Chapter 7 Let me stretch my legs
Yang Zhen had always wanted to become an official in the court. Or simply join the imperial examination and become an official. It’s nice to see Zhu Yuanzhang’s face. Today's situation, although I have seen what Zhu Yuanzhang looks like, is such a situation, it is really a fate.
"What are your plans for the future?" He Xi asked.
Yang Zhen's eyes were confused, and he said after a while: "What are my plans? I just want to go back to my hometown. I will probably become a teacher. I can at least know some words."
He Xi said: "I need a housekeeper here, why don't you stay and help me?"
He Xi married Princess Anqing, and there was a whole team of dowrymen in the palace. Guard hundreds of households and kings thousands of miles away. There is also the eunuch Xu Baoer. As for land, tenants, etc., everything is available. It can be said that everything is lacking. But He Xi felt lacking.
Because the people around He Xi are all the princess's people.
Not that the princess dared to be disrespectful to He Xi. But there are many things that He Xi doesn't want the princess to get involved in. Furthermore, it also involves the issue of the right to speak within the family. Based on the rule that the male leads the outside and the female leads the household, He Xi doesn't mind the princess taking over the power in the family. However, he cannot have no say at home.
Moreover, the current property of the He family is the princess's dowry. He Xi's face is not good, and he is also planning to buy some properties. There must always be someone on hand.
Yang Zhen is a very suitable candidate.
First of all, Yang Zhen, as a Imperial College student, has proven his ability. You must know that in the early Ming Dynasty, the Imperial College occupied half of the places in the several imperial examinations held during the Hongwu period. There were even several times when one or two of the top three came from the Imperial College.
The Imperial College is really the essence of Ming Dynasty students. He is a reserve official of the imperial court.
Yang Zhen’s basic qualities are already there. If you learn other things, you should be able to get started.
Secondly, as a Imperial College student, Yang Zhen must have his own circle. What happened between him and Song Ne could not be hidden from anyone. Naturally, he had to make arrangements for Yang Zhen and show his attitude to the Imperial College students.
He Xi has a heavy task. There are many things that I don’t know how to start with, but I have a direction, and that is to start with young people like Imperial College Students. Only they can actively learn new knowledge. Song Ne was extremely harsh to them, so He Xi naturally wanted to show kindness.
But because of He Xi's good intentions, Yang Zhen hesitated for a while and said: "The common people understand your kindness. It's just that the common people don't want to be slaves to others."
Although he is no longer a student. But the pride of scholars is still there.
He Xi was stunned and said, "I never made you a slave."
Yang Zhen was also shocked and asked: "Isn't the housekeeper a slave?"
He Xi said: "Of course not. I have always believed that treating people as slaves is not the way of a saint. You are just working in my house. If you want to resign, say hello three months in advance. Hand over the work and promise not to leak the affairs of the house in the future. That’s it.”
He Xi actually didn't know that the housekeepers in each government were all slaves. It is the so-called Haonu.
However, He Xi's words to Yang Zhen were sincere.
He had always opposed slavery. On the one hand, He Xi felt that the slavery system should have been buried in the long river of history long ago. On the other hand, the cause he wanted to do was also contrary to slavery. He Xicai vowed to set the rules.
He also decided that this would be the rule of the He family from now on.
After hearing this, Yang Zhen stopped encouraging him. He stood up and saluted and said, "Yang Zhen has seen the master's family."
In Yang Zhen's opinion, housekeepers are not servants, but are mostly housekeepers, staff, and the like. This does not insult him. Moreover, Yang Zhen also knew that Song Ne had been in charge of the Imperial College for many years and had a wide range of contacts, and he was in this current situation. It's hard to find similar errands away from here.
After all, Yang Zhen is young, only in his early twenties, about the same age as He Xi. Most officials hire staff who are experienced and experienced in serving as staff. How could Yang Zhen invite a tainted young man? Let Yang Zhen go to the countryside to become a teacher. Yang Zhen, who had seen the prosperity of big cities, was unwilling to accept it.
He Xi said: "Sit down quickly. Sit down quickly. You are injured, so you can't do this."
After a while, He Xi comforted Yang Zhen and sat down.
He Xi pondered for a moment and said, "Originally, you are injured now, so you shouldn't bother. But you also know that my new director Ye and Song Ne have had a falling out. I want to know about the Imperial Academy's classes."
Yang Zhen said: "This matter started because of the students, so how dare you postpone it." So, Yang Zhen took the trouble to explain the lessons of the Imperial College.
