Chapter 72: Pei Gong and the Dean have a conversation in the library.
Having decided to hold a public trial for the traitor, Zhu Youchuan immediately began preparations.
At the meeting the following day, he proposed that, after taking everyone's opinions into account, a decision had been made and submitted to He Qinglan for approval.
He Qinglan agreed.
Zhu Youchuan then began working with staff from the judicial department.
When he was so busy that his eyes were dark and his vision was blurry, the guards at the city gate came to report to him that a man named Pei Wenzhao was requesting an audience.
"Pei Wenzhao?"
He stared blankly at the visiting card handed to him by the city gate guards, then remembered that He Qinglan had mentioned that Pei Gong of their Legalist school was coming to Anling to see him.
He then said, "I will go with you to see him."
Pei Wenzhao's carriage stopped at the city gate.
Zhu Youchuan followed the city gate guards all the way to the outside of the city, where he exchanged greetings with Pei Wenzhao and his disciples.
Pei Wenzhao looked Zhu Youchuan up and down and smiled gently. "I have read Ji Zhou's books and thought that I should come and see you no matter what. I apologize for bothering you."
Zhu Youchuan politely cupped his hands in greeting, "It is my honor to have the honor of being visited by Lord Pei in person." He said, "However, I am busy with my work and do not have time to invite you for tea right now. I wonder if Lord Pei would be interested in visiting our Longyuan Academy? I will ask for your guidance after I finish my work."
Pei Wenzhao looked puzzled. His gaze swept over Zhu Youchuan's ink-stained sleeve, and he nodded knowingly. "It's my bad timing. Please ask Jizhou to introduce me. I also want to see the academy in Anling."
Zhu Youchuan: "?"
He and Pei Wenzhao boarded the carriage, and the group headed towards Longyuan Academy.
Pei Wenzhao recounted their experiences along the way, including the two female students from Fuping County.
“It’s unheard of for Anling to allow women and men to study at the same academy…” Pei Wenzhao stroked his beard and said, “However, those two female students are in no way inferior to my disciples in terms of knowledge or eloquence.”
Pei Wenzhao's disciples: "..."
They smiled silently as they recalled the two eloquent and persuasive young women.
Pei Wenzhao continued, "So I wanted to see what the academy in Anling looked like, but there wasn't enough time then, so I couldn't ask them to take me to the academy in Fuping."
"I see." Upon hearing this, Zhu Youchuan felt that the two female students Pei Wenzhao described had a somewhat familiar style.
He searched his memory and suddenly remembered the letter Yun Youning had written when she watched the sports meet in Fuping County. She wrote about two female athletes who were childhood sweethearts who had been rivals since they were little.
Zhu Youchuan couldn't help but smile; it was quite a coincidence.
Zhu Youchuan gave Pei Wenzhao and the others a brief introduction to Longyuan Academy: "...The students of this academy are all children from Anling County, and their parents farm and work in the county."
"After completing their studies, students can go back to farming, work in workshops, join the army, or take the civil service exam."
Pei Wenzhao looked surprised. "That's...not bad. I'd like to see it even more now."
The group arrived at Longyuan Academy.
Zhu Youchuan led Pei Wenzhao and others to the dean's office to meet Dean Qian Shiwen.
“I’m very busy with work and don’t have time to discuss philosophy with Master Pei right now, so I’ve asked Dean Qian to entertain him on my behalf…” Zhu Youchuan said, a subtle expression appearing on his face.
Qian Shiwen smiled and said, "Alright, you go ahead and get busy. I'll accompany Master Pei on a tour of the academy."
Pei Wenzhao was very famous.
He took the initiative to bring his disciples to Anling.
These two points alone made Zhu Youchuan and Qian Shiwen tacitly decide to keep him.
The first thing Qian Shiwen did was to invite Pei Wenzhao to visit their academy's library.
Pei Wenzhao was puzzled, but he went along with the host's wishes.
