Zhu Su said this mercilessly, and the student's face suddenly turned blue and red.
The Imperial College is located in the center of Yingtian City, adjacent to the Qinhuai River, the most prosperous river in the city. There are usually many traffickers and soldiers. Chinese people love to watch the excitement. Just now when these civil servants were making trouble, a lot of people gathered. Now that there is a conflict between the two sides, the crowd of onlookers has gathered even more. The scholars couldn't help but be embarrassed, and someone shouted in the crowd: "We have read poetry and books and know everything, how can we be inferior to the subordinate officials! Your Highness is insulting us scholars!"
Zhu Su stood on the steps and saw the Vincent who was leading the noise. Then he greeted him and said, "Since you think you know everything, why not come out and give it a try."
"Although I am young, I will not bully you. How about you go out on your own while I look for an apprentice clerk in my house?"
Seeing that Zhu Su saw him, the man wanted to hide, but when he heard that it was a competition, many friends and classmates around him took him out. Most of this group of literati were young and vigorous, and when Zhu Su said this, they were not convinced. Which one of them who studies literature has not experienced debating on stage? There is nothing to be afraid of.
What's more, it would be fine if the fifth prince, who was rumored to be knowledgeable, took action in person. Now I'm just looking for a military clerk, so what else is there to be afraid of?
To put it bluntly, the clerks in the palace are just domestic slaves. Often as long as you are literate, you can get the title of clerical master. If there is a talented and virtuous person, who would be willing to work as a slave in the house of His Highness the Fifth Prince? How can he be the opponent of the scholars of our generation who have lived in poverty for several years?
"His Royal Highness invites you, and the students dare not refuse." The man then came out. He turned around to face his many companions, raised his arms and shouted: "Where the Tao lies, it is our duty to do so."
"Yi Zimei, a young student, must let the world know that we, the scholars who read the books of sages and sages, are the pillars of the country's governance!"
"Brother Yi is so righteous!" "Brother Yi is a role model for our generation!"
Seeing his righteous and stern appearance, many scholars shouted excitedly. This Yi Zimei suddenly became the leader of this group after Qi De.
Zhu Su just watched his performance quietly, then turned around and told Fang Xiaoru to go to the house to find a random clerk. After a while, a young man wearing dirty old cloth hurriedly arrived. After seeing Zhu Su, he hurriedly knelt down and said: "Little man Tiezhong, I have met the prince!"
"Your name is Tiezhong?" Zhu Su felt a little worried when he saw his honest and careless appearance. "You work as a clerk in the house, what part of the work are you responsible for?"
"Go back to your lord." Zhu Su didn't say anything, but Tie Zhong still knelt on the ground, his forehead still pressed against the bluestone on the ground in full view of everyone, trying his best to be respectful: "Three generations of blacksmiths from the villain's ancestors, to the villain's generation , I was lucky enough to hire a gentleman, and I knew a few words, so besides making iron, I also did some work at home such as purchasing ore and calculating iron-making losses."
Before he finished speaking, someone among the group of Vincentians couldn't help laughing. This man doesn't look very smart and has no integrity. His ancestors have been blacksmiths for three generations. What kind of family background can he have?
Especially after His Highness the Fifth Prince asked him to stand down, many people clearly saw that this man's eyes were actually a bit blue. This is obviously a descendant of the Semu people, a queen of barbarians!
What knowledge can you understand?
When Tie Zhong learned that Zhu Su wanted him to compete with the scholar, Tie Zhong looked even more frightened and almost knelt down to Zhu Su. Under Zhu Su's forced order, he reluctantly stood still. But his legs were already shaking like chaff, which was extremely embarrassing.
Hearing that even the people behind him started making noises, Zhu Su couldn't help but feel guilty. He quietly asked Fang Xiaoru: "Why did you find him? All the clerks in the house should have passed the elementary arithmetic exam. Isn't it okay to just find someone to come? What if this person loses because of nervousness and stage fright? , isn’t it embarrassing for me?”
Unexpectedly, Fang Xiaoru had full confidence in Tie Zhong: "Master, don't worry, although Brother Tie looks weak, he is the most diligent in his studies."
"Master's elementary arithmetic book, he is the most proficient among all the Chinese books in the mansion. It won't be a problem to subdue these corrupt scholars!"
At this point, Zhu Su also pointed out that he believed in Fang Xiaoru's judgment.
"I wonder what your highness is competing for? Please come up with a question." Yi Zimei was confident of winning at this time and was very satisfied. He never expected that this trip would actually allow him to get a big deal. The man with the lustful eyes has obviously never read a book, and he even struggles to speak. How can he be his opponent?
What kind of competition is just going through the motions. As long as he goes through this formality, he will be promoted to the Imperial Academy. From then on, he will become famous in Shilin, and his official career will be smooth from now on.
"This time Enke is recruiting tax collectors. You think that the students you recruit this time are all talentless people. You should take a test of sage articles to select qualified tax collectors."
"Then this competition naturally involves a competition of calculation techniques."
"Speaking of a thousand words, tax collectors still need to be proficient in calculations to be competent. Whether they are qualified or not should also be measured by whether they can calculate accurate tax amounts for the court."
"Otherwise, even if you are given a daily salary of ten thousand yuan, it cannot be calculated as a tax, so what is the use? Can you raise him to become a Hanlin official?" Zhu Su said.
In the crowd of literati, noise gradually arose, as if they had objections to what Zhu Su said, but Zhu Su ignored it. What he wanted to do was to draw the onlookers into criticizing this group of old literati through this competition. camp. In order to enhance the sense of participation of the people around him, he did not come up with the questions himself, but shouted to the people watching around him: "If any of you folks have business in your hands and want to calculate the account books at home, you can bring them. .”
"Officials are supposed to make decisions for the people. Now it's up to you and the common people to come up with the test and try to see who is suitable for being an official. It can be regarded as an elegant thing in our Ming Dynasty."
"This can be regarded as a way to cooperate with my willfulness. If any villagers are willing to propose questions, I will also reward you."
Let the common people examine literati? This is quite new. This method immediately attracted the attention of the onlookers. Soon a chubby man said loudly: "Your Highness, we are butchering pigs in this market. This year, I always feel that the more we sell, the more we lose money. I have kept a rough account, but it is a mess. We don’t even understand it ourselves. We want the two senior scholars above to help us figure out whether it’s worthwhile for us to do this, and whether it’s possible?”
"Sure! Why not?" Zhu Su said with a smile. "If you can calculate it clearly, it seems unnecessary. Not only can I give you a test question, but it can also benefit you, brother. I can do you a small favor, why not do it?"
Seeing Zhu Su's friendly words, the man chuckled, and then Sayazi went back to his butcher shop to get the ledger. Perhaps he was preaching while walking, but when he came back, he brought a lot of onlookers. People came from all directions and blocked the entrance of the Imperial College.
(End of chapter)
