Tang Dynasty: The poisonous scholar in the Eastern Palace, please abdicate and let the wise one take

Chapter 244: Study Abroad
The news of the 500 enlightenment students brought by Cui Junsu and his companions had spread throughout Chang'an City.

Many people are particularly curious about these enlightenment students. After only half a year, can these students really learn to read and write?
In addition, news also came from the newspaper that in addition to the 500 students taught by Cui Junsu and the other person, there were also many private teachers who, after fully understanding the usefulness of pinyin, taught a group of students on their own.

I heard that those students are already on their way to Chang'an City. At that time, the newspaper will hold a competition to enlighten the students, and the winner will receive a reward of one hundred taels of silver.

Of course, this was just news from the newspaper. The newspaper remained tight-lipped about the details and refused to reveal any answer no matter how much we asked.

One by one, officials dressed in court robes walked into the palace.

Sun Fujia came close to Li Dao Zong and whispered, "Have you heard any news recently, Your Majesty?"

Li Dao Zong said expressionlessly: "What does Lord Sun mean?"

Sun Fujia: "It's not about Su Chen, but the news from Henan Province."

Li Dao Zong frowned and looked at Sun Fujia, "Could it be..."

Sun Fujia nodded silently, "I don't know who threw a file into the Dali Temple last night."

"I guess, given their style of doing things, the Ministry of Justice might have also been sent a copy."

Li Daozon's mouth twitched and he nodded silently.

Sun Fujia: "What do you think of this, Your Majesty?"

Li Dao Zong: "Someone must have done this on purpose."

Sun Fujia frowned in thought, and Li Dao Zong said slowly: "Cui Junsu and the other two brought 500 students. These people have been carefully taught and will become famous today. But why did Henan Prefecture cause trouble again?"

"At least, these messy things should only happen after these enlightened students meet the Crown Prince, right?"

Sun Fujia whispered, "Is it possible that he did it on purpose?"

Li Dao Zong: "I don't know, the entire Chang'an city is becoming more and more chaotic."

Sun Fujia nodded with a sigh, "Yes, it's getting more and more chaotic."

As the court officials walked into the Taiji Hall one after another, the morning court officially began.

One problem after another was quickly resolved under Li Chengqian's arrangement.

Fang Xuanling and the other two, as well as the ministers in the court, had no objection to Li Chengqian's arrangement.

After confirming that everything had been handled, Li Tai walked out leisurely.

"Your Majesty, half a year ago, His Majesty ordered Cui Junsu and Cui Renshi to set up a new school to educate children. Now half a year has passed, and Cui Junsu and Cui Renshi arrived in Chang'an City yesterday with 500 students."

"Cui Junsu and his partner are now outside the palace. They want to meet His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and let all the court officials witness the results of their teaching over this period of time."

Li Chengqian turned his gaze to Fang Xuanling and the other two. All three of them looked at him with a smile without any expression.

Li Chengqian nodded after thinking for a moment, "Since Cui Junsu and the others have brought their students here, let's meet them."

immediately.

A eunuch ran out.

After a stick of incense, Cui Junsu and his two companions, along with ten students, strode into the Tai Chi Hall.

"We, Cui Junsu and Cui Renshi, pay our respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

The ten students following Cui Junsu and the other two also saluted in an orderly manner.

Li Chengqian smiled and waved his hand, "No need to be polite, you two. I have heard that you should concentrate on your studies this time."

“Why are there only these ten students?”

"Your Highness, these ten students are the most outstanding among the five hundred. The remaining four hundred and ninety students are still waiting outside the palace."

Cui Junsu said calmly: "Your Highness the Crown Prince can randomly check any of them at any time."

Li Chengqian smiled and nodded, his eyes falling on the ten students.

After all, they were just a group of children. Even after half a year of teaching by Cui Junsu and others, they had prepared themselves mentally in advance, but they were still a little scared when facing Li Chengqian and others.

"Don't be nervous, don't be afraid."

Li Chengqian smiled. Seeing that the ten students were still nervous and silent, Li Chengqian waved to the eunuch beside him and said softly, "Go and prepare some candies."

The eunuch nodded and left immediately.

Li Chengqian smiled and asked, "How long have you been studying with the two gentlemen?"

The ten students looked at each other and someone whispered, "We have been studying with you two gentlemen for half a year."

Li Chengqian glanced at the child and said with a smile, "So, have you two ever told me how you are doing in your studies?"

"The teacher said we have surpassed many students."

Li Chengqian nodded, and the eunuch came back and brought back a lot of candies.

Li Chengqian pointed at the candies the eunuch was holding and said, "Do you see these candies?"

All ten students nodded.

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "As long as you answer correctly and perform well, I will reward you with a candy. How about that?"

"Hmm."

All ten students nodded.

Li Chengqian smiled and turned his gaze to the ministers, "Who would like to test these children?"

"I'll try."

Xu Yushi walked out with a smile.

Li Chengqian glanced at him and nodded, "Don't scare them!"

"Yes!"

Xu Yushi nodded, smiled, picked up the paper and pen, and wrote a word.

Don.

"Who among you knows this word?"

"I know!"

"I!"

"I know him too!"

Ten students jostle for the first position.

Xu Yushi pointed at a student at random.

"This is Don."

Xu Yushi nodded, and the eunuch smiled and handed him a candy.

"It's not difficult for you, so I'll write a more difficult one."

Taotie.

After Xu Yushi wrote these two words, he looked at the ten students with frowns on their faces with a smile on his face.

"Don't you recognize it?"

"..."

The ten students didn't say anything, but just looked at him eagerly, and then looked at Cui Junsu and the other two as if asking for help.

