Top Scholar

Chapter 286 The Strange Scenery of the Branch School
After Shui Xuezheng finished speaking, he looked at Su Lu nervously, wondering whether he would choose the state school or the county school.

Instructor Hai also looked at Su Lu with equal nervousness. Although it was unlikely that he would choose the county school, everyone should have dreams...

Su Lu had already made up his mind, so he clasped his hands and said in a deep voice, "Reporting to the headmaster, I choose Hejiang County School."

"Yes!" Hai Jiaoyu cheered, raising his arms.

"Huh?!" Shui Xuezheng stared in disbelief. "Wait, Su Hongzhi, you need to understand, the conditions at the prefectural school are much better than those at the county school!"

“What Xuezheng says is true, but I would like to live closer to home,” Su Lu said, unmoved.

Shui Xuezheng is not wrong. The state school is a little better than the county school, but that's just a case of the pot calling the kettle black; the teaching quality of both is terrible.

Think about it, coming to the state school means being taught by that good-for-nothing Water Studies Instructor. It's better to stay at the county school and follow Instructor Hai. Regardless of his level, at least he's rigorous in his studies.

Furthermore, Su Lu plans to go to Beijing to further his studies with Wang Shouren, a plan arranged by Headmaster Zhu last year, so he needs to take a long leave of absence. In that case, what's the difference between attending a prefectural school and a county school?
It would be better to give the opportunity to study at the state school to other classmates...

"Aren't you going to reconsider?" Shui Xuezheng asked pitifully.

"I'm not considering it." Su Lu shook his head.

"Sigh..." Shui Xue was dejected, his disappointment evident in his expression.

He thought he was going to be carried by Su Lu again, but it turned out that Su Lu wasn't coming.

Hai Jiaoyu then happily wrote Su Lu's name at the top of his school's list.

"Next," Shui Xuezheng said, perking up. "Baiyun Mountain, which one do you choose?"

“Return to the school, Hejiang County School,” Bai Yunshan said without hesitation.

"No, what are you doing?" Shui Xuezheng was hit with another heavy blow: "Your family is from Luzhou!"

“The student wants to live far away from home.” Bai Yunshan replied, “I’ve had enough of being under my parents’ watchful eye since I was little. I want to develop my ability to live independently.”

“If you go to Hejiang, you’ll only receive half a stipend…” the water studies official advised.

"The students don't care," Bai Sanshao chuckled.

"The chances of staying in the prefecture and receiving tribute are greater," Shui Xuezheng still refused to give up.

"The student's ambition is to continue taking the imperial examinations; he has no intention of going to prison," Bai Yunshan said, remaining unmoved.

"Sigh, well..." Shui Xuezheng sighed dejectedly.

Hai Jiaoyu happily wrote Baiyun Mountain's name as second place.

"Next, Su Yingzhi," Shui Xuezheng said listlessly. "You don't also want to live closer to home, do you?"

"Yes," Su Man replied, "My whole family lives in Hejiang."

"I knew it..." Shui Xuezheng was speechless: "You don't care about the stipends anymore?"

“Yes, let’s leave it to the co-defendant who needs it more,” Su Man nodded.

Instructor Hai chuckled as he wrote down Su Man's name. Not bursting into laughter was already a sign of respect for his former superior…

"Xiao Tingjie, what about you?" Shui Xue asked, sounding like he was about to die. "You're not going to go to Hejiang County School too, are you?"

"No, Yuan Gong will attend our county school if he's going to study." Naxi Instructor Zhu smiled, but he was actually quite guilty.

"Excuse me, Instructor, I also wish to attend Hejiang County School," Xiao Tingjie said apologetically, bowing to the county instructor.

"Me too," Xu Chengye answered quickly to avoid embarrassment.

“Student Xu, it is our honor that you have come,” Instructor Hai had to remind him. “However, the county’s quota for recruiting students is full, and you will not receive anything.”

“It’s alright. Our family has some property and doesn’t need the government’s subsidies,” Xu Chengye said firmly.

"I think I've figured it out. We can forget about getting any students into Hejiang County School until it's full," Instructor Zhu said with a wry smile.

He could understand it; as the saying goes, "When birds sing, they seek their friends," and since the top three students all chose Hejiang County School, it became the most attractive place.

Before Shui Xuezheng could recover from the blow, Qiao Feng, Cheng Wanzhou, and others became anxious.

"Xu, don't you have your own county school? Why are you attending our county school?"

Qiao Feng, in particular, never expected that even though he ranked twelfth in the exam, he would not be able to attend his own county school!

"Master Xuezheng said we can choose freely." Xu Chengye asked innocently, "Is there a rule that says we can't choose the county school in a neighboring county?"

“No…” Shui Xuezheng shook his head.

The provincial examinations did not discriminate based on region. For example, Luzhou would produce more than thirty scholars each time, but the prefectural school only had twenty spots, leaving the remaining ten or so to go to the county schools below. Of course, they could go wherever they wanted.

But no one expected that this time, with the reversal of the Heavenly Gang, no one would choose the state school.

"Then I'm sorry, Qiao," Xu Chengye said, clasping his hands in a fist salute.

"Quiet down, everyone," Shui Xuezheng called out, continuing his questioning.

"Zhu Zihe?"

"Hejiang County School." "Zhu Zigong?" Shui Xuezheng asked calmly.

"Returning to the school, Hejiang County School."

"Lei Jun?"

"Hejiang County School"

"Lin Zhihong?"

"Master, I'm from Hejiang." Lin Zhihong breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, I was the ninth.

The tenth place goes to Deng Dengying, who was personally mentored by Su Lu, so naturally he's not a top choice...

