APSIL -Chapter 145 A Person Cannot Just Be a Salty Fish

When the bell signaling the end of the half-day break at Banshan Hall was about to ring, Zhang Shou returned with Lu Sanlang.

Zhang Wu, who had been supervising the examination in the lecture hall, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, the students below had all kinds of expressions.

Some looked relaxed, some were cheerful, some wore gloomy expressions, and some were deep in thought.

There were also those scratching their heads, biting their brushes, or muttering to themselves.

In short, every kind of reaction could be seen.

But the biggest reactions came from the Third and Fourth Princes.

The Fourth Prince was the first to wave his papers and rush forward.

“Teacher! Teacher! I finished my second paper too!”

After interviewing so many candidates that morning, Zhang Shou had finally selected twenty-one students for the Nine Chapters Hall.

Adding Lu Sanlang and Qi Liang, the number of students he intended to submit was only twenty-three.

This was even fewer than the number he had accepted back at Cuiyun Studio.

But considering the selection rate, Zhang Shou was already very satisfied.

Especially aside from Yan Fang, he had also recognized several familiar faces among the candidates—people who had once blocked Ge Yong’s residence.

After personally testing them, he no longer had much doubt about their mathematical abilities.

The only thing he was uncertain about was their moral character.

But even the emperor himself could not guarantee that every person he appointed was completely trustworthy.

Therefore, Zhang Shou did not intend to be overly strict at the beginning.

His plan was to teach them while observing them over time.

Because he had been distracted thinking about these matters, he did not notice the Fourth Prince charging toward him until the child was already right in front of him.

The Fourth Prince was running too fast and directly crashed into Zhang Shou’s arms.

His little head slammed straight into Zhang Shou’s stomach.

Fortunately, the Fourth Prince had grown quite tall.

After sucking in a sharp breath and rubbing his stomach, Zhang Shou forced a smile and said he was fine.

Then he accepted the examination paper.

Seeing the neat and proper handwriting written with a brush, Zhang Shou was slightly stunned.

He looked at the little boy in front of him with surprise.

Although many characters had blank spaces in the middle and he clearly did not know how to write at least half of them, just counting the number of characters, one could tell that the Fourth Prince already knew how to write one or two hundred characters.

And among those one or two hundred characters, there were almost no mistakes.

“You can actually write this many characters?”

The Fourth Prince immediately became proud.

“My third brother and I learned characters very early!”

“Not just us, even my eldest brother and second brother were like that back then!”

“It’s just that there are many characters I can recognize but cannot write…”

As he spoke, he suddenly became somewhat embarrassed.

“So I could only leave those spaces blank.”

“Because Father Emperor said that if you cannot write a character, it is better to leave it blank than to replace it with another character that sounds the same.”

“But Teacher, I can answer all the questions you asked!”

“Because I remember everything clearly. After returning to the palace, I even asked Father Emperor and conducted experiments…”

Before the Fourth Prince could actually begin answering verbally on the spot, Zhang Shou waved his hand to stop him.

Smiling, he said: “No need.”

“Having this desire to study is already enough.”

“His Majesty was right. If you don’t know how to write a character, you really should not replace it with another simple character that has the same pronunciation.”

“Because if you do it again and again, you may eventually develop the habit of writing incorrectly.”

Smiling, Zhang Shou sent the Fourth Prince back to his seat.

Then, to show that he was not favoring one prince over another, he also looked over the Third Prince’s examination paper.

Afterward, he gestured for Zhang Wu to collect the papers.

Seeing some students looking refreshed while others sighed heavily, Zhang Shou walked to the front of the hall and lightly struck the wooden block.

“Unlike the examinations you have experienced before, I believe everyone should have realized something from today’s test.”

“As long as you paid attention during class, you should have been able to answer at least eighty percent of the questions.”

“And if, besides paying attention in class, you also reviewed books afterward, drew conclusions from examples, and asked your elders or teachers for guidance, then answering every question would have been easy.”

“If even the Third Prince and Fourth Prince—two young children—can accomplish this, yet some of you cannot…”

“Shouldn’t you reflect on yourselves?”

