Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 303 Examination
Although Ji Jiu, the acting head of Banshan Hall, lacked prestige, many people were dissatisfied, but since Zhang Shou had personally named him as the head of the hall, they could only temporarily ignore it. Even though some people thought that Ji Jiu's father and mother didn't love him, and he didn't have Zhang Chen to rely on like Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu, and tried to blackmail him to help cheat, Ji Jiu had another trick up his sleeve.
As a result, the newly appointed acting head monk successfully avoided the difficult two days before the branch examination.
However, when the day of the test was sunny and windy, and Zhang Shou announced that the test would be held in Banshan Hall, countless eyes stabbed at Ji Jiu like knives. However, even in Banshan Hall, most people could not find a chance, because this place was originally large, and each table was nearly ten feet apart from each other. How many people had such good eyesight that they could see other people's papers?
What's more, Xu Heida from the Shengqian Hall personally brought two minor officials to inspect and supervise the exam, so those who wanted to cheat could only sigh in vain.
When the papers were handed out, a few quick-witted students quickly glanced at them and, regardless of the solemn atmosphere at the moment, let out a low wail. This strange sound spread in an instant until the sound of the wake-up wood was heard in the lecture hall. The huge Banshan Hall fell silent again.
It is still unclear whether the questions are difficult or not, but everyone realizes one thing, that is... there are a lot of questions!
Before the exam started, Zhang Shou had already revealed the answers - most of the questions were set by Xu Heida, and a small part was set by the emperor. Therefore, in the absence of the emperor, Xu Heida naturally became the target of all the glares. However, Xu Heizi, the famous person in the Shengqian Hall, seemed not to notice and continued to patrol the exam room like a hawk inspecting his territory.
However, he was still quite grateful to Zhang Shou in his heart - although he was famous, he was not a proper and noble academic official like the doctors of the Imperial College, but a miscellaneous official at the end of his career. It was his duty to deal with the students who violated the school rules, but he was not qualified to set questions for the students. He secretly attended Zhang Shou's classes for so many times, and now he felt that his listening was not in vain.
Therefore, Zhang Shou asked him to increase the number of questions, and he unceremoniously gave three full test papers, and finally even used five clerks to lock him in a small dark room to copy the test papers - in order to keep it secret, they have not been released yet. From Zhang Shou's initial history lectures to the later natural sciences and mathematics, everything was included. Although the difficulty was not high, it was not easy to answer because of the large number of questions.
Xu Heida was not a Jinshi, but he also fought his way to the top in the imperial examinations. He passed the county examinations, the prefectural examinations, and the imperial academy examinations and became a scholar, but he failed repeatedly in the examinations for juren. It was at that time that he heard that the imperial examinations were suspended in the early years of Taizu, and that all the county schools, state schools, and prefectures in the country studied at the Imperial College, and the best were selected from each school and sent up. Finally, only those who graduated from the Imperial College were appointed officials. He was very surprised by this system.
Therefore, after he passed the imperial examination at the age of nearly 40, he gave up the idea of taking the imperial examination, worked hard to get the qualification, and finally entered the Imperial College. However, the situation of the Imperial College disappointed him greatly, and over time, he became more and more severe to the students. However, as a selfless supervisor, he could not save the Imperial College, which was gradually showing signs of decline.
Until Zhang Shou became a doctor of the Imperial College.
This young doctor of the Imperial College was just like the catfish that Emperor Taizu once compared to to his ministers in the court. He made the originally stagnant Imperial College come alive, and he even stirred up the peaceful waters of the court.
He is really a newborn calf that is not afraid of tigers... What was he doing when he was this age? He was only reading the books of sages, and was working hard to hone his skills in writing official documents? In fact, he had thought at that time, can he govern the country after writing such documents? He thought that he couldn't, but who cared about him?
Therefore, Zhang Shou pulled those noble children in Banshan Hall who originally only knew how to eat, drink and have fun like a spinning top, making everyone run around in circles. From Banshan Hall to Jiuzhang Hall, the tradition of rote learning was gradually changed. Although Xu Heida was just standing far away watching the fun, he agreed with it in his heart.
If you don't take the risk to do something useful when you are young, why wait until you have smoothed out your sharp edges before doing it? By that time, most people have already become parasites who do nothing!
Xu Heida was thinking as he stood behind the students and looked through their papers. Zhang Shou had informed him of the question types in advance, so he gave a lot of fill-in-the-blank questions that imitated the calligraphy, and then the explanation of terms. The last three questions and answers were written by the emperor. All three parts of the questions were worth a total of 100 points, and each question had a different score. This was the first time he had encountered this.
