The Zheng family's residence.
The people in the house were all sad and depressed.
In the spring after the new year, Zheng Xuan's health has been deteriorating. In recent days, he has not eaten any grains of rice, so he relies on a little rice soup and some ginseng slices to survive. Zheng Xuan, who was lying on the bed, was already skinny and bones, and his face was somewhat disfigured.
His state is sometimes awake, sometimes drowsy, and sometimes he closes his eyes and speaks a few words.
Zheng Xuan was lying on the bed.
Not far away, Zheng Xuan's grandson Zheng Xiaotong sat sadly. He was wearing plain clothes. He had lost a lot of weight and looked very tired. Zheng Xiaotong is a little older than Lu Yu, also fourteen years old.
Although he is young, he is not enough to support the family. But now he is from the East Palace, following Lu Yu, and is Lu Yu's baby brother. No one dares to despise this status.
What's more, Zheng Xuan was in charge of the Five Classics Museum in his early years and trained countless scholars, with talents all over the world.
Under such circumstances, no one dared to have any objections to the Zheng family.
Zheng Xiaotong looked haggard, but he was sitting upright. These days, Zheng Xiaotong has to take care of his grandfather's daily life on the one hand, and on the other hand, he is also responsible for receiving guests.
Zheng Xuan had only one son in his early years. Because Kong Rong died in the hands of the Yellow Turban when he rescued Kong Rong in his early years, Zheng Xiaotong was the only one.
So now when something happens, Zheng Xiaotong can only rely on himself for everything, no one can help him.
Fortunately, the prince comes every day.
It's just that the prince is very busy, so he always comes to take care of him at night. In addition, the old housekeeper in the house can also help, and there are many servants in the house, so everything is not chaotic.
When Zheng Xiaotong started to take a nap, suddenly a burst of rapid footsteps came in. The butler looked a little hurried and said urgently: "Sir, pick me up quickly, Your Majesty is here."
"His Majesty?"
Zheng Xiaotong was stunned for a moment.
He came back to his senses in an instant and said in surprise: "Has your Majesty returned from Xiangzhou?"
The butler nodded hurriedly.
Zheng Xiaotong stood up and walked out quickly. As soon as he walked out of the backyard, he saw Lu Xuan and Lu Yu had already entered. Zheng Xiaotong stopped quickly, straightened his somewhat messy clothes, and saluted solemnly: "Your Majesty, Zheng Xiaotong, pays my respects."
Lu Xuan waved his hand and said, "No need to be polite."
Zheng Xiaotong said: "Your Majesty, please!"
Lu Xuan nodded and followed Zheng Xiaotong into the house. When Lu Xuan arrived at the house, he sat next to the bed and looked at Zheng Xuan, who was lying on the bed with a broken body. A trace of reluctance flashed in his eyes.
Zheng Xuan was a great scholar of his generation.
The Confucian classics in the late Han Dynasty are so obscure and difficult to understand that you cannot understand many of them at all. Because Zheng Xuan studied ancient classics extensively and constantly annotated the classics, he was able to further explain them. He was the master of classics in the late Han Dynasty.
Confucian classics were carried forward under the teachings of Zheng Xuan.
When such a person lives, he is the Taishan Beidou of academia, a living fossil of academia. In addition, he supports younger generations and is of great help to the academia.
Now, he is old.
Zheng Xiaotong whispered from the side: "Grandpa, your Majesty is here. Your Majesty has come back from Xiangzhou to see you."
Zheng Xuan moved his body and opened his eyes.
It's just that his eyes are cloudy.
Zheng Xiaotong wanted to shout again, but to no avail, because Zheng Xuan was still in confusion and his mind was not very clear.
Lu Xuan stretched out his hand to stop him. He didn't force it, he just sat aside and watched.
After a long time, Zheng Xuan's eyes gradually became clear. He stretched out his withered hands and propped himself on the bed to get up. Zheng Xiaotong quickly stepped forward, carefully helped Zheng Xuan up, and leaned against him.
Zheng Xuan's breathing was rapid, and he panted for a while before he regained some strength. When he saw Lu Xuan, he looked like he had more than enough ambition but not enough energy, and said, "Your Majesty, I can't salute you anymore."
Lu Xuan said with relief: "In private, Mr. Zheng is the elder. Mr. Yu, you are also an elder, so there is no need to salute."
A forced smile appeared on Zheng Xuan's old face, and he said: "I will see your Majesty before I die, and I will have no regrets. Now that Your Majesty is back, I have a few things that I want to tell you. "
Lu Xuan said softly: "Mr. Zheng is just old. Elderly people are either sick here or uncomfortable there. It's normal. After Mr. Zheng gets through it, he will recover naturally. Don't worry too much."
"No!"
Zheng Xuan shook his head.
His eyes were filled with nostalgia and he said: "These days, I often dream of my old friend. I know my body very well. It's time to go. Your Majesty doesn't need to be relieved. Life is rare in seventy years. It's not bad to live until now, let alone The old man is nearly eighty years old. But there are still some things that he can't let go of."
Lu Xuan said: "Please tell me."
Zheng Xuan raised his skinny index finger and said: "First, it is about opening schools to recruit scholars. Currently, the imperial court selects scholars through the Five Classics Museum and other institutions. The main body is trained by the Five Classics Museum, and there are also universities established in local places."
