The Ming Dynasty: My sister, Empress Ma

"The third person is Wang Kekuan, courtesy name Defu, a native of Qimen. He did not serve in office at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and devoted himself to writing, especially the Spring and Autumn Annals. He, Liang Yin, and Zhao Fang are collectively known as the 'Three Gentlemen of Jiangnan'."

"If you invite all three of these people, you can teach Confucian classics to not only two hundred students, but two thousand."

Liu Ji put down his pen and looked at Ma Wenyuan.

"However, I'll make it clear from the start that this is not a good thing."

"These three men are all elderly gentlemen over sixty, and each one has an eccentric temperament. Even if you send a steward to invite them, they won't open the door. The Emperor's brother-in-law will probably have to go in person."

But as soon as he finished speaking, Liu Ji suddenly realized what he meant.

"As for Zhao Zichang, the Imperial Brother-in-law doesn't need to go."

Ma Wenyuan was somewhat puzzled.

Liu Ji quickly explained.

"The person is dead."

Only after receiving this answer did Ma Wenyuan understand.

He thought Zhao Zichang was unwilling to serve as an official in the Ming Dynasty.

If that's the case, he should at least try to offer some advice.

As for the person dying...

Ma Wenyuan was at a loss, so there was no point in trying to persuade him.

"The other two are still alive, so it's still possible for the Imperial Brother-in-Law to go," Liu Ji said bluntly. "But remember, it must be the Imperial Brother-in-Law himself who goes, otherwise it will be really difficult to invite him."

Ma Wenyuan was aware of this matter.

People like Wang Kekuan and Liang Yin.

He was in his sixties or seventies, and everything below his neck was buried.

Where is there any ambition left?

It's possible that if Zhu Yuanzhang sent an eunuch over, they might not even have any ideas.

Not to mention the people around the emperor's brother-in-law.

Ma Wenyuan carefully folded the paper, tucked it into his sleeve, stood up, and bowed deeply to Liu Ji.

"I will never forget your kindness and sincerity."

Liu Ji waved his hand and laughed.

"Don't thank me yet. Once your school is up and running, if I'm still in Yingtian Prefecture, and if I have some free time, I'll come and listen to your lectures on the study of things. I've never really understood that matter of optics."

Ma Wenyuan replied with a smile, "If Lord Chengyi is willing to come, this junior will welcome him with open arms."

The fact that Liu Bowen, a man of such status, could attend classes at the Gewu Academy, even without giving lectures, was a significant statement of his position.

This at least proves that the Zhejiang East civil official group recognized the importance of investigating things to acquire knowledge.

After leaving Liu Ji's residence, Ma Wenyuan was in a great mood, and his steps became lighter.

Fang Xiaoru followed behind, his face also beaming with joy.

"Teacher, I have heard of both of these gentlemen. Especially Mr. Liang Yin, whose commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals I have read, every word of which is a gem."

……

After leaving Liu Ji's residence, Ma Wenyuan did not immediately set off to find the great Confucian scholar.

After all, we have to wait until the Gewu Academy is officially on track.

Since the courses can now be sustained by those scholars, Ma Wenyuan is naturally in no hurry to seek out great Confucian scholars.

That doesn't make sense.

What if he leaves and the school falls into chaos without someone in charge?

This is not favoritism.

……

Therefore, these brilliant minds have always been stationed at the academy.

With him around, no one dared to cause trouble.

The first three days of the Gewu Academy were relatively peaceful.

The more than 220 children were divided into six classes, roughly according to their literacy level and age.

Most of the children of Xun Gui were literate and were placed in the first two classes.

Those orphans who came from the countryside, whose clothes were patched and who had never even held a pen, were assigned to the later classes.

Fang Xiaoru originally suggested breaking up the mixed classes, but Ma Wenyuan rejected the idea.

Indeed, mentoring new students can accelerate the learning process.

However, the children of the poor are far behind in terms of basic needs.

If you force them together, those in front will complain about being too slow, and those behind won't be able to keep up, leaving you pleasing neither side.

Instead of that, it would be better to have classes separately.

