Chapter 280 The Diligent Emperor Used as Cannon Fodder (Part 5) Li Tianle's...
Li Tianle's three students all studied at the Imperial Academy. Perhaps because it was an official academy, the teachers' working hours were similar to those of Li Tianle, who was a compiler at the Hanlin Academy.
When he finished get off work, the three students also just got out of school, making the time matching between teacher and students perfect.
Within the Imperial Academy, there has always been a tacit division into two factions: one is the poor students recommended for admission due to their outstanding academic performance, and the other is the sons of noble families who have received imperial favor.
The sons of wealthy and powerful nobles look down on poor and bookish men who only know how to study, while the sons of poor men look down on the arrogant and extravagant nobles who, despite their privileged circumstances, do not strive for improvement.
Li Tianle's three students, Shen Yan, the two silent brothers, and Pei Chengzhi, did not belong to either of these two factions, because they were both academically weak and had no money or power.
Shen Yan and Shen Mo's father was only a minor official of the sixth rank in the capital. Because their mother had once helped a noble person, she was awarded two places to study at the Imperial Academy.
In the capital, a sixth-rank official was not even as good as the head steward of a noble family. His father had no power or influence, and his family was not wealthy. Neither of them were particularly gifted. Every day at the Imperial Academy, they were either teased by the powerful and wealthy or ridiculed by the poor for trying to get in through connections.
Pei Chengzhi was an illegitimate son of the Marquis of Anyang. The Marquis's wife hired a famous tutor for her son and gave him a place in the Imperial Academy.
In name, it was the mistress who was magnanimous and managed to secure a good future for her illegitimate son. Everyone praised her for her virtue and grace.
However, Pei Chengzhi's monthly salary was only five taels of silver, and his studies were in a mess due to years of belittling and suppression. He was at the very bottom of the social hierarchy in the Imperial Academy.
At first, the three of them didn't have any interaction until they all hired the same tutor for extra lessons.
When Li Tianle first started tutoring, he was quite cautious. He taught the two brothers together, charging them three taels of silver a month, while Pei Chengzhi was taught separately, charging two taels of silver.
The three teachers taught in two sessions, each lasting half an hour, for a total of two hours a day. He usually finished get off work around 3 p.m., and after teaching two sessions, it was only around 5 p.m.
Ancient candles were much dimmer than electric lights. Li Tianle didn't have the habit of reading at night, and if he made himself nearsighted again, it would be too much trouble to rub his glasses by hand.
After teaching for a while, Li Tianle discovered that the three students who came to class were classmates, and Pei Chengzhi and the Shen brothers also discovered that they were classmates.
After seeing that people in this world weren't particularly attached to one-on-one tutoring, Li Tianle discussed with the three of them combining their classes and extending the class time to a total of one and a half hours.
For teachers, it means one less lesson and they can leave work half an hour earlier; for students, it means they can have more class time—it's a win-win situation.
It's fortunate that these were students from ancient times; if they were in modern times, such a long class would probably be met with widespread lamentation, let alone joy.
After taking classes together, the Shen brothers' relationship with Pei Chengzhi improved considerably. The three of them formed their own little circle, or perhaps it was Li Tianle's praise that truly dispelled the gloom in one's heart.
The usually timid Shen brothers and the gloomy and silent Pei Chengzhi not only gradually became more cheerful, but their grades also improved significantly.
The Imperial College was an official educational institution, and even among the sons of noble families, few dared to bully them.
As for words, when the person being mocked doesn't get angry, upset, or humiliated because of these things, it's the other person who breaks down.
The sons of noble families mostly teased the three men, and when they saw that the three men didn't react much, they stopped paying attention to them and went to tease the poorer sons for new amusement.
After all, in the minds of the nobles, although these three were poor, they were still admitted through "favor" and could be considered as their peers. Their real opponents were those poor scholars from humble backgrounds who, despite eating coarse food, still boasted of their pride.
