OBS Chapter 1215 Elementary Education
Chapter 1215 Elementary Education
Chapter 1215 Elementary Education
Early the next morning, Bai Jiaxuan hurried home from the ancestral hall and told his parents his thoughts.
Bai Bingde's originally stern face softened a little: "Well, you are right. Hao'er is such a smart kid, he can't hang out with those cowardly kids all day. It's time for him to start learning."
"Have you chosen a teacher for the elementary school?"
Bai Jiaxuan finished his noodles and wiped his mouth: "Then I'll definitely go find my brother-in-law. He's the most knowledgeable person in our area."
In Bai Jiaxuan's heart, his brother-in-law is the most knowledgeable person in the world.
"Chen Xi's knowledge is indeed impeccable, but I'm afraid that he will focus on studying and have no time to teach the kids." Bai Bingde took a sip of tea.
Bai Jiaxuan knew that his brother-in-law was devoted to learning, otherwise he would have passed the imperial examination and become a Jinshi long ago.
"Why don't you talk to my sister?"
Bai Zhao curled her lips and complained: "If your sister's words had worked, you wouldn't be unable to marry a lady from a wealthy family..."
Bai Bingde glared at her and said, "What are you talking about? You are talking nonsense so early in the morning. Can't you see that the bowl is empty? Go to the bowl."
Bai Zhaoshi didn't dare to refute and could only pick up Qin Hao's bowl to cook noodles.
"Don't blame my brother-in-law for this. With my fate, if I really marry a girl from a wealthy family, she will kill me and I will bring enemies to my family." Bai Jiaxuan said.
Bai Bingde took a puff of his pipe and said, "Tell Lu San to call your sister home and talk to her. After all, she is her nephew, so she should do something to help."
Qin Hao pretended not to understand and waited for Bai Zhaoshi to come back with the noodles, then continued to eat the noodles. Pretending to be a child was very tiring. It was boring to pee and play in the mud with a bunch of little kids all day long. It would be better to go to school.
Moreover, his uncle, Mr. Zhu, is a great scholar in Guanzhong, with first-class knowledge and reputation. By learning from him, even if he achieves something beyond his age in the future, he can attribute it to him.
At noon that day, Zhu Bai returned to her parents' home. When she heard that her husband was asked to teach students, she immediately looked embarrassed.
Seeing this, Bai Zhao immediately said impatiently: "Can you please give me a straightforward answer? Isn't Hao'er your nephew? Are you just going to watch Hao'er's great talent go to waste?"
Seeing her mother angry, Zhu Bai hurriedly explained: "Mother, it's not what you think. It's just that over the years, too many people have asked Chenxi to teach, including many high-ranking officials. Chenxi always refused by saying that he was focused on writing books. If he suddenly opens his eyes now, I'm afraid he will offend many people."
Bai Bingde frowned upon hearing this and took a deep puff of his pipe: "It shouldn't be a crime to teach my own nephew, right?"
"Alas, Chen Xi has been saying for years that he was burdened by his fame. If he had known this, he shouldn't have been so flamboyant..."
Before Zhu Bai finished her words, Qin Hao suddenly leaned close to her ear and whispered.
"Is this okay?"
Zhu Bai's face was full of suspicion.
"Let's give it a try. If it doesn't work, it means my uncle and I are not destined to be teacher and student. I'll find another teacher to teach me later."
Bai Zhao became anxious when she heard this, and reached out to pull Qin Hao behind her: "Children should not interrupt when adults are talking..."
Qin Hao dodged and said, "Grandma, you said before that women should not interrupt men when they are talking. I am a man of the Bai family, so why don't I have the right to speak?"
Bai Bingde and Bai Jiaxuan looked at each other. They were surprised but also happy for the cleverness of the heir of the Bai family.
Even Zhu Bai stared at Qin Hao for a long time.
……
Zhu family.
After returning home, Zhu Baishi did not directly mention the teaching matter, but took advantage of her husband's arrangement of ancient books in the study. She "accidentally" mixed the straw paper Qin Hao used for calligraphy practice into the manuscript annotated by Zhu Chenxi. When her husband suddenly caught a glimpse of the immature but well-structured regular script on the paper, he frowned and picked up the paper: "Who wrote this? Although the brushwork is weak, the structure has the style of Yan style."
"Oh, it should be the last time Haoer came to your study and wrote it randomly out of boredom."
Seeing her husband taking the bait, Zhu Bai pretended to sigh and said, "It's a pity that this child was born without a mother. He is also naturally smart and has never worried him since he was a child. Now he can only watch him follow wild kids to rob bird nests and waste his life."
Mr. Zhu frowned upon hearing this: "Hao'er is five years old this year, why don't you hire a teacher for this child? With the financial resources of the Bai family, it shouldn't be difficult to do so."
"Money is not the problem. The main problem is that Hao'er is too smart. The teachers we hired are often stumped by his questions. They say that a teacher cannot answer questions for students, let alone teach them. They leave in shame."
After hearing what Zhu Baishi said, Mr. Zhu became interested: "Is there such a thing? What questions did he ask?"
