Top Scholar

Chapter 138 Haihan Becomes a Disciple

"This..." Wang Bantou was startled by You Muyou's probing question. He hurriedly explained, "Because the guests all said that they drank Erlang wine that night. But he stubbornly denied it, insisting that he got the wine from the street. How could it taste the same? So there must be something fishy going on!"

“There’s definitely something fishy going on! But it’s not certain who’s the one doing the ghost.” You Muyou snorted and said, “You just need to prove that it was his wine that killed people, why does it have to be Erlang wine?”

"Moreover, he admitted that the wine was bought locally, which makes it easier to investigate than wine produced in Yongningwei?" You Muyou continued:
"Then the county magistrate must send a letter to the Yongning Commander's Office, requesting their assistance in the investigation. You've been working in the government for thirty years, aren't you tired of this back-and-forth buck-passing?"

“Indeed.” The old clerk beside him nodded and said, “Normally speaking, according to Su Youma’s statement, this case would be much simpler.”

“Well…” Wang, the squad leader, wiped his sweat and said, “The truth is the most important thing.”

"Bullshit!" You Muyou cursed at the street vendors. "Don't I know what kind of people you are? You always prefer to avoid trouble unless you're being instructed by someone!"

"No, sir!" Wang, the foreman, hurriedly protested. "It's because the victim and the witnesses both insist that he drank Erlang wine. If we accept Su Youma's statement and say that the deceased drank something else, wouldn't we be wronging someone?"

"He can't kill anyone with his alcohol!" You Muyou slammed his fist on the table again and roared, "So many people who drank with him were fine, which already proves it's not a problem with the alcohol!"

"We can't rule that out yet. After all, everyone's constitution is different," Wang Bantou said, forcing a smile. "For example, some people can eat raw onions and be fine, but I might get heartburn and farts... Maybe someone will have problems after drinking Erlang wine?"

"Why are you keeping harping on the brand of liquor?" Seeing him keep arguing with him, You Muyou's anger surged, and his voice grew colder as he said, "Doesn't the normal case file just say 'suspected death after drinking alcohol'? Who the hell specified whether it was Xinghuacun or Shaodaozi?!"

"Yes, it's really unnecessary." The old clerk nodded.

"Wang Xijie, don't take me for a fool!" You Muyou said sternly, "I don't care whose money you took or whose instructions you were given, you must handle this case impartially! If you dare to use torture to extract a confession, I'll hit you ten times for every one you hit!"

"Huh?" Wang Ban's face turned green. He thought to himself that he had already been lashed more than a dozen times. Luckily, he hadn't been branded with a hot iron yet...

"What? Have they already been tortured?" Upon seeing this, You Muyou's heart skipped a beat.

"Ah, that kid is too stubborn, he just won't admit it no matter what." Wang, the squad leader, was covered in sweat and couldn't stop wiping it off. He said, "I couldn't stand it, so I gave him a few light lashes."

"Fine, it's really too late!" You Muyou had originally planned to follow the rules, but upon hearing that they were going to torture people directly, he slammed his fist on the table and exclaimed, "How much money did you take to be a henchman and accomplice?!"

“I didn’t take any money…” Wang, the head constable, was so frightened that he knelt down with a thud, waving his hands and saying repeatedly, “I was just doing my job on the orders of the Fourth Master.”

"You don't need to keep calling me Fourth Master, I'm going to see him right now!" You Muyou didn't care about the "kings not meeting" anymore, and stepped forward, saying, "First, we'll deal with your crime of 'forging documents and falsely arresting the innocent'!"

"Oh, sir, have mercy!" Wang, the head constable, was terrified and kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "I was blinded by greed and will never dare to deceive you again..."

Forging warrants was not uncommon. The founding emperor of this dynasty deeply resented the suffering caused to the people by corrupt officials, and specifically stipulated that yamen runners and constables must carry warrants issued by the county magistrate, specifying the reason, time, and target of arrest, in order to bring people to justice.

However, like many policies formulated by Emperor Taizu, which were well-intentioned but had problems in implementation, the county magistrates who issued the warrants were mostly successful candidates in the imperial examinations. They were particularly concerned about their official reputation and did not want to be accused of condoning corrupt officials and harming the people. Therefore, they were very cautious when issuing the warrants.

However, at that time, there were few methods for solving cases. Apart from arresting people and beating them, there weren't many other options. Even if there were, they weren't methods that the lowly constables could handle.

This creates a deadlock: to solve the case, the suspects must be arrested and brought back to be beaten, but without evidence, the county magistrate won't issue a warrant, yet the case still needs to be solved within a specified time.

The constables had no choice but to use the old or altered warrants to arrest the people first... Over time, this became a habit. Some constables would use the same warrant for three years, then three years, then another three years of alterations, until they couldn't even be bothered to pretend anymore.

However, this kind of thing can be incredibly serious, either weighing four ounces or a thousand pounds. This is blatant disrespect for the imperial authority and forgery of official documents! It's a capital offense!
~~
In the courtyard of You Muyou, in the main hall.

Hai Hanhai, the instructor, had been staring blankly at the phonetic symbols of the "Hongwu Zhengyun" dictionary on the table for quite some time...

Just now, Su Lu spent half an hour explaining the principles of phonetic symbols to him, and demonstrated how to annotate any character with phonetic symbols, and how to use phonetic symbols to pronounce any character.