“Coming to class every day and merely going through the motions, listening without truly learning…”

“That only makes you a salted fish.”

“A salted fish that others can flip over, sprinkle with salt, dry under the sun, and manipulate however they wish.”

“Whether you choose to become a respectable person or remain a dead salted fish…”

“That choice belongs to you.”

After saying this, Zhang Shou rang the bell to announce the end of class.

After the students and the Third and Fourth Princes gradually left, Lu Sanlang noticed that only Zhu Er and the Zhang trio remained.

He immediately asked: “Teacher, after the Nine Chapters Hall students arrive, how will you teach Banshan Hall?”

“You only have one person. You cannot split yourself into two.”

“This side in the morning, that side in the afternoon.”

Zhang Shou calmly replied with eight words.

Seeing Lu Sanlang become both surprised and excited, Zhang Shou continued lazily: “Later, tell A-Liu to ask Qi Liang to wait for me at home tonight.”

“Xiao Dai is determined to become a capable official.”

“But Xiao Qi is different.”

“If I am willing to accept people whose virtue may have flaws, then there is no reason I should refuse him.”

“Also, both of you should prepare yourselves.”

“Mathematics is different from other subjects.”

“There are some things you two can teach in my place.”

“Otherwise, if I have to personally teach all day long, I’ll collapse from exhaustion.”

Lu Sanlang’s eyes almost popped out.

He pointed at himself in disbelief.

“Me?”

“Then wouldn’t that mean…”

“Assistant teacher?”

“Exactly.”

Zhang Shou nodded.

At the same time, he thought inwardly:

Titles like “professor” and “assistant teacher,” which were common in later generations, actually originated from institutions like the Imperial Academy.

“Although I cannot officially give you the title of assistant teacher, and His Majesty cannot give you an assistant teacher’s salary…”

“The reality is that you will be doing assistant teacher work.”

“Otherwise, with Nine Chapters Hall and Banshan Hall together, I cannot manage both.”

“Remember to go back and carefully study those books from your Ge ancestor.”

“Those will be the future textbooks of Nine Chapters Hall.”

“Although the first ones are the easiest, the pace will quickly accelerate.”

Seeing Lu Sanlang’s face light up with joy, Zhu Er watched helplessly as he agreed enthusiastically and immediately ran away.

Judging from his appearance, the little fatty was probably going to use the lunch break to study Ge Yong’s mathematical texts—which Zhu Er himself considered no different from heavenly scriptures.

Having spent more than ten years being a salted fish and believing he would continue being one forever, Zhu Er suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable.

Not to mention anything else…

His two exams today had both been disastrous.

Zhang Chen and Zhang Wu had it better.

By supervising the exams, they had both escaped taking one test!

However, Zhu Er soon realized his mistake.

Because Zhang Shou casually asked Zhang Chen several questions from the history class.

And Zhang Chen answered fluently.

Zhang Wu was the same.

When asked about principles from the natural science lessons, he explained them clearly and logically.

Zhu Er suddenly felt that perhaps he was the only useless rich young master in the entire world.

Zhang Shou pretended not to notice Zhu Er’s changing expression.

Instead, he smiled at Zhang Chen and Zhang Wu.

“You two are doing well.”

“In the future, there will be more and more of these surprise tests.”

“Next time, Zhang Lu will also supervise.”

“Zhang Chen, you will patrol the classroom.”

“You have great authority among the students of Banshan Hall. With you walking around, ordinary people will not dare cheat.”

“Do not disappoint His Majesty’s expectations.”

Mentioning the emperor’s expectations immediately reminded Zhang Chen of his inexplicable reward.

He was just about to speak.

But Zhang Shou smiled and interrupted him first.

“No need to be modest.”

“You deserve it.”

“The wise emperor sees everything clearly. You should believe in that.”

Zhang Chen had no idea what expression he should make.

Last time at Cuiyun Studio, he and Lu Sanlang had only acted out a scene.

Yet afterward, both of them had somehow “captured criminals and earned merit,” receiving praise and rewards from the emperor.

This time it was even more absurd.

