Chapter 1521 Lost the Bet
Teaching in Chongwenguan is different from teaching three children privately. There are at least ten students sitting there, and one of them is the crown prince. He can't just teach the prince four, five or six chapters, right?
It is said that when he was teaching his three children the "Book of Filial Piety", he only briefly covered the second and third chapters, without elaborating on the filial piety of the emperor and the princes, and focused more on the subsequent chapters.
Zhuang Xun felt a little overwhelmed. For the first time, he felt that teaching was not an easy task, especially since this prince was not an ordinary prince, and his father was not an ordinary father either.
What should I do? When teaching the emperor, I can't just say to the prince, "Don't forget your ancestors, and cultivate their virtues," right?
What is there in the loyalty and filial piety of their Li ancestors that is worth learning and commemorating?
The previous emperor's throne was obtained through rebellion, and the current emperor's throne was not obtained in a legitimate way. He really missed his ancestors and wanted to cultivate his own virtues with their virtues...
Zhuang Xun got a headache just thinking about it.
So you can’t teach that way.
Zhuang Xun stared blankly at the "Book of Filial Piety" on the table. Confucianism defined the "Jun" as the emperor, which made it difficult for him to teach his children. The miscellaneous books Manbao brought back were right: if the "Jun" were the people, then many things in the world could be explained clearly...
Zhuang Xun was unconsciously thinking about random things. When he realized what he was thinking, he was shocked and then shook his head repeatedly to clear the distracting thoughts from his mind.
But thoughts are never restricted by the body. Even though he told himself not to think about it, he still couldn't help but continue thinking about it.
If the king is defined as the people, and loyalty to the king is loyalty to the people, then everything in this world can be explained, but this is also very dangerous.
He was not sure what the emperor and the crown prince would think. If the court officials and scholars of the world were not loyal to the king but to the people, then would this dynasty still be the dynasty of his Li family?
If they don't agree with this view, can he still keep his head on his neck?
Zhuang Xun began to calculate the chances of leaving the palace alive if he taught the prince without reservation, just like he taught his three children.
Finally, he sighed quietly and decided to wait and see what would happen. Before that, he should be more mediocre. Perhaps, instead of talking about the filial piety of the emperor and the princes, he could start with the filial piety of the common people?
Thinking about it this way, Zhuang Xun suddenly understood. That's right, he should start with the filial piety of the common people.
Zhuang Xun breathed a sigh of relief after he figured it out. He then put away the books on the desk, stood up and looked outside, only to find that the sky had darkened unexpectedly.
Zhuang Xun was horrified and hurried outside. He saw three disciples sitting on the steps in the yard eating fruits. When they heard footsteps, they turned their heads and looked back.
Mr. Zhuang asked, "What time is it? What are you doing here?"
The three of them immediately stood up, and Manbao said, "Sir, we have all had dinner. We came over and saw you in a daze, so we sat here and waited for you."
Bai Shan picked up the plate and said, "Sir, would you like to have a piece?"
Mr. Zhuang was silent for a moment and then said, "Why didn't you call me? I'm leaving the palace."
He lived outside the palace and went to work in the palace every day. He had to go out except when he was on duty.
Bai Shan said nonchalantly, "It's still early, and the palace gates haven't been locked yet. It's okay. You look like you're lost in thought, so we won't disturb you."
Bai Erlang complained, "I was going to call you, but they both said people hate being interrupted when they're thinking, so they wouldn't let me. Sir, if I called you, would you hate me?"
Zhuang Xun looked at the three people with sharp eyes and knew that they were making a bet with him. He blew his beard in anger and said, "I don't hate it."
Zhou Man and Bai Shan widened their eyes in surprise. Bai Erlang looked at them smugly. Two days of duty at the library were done. Hahahaha…
Mr. Zhuang did not eat their fruits and vegetables, but just walked out of the palace with his sleeves swung.
The three of them watched the master disappear. Bai Shan and Man Bao sighed softly. Bai Erlang said happily, "I'm going to be on duty at the library tomorrow. Who of you will come?"
Bai Shan said: "I have plenty of time, any time will do."
He looked at Manbao.
Manbao sighed and said, "Let me do it. Give me the book list."
The weather has been nice recently, so the duty in the library is to take out the books to dry out in the sun, and then take them back in the afternoon and put them back in order.
Because there were not many literate eunuchs in the palace and books were precious, such work naturally could not be assigned to the eunuchs.
In the past, when the Crown Prince was the only student in Chongwenguan, these tasks were done by the lecturers and editors of the Eastern Palace. Now there are twenty-nine more students in Chongwenguan.
Of course they were the ones to do this kind of thing.
However, in order to avoid mistakes and minimize damage to the books, the books are dried in batches. Three people are on duty every day, and twenty-nine people take turns working.
Tomorrow it will be the turn of Bai Erlang, Feng Zongping and Yi Ziyang.
Early the next morning, Manbao read a text in the yard, stretched his arms and legs, and then went to the library.
The eunuchs had already moved out the tables used for drying clothes, leaving only a passage wide enough for two people to walk through in the yard, and the rest of the space was filled with tables.
When Dean Xiao and Imperial Physicians Liu and Zheng came out of the Imperial Hospital, they happened to see Manbao coming out of the library on the east side with seven or eight books in his arms. He put them on the table and began to spread them out to dry.
Xiao Yuanzheng couldn't help but stop in surprise, "Master Zhou, why do you have to come in person to dry the books?"
After all, she is a fifth-rank official. There are few people in Chongwenguan who are of higher rank than her.
Feng Zongping and Yi Ziyangle, who had also brought out books, were very happy. Manbao said with a serious face, "Xiao Yuanzheng, I like to do something when I think about things."
Feng Zongping and Yi Ziyang were even happier and laughed out loud.
Xiao Yuan was looking at them suspiciously. When the two met Manbao's eyes, they immediately closed their mouths, indicating that they would not say anything, and turned around and ran into the library to continue moving books.
By the time the three of them had moved all the books on the list out to dry, it was almost time. Feng Zongping and Yi Ziyang went to class, while Manbao continued to repair her books.
Mr. Zhuang taught his first class today. He first talked about the first chapter and then jumped directly to the sixth chapter which talked about the filial piety of the common people.
The prince was quite bored sitting there, but as he listened, he gradually began to like it, because Mr. Zhuang liked to tell fables in his lectures, and listening to his lectures was like listening to a story, which was not very boring.
Of course, the most important thing is that the filial piety of the common people rarely has anything to do with the prince. It is not difficult for him, the prince of a country, to support his parents with food and clothing. He did not hear that Mr. Zhuang was hinting that he should be filial to the emperor, so today's class content has nothing to do with him at all.
The prince listened with great interest.
Bai Shan and Bai Erlang listened to the same content with great interest again because the story of the teacher's fable had changed.
See you at 4 p.m.
(End of this chapter)
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