Early Ming Dynasty: Turning Clouds and Rains into New Learning Saints

Chapter 201

Strike while the iron is hot, just do it!
Zhang Yifan immediately started publicity as soon as lunch was over.

The Imperial College's director started classes at the newly built vocational college the day after tomorrow, and he taught and solved his doubts!
The doctor from the Ministry of Etiquette started classes at the newly built vocational college the day after tomorrow. He taught and solved my doubts!
…………

The first hero of the founding of the Ming Dynasty and the Duke of South Korea, the Imperial Normal University of that time started classes in the newly built vocational college the day after tomorrow. He taught and solved my doubts!
These news are more exciting than the last!
Where is Xiangshan County?
It's just a remote county near the sea in the southernmost part of Guangdong.

Maybe there are many of these officials in the capital. Just hit an official of this level with a brick on the street.

But in Xiangshan County, the Princess Consort is of high rank, and the others are just unworthy of the classics.

Therefore, when the news spread, the entire Xiangshan County became a sensation.

Even after the news spread specially promoted by Zhang Yifan, there was a sensation in Panyu, Dongguan, and even the city of Guangzhou.

After confirming the news, many people rushed to Xiangshan County overnight.Being able to listen to the lectures of Beijing-level officials in this life, especially the lectures of the first hero of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, is definitely not to be missed.Even if it’s useless for you to listen to it, it will be of infinite use to your children and nephews, right?
The magistrate of Panyu County, Tao Tong, was ill and did not see any visitors, but he was the first to arrive in Xiangshan County.

Dongguan He Zhen and his son He Rong took a boat overnight, braved the risk of wind and waves, crossed the Pearl River, and arrived in Xiangshan County.

You don’t have to listen to the others, but you absolutely must listen to the lessons of the most important figure in the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

Hearing these movements, Li Shanchang was suddenly depressed.

This son-in-law's method, I really experienced it again, not according to the routine, unconstrained style, before coming to Xiangshan County, even if I was beaten to death, I would never have imagined such a show.

At this moment, Li Shanchang felt as if he was being squeezed.

This will not work!
We have to find our place!
If you can't refuse directly, then you should find something to do with the consort.

Therefore, Li Shanchang immediately asked Zhang Yifan to deliver the promised things quickly. If he was not satisfied, they would definitely torture him.

Zhang Yifan was of course already prepared, and immediately personally gave him the model of later generations' characters he had prepared, as well as all the simplified characters.

To him, the character model was just an example based on the situation during the Hongwu period; and simplified characters were equivalent to writing them silently and simplifying some complex traditional Chinese characters.

In the lobby of the inn, a group of officials were already waiting.When Li Shanchang saw what Zhang Yifan was holding, he walked over to him with a smile and said, "Husband-in-law, let's talk ugly things first. If we are not satisfied with you, we won't have time to attend your classes. After all, we have to complete what the emperor ordered us to do first, right?"

After hearing this, Zhang Yifan looked at him and replied with a smile: "I'm afraid that you said yes in your heart after reading it, but you are picky with your mouth. So what can I do?"

Li Shanchang: "..."

If someone else said this to him, he would fall out.

But this was said by the prince-in-law. The prince-in-law's rank and treatment were the same as those of princes and princes, and it was he who took the lead in deciding this.

And he has decided that his character is to support the prince-in-law and make him get carried away, so that he can take his own life!
In this matter, the prince-in-law seemed to be very confident that he could handle what the emperor told him. This was already a sign that he was a little complacent. If he was refuted and suppressed on this, it would ruin the previous plan.

With this thought in his mind, Li Shanchang had no choice but to suppress the unhappiness in his heart, and smiled to himself: "Where, where, okay, everyone has the final say, I can just keep silent, right? Haha!"

Saying things that go against his will, but still pretending to be happy, that's what he could do. If it were his son, that would definitely be a fallout.

The others were a little surprised when they heard the grand master speak like this, and felt that the grand master seemed to be very easy to speak in front of the son-in-law.

