Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 119: Almost Entering the Imperial Household Department and Leadership Potential
Wang Jie, the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, cut the Gordian knot quickly and solved the case of collusion and treason among the officers and soldiers of the Linhai camp. At the same time, he deciphered thirteen secret letters, demonstrating that a solid foundation in mathematics is very necessary in solving certain problems.
When the emperor and his ministers came to the Ge Mansion to watch the hollow test of the plaque inscribed by Taizu, the Minister of Revenue Zhang Huaili revealed that the gold stored in the Ministry of Revenue was fake. The emperor was furious and took the gold stored in the inner treasury and the gold stored in the Ministry of Revenue for a test and comparison, and it turned out that what he said was true.
Therefore, the scene in which Zhang Shangshu denounced the evil magic but was denounced as ignorant in return was tacitly concealed by all the relevant parties present at the time. Afterwards, Zhang Shangshu, who had a minor stroke due to excessive excitement, retired with honor and was given the honorary title of Prince Junior Tutor, just like the honor of Shuntian Prefecture Yin Wang Jie being granted the first level of nobility, and was talked about by countless people with relish.
Compared with the situation of these two high-ranking officials in the court, the emperor approved that a mathematics question would be added as a routine additional subject in the Shuntian Prefecture examination and the academy examination in the future. If the candidate did not know how to do it, his evaluation would not be lowered; but if he did know how to do it, his grade would be raised by one level. This was a topic that caused quite a stir.
Therefore, when the Jiuzhang Hall of the Imperial College started recruiting students separately, the officials of the Shuntian Prefecture Yamen posted the test questions all over the city in accordance with the instructions of Wang Jie, the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, which naturally led to a scene where thousands of people flocked to the streets to watch.
And Zhang Shou, the doctor of the Imperial College who was originally only in charge of mathematics, now took over Banshan Hall. The emperor bestowed him a ruler and even sent two newly enlightened princes over. This news caused an uproar in both the officialdom and the people.
"Dr. Zhang, this is my paper!"
"Please take a look at the questions I did!"
"I can recite the Nine Chapters of the Mathematical Art backwards!"
It was not until the evening, when Wu, accompanied by Old Liu, Aunt Liu, Qiao Hu and Yang Hao, entered the back door of Duke Zhao's mansion with a bitter face. She still felt a lingering fear when she thought of the shouting outside her house during the day.
When she returned to the capital many years later, she was completely in the dark when this happened. Even her thoughts of finding something to do to pass the rest of her life, or living a peaceful life after telling Zhang Shou about her life story, were all scared away by this sudden door-blocking incident.
Seeing Zhu Ying standing at the back door to greet her, she held her chest and said, " I'm so scared. Even at night, I don't dare to go through your front door. I heard that someone was blocking your door and shouting. During the day, I was afraid that someone would break the door or even climb over the wall! It's just an extra question, how could it be so outrageous?"
Mother Li smiled bitterly when she heard this: "Even if you can't do it, it won't affect the evaluation of the article, but if you can do it, you can get extra points and be promoted. Who can give up this opportunity? Madam Wu, if you pass the exam to become a scholar, you will be considered to have a good reputation and be exempted from part of the tax and levy. It is also a prerequisite for taking the exams to become a juren or jinshi. If no one was willing to study at Jiuzhang Hall before, then there must be people willing to go there now!"
Zhu Ying said with a smile: "More people is better. The other halls have hundreds of people. If the Jiuzhang Hall has fewer students, then wouldn't Ah Shou be less impressive?"
"Jiuzhang Hall is such a small place, how can we accept just anyone? Anyway, Wang Dayin, you promised yourself that you will be the one to grade the papers and decide on the shortlist. I don't want to have to meet hundreds of people in a row for the interviews!"
Zhang Shou, who also felt that Qi Jingshan's house was temporarily unsuitable for living, had no choice but to entrust his mother Wu and others to Zhu Ying, while he was arguing with Wang Datou in Shuntian Prefecture. Seeing the long face of the Shuntian prefect, he said sincerely: "Are the line chart and bar chart that Xiaodai told you about before still useful?"
