Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 107: Special Recruitment or Unified Examination
There were few people in the Silijian, not many houses, and not much pomp and circumstance. There were no flattering eunuchs standing at the corners, ready to rush forward to do various chores at the command of the chief eunuch. Zhang Shou came to the door of the eastern wing at the deepest part of the building, and met three people in total, including Lu Chan, one of whom was a sweeper, one was a gardener, and a dog.
It was not a snow-white lion dog squatting at the feet of a person taking a nap, but a mastiff with sleek fur, shiny black eyes, sharp teeth visible when it grinned, and almost half as tall as himself. Although it was not a mastiff, Zhang Shou had no doubt about the dog's fighting ability, so he would never reach out to tease it without knowing his own limitations.
The dog followed him intelligently all the way until he followed Lu Chan to the door of the east wing and stood still. Then it wagged its tail as if bored, and then left Lu Chan and Zhang Shou and went straight to the outer courtyard.
Seeing Zhang Shou looking back at the dog with interest, Lu Chan whispered, "This is the old ancestor's favorite Black Moon. It usually only moves around in the outer court of the Silijian. Fortunately, you didn't come in when you were at the door before, otherwise it would definitely pounce on it and bite it. Only the old ancestor could stop it."
Upon hearing this, Qiao Hu and Yang Hao immediately broke out in a cold sweat. They had raised dogs in the countryside before, but they had never seen such a tall and mighty dog that was more ferocious than a wolf! When they thought about how they would definitely be chased by the dog if they had barged in without permission, they felt their legs trembling.
Fortunately, I always knew that breaking and entering is illegal, so I stopped the two reckless little guys!
Zhang Shou also had this thought in his mind, and then he couldn't help but admire the saying "like man, like dog". At this time, Chu Kuan's familiar voice came from the room: "Xiao Lu, who did you bring outside?"
"Ancestor, it's Dr. Zhang."
After this sound, Zhang Shou heard footsteps coming from the house. After a while, the door was opened in front of him. Seeing Chu Kuan, who opened the door himself, nodded at him with a smile, he bowed his hand in return.
Then, he said directly: "No one comes to the palace for no reason. Yesterday, the emperor came to the Imperial College. There were so many people and it was difficult for me to ask Eunuch Chu. Now I come to you in person to ask for students."
Lu Chan did not expect that Dr. Zhang, who had just been polite to him, would be so straightforward and unceremonious when facing Chu Kuan, the chief secretary of the Imperial Household Department who was more than one level higher than him. However, what surprised him even more was that Chu Kuan was only slightly stunned, and then he actually smiled and pulled him into the house.
"That's easy to say. Come on, come sit in Dr. Zhang's room... Xiao Lu, go get some good tea to serve the guests!"
Although the outer court of the Imperial Household Department didn't seem to have many people, it wasn't that there wasn't even someone serving tea and water, and that Lü Chan, the attendant, had to do it himself. So, Lü Chan was stunned when he heard Chu Kuan's whistle, and when he saw Heiyue coming over and squatting at the door with his tail wagging, he realized that Chu Kuan really had something important to tell someone, so he only let him, his confidant, go in to serve tea.
So he immediately agreed, and ran to the central hall to search through the boxes and cabinets, and found a small can of tea that was said to be a tribute. He went to the small kitchen to scald the purple clay teapot with boiling water, and watched a small eunuch who was skilled in making tea make the tea. He then rushed to the study with the tea tray. When he pushed the door open with his shoulder and went in, he heard Chu Kuan's voice.
"Dr. Zhang, tell me, is this disgusting?"
Zhang Shou had just heard Chu Kuan complaining and cursing, and at this moment, he remained calm, but he already understood everything in his heart.
"Eunuch Chu, what you mean is that the students I asked you to find, Yan Fang, who claimed to have worked as an accountant for several times but was driven away every time, was because he always exposed others for falsifying accounts and enriching himself like a fool. The others are a few poor scholars with no official title who make a living by writing letters for others, and the vast majority of the rest are servants of a few nobles or officials?"
Hearing this, even Lu Chan, who was confused, couldn't help but tremble slightly with his hands, causing the teacups on the tray to make a slight noise. He hurried forward to put the things down, and then concentrated on pouring and dispensing the tea.
"Nowadays, the students in the Imperial College are all devoted to reading the books of sages, and fewer and fewer are willing to learn mathematics. However, the families of the rich and powerful have a group of servants who have been learning mathematics and accounting since childhood! That's fine, but if you hadn't handled it properly in front of the Ge Mansion, the news that you, a disciple of the Ge family, were competing with a group of poor servants would have spread all over the capital in a flash!"
At this point, Chu Kuan couldn't help but sigh deeply: "You have to know that the profoundness of the Ten Mathematical Classics cannot be learned by reading alone. It must be taught by a qualified teacher... More than a decade ago, when the Imperial College still had a mathematics department, the few students who graduated from the mathematics department all had bad careers. Where did they go? They were all recruited to be teachers with high salaries!"
Zhang Shou took the tea from Lu Chan, bowed and thanked him, then smiled and said, "That is to say, the civil and military officials in the court are asking their servants to learn mathematics, so that someone can calculate their accounts and manage their properties, right?"
Chu Kuan immediately agreed, "That's right, they just think that a prestigious institution like the Imperial College doesn't need to have a math class!"
Zhang Shou was not surprised by such a result. Even in Europe, the lords and nobles initially only employed accountants to serve their own coffers and accounts. It was not until financial speculation became popular that people who were proficient in calculations became popular. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the finance ministers of the great powers that once dominated Europe were all proficient in mathematics.
