching method is very different from Sui Gongyan's.
He made sure that Zhu San and Jing Hong could understand what he taught, and it was definitely not rote memorization. The reason why Zhu Xi's "Collected Annotations of the Four Books" became the cornerstone of the eight-legged essay for selecting scholars in later generations was that Zhu Xi's understanding of the Four Books was indeed unique. He had basically said everything that needed to be said. Zhu Hao used "Collected Annotations of the Four Books" as a model and added easy-to-understand content to teach, so that Zhu San and Jing Hong could quickly understand the meaning.
Once you understand the meaning, you will be able to recite it with twice the result with half the effort.
This is the best age to acquire knowledge. Zhu San and Jing Hong have a good foundation and are smart. With good teachers to guide them, they learn things quickly.
"Zhu Hao taught you?"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Youqiu couldn't help but look at Yuan Zonggao.
Yuan Zonggao showed an embarrassed look, and said, "Third Prince, are you saying that it was Zhu Hao who taught you these things? He..."
Yuan Zonggao, with his scheming mind, naturally wondered if that guy had some conspiracy to teach Zhu San knowledge? But thinking carefully, before Zhu Youluo gave the questions, even he himself didn't know what questions he would ask. Zhu Hao probably didn't even know if there was this exam, so how could he give the answers in advance?
This is really speechless.
Sui Gongyan was a juren hired by the royal palace with a large sum of money and could be said to be the most famous Confucian scholar in Anlu. Zhu Houcong, whom he taught, was completely unaware of this. How could Zhu San, who was taught by a seven-year-old child, actually understand its meaning and talk about it fluently in front of the examiner?
Zhu San said, "Father, Mr. Yuan, Mr. Sui may have something to do these days, and he rarely shows up at the school. He asked us to recite the Analects and Mencius by ourselves, but we have memorized them by heart, so Zhu Hao taught us what he knew on the blackboard."
"Zhu Hao's lectures are very interesting. He explains everything very clearly. I understand everything after listening to it once... He also lets us discuss on our own to verify the principles in the book..."
It sounds heretical as soon as you hear it.
Discussing the right and wrong of the contents of Confucian classics? You are really rebelling against the heaven.
But here’s the thing…
This teaching method is really effective. Otherwise, why could Zhu San, who is so playful and no one cares about his learning progress, come out on top in this exam?
Zhu Youqi wanted to say something, but Yuan Zonggao beside him reminded him: "Prince Xing, why don't you ask the two princes a few more questions to see what they think."
Before, Yuan Zonggao just wanted to check the academic progress of the two children, but now he wants to assess Zhu Hao’s educational level, or how firmly Zhu Hao has mastered the knowledge.
Zhu Youqiu nodded: "Then I'll give you two more questions, listen carefully..."
The next question was still about the content of the last two sections of "The Analects of Confucius". When the question was asked, Zhu Houcong could only stand there staring blankly as expected.
Zhu San was not able to answer the question completely, but after a brief thought, she was able to basically tell the general meaning of the question, and added some of her so-called own opinions. In fact, these opinions were just instilled by Zhu Hao in class, and they subtly made her feel that this was the correct answer.
At the end, Yuan Zonggao, who was listening carefully at the side, smiled bitterly.
Yuan Zonggao thought to himself: "It is said that a good teacher produces good students. It seems that the person who taught Zhu Hao is very good! Could it be that he is really the world-famous but frustrated Tang Yin?"
