Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 310 Catfish
For the students of the six halls of the Imperial College, it was an inspiring event to see the emperor come to the Imperial College again after several months, and some even had the honor of seeing him in person. However, the emperor came because of the rumor of cheating in the Banshan Hall test, which inevitably made many students who claimed to be excellent feel indignant.
But when the students who entered Minglun Hall heard the first words the emperor said, they were all shocked.
"Zhu Youning and Wu Ji, students of Banshan Hall of the Imperial College, framed their classmates, had no desire to make progress, and behaved badly. They are now expelled from the Imperial College, banned from taking the imperial examinations for ten years, and will not be allowed to receive any official positions for the rest of their lives."
Being banned from taking the imperial examinations for ten years was not a big deal for the students of Banshan Hall. If they could take the imperial examinations to gain fame, they would be members of Guangye Hall at the very least, if not in Ruxing Hall. However, not being able to receive any official position for the rest of their lives was definitely life-threatening. Because that meant that while your father and grandfather were still around, they could still protect you, but when they were gone, you would be nothing more than a commoner!
Thinking that he only had one grandson, Zhu Heng's face turned pale. But Wu Taifu felt relieved - he had more than one son anyway, and with his official position and achievements, it was not enough for all his sons to receive benefits. Besides, after causing such a thing, he even wanted to drive that damned son out of the house, so how could he care about Wu Silang's life or death?
But the students in other halls of Minglun Hall were all silent in fear of the emperor's iron fist - these were students from official families, who could be expelled or banned from taking the imperial examinations, or denied subsidies. If it were them, wouldn't it mean the end of them?
So, when the emperor said that he would renovate the six halls, but at the same time, according to the old system at the beginning of the restoration of the country, the head of the hall would no longer be in charge of hundreds of people in one hall, but would follow the Song Dynasty system, with thirty people in each hall, and then select new scholars with outstanding literary talent as school principals to supervise the lectures, and the inner treasury would provide funds to ensure that each hall had at least five houses and five dormitories, there was thunderous applause, and no one objected, but everyone agreed!
Firstly, the six classrooms could no longer accommodate so many students, and the so-called large classes had gradually become a formality. Many doctors of the Imperial College did not even want to give lectures, let alone discipline the students. As a result, the academic atmosphere was lax and mediocre, even worse than Banshan Hall and Jiuzhang Hall.
As for the second point...if the imperial court can really allocate so many houses and provide everyone with various subsidies, then the word "Jiansheng" will not be just a superficial glamour like before, but will be a real golden word...maybe it will become a golden signboard in the future!
Many students cheered, and then gradually quieted down after Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye shouted and reminded them. But not long after, after someone took the lead and shouted "The emperor is wise", the sound like a tsunami once again rolled out from inside and outside the Minglun Hall. Although there were far from three or four thousand people gathered, and there were only about a thousand people in total, the momentum was very loud.
As a result, the students of Banshan Hall, who were originally shocked by the expulsion of Wu Silang and Zhu Youning from the Imperial College, were all slow in their voices and actions, and it took them a while before they hurriedly joined the ranks of those praising the emperor.
Although it was a little late, they were still very alert compared to the completely confused Zhang Shou. Zhang Shou didn't shout until he realized that the broken gong-like voice of Xiangyang Earl Zhang Qiong could almost blow off the roof, and the school officials were shouting harder and harder, so much so that Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye also hesitantly joined in, that he followed suit and shouted twice.
It must be said that he was not used to such things as praising the emperor...very unaccustomed. He knew in his heart that it was not because he had attended few court meetings, but because after experiencing such scenes like mountains and seas several times, he really didn't like this kind of atmosphere of being swept up.
However, the emperor, who was at the center of praise, did not feel happy. He even frowned slightly, and then after the shouting did not stop, he raised his hand to signal everyone to shut up.
When the wise voice of the emperor finally came to an end, he said calmly: "However, although the Imperial College in the Song Dynasty was complete, their imperial examinations were not as good as ours, from the level of scholars, juren to jinshi. And although countless people were invested in the Imperial College, in the Southern Song Dynasty, the students of the Imperial College were used by the powerful ministers as tools to attack each other, and even affected the use of troops."
"Students are students. Unless you really want to join the army and give up your studies, you should not get involved in government affairs or party disputes! Taizu strictly forbids students from discussing state affairs, and I now reiterate this order. However, if any court official colludes with students and discusses state affairs recklessly, he will not be forgiven!"