Pure mathematics can only attract a small number of enthusiasts. Only when it is connected with finance will mathematical talent become precious and important. Otherwise, how are those complex financial derivatives and insurance products calculated?
Therefore, under Chu Kuan's expectant gaze, Zhang Shou put down his teacup and said, "So, Eunuch Chu, by telling me this, do you mean that there is no hope for the students I want?"
When Chu Kuan saw that Zhang Shou had clear eyes and a sincere expression, he didn't know for a moment whether he was pretending to be confused even though he knew the truth, or whether he really didn't understand.
He could only emphasize his tone and say: "In this important place of the Imperial College, those students may be tribute students from the county schools, or they are favored by the emperor, or they donate money to be admitted. Who would be willing to be in the same class as servants? Doctor Zhang, I can tell you the names and whereabouts of all of them, but even if I really rack my brains to get these people, I can't enter the Imperial College!"
"Then forget about these people for now." Zhang Shou seemed to really not understand what Chu Kuan meant, and sighed helplessly, "First, find Yan Fang, who was the first to confess that he was instructed by someone, and a few scholars without official titles. As for enrollment, I will come up with three questions. I'll trouble the teacher and Mr. Qi and Mr. Chu to post them for me. Anyone who can answer them can go to the Imperial College for an interview."
"You ask what the interview means? Of course it is to prevent someone from using other people's work to get away with it."
"Compared to poaching from the homes of the rich and powerful, this method of recruiting people all over the city is easier, isn't it?"
"If those servants really want to learn, I told them when I gave them the books that they can go to the teacher's house to ask for advice. There is no discrimination in education. Whether it is the teacher or me, we are all willing to answer questions and resolve doubts. It doesn't necessarily have to be the Imperial College..."
Only after Zhang Shou expressed his attitude to Chu Kuan sincerely and politely and thanked him for finding him, did he get up and say goodbye. Before leaving, he politely declined Lu Chan's farewell and walked out with a smile on his face, following the guide dog who seemed to be alone.
Chu Kuan stood at the door of the study room. Seeing the young doctor of the Imperial College walking calmly with two servants, he couldn't help but narrow his eyes. Then he asked Lu Chan beside him, "What do you think of this doctor Zhang's personality?"
"Temperament..." Lu Chan suddenly thought of the uncle's name before, and couldn't help but say cautiously, "Seems quite easy-going, quite gentle and kind, and doesn't seem to have a bad temper?"
"No temper? That's because you didn't see how he embarrassed Xu Fengyang, the guy who claimed to be the best writer in the capital, during the Yuehua Tower Literary Gathering."
Chu Kuan laughed, but there was no joy in his laughter. "You probably don't know that today he was sitting on the third floor of Zhigong Building opposite Shuntian Prefecture, sitting at the same table with Qi Jingshan and Chu Ying. The Minister of War Lu Wan made a special trip to ask for an audience. I guess the secret letters between the traitor in the Ministry of War and the insider in Linhai Camp may have been deciphered."
"Ah?" Lu Chan couldn't believe it. "Didn't Grand Master Ge and Mr. Qi Chu figure out the result yesterday?"
“So, the most capable ones come first, regardless of age.” Chu Kuan took a breath irritably.
He wanted to complain and explain the difficulties at first, and then try to recruit all those people to be Zhang Shou's students. He was sure that those who dared to indulge servants to cause trouble in the Ge family would not dare to fart, and then Zhang Shou would owe him a favor. After all, he really verified that these people were indeed talents who had studied the Ten Mathematical Classics since childhood and had a certain foundation in mathematics.
How can you be a teacher without students?
As for what's the point of making Zhang Shou owe him this favor... There are mountains of Taizu's documents in the Ancient and Modern Collection, but some of them they can study and understand, some of them are like incomprehensible books, and even the people of the Western Barbarians can only recognize a few words. Countless eunuchs who claimed to be the inheritors of Taizu's will have died with regrets.
Even if it was a last resort, he might as well let Zhang Shou give it a try. Even if the emperor didn't allow it, he could copy it out privately. But now that he had failed to do this favor, how could he ask for it in the future?
As he walked out, looking at the big Black Moon dog wagging its tail and the two little guys who had obviously become much more cautious, Zhang Shou's mood was not affected too much, let alone any pressure.
Is he crazy? He is going to go head-to-head with the group of civil and military officials who support a group of people whose talents and conduct are uncertain to say the most, and whose talents are pending to be determined to say the least, and whose conduct is flawed.
He had the powerful weapons of unified admissions examination and interview, but he insisted on special recruitment? If these people really came to seek advice because of his gift of books on behalf of Ge Yong, then it would be better for Chu Kuan to slowly discern their character than to use all means to recruit them all at once.
Even if the recruitment exam fails, at worst, Lu Sanlang will just be a lone monk in Jiuzhang Hall!
As long as the little fat boy can shine in some aspects, why would he worry about not having good seedlings in the future? There is still a long way to go, so he is not in a hurry!
Ever since he suffered a big setback that year, he has learned his lesson: don't be impatient!
Just as Zhang Shou was thinking this, he heard a loud shout from outside the door: "A Shou!"
When he looked up, he saw a man riding a fiery red horse, dressed in scarlet, coming towards him like a blazing flame. Zhang Shou could not help but be slightly stunned, and then he heard a sentence that made him dumbfounded.
"Hurry, come with me to see my mother!"
