Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 126: Look at the sword!
The first day when all the students of Banshan Hall in the Imperial College arrived ended uneventfully.
Afterwards, most of the students said with lingering fear that they were lucky to have listened to Zhang Chen and the other two's violent persuasion and Lu Sanlang's gentle persuasion. Otherwise, with the emperor's sudden arrival, anyone who missed class would be as conspicuous as a bright light at night. On the contrary, the three underage princes, the third and fourth princes, became classmates, and they felt no pressure.
With the eldest prince and the second prince, the two legitimate sons of the queen, in front, the little prince is just the little prince.
In contrast, Zhang Shou's first history lecture was about the White Horse Disaster, which was interpreted more from the perspective of the imperial examination, which naturally attracted criticism from some people. But compared with his initial statement that the present is better than the past, the story of the White Horse Disaster has become a completely negligible one. However, the emperor's promise to the academic officials of the Imperial College overshadowed these controversies.
At that moment, the low-ranking officials who had originally envied the rare but precious position of Imperial College Doctor were almost going crazy with envy!
One year of waiting, three years to select a sixth-rank official vacancy, this is simply... adding a piece of mouth-watering pig's trotter to the already fragrant braised pork!
The elective class on the first afternoon was just a messy course selection statistics, so in the evening, Zhang Shou once again stepped into the Shuntian government office. It was not his first time here, so he was not familiar with the place, but the master he had met before treated him as if he was the most familiar person, talking to him familiarly and sending him to the second hall of Shuntian government office familiarly.
When Zhang Shou stepped into this place, he saw a scene that was unexpected but reasonable.
That's really... a mountain of literature!
He once knew that the examination papers for the college entrance examination would take up a room to be piled up. And now, in a corner of the second hall of the Shuntian government office, there were piles of various scrolls and papers, which looked extremely messy at first glance.
Behind the major case, the usually serious Shuntian prefect Wang Jie was sitting there with a cold face. The person who was behind him was a young official whom he seemed to have met at the gate of Shuntian prefecture. However, he was quickly pushed into a sedan chair by Zhu Ying that day, and he forgot to ask who the person was. According to the news he had heard before, it should be Song Tuiguan.
The desks of both of them were filled with documents as big as a mountain.
Next to this Magistrate Song, a young man who was so familiar to him that he didn't notice him coming in at all. He was leaning over a small table, numbly looking at the papers one by one, and throwing them on the ground after he finished reading.
It was not until Zhang Shou stood beside the small desk, blocking the light, that the young man suddenly raised his head, his face full of anger. When he recognized him, he suddenly shouted angrily.
"Young Master, take a look at these papers! They are so useless, yet they dare to send them to the Shuntian government office!"
Zhang Shou squatted down and picked up a paper on the ground. He took a look and felt his temples throbbing. If he were a grading teacher, he would rather receive a blank paper than see three eight-part essays with profound ideas and great principles on a paper with only three math problems!
What the hell is this!
Just as he was about to curse, Wang Datou's cold voice came from the main seat above: "I plan to order people to add conditions to the notices in all directions. From tomorrow on, if you want to send in papers, you need to have a signature from your guarantor. Those who answer them carelessly will not be allowed to participate in the prefectural examination, the imperial examination, and the provincial examination within two subjects! If you dare to use the books of sages to prevaricate when answering questions, you will be banned from taking the exam for another subject!"
It seems that Wang Datou, who also read the books of sages and passed the imperial examination, served as the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, and was also proficient in mathematics, was also very angry about this lucky practice - how is this different from the practice of trying to write more beautiful words in the imperial examination in the hope of flattering the teacher? After all, except for the provincial examination, the imperial examination, the palace examination, generally no transcription is done, and there is no manpower...
Song Tuiguan, who was also exhausted, finally forgot how difficult his boss was to serve. He sighed and said, "It should have been done a long time ago. If it had been done like this when the notice was posted, there would probably be fewer people who relied on luck."
Zhang Shou smiled awkwardly and said, "I really have no experience, so I asked Wang Dayin for help."
The experienced Wang Datou's expression darkened for a moment, but when he heard Zhang Shou's next words, his expression gradually relaxed.
"Teacher is considered the most famous scholar of the time, and he is the emperor's teacher. But someone was forced to block his door. Now, it is related to such a big thing as fame and future. Even if Wang Dayin issues this decree, someone might bribe others to come and submit papers to cause trouble. After all, banning the examination can only deal with those who want to take the imperial examination, not ordinary people."
