…
"Reporting to Your Highness, I am a member of the Teng family of Changde Mansion."
"Your Highness, I am a member of the Yang family of Baoqing Mansion."
"Your Highness, I am a member of the Zhang family of Jinhua Mansion..."
…
"Your Highness, don't listen to their nonsense."
Suddenly, a sarcastic voice came from outside the crowd.
"Um?"
Zhu Di's expression condensed, and he looked out the door. Several men with sinewy faces and muscular bodies squeezed in, and they felt inexplicably familiar to Zhu Di.
Seeing these people, all the stewards who had spoken before could not help but stare angrily, their faces dark.
"Who are you?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, this villain is Guo Peng, the steward of Wudinghou Mansion."
"Your Highness, this villain is Zhao Er, the steward of Duke Xinguo's mansion."
"Your Highness, I am the steward of Duke Ying's mansion..."
"..."
A smile suddenly appeared on Zhu Di's face. These nobles are all members of his own family. "Wu Dinghou and Xin Guogong are both military generals. Why do they need reading glasses?"
"Your Highness, our princes (grandfathers) said that the objects made by Your Highness must be good ones. They are old and they should ask for a share."
Guo Peng and Zhao Er said quickly.
"Um."
Zhu Di nodded slightly and asked, "Why do you say these thieves are lying to us?"
Guo Peng said quickly: "Your Highness, these are all the people who came out of the capital together with the villain and others. Their masters are all officials of the capital. Have the villain and others even met some of them?"
"How dare you deceive me?"
Zhu Di's face turned gloomy and he stared closely at the group of stewards in front of him.
"Your Majesty, the villain and others really did not lie to Your Highness. The villain really belongs to the Teng family of Changde Mansion."
"Yes, Your Highness Mingjian, the little master is really a member of the Yang family of Baoqing Mansion..."
"..."
Zhu Di smiled coldly, "There is only one person who was born in the Yang family of Baoqing Mansion and is still an official in the capital..."
As he said that, Zhu Di looked at the people in front of him who were all looking bad with a mocking look on his face, "Tsk... Damn it, a group of people who hide their heads and show their tails still pretend to be gentlemen all day long and help His Majesty govern the world. They are really slipping the world." It’s a big joke…”
After saying that, Zhu Di turned around and walked in.
There was only a group of stewards left behind who dared to be angry but dare not speak out, and their faces were red from holding back.
Returning to the palace, Guo An put his hands on his hands and chuckled, "Your Highness, this plan is very clever."
Zhu Di was startled, "What's our plan?"
Guo Andao: "Originally, His Highness built an academy on a large scale in Beiping Mansion, and was suspected of wooing northern scholars, which would make people fearful.
However, now in front of everyone, he severely scolded all the ministers in the capital.
In this way, the civil servants and scholars in the south will not want to see His Highness, and His Highness will not be feared by others. "
Zhu Di's face hardened, "We are just building an academy, how can we be worthy of being feared?"
Guo An said slowly: "Your Highness, there will be great scholars in the academy, and in the future there will be thousands of civil servants and scholars who will receive your favor..."
Zhu Di smiled casually, then stared at Guo An and said solemnly: "Guo Qing, you are worrying too much, not to mention one academy, even ten academies, my father and brother will not be suspicious of us.
And we will never have any thoughts that we shouldn’t have, and Guo Qing must not have any thoughts that we shouldn’t have..."
Guo An quickly smiled and said: "Your Highness, I will devote my energy to craftsmanship in this life..."
"Very good!"
Zhu Di nodded with satisfaction.
Two days later.
All the visitors from the capital also left.
In the main halls of Prince Yan's Mansion, there are nearly 10,000 more books of various types.
In the following days, another carriage arrived from Shunde Mansion, carrying tens of thousands of books.
Zhu Di couldn't help but feel overjoyed.
And Guo An couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
These books are proof that some northern scholars and even great Confucians supported the academy.
…
Time flies.
Books in the main hall of Prince Yan's Mansion have been piled up all over the three main halls.
Five miles southwest of Beiping Mansion, a large-scale academy was slowly being built.
At the same time, more and more scholars are coming to Beiping Mansion.
After seeing the gradually rising academy, everyone's faces were filled with joy, and then they wrote furiously to inform the teachers and friends.
Following this, some great scholars also gradually came to Beiping Mansion.
Naturally, as a descendant of Guo Taishi and the chief historian of the Yan Palace, Guo An was responsible for receiving these great Confucian scholars and rural sages.
As soon as these great scholars and country wise men gathered together, they began to scrutinize the academy in various ways, especially Guo An.
"Young man Guo, I wonder what the purpose of His Highness Prince Yan was to establish the academy?"
Guo An respectfully replied: "His Royal Highness the King of Yan has no other thoughts. He only wants to enrich the people and strengthen the country, so that all the people in Beiping Mansion can be literate, so that all the people can be freed from ignorance..."
"Then what are you going to do, His Highness King Yan?"
"First let all the children of the common people in Beiping Prefecture be enlightened, and then let these children in Beiping Prefecture complete primary education."
"Primary education?"
It was the first time for all the scholars to hear this word, and they couldn't help but look curious.
"Returning to the elders, Ning Yi believes that the so-called primary education is to allow all people to be literate and learn the most basic arithmetic. When they encounter their favorite books, they can read them at will, and they will never be tricked again. …”
"How is this possible?"
All the great scholars couldn't help but widen their eyes with disbelief on their faces.
“That’s why His Highness King Yan established the Academy. No matter he is the son of poor people, the son of a craftsman, or the son of a merchant or an official, all can enter the Academy. They will treat everyone equally and cannot bully others...