Zhu Bai pretended to recall: Some time ago, an old scholar came to teach "Three Character Classic", and he had just read to 'When a man is born, his nature is good'.
Hao Er asked, "Sir, if human nature is good, why did I see Er Gou from next door stealing pears from Lu's family yesterday? Er Gou is the same age as me, has he passed his 'first year'?"
The old scholar hesitated for a long time, and finally said that children's naughtiness is not evil. Haoer asked again: What is naughtiness, what is evil? How to define it? The "Three Character Classic" does not say.
The old scholar choked on the spot and left with his bag that day.
Mr. Zhu laughed when he heard this, but a hint of interest flashed in his eyes: "This kid is really good at playing with words."
Seeing her husband like this, Zhu Bai thought to herself: There is hope, so she struck while the iron was hot: "The scholar who was invited later was even more embarrassed.
When teaching the Thousand Character Classic, Haoer pointed to "Heaven and Earth are Dark Yellow" and asked: "If the sky is dark, why is the clear sky blue? If the earth is yellow, why is some soil black?"
The scholar brought out the Book of Changes to explain that "Xuan is the color of the sky", but Hao'er said: "But the Book of Songs also says 'the vast blue sky', and Cang is blue, so who is wrong?"
The scholar was annoyed and said that the classics could not be questioned. Hao'er replied: "Confucius said that there must be a teacher among three people. Why don't you learn from the sage?"
The scholar was so angry that he threw the ruler and ran away again.
The study was silent for a moment. Mr. Zhu suddenly said with a half-smile, "Bring the child to see me tomorrow. I want to see if he can stump me with questions."
When Zhu Bai met her husband's eyes, she felt inexplicably guilty. Based on her understanding of her husband, he should have seen through her little tricks, but he just didn't expose it.
"Are you going to embarrass Hao'er?"
With a nervous mood, Zhu Bai came to the Bai family early the next morning to report the news.
Bai Bingde and Bai Jiaxuan, father and son, were both confused, but Qin Hao smiled and said.
"Da, prepare your gifts. I will go with my aunt."
"what?"
……
After crossing the simple gate of the Zhu family, Qin Hao was taken to the study by Zhu Bai.
Mr. Zhu put down the pen he was using to annotate the Analects and looked at Qin Hao: "I heard that you stumped your teacher with the Three Character Classic?"
Qin Hao pretended to be arrogant: "They themselves can't answer it."
Mr. Zhu smiled and said, "Since you have read the Three Character Classic, you should know the story of "natures are similar, but habits make them different". Zhou Chu from Jin Dynasty was a troublemaker in his hometown when he was young, but he later killed dragons and shot tigers to reform himself. Do you think he is good or evil?"
"Uncle, before Zhou Chu got rid of the evil, he enjoyed fighting. Where did this enjoyment come from? If everyone is kind by nature, he should feel pain when he first fights." Qin Hao's eyes rolled.
Mr. Zhu shook his head slightly: "Zhou Chu's pleasure lies in showing off his strength, not in hurting others. He is like a young tiger playing with others without any intention of killing. After realizing that he was the third harm, he decided to turn over a new leaf. If his nature is evil, how could he turn over a new leaf?"
Qin Hao retorted: "Although the young tiger has no intention of killing when it pounces, it has already revealed the sharpness of its claws and fangs. If it is not evil in nature, why does it need to be educated later?"
Mr. Zhu stroked his beard and smiled softly: "The spring is pure and good in nature. The purpose of building a dike is to guide it into the fields, not to prevent it from becoming evil. Mencius said, 'Everyone has a compassionate heart.' Seeing a child fall into a well, people are frightened. This is human nature. Zhou Chu corrected his mistakes because his conscience was still alive."
"You question the contradictions in the classics, but you don't realize that the distinction between 'Xuan Huang' and 'Cang Tian' is actually a different perspective on things - for example, when you look at a pear tree, you see flowers when you look up, and mud when you look down. Have you ever doubted that the tree is not one thing?"
Qin Hao said nothing more and bowed to the other party.
Mr. Zhu laughed when he saw this: "Forget it, forget it. I'll ask you to prepare the gift and send it over tomorrow."
After saying this, he looked out the window at the quiet courtyard with some regret and sighed, "It looks like I can't escape this quietness."
Zhu Bai, who had been eavesdropping outside the study, was so excited when she heard this that she almost knocked over the teapot and quickly left quietly.
……
Bai Jiaxuan walked on the crunchy snow, holding the five-year-old Qin Hao's hand and heading to Mr. Zhu's house. In his other hand, he held a bamboo basket filled with five catties of pork, five catties of mutton, and a pot of homemade rice wine - this was a gift to his brother-in-law, Mr. Zhu.
Just as the two of them passed by the door of Lu's house, they were stopped by Lu Zilin.
"Jiaxuan, what are you doing in this freezing weather?"
Bai Jiaxuan subconsciously hid the bamboo basket behind him. Lu Zilin came over immediately when he saw it and said, "What's so shameful about it in broad daylight? Why are you still hiding it?"
"It's none of your business. Get out of here. How come I have to report to you when I take my kid to visit relatives?" Bai Jiaxuan pushed Lu Zilin away angrily.
