Seeing that Chen Ju's face was a little embarrassed, Gao Pingshi knew that the heat was enough, so he put down the tea in his hand, smiled slightly, and said: "The academic atmosphere in Ansu County has not been popular in recent years. It is said that there are few names in the talent promotion ceremony. In the autumn of every year, there seems to be worries about the deterioration of the country. When my 'senior brother' mentioned this that day, he was also very anxious... It's a pity that I have never been to Guixiang, and I don't dare to say no, but I don't know that Mr. Chen thinks that Guixiang So the academic atmosphere is not booming, what is the root of the problem?”
Chen Ju didn't quite understand the meaning of Gao Pragmatic's words for a while, thinking to himself, I can't say it's because the county magistrate has failed to teach me well, can I?
He hesitated for a moment and then said cautiously: "Mr. Xiao Gao clearly knows that the academic style in the north is not as strong as that in the south of the Yangtze River... Well, I wonder if Mr. Xiao Gao knows that there are especially many horse thieves in Bazhou?"
Gao pragmatic frowned slightly: "I heard something about it, what? Bazhou horse thieves also plundered Ansu?"
Chen Ju smiled bitterly and said: "After all, Ansu is attached to Guo Baoding, and Baoding is where the governor is stationed and where the heavenly soldiers gather, so it is impossible to say that horse thieves are plundering. But after all, Ansu is only a hundred and fifty miles away from Bazhou. , a fast horse can arrive in one day, so you are always harassed by horse thieves from time to time. There are not many houses and houses robbed, but robberies of passing merchants and travelers do happen from time to time, and there are many other kinds of lawlessness, so here It is even more difficult for students to devote themselves to study. Furthermore, I remember that when I was a child in my hometown, the social education system was in ruins. Not only were the classrooms open to wind and rain, but even the social support staff were often in arrears or even in short supply. In recent years, I have occasionally returned to my hometown to visit relatives. The situation is the same as before. Logically speaking, you don’t need to be responsible for the books and miscellaneous expenses used for the birth of a child, but due to the poverty of the county government, it is actually difficult to do so. As for the county school, I heard that the same is true..."
Gao pragmatically nodded: "That is to say, the academic atmosphere in Ansu is not flourishing, firstly because of banditry, and secondly because the funding for social studies and county schools cannot be guaranteed?"
Chen Ju felt a sudden change in his heart when he heard it, and was a little worried about Gao's pragmatic stance, but after taking a glance at Mr. Gao's face, he finally felt relieved and nodded: "That's probably the case."
Gao Pangshi showed a smile: "The problem of horse bandits in Bazhou has lasted for decades, if not a hundred years. It is beyond my ability to deal with it. Please understand this, Mr. Chen. As for the lack of funds for Ansu County's schools and social studies, Please rest assured, Mr. Chen, I will write a letter to Mr. Liang County about this matter and ask him to pay more attention to it."
The problem of horse bandits in Bazhou has been around for a long time. The so-called horse bandits are commonly known as thieves or horse thieves locally. If we want to trace its origin, it may be traced back to the horse administration in Hebei Province during the Ming Dynasty. We will not go into details here. Just say that during the Zhengde period, a Liu Liu Liu Qi uprising broke out in Bazhou. The rebel army with horse bandits as the main force even captured many states and counties in Beizhili, Shandong, Henan, and Shanxi, and forced into Beijing three times. It can be seen from this that the problem of horse bandits in Bazhou is actually a three-foot-long freeze, which is not a day's cold. Therefore, it is completely understandable that Gao pragmatically expresses his inability to help Chen Ju regarding the horse bandits.
On the other hand, Chen Ju was surprised and delighted to hear Gao Pragmatic's answer regarding the funding of county schools and social schools! What is surprising is that this matter has nothing to do with Mr. Xiao Gao. He actually lowered his face and let a "county magistrate who was born with the same Jinshi" personally write a letter and talk about it. This naturally gave himself a face, but he couldn't do it. How could a little-known figure in the palace deserve to be so valued by the nephew of the most favored minister of the dynasty? What's so weird here?
Fortunately, according to what this Mr. Gao said, Mr. Liang County, who came to Gao Mansion and couldn't even meet the teacher, couldn't he put the county school in order? No matter how poor the county government is, no matter how clean the treasury is that even rats don’t bother to visit it, as long as the county master pays a little attention, a small amount of school funding can be guaranteed!
