Top Scholar

Chapter 110 Done
"Of course, this is just a suggestion; you have to make the decision yourself." Mr. Zhang also felt that his method was a bit too idealistic. What if the child accidentally fell and was delayed in both the city and the countryside? Wouldn't that be troublesome?
"No rush, just focus on your studies first. While scholars are said to specialize in one classic, they should also be proficient in all five classics; otherwise, they won't be able to accomplish anything academically or pass the imperial examinations." He reassured Su Lu further.
"At the end of the year, the academy will also assess your performance on the Five Classics and recommend which classic to study based on your performance. For example, we recommend that students with strong analytical skills study the Book of Changes, and students who are good at historical theory study the Spring and Autumn Annals. It's not too late to decide then, just keep an idea in mind for now."

"Yes. Thank you for your guidance, sir." Su Lu replied respectfully, then asked, "Sir, what class will we have today?"

"No classes today," Mr. Zhang said, already having a plan. "I'm going to use this time to help you organize that set of 'phonetic symbols'!"

"Yes," Su Lu replied again. He wondered to himself, why did Mr. Zhang suddenly think of this? Did he think he had already mastered his studies? It's far from enough...

But we can only do whatever the master says.

So, following Mr. Zhang's instructions, Su Lu first wrote down the Chinese phonetic symbols in his mind.

There are 21 initial consonants, namely: ㄅㄆㄇㄈㄉㄊㄋㄌㄍㄎㄏㄐㄑㄒㄓㄔㄕㄖㄗㄘㄙ;

There are three prepositions, which are ㄧㄨㄩ;

There are thirteen finals, namely: ㄚㄛㄜㄝㄞㄟㄠㄡㄢㄣㄤㄥㄦ.

There are a total of thirty-seven, plus five tone marks.

Then the two spent several more days using the phonetic notation system to annotate the seventy-six rhyme groups, thirty-one initial consonants, and two thousand eight hundred and twenty-one fanqie sounds in the Hongwu Zhengyun.

The results showed that the phonetic symbols were completely insufficient because the pronunciation of Chinese in the Hongwu Zhengyun differed from that of later periods. For example, the entering tone characters of that time disappeared later; and voiced initials also did not exist in later periods...

The two spent several more days, not even going home for their New Year's Day holiday, identifying ten gaps in the initial consonant "s" and nineteen gaps in the final vowels. They then repeatedly refined the smallest possible expansion scheme, ultimately creating thirteen new phonetic symbols:
Voiced initials —;
The three entering tone final marks are: 、、;

A closed rhyme—;

A entering tone mark —.

The modified Chinese phonetic symbols numbered fifty, but were many times simpler than the original eight hundred and sixty-six fanqie characters.

"...Moreover, these symbols can be taught directly to young children, unlike the fanqie phonetic notation, which only teachers can understand." Mr. Zhang examined the plan that the two had finalized and was extremely satisfied.

"Good, good, good! Your phonetic notation scheme is presentable now!"

Su Lu noticed that Zhang Yanqiu's eyes were bloodshot and he had developed dark circles from staying up all night... For the past ten days or so, Zhang Yanqiu had devoted himself entirely to this, even sacrificing his sleep time, putting in far more effort than Su Lu.

"Sir, you have worked hard and made great contributions. This solution should be attributed to both of us." Su Lu never kept his work to himself, especially since the work of completing the phonetic notation solution was basically done by Zhang Yanqiu, who was well-versed in phonology.

If it were me, I don't know when I would be able to finish it, and there would definitely be mistakes and omissions; I would never be able to do it so perfectly.

So he was willing to share it with Mr. Zhang, especially since it wasn't his original work...

Zhang Yanqiu shook his head and said, "You could have done this work by yourself. I just helped you speed things up a bit. How can I be included in the final list? Wouldn't that be deceiving the world and stealing a reputation?"

“Sir, you are mistaken. If it weren’t for your emphasis and efforts, this plan might never have come to fruition.” Su Lu shook his head, insisting on his opinion.

