Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 125: The Emperor Motivates the Scholars
After telling a story about the history of the Tang Dynasty using the books he had read at home in Rongshui Village, Zhang Shou then turned back with a smile and talked about the Spring and Autumn Period.
In this era when the Spring and Autumn Annals did not yet exist, he quoted two sentences from the original text in the Spring and Autumn Annals, and then added rich details from Feng Menglong's Spring and Autumn Annals, weaving a bunch of short stories that were difficult to distinguish between true and false. Even many of the Imperial College officials who were listening in were fascinated by his stories. But even though the emperor was still there, Doctor Yang Yiming of the Imperial College still withdrew.
When the half-hour class was over, others were still able to hold back, but the Third and Fourth Princes immediately stood up and surrounded Zhang Shou without thinking. The anxious Fourth Prince asked, "Dr. Zhang, will you teach like this in the future?"
"Of course." Zhang Shou looked at the Fourth Prince's chubby appearance and suddenly wanted to touch his head, but he held back and just smiled and nodded, "Tang Taizong once said that using copper as a mirror can correct one's clothes and hats; using the past as a mirror can help one understand the rise and fall of things; using people as a mirror can help one understand gains and losses. We are now using the past as a mirror and history as a mirror."
Outside the door, Lu Sanlang had sneaked in early, but found that there were too many people in front, so he could only watch from behind. Finally, he couldn't help but rush back to the emperor and said with a smile on his face: "Your Majesty, the Jiuzhang Hall has not started yet, can I also go to the Banshan Hall to listen in?"
"Your legs are on your body, how can I stop you?" The emperor laughed dumbly and tapped Lu Sanlang's head with his folding fan. "I think that when Jiuzhangtang is really reopened, Zhang Shou might be split in half and he won't be able to take care of it."
He paused for a moment, then looked at the many school officials who had just come forward after the class was over, and said with a half-smile, "You should know what I mean, right?"
Seeing Zhou Xun's face turning pale and blue, Luo Siye dodging and not daring to look at him, and the other doctors all lowered their heads, the emperor then laughed.
"These days, from the county school to the Imperial Academy, most teachers just read the book stiffly, and then read the so-called annotations of the predecessors again, and they are unwilling to say a word more. Because many people are only good at learning, but it is difficult for them to explain it well to others. And if they say one more word, it is easy for others to find fault with them."
"It is precisely because people in public schools often treat lectures as a formality, and those scholars only regard passing the examination as an honor, and do not really take studying in public schools seriously, that the public schools established by Emperor Taizu gradually became inferior to private schools."
"I am not targeting you, because in the public schools of the world, most teachers are thinking about being officials, not educating people. Moreover, the academic officials in the public schools of the world are of too low a rank, and their say is too low compared to the heads of prefectures and counties."
Seeing that many people were about to plead guilty, the emperor stretched out his hand to stop them and said in a deep voice: "I will not investigate what happened to the academic officials of the Imperial College in the past. All of you are Jinshi, so I hope that you can fulfill your responsibilities as academic officials of the Imperial College. Of course, if any student dares to make trouble, he will be expelled directly. I give you this authority."
"Within one year, if the academic atmosphere of the Imperial College is rectified, I will promote you to a higher rank. Within three years, if there are a few outstanding people among the students who graduate from the Imperial College who satisfy me, I can promise that if you want to go to the Hanlin Academy, you can go to the Hanlin Academy; if you want to go to the Six Ministries, you can go to the Six Ministries; if you want to go to the Imperial Edict Office, you can go to the Imperial Edict Office. All the vacancies of the sixth rank are up to you to choose! As for Mr. Zhou and Mr. Luo, they will be promoted to another rank."
"There is only one thing. The students of the Imperial College should treat this as a place to study, not a place to participate in politics. You don't know anything, and you are talking about politics! And you academic officials should do the same. Treat this as an institution for teaching and educating people. Don't even think about getting a job as an official before you've done your job as a teacher!"
As soon as these words came out, whether it was the elder Zhou Jijiu Luo Siye or other doctors of the Imperial Academy, they were immediately overwhelmed with emotion and could not control themselves. They hurriedly bowed and saluted, and responded generously. At this moment, no one thought that the emperor was so arbitrary, what if the court officials objected.
Because all emperors of previous dynasties had tried their best to improve the Imperial College of Emperor Taizu, there were promises more generous than this!
It was the end of class, and several students heard the noise and stuck their heads out to see what was going on. They saw a bunch of school officials all bending over and nodding their heads as if they were a head shorter. When they saw Zhu Ying, most of those who knew her immediately retracted their heads. However, one of them had sharp eyes and saw the emperor beside Zhu Ying. He turned around in a hurry and shouted to the Banshan Hall.