And if they are bullied, insulted, deceived and abducted by their classmates in the academy, as long as no one is killed, they will be given a lighter sentence..."
"So, wouldn't it mean that the students taught by the academy are a mixture of dragons and fish? There is no distinction between superior and inferior?"
"Farmers grow food, craftsmen make it, merchants sell it, and officials coordinate management. Apart from the different powers in their hands, is there any distinction between superiority and inferiority?"
"I will never agree with such a thought of no dignity or inferiority."
"Haha, I think this kind of education method is relatively new, and I like it very much. At least there will be no life-threatening danger in the academy, but when they enter the officialdom, if they are not careful, they will either lose their family and fortune, or they will die."
"The strong is king, and the fittest survive. After they come out, no matter how much knowledge they have, they have to learn to protect themselves..."
"good……"
"You...you are so radical. The academy is just a place for enlightenment, literacy, reading, and bathing in the thoughts of sages. Now you are acting so recklessly?"
"Young man, I don't know any great truth. I only know that there is no good or evil body, there are good and evil actions, knowing good and evil is conscience, and doing good and eliminating evil is observing things.
Only by studying things to gain knowledge and integrating knowledge and action can we know the truth.
However, as a country has a long history, everyone should be a scholar. They should establish their mind for the heaven and earth, establish their destiny for the people, carry forward the unique knowledge of the past saints, and create peace for all generations. They cannot stick to the rules and only know how to follow the words of their predecessors and think about changes..."
"Okay, how can Mr. Hengqu establish his mind for the world, establish his destiny for the people, inherit his unique knowledge for the saints, and create peace for all generations?"
"But, you kid, are you saying that we are all a bunch of old fools?"
"The boy doesn't dare..."
Facing the test and questioning from a group of great scholars, although Guo An was dark-hearted and thick-skinned, he still couldn't handle it.
He is just a fledgling boy, how can he argue with these great scholars?
Fortunately, a group of Koryo envoys also set off from Yingtian City and came to Beiping Mansion again.
The leader of Goryeo was still Li Shihou from a few months ago.
"Li Shihou, the envoy of Goryeo, comes to see His Highness King Yan."
In the Chengyun Hall, Li Shihou led a group of Korean envoys to respectfully pay homage to Zhu Di.
Zhu Di sat on the throne with a solemn expression and asked Li Shihou: "Envoy from Korea, why are you here this time?"
On the left and right sides, there were a group of officials from Prince Yan's palace and some great scholars, looking at these Goryeo tribes with indifferent expressions.
Li Shihou hurriedly replied: "I would like to inform His Highness King Yan that the foreign minister is here with the intention of our country, Korea, to seek His Highness King Yan's transparent glass technology and winter vegetable planting technology."
Hearing this, Zhu Di seemed to have just remembered this matter.
"In that case, can you bring the loan credentials from your country of Korea?"
Li Shihou looked at Zhu Di expectantly, "Reporting to His Highness the King of Yan, the foreign minister has brought the loan credentials of the foreign minister's country, and I would like to ask His Highness the King of Yan to take a look."
As Li Shihou finished speaking, the two Goryeo envoys raised a document and knelt respectfully in front of Zhu Di.
Later, He Zhong stepped forward to take the document and presented it to Zhu Di.
Zhu Di opened it and saw that the seal of the King of Korea was indeed stamped on the loan certificate, with a satisfied smile on his face.
"The King of Goryeo is indeed very sincere, so you can follow the royal officials tomorrow to learn the technology of burning transparent glass and farming and growing vegetables."
"Thank you, His Highness King Yan!"
All the envoys from Goryeo looked grateful.
After the business was finished, plates of field dishes with full color, flavor and fragrance were served.
Everyone ate with gusto.
With his wine bag full, a great scholar couldn't help but tilt his head and whispered: "Such food and wine are so luxurious."
Guo An smiled faintly, "Prince Yan's Mansion earns thousands of taels of silver every day, and he earns it in a serious manner. He doesn't plunder any money from the people. Isn't it normal to have a delicious meal?"
"Then why do we need to lend money to Goryeo? But to me, the gentry and merchants of the Ming Dynasty, they must pay all the money?"
Guo An said slowly: "The territory of the Koryo Kingdom is equal to the entire Beiping Prefecture, plus Shanxi and Shandong. If the Koryo Kingdom dares to default on its debt, it will need to repay ten times... And those gentry and merchants, I don't know if they can repay it. Can you afford it?”
"hiss……"
The scholars on Guo An's left and right sides widened their eyes and looked at Zhu Di who was sitting on the throne with a sincere smile on his face again, with a flash of light in his eyes.
"So, the old man from the academy has entered."
"It should be like this. We great scholars have been familiar with the books of sages since childhood, and we should be like Mr. Hengqu. We should set up our minds for the heaven and earth, establish our destiny for the people, inherit the unique knowledge of the saints, and create peace for all generations..."
Guo An did not expect that just one meeting with the Goryeo envoys could make these great scholars change their minds.
And with the addition of these great scholars, more scholars came to Beiping Mansion.
At the same time, the academy was officially renovated.
On the day when the academy opened, the entire academy was crowded with scholars wearing turbans and Confucian shirts.
Everyone is full of joy about the venue of the academy.
Study, school, garden of six arts...
The most important thing is the hundreds of clear springs with pontoon pavilions on them, and the surrounding bookstores two or three feet high. Drinking tea and reading at the same time, isn't it a fairy?
Furthermore, the six-story library with hundreds of thousands of classics makes all readers flock to it!
Even some great scholars are greedy.
…
(End of chapter)