Since the Grand Master doesn't want to offend the Prince Consort, why should they?
Besides, the Grand Master’s salary doesn’t care about the ten dollars, but they do!

So, they all said good things.

"The prince-in-law is very talented, so what he can come up with must be pretty good!"

"The emperor asked us to come to the consort for advice. The consort must be fine!"

"..."

Li Shanchang listened to their words and cursed a group of flatterers in his heart. Then he took the things from Zhang Yifan's hands with a smile and asked Zhang Yifan to sit down.

In the lobby, Li Shanchang and Zhang Yifan were sitting on the left and right of the main seats, with other officials on both sides.Fang Xiaoru, who followed Zhang Yifan, was not qualified to sit down, so he just stood there and waited.

All eyes were on Li Shanchang, because at this time Li Shanchang had already gone to see what the son-in-law gave him.

Li Shanchang first took a thinner book, opened it, and was surprised. He quickly read it carefully.

He saw this as a model for future generations of dictionaries.

Of course, there is an explanation of Pinyin first, and then sorting by Pinyin and like "Shuowen Jiezi", you can also sort by radicals, with explanations and examples for each word.

This is just a template, that is to say, this is what the dictionary that Li Shanchang and others were ordered to compile probably means.As for the real and specific content, Zhang Yifan didn't understand. After all, he had only gotten the final version of "Hongwu Zhengyun" a few days ago. How could he write a dictionary based on this "Hongwu Zhengyun"? It would be impossible even for Superman!

He just provided an idea!

It is undeniable that Li Shanchang was indeed one of the most talented people at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, he would not have become the first hero in the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

Just by looking at it, he immediately felt the consort's idea of ​​​​providing this template.Although there are traces of "Shuowen Jiezi", there are indeed many new things.

After looking at it carefully and quickly weighing it in his mind, Li Shanchang immediately came to a preliminary conclusion.If we really have to do this according to the idea provided by the Prince Consort, we should be able to satisfy the emperor.

Thinking of this, he suddenly thought of a question. Could it be that the emperor had known about this for a long time, so he asked him to come with officials to discuss it with the consort?
What would the emperor's intention be?
Could it be that his real intention was to bring these officials over to see Xiangshan County’s political achievements?And then make some preparations after the three-year period?
Thinking of this, Li Shanchang felt more and more possible.

As expected of someone who knew Zhu Yuanzhang, although Zhu Yuanzhang did not see this template, the real purpose of sending them here was exactly what he had in mind.

For Zhu Yuanzhang, everything was to stabilize the Zhu Ming Dynasty. Xiangshan County had made such high achievements, and there were many things that were definitely worth promoting nationwide.But Zhu Yuanzhang also knew that this would affect the interests of many people.In order to successfully implement Xiangshan County's policies, people must recognize that Xiangshan County's achievements are extraordinary.

Seeing him staring blankly, Le Shaofeng couldn't bear it any longer, and asked, "Teacher, how is it?"

Hearing his call, Li Shanchang came back to his senses, immediately picked up the thing, motioned Le Shaofeng to come and get it, and said with a smile: "I just said that I can't make a final decision, it's up to you to decide!"

After finishing speaking, he sighed again: "It's really unexpected! It turns out this can be like this!"

Li Shanchang felt that he had guessed the emperor's thoughts, and coupled with his plan to kill the consort, these words began to hint at his attitude.

When Le Shaofeng heard this, she immediately took it over to take a look.When other officials saw him, they all had similar identities, so they couldn't hold back and surrounded him regardless of their image.

"Hey, can it still be like this?"

"This pinyin method seems to be a bit telling!"

"This is okay. If you can compile a complete set of annotation methods, you can really teach yourself how to read!"

"It's a bit like "Shuowen Jiezi", but it's very different. This is an improvement. It's improved!"

"..."

Listening to their praises, Li Shanchang didn't want to hear it anymore, so he reached for the thicker book on the table, opened it, and was shocked again.