When he passed by Ji Jiu, he took a quick glance and took the step back. He couldn't help but stand there and watch for a long time. Finally, he was sure that in less than two quarters of an hour, Ji Jiu had almost finished the 100 fill-in-the-blank questions he had given him. It was not surprising that he had finished them, but the accuracy was very high, which was surprising!
Xu Heida soon realized that he had been standing behind Ji Jiu for too long, and quickly moved to another person. He had also stood there for so long, but what he saw were horrible mistakes and blanks. So, when he looked at a few more people and finally came to Zhang Shou at the end of the lecture hall, he couldn't help but sneer.
"They all come from noble families, and their academic performance was mediocre in the past. But now, after such a long time of teaching by you, Dr. Zhang, you have actually been able to distinguish the superior and inferior among them, and the gap is so huge. I really didn't expect it."
"Xu Jiancheng, you are just an auditor, and you can easily handle the questions, but they listen to lectures and homework every day, but still can't do them. This is enough to prove that they have no interest in studying. People who know how to move forward halfway up the mountain of books are certainly needed in the Half Mountain Hall, but those who lie at the foot of the mountain and are unwilling to climb the mountain should find another place as soon as possible."
"Of course, some people have no interest in classics, history, mathematics, etc., but are talented and interested in other areas. In fact, it's fine. After all, at least they are the children of officials. If there are a few who like to brew wine, like carpentry, like ironwork, like gardening... that's also a good thing. As for those who don't want to learn anything, they can just be a simple rich salted fish."
At this point, Zhang Shou bowed to Xu Heidao apologetically and said, "Thank you for your trouble in setting the questions, supervising the exam, and patrolling the exam hall. After the exam, maybe someone will be angry with you. The emperor also knows that you have been in the Imperial College for many years, and you are impartial and hardworking. If you are interested in taking up a post outside the Imperial College, you can..."
"No, I won't go anywhere except the Imperial College. To be more precise, I don't want to go anywhere."
Xu Heida laughed, his tone revealing an unusual determination: "I want to take a good look at this lifeless Imperial College, and see it become the prosperous and vibrant Imperial College during the reign of Emperor Taizu. I am looking forward to seeing you, Dr. Zhang, bring out a group of students who are different from the past, so I am willing to continue to be the Supervisor of the Shengqian Hall."
Zhang Shou didn't expect that Xu Heizi, who was always said to be unkind, actually had this side to him. Comparing him with Wang Jie, the former governor of Shuntian Prefecture and current governor of Xuanda, whom he was also familiar with, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart that those who were strong-willed and iron-faced were all paranoid.
He nodded happily and said with a smile: "If so, then it would be the best. Although it is inevitable that some of the deposed unworthy children will hold a grudge, the emperor's feet are not a place where a few powerful children can act recklessly. I will prepare for a rainy day."
"Don't worry." Xu Heidao laughed nonchalantly and said calmly, "I spent too much time studying. Now my parents are both dead, and my wife and two sons are farming and studying in the countryside. They are not in the capital. If they can cross the mountains and ridges to cause trouble in my house, it is their ability!"
Zhang Shou didn't have a deep understanding of Xu Heida's family background, but he always admired him and Wang Datou for being unafraid of taking the blame. In addition, in order to prevent others from slandering him for unfair exams, he thought of asking the Supervisor of Shengqian Hall, who often wandered outside Banshan Hall and Jiuzhang Hall, to set the questions. Hearing these nonchalant words, he was speechless.
"Your Madam and your son are separated from you, don't you miss them?"
"It's not easy to live in the capital. How can I support them with my salary if I don't embezzle it? Moreover, Dr. Zhang, why do you think some of the officials' children who followed their fathers to the capital are successful, while others are like mud that can't be applied to the wall? The capital is like a black dye vat. People with unstable minds will be dyed black in the blink of an eye. Of course, the same is true for state capitals, prefecture capitals, and county capitals."
"In the countryside, even if you have money, you can only buy small things from the peddler. Without a car or horse, it takes several days to get out of the mountain. That place is suitable for studying, especially for children from poor families. As a farmer's son, you should make a living by farming and studying."
Zhang Shou could not agree with Xu Heida's overly distinct theory of farming and reading. Even if Xu Heida's so-called farming and reading was probably not the most primitive way of working in the fields and reading at the same time, it was just like people who read "The Memorial to the Emperor on Leaving the Capital" should never take Zhuge Liang's "working as a farmer in Nanyang" seriously, because it was just a self-deprecating statement by scholars living in the countryside.