Among the poor, there were several who had long been bullied and teased by the sons of noble families. They dared not really fight back against them, but instead liked to take their anger out on the Shen brothers and Pei Chengzhi as substitutes.
The poor scholar surnamed Zhao was one of them. He liked to use the three of them as an excuse to make sharp remarks and subtly satirize the sons of other powerful and wealthy people.
Today, Zhao Shusheng was tricked by the powerful again and came to vent his anger. Who knew that these three people not only didn't care about the ridicule, but were also able to launch a precise counterattack.
"I wonder if this young master Zhao looks down on people like us who live a wealthy life, or if he is simply unable to live a good life himself and is using arrogance as a pretense of jealousy?"
Shen Yan, with his hands tucked in his pockets, asked a question in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, just enough for a passing classmate to hear.
"If you are truly content with poverty and having nothing to show for yourself, then why do you insist on wearing a fine cotton gown while only your undergarment is patched?"
Silently glancing at his elder brother, who was mimicking the teacher's posture, he also put his hands in his pockets, as if this would lend some support to his current argument.
Seeing the commotion, the classmates who were passing by slowed down considerably. Among them, Chu Huaijin, the second young master of the Prince of Nan'an's mansion, was the most eye-catching. While others listened secretly, he had his page bring a chair and openly watched.
Pei Chengzhi glanced at them with some disdain. Mr. Li looked relaxed and carefree with his hands in his pockets, but when the two of them did it, it always looked like they were wearing too little clothing and their hands were freezing.
He glanced at Zhao, whose face had turned pale then green, then pale again, and delivered a scathing remark:
"They're not like us, with elders giving us monthly allowances and pocket money. I heard that this young master Zhao married a capable wife who stays up all night weaving and embroidering to earn money for him. I also heard that if she doesn't earn enough, she'll be punished by not being allowed to eat, under the guise of disciplining him."
I heard that they kept her up until she was almost out of breath, but they didn't even call a doctor. They just said she was too delicate and didn't have the luck to live. Later, her brothers couldn't stand it anymore and came to her door to take her home.
"We've never seen anything like this before! Even a maid we bought wouldn't be treated like this, let alone a wife we married. Young Master Zhao is truly a man of noble character and integrity!"
The poor students who had gathered around silently took a few steps back, while the noble children who were watching the spectacle had their eyes shining, never having known that these three young upstarts were so quick-witted.
Next time we argue with those poor scholars, we can totally bring these three over to be the team's damage dealers!
Zhao Shusheng was so angry at these words that his hands trembled. He pointed at Pei Chengzhi and couldn't speak for a long time. If it were false, he could refute it, but it was true.
The Shen brothers' words were like stabbing him in the heart, while the man surnamed Pei directly exposed his past and humiliated him.
People like this care a lot about their reputation. Zhao Shu trembled with anger for a while, then rolled his eyes, and whether he was really dizzy or pretending, he collapsed to the ground with a thud, twitched a couple of times, and then stopped moving.
Normally, Pei Chengzhi would have just walked away, but after learning from Li Tianle for so long, he had become meticulous in his work and directly sent his servant to invite the most expensive doctor in the capital.
As for the cost of the house call, it was naturally paid by the impoverished scholar Zhao himself, whether he was truly dizzy or faking it.
The doctor's house call fee was one tael of silver per visit. For the sons of noble families, it would be considered stingy to give it away as a reward, but for a poor scholar like Zhao, whose clothes were patched up, it was a month's living expenses.
But the doctor who makes house calls doesn't care whether he called the doctor or not. If he sees you, you'll naturally have to pay for follow-up visits. If you faint and someone kindly calls a doctor for you, do you have the nerve to ask the kind person to pay for it?
Zhao Shu was so angry he felt like vomiting blood, but he couldn't be shameless. Scholars value their reputation the most. What happened to Pei Chengzhi before was nothing in the present day, and some people would even deliberately spread it.