He Xi felt a little strange when he heard this and said, "Do you want to talk about "Spring and Autumn Fan Lu"?"
"Spring and Autumn Dew" is a work by Dong Zhongshu. In He Xi's opinion, it is an epoch-making work among Confucian works. A series of concepts such as Wuhe, Inspiration between Heaven and Man, which have been used for almost the entire feudal dynasty, are all in this book.
Yang Zhen shook his head and said, "There are only three Chun Qiu Chuan in the Spring and Autumn Period." The three Chun Qiu Chuan are Gongyang Chuan, Zuo Shi Chuan and Gu Liang Chuan. He Xi knows this. As one of the Five Classics, the Spring and Autumn Period is natural. In He Xi's view, there is no reason not to read Chun Qiu Fan Lu, a true Confucian scholar.
This is a little strange.
He Xi continued to ask: "Do you read Kong Yingda's "Five Classics of Justice"?"
Yang Zhen thought for a while and finally shook his head. Said: "Never heard of it?"
"What about Zheng's notes?" He Xi asked, "Have you not read it either?"
Yang Zhen said: "I don't know who wrote this Zheng note. In the Imperial College, all the notes are from Zhu Xi."
Kong Yingda was a great figure in the early Tang Dynasty. The most important thing is that the "Five Classics of Justice" compiled by him was one of the standards for selecting scholars in the Tang Dynasty. The status is similar to Neo-Confucianism in the Ming Dynasty. The Zheng Zhu is the commentary of Zheng Xuan, a great Confucian in the Three Periods.
The influence is extraordinary.
It can be said that in He Xi's view, a qualified scholar must read the works of these people. And it's a desk book.
"What about Zhu Xi's other works, such as those of Er Cheng? Are there any professors of the first four histories?" He Xi asked.
Yang Zhen pondered for a moment and then said: "Sir, maybe you have some misunderstandings about the Imperial College. In fact, Zhu Xi, Liang Cheng, and even some commentaries by many people in the former Song Dynasty, as well as the first four histories, are all read by ourselves. At most Ask all the teachers for advice.”
"And some questions may not be answered by the teacher. Only the teacher's personal disciples can teach from ear to ear."
He Xi was surprised and said, "Then what are you studying?"
Yang Zhen said: "It depends on what the imperial court tests? Usually it's classics and meanings, as well as policy papers, etc."
For a moment, He Xi had the urge to let me stretch my legs.
Zhang Dai recorded such a story while sailing on a night ship. Once upon a time there was a monk who stayed on a boat at night with a scholar. The scholars talked loudly, but the monks were frightened and fell asleep with their fists on their feet. The monk heard that there was a flaw in his words, so he asked: "Excuse me, sir, is Tantai Mieming one person or two people?" The scholar said, "It is two people." The monk said, "Are Yao and Shun one person or two people? The scholar said: "Of course it's one person!" The monk smiled and said: "When we talk about this, let me wait for the young monk to stretch his legs."
The same is true for He Xi. His knowledge of Chinese studies is not very high. I just feel like I am illiterate in Ming Dynasty. I have been taking tutoring for a while, but I still feel that I am not good enough. I heard that the Imperial College was the highest institution of learning in the Ming Dynasty. Naturally, they look forward to it and fear it.
Just like a poor student who is about to take a job at Tsinghua University and Peking University, he is anxious and uneasy.
But now, he knew the true face of the Imperial College. He felt that it was a college entrance examination school.
Suddenly I felt much more relaxed.
This is actually the basic appearance of Ming education today. There may be some great scholars among the government and the public, but not many. In He Xi's eyes, he was knowledgeable about the past and the present, and even among the universities of later generations, he could be regarded as one of the best. Of course there are.
But there is none in the Imperial College.
Because the essence of the Imperial College was to provide officials for the Ming Dynasty. The direction of their education is to take exams and how to be an official, not a scholar.
Of course, that's not to say.
There are no students in the Imperial College who are knowledgeable. It can only be said that the direction of Imperial College education is not here. Even if there are some individuals. It is also self-taught.
This also shows that Song Ne was famous for his strictness, which greatly improved the quality of education at the Imperial College.
It was strange before. He is not against strict teachers producing great disciples, but he knows that real masters, real great Confucians, cannot be created by just strict teachers. Instead, a more relaxed environment is needed. But it is not necessary to cultivate qualified bureaucrats.