Only then did he have to believe that Su Lu was not a tool that Magistrate Lu had found to boost his political achievements, but a true genius!

But his brain was still blank, because with his knowledge, he couldn't imagine that someone could completely replace the 866 fanqie characters of the Hongwu Zhengyun with a mere fifty symbols!
Moreover, it can more perfectly and clearly mark the seventy-six rhyme groups, thirty-one initial consonants, and two thousand eight hundred and twenty-one fanqie sounds in the Hongwu Zhengyun!

If this isn't a child prodigy, then what is? Does it mean that only those who can memorize poems after reading them once are child prodigies?

Others might think that way, but Haihan, a scholar from a wild and undeveloped place, wouldn't.

In his view, no matter how well a poem is written, it cannot be eaten or drunk, so it is of no benefit to the country or the people!

But this phonetic spelling system can enable children all over the world to learn to read! Even in his hometown of Qiongzhou, where there are few teachers and children in remote areas, no exceptions are made... Whether it was thinking of the hardships he faced in his childhood education or something else, a tear actually rolled down Haihan's cheek.

Zhu Zihe found it amusing. This instructor had been utterly cold to Qi Ji the entire journey, and Qi Ji had tried several times to get information out of him, only to be rebuffed each time. Now, he knew Qi Ji wasn't just boasting, right?

"Sea Instructor, Sea Instructor?" he called twice. "Why are you crying?"

"Oh." Haihan finally came to his senses, quickly wiped away his tears, and said frankly, "I was thinking of my hometown. If we could use this phonetic symbol system so that the children could all learn to read and be polite, maybe we wouldn't be seen as a barbaric place and be discriminated against everywhere..."

Having said that, he stood up and bowed deeply to Su Lu. "I was blind to your greatness and judged you by your appearance."

“Instructor Hai, there’s no need for that.” Su Lu had caught his breath and laughed nonchalantly, “If it were me, and it was almost New Year’s, and my boss sent me to go over a hundred miles away, on such a dangerous road, to pick up a fourteen or fifteen-year-old kid to give a lesson, I would feel uncomfortable too.”

"No matter what, I was wrong." Hai Han still bowed and said, "Please accept my apology!"

"Is it really that simple to just apologize?" Zhu Zihe chuckled from the side. "What should you call him now?"

"..." Hai Han naturally wouldn't forget the harsh words he had spoken earlier. His face flushed red, and he said with difficulty, "Sir."

"Hey, don't joke around like that." Su Lu glared at Zhu Zihe and said, "Instructor Hai is a gentleman of integrity, and you can't deceive him with your principles."

"No, I sincerely want to become your apprentice." Hai Han shook his head and said, "I must learn this phonetic system. Please, sir, don't hesitate to teach me!"

This guy was stubborn; once he got to the point, he was absolutely right. Su Lu had no choice but to let him keep yelling…

Moreover, this meticulous person actually adopted the disciple's etiquette, standing solemnly before Su Lu and respectfully inquiring, "Classes begin tomorrow. How many days do you plan to teach? Is there a schedule?"

"Yes." Su Lu, a proper teacher, took out a prepared lesson plan and schedule from his bag and handed it to Hai Han for review.

Hai Han was slightly impressed when he saw Su Lugang's well-organized and clear syllabus. He thought to himself, "No wonder he's a child prodigy. His syllabus is more sophisticated than the one I've made after years of teaching."

He glanced at the timetable again and saw that Su Lu had arranged a seven-day course with an exam on the eighth day, so he asked, "Does it really need to take that long?"

"Considering that the teachers need to teach students, they must have a solid grasp of the material. It also takes time for them to expose any areas they don't understand, otherwise, what if they mislead students when they go back?" Su Lu explained.

Haihan readily agreed, saying, "Then let's do as you arrange, sir."

"Haha, why are you all calling me 'Master' now?" At this moment, the page opened the door, and You Muyou returned.

“Mr. Su just taught me the phonetic spelling system, and I should regard him as my teacher,” Hai Han said solemnly.

"You're always so serious," You Muyou asked with a smile. "It seems the talks went quite well. Was everything settled?"

“Yes, Mr. Su is very well prepared. The syllabus, lesson plans, and timetable are all perfect.” Haihan replied, “There’s no problem starting classes tomorrow.”

“If others say this, I’ll have to think about it, but if Instructor Hai says so, then there’s definitely no problem.” You Muyou was already preoccupied with a lot of trouble, so he was happy to save himself the trouble and said, “Then tomorrow at 5 a.m., the county school will send a car to pick up Hongzhi for class.”

"No problem." Instructor Hai nodded and stood up, then asked one last time, "Is the Master sure he won't be attending tomorrow?"

"It's still unclear," You Muyou said. "They can get back from Luzhou quickly, so it's hard to say whether the county magistrate will make a last-minute trip back. In any case, let's be prepared for both possibilities."

"Understood." Hai Xundao replied, then cupped his hands and said, "Then this humble official will go back and prepare."

“Okay.” You Muyou nodded.

"This disciple takes his leave." Instructor Hai bowed to Su Lu again before leaving.

"It's really embarrassing," Su Lu said with a wry smile.

“You should be happy. Hai Han is an oddball. He doesn’t even give face to the Grand Master, let alone the Instructor. Yet he’s being so polite to you.” You Muyou shook his head and laughed, “It’s unbelievable.”

(End of this chapter)