Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 778: Highbrow and Few People
Duke of Zhao and Duke of Qin?
Liang Chu was somewhat bewildered, and when he looked at his teacher who knew everything, he found that Chen Xianzhang was also somewhat surprised, but his surprised expression was fleeting, and then he calmed down again. Thinking of what his teacher had just taught him, he felt a little ashamed, but also a little happy.
Although the Duke of Zhao was a typical warrior, the Duke of Qin had both father and son generations with literary reputations. Even if they were not as good as those ministers who passed the imperial examinations, the teacher was also very glorious today.
However, the arrival of the Duke of Zhao and the Duke of Qin seemed to be just a precursor. Soon, two more assistant ministers and a Dali Temple official came in a hurry. Moreover, after they came, they first came over to talk to Chen Xianzhang enthusiastically. Liang Chu felt excited, happy, and pleased at first, but after one, two, and three more people came, he was a little overwhelmed.
I was worried that the teacher would give a lecture alone without the court officials in attendance, but now it seems... the teacher's performance is far superior to his peers! This is simply a grand occasion!
Although Chen Xianzhang was not surprised by praise or criticism, he saw that the guests who seemed to arrive on time would delay the originally scheduled time. He could only greet the two officials who had just arrived, and then apologized and said that he was going to start his speech. However, before he could put his plan into practice, there was a louder noise outside.
There were the sounds of horse hooves and wheels, but there was no noise at all. As the sounds stopped outside the door, he saw a few young men surrounding a handsome boy appear in front of him.
Although he had some guesses in his mind, when the young child walked up to him and bowed very solemnly, he still felt deeply confused.
Because the other party revealed his identity very frankly: "Mr. Baisha, I am glad to hear that you are giving a lecture here today. I have specially asked my father for permission to come and listen. Please don't mind my presumptuousness."
The young prince appeared before him so vividly, speaking humbly and appropriately, and his gestures showed the aura of the long-standing royal family, but also the immaturity and immaturity of a child. At that moment, Chen Xianzhang couldn't help but feel a little dazed, and couldn't help but think of his teacher's sigh when he was leaving school.
To make the ruler as great as Yao and Shun, and to make the customs pure. I don't know when we can have such a truly prosperous era.
Whether it is the current emperor, or the previous Ruizong and Yingzong, or even further back, tracing back to the two founding emperors Taizu and Taizong, among the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, even though there were several sage rulers who were praised and admired by ministers, most of them had very serious flaws in the eyes of the literati, the most unbearable of which was undoubtedly arrogance and autocracy.
In this regard, the arrogance and arbitrary behavior of Taizu, Taizong, Yingzong, Ruizong and the current emperor are the most serious. As for the current crown prince, he doesn't know whether he is virtuous or not, but at least he is humble and gentle. Although Gaozong and Shizong are also called humble and gentle, the popular saying is completely different. Those two were lazy and even sold official positions and titles, and some of the things they did were very unbearable.
Therefore, after the initial shock of meeting a prince who seemed to possess such a rare quality, Chen Xianzhang hurriedly bowed and said, "Your Highness, the Crown Prince has come. I am very happy to have you. I will do my best to teach you and try to solve your doubts."
Zhang Shou, who was in the academy, learned that after Duke Zhao and Duke Qin, seven or eight officials came one after another, and then the Third Prince, the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace, came in person. He couldn't help but think of Academician Kong, who reached a compromise with Zhu Tingfang but then played tricks.
He wanted to laugh when he thought about the dilemma of not knowing whether people were planning to delay their arrival until the middle of the lecture, or originally planning to come late and attracting everyone's attention, but after learning that the prince and so many people were coming to help, they would be caught in a dilemma.
I'm afraid that at this time, Grand Secretary Kong must be worried. If he comes, he will definitely be seen as a flatterer, and if he doesn't come, he will be seen as partial to one side and not the other. He must be struggling with it, right? Zhu Tingfang is really bad. The so-called compromise and the so-called need for Grand Secretary Kong's support, is it because he has long seen through the character of this elder, so he dug a trap for him to jump into?
