Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 123: Modern People Are Better Than Ancient People
Outside the Banshan Hall, Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye from the Imperial College stood side by side. When several doctors from the Imperial College heard Zhang Shou extolling the principles of the world, most of them showed indignation. One of the oldest finally couldn't help but roared loudly: "The era of the ancient sage kings was a time of wise rule. How can we compare it with the past? You are so arrogant and ridiculous!"
None of the students in the room had expected that someone outside would suddenly start a fight at this time. Even those who had just been distracted became excited all of a sudden. This was the Imperial College, and usually each hall was in charge of its own affairs. The Imperial College doctors only occasionally supervised the halls they were in charge of, and most matters were handed over to the hall masters.
Now someone has come forward to confront their new teacher. This is going to be a big fuss!
Zhang Shou had expected that if he worshipped the present instead of the past, he would be criticized. Recognizing that the person who angrily refuted him was Yang Yiming, a doctor in charge of the Ruxing Hall in the Imperial College, he laughed and said, "Dr. Yang said that the time of the ancient sage kings was the best. Then I dare to ask you, do you know how big the territory was during the time of the ancient sage kings? How many people were there in the world at that time? How many people could read at that time?"
Seeing that the old man was stunned by his question, he continued to speak rapidly: "In the time of the ancient sage king, Jiangnan was still a swamp, Jingchu was still a jungle, Liaodong was a world of ice and snow, and the only inhabited area was a small area in the Central Plains, which is now the area of a provincial government. Do you think it is more difficult to govern a provincial government or to govern the world today?"
Without waiting for the old man to recollect his thoughts, he spoke again calmly.
"The Book of History says that only the ancestors of the Shang Dynasty had books and classics. Even written history only gradually emerged during the Shang Dynasty. Even if there were many quotations from the ancient sages, could they have recorded even a single thing? You must know that the Shang Dynasty valued blood sacrifices, and the Zhou Dynasty only respected rituals! We grind wheat to eat noodles now, but during the Han Dynasty, only the nobles could eat flour, and ordinary people could only eat wheat rice."
"There was no paper in the Qin Dynasty, no water-powered stone mills in the Han Dynasty, no gunpowder in the Jin Dynasty, no movable type in the Tang Dynasty, no muskets in the Song Dynasty, and the firearms of the Yuan Dynasty were far inferior to those of today... Not to mention that the fields reclaimed by hundreds of millions of people today are all over the world, and once they are harvested, the world will be well fed. By the way, I remember that even kapok was only planted on a large scale in this dynasty. May I ask, Dr. Yang, what did people in ancient times use to keep warm?"
Seeing that Yang Yiming's face was twitching, Zhang Shou said calmly, "Yes, there were furs at that time, but since you are in the ancient times where etiquette is respected, if you can only kill wild animals to get meat and skins to fill your stomach and keep warm, how can it compare to today when you can get everything from the fields and be full and warm?"
Seeing that Yang Yiming was completely refuted, the other doctors of the Imperial College looked at each other in bewilderment, and they could not help but feel very fortunate that they did not rashly join the ranks of refutation, so that they did not end up in such an embarrassing situation.
When Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye looked at each other, they felt even more uncomfortable.
All dynasties have advocated restoration of the past, but this dynasty... ahem, our Taizu hates people talking about the ancient sage kings the most. When a great scholar once brought up this topic, he immediately refuted it in a thundering voice, saying that the ancient ancestors still ate raw meat and drank blood. No matter how capable the sage king was, how could the world be more prosperous than it is today with his bare hands?
Just when they were stuck, they heard a low exclamation of praise from behind them.
"Well said! Everyone talks about the ancient sage kings. Emperor Taizu once said that, let alone the ancient times, there were no stirrups in the Qin Dynasty, and men in the Han Dynasty still wore open-crotch pants! Life has been getting better and better from ancient times to the present!"
Yang Yiming, a doctor from the Imperial College who was racking his brains for words, turned his head angrily and saw that the person who spoke was none other than Zhu Ying, a woman dressed as a man! Before he could remind himself that a good man should not fight with a woman, he recognized the other person next to her.
This time, his face turned pale immediately.
Because the person standing behind them and listening with great interest was none other than the current emperor.
It doesn't matter if he desperately praises the ancient sage kings behind their backs, and it doesn't matter if he praises the ancient times, because even the emperor will mention the ancient times on certain occasions. However, in this situation, his words that the present is not as good as the past were obviously heard by the emperor, which is simply digging his own grave!
The emperor only looked at the old doctor who always advocated ancient times with a deep look in his eyes, and then gestured to others to stop Zhou Xun and other academic officials from coming to greet him. He did not want his arrival to affect the class inside.
Zhang Shou, who was in the room, also happened to hear Zhu Ying's voice. He didn't know that the emperor outside was also interested in listening, but he withdrew his gaze from Old Man Yang and glanced at the students in the Banshan Hall with a smile.