I saw that this book was densely filled with characters, all of which were arranged in a traditional Chinese character corresponding to a simplified character.

It can be clearly seen that a word with many strokes corresponds to a word with few strokes.

Simplifying characters is not so easy!We must consider the meaning of words, the shape of words, repetition, etc. It is easier to simplify a few words, but it is a bit unbelievable that so many words have been simplified!
In Li Shanchang's view, the task of simplifying characters should be a group of knowledgeable people sitting together to discuss, citing scriptures, and finally determining how to simplify and what characters to simplify.

As a result, the prince-in-law directly gave a list of simplified characters, and there were still so many!

Is this a job that one person can complete?

It seems that Prince Consort only became enlightened two years ago. Can this simplify so many Chinese characters?

To be honest, Li Shanchang didn't believe it, and felt that Zhang Yifan might have made it up. I don't know that there are many ways in the simplified characters?
So, he browsed it carefully and considered every word to see if this simplification was inappropriate.
Naturally, Li Shanchang didn't know that this was a simplified Chinese character that a group of learned people from later generations got together to discuss.Of course, there are also some that were naturally simplified during the six to seven hundred years of historical evolution.

Although Zhang Yifan didn't understand the many rules of simplified characters, most of the simplified characters he provided must comply with the rules of simplification.

So, when Li Shanchang considered a simplified word, he was surprised, and then he thought about a simplified word, and he was surprised again...

On Le Shaofeng's side, a group of officials were very excited after reading the sample dictionary.In this way, if they do things according to this, they will get twice the result with half the effort, greatly saving their energy and time, and maybe they can go back in time for the New Year!

While happy, Le Shaofeng suddenly discovered that Li Shanchang was looking very seriously at another document provided by the consort.

So, he immediately remembered that it seemed that the prince-in-law also provided another job, which was to simplify Chinese characters. Could it be the one that the grand master was looking at?
It seems that there is a thick stack. Could it be that the Prince Consort has sorted out all the work of simplifying Chinese characters?
Although this idea was a bit unimaginable, Le Shaofeng still asked with great expectations: "I wonder if the master is reading it, is it a simplified model of Chinese characters?"

Hearing the question, Li Shanchang came back to his senses, subconsciously showing a wry smile.

He sat up straight, patted the pile of manuscripts on the table and said, "I'm afraid this is not a template, but the prince-in-law has done all our work!"

Upon hearing this, the officials who were discussing the calligraphy model were all shocked, and then immediately turned their heads to look at the stack of manuscripts on the table. They were all shocked and happy at the same time.

Le Shaofeng was a little unconvinced, so she asked Li Shanchang for instructions, and went to get the stack of manuscripts to look through, but in the end, she was numb.

After the other officials gathered around, they also looked at each other, and then they were all numb.

At least in their initial view, there is no problem with the simplification of these Chinese characters.If there are just a few, it doesn't really matter. The key is the thick stack in their hands!

They haven't studied it carefully, but they have a vague feeling that it's true that as the grand master said, the prince-in-law has finished their work!
After a while, they all looked at the Prince Consort in shock.

Among them, Le Shaofeng asked in shock: "Prince-in-law, how did you do it?"

Such a large county is managed by a prince-in-law, and it is absolutely no small task to take the time to sort out so many simplified traditional Chinese characters.

If it's just like a font model, just a flash of inspiration and an idea, it actually doesn't take much time.But this task of simplifying Chinese characters is really a time-consuming task!
After hearing this, Zhang Yifan immediately replied with a smile: "Of course I tried my best to do it. You see, I treat you with all my heart and soul, and I used all my strength. I will also go to listen to your lectures later, but I can't It’s perfunctory!”

Li Shanchang: "..."

Le Shaofeng: "..."

Other officials: "..."

The son-in-law really misses this lecture!

He puts so much emphasis on it, and puts so much effort into it. If the son-in-law finds out later that they are being perfunctory, then there will be no place for him to save his face!

........................