Those court officials who have connections with the students will never be forgiven easily, and those students who do not participate in politics will never be forgiven easily. The difference between the two may not be understood for the time being by the students who are keeping silent as a cicada, but Zhang Shou has tasted some of it.
The emperor continued, "I know that many of the students in the Imperial College come from humble backgrounds. Your parents and relatives have spared no effort to support you, but after ten years of hard study, how many of you really understand how difficult life is? Therefore, when Lu Qing was brave enough to take responsibility and resigned as the Minister of War, but proposed to build a public school, I appreciated it."
"In addition to the county schools, state schools, prefectural schools, and the Imperial Academy, because of the promotion of Taizu, there are community schools in the countryside, clan schools of the rich, and local scholars can also rely on the support of the rich to establish private schools and academies. But look at the common people around you, how many people can read? Therefore, from now on, the students of the Academy will be given grain and rice and four seasons of clothing materials according to their merits, but those who eat grain and rice and get clothing materials must be responsible for education."
Hearing this, Zhou Jijiu was already a little nervous.
Since the previous appropriation of funds from the inner treasury to repair the Imperial College, the emperor has started to spend money from within. Now, all the promises he made all involve one word - money. To be honest, there is not much money in the national treasury. As for the inner treasury... because of the characteristics of these eunuchs since Taizu, it is almost impossible to find out how much money the emperor has.
And considering that the three successive emperors of the present era, Yingzong and Ruizong, were not extravagant and their reigns were not long, the things stored in the inner treasury must be very considerable. But if the emperor took out his own family assets to directly allocate them to the Imperial College, wouldn't the court be in an uproar? At least, the chief minister Jiang Ge Lao would be furious! What's more, the emperor's word "education" is indeed meaningful.
"Except for the students who were selected as tribute students, county schools, and prefecture schools, most of the students who entered the Imperial College did not receive subsidies. In the future, the top 30 students in each annual examination will be given rice and four seasons of clothing. After Lu Qing plans to build a public school, if you can teach under Lu Qing for three years, or teach 20 illiterate children or even adults to read and write 200 words, one person in your family will be exempted from military service."
Considering that officials and gentry had been required to serve in the army since the early years of Emperor Taizu's reign, those who did not want to serve could pay a considerable amount of exemption money, and this trick finally impressed many students.
Zhang Shou watched the emperor take one move to the left, one move to the right, taking bigger steps than he had initially imagined, and his combination of punches made a bunch of teachers and students dizzy, and he couldn't help but be secretly surprised. Therefore, when the emperor changed the subject and finally mentioned Banshan Hall and Jiuzhang Hall, he couldn't help but feel a little alert.
He has already experienced the emperor's arbitrary and eccentric behavior, so why would he do anything else?
"I have punished Wu Ji and Zhu Youning before, but Tang Shi and Zhang Wuji also behaved inappropriately. They will be handed over to the prison for punishment according to the prison rules." The emperor brought up the issue that he had skipped before, and then said calmly, "The students of Banshan Hall are not capable of teaching classics and history, but at least they have learned a little bit of mathematics. They should teach mathematics to the children together with the students of Jiuzhang Hall."
"I don't want any of my subjects to misread the announcement and miscalculate the taxes!"
The emperor used the excuse that he had misread the notice and miscalculated the taxes to finally silence many of the academic officials. Zhang Shou found that there was nothing suspicious and felt relieved. When the students left, the emperor brought only a few guards with him. When he walked with Zhang Shou through the empty century-old dormitory where all the idle people were temporarily excluded, he was filled with emotion.
"I heard from my teacher in my early years that the Imperial College in the Song Dynasty was extremely complete. At its peak, it was said that hundreds of thousands or even millions of strings of money were invested in the Imperial College. However, although the Imperial College of our dynasty has been getting worse and worse, the combined investment of county schools and prefecture schools in the world is even greater than that of the Song Dynasty. But the result is the same as those imperial students in the Song Dynasty, most of them are useless."
"Moreover, some emperors agreed to donate money to the Imperial College just because the Minister of Revenue cried poor and said that the treasury had no money. At that time, there were many people in the world who were called Imperial College students, but there were very few who were actually studying in the Imperial College. The treasury had no money. Haha, the reason why I generously opened the inner treasury to do these things these days is because the inner treasury is actually very rich."
"Do you know how much money is in the inner treasury? The silk is almost rotten, and the string stringing the money is broken!"