Cui Renshi smiled and said, "The two characters written by Xu Yushi are too obscure. If they were marked with pinyin, they would definitely be able to read them."

"Oh?" Xu Yushi handed the pen to Cui Renshi.

Teacher Cui Ren smiled and marked the pinyin, then turned to look at the ten students behind him. All ten of them said in unison, "Taotie."

Xu Yushi cupped his hands and said, "You two have really taught a group of outstanding students. Congratulations."

Cui Junsu and the other man smiled modestly.

Li Chengqian smiled and waved his hand, and the eunuch distributed candies to ten students.

"Who else wants to test these students?"

"Your Highness, I think these students can pass the literacy test."

Fang Xuanling smiled and said, "However, since we are going to test your teaching performance, why not randomly select three people and have them recite 300,000 each?"

Li Chengqian nodded after thinking for a moment, "Prime Minister Fang is right."

"Next, I will randomly select three people from among you to recite the Three Character Classic, Hundred Family Surnames, and Thousand Character Classic. If you do well, in addition to these candies, I will also give each of you 100 taels of silver to take home to honor your parents."

"Do you have the confidence to recommend yourselves?"

"I!"

"I!"

"The prince chose me!"

When they heard that there were candies and money to be won, the ten students rushed over.

"At the beginning of man's life, his nature is good..."

While others were still scrambling for it, the smart ones had already started reciting it.

Li Chengqian looked at the student with interest and motioned for everyone else to be quiet and listen.

soon.

The Three Character Classic was recited in full, and Li Chengqian clapped his hands and cheered, "Reward!"

The eunuch immediately handed over the candy and asked, "Where's the silver?"

"Of course I will give you the silver when you leave the palace."

Li Chengqian laughed, "Who wants to recite the Hundred Family Names?"

"The Li family has been a prominent family since the Tang Dynasty..."

Every state and every prominent family were recited by the students one by one, which made everyone excited.

Especially Cen Wenben and Gao Shilian.

Your Majesty commissioned them to compile this, and it was completed last year. Your Majesty even called it the Genealogy of the Tang Dynasty Clans!
"it is good!"

When the last word fell, Li Chengqian couldn't help but applaud.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"In my opinion, there is no need to memorize the remaining Thousand Characters!"

Li Chengqian said with a smile, "I never thought that these three hundred thousand would not be a problem for you!"

"In the past six months, you two have really been pragmatic and serious about your studies. Please accept Cheng Qian's greetings."

"Why does your highness have to do this?"

Cui Junsu and the other man dared not move and immediately dodged.

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "This gift is not only to thank you for teaching such a great student, but also to thank you for opening up a new way for my Tang Dynasty to enlighten students!"

Cui Junsu: "Your Highness, you are too kind. Strictly speaking, this matter is still the credit of your Highness."

"only……"

Cui Junsu looked hesitant.

Li Chengqian: "You can talk about it!"

Cui Junsu: "Although the Enlightenment Program has indeed brought significant improvements to them, the drawbacks of this matter are also extremely obvious!"

"Just like the two words Taotie written by Xu Yushi just now, they can't recognize any unfamiliar and obscure characters without pinyin."

"It doesn't matter."

Li Chengqian smiled and waved his hand, "I am very surprised that they can do this now."

Cui Junsu bowed with a smile, "In that case, I was worrying too much."

"All ten of you are good, and there are 490 people outside the palace!"

Li Chengqian looked at the ten students in front of him with a smile on his face, and said in a deep voice: "I am going to reward each of you with 100 taels of silver!"

The eunuch hurriedly reminded him, "Why are you still standing there? Thank His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Ten students said in unison: "Thank you, Your Highness."

"You deserve this."

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "It's a rare trip to Chang'an City, so I'll stay in Chang'an City for a few more days to have a look and have some fun."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Li Chengqian retracted his gaze and walked back to his seat, excitedly saying, "My dear ministers, what do you think of this enlightenment plan?"

"The Enlightenment Program is truly a blessing for our Tang Dynasty students!"

"The prince is wise!"

Li Chengqian was very satisfied with everyone's attitude, and then he said, "I intend to promote the enlightenment plan. What do you ministers think?"

"This is a good thing..."

"But the shortcomings of the Enlightenment Program are also obvious..."

“The effectiveness of the Enlightenment Program has been somewhat exaggerated.”

At this time.

An official came out and bowed, saying, "Your Highness, I think it is inappropriate to promote the enlightenment program."

"Why?"

"Your Highness, since ancient times, scholars have been rigorous in their studies and have emphasized inheritance. The Kong family is also respected. The Kong family has not only been studying for a long time, but is also the descendant of Confucius. If we rashly promote the enlightenment plan now, won't it force all scholars in the world to study this instead?"

“The Head Start program is, of course, only for children who have never been enlightened.”

Li Chengqian said calmly, "Master Lu, you didn't see just now how well these students can read and write."

Lu Hui said calmly: "Your Highness, if you think the enlightenment program is feasible just because they can read and write within half a year, you are generalizing."

"As far as I know, Kong has taught quite a few enlightenment students in the past six months, and these people have already come to Chang'an City."

"Why not let these students compete with each other to see which method of studying is better?"

ps: The Hundred Family Surnames of the Tang Dynasty was compiled by order of Li Shimin, by Gao Shilian, Wei Ting, Cen Wenben and others, and is known as the "Clan Records of the Tang Dynasty" or the "Clan Records of the Zhenguan Period".

Since Wu Zetian ascended the throne, clan records were replaced by surname records.

Today, only the Dunhuang fragments remain.

(End of this chapter)