Le Shaofeng was arranged to be the first to attend class. Zhang Yifan came in person. In addition to delivering calligraphy models and simplified Chinese characters, the main purpose was to take Le Shaofeng there.

This beginning must be done well.

The other officials were busy studying the information given by Zhang Yifan, so they did not follow him.

Only Le Shaofeng followed the consort's carriage and rode for a long time before arriving at the place.

Le Shaofeng got out of the car and saw that the carriage was parked at the door of a cement building. When she looked up, she saw the words "Vocational College" written on it.

The layout at the entrance is a bit like a county school.At this time, there was a government official standing at the door, but there was no one there.

Zhang Yifan got out of the car and said to Le Shaofeng with a smile: "You are the first person to come to this academy to give lectures. When future generations look up the history of our Ming Academy, you will be No. 1.

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, academies began to become popular, the most famous of which was Donglin Academy.

However, the academy built by Zhang Yifan can only be regarded as a large auditorium model.There are buildings behind and they are being built.If the typhoon hadn't delayed the progress, it would have been almost completed.

After Le Shaofeng saw it, she was actually a little disappointed.

He had heard that their lectures had caused a great sensation.

As a result, when we arrived at the place, we didn’t see anyone!

No matter what, he definitely hopes that his lecture will be very popular. No matter how reluctant he was before, he also hopes that someone will rush to listen.As a result, contrary to expectations, no one came to listen to his lecture!
Forget it, anyway, I was doing it to repay the favor of my son-in-law, and earn ten pennies by the way!

With this thought in her mind, Le Shaofeng concealed her disappointment, pretended to be smiling, and walked toward the gate while socializing with the consort.

The yamen servant standing at the door saw it and quickly helped open the door so that the consort and the imperial official could enter the door.

As soon as he entered the gate, to Le Shaofeng's surprise, there were actually people standing inside.Everyone stood up from their seats and bowed towards the door to greet them.

The layout here is a sloping layout, with the front low and the back high. The number of seats, or the number of audiences, shocked him, who had lectured in the Imperial College.

With so many people, could they hear him clearly?
Zhang Yifan led him up to the podium and to the chairman's seat. Then he picked up a microphone made of iron sheets and introduced him: "This is the Secretary of the Imperial College. He was once the Minister of the Ministry of War. He has done... …”

Le Shaofeng found that when the consort spoke with the thing in his hand, his voice seemed to be heard far away. How strange?
He was listening to Zhang Yifan talking and seemed to realize that with this thing, although the house was larger than he thought, even the people sitting at the back could hear clearly.

At this time, the audience had already sat down, and Le Shaofeng discovered that this arrangement of low front and high back also prevented people behind from being unable to see the front because of their height.

Looking at this, he turned to look at the side of the consort, feeling very impressed.

It's just some details, but the son-in-law is so thoughtful and handles it so well?

At such a young age, he is definitely a genius!

After gaining this understanding, coupled with the previous knowledge, Le Shaofeng did not dare to be underestimated, even if he did not know who the people below were, but for the sake of the consort, this lecture must be You have to show some strength.

Zhang Yifan, after making introductions, went down to sit in the middle of the first row.This was his special seat, and sitting next to him were He Zhen and his son. They nodded slightly and said nothing to steal the limelight from the lecturer.

Except for the first row, which had to take care of officials from various places, such as Daotong and those from Guangzhou, starting from the second row, they were all officials from the Xiangshan County government.Later, other squires and the like bought tickets to enter.

There are Beijing officials giving lectures, no matter who they are, they are all listening carefully.Even if you don’t understand, you don’t dare to show that you don’t understand.

Until Le Shaofeng finished speaking, the whole place was silent.When Le Shaofeng thought he had finally finished speaking, Zhang Yifan stood up and announced the beginning of the question-and-answer session about this course, and he asked the first question himself.

This ten-guan money is obviously not that easy to get.

But fortunately, most people can't let go and don't dare to ask questions.When she walked out of the academy, Le Shaofeng also received a salary of ten dollars, without any arrears.

　Ask for support!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)