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Chapter 114, Article 113: The Magistrate's Lucky Break

Zhang Yanqiu then told Magistrate Lu about Su Lu's outstanding deeds in enthusiastically guiding his classmates and achieving common progress.

"Very good, very good." Magistrate Lu was somewhat disappointed after hearing this; such a subtle and beneficial deed couldn't be used as a model for publicity...

They need to tell stories like "getting into the academy in 100 days" or "going from failing to first place in the whole school in six months" to create momentum for future publicity.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Yanqiu only laid out a brief introduction before taking out a folded page from his sleeve and saying, "Su Lu also felt that there was a shortage of teachers in the mountains, and that children like him could not be enlightened in time, thus burying too many talents. So he designed fifty 'Hongwu Zhengyun' phonetic symbols, which perfectly replaced the fanqie phonetic method and greatly reduced the difficulty for children to learn to read."

"Oh?" Magistrate Lu's eyes lit up again. Here came the bait! Whatever it was, a gimmick was all it took to create buzz. He took the brochure Zhang Yanqiu offered, and at first glance, he was completely bewildered. What kind of incoherent writing was this?

That's normal, though. Phonology is incredibly complex, with numerous schools of thought, and it's always been a headache for people. It's like the gentlemanly way of 'remaining hidden and discreet'. Even illiterate people know some of it, and even the most learned scholars can't explain it all clearly.

Even if you praise a fourteen-year-old boy as a child prodigy, he could not possibly replace the eight or nine hundred fanqie characters in the "Hongwu Zhengyun" with a mere fifty symbols!

However, he still exercised his usual caution and asked Zhu Liu before making his assessment, "Brother Dejia, have you seen these symbols before?"

"Yes, Mr. Zhang just showed it to me yesterday, and I'm still amazed." To everyone's surprise, Zhu Liu said with admiration, "A mere fifty symbols can perfectly mark the seventy-six rhymes and twelve thousand two hundred and forty-six characters in the Hongwu Zhengyun."

"Moreover, it's much simpler and more reasonable than the fanqie phonetic notation. It doesn't require knowing so many characters, and it avoids mispronouncing sounds or spelling errors. Plus, it more accurately reflects the details of pronunciation!" He said with an incredulous look, "It's really hard to imagine that this was written by a fourteen-year-old boy!"

"At first glance, I also found it hard to believe, but this set of phonetic symbols is truly unprecedented. It's impossible for a child from the mountains to know more than us..." Mr. Zhang said with deep emotion, "Moreover, his system was not perfect at the time, with only about thirty phonetic symbols. Later, I encouraged him to expand it to fifty, and he gradually improved it until the day before yesterday, when it was finally perfect and without any flaws."

"Look, this is how Heaven knew the Master was coming, so it allowed such a treasure to be born!" You Muyou didn't care about anything else and just flattered him.

"Hiss..." Upon hearing this, Magistrate Lu thought to himself, "Could it be that I've misjudged again?" He then picked up the folded page and examined it closely.

Zhang Yanqiu apologized, stood up to explain to him, and then demonstrated the pronunciation of the phonetic symbols on the spot. Lu Zhaoye and everyone present finally felt the advanced nature of this phonetic symbol system—it was simply epoch-making!

"Moreover, Su Lu also compiled a set of mnemonic rhymes to help children memorize them." Zhang Yanqiu continued to promote it vigorously: "Bo po mo fo, de te ne le, ge ke he, ji xi xi... In just half a day, children can memorize these fifty sounds."

"Wouldn't it be much easier to teach children to read in the future?" Lu Zhaoye's eyes darted around, his heart pounding!
The biggest problem with using the fanqie method for phonetic notation is that students cannot learn it on their own. A teacher must instruct the children for a year, enabling them to recognize more than 800 fanqie characters, before they can use the fanqie method to learn more characters.

With phonetic symbols, the difficulty of teaching young children to read can be greatly reduced! Wouldn't that be...?

He and his friend You Muyou exchanged a glance, both realizing they had the same idea: this phonetic spelling system was a godsend!
~~
This story needs to be told from the beginning, but fortunately it's not complicated.

After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, many community schools were established, and teachers and scholars were invited to teach children in the countryside the laws and regulations of the dynasty, the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, and the rites of coming-of-age, marriage, funerals and sacrifices. This was an important means of eradicating the poison of the Yuan Dynasty and restoring Han civilization.

During the Hongwu reign, a period of exceptionally strong governance, community schools once numbered as many as fifty households per school. However, as the financial crisis worsened and unfilial descendants could no longer afford such enormous expenses, the community schools gradually declined.

However, the imperial court still hoped to revitalize community schools and restore their former glory during the Hongwu era. In the first year of the Chenghua reign, Emperor Xianzong ordered the provincial education commissioners and prefectural and county officials to support and supervise community schools. At one point, it was even stipulated that outstanding students in community schools could be admitted to the county-level imperial examinations without examination!
Although this policy quickly came to an end, it shows the court's desire to revitalize schools and educate the people!
The Hongzhi Emperor of this dynasty also repeatedly issued edicts to show concern for community schools. At the beginning of this year, the court again ordered all prefectures and counties to establish community schools according to regulations, and stipulated that all children under the age of fifteen should be sent to these schools for education!
It was like a Ming Dynasty version of compulsory education...

Moreover, it wasn't just the emperor who was enthusiastic; the three Grand Secretaries, Liu, Li, and Xie, also attached great importance to this "revival of community schools" and widely proclaimed to the prefectures and counties that the progress of the project would be included in the performance evaluation of officials!