I think Chen Ju's nature is here, his status in the palace is not high, he doesn't have much income, and he has to bring some money to his family every year to support his father and brothers. His money is really tight. If his brother studies, he can save money. The next one will be much easier.
Thinking of this, Chen Ju couldn't sit still anymore, stood up, bowed respectfully to Gao Pragmatic, and said: "I thank Mr. Xiao Gao for your kindness on behalf of my incompetent brother and the students from Hexian County."
Gao Pangshi quickly stood up and supported him, saying: "Hey, Mr. Chen, why do you need to do this? It's just a simple effort... Besides, this kid is just helping Senior Brother Liang fill in the gaps. After all, this situation happened under his rule. If he Isn't it also his political achievement to be able to make the academic style in the county pure and vigorous?"
Chen Ju refused to listen and finished the ceremony abruptly. Gao pragmatically persuaded him a few more times, and then the two parties sat down again and chatted for a while. Seeing that it was getting late, Chen Ju thought that he had to return to the palace to resume his life. , not daring to stay for a long time, so he said goodbye and left. Seeing that the purpose of benevolence and win over had been achieved, Gao Pingshi no longer stayed for a long time, but he still gave it away in person, which moved Chen Ju again.
In Chen Ju's view, with a high and pragmatic background, he can be so humble and kind. It's a pity that he is just a court eunuch. He only does some work of serving tea and running errands on weekdays. I don't know why. When can I repay this kindness? I just had to write it down in my mind and save it for the next day.
Chen Ju was grateful and did not elaborate, but said that after Gao Pragmatic saw Chen Ju off, he went to greet his aunt as usual, and then went to the study to study. Although Gao Gong hesitated for a long time and did not decide which scholar to ask Gao Jingshi to be his teacher, he still arranged some homework for Gao Jingshi himself.
Of course, the highly pragmatic coursework is actually quite simple. It is nothing more than endorsement at the moment, because the Ming Dynasty did not take exams to write poems. There was no examination of poems. If I remember correctly, it was not until the Qianlong period that the examination of poems was re-included in the assessment. ], all examinations are based on the "Four Books" and "Five Classics", so the Four Books and the Five Classics must be memorized thoroughly. As for the specific interpretation, I will go into detail after I have memorized it. This is one of the reasons why Gao Gong is so cautious about asking teachers but not in a hurry. After all, endorsements don’t need to be supervised at all times—you can tell whether you paid attention when you go home and check. As for future teaching, what if there is no teacher? Isn't Gao Gong himself a great scholar in the world? Are you kidding me, are all those years of drinking wine at the Imperial College in vain?
Do you understand the imperial wine ceremony? The president of the highest university in the country!
What's more, he Gao Gong was still the lecturer of King Yu back then and is now the emperor's teacher! The emperor can teach him, but he can’t teach his own nephew?
Of course, in fact, the reason why Gao Gong still has such confidence in Gao Jingshi's studies even when he is so busy, in addition to his self-confidence as an "imperial teacher", also comes from Gao Jingshi's consistent excellent performance since he was educated.
Gao Pragmatic was enlightened very early. When he was more than three years old, because of his clear speech and fluent expression, the elders in the clan were delighted and immediately initiated him into enlightenment. I want to say a little more here. The time for enlightenment in ancient times was uncertain. For ordinary people, they had to save enough "tuition fees". You can become enlightened. For families who don't need a small amount of money, when to enlighten them mainly depends on the children themselves. After all, some children speak earlier, while others speak more slowly. You can't force a child who can't speak a word to be enlightened, right?
Therefore, in general, the main consideration for the initiation time of children from wealthy families is that the children can express themselves more clearly. For example, Li Bai said to himself, "When I was five years old, I recited Liujia, and when I was ten years old, I observed hundreds of schools of thought." Although the enlightenment studies in the Tang Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty were quite different, it can be generally believed that Li Bai must have been enlightened at the age of five at the latest. In fact, the enlightenment at the age of five was actually quite early - otherwise, with Li Bai's temperament, he would not Take it out and "show off". As for the Ming Dynasty, the most common time for enlightenment today is around seven or eight years old - which is quite consistent with the time period for elementary school in later generations.