"So," Zhang Shou smiled, "even if it's waste paper, you might as well collect it. Although there are many scholars in this capital, there are also many people who want to study but can't afford it. Most of these papers are good papers. Even if you can't use a brush to dip ink to write beautiful hairpin flower small regular script on the back, it's enough for them to practice calligraphy. I think identity verification is very feasible, and there's no need for punishment."
Deng Xiaodai, who was familiar with the young gentleman, clearly saw a very gentle . But he knew that behind that gentleness, some naughty little guys in the village must be in trouble. As for now, of course, some petty people are in trouble.
"Besides, my Jiuzhang Hall will also need a lot of calculation papers. The students we recruit are not necessarily rich children like Lu Sanlang, so they can use them. Seeing the answers of these smart people and the names of the scholars they may have heard of, they may have more confidence in their abilities and their future."
Even though he was always serious, when he heard the last sentence, Wang Jie finally showed a fleeting smile on his face. He nodded slightly, and then said in a deep voice: "Okay, you are right , it is a pity to waste things. Let's make use of these papers. But not all of them are useless, there are still some papers worth looking at."
Although most of the questions were irrelevant, and the three questions Zhang Shou asked were unusually difficult in this era, some people still answered them. The solution was not simple, let alone perfect, and the best answer was only two questions, but it still allowed him to see a new possibility.
So, when he saw the dozen or so papers that were specially selected, he sincerely thanked Wang Fuyin and Song Tuiguan, who were so exhausted from grading the papers. As for Deng Xiaodai, as a student, it was his duty to serve others when there was something to be done. He comforted the poor little guy in private, and promised to send him a recent math notebook, and then said goodbye and went back.
If he were to look at the test paper after listening to the class until his mouth was dry and his tongue was parched today... he would have flipped the table.
When Zhang Shou returned to the Duke of Zhao's mansion, it was already nightfall. Thinking of how Qi Jingshan had lent him a small house out of kindness, but now he couldn't live there because of so many people blocking the door, he couldn't help but sigh. But just as he said this, he heard a faint voice coming from the front.
"Look at the sword."
Zhang Shou suddenly came back to his senses from his sigh, and the approaching cold light in front of him also frightened him. But it was only a moment, and his muscles, which had just been tensed, immediately relaxed. Ah Liu in front had just reached the door, and this was at the gate of the Duke of Zhao's mansion. If he really encountered an assassin... Hehehe, then everyone else would have died!
Sure enough, the cold light suddenly stopped just a few steps away from him. Then, he saw clearly the person holding the cold light. Who else could it be but Ah Liu? The young man handed the hilt of the sword to him with a rare serious look on his face.
Could it be that the so-called looking at the sword really just means letting him look at the sword?
Zhang Shou took the sword with a mixture of laughter and tears, but looking left and right he could not figure out what was going on. He could only glare at Ah Liu and said, "Let's talk it over nicely."
"Someone just delivered this to the door, and specifically sent it to the young master. Before I could give it to the lady, you came back, so the doorman gave it to me." Ah Liu finally said a few more words seriously, and then he took the initiative to add, "It was sent in a box, but without a scabbard."
If Zhang Shou still didn't understand, he would be a fool . What else could a sword without a scabbard do? To intimidate! Compared with the blood-stained clothes and suspected bombs he received in the mail, this was nothing!
He chuckled, waved the sword twice, and then handed it to Liu: "They say a sword is a gift to a hero, and it should be given a scabbard. I have it for self-defense."
Compared with Zhang Shou's relaxed attitude, when he came to Qing'an Hall and mentioned the matter of "getting the sword", the lady's face suddenly became gloomy. Zhu Ying, who had watched the excitement in the Imperial College for the whole morning and was chased away twice by Xu Heizi from the Shengqian Hall before having to return, was also very angry.
But before the grandfather and grandson could speak, Jiu Niang, who had already taken off her black robe and changed into casual clothes, said coldly, "If you don't attract jealousy, you are a mediocre person. Someone has given Ah Shou a sword, which shows that he has indeed made some achievements in recent days. In this case, instead of hiding it and letting others investigate, it is better to publicize it."
Zhang Shou had originally planned to do so, but he didn't expect someone to get there first. He couldn't help but laugh and said, "Aunt Jiu is really a heroic woman. I just told Ah Liu to get a scabbard for the sword. I'll take this sword with me for self-defense! But I don't know how to use a sword. When I go back to rest..."
He was just about to say that when he returned to rest, he would ask the Zhaoguo Mansion to pick a reliable family general to teach him a few tricks, but he did not expect that the next moment, he would be greeted by two unanimous voices.
"I'll teach you!"
