On the second day of formal classes, the new students and old students had different progress and were not in the same classroom.
When Wang Yu came in, Chen Yanwen and Song Boyan were also there. There were two other people in the classroom. Chen Yanwen was talking to them. When he saw Wang Yu coming, he greeted him, "Xiuzhi."
Wang Yu smiled and said, "Well, you two are here early."
"I live in the academy, so it's close." It was mainly because it was my first class today, so I got up early and was quite excited. Then I introduced myself to Wang Yu, "This is Brother Ding and Brother Zhao."
Wang Yu greeted them, and the two of them nodded to Wang Yu and called him Brother Wang.
The two men knew that Wang Yu was the top scorer in this case and wanted to make friends with him, but since it was their first meeting, they didn't want to be too enthusiastic. They thought that since they were in the same classroom anyway, there would be plenty of opportunities in the future, so they greeted him and sat down in their seats.
The desks in the classroom were divided into two vertical rows, with five people in each row. Wang Yu was not used to sitting in the first row, so he asked Song Boyan to sit in the first row on the left, and he sat in the second row. Chen Yanwen sat in the third row on his own initiative, and Ding Yao and Zhao Shirui sat on the right row.
When the teacher came, there were only five people in the classroom. The teacher was aware of this situation. After introducing himself to them, he let them read silently and could ask him questions at any time. Since the students were not all present, it was impossible to teach them. The few students were very obedient and took out their books to read.
In addition to the top ten students who were admitted for free after the college entrance examination, the others could also pay tuition to enter the provincial school. Wang Yu looked at the seats in the classroom and there were only ten. There should be only ten people in Class A.
They had just arrived today, and although the teacher said they could discuss and ask questions with him, no one went up to him. After all, they didn't know the teacher's temper and didn't dare to go up rashly. Everyone was reading their own books silently until school was over at noon.
Coincidentally, after school at noon, I ran into Cui Hao and Xiao Ming, the two people I had met before in Yangui Tower. I didn't expect that they were students of the provincial school.
Cui Hao knew there would be new students at the academy this year, but he didn't expect it to be Wang Yu, a person he had only met once. He stepped forward to greet him, "Brother Wang, it really is you! When I heard that the top scorer in this year's academy exam was named Wang Yu, I wondered if it was you."
"Hello, Brother Cui!" Wang Yu bowed to him.
"Come, let me introduce you to Brother Wang Yu. He is the one who wrote, no, recited the poem about the Yellow Crane Tower."
There were several students standing next to Cui Hao, and they all gathered around him as soon as he heard what he said. Wang Yu didn't expect that Cui Hao had spread this poem, and now he had to deal with all kinds of chattering questions.
Wang Yu was a little embarrassed and could only tell them that the poem was not written by him, and he did not know the author of the poem. He only saw the book by chance and did not know where it was now. Fortunately, everyone was going to eat, so they did not ask too many questions.
Cui Hao did not leave. He said he would take Wang Yu to the provincial school canteen and told Wang Yu which meals were more delicious and asked him to try them later.
Wang Yu nodded in agreement and introduced Cui Hao and others to Chen Yanwen and the others. He also told them how he first met Cui Hao. He didn't expect that they were also students of the provincial school.
The seven of them went to the cafeteria together. Cui Hao introduced to them that there was a delicious roast chicken in the cafeteria of the prefectural school, but if they went too late, they might not be able to get it. They were delayed outside for a while today, so they probably wouldn't be able to eat it, but they could try something else.
It was Wang Yu and his friends' first time to come to the dining hall, so it was still quite new. There were many students eating in the dining hall. The prefectural school was on the outskirts of the city, and there were no restaurants or eateries nearby, so most of them had to eat in the dining hall. However, Cui Hao said that they could also have their families deliver meals, but it was a bit troublesome.
Following Cui Hao's suggestion, a few people ordered a few dishes that he said tasted good. Just as he said, they came late and the roast chicken was sold out.
