Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 76: No fame and no background?
"Master Ge is here!"
Concubine Yu murmured to herself, Princess Yongping was greatly surprised, the Madam Dowager was confident, and Zhu Ying ran down the stairs without saying a word, holding up her skirt. When she got down to the first floor, she saw Zhang Shou had come forward and supported Ge Yong's arm very warmly. And next to him was Qi Jingshan, who seemed to be smiling but not smiling.
I used to think you were kind and honest. I'll settle the score with you when I get back!
Although Ge Yong did not say it directly, Zhang Shou still saw such language from the teacher's eyes, and couldn't help but cough twice with a guilty conscience. He really didn't expect Ge Yong to come today , and he was planning to bring Deng Xiaodai and Qi Liang to pay a visit later, and then tactfully point out the matter of fabricating the teacher's quotations, but he didn't expect to be caught in the act.
If you count it up, including the fact that he renovated Cuiyun Room and recruited students, this fake has bumped into the real one twice...If he hadn't been good at math since childhood in his previous life and was able to bring a surprise to Ge Yong, this teacher would probably be furious now, right?
The more he thought about it, the more he felt sorry for Ge Yong, so he said sincerely: "Teacher, I have some ideas about Tianyuanshu..."
Ge Yong's eyes lit up immediately, and he smiled and said to Qi Jingshan beside him: "Old Qi, let me tell you, this kid has a lot of stuff in his belly. Instead of wasting time in this kind of literary meeting, why not bring him back to help us!"
Qi Jingshan was so angry that he laughed. In the past, it was always another old friend, Old Man Chu, who was arguing with Ge Yong, and he would watch the fun from the sidelines, but at this moment, he couldn't help himself: "Helping? You were having a lot of fun using various formulas to make secret codes for what Zhang Shou said yesterday, and you even kept dragging me along in the middle of the night. Give me a hundred disciples who can help like this!"
"There isn't one! Go find it yourself!"
However, the two old men acted as if no one was around and were talking, so the other candidates couldn't sit still and came forward to greet them .
Ge Yong is the Grand Tutor, so Qi Jingshan must not neglect him. Before he retired, he was the Minister of the Ministry of Rites! Although he had never presided over the imperial examinations, he also had many students...
Xu Fengyang, who had just launched a protest in public but was met with retort, now stood out as the only one among the crowd!
Seeing Zhu Ying running out of Yuehua Tower like a gust of wind, and directly supporting Qi Jingshan, calling him Grandpa Ge and Grandpa Qi affectionately, he thought of the "simple" task he had agreed to today. He had already been stabbed, and even if he wanted to retreat, he would not be able to put his neck back like that.
He took a deep breath and said loudly, "Grandmaster Ge, Grandmaster Qi, the collection of contemporary essays I compiled contains all the essays that were personally praised by many judges and selectors at the last Yuehua Tower Literary Conference. Most importantly, they are all disciples of saints who have worked hard in the imperial examinations and have achieved success!"
As Xu Fengyang spoke, he glanced sharply at the contemporary essay anthologies around him. Seeing that no one agreed with him, he couldn't help but feel angry and anxious, but he had to go ahead.
"The half of the article that Master Zhang recited is indeed good, but Master Zhang has no official title. He was allowed to attend the Yuehua Tower literary gathering today by the princess's permission. He was lucky. He has never been gentle, respectful, frugal and modest. It would have been fine if he had studied and understood the articles of his predecessors. He even thought that he could surpass many predecessors in the imperial examinations with only half of an article. Isn't that too arrogant?"
"How forgetful! Just now my young master said that he knew nothing about contemporary literature, so he only brought his eyes and ears. Who suddenly jumped out and made irresponsible remarks, accusing him of misleading students? Now that he can't win the argument, he starts to accuse the young master of having no achievements. How shameless!"
Deng Xiaodai had been pretending to be mute just now, but now seeing Zhang Shou's backer coming, he immediately muttered something behind Ge Yong.
The muttering was so soft that only Ge Yong could hear it. For a moment, Ge Yong, who had just missed the scene where Xu Fengyang provoked Zhang Shou, suddenly became fierce and glared at the selector.
Facing such an aggressive gaze, Xu Fengyang remembered that Ge Yong was also a man who would scold anyone he saw when he was an official, and he couldn't help but tremble with fear, but he tried his best to stand straight. After all, at this moment, he had no choice but to stick to his integrity and had no way out.
When he mentioned the word fame, those eight-part essay selectors who had temporarily retreated because of the joint appearance of Ge Yong and Qi Jingshan could not help but exchange glances in twos and threes, while more scholars showed surprise on their faces.
Some bold people hid in the crowd and shouted, "Mr. Xu is right. How can a person without any honor or background come here to talk so much?"
Do you think I really care about Princess Yongping's invitation to the Yuehua Tower Literary Gathering? If it weren't for the fact that Concubine Yu sent someone to pass on the message, I would have planned not to come from the beginning!