"In fact, a lot of what I said can be found in ancient books and texts. There may be many mysterious things in ancient times that have been lost, but now, we have also created a prosperous era that the ancients could not imagine. At least, the ancients would never have anyone sailing around the world and seeing the four seas like we do."
At this point, he changed his tone and said, "I know that except for the two princes who are just beginning their education, the people sitting here are probably just average in their study talent, or in other words, they don't like rote memorization. Therefore, the curriculum I set is also very simple, four classes a day, two classes in the morning and two classes in the afternoon, each class lasts half an hour, and there is a break of 25 minutes."
"One is to talk about history for half an hour. We will talk about the history books of all dynasties, and also talk about things in the notes of ancient and modern Chinese and foreign literati. We will combine it with some of the Four Books and Five Classics. You can just treat it as listening to a story. You can ask questions in class."
"The second is nature. Simply explain the principles of the world to everyone. At least, no one will be so ignorant as to cry about witchcraft in the future."
The emperor and Zhu Ying outside the door heard Zhang Shou's words, one smiled, the other sneered, and they thought of Zhang Huaili, the former Minister of Revenue who had retired at home. It was a pity that he had suffered a stroke and was paralyzed, unable to speak or write. Even if he was present at this time and heard Zhang Shou's satire of the magic, he would not be able to refute it angrily.
"The third is ritual and music. Simply put, it is a variety of elective courses that cultivate one's sentiments. Music, chess, calligraphy, and painting are all included in it. All kinds of musical instruments, whether elegant or vulgar, are included in it."
"The fourth is physical fitness. Horseback archery, martial arts, Cuju, polo, etc. are all possible. If you are not interested in these too intense confrontations, you can try pitching pots, cricket, table tennis... I will send you a list of three or four classes later. Life lies in sports. Even if you can't become a general, govern the people, or command the army, at least, being weak and useless is a scholar. These comments should not belong to the students of the Imperial College!"
Lu Sanlang, who was also sneaking behind the emperor to watch the fun, almost cheered loudly, but thinking that it was too exaggerated, he could only suppress his emotion. The next moment, he heard a childish voice coming from inside.
"That's great! I'm most afraid of being forced to memorize things every day!"
The fourth prince's excitement only lasted for a moment, because his sleeve was pulled hard by his third brother beside him and it stopped abruptly. Realizing that he had lost his composure several times today, he was immediately embarrassed.
However, he completely relaxed in a moment, because Zhang Chen followed behind him and applauded, and all the playboys who had hung out in Cuiyun's room were working hard to make a scene and act as supporting actors. As for the others... Although some were still skeptical, this course arrangement was much better than what they had imagined, where they would be forced to memorize classics and write articles with a ruler in front of them.
Therefore, after the initial sparse applause, more and more people joined in. Among the more than 100 people in the room, only a few stubborn people still persisted. Someone even asked loudly when the applause gradually died down.
"Just now Dr. Zhang said there are four classes a day. Do you think you are proficient in all of these?"
"Of course...that's impossible!"
Zhang Shou paused, then said those three words calmly with a smile: "There are probably no people in this world who are well versed in classics and history, skilled in martial arts, excellent in music, outstanding in etiquette, and good at playing Cuju and polo. I am no exception. However, there are naturally many people who are proficient in one thing in this capital city where talents from all over the world gather."
"Besides, what are electives? They are just to allow everyone to learn something that they are truly interested in. Given your respective backgrounds and circumstances, if you are really willing to delve into it, we will naturally be able to invite world-class teachers to teach you in the future. Today's classes are just for inspiration. So, I will teach the required history and nature courses, and for the rest of the teachers, you can nominate yourselves and we will hire them from outside."
"The candidates for each elective course are decided by voting by the students who have chosen the course. After the selection, everyone will find ways to invite them. Of course, there are rules for entering and leaving the Imperial College. If someone wants to invite the top star to teach about love, it's better to give up the idea as soon as possible. If you are good at Cuju and pitching pots, you can also recommend yourself to be a professor."
They heard that teachers could decide for themselves and even recommend themselves. Although Zhang Shou had banned the top performers in brothels and brothels who were proficient in music, everyone was still very excited. It was not until the sound of a gavel that they quieted down again.
No one noticed that, although they could not be said to be completely convinced by the commander, they had already unconsciously become willing to listen to him.
Zhang Shou knew that if the emperor was willing, he could invite the best scholar in the world, or the teacher with the highest teaching level, for the third and fourth princes. Even Ge Yong might not refuse the request to give lectures to the two princes every now and then. But the emperor threw the two princes and a bunch of bad boys to him. Therefore, he decided on his strategy in Banshan Hall from the beginning.
Tell stories, not talk about knowledge; popularize, not do research.
He might not be able to convert all the 24 people who had been to Cuiyun Room, let alone the more than 100 people now?