"You can come earlier tomorrow."
The food in the dining hall was not particularly amazing, but it tasted pretty good. Wang Yu really wanted to try the roast chicken. Chen Yanwen also said that he must come early tomorrow to buy one to try.
They smiled at each other, had their meal and then parted ways. Cui Hao also asked Wang Yu to join them next time, so that they could go to the classroom to discuss academic matters with him when they had nothing to do.
After lunch, they could rest for half an hour. Wang Yu did not live in the provincial school, so he could only rest on the desk. Chen Yanwen and the others did not go to the school either, but stayed with Wang Yu in the classroom. Since it was the first day of attending classes at the provincial school, everyone was still excited and no one was sleepy. They chatted about this and that to pass the time.
Most of the teachers in the prefectural schools were Jinshi graduates. One reason was that they did not like being officials, another was that they had not been appointed to an official position for several years, and the other was that they liked teaching and educating people. They would apply for teachers in the prefectural schools, state schools, and county schools in various prefectures, or open their own private schools. Since they could pass the imperial examination among thousands of people, it showed that there was no problem with their knowledge.
There are multiple classrooms in the academy, and each classroom has a teacher who is mainly responsible for teaching, similar to a class teacher, who mainly teaches the "classics", that is, the Four Books and Five Classics. The rest of the teachers teach governance, mathematics, poetry, etc. There are also some miscellaneous classes, such as piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, rituals, music, archery and charioteering.
The Six Arts are interest courses that can be studied or not. There is one Six Arts class every ten days. Learning the Six Arts requires additional tuition, just like modern interest classes.
Wang Yu was interested in chariot driving and archery. If he wanted to learn both, he would have to pay twenty taels a year, which was indeed expensive for a poor student.
There is also mathematics among the Six Arts. Due to the emphasis on mathematics in the Dali period, mathematics among the Six Arts for Gentlemen was included in the imperial examination and is now also included in the regular curriculum.
The teacher would not teach until all the students were in class, but he still came every day and allowed students to come up to him to discuss problems, and he also allowed students to discuss with each other in the classroom. With the teacher's tacit approval, Ding Yao and Zhao Shirui became bolder and their voices became louder.
Not only Wang Yu and the others were attracted, but the teacher was also attracted by them. He did not say anything and just watched them discuss. He waited until they were red in the face during the debate before he went down and pointed out their problems one by one.
They were discussing the Chu-Han Contention and the story of the King of Western Chu, forced by Liu Bang to commit suicide at the Wujiang River. Ding Yao argued that victory and defeat were common in military strategy, and that Xiang Yu should have crossed the Wujiang River, regrouped, and launched a comeback. The outcome was uncertain, and Xiang Yu's suicide was cowardly and an evasion of responsibility. Zhao Shirui, on the other hand, argued that after the Central Plains' defeat, the situation was irreversible. While the Jiangdong scion remained, who could guarantee they would fight for Xiang Yu again? He pointed out that Xiang Yu's defeat was a historical inevitability, a result of his stubborn and willful will.
The Master came down and wanted to say something, but when he saw Wang Yu and the other two watching with great interest, the words on his lips turned into: "Wang Yu, what do you think?"
Wang Yu was stunned. Why was he asked this question? Weren't these two people debating? But since the teacher asked, Wang Yu had to answer seriously. In an instant, five pairs of eyes stared at Wang Yu, and Wang Yu's back felt cold.
It's hard to say who's right or wrong on this question. Xiang Yu had the courage to resist the tyranny of the Qin Dynasty and the determination to fight Liu Bang for the world, but in the end he lost. Does that mean he's not a hero? Not really. Wang Yu thought about it and said, "Live as a hero, die as a ghost hero" to sum it up.
The teacher nodded, but did not say who was right or wrong between Ding Yao and Wang Yu. He only said that Wang Yu's words were good. In history, Xiang Yu had already lost, but his spirit of preferring to die in glory rather than live in disgrace was worthy of praise.
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