A prominent figure from the Legalist school of thought came to visit, and Dean Qian was accompanying him on a tour of the academy.
The news quickly spread throughout the academy.
A prominent figure in the Legalist school?
Many students, with a "let's see what's going on" mentality, peeked out from the school library entrance, eager to see what kind of extraordinary figure this so-called "big shot" was.
It's not their fault.
Their understanding of the world comes entirely from textbooks; they have no opportunity to leave Anling and see the outside world and its people with their own eyes.
Now that a "big shot" has come to the academy, everyone's curiosity has been piqued.
Unexpectedly, there were too many students watching the spectacle, crowding the doorway and windows. Students who arrived late kept standing on tiptoe, but still couldn't see whether Master Pei was tall or short, fat or thin.
The students who arrived late and stood at the back were somewhat disappointed.
Pei Wenzhao, who was being watched, found it quite novel.
Looking at the curious young faces, he smiled and said to Qian Shiwen, "Your students are quite..." He paused, "...full of energy."
Qian Shiwen glanced out the window, and the students who met the dean's gaze instinctively lowered their heads. He smiled and said, "Kids, of course, should be lively."
Pei Wenzhao nodded. "They are very lively."
Mu Jun and his fellow disciples stared in disbelief at the shelves upon shelves of paper books, their eyes shining with extraordinary brilliance.
"They're all paper books!"
"Senior Brother Li, look, isn't this the book you tried to borrow but couldn't?"
"This is supposed to be the philosophy of our Legalist school? But I've never heard of the person who wrote this book..."
"But what he wrote was very well written."
"really."
"Teacher!" A disciple, holding a book on Legalist thought, quickly walked up to Pei Wenzhao and showed it to him. "These books also have punctuation and explanations!"
His voice trembled violently as he spoke.
Pei Wenzhao took the book and saw the familiar punctuation, explanations of the words and phrases, and a translation of the entire text.
The disciple exclaimed excitedly, "With such a book, I can learn it myself!"
Pei Wenzhao looked at Qian Shiwen, "Dean Qian, this..."
Qian Shiwen said proudly, "This is all thanks to the goddess's grace."
Goddess? Pei Wenzhao's lips trembled. "But you put books like this here for all the students to see. Aren't you worried that they won't need teachers?"
“How could that be?” Qian Shiwen shook his head with a smile. “Some people in this world are born to learn, while others need teachers to teach them carefully. There are many children who, even with explanations and translations, still need teachers to teach them again and again.”
Master Pei was renowned, and few of his disciples were dull-witted. He probably didn't know that besides children with ordinary talent, there were also children with average or even dull talent.
Many teachers entered the academy with lofty ambitions, only to have their resolve shattered when grading students' exams.
Of course, Qian Shiwen won't say this now.
He simply pointed to the bookshelf containing the classics of various schools of thought in the Hundred Schools of Thought.
The two watched and chatted about various celebrities.
Pei Wenzhao: "The Confucian scholars Yuan Yingchuan and Ji Zhun were both unwilling to engage in worldly affairs. One hid in the mountains to write books, and the other stayed in a small mountain village to teach. However, Ji Zhun had a few disciples who served in the court and in the offices of the governors of various prefectures."
Qian Shiwen seemed thoughtful. "I heard that these two don't get along?"
Pei Wenzhao laughed and said, "Although they are both Confucianists, their views are different, and they will quarrel as soon as they meet."
Qian Shiwen took a book off the shelf and handed it to Pei Wenzhao. "Take a look at this book. If those two read it, would they be as willing to come to Anling as you are?"
Pei Wenzhao: "..."
He took the book, flipping through it as he said, "I don't think so. Unlike us Legalists, the Confucian school doesn't lack new talent..."
Pei Wenzhao suddenly stopped.
Qian Shiwen smiled at his reaction. "When I first saw this book, I was shocked by the author's ideas. I think that even famous Confucian scholars would inevitably want to debate with the author."