Thinking of this, Zhang Shou had already confirmed from the Third Prince that someone would come today, so he cancelled the original schedule of teaching the Crown Prince. He stood up, flicked the corner of his clothes, and walked out of the school hall on his own. Although he only stood and listened to the lectures of the first two and then left, he might as well show his face today. Anyway, he is not Confucius, so he is not afraid of being accused of currying favor with the powerful.
As one of the prince's teachers...it was only natural that he would appear wherever the prince appeared.
When Zhang Shou quietly entered the lecture hall, there was still a commotion. Obviously, many candidates were very excited about the arrival of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Some had come to listen to Zhang Shou's lectures and had the honor of seeing His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, some had the luck to grab an admission ticket and had never thought about it, and some admired the great scholars of the Chongren School.
In short, even though Lu Sanlang and Ji Jiuqiliang came today, the three of them brought many public school students to maintain order, but they still failed to calm the crowd.
This was especially true when Zhang Shou calmly came to the front, greeted the Third Prince, and then sat slightly behind him. After all, Zhang Shou had given lectures twice before, and he did not come once, and once he quietly came in the middle and left quietly before finishing. Someone had seen this with their own eyes.
Zhang Shou, however, seemed to have not noticed those gazes. When he saw the Third Prince happily turn around and say to him, "Teacher, you are here," he nodded to the little Crown Prince and then said softly, "Although Mr. Baisha is a disciple of the Chongren School, it seems that he has inherited and carried forward the tradition after he finished his studies. His teacher Wu Kangzhai talks about reason, but he emphasizes the heart. Your Highness might as well listen carefully."
As for whether people would speak in an obscure and difficult-to-understand way or in a simple and easy-to-learn way, he could not guarantee it. After all, Zhang Shou did not know much about the teaching habits and attitudes of these famous scholars. However, he did not mind doing another favor.
"However, Mr. Baisha is accompanied here today by his favorite student, Liang Shuhou, who will take part in the imperial examination next year. Since he is such a young talent, he should be relatively familiar with his teacher's teachings. How about I invite him here so that he can explain things to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince at any time?"
The Third Prince was overjoyed. Zhang Shou's suggestion solved his urgent problem. You know, he is younger than many students in public schools. Even though he learned to read and write under the emperor's enlightenment, he has also heard many ancient and modern allusions. Now he has officially started to read the Four Books. However , his young age and short reading time are his shortcomings!
Therefore, he nodded without hesitation and said, "Teacher, you are right. Please invite Mr. Liang over!"
Liang Chu was standing in a corner of the stage at this moment, excitedly scanning the guests today. If the two lecturers in the previous two days were considered to have received a very enthusiastic response, then today's teacher's lecture has not even started yet, and the momentum is unprecedented. Moreover, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that he rushed here after asking the Emperor for permission, so the teacher is really famous!
Just as he was thinking with great excitement, he heard a voice: "Shuhou, Shuhou!" Who is calling me? Liang Chu, who was lost in thought, looked up in confusion.
There are also many scholars from Guangdong who came today. Although most of them have heard Chen Xianzhang's lectures before, this is in the capital, and many people are worried that Mr. Baisha, who is famous in Guangdong, may not be famous enough in the capital. It would not look good if not many people come to listen to the lectures, so they grabbed the earliest tickets.
But when Liang Chu looked in the direction of the voice, he found that it was not his fellow countryman. It was Zhang Shou, who was sitting behind the prince, waving at him! Was he asking him to come over? But the prince was sitting over there, so was he going to introduce him to the prince?
Young people always want to become famous, even if they think it's a pie in the sky. Liang Chu hesitated for a moment, but when he saw the little prince smiling and nodding at him, his heart couldn't help but get hot, and he immediately planned to catch up. But he had just taken the first step when he heard an extremely familiar voice.
"Shuhou, be careful with your words and actions, and don't let external things confuse your mind."
Liang Chu shuddered, and suddenly remembered the little things Chen Xianzhang had taught him in the past, and he immediately came to his senses. However, he still walked forward quickly, and after paying his respects, he saw Zhang Shou actually move to the side, then nodded and smiled at him, "Shuhou, the prince is young, you sit over here, and you will explain what Mr. Baisha said later."
As soon as these words came out, Liang Chu suddenly realized. Although teachers usually try to make their teachings easy to understand, there is still a threshold. And at the prince's age, it would be great if he could comprehend a little bit, let alone understand everything. Thinking of how much the prince respected his teacher and came to listen in person, he immediately felt that he had a great responsibility on his shoulders.
