Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 309: Get Out!
When Chu Kuan led a terrified young student in, not only did the angry eyes of the Zhu family's grandson almost swallow people, but the other students couldn't help but whisper and stare at this former classmate. Ji Jiu and Zhang Dakuo both lowered their heads obediently, only glancing at each other from the corner of their eyes.
The fourth son of the Wu family had wrinkled clothes, a crooked hat, and muddy shoes. The weirdest thing was that the clothes were obviously not his size, they were too big and loose, as if they were bought at random from some clothing store. At first glance, he didn't look like he was from an official family. Even the poor scholars were more decently dressed than him.
"Speaking of Cao Cao, Cao Cao actually showed up. Ha, he seems a little confused. In that case, let me explain it to him." Zhang Qiong, the Earl of Xiangyang, raised his eyebrows, and then repeated in a loud voice several things that had just been confirmed.
When he said that Wu Silang accused his big and useless son of cheating with ulterior motives, the young student behind Chu Kuan was already trembling like a frightened bird. When he said that someone had instructed Tang Laoshi to write Zhu Youning's name on the paper, the other party's reaction became even more exaggerated.
Wu Silang's knees went weak and he fell to his knees on the ground, his voice already filled with tears.
"It was a long-time attendant of Zhu Youning who instructed me to do this. He said his master said that places like Banshan Hall are full of mediocre and incompetent playboys. What's the point of dividing the classes? It's all because Dr. Zhang wants to gain fame, so he doesn't hesitate to make a fuss. He asked me to coerce and bribe a few people to write other people's names on the test papers during the division test, and then make this division test a joke..."
Hearing this, Zhang Shou couldn't help but chuckle, "You said Zhu Youning's attendant asked you to coerce a few people, but you only coerced Tang Laoshi? Moreover, you did this kind of thing that is so easy to be exposed, instead of asking others to do it, you did it yourself. You even went to the exam room in person and shouted that Zhang Wuji cheated? Wu Silang, I usually think you are a very cunning person, how could you be so stupid?"
Wu Silang was speechless after being asked by Zhang Shou. When he saw the anger and impatience on the emperor's face, he was so frightened that he shivered and fell directly to the ground.
"I secretly agreed with the Zhu family's long-servant that I would persuade Tang Laoshi to write Zhu Youning's name on the paper, and he would go back and persuade Zhu Youning to write Tang Laoshi's name. This way, even if other things could not be done, Zhu Youning could still get a good grade for nothing, and would not be unable to enter the first class. The long-servant also agreed."
He paused, and said with a sad face, "But actually, it's because I'm worried that the matter will get out of hand and I will be traced back to you. So I didn't dare to do what the long-servant said about asking other people to write random names. I thought that I could only scare Tang Laoshi, and he wouldn't dare to say anything, so he wouldn't be exposed!"
"After all, there is no other student in Banshan Hall who is as cowardly and useless as Tang Laoshi! Later, I happened to find out that Ji Jiu sold the notebook to Zhang Wuji and the others, so I wanted to make a fuss about it. Even if Zhu Youning asked me to persuade others to write random names, I could at least explain it away. No matter how much he finds fault with me, he can't blame me..."
"How would I know that the long-servant didn't tell Zhu Youning about this and actually produced two copies of Zhu Youning's papers!"
At this point, Wu Silang fell to the ground and sobbed, "After the division test, I found out from Zhu Youning that he didn't write Tang Laoshi's name, so I knew that things were bad. I hid at home for two days and couldn't think of a solution. I didn't dare to report to my father. Today, I was determined to change my clothes and go to the assistant to surrender, but I didn't expect to be chased out..."
"Wow, I was really forced to do this. If I don't do it, the Zhu family's long-servant will force me to pay back the money! Zhu Youning is such a black-hearted man. He used to pretend to be generous to his classmates, but he was actually a loan shark. I didn't want to be his follower because I borrowed 100 strings of cash but it turned into 1,000! The reason why the Zhu family is so rich is because of loan sharking. The family business is passed down from generation to generation, and all the food and clothing are earned from the people's hard work!"
This is really the real purpose! Hearing this, Zhang Shou finally sensed another deadly murderous intention and couldn't help but secretly click his tongue.
Zhu Heng, who was just watching the fun, was already shocked and angry. Not to mention this era, how many officials from ancient times to the present can be honest? He always showed people his upright style of not taking a penny when he was an official because of his wealthy family background, but behind the scenes, the bank with Zhu family background lent money unscrupulously, and no one would mention this in the officialdom.
But now that Wu Silang couldn't bear the blame, he just blurted it out! His ignorant grandson, who had never seen money or something, actually lent money to his classmates at high interest. Was he crazy?