Even if a scholar was so poor, most of them would have hired at least three or two farmhands to take care of the farmland. Because a scholar who had to master the classics and history books thoroughly in order to take the imperial examinations would definitely not have the time to farm the land himself...Few of the farmers who farmed the land themselves could pass the imperial examinations.
But Zhang Shou felt that it was a bit extreme for Xu Heida to abandon his sons in an isolated mountain village just to let them study. He always believed that knowledge, experience and vision are proportional, and that mere rote learning is not good.
So, he thought about it for a while, and finally didn't care too much about talking too much, and sincerely advised: "Even if Xu Jiancheng can't take them to the capital to settle down, it's hard to make friends with like-minded people living in the mountains. Besides, although the world is not changing with each passing day, there are still many new things, so you shouldn't restrict them too strictly."
"Poor country folk can be my friends. I would rather not have those so-called scholars who claim to be well-educated but are actually debauched in brothels and prostitutes to teach them bad things."
Xu Heida smiled, which was rare for him. "As for the new things you mentioned, Dr. Zhang, such as the books of Grand Tutor Ge and yours, they are indeed new and I am interested in them myself. Of course, I also hope that my sons can take a look at them. However, books in the capital are expensive, and I, a poor official in the capital, cannot afford them. So I hand-copy some books when I have time, and when I have enough books in a box, I ask someone I know to take them back home."
Zhang Shou could only smile bitterly at Xu Heida's theories on making friends and reading.
As for giving you two books, which is a very useful trick for making friends in the future, he thought about it and gave up.
Although Xu Heidao mocked himself as a poor official in Beijing, and even frankly said that he had no money to buy books and could only copy them, the more such people are, the stronger their self-esteem is, and the words "no reward without merit" can be said to be engraved in their bones. Therefore, he finally changed his statement.
"I am still writing two books, which will be placed in Banshan Hall and Jiuzhang Hall as teaching materials in the future. I am also planning to let the students of Jiuzhang Hall take them out to teach others. I plan to ask Lu Sanlang to copy a few copies of the manuscript and send them to the teacher and Mr. Qi and Mr. Chu for corrections. When the time comes, I might as well send a copy to Xu Jiancheng as well. I want to hear your fair opinions as an outsider."
While the students were struggling to take the exam, Zhang Shou was chatting enthusiastically with Xu Heida about future teaching materials.
"You know, Teacher Ge has always been partial to me as his last disciple. As long as the ideas are novel, he usually says they are good. Although Mr. Qi and Mr. Chu are picky, the things they pick on are too professional and ordinary people can't see them at all. As for Lu Sanlang, he always applauds whatever I write. So, I'm worried that no one will give me feedback on this textbook."
Xu Heida was slightly stunned, then he said thoughtfully: "My wife praises me because she loves me; my concubine praises me because she fears me; my guests praise me because they want something from me."
When Zhang Shou first heard the original text of "Zou Ji's Advice to the King of Qi", he couldn't help but laugh: "Xu Jiancheng is wrong. Teacher Ge is close to me, and Lu Sanlang is afraid of me, but it can't be said that Mr. Qi and Mr. Chu have anything to ask of me."
"Master Qi and Master Chu have been traveling with Grand Master Ge for decades and share the same ideals. Although they have seen many people with talent in numerology, no one has been able to use this talent to teach and educate people. Because they want to see where you can take Jiuzhangtang, so, since they really have something to ask of you, they will naturally spare no effort to encourage you."
At this point, Xu Heida nodded and said, "You let an outsider like me read your manuscript first, just to know what ordinary people think of it. It is my duty to do this, and I want to thank you for saving me the trouble of copying the book."
Since Xu Heida was a wise man, Zhang Shou didn't say anything more. Just as he took a look at the more than 100 people in the examination room and was about to take a look around, he suddenly heard a loud voice: "Zhang Wuji, you are so bold, you dare to cheat in this Banshan Hall!"
At this moment, Zhang Shou couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Lu Sanlang still disliked his name for being ugly. There were many people in Banshan Hall with weird names! Zhang Wuji... His father was not called Zhang Cuishan, but from the Zhang family, which had a grudge against Zhao Guogong Zhu Jing. He was the third son of Xiangyang Bo, a big man with a height of eight feet, commonly known as Zhang Dakuo!
However, before he could say anything, Xu Heida suddenly shouted, "Everyone, sit down properly. Anyone who looks around or makes noise will have ten points deducted from their test scores! Anyone who leaves their seat and tries to move around will have their test scores forfeited!"