Therefore, he immediately bowed his hands and said solemnly: "I will do my best!"
The several attendants who accompanied him looked at each other, some were envious, some were jealous, and some did not take it seriously. After all, they all felt that they could also do the job of interpreter.
However, after Chen Xianzhang's brief opening remarks, he gradually got to the point. At first, they were still thinking silently in their hearts how they would interpret the third prince one by one if it were them, but they soon found that they did not have the time to do so.
From the way to self-satisfaction, to the argument of the three elements of heaven, earth and myself, to the argument of the difference and unity of reason and heart... Not only them, but many candidates who usually devote themselves to the imperial examinations and seldom think about them, or who are only interested in articles and poems and do not think about these complicated things, felt overwhelmed after listening to it.
And it was not just them. Even the Crown Prince, the Third Prince, who was sitting upright at the front, couldn't avoid looking bewildered as he listened to Liang Chu's explanation, which was as concise as possible.
What was all this talking about? Why was it that after Liang Chu explained it, he could roughly understand each sentence, but couldn't understand what they meant when put together?
As soon as Zhang Shou saw the Third Prince's expression, he knew what kind of mood the Crown Prince was in. If he had just listened and ignored what he said, it would be fine, but the Third Prince listened carefully and was probably thinking hard. However, it was also heartbreaking to think about a child whose worldview was not yet fully developed listening to a great man talking about philosophy related to morality.
Moreover, he could feel that Chen Xianzhang did it on purpose, because in his impression, boring philosophy could be made lively and interesting by some famous teachers, and it would never be so difficult. And the lectures of Yue Shanzhang and Xu Shanzhang were also very attractive. Of course, it is also possible that philosophy in this era is so obscure. After all, his teaching method once caused a lot of doubts.
Liang Chu, who was trying his best to explain behind the crown prince, was shocked as he spoke, and in the end he stopped unconsciously. Teacher, isn't this too profound? According to your previous teachings, the relationship between me and the heart will only be discussed at the end. Now, from the very beginning, the relationship between heaven and earth and me is analyzed like this. Not to mention the crown prince, how many of the candidates below can understand and think about it?
Although many of those who fought their way through the imperial examinations were indeed great men, there were also many who were lucky enough to stand out by memorizing countless model essays. When these people learn nothing after listening to the lecture, will they go out and say that the teacher is not worthy of his title?
Seeing that Liang Chu himself was a little confused, Zhang Shou had to think for a while, and then whispered beside him: "Your Highness, whether it is the reason or the heart, in fact, in the final analysis, it is a question of how to look at the world and how to look at oneself. If the knowledge of mathematics and physics starts from practical operations and examines the world from a field, then..."
He organized his words, hoping to make the Third Prince understand as much as possible: "So, what Mr. Baisha said is to summarize and understand it from the perspective of the whole world, that is, heaven and earth..."
After trying his best to explain the relationship between philosophy and general science, and trying to avoid using terms like methodology, Zhang Shou saw that the Third Prince nodded with some embarrassment, so he continued, "Mr. Baisha probably didn't know that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would be here today, so what he said is aimed at those candidates who have thought about the basic concepts of heaven, earth, and man, and about reason and mind."
After all, Chen Xianzhang was still lecturing on the stage, and Zhang Shou's voice was not very loud, but the people in the last three rows could still hear clearly what he said. Not to mention the few who were listening with fascination, beaming with joy, and suddenly enlightened, who were not much better than the third prince, or the candidates who were just trying to show off their presence with utilitarianism, they could not help but look at each other in bewilderment.
Although it was impossible for one person to spread the word to ten people and ten to a hundred people in such an occasion, there were still people who did not understand and quietly spread Zhang Shou's words. As for those who were lucky enough to sit close to the third prince, they did not even care about what Chen Xianzhang was saying on the stage, but pricked up their ears to eavesdrop on the conversation between Zhang Shou and the third prince. Not only them, but even the Duke of Zhao and the Duke of Qin could not help but be distracted.
"No wonder my father said that some scholars can do things, some scholars can behave, and some scholars can think." The third prince recalled his father's words as he spoke, and gradually smiled, "Only those who can do things and think are real scholars."