But he couldn't afford to be associated with such an ungrateful reputation. Zhao Shusheng, his face pale, gave him one or two taels of silver, his hand trembling.
Chu Huaijin, the nobleman who loved watching the excitement the most, couldn't help but praise him and called out to the three of them, "They've stripped away all pretense and dignity. Not bad, not bad. Let's play together sometime."
Seeing his eager expression, the other poor students silently stepped back. They weren't afraid of being called poor by the nobles, as it wouldn't affect their reputation at all; in fact, they felt a sense of pride.
But how many people can withstand this kind of method of exposing someone's past and undermining their foundation? Don't be fooled by their humble origins here; every scholar was once at the top of the food chain at home.
How many people actually earn their living expenses through their own abilities?
For some children from farming families, the entire family, including uncles and brothers, has to contribute. Even five-year-old children have to help feed the chickens and sell the eggs to save money for them.
Some even sold their sisters, brothers' nieces, or other relatives to buy him writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.
Even more so, some poor students who were obsessed with saving face would not only use this money to study, but also to attend poetry gatherings and social events, using the money they had sold their blood relatives for a single banquet.
If the nobles wanted to investigate these things, it would be a simple matter of a word, although they wouldn't risk offending all the poor and needy people in the world by exposing everyone's secrets.
But if someone actually comes to cause trouble, then this is an excellent way to retaliate.
Because of this dispute, the three of them were no longer bothered by anyone at the Imperial Academy. Even the conflict between the two factions subsided considerably, and the teachers praised everyone for being much more well-behaved.
The three instigators, however, didn't think it had anything to do with them. They've been huddled together for the past few days, secretly plotting something.
Those who had previously mocked them are now considering apologizing and what gifts to bring as an apology.
In a corner of the Imperial Academy, after failing to correct the Shen brothers' hand-in-hand posture again, Pei Chengzhi finally lost his temper and pried their hands off.
Shen Yan was also quite helpless: "We posed according to your instructions, so why is it so inappropriate that you can't stand it? If you really can't do it, you can demonstrate it for us."
When Pei Chengzhi heard him say that, he tried to imitate Li Tianle's hand-in-hand gesture. The Shen brothers exchanged a glance and immediately reached out to pull him away, saying, "Alright, no need to imitate anymore, we know."
The way he's tucking his hand in looks really awkward; someone who didn't know better might think he's putting his money bag in his sleeve to keep out thieves.
Chu Huaijin, who loves to join in the fun, hadn't found any new amusement lately, so he secretly followed the three of them to see what they were doing. Who knew that after following them for a few days, he finally confirmed that they weren't plotting anything big, but were actually learning how to put their hands in their pockets.
He casually put his hands in his sleeves, looked around but didn't find anything special, so he curiously leaned over to ask why.
The Shen brothers and Pei Chengzhi remained silent for a long while, watching his hand-in-hand gesture, which was exactly the same as Li Tianle's.
Although Chu Huaijin usually liked to join in the fun, he had never actually bullied them. The three of them were quite friendly towards him, but his posture was quite off-putting.
They studied each other's heads for so long, how come an outsider was able to imitate them the best? Anyone who didn't know better would think their master had taken on a new student.
In the end, it was only after Chu Huaijin agreed to teach them how to put their hands in their pockets that the three of them were willing to tell him the reason.
There's nothing shameful about getting tutoring after school, but after listening to the three of them, Chu Huaijin remained silent for a long while before finding his voice:
"Li Tianle? A minor official of the seventh rank? The only seventh-rank official I know with that name is a compiler in the Hanlin Academy."
So, you three, pooling together five taels of silver each month, can hire the third-ranked scholar from the previous imperial examination to tutor you every day?!
The three men looked at each other in bewilderment. They only knew the man's name and had not inquired about his job. After all, there were plenty of seventh-rank officials in the capital, and the man's impoverished appearance did not suggest that it was a lucrative position.
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