Pei Wenzhao closed his eyes briefly. "You're right, Yuan Yingchuan and Ji Zhun can't refuse this book."
The old man's eyes gleamed. "If you divide this book in two and give each of them a piece, they will definitely travel a great distance to Anling."
Qian Shiwen was surprised, "Divided into two?"
Pei Wenzhao chuckled, "If we give them this book, what if they just pocket it? After all, they're Confucian scholars, full of talk about benevolence and morality, but what they do is..."
Qian Shiwen: "..." How could I forget? The relationship between Confucianism and Legalism is not very good. It's normal for Pei Gong to take the opportunity to criticize his rival.
Pei Gong's suggestion was indeed quite good.
One can imagine the frantic expressions on those two faces when they saw half of the book.
When the topic of Confucianism came up, Pei Wenzhao and Qian Shiwen also chatted about other things.
Pei Wenzhao: "Now that the world is in chaos, it is the time for the disciples of the School of Diplomacy to display their talents, but there are no particularly outstanding people in this generation." He smiled, "They are far inferior to their teachers."
Qian Shiwen: "Have all the disciples of the School of Diplomacy entered the world?"
Pei Wenzhao: "Naturally, one is in Chaozhou, one is in Ganzhou, and one is with Lu Wei. None of them have achieved any particularly remarkable results yet."
Pei Wenzhao: "The Mohists have never been given important positions, but I heard from the introductions of the two students Xie and Su that your Anling has opened many workshops, so perhaps you can get along better with the Mohists."
Qian Shiwen smiled, "Does Master Pei have anyone he can recommend?"
He said, "We are about to take over the neighboring Sifang County, and many new workshops will be set up, which will be very short of manpower."
Pei Wenzhao thought for a moment, then named a few people. Qian Shiwen wrote them down and prepared to try digging.
The two continued their conversation.
Pei Wenzhao: "Originally, I thought that Taoist disciples would not be very useful in chaotic times, but judging from the situation in Anling, it is very suitable for them."
Governing by non-interference.
Rest and recuperate.
"There are two disciples that the Taoist school is proud of this generation: one is in Ningzhou, and the other is farming in his hometown."
Qian Shiwen was surprised, "Farming?"
Pei Wenzhao laughed and said, "He is unwilling to enter the world now."
"There are two famous doctors in the medical family, Doctor Xue and Doctor Zhu, whose medical skills are extremely high. However, Doctor Xue married and had a daughter many years ago and disappeared without a trace. No one has seen him in recent years. Doctor Zhu, on the other hand, travels all over the world, treating patients, researching new prescriptions, and taking on apprentices."
"Doctor Zhu has a female disciple who is very intelligent. Doctor Zhu is very proud of her and has praised her to others many times."
Pei Wenzhao took the "Compendium of Materia Medica" from Qian Shiwen, flipped through it, and gasped, "Anling is truly a treasure trove."
How could Doctor Zhu resist this book!
Qian Shiwen was anything but modest. “Our Anling County has built a library. Compared to it, the academy’s library is nothing. If you go to the library tomorrow, you won’t want to leave Anling for at least a month.”
The Ningzhou delegation, under the pretext of selecting some books that needed to be shipped from Anling County, was still spending time in the library.
Pei Wenzhao glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw that his disciples were each holding a book, some standing and some sitting, all engrossed in their reading.
He stroked his beard and sighed, "With your words, I'm determined to stay in Anling for a month no matter what."
Qian Shiwen suddenly asked, "And in the world today, are there any disciples of famous masters?"
Pei Wenzhao was surprised, "Famous artist? Why ask about famous artists?"
Qian Shiwen replied, "Because in a sense, the combination of famous figures and our Anling's Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Publicity will have good results."
Pei Wenzhao asked in confusion, "?"
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Author's Note: 9000/20000
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