The emperor may or may not have known it before, but now that he knows it with so many people present, can the situation be the same?
Zhu Youning saw the change in his grandfather's expression and was anxious. He hurriedly swore that it was not true. However, Wu Silang insisted that Zhu Youning had sent people to collect the debt several times. Then he threw out his trump card, saying that in order to protect himself, he had secretly sent people to capture the long-servant and handed him over to Chu Kuan...
Seeing the two of them attacking each other and bringing up all sorts of messy things, the emperor finally slammed the table. Fortunately, there was the gavel, otherwise he would have been so angry that his hands would have hurt!
The emperor had such an absurd thought in his mind, and then he shouted: "You are shirking responsibility, shirking your duties, you are a nest of snakes and rats! It's a pity that you are from a family of scholars, but you are simply a disgrace to scholars! The Imperial College and the Banshan Hall are not places where filth and dirt are hidden. Get out of here!"
The word "get out" actually came out of the emperor's mouth, which showed that his anger was almost off the charts. Zhang Shou saw that Zhu Heng, the Left Censor-in-Chief, looked panicked when he heard the words, and he no longer had the arrogance he had at the beginning.
He was so focused on charging ahead that he didn't notice the fire in the backyard. If Zhu Duxian had been leading the army, he would have been easily attacked from behind.
As expected, the emperor who had said he wanted to drive them away saw Wu Silang and Zhu Youning crawling out of Minglun Hall in a panic. The emperor's anger immediately went to the other side: "It's cheating in name only, but it's actually a frame-up. You've raised such a good son and grandson! It's simply unheard of! And you shouted the word cheating loudly at the court meeting. If I really asked about this matter at the court meeting, it would be a huge joke!"
Although the witness was not brought to Minglun Hall, Zhu Heng did not dare to take any chances since the witness had fallen into the hands of the Imperial Household Department. Moreover, he knew that his grandson was spoiled by his family and might not be able to do such a shameful thing. Therefore, although he was almost furious, he still had to come forward to apologize. But while apologizing, he could not help but deeply hate Wu Taifu who was not here.
The emperor, who was still angry, was too lazy to say anything more to Zhu Heng. He glanced at Zhang Shou and said in a deep voice, "There are only a hundred people in Banshan Hall, but you said before that you wanted to divide it into another hall. Although I think you are right, many people in the court think you are meddling. Now looking at the situation, I think you are right."
He took a deep breath, slapped the armrest again and said, "There are too many people, so it's inevitable that there are fakes among the real ones, and it's even more inevitable that there are people who just want to get by and still can't stand others getting better! This is not only the case in Banshan Hall, but also in the other six halls of the Imperial College."
"With hundreds of students in a class, teachers may not even know all of their students. It's already difficult to know who has good grades, not to mention understanding their personalities and conduct. During the reign of Emperor Taizu, the six halls of the Imperial Academy only had a few dozen or a hundred students in each hall. Now? Each hall has at least two or three hundred, and at most five or six hundred. There are too many people!"
Zhou Jijiu was greatly shocked, thinking that the emperor might reduce the number of inmates in the Imperial College because of his momentary anger, but he did not expect that the emperor quickly denied his guess.
"The problem with the Imperial College is not that each classroom is too small or too crowded, but that there are too few students for one teacher. From now on, each classroom will be divided into several classes, with a maximum of 60 students. Then, among the new Jinshi scholars, the older and more sophisticated ones will be selected to serve as doctors of the Imperial College for a period of three years. This will prevent everyone in the world from saying that the so-called highest institution of learning is a fake!"
Zhou Jijiu was stunned when he heard this. But just as he was about to persuade the emperor to think twice, Zhang Qiong, the Earl of Xiangyang, who had been a little too active today, shouted in agreement, "Your Majesty is wise!"
This sentence of "The Emperor is wise" immediately attracted everyone's attention to him. Even the Emperor couldn't help but ask with a smile: "Marquis Xiangyang, why do you think my words are wise?"
"Ahem, I heard that every three years there are more than 300 Jinshi who pass the exam, but every three years there are not so many officials who die or get sick to make room for them, so they have to wait for the election to be held, and there are countless people waiting for the vacancy. Since the new Jinshi are waiting for others to make room for an official, then isn't it a good idea to have someone come to the Imperial Academy to teach the students?"
At this point, Zhang Qiong's eyes turned, and he suddenly looked at Zhang Shou, and he said loudly again: "But there is one thing that the emperor just said that I don't agree with. Why do you only want the elderly and the profound knowledge? I think as long as the person has good character and knowledge, age doesn't matter! Isn't there a saying that the accomplished are the first? If you have a good character and talent like Dr. Zhang, what's there to be afraid of when you are young!"