He had not even seen the shadow of the rebels.

Yet somehow, he had once again “performed great service.”

When he returned home yesterday and the imperial reward arrived right after him, his mother had been overjoyed.

Even his father—who normally ignored both household affairs and him—had unexpectedly praised him: “You have finally grown up and become sensible.”

Previously, Zhang Chen had been dissatisfied that Lu Sanlang had suddenly transformed into a genius.

Now he realized that he himself might become an example used by other families to educate their younger generations.

And he felt as if he were dreaming.

Because unlike Lu Sanlang…

He had literally done nothing!

The only thing that seemed different from before was…

He had somehow become Zhang Shou’s “student.”

Zhang Shou continued following the same method and encouraged Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu.

These two did not have as much pride as Zhang Chen and Lu Sanlang.

Now that their positions in their families had improved, they were naturally delighted.

After sending away these three successful students who shared his surname, Zhang Shou sighed inwardly.

The current emperor truly was an interesting person.

Having someone powerful backing him felt surprisingly good.

Just as he was thinking this, he noticed Lu Sanlang wink at him before slipping away.

Only then did he notice Zhu Er slowly approaching.

Zhu Er had been forced to keep a low profile these days.

Being sent by his grandmother and stepmother to study at Banshan Hall was already unfortunate enough.

What truly struck him like thunder was that he had to call his future brother-in-law “Teacher.”

Fortunately, his seat was in the back corner.

So every day he lowered his head, trying to minimize his existence.

He feared becoming the subject of ridicule.

But now…

Seeing Lu Sanlang and the Zhang trio gradually shining, the salted-fish-like Second Young Master Zhu finally could not endure it anymore.

With no outsiders around, he told himself that everything was for the revival of the Zhu family.

Only then did he finally gather the courage to speak.

“Te… teacher.”

Calling Zhang Shou “teacher” truly required enormous effort.

But after saying it, he cautiously continued: “I also want to focus on studying.”

“But unlike my elder brother, I don’t have outstanding talent in both literature and martial arts.”

“You already know the current situation of my family.”

“What should I do?”

Hearing the sincerity in Zhu Er’s question, Zhang Shou carefully examined him.

Then he smiled.

“I have seen your course selections every afternoon.”

“For music, you chose the se.”

“For physical training, you chose pitch-pot.”

“And when I attended classes these past few days, I noticed your technique with the se is quite good.”

“Your pitch-pot skills are also considered excellent.”

Zhu Er had not expected his future brother-in-law to have noticed him.

His face immediately lit up.

“That’s right!”

“I have loved playing the se since I was young.”

“What are the qin and zheng compared to it?”

“If we talk about true elegance, the se is the true refined instrument.”

“It was extremely popular during the Qin and Han dynasties, and there were many masters during the Tang dynasty.”

“It is said Confucius himself was skilled at playing the se.”

“And in the Records of the Grand Historian, doesn’t it say that King Zhaoxiang of Qin played the se?”

“But there are only two people choosing se? They really don’t know how to appreciate it!”

After proudly boasting about his favorite instrument, he noticed Zhang Shou looking at him with an amused expression.

His enthusiasm immediately disappeared.

“As for pitch-pot…”

“It is just a game played by wealthy families.”

“I know indulging in entertainment can ruin ambition.”

“But I really cannot compete with others in cuju or polo.”

“Only pitch-pot is something I have played since childhood, so at least I won’t embarrass myself.”

Loves music.

Enjoys games.

A naturally born pleasure-seeking noble.

Zhang Shou thought this inwardly.

Then he calmly said: “Every person has their own usefulness.”

“There is no such thing as a completely useless talent in this world.”

“Also, outside of class, you do not need to force yourself to call me teacher.”

“You feel uncomfortable saying it, and I feel awkward hearing it.”

“Wanting progress does not mean abandoning what you already have.”

“But you need to seriously think about one thing.”

“If you enter government service in the future…”

“What do you want to accomplish?”

What did he want to accomplish?

Watching Zhang Shou leave, Zhu Er frowned deeply.

If he already knew what he could do…

Why would he need to ask Zhang Shou?