"The Emperor is here!"
In an instant, the huge Banshan Hall fell silent. The Third and Fourth Princes, who had just surrounded Zhang Shou, rushed out in a hurry after a moment of silence. However, when they reached the door, they only saw the back of the emperor leaving with several guards. The two men subconsciously wanted to run after him, but were easily held back by Zhang Shou with one hand each.
"You are now students of Banshan Hall, so don't run around randomly. If you want to see the emperor, you can see him after school."
Although he was a little worried about how to get along with the princes in the beginning, after all, Zhang Shou had met the eldest prince and the second prince in Qingning Palace and was very dissatisfied with their behavior. But now, facing the two young but well-educated little princes, he felt that his mentality unconsciously relaxed.
Especially when he saw the school teachers dispersing one after another, and only Zhu Ying was walking towards him with Lu Sanlang, smiling.
"Lu Sanlang said that he wants to listen to your Banshan Hall for a while."
Zhu Ying casually pushed the fat Lu Sanlang into the door, and then looked out. She saw more than a hundred young men of noble families lowering their heads, turning their heads, or pretending to speak under her gaze. Except for a few brave ones like Zhang Chen, most of them avoided her scrutiny. She withdrew her gaze as if nothing had happened.
"You know, the emperor just made a promise to the boss!"
Zhu Ying did not shy away from the countless people who were listening attentively. She told the emperor's words one by one with a smile. Seeing that many students were dumbfounded, she said to Zhang Shou angrily, "You just gave a good lecture, but do you think those doctors of the Imperial College also teach like you? They just go around once a day. The rest of the time, it's the head of the dormitory who is in charge of the students."
"It's the most highly ranked Ruxing Hall in the Imperial College. Students there spend most of their time studying and memorizing, constantly writing essays based on the topics assigned by their teachers. Only occasionally will it be their turn for their teachers to comment on their essays. To speak so seriously like you do, huh, only teachers specially hired by the royal family or aristocratic families would do that, or only the best academies would do that!"
Having said this, Zhu Ying paused, and then shouted to the hall in the middle of the mountain: "Zhang Chen, do you think this is the case?"
Zhang Chen didn't expect to be called out by Zhu Ying in such a place. When he was hesitating, Lu Sanlang got there first.
"Why not? Otherwise, why do you think I, and others, are not willing to study at the Imperial College? Because that's just reading books... Uh, excuse me, teacher, I really can't help but swear!"
In this kind of situation, he put away the three words "little gentleman" and replaced them with the formal and serious word "teacher".
Lu Sanlang apologized with a smile, and then said unhappily, "Because I really can't learn anything. If I really need to memorize books, don't I know that I can memorize them in my own study with the help of a maid. Why should I look at the faces of these guys? I have at least a hundred or eighty annotations of the Four Books at home. Why should I come here to listen to the teachers reading from the books?"
After venting, he didn't wait for others to agree with him, but immediately smiled again. His smile was so sincere, as if he was a street vendor hawking his wares diligently.
"But I was really eager to listen to your lectures, so I petitioned the emperor and sat in on the class before the Jiuzhang Hall opened!"
Flatterer!
Zhang Chen almost cursed out loud. Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu shared the same sentiment. As for the other nobles, some admitted that the first class was a little more interesting than they had imagined, but some thought it was just a way to kill time. However, after the Third and Fourth Princes spoke, they could only swallow their opinions.
"Teacher's class is really interesting!" I don't know if it was because of Lu Sanlang that the Fourth Prince changed his address very naturally. "Father invited many people to give trial lectures to me and my third brother a few days ago. What they said was confusing and boring! Teacher, please hurry up and have the next class. I still want to see those interesting experiments!"
The Third Prince saw that many of the people older than his brothers had stiff faces. He quickly pulled his Fourth Brother and whispered, "Fourth Brother, if you don't rest, others will have to rest, and the teacher will have to rest too."
"Uh..." The Fourth Prince smiled awkwardly at Zhang Shou.
Zhang Shou smiled faintly: "The Fourth Prince will understand in the future that being on time for class and leaving get out of class on time is the best quality of a teacher."
If you knew that those interesting experiments represent physics that has evolved from being simple and straightforward to becoming increasingly complex and profound; if you knew that those stories you have heard come from ancient texts that are concise but obscure; if you knew that the principles of the world also involve various chemical elements, and that various changes are various chemical equations, and that balancing an equation can drive a beginner crazy...
Learning is only interesting to a small group of people. For most people, it is cold and unfriendly. I will just make a general statement. You still have to go back to the palace and study the Four Books and Five Classics...
