Poet Immortal, Poet Sage, Duke of the State!

After leaving the imperial study, the imperial heirs ran off in high spirits.

They didn't care about any competitions; all they knew was that they wouldn't have to attend classes for the next month.

When the Hanlin Academy was closed for the day, they pestered Mr. Chen to tell them stories.

In the square outside the Imperial Study, Dou Wenhuan stopped Zhao Bing and said, "Lord Zhao, I intend to select Zhao Rui to teach the sons of the princes. What is your opinion, Lord Zhao?"

According to his guess, Zhou Zhengming is very likely to choose Chen Chang'an.

Therefore, his choice of Zhao Rui was very appropriate.

Both were Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) in the same year; one was the top scholar (Zhuangyuan) and the other the third-ranked scholar (Tanhua), so their social statuses were quite similar.

If Zhao Rui, a newcomer to officialdom, could defeat Chen Chang'an in one fell swoop, it would be a significant achievement in his resume.

He would naturally give such an opportunity to his own people.

Grand Tutor Zhao had countless students, many of whom held high positions in the court. He himself was among them, and Zhao Rui was one of his students.

He simply couldn't believe that the grandson of the Grand Tutor was inferior to a novice in teaching.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Bing nodded slightly and said, "Lord Dou and Zhao Rui can discuss this matter."

Dou Wenhuan took a deep breath and said, "Brother Zhao, you can rest assured that we will not lose this competition. The orthodox education system has continued for thousands of years. Chen Chang'an relies on some unorthodox methods to attract attention, but it will not last long. Once those children are tired of his stories, I want to see what other tricks he has up his sleeve..."

Upon returning to the Hanlin Academy, Dou Wenhuan immediately summoned Zhao Rui to the duty room.

After hearing the whole story, Zhao Rui felt a strong competitive spirit ignite within him.

He and Chen Chang'an took the imperial examination in the same year. Chen Chang'an won the top score and became famous throughout the country. He rose rapidly through the ranks and was highly valued by the emperor.

As the third-ranked scholar, he could only be ranked below him.

Seeing Chen Chang'an's boundless success, he still harbored a deep resentment.

Now that he had the opportunity to compete with him fair and square, he certainly wouldn't miss it. He immediately clasped his hands and said, "Rest assured, my lord, Zhao Rui will certainly live up to your mission. In a month, I will let the court and the people see what the true way of scholarship is."

He was deeply determined; this was not only a contest between old and new methods of scholarship, but also a battle for his revenge.

This time, he not only wanted to win, but to win honorably and completely redeem himself after his defeat in the imperial examinations years ago.

On the other side, in Chen Chang'an's duty room.

Commander Yun has been gone with the imperial heirs and Dou Wenhuan for quite some time now, and we don't know how things are going.

As he was thinking this, he looked up and saw a figure walk into the duty room.

Chen Chang'an was slightly taken aback, then stood up, walked out from behind the table, clasped his hands and said, "Lord Zhou."

Zhou Zhengming didn't beat around the bush and truthfully recounted what had just happened in the Imperial Study. He then added, "This matter arose because of you. I'm thinking, why don't I let you have a contest?"

He looked at Chen Chang'an and said earnestly, "Chen Xiuzhuan, His Majesty intends to reform the academic atmosphere and break the thousand-year-old outdated rules. The future of the children of Da Ning rests on your shoulders."

After listening, Chen Chang'an did not hesitate. He calmly clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Thank you for your trust, Lord Zhou. I will certainly live up to your expectations."

This was exactly the result he wanted.

However, he thought that His Majesty would give the order directly and go with the flow, but he did not expect that there would be an additional competition in between.

Hearing their conversation, Zhang Huaiyu couldn't help but ask, "Lord Zhou, the changes in the imperial heirs have already shown that Chen Xiuzhuan's teaching methods are feasible. Why not just issue an imperial decree to reform the system instead of going through all this trouble with the competition?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhengming shook his head slightly and said, "Things are not that simple. As the ruler of a country, holding the reins of power, the most taboo thing is to act arbitrarily. There are many old ministers in the court who stick to the old system and adhere to the rules. If Your Majesty forcibly issues an edict to change the system, it will only arouse the opposition of the old ministers, cause discontent among the people, and create turmoil in the court."

"Your Majesty's move is to use the competition to convince the public and let everyone see the effects of the new rule of law in education. At that time, the new system will be implemented without any obstruction, and only then can the long-standing problems in education in Da Ning be completely eradicated."

Zhang Huaiyu looked enlightened and immediately clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Your Majesty is truly far-sighted. I admire you..."

……

After leaving the Hanlin Academy today, Chen Chang'an was immediately surrounded by several imperial heirs.

After he finished telling them the story of the havoc in the Heavenly Palace, and agreed to tell them the rest of the story after he finished his business the next day, the two princes finally let go of his legs.

When he got home, dinner was already prepared, and Qing Shuang and her father, Gong Yue, were waiting for him.

After Chen Chang'an sat down, he explained, "I apologize, I was stopped by some imperial heirs in the palace and had to tell them a story before I came back..."

During the meal, Chen Chang'an brought up the matter of the teaching competition at the Eastern Palace, and the Emperor of Daming suddenly asked, "The educational reform you mentioned, is it just telling students stories before class?"

Chen Chang'an shook his head and said, "No, the pre-class story is just a temporary compromise, not the final solution..."

Emperor Da Ning immediately became interested. In everyone's eyes, Chen Chang'an's methods of scholarship were always associated with novelty and gimmicks.

He wanted to hear what was truly on his mind.

Chen Chang'an explained: "The biggest drawback of the old-style teaching in Da Ning is that it is dry and obscure, out of touch with children's minds. Every word in the 'Cheng Tian Yao Dian' is true, but children are still young and have little experience. Forcing them to understand these scriptures will only make them feel bored and unwilling to learn. They will deliberately resist and become more and more averse to learning. Telling them stories that interest them before class to make them listen attentively is just a transaction, not a long-term solution."

Chen Chang'an picked up a piece of food and continued, "The truly new law is to integrate the dry doctrines of sages, principles of self-cultivation, and ways of dealing with the world into content that children can understand and are willing to accept..."

He remembered something, got up, took a book from the study, handed it to Gong Yue's father, and said, "This is a textbook I compiled for Chang'an Academy. Uncle, you can take a look at this."

This is an introductory textbook that he carefully compiled for the children of Chang'an Academy, inspired by Tuoba Ke, and he has not shown it to anyone else yet.

The Emperor of Da Ning took the booklet, turned the pages, and quickly scanned it.

The book begins with short poems and phrases that are easy to recite and have simple meanings. The words are simple and easy to understand, yet each word is profound and contains the principles of self-cultivation and conduct.

Interspersed among them are some short fables, such as "The Tortoise and the Hare" and "Waiting for a Hare to Fall into a Trap," which are very short and full of fun.

The story concludes with a few words highlighting important principles such as humility, diligence, and integrity...

These contents are full of childlike fun, progressing step by step, from simple to interesting, from interesting to reasonable, and from reasonable to heartfelt...

It turns out that before even starting to teach the imperial heirs, he had already established a complete and entirely new system for early childhood education...

"Good, very good!"

The Emperor of Da Ning closed the textbook, his eyes full of approval, and said, "Teaching through play, subtly influencing, your method is the true way to educate people. I... am truly good. I believe you will win. The reform of education in Da Ning rests on your shoulders..."

He sensed more than once that although the Gong family were merchants, his uncle seemed to be very concerned about court politics...