Wang Jie, who was about to speak, shut up immediately. Although the clerks complained bitterly about his troubles, after the chart was drawn, they had to admit that it was much more intuitive than a table after they had drawn it up and had to punch the grids until their hands were tired.
Zhang Shou said with a smile: "The method I used to decipher the secret letter from you that night is actually equivalent to the Tian Yuan Technique. How about we discuss it ?"
When Wang Datou heard the three words "Tianyuanshu", he softened completely.
Therefore, when Zhang Shou quietly left the Shuntian government office from the back door, he had already completely handed over the matters concerning the preliminary enrollment to the Shuntian prefect who was flipping through the newly printed book "Equations" by Sansan Bookstore while pondering linear equations of one and two variables.
When Zhang Shou met Ah Liu who came to pick him up at the back door, although his steps were relaxed and his expression was even more relaxed, after taking a few steps, he still couldn't help but ask a question.
"Ah Liu, the assassin who tried to kill me before, and the servant who slandered me in the Imperial College later, it seems that there is still no clear explanation until now, right?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard four faint words coming from the side: "It's rare to be confused."
Zhang Shou was immediately furious. He turned around and glared at the boy with a dull expression: "You clearly knew that I could only say that at the time! Who knows what your master's attitude towards me is? Who knows if he deliberately let someone shoot that arrow!"
"A madman can do it." Ah Liu nodded seriously, then looked at Zhang Shou and asked seriously, "Master, do you want me to check?"
"You are alone, not a god, how can you check?" Zhang Shou chuckled, and before Liu could say anything, he suddenly asked, "Liu, I don't want to ask you how you came to my house. I just want to ask you, do you like staying at my house?"
Ah Liu thought about such a simple question for a long time before finally nodding and saying, "I like it."
"real?"
"I like it more than practicing martial arts with a madman." Ah Liu paused and deliberately added a few more words, which was rare. "Back then, I was thrown by a madman on the road that my wife had to pass. If my wife didn't want me, maybe I would have entered the Imperial Household Department."
Seeing Zhang Shou's face freeze, Ah Liu looked as if he didn't know how terrible it was to enter the Imperial Household Department, and continued in a flat voice: "The madman is from the royal family, not the Zhu family. I am from the Zhang family, not the Zhu family, but... I like the eldest lady very much."
If Ah Liu's voice had not remained unchanged when he said the words "I like the eldest lady very much", Zhang Shou would have almost thought that Zhu Ying had gained another admirer with a special identity. However, somehow, he believed Ah Liu's words without reservation.
Therefore, he couldn't help but stretch out his hand to pat Liu's shoulder, but when his hand was halfway out, he thought that this boy was actually a top master, and his hand froze there, and then he put it down unnaturally.
"If you like me, keep me for a long time. Anyway, I always treat you as a family member. As for investigating the assassins and the servants, I just mentioned it. Think about it when you have time. Take your time. There is no need to rush."
"Um."
Zhang Shou, who was used to it, didn't care about the simple reply, and didn't even notice the coldness on Ah Shou's calm face. The two of them walked along the back street of Shuntian Prefecture and quietly turned into the Imperial College Street where the Imperial College was located. Then, under the cover of night, they entered the Imperial College Archway, stood in front of the Jiuzhang Hall, which had been repaired for more than half, and went to the dormitory.
Before he reached the door of Lu Sanlang's dormitory, he heard the familiar shouting.
"What kind of person is my father? He would never admit that he was wrong in his entire life, but what about now? He wants to avoid me whenever he sees me these past two days. Why? Because Grandmaster Ge also admits that I, his disciple, am excellent, and because the emperor also says that this little fat boy like me has a promising future! A prodigal son who returns is more valuable than gold? No, now the prodigal son has turned around and become a genius!"
Hearing Lu Sanlang's boastful shouting, Zhang Shou didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He rushed to the door in two or three steps and knocked on it unhappily. The next moment, he heard Lu Sanlang laughing and saying, "Did you see? These past few days, people have been visiting me, a genius praised by the emperor..."