Lu Zilin looked at the two men's backs. The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. He quickly called his son Lu Zhaopeng and followed them quietly.
After walking a long way, they found that they were on the road to Bai Jiaxuan's brother-in-law's house. Lu Zilin wanted to give up halfway, but Lu Zhaopeng said, "I heard that Mr. Zhu is the most learned person in our province. Why hasn't anyone invited him to open a private school?"
"It's not that no one wanted to invite him. In the past few years, people who wanted to invite him had been clamoring for him, including many high-ranking officials. But he was stubborn and refused to go. So he lost the chance to get promoted and make a fortune..." Lu Zilin said as he suddenly remembered something.
"It's not a festival, but Bai Jiaxuan brought so many things to my house. Could it be a gift for becoming my disciple?"
The more Lu Zilin thought about it, the more he felt it was possible. This made him very anxious. Originally, Bai Jiaxuan's son was smarter than his son, and now the other son had a famous teacher. If his son continued to muddle along, the gap between the two families would only get bigger and bigger.
"Zhao Peng, go home quickly and ask your grandfather to prepare the tuition. We can't fall behind no matter what."
Before Lu Zhaopeng could react, Lu Zilin pushed him back and he almost fell down. He quickly got up and ran home.
……
In the main hall of the Zhu family, Mr. Zhu was not a person who liked red tape, so he kept the apprenticeship ceremony simple. He only accepted the tuition fee sent by Bai Jiaxuan, and then asked Qin Hao to serve him a cup of tea, and that was considered the ceremony complete.
As a result, just as Qin Hao handed over the teacup, the door of the Zhu family compound was kicked open.
Lu Zilin and Lu Zhaopeng rushed in with heads covered in snow.
As soon as he entered the door, Lu Zilin asked Lu Zhaopeng to kneel next to Qin Hao.
Mr. Zhu frowned. Bai Jiaxuan was so angry that he pulled Lu Zilin and said, "What do you mean?"
Lu Zilin knew he was in the wrong, so he just kept saying to Mr. Zhu, "Mr. Zhu, since you have to take in one kid, you can teach two kids, so why not take in our Zhao Peng as well?"
Bai Jiaxuan became even angrier and grabbed Lu Zilin's collar and pulled him out. It was not easy for his brother-in-law to agree to accept his son. If Lu Zilin ruined the deal, he would kill him.
Lu Zilin was so shameless that he handed the tuition fee to Zhu Baishi and then asked Lu Zhaopeng to kowtow to Mr. Zhu.
Mr. Zhu couldn't bear to watch any longer, so he called out to Bai Jiaxuan, and then said to Lu Zhaopeng who was kneeling in front of him, "Why do you want to take me as your master?"
Lu Zhaopeng said respectfully: "I heard that you are the most knowledgeable person on the prairie. I don't understand many things and would like to ask you for advice."
"Oh, if there is anything you don't understand, tell me first."
Lu Zhaopeng was suddenly asked by Mr. Zhu. He grasped the corner of his clothes nervously and suddenly pointed at the sparrows foraging in the snow outside the window: "Sir, why don't these sparrows fly south in winter? The other day I heard the children in the school reciting a poem about 'the geese flying south', but the sparrows on our plains are here every year."
Mr. Zhu chuckled when he heard this, and glanced at Lu Zilin's anxious face: "Do you know that geese are migratory birds, and sparrows are resident birds?" Seeing Lu Zhaopeng shaking his head blankly, he dipped his tea and drew on the table: "Geese have wide wings and heavy bodies, and need the strong wind to fly south; sparrows have short wings and can find food in haystacks, so sparrows don't need to envy geese, they all have their own way of living."
Lu Zhaopeng's eyes were full of disappointment: "Master still doesn't want to accept me."
Mr. Zhu nodded slightly: "He is a smart child..."
Before he finished speaking, Lu Zilin called out, "Mr. Zhu, my son Zhaopeng has been very smart since he was young. He knows the Three Character Classic and Thousand Character Classic by heart. Son, please recite them for Mr. Zhu."
"In the beginning, human beings are inherently good..."
Mr. Zhu raised his hand to interrupt Lu Zhaopeng's recitation, and then said to Zhu Baishi beside him: "Go and prepare another cup of tea."
In front of the main hall, Mr. Zhu said solemnly to Qin Hao and Lu Zhaopeng.
"Since you have entered my school, you must know that the most important thing in learning is to think critically. You can question the classics, but you must have reasons and evidence; you can ask questions to teachers, but you must not be frivolous..."
"Sir, sir, please accept my disciple's bow."
Seeing Mr. Zhu drinking the tea offered by his son one after another, Bai Jiaxuan and Lu Zilin both showed joy on their faces, but soon Bai Jiaxuan glared at Lu Zilin fiercely.
Lu Zilin was not angry even though he took advantage of her. He laughed and said, "Jiaxuan, this is great. We grew up together, and your child and my child are classmates now. The White and Lu families are inseparable."
Bai Jiaxuan left angrily at Lu Zilin's attitude of taking advantage of others, and Lu Zilin followed him shamelessly.
Qin Hao and Lu Zhaopeng stayed and started their elementary school career.