If you can make a name for yourself at this time, you will easily be recognized by the court and promoted!
But until today, Lu Zhaoye could only dream about it. Hejiang was poor, and most of its people lived deep in the mountains. Where could they find the resources to establish community schools and hire teachers?
Of course, there are still quite a few scholars in Hejiang. If they grit their teeth and carry out some vanity projects, assigning a teacher to each town and even each village, they can manage for a year or two.

But what he could think of, the imperial court had already considered. It wasn't enough to simply establish a community school; it had to be 'remarkably effective' to be considered valid…

What constitutes "remarkable effectiveness"? Students should at least be able to recite the "Three Hundred Characters" and the "Classic of Filial Piety." This requires recognizing at least two or three thousand characters...

The students at the community school were mostly wild children, and the teachers were generally not very good. Normally, it would take several years for them to reach the required standard. That's the most critical issue!
He could certainly boast, but the imperial inspector in charge of evaluating prefectures and counties would definitely come to Hejiang to personally inspect before awarding him an outstanding title. If he was exposed then, forget about promotion; he'd lose his official hat too.

But with this 'Hongwu Zhengyun' phonetic spelling scheme, things are different. It can teach children enough characters in a short time, allowing the county to easily meet or even exceed the excellent assessment standards!

This explains why Magistrate Lu was so excited that his heart was pounding, and he kept exchanging flirtatious glances with You Muyou.

In fact, it was from the academy's official records that Mr. Zhang saw this imperial edict to widely establish community schools, which is why he was so anxious to urge Su Lu to finish the phonetic notation scheme before Magistrate Lu's arrival...
Now, in Magistrate Lu's eyes, Su Lu's credentials were of a completely different value.

The original intention was to package him as a child prodigy through various means and use him to gain exposure in front of the higher-ups.

Now they need to rely on him, this genuine child prodigy, to create tangible political achievements...

The differences here are huge.

Now, Magistrate Lu could no longer tolerate anyone else; he didn't even bother looking at the papers of the other students.

But they were the headman's nephew, the commander's grandson, and the centurion's son, respectively, so he had to put on a show. After glancing at them a few times, not knowing what they had written, Magistrate Lu nodded and said, "Not bad, not bad, they are all promising talents."

He put down the exam paper and said with a smile to Zhu Liu, "Brother Dejia, call them all over. I want to give them some encouragement in person."

"Okay." Zhu Liu nodded and gave the order.

Before long, the outstanding students of the three schools filed in, and the ten of them lined up in a row below the hall, bowing and saying, "This junior pays his respects to his parents."

"Very well, no need for formalities." Magistrate Lu stood up with a smile, leaning on the back of his chair, and looked at the dozen or so students, asking, "What are your names?"

"Reporting to my parents, my name is Jiang Hao, and I am from Luzhou Wei." The senior student at the head of the group introduced himself first.

Magistrate Lu listened patiently as the introductions continued until the first student in the lower hall was introduced. He then heard the student proclaim in a clear voice, "This junior is Su Lu, a son of a military household in Yongning Guard."

Magistrate Lu's eyes widened instantly as he scrutinized the slender, handsome young man.

Although his body had not yet fully developed, his upright posture was already evident. His appearance was even more pleasing, with sword-like eyebrows, bright eyes, clear and sparkling pupils, a straight and elegant nose, and lips as red as rouge. His overall demeanor was calm and composed, with a youthful maturity that subtly revealed a spirited and ambitious air.

"Excellent! Excellent! Even his appearance is top-notch! Truly a gem bestowed upon our county!" Magistrate Lu exclaimed with satisfaction, finding the young man perfect from head to toe. He looked him over with rapt attention, his eyes fixed on no one else...

It was truly a case of some suffering from drought while others were drowning in floods. Su Lu felt a chill run down his spine from all the stares and almost tried to flee.

After the next student, Zhu, bowed and introduced himself, there was no response for a long time. Looking up, he saw Magistrate Lu still staring at Su Lu with a silly grin.

He was left frozen in place, caught in a dilemma. His uncle coughed lightly and said, "Your Excellency, there are still a few students behind you."

"Oh, oh." Magistrate Lu finally came to his senses and said to Zhu Zihe with a smile, "You must be Ma, you look just like your grandfather..."

Zhu Zihe had recently been tormented... well, tempered and matured. If it had been a month ago, he would have stormed off on the spot. At this moment, he was still able to suppress his displeasure and introduced himself again in a low voice: "My esteemed parents are too forgetful. My name is Zhu Zihe, and I am from Luzhou."

"Oh, you're Brother Jiade's nephew!" Magistrate Lu slapped his forehead and said, "Look at my memory, I saw you during the New Year."

"Yes." Zhu Zihe felt no honor whatsoever, but rather indignantly said, "During the New Year, I was fortunate enough to accompany my uncle to pay New Year's respects to my elderly parents! And you even praised me as a talented and beautiful person!"

"Oh, I remember now." Magistrate Lu said with an awkward smile, "Thirteen or fourteen-year-olds grow up so fast. In just half a year, they've changed completely. I hardly recognize them anymore."

"..." Zhu Zi thought to himself, "I haven't changed at all in the past six months, okay?!"
“Nephew, you must continue to study hard and learn from the virtuous. That is, learn more from classmate Su. Do you understand?” Magistrate Lu naturally couldn’t help but offer some encouragement.

"Yes," Zhu Zihe replied and withdrew, feeling exhausted.

Magistrate Lu gave Ma Qianli a few more words of encouragement, and then gave each of them a set of writing brush and ink before dismissing them.

(End of this chapter)