As the door was suddenly opened, the smug expression on Lu Sanlang's fat face froze in an instant. The moment he saw Zhang Shou clearly, he coughed awkwardly: "Young Master, why are you here?"
Zhang Shou saw that Lu Sanlang was blocking the doorway, so he nodded to Ah Liu to come forward. When Ah Liu pushed the heavy Lu Sanlang aside effortlessly, he stepped over the threshold and saw three people squeezed into the narrow space. They were the three members of the Zhang family. He was surprised that they were the three of them.
"Young sir, I've been to your home before, but you were still sleeping, and I didn't want to disturb you, so I had to take my leave." The one who rushed to stand up, salute and speak to show closeness was Zhang Wu, who was committed to making a name for himself.
"Young sir, from now on, I will also live in the Imperial College dormitory, and my fifth brother and I will share a room." This is Zhang Lu, who has a slippery temper.
Zhang Chen was the last to speak, his voice a little stiff: "My father said that if Fatty Lu could live in the Imperial College, there's no reason why I can't bear the hardship, so he sent me to live in the dormitory ... Since the four of us have to suffer here, there's no reason for others to be an exception. Later, Fatty Lu and I will work together to find a way to get everyone to live here!"
If all these evildoers lived in the Imperial College, Xu Heizi, the Chief Supervisor of the Imperial College, would go crazy!
Thinking back to the time in Cuiyunjian, it was because Zhu Ying was on duty to oversee the situation, but now the Imperial College can’t do the same!
And he couldn't even withstand an imperial ruler, let alone an imperial board or a guillotine!
Zhang Shou spoke in a sincere tone without hesitation: "Lu Sanlang is hiding from his father, why are you joining in the fun? He wants to study at Jiuzhang Hall. Ask yourself, are you willing to spend all day studying mathematics that you will never understand? Students at Banshan Hall will not live on campus. This is settled. You must show your determination and give Yingying the things I punished you to copy before!"
Seeing Zhang Chen relieved, Zhang Wu looking unwilling, Zhang Lu's eyes darting around, Zhang Shou said without even turning his head: "Lu Zhu, have you finished copying what I ordered you to copy?"
Lu Sanlang was stunned when he suddenly heard Zhang Shou calling his name. He subconsciously wanted to bargain, but when Zhang Shou turned around, he looked at him as if he would just order him to eat if he dared to talk too much. He hurriedly nodded and said, "Copy it, copy it, I'll hand it in later!"
After knocking down Lu Sanlang's arrogance, Zhang Shou said calmly, "If nothing unexpected happens in Jiuzhang Hall, Lu Sanlang should be the head of the hall. Banshan Hall also needs a head of the hall, Zhang Chen, you can take the position."
Zhang Chen's eyes widened in disbelief, and he pointed at his nose. When he realized that Zhang Shou was not joking at all, he couldn't help but ask with mixed feelings: "Why... me?"
"Because you have the potential to be a leader." Zhang Shou lied with his eyes open - to be honest, it should be that Zhang Chen has the potential to be a bad leader or a playboy leader. Then, he found that Zhang Chen seemed to be instantly injected with a spirit from outer space, and his back was straight. So, he took the opportunity to look at Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu.
"The subjects in Banshan Hall will be different in the morning and afternoon from now on. The morning subjects will be roughly divided into arts and science. You two will draw lots, one will be in charge of arts, and the other will be in charge of science. You will supervise lateness, early departure, and absenteeism, and collect the homework notebooks I assign. All of them are given to you! As for Zhang Chen, you must set an example and supervise everyone. Lu Sanlang, you will do the same in the future!"
In an instant, Ah Liu discovered that the four bad representatives in the room raised their heads and chests and said in unison: "Yes!"
Seeing that the cadre team was set up, Zhang Shou smiled and said, "Starting tomorrow, you will go to each family to encourage them to study. The Jiuzhang Hall has not been repaired yet, and it will take some time to enroll students, but the Banshan Hall should have classes! Lu Sanlang, you should go too. As someone who has been commended by the emperor himself, you should go out and set an example. If your father hears about it, he will regret it!"