If Zhang Shou hadn't seen Chang Ning, who had just been with him and pretended to be invisible at the critical moment, running into Yuehua Tower, it was obvious that the two noble mother and daughter from the palace might have come downstairs. Zhang Shou wanted to retort. However, the next moment, he heard a slightly sharp voice coming from the building.
"Who said Zhang Shou had no background?"
Zhang Shou thought that the person who would come out would be Princess Yongping, the lady dowager of Duke Zhao's mansion whom he could not see through, or even Concubine Yu. However, he did not expect that the person who strode out was actually a man in a brocade robe.
Hearing the voice, Zhang Shou vaguely felt that this person seemed to be a eunuch, but this person was different from the fat and big-eared Chang Ning who had a smiling face. He had a strong back and slim waist and a masculine face. If he had been beardless, he would have associated this person with Xiong Yi, the commander of the left camp of the Ruiqi Battalion whom he had met before.
The man nodded slightly to him, then glanced at everyone with his sharp eyes, and then spoke again slowly.
"On the night of August 14, the fleeing rebels from the Linhai camp attacked Rongshui Village and almost caused a disaster. It was Zhang Shou who made the plan and worked together with Zhang Chen and other noble sons and villagers to capture all 32 rebels. Among them, six were killed, one committed suicide, and the rest were all captured. The emperor said that such a record has never been seen in the civilian world, and it is rare even in the army, and it must be praised!"
With the emperor's last words, there was no more noise around. Compared to Zhang Shou, who was a little surprised, Zhu Ying was full of joy and immediately asked, "Eunuch Chu, how do you reward me?"
"The Emperor originally wanted to discuss military merits, but when he heard that he was a disciple of Grand Tutor Ge and was proficient in mathematics, he laughed and said that Grand Tutor Ge was a master of mathematics, but he always sighed that there was no successor, and the mathematics department of the Imperial College was even more useless. So he appointed him as a doctor of the Imperial College and went back to rebuild the mathematics department! Just before I accompanied the princess out, the cabinet had already drafted an imperial edict on this matter."
Zhang Shou was secretly surprised and was about to decline modestly, but he didn't expect Ge Yong to suddenly grab him hard. He grimaced in pain and swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
At this time, Ge Yong smiled and said, "Your Majesty is truly a man of vision. When the imperial edict is issued, I will bring this useless disciple to the palace to personally express my gratitude."
On the one hand, he says he is useless, but on the other hand, he is so proud of himself. How boastful!
After Qi Jingshan complained in his heart, he saw Zhu Ying beside him also looked very happy, so he could only sigh inwardly.
This old man and this child...are hopeless!
However, Xu Fengyang's face turned pale instantly. The position of Imperial College Doctor, common people may not have heard of it, but for scholars, it is very important.
Emperor Taizu, against all odds, raised the rank of the Imperial College, promoting the chief academic officer to the second rank, the dean to the fourth rank, the doctors of various subjects to the seventh rank, the assistant teachers to the eighth rank, and the supervisor of the Imperial College to the eighth rank.
Nowadays, after the palace examination every three years, except for those lucky ones who become Shujishi because of the academy selection, only the most outstanding and best-lucky few second-class Jinshi can be appointed as the Doctor of the Imperial College when they are appointed as officials... You know, that is a seventh-rank academic official!
How could the cabinet obey orders and draft an edict!
Just when Xu Fengyang was panicking, Princess Yongping asked for him: "The Imperial College is the highest institution of learning in our dynasty, it is of great importance. Do all the ministers in the cabinet have no objection to this?"
Princess Yongping was really surprised. Chu Kuan was the chief of the Imperial Household Department who accompanied her to the Yuehua Tower Literary Meeting every time, but this old man was always sitting there with a gloomy look, not saying anything. Over time, she just treated him as if he didn't exist. But who knew that he would suddenly jump out and throw out such an imperial decree from his father!
It didn't matter that Xu Fengyang was embarrassed, but Zhang Shou was actually promoted directly from a commoner to a doctor of the Imperial College. Wouldn't her Yuehua Tower literary gathering become a joke?
Chu Kuan, the secretary of the Imperial Household Department, who was called Eunuch Chu by Zhu Ying, laughed nonchalantly.
"The Emperor said that Zhang Shou was able to keep a group of famous students in the capital who were unwilling to spend their days in the Imperial College and spent their days in the Imperial Academy seeking pleasure under control. Isn't he worthy of the title of Imperial College Doctor? As for the several Grand Secretaries in the Cabinet, only Lord Wu was there after the morning court session. Some of the others had taken leave, while others were presiding over a meeting of the Ministry, so Lord Wu wrote the imperial edict himself."
"The imperial edict may have been sent to the Duke of Zhao's mansion by now. Since some people are questioning Zhang Shou's lack of family background and fame, I'll say it first. It won't take a while to make a scene. It will save others from harping on his lack of family background and starting a fight."