Zhang Shou didn't expect to hear the emperor's complaints... no, his inner voice, and he couldn't help but feel a little complicated. After a little hesitation, he whispered: "During the Song Dynasty, the emperors would open the inner treasury from time to time to help the country, but as time went by, the ministers started to have their eyes on the inner treasury, so this might be the reason why the inner treasury was rarely opened after Emperor Taizu."
At this point, he paused, then said nonchalantly: "Besides, the silk rots because it has been stored for too long, and also because the people below are used to passing inferior silk as good silk when paying taxes. The silk on the market, even if stored in the warehouse for the same amount of time, would not rot so quickly."
The emperor did not expect Zhang Shou to say such a thing, and could not help but laugh: "Zhang Shou, are you trying to comfort me?"
"Uh..." Zhang Shou was stunned for a moment. Thinking about what he had just said, he had to admit that it did sound like he was comforting the emperor. So, he could only cough and say, "I am just talking about the facts. I have no other intentions."
Sympathize with the emperor? Comfort the emperor? What a joke! Even though he had always had a good impression of the emperor after spending several times with him, no matter how good he was, he was still no match for the dictator who held the power of life and death in the world! Therefore, countless scholars and officials in all dynasties united to try to sideline the emperor and let him rule without any effort. Wasn't it all out of restraint and fear?
Although he actually disapproved of those guys who recklessly engaged in factional struggles after overthrowing the emperor, it did not mean that he was a member of the imperial party...
The emperor seemed to be just teasing Zhang Shou, and then he didn't care about his answer and just laughed to himself.
"I, Ruizong, Yingzong... in fact, probably all the emperors before us were the same, all of them wanted to reform schools at all levels. But the decrees change once they leave the capital, and it is unknown how much effect they have when they reach the prefectures and counties, so we can only start with the Imperial College. I appointed you as a doctor of the Imperial College despite the opposition of others, in fact, I want you to stir up this stagnant pool of water."
I knew long ago that you were treating me as a catfish...
Zhang Shou laughed secretly, but his face looked quite respectful: "I just tried my best to do what I could."
"I can see that many people in Banshan Hall admire you, of course, except for those who are too thoughtful, such as Zhu Youning and Wu Ji." The emperor picked a weeping willow branch as if nothing had happened, and waved it gently in his hand like a whisk, and then said lightly, "Anything harmful must be swept away, so that the house can be kept clean. Don't scholars often say that if you can't even sweep your own house, how can you sweep the world?"
Zhang Shou lagged behind the emperor, lowered his head slightly, and nonchalantly hummed in agreement. Then, he heard a sentence that forced him to concentrate on responding.
"I brought Sanlang and Silang back to the palace to teach them. As a teacher, don't you have any objections?"
"The age difference between the Third and Fourth Princes and the others is too great. I have said before that they are not suitable for Banshan Hall."
Zhang Shou righteously gave a standard answer, and then said seriously: "I learned the classics and history purely by myself, which is far less interesting than mathematics. Therefore, in order to avoid misleading the students, it is better for the third and fourth princes to return to the palace to study. If they are interested in mathematics, there are many people who can teach them with the books compiled by Teacher Ge and me."
The emperor smiled slightly, but then stopped, turned to look at Zhang Shou and said, "Mr. Zhang, the turmoil over dismissal and salary reduction in Cangzhou has become a big deal. Don't you have anything to say?"
Zhang Shou seemed a little stunned, and then said helplessly: "Xingtai is in a similar situation. It's just that we have the money allocated by the emperor, so we can barely hold on..."
"Just barely able to hold on? Aren't you too modest, Zhang Qing? Zhang Chen, Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu have teamed up to set up a big scheme, trapping so many people in one go, and also driving the eldest prince of Cangzhou and those wealthy families crazy. This seems to be a little different from the plan you reported to me at the beginning, right?"
"Your Majesty, there is a saying that a general may not obey orders from the emperor when he is away from home. That is why some emperors in the previous dynasties thought they were giving battle plans, but ended up losing the battle. Our Taizu strictly prohibited this. Now, although Zhang Chen, Zhang Wu, and Zhang Lu are not fighting, it is actually the same. Even if you have made many plans and have many contingency plans, the situation will change rapidly if others respond differently."
Zhang Shou shrugged and said calmly, "So, Your Majesty, what you said really makes no sense to me, because I haven't received their letter yet, and I don't know what happened in Xingtai or even Cangzhou...Oh, the second son Zhu did go to Cangzhou, but he didn't go there for the eldest prince, but because of what Ah Liu said, he went there to look for overseas good breeds."
Staring at Zhang Shou's frankness, the emperor immediately sneered: "Very good, then I will tell you what happened over there."