"According to the previous reforms, universities were established locally, some were supported by local governments, and some were supported by local big families."
"I have no objection to the arrangement of large local families, but we must not put the cart before the horse. Government-run universities must account for the majority, and government-trained scholars must account for the absolute majority."
"Furthermore, scholars trained in universities run by local wealthy families must be strictly assessed."
“If you put the cart before the horse, there will be problems in selecting scholars.”
Zheng Xuan looked solemn and said: "Your Majesty has done a great job in setting up the Five Classics Museum to select and train scholars from poor families. Now if we want to further expand and continue, we must do a good job and cannot be plucked by others."
Lu Xuan nodded and said, "I have taken note of what Mr. Zheng said."
He looked at Lu Yu and ordered: "Prince, you are responsible for supervising the country's governance, and this matter must be implemented. Zheng Gong's words are a mature strategy. At any time, national treasures, food, salt, iron, etc. that are related to the interests of the people, will It must not be controlled by an individual or a big family, it must be controlled by the imperial court."
"My son, please remember this."
Lu Yu also answered solemnly.
Zheng Xuan took a deep breath, adjusted his state again, and then said further: "Secondly, I hope that Your Majesty will further support more young scholars to inspect local areas and take a walk around."
"When scholars read, they should not be fooled by reading, but should implement it in practice. Nowadays, more and more people are studying, and each of them only knows how to quote the classics. When you open your mouth, you will know the classics of the sages, and when you close your mouth, you will know what the sages did."
"However, he lacks his own understanding."
"I believe that scholars can't always focus on the classics placed in the attic. They must be able to understand the grains and grains, and how to manage the world. If they cannot be down-to-earth, they cannot put what they have learned into practical use. Combined, it’s a man on paper.”
"Once such a scholar is released, he will just be an official. He will not benefit the people, but will affect them instead."
At this moment, Zheng Xuan's face turned red. His breathing was even more rapid, but the light in his eyes was getting brighter, and his mental state was much better than when he first woke up.
After Lu Xuan noticed it, he frowned.
Zheng Xuan's situation is somewhat like a comeback.
Lu Xuan sighed in his heart, looked at Zheng Xuan's eager look, and said, "I will remember what Mr. Zheng said, and I will definitely implement it."
Zheng Xuan raised his third finger and continued: "The third thing is about Lao Chan himself. Lao Chan had no ability and failed to save the people when they were in danger. Moreover, he was obsessed with scholarship and failed to govern the place. The only thing I have done something, which is to teach some people to read. I hope that after death, everything will be simple and not extravagant, let alone affect others. "
He looked at Lu Xuan, his eyes gradually darkened. He grabbed Lu Xuan's hand and said, "Your Majesty, I have left Xiaotong to you. Please take care of me, Your Majesty."
Lu Xuan said: "I am responsible for everything."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Zheng Xuan mustered up all the strength in his body to speak, but as soon as he finished speaking, his face that was originally flushed quickly turned pale, and his eyes that gradually became dimmed completely lost their brightness, and there was no brightness anymore.
Zheng Xuan lost his breath instantly, and the hand holding Lu Xuan dropped.
"grandfather!"
Zheng Xiaotong cried out in grief when he saw this scene.
Seeing Zheng Xuan's passing appearance, Lu Xuan looked at Zheng Xiaotong and said in a deep voice: "Xiaotong, my condolences."
Zheng Xiaotong nodded, but tears were flowing. He never saw his father when he was born, because his father died at the hands of the Yellow Turban thief when his mother was pregnant with him. From childhood to adulthood, it was his grandfather who taught him, earnestly entrusted him, and worked tirelessly to raise him, so that he had a complete childhood and grew up peacefully.
Now, the person who cares about him the most is gone, and Zheng Xiaotong has lost one of his closest relatives.
Lu Xuan said in a deep voice: "Yu'er, you are responsible for organizing Duke Zheng's funeral. If you don't understand anything, ask Jia Xu. You want to watch the funeral and support the funeral, everything is up to you."
"Thank you, Father!"
Lu Yu bowed and thanked him.
Lu Xuan was not in a hurry to leave. He watched the Zheng family members change Zheng Xuan's clothes, wash himself, put on his robe, and lay in the coffin. It's not complicated or messy because everything is arranged.
After everything was ready, Lu Xuan left after offering incense.
The Zheng family has Lu Yu and Zheng Xiaotong keeping vigil and taking charge of receiving guests. As the news of Zheng Xuan's death spread, first of all, the great scholars from the Nanjing Five Classics Hall, including Pang Degong, Wang Lie, Guan Ning, Bing Yuan, etc., came to pay their respects and express their condolences.
When many great scholars came to express their condolences, they were all shocked when they found that the prince was also there. The prince personally stayed at the funeral, which was an unusual treatment.
This is an encouragement to the Five Classics Hall.
At the same time, the condolences of the scholars also further praised Lu Yu, saying that this was the benevolence of the prince. As the news spread, many scholars mourned Zheng Xuan's death and also praised Lu Yu's actions.
For a time, there was a lot of news in Nanjing.
When the news came out, Lu Xuan ignored it and allowed the news to ferment, because everything was beneficial to Lu Yu. Lu Yu's inheritance from Zheng Xuan will be of great help to his future governance.