So my father also knows how to praise others? And he praises the son-in-law of my enemy?
Zhang the big guy almost thought he was deaf and blind and had heard or seen wrong, but Zhang Qiong continued to speak confidently: "Besides, choosing a good teacher to teach is one thing, and trusting the teacher as a father and elder is another matter! For example, as a father, I will say something here today. As long as my son calls Dr. Zhang teacher for one day, Dr. Zhang will do whatever he wants!"
He smiled and said word by word: "If you are not good, I will scold you. If you are not good, I will beat you! You deserve to be beaten to death. Beating you to death counts!"
I say, Lord Xiangyang, was your son given to you as a gift as a result of topping up your phone bill?
Zhang Shou couldn't help but wanted to complain, but when he saw the emperor's approving face, he thought of the emperor's four sons. The eldest and the second were fighting with each other all day long, and the third and the fourth would get into trouble if they weren't paying attention. The emperor was probably thinking that the two older ones were not beaten enough when they were young, so he took the two younger ones back and planned to deal with them slowly.
Therefore, he could only speak to ease the atmosphere: "Although what Xiangyang Bo said is out of hope that his son will become successful, it is a bit biased..."
“Of course I wouldn’t say that to those so-called strict teachers who only know how to beat and beat, but you, Dr. Zhang… Hey, I trust you!”
Zhang Qiong hadn't fought a war for many years and had only gone to Yunnan and Guizhou to quell a foreign rebellion. He was almost going crazy and felt that today was the happiest day in the past few years - after all, it was a rare opportunity to squeeze a Left Censor-in-Chief like Zhu Heng into a state of despair - so he just felt that Zhang Shou was pleasing to the eye no matter how he looked at him, and even his initial opinion of his appearance was thrown out of the window.
Well, as a real man, what's wrong with being good-looking and attracting many women? If he were to look for a son-in-law, he would like to find someone as good-looking as this!
Zhang Shou really didn't know whether he should thank Zhang Qiong for his trust or say something else. In the end, he could only shake his head and smile, "The emperor once gave me a ruler, but I only let Zhang Chen take charge of it. Although most people fear power rather than virtue, I believe that a filial son cannot be beaten under a stick. Even if it seems that he has been beaten well for a while, who knows if he is not secretly resentful?"
"So, my principle for this division test is to keep those who are suitable and send those who are not." Zhang Shou nodded to Zhang Qiong at this time and said sincerely, "After all, not every student's father and elders are as reasonable as the Earl of Xiangyang."
Even the Earl of Xiangyang, who was known for his violent temper and impulsiveness, was called reasonable? Wasn't this a satire on the Left Censor-in-Chief?
Many students were complaining in their hearts, including Zhang Dakuai, the son of the authentic Earl of Xiangyang. However, Zhang Qiong, who had just praised Zhang Shou but was annoyed that he did not appreciate it, finally felt relieved. Since they had already praised each other, he did not continue at this time, but nodded slightly to Zhang Shou to thank him for the compliment.
The emperor was amused by this scene. However, Zhang Qiong's suggestion was exactly what he wanted, so when he saw Zhu Heng frowned and said nothing, and the other officials of the Imperial Academy looked at each other, most of them just laughed awkwardly, although some showed obvious solemn expressions, but some like Zhou Jijiu Luo Siye showed some surprise, he knew exactly what was going on.
Those doctors of the Imperial College who considered themselves noble might be worried about having their power and honor taken away by others, but for high-ranking officials like the Chief Academic Officer and the Deputy Chief Minister, they would definitely be happy that the team of subordinate officials would continue to grow so that they could manage more people - of course, to put it more nicely, the Imperial College was no longer just a government office with a nice name but was actually marginalized.
Therefore, after taking a look at the cautious students in Banshan Hall, the emperor made the final decision: "Mr. Zhou, Mr. Luo, gather all the students in the hall today to Minglun Hall. Select 30 students from each hall to enter Minglun Hall."
Zhou Jijiu had heard about this before at the court meeting, so he immediately agreed and called Luo Siye and a group of school officials to go out and make arrangements. However, he intentionally or unintentionally skipped Zhang Shou, but heard the emperor call out his name: "Zhang Qing, call all the people from Jiuzhang Hall as well."
Seeing that all the academic officials had left in a hurry, the emperor stood up and said with a smile: "The Imperial College has been in decline for a long time. Although it is impossible to revive overnight, it is time to rectify it!"
