Chapter 531 Parent-Teacher Meeting
The first twenty-eight days of Liu Ju's education passed quickly. The original three schools of thought—Confucianism, Legalism, and Mohism—were replaced by four schools of thought—Confucianism, Legalism, Military Science, and Mohism—and Liu Che and Wei Zifu, the most distinguished couple in the Han Dynasty, began a parent-teacher meeting.
Zhang Liang: "First of all, I don't like hitting people; secondly, class isn't solitary confinement, I won't let him go hungry; thirdly, class isn't a grand performance, it doesn't need so many spectators. Is that clear?"
Liu, the audience member, and Wei, the food deliveryman, nodded sincerely, "Understood, understood."
Li Si: "Although I will no longer personally tutor the Crown Prince, I have sworn with Your Highness to revise the Han laws, precisely to use the ancient laws as a blade to eradicate the accumulated abuses in the court. Therefore, I urge Your Majesty to set an example by personally ensuring that whatever the law stipulates, even the Son of Heaven cannot overstep the bounds!"
Liu, who loves to walk the line between law and fiction, nodded awkwardly: "Understood, understood."
Han Xin: "All these weapons are custom-made for His Highness the Crown Prince and are not suitable for adults. If Your Majesty is interested, you may order them from us. Have I explained this clearly?"
Liu, eager to play with his son's toy weapons, nodded sheepishly, "Understood, understood... When can we finalize the order? Can you make a sword within a zither? Or one of those soft swords that can be worn as a belt..."
Wei Zifu smiled and gave him a light elbow. "Your Majesty, why don't we talk about this after this is over?"
"Ahem..." Liu Che instantly suppressed his excitement, put on a fake smile, and looked at Gao Jianli: "That makes sense. Does Mr. Gao have any other questions?"
Gao Jianli was silent for a moment, then said, "First of all, I will teach you swordsmanship."
Everyone immediately showed expressions of disbelief.
Gao Jianli's brow twitched, he took a deep breath, and was too lazy to explain. He couldn't shake off the title of the Crown Prince's music teacher anyway, so he might as well leave it at that.
Anyway, they don't dare to expose it, so let's all sink together!
"Disassembling the mechanisms is not a problem, but Your Majesty, please stop allowing His Highness the Crown Prince to paint all the mechanisms in seven colors!"
Liu, the instigator of the Seven-Colored Organization and an accomplice, nodded guiltily: "Understood, understood."
After listening to the requests of the four tutors, Empress Wei Zifu felt that His Majesty's problem was the biggest one!
Stared at by the Empress with a gaze that was both reproachful and questioning, Liu Che felt uneasy and dared not meet her gaze. He glanced at the four tutors and hurriedly changed the subject.
"Thank you all for your hard work. Do you have any further requests regarding Ju'er's instruction?"
The four looked at each other, and finally Zhang Liang spoke to Liu Che on behalf of Liu Che.
"Your Majesty, then I will speak frankly."
Liu Che sat up slightly, his attitude gentle: "Mr. Zhang, please." Let's speak frankly, don't complain to his ancestors—
Zhang Liang raised his eyes and looked directly at Liu Che: "Although Your Highness is young, your eyes are full of starlight and your wisdom is already showing. What is even more rare is that you have your own thoughts and ideas in your heart, which cannot be bound by conventional discipline."
His tone was sincere, tinged with envy for Liu Che and regret for his former patron, Liu Bang. If Liu Ju had been Liu Bang's son, the Lü family rebellion would never have occurred.
Upon hearing this, Liu Che's eyes widened slightly. Li Si, fearing that he might not believe it, added, "Your Highness the Crown Prince is like a born Legalist swordsman, born with the hilt in hand, his sharpness naturally revealed."
Zhang Liang nodded, his eyes flashing with approval: "The various schools of thought are all tools for governing a country. Your Highness the Crown Prince is like a natural-born gatekeeper, able to discern the strengths and weaknesses of each school and know which schools of thought should be placed where. This is the quality of a leader."
Wei Zifu's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she subconsciously glanced at Liu Che beside her.
Liu Che didn't mind at all; instead, he clapped his hands and laughed, extremely proud: "That's how it should be."
If his son wasn't born an emperor, then what was he?
"In that case, what suggestions do the four gentlemen have?"
"Forgive my boldness." Zhang Liang stepped forward, his black robes brushing against the blue bricks. "Your Majesty should loosen the reins and not confine the dragon with old rules. The Crown Prince's learning depends on self-realization; Your Majesty only needs to steer the ship well and let him roam freely. Furthermore..."
Liu Che subconsciously replied, "Anything else?"
"Your Majesty, please open the Hundred Schools Academy as soon as possible. The complete Jixia Academy will allow His Highness the Crown Prince to receive a more advanced education."
The four men stared intently at Liu Che.
Liu Che was speechless. Fine, fine, so you're after him after all this time? The Hundred Schools Academy—did he not want to open it? He had no choice!
The known way to open the various academies is to have Ju'er, the chosen one, complete the assessment. But now he's being told not to rush, to learn on his own, and to open the academies as soon as possible.
This is so contradictory. Are we treating him like a Xiongnu?
After a moment of silence, Liu Che nodded solemnly, "I understand."
Immediately afterwards, Liu Che's gaze sharpened as he looked directly at the four men, "But gentlemen, could you explain to me what the meaning of 'chaotic times' is?"
"..." Now the four of them fell silent, cursing Donghuang Taiyi a thousand times in their hearts for letting slip the secret and pushing all the blame onto them!
Wei Zifu was puzzled, but wisely she remained silent, listening and observing quietly.
"This matter..." Gao Jianli spoke first, meeting Liu Che's questioning gaze, and said calmly, "It's not that we don't want to speak, but we are bound by rules. As long as the Jixia Academy is not established, we cannot speak of it."
Zhang Liang and the other two nodded in agreement, their attitude sincere.
Liu Che sighed. After all this talk, he was still stuck on this point, wasn't he? In other words, in order for Ju'er to receive a better education and to understand the truth, he had to open the remaining schools of thought at Jixia Academy as soon as possible.
Who can tell him apart from cattle and horses? His life as emperor was truly one of toil and hardship.
"Alright, I understand. Oh, by the way..."
Before Liu Che could finish speaking, a young eunuch who usually followed Liu Ju rushed in, knelt down in a panic, covered in sweat, and cried out, "Your Majesty! His Highness the Crown Prince is...missing!"
The group suddenly stood up, and Liu Che's expression changed drastically. He asked in a stern voice, "What's going on!"
"Your Highness... Your Highness's mechanical bird went out of control and flew away. We searched everywhere, but when we returned, Your Highness had disappeared..."
"You bastards! Find them! Find them all for me!"
...
On a rare day off, Liu Ju played with the mechanical bird he had made himself by the Cangchi Pond.
The accompanying eunuchs didn't pay much attention at first, until they saw their prince take out a bunch of colorful mechanical birds from a wooden box.
"Let's see the scene of all the birds returning to the forest!"
Liu Ju muttered to himself, then released all the mechanical birds. Watching the mechanical birds fly in all directions, everyone felt a bad premonition.
Then they heard the young prince ask each of them to chase after a bird and see where the mechanical bird had flown to, as he wanted to collect data.
One person after another was sent out, and everyone thought that someone would stay behind to guard the crown prince.
But the truth is, Liu Ju fooled everyone, pointed around with his finger, and finally determined the direction in which a red mechanical bird had left. He then took small steps and happily chased after it.
There's no way around it, he's still just a little over a year old, who can resist the temptation to catch birds?
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