"Let's not talk about that for now." Mr. Zhang waved his hand and asked Su Lu, "How long do you think it will take for a child to learn these fifty phonetic symbols? I'm talking about the average person."

After some deliberation, Su Lu decided to be lenient and said, "One hour a day, for two or three months."

Then, slapping his forehead, he remembered a simple method and said, "We can also make up a mnemonic rhyme to help children remember, for example, ㄅ (波)ㄆ (坡)ㄇ (摸)ㄈ (佛), ㄉ (德)ㄊ (特)ㄋ (呢)ㄌ (了)..."

Mr. Zhang's eyes lit up again after hearing this, and he said with great admiration, "This method is easy to remember and learn! It will definitely greatly reduce the learning difficulty for young children. I have often heard that some people are born with wisdom, and now I have finally seen it, and it is frighteningly profound."

“Sir, you mentioned innate wisdom. I can still have the nerve to listen.” Su Lu thought to himself, “I am born with innate wisdom, which can be considered a kind of innate wisdom.” He then smiled wryly and said, “There’s no need to make it sound so frightening.”

"Hahaha!" Zhang Yanqiu laughed loudly, "Come on, let's organize this set of mnemonics again!"

"Again?" Su Lu groaned. "Sir, is it really necessary for us to be in such a hurry?"

"Of course, we must seize every minute!" Mr. Zhang said resolutely, "Opportunity knocks but once!"

"Okay." Su Lu blinked and said no more.

~~
On the morning of August 17th, the post road from Tucheng Town to Taiping Town suddenly became lively.

Dozens of garrison soldiers, dressed in colorful studded cotton armor and carrying long guns and muskets, led the way.

Behind them were eight ceremonial attendants, dressed in red armor and wearing feathered hats. Each carried a sign that read "Silence" and "Avoidance," a plaque bearing the official titles "Magistrate of Hejiang" and "Wenlin Lang," as well as blue flags, red flags, fire and water sticks, and a gong to clear the way...

Behind them were four sedan chair carriers dressed in short, dark brown clothes, shakily carrying a small green sedan chair. Several attendants carrying water bottles, spittoons, and chauffeured horses followed beside the sedan chair, while guards with their hands on their waist knives and chains stood watch around the perimeter.

This is a complete set of ceremonial regalia for a seventh-rank county magistrate. In the capital, only the highest-ranking officials of the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers were entitled to the privilege of traveling in a sedan chair with a ceremonial procession.

However, in local areas, the magistrates of prefectures and counties, acting on behalf of the emperor and governing the people, needed to project the dignity of the court and inspire awe in the populace. Therefore, even a seventh-rank county magistrate had a full retinue when he traveled. This retinue and procession were something many fifth- or sixth-rank officials in the imperial court envied. Many people would go to great lengths, even if it meant being demoted and sent to a remote post, just to experience the life of a local magistrate.

But Lu Zhaoye, the magistrate of Hejiang County, had had enough of being a magistrate. He had worked in this remote mountain village for a full eleven years, from the age of thirty-six to forty-seven. The best years of his career were spent trapped in this desolate place where the emperor was far away and the people were unruly.

Not to mention the person, even his small blue sedan chair, which he had ridden in for ten years, creaked and groaned as if it were about to fall apart at any moment...

Of course, this stretch of road was also exceptionally difficult to travel. The further into the mountains they went, the more the road seemed to have been gnawed by wild dogs, with potholes and loose stones. The sedan chair swayed left and right and bounced up and down as if sailing on waves, which even made his hemorrhoids flare up, causing Magistrate Lu to grimace in pain.

"Sigh..." Lu Zhaoye sighed deeply, cursing himself for having hysteria.

This was his first time visiting Taiping Town. Although Yongning Guard had many affairs managed by the county, and the imperial examinations were held there, it wasn't actually under his jurisdiction. He was too busy with the affairs of his own county to bother with the trivial matters of this remote mountain village.

The reason he traveled such a long distance this time was firstly because Zhu Liu had visited him after taking office. He was so pleased that he agreed to inspect Taiping Academy within the year.