As a result, all of the top ten students chose Hejiang County School.

This made Su Lu feel embarrassed. If he had known it would turn out this way, he would have been better off choosing the state school, so he could have satisfied more of his adopted sons...

But once the words are spoken, they can't be taken back, otherwise things would definitely fall apart.

In the end, the two government-funded student slots for the state school went to Lei Shengyuan, who ranked eleventh, and Qiao Feng, who ranked twelfth.

The two of them showed no sign of having gotten a great deal; they were as dejected as if a thief had broken into their house…

The subsequent choices were much more normal; some chose the state school, while others chose one of the other two county schools.

Cheng Wanzhou, Su Dan, and Wang Chong all chose the state academy. Su Youcai had no choice; in the end, there was only one spot left at the state academy, which naturally went to him…

Once the instructors filled in Su Youcai's name, this embarrassing 'branch school assembly' finally came to an end.

Fortunately, the "sweeping champion" excels at adjusting his mindset, and the water sports expert put the embarrassment behind him, saying to the other participants:

"The annual examinations for current students and military students will be held later, so the county and prefectural schools will officially begin enrollment on July 1st. For the next month, you can relax and do some things you've always wanted to do but haven't had time for."

"Yes, sir!" The staff felt as if they had been granted a pardon, and could finally enjoy a stress-free holiday!
"Go ahead." Instructor Shui had a good attitude. He waved his hand and smiled, "Be mindful of decorum. Don't go too far, or even if your families don't punish you, the school will."

"Yes, we take our leave!" The students bowed deeply and left the academy in high spirits.

"Come on, let's find another place to continue drinking!" an older scholar called out loudly. "We couldn't let loose at the Flower-Adorning Banquet, so let's drink until we're completely drunk today!"

"Let's go! Let's go!" the others shouted in unison. "Let's drink to celebrate our victory, and we won't leave until we're drunk!"

~~
The next day, when Zhu Zihe woke up, he found himself lying at home, and the shirt he was wearing was not the same one he had worn the day before.

"What's wrong with me?" He rubbed his throbbing head and looked at his father and third uncle sitting to the side.

"I was about to ask you the same thing!" Zhu Jie said irritably, "You were completely drunk yesterday, and Yingzhi and Hongzhi had to carry you back. You even insisted on going to a brothel to listen to music. You've embarrassed me so much!"

"Huh? I don't remember at all..." Zhu Zihe said, dumbfounded. "What about my fourth brother? How is he?"

"He went and hasn't come back yet..." Zhu Jie said with a dark face, "You two good-for-nothings, you've become so dissolute after passing the county-level exam, what will you do when you pass the provincial-level exam?"

"Son knows he was wrong. Alcohol is indeed a bad thing. He will quit drinking from today onwards!" Zhu Zihe quickly swore.

"Hmph, if you dare go to a place like that before you get married, I'll break your legs!" Zhu Jie said angrily.

"Alright, Second Brother, they've studied hard for ten years, earning countless riches. It's understandable that they might indulge in debauchery in one fell swoop." Zhu Zhang persuaded Zhu Jie, then asked Zhu Zihe in a deep voice, "I have a question for you. Yesterday, I received an invitation from the Provincial Education Commissioner, who said he wanted to pay a visit. Do you know what's going on?"

"I still have something I want to ask Third Uncle." Zhu Zihe suddenly perked up, looking at Zhu Zhang with a wronged expression, and asked, "What is 'hypothetical-deductive method'?"

"What do you mean, 'easy to cause trouble'?" Zhu Zhang was taken aback.

"Stop pretending to be stupid! How long are you planning to keep this from me?" Zhu Zihe said angrily, "My brother already revealed your secret at the Flower-Adorning Banquet!"

"No, what secret do I have with Hongzhi?" Zhu Zhang said speechlessly.

"My brother said that it was you who taught him the 'hypothetical-deductive method' and even integrated it with the eight-legged essay to create a new literary style!" Zhu Zihe said, "My brother used this style in his Five Classics questions, and the Grand Master highly praised it, which is why he came to visit!"

"Good heavens, Third Brother, you've been hiding this well!" Zhu Jie believed Zhu Zihe's seemingly convincing story.

"Go away, how could I not know?" Zhu Zhang said irritably, "It must be that brat Hongzhi making things up about me!"

"I'm innocent! How dare a student slander his teacher?" Su Lu's voice rang out from the doorway.

He wanted to come and explain to Zhu Zhang yesterday, but he had drunk quite a bit and had to go back first. He came again early this morning.

"You've come at the right time! Tell me quickly, what's this 'hypothetical-deductive method' all about?" Now it was Zhu Zhang's turn to be furious. "You say I created it? How come I don't know anything about it?"

"The name wasn't given by the teacher, but the content was all taught by the teacher and summarized and understood by the disciple." Su Lu said with a smile, "Just like the Analects wasn't written by Confucius, but every sentence in it was said by Confucius."

"Then tell me, what is it all about?" Zhu Zhang asked.

"Yes." Su Lu then incorporated his own 'method of writing on literature' into the knowledge taught by Zhu Zhang, and said with great seriousness:

"When students first studied the Book of Rites, the teacher taught me to study the classics using the three methods of 'textual research, reasoning, and rhetoric'... Breaking down a topic is like establishing an argument, and following up on a topic is like presenting evidence. It is especially important to distinguish academic points at the beginning of the lecture and when entering the topic... From this, students summarized this 'hypothetical-deductive method'..."

"Is that so?" Zhu Zhang was bewildered.

P.S. The next chapter will be a little later, for the same reason as above. There are 50 more words today...

(End of this chapter)