As for the gap between the two sides, it will only widen...

Ma Wenyuan had no solution to this.

He can only do his best and leave the rest to fate. He will not hold back what he should teach, but he also cannot show favoritism.

Secondly, Ma Wenyuan added a rule.

There is a major exam every month, and students are reassigned to classes based on their scores.

Even the sons of noble families who don't study hard will fall behind.

Even orphans from poor families who are diligent can still climb the social ladder.

Ma Wenyuan believes that this approach should greatly reduce the gap.

As long as children from poor families are willing to work hard, they may still catch up with the children of noble families.

……

The conflict surfaced on the fourth day of school.

The incident occurred in the cafeteria.

The rules of Gewu Academy are two meals a day: breakfast at Chenshi (7-9 AM) and dinner at Shenshi (3-5 PM).

The dishes are simple but delicious.

The imperial court allocated grain, and Ma Wenyuan supplemented it with some from his own salary to ensure that every child could have enough to eat.

There are no private seats in the canteen, and no distinction is made between rich and poor. Everyone lines up to get their food and eats together at a long table.

Chang Mao held his rice bowl, looking at the plate of stewed vegetables and mixed grain rice in front of him, his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly.

"This is all we'll eat?"

Chang Mao couldn't hold back any longer; he had been forced to come by his own mother.

He had just come in a few days ago and was still able to control his temper.

I stayed at school for three days and ate only this every day.

Chang Mao's anger could no longer be suppressed.

Chang Mao poked the cabbage with his chopsticks and said incredulously,

"My dog ​​won't eat this."

Several noble sons nearby echoed his sentiments.

Liao Quan remained silent and ate his meal with his head down.

Tang Yi glanced at Chang Mao, but didn't say anything, silently shoveling rice into his mouth.

Tang Yi is Tang He's son, and although he was somewhat reluctant to eat this kind of thing.

But Tang Yi had no choice; Tang He forced him to come over.

Compared to eating vegetarian food, Tang Yi thinks it's better than going home to eat stir-fried bamboo shoots with meat.

Upon hearing someone agree with him, Chang Mao immediately felt emboldened and pushed his rice bowl away.

Chang Sen quickly whispered, "Brother, Mother said you should study hard..."

"Read my ass!"

Before he could finish speaking, Chang Mao slammed his hand on the table. "Look at the books you're reading!"

"Those teachers are probably not as good as me."

"As for the so-called investigation of things to acquire knowledge, why should we need to learn such things?"

At this point, Chang Mao felt a little thirsty.

Looking up, I saw a thin boy sitting in the corner.

It was Liao Xiaoqi, whom her mother had brought from Chuzhou on the first day. Liao Xiaoqi was eating heartily, her cheeks bulging, her face full of satisfaction.

He couldn't even get enough to eat at home with coarse grains, so the food here was like a New Year's feast for him.

Chang Mao waved his hand, as if summoning a servant.

"Hey you, come here."

Liao Xiaoqi looked up but didn't move.

Chang Mao frowned and raised his voice a little.

"I'm calling you, the one in the gray shirt. Come here and pour me a bowl of water."

Liao Xiaoqi, holding her rice bowl, looked around helplessly.

There was a boy next to him who was two years older than him.

He was also the orphan of a fallen soldier, surnamed Zhang, and named Zhang Tiezhu.

Zhang Tiezhu, true to his name, is robust and loves to stand up for the weak. Upon seeing such a scene, he immediately put down his chopsticks.

But just as he was about to speak, he saw someone stand up first.

Chang Sheng.

Chang Yuchun's second son, Chang Mao's younger brother, is seventeen years old this year. He is thinner than Chang Mao and has a more serene look in his eyes.

He sat next to Chang Mao. He felt something was wrong from the beginning, but he kept quiet out of respect for his brother.

Seeing Chang Mao ordering people around in public, he finally couldn't sit still any longer.

"Brother," Chang Sheng said in a low voice, tugging at Chang Mao's sleeve, "Don't do this. The teacher said that there is no distinction between superiors and inferiors in the school."