Secondly, Taiping Academy achieved excellent results this year, with a total of twelve students passing the county examination. Although only five students later passed the prefectural examination, Magistrate Lu knew perfectly well that it was not due to a lack of ability or a failure in the examination.

As a result, three out of the five students passed the imperial examination and became scholars, proving that the students of Taiping Academy were indeed of high quality! That's why he decided to come and inspect the academy to see if there were any promising talents who could be cultivated in advance.

"Promoting child prodigies" was a favorite pastime of local officials in this dynasty, but it had to be done early; once a family had already produced a scholar, it would be too late. By then, even if the official wanted to help, it would be too late…

Just before the autumn harvest, he was to go to the countryside to inspect the harvest as usual, so that he would have a clear understanding of this year's autumn grain collection. Otherwise, his subordinates might collude with him and make a fool of him.

When Magistrate Lu looked at the inspection route, he realized that the nearest town was only a few dozen miles away from Taiping Town. On a whim, he sent someone to inform Zhu Liu.

But he never expected that these dozens of miles of mountain road would be so difficult to travel.

"What's wrong, sir?" Hearing Magistrate Lu's groans, the servant hurriedly asked from outside the sedan window.

“It’s brought out my old problems…” Magistrate Lu said in a low voice.

"Oh dear, this is terrible! Slow down!" The servant hurriedly shouted to the sedan chair bearers, "Keep it steady!"

"Sigh, if I had known this road would be so difficult, I would have preferred to take a boat," the servant sighed again, joining the master in his lament.

"Sitting in a sedan chair makes me sick, but sitting on a boat is deadly." Magistrate Lu said, with only half of his buttocks sticking out, leaning against the sedan chair, "I shouldn't have come to this godforsaken place."

"Shall we go back?" the servant suggested.

"I'm already halfway there!" Magistrate Lu said irritably.

"Oh, you stupid little thing," Chang Suixin said, as if you were just leaving and never coming back.

"I hope Brother Dejia has some good seedlings, otherwise this trip will be a huge loss for this county," Magistrate Lu grumbled.

"Yes, the master will suffer for the next three to five days." The servant was experienced and knew the master's old problem, which always lasted for three to five days. He then cursed, "Yongning Guard is really something, can't they fix this lousy road? What if there's going to be a war?"

"Alright, that's enough." Although the words struck a chord with Magistrate Lu, he still scolded him.

After all, the garrison had been very hospitable to him. Last night, Magistrate Lu stayed in Tucheng Town, where the centurion surnamed Li hosted a grand banquet for him and his entourage. Today, he even personally led his soldiers to escort them all the way. He had to give them some face.

But now that I think about it, my illness this time is probably inextricably linked to the roasted whole lamb and dog meat hot pot I ate last night...

He was inwardly cursing himself for being so greedy at his age! The centurion Li rode up and said, "Lord Lu, our commander and headmaster Zhu have come to greet you!"

"Oh, so we're almost there?" Lu Zhaoye's expression brightened.

"Twenty li to go," said Li Baihu.

"Sigh..." Lu Zhaoye's expression immediately fell. Why were they all so eager? They'd only made him happy for nothing. Then he asked in surprise, "Eh? Commander, there's no need for you to be so polite, is there?"

Since they are not part of the same system and their jurisdictions are separate, there is really no need for Taiping Qianhu to go twenty miles out of town to greet them.

"Perhaps it's because our commander's eldest grandson is also studying at the academy," Li Baihu said softly.

"I see," Magistrate Lu said with a sudden realization. "It seems that not only parents all over the world feel sorry for their children, but also grandparents."

“Who says otherwise?” Li Baihu wholeheartedly agreed. Otherwise, why would he have given such a grand reception and personally escorted him? Wasn’t it all so that Magistrate Lu could take care of his son?
He was unaware that Magistrate Lu had blamed his hemorrhoids on him...

P.S. The phonetic scheme in this chapter is based on the Taiwanese Hokkien phonetic scheme. It's just for fun, please don't take it too seriously. I haven't finished proofreading the remaining two chapters. Oh well, it was already past 11 pm by the time I finished writing.

(End of this chapter)