Chapter 168 The Brutal Hong Xiucai
Sun Shan quickly moved to the classroom. There were several students inside. He looked carefully and saw that only the table at the front was left.
When Sun Shan was studying, he liked to sit in the first seat the most because he could hear everything clearly and it also forced himself not to be distracted.
The students in the classroom looked at Sun Shan curiously, but because the class was about to start, they did not dare to say anything.
Sitting behind Sun Shan was Ou Hanjun, who tapped Sun Shan's back with a brush.
Sun Shan turned his head and looked at him in confusion.
Ou Hanjun whispered, "Ashan, come earlier next time. Don't arrive just before class starts. The teacher won't like it."
Sun Shan nodded and said, "Ah Jun, I understand. Thank you for reminding me."
It is indeed not good to arrive right away, especially in this era that emphasizes hard work, one must leave a good impression on the teacher.
Today Sun Shan began to study "The Great Learning", one of the Four Books and Five Classics, which is an essay discussing the Confucian ideas of self-cultivation, governing the country and pacifying the world.
First lay the foundation, learn to be a good person, and start exploring and understanding the world.
The "Great Learning" was originally the "Book of Rites", which consists of forty-two chapters and contains many popular and classic quotations.
For example, "When the mind is right, then the body can be cultivated; when the body is cultivated, then the family can be in order; when the family is in order, then the country can be governed; when the country is governed, then the world can be peaceful."
For example, "A gentleman honors the virtuous and loves his relatives, while a villain enjoys his pleasure and benefits his own interests."
Sun Shan’s favorite sentence is the opening one: The way of the university is to manifest the bright virtue, to love the people, and to strive for the highest good.
This sentence directly explains the purpose of "The Great Learning", which is aimed at "the highest good".
Sun Shan studied it carefully, and found every word and sentence to be a classic, written by a master.
At this time, Hong Xiucai walked in. Everyone stood up and saluted. Hong Xiucai motioned for everyone to sit down without saying anything.
He said directly: "Dear students, after the holiday, you must concentrate on studying and strive to understand the books as soon as possible so that you can take the imperial examination as soon as possible. You can sit here for the imperial examination, so you must work hard."
After a pause, he continued, "Okay, today's random check, I'll call out the names."
As soon as these words fell, the students who had been standing straight immediately bent down and looked at each other in panic.
Ou Hanjun, who was behind Sun Shan, scratched his head and said uneasily, "Oh no! I didn't review last night. What should I do?"
Another student replied: "Me too, how can you just randomly select the candidates as you said? You don't even give us any time to prepare."
Everyone was like ants on a hot pan, flipping through the books anxiously.
Sun Shan sat up straight and was picked out for random inspection. It was not his turn anyway as he was new and it was his first day in class. He had no knowledge for Hong Xiucai to pick out.
Hong Xiucai called out, "Zeng Jiajun, come up."
Zeng Jiajun, who was sitting in the last seat, walked up tremblingly, his whole body shaking.
Sun Shan looked at him in surprise and amusement. It was just a random check. Was there any need to be so nervous?
At most, if you can't answer the question, you will be spanked on the hand.
Hong Xiucai stroked his half-white beard and asked, "Wealth enriches the house, virtue enriches the body, and a broad mind makes the body fat, so a gentleman must be sincere in his intentions. Explain what you mean?"
Zeng Jiajun glanced at Hong Xiucai, and then glanced at Sun Shan's "The Great Learning".
He knew where this sentence came from, held his breath, took a deep breath and said: "Master, it means that a rich man can make his house glorious........."
Zeng Jiajun explained it from beginning to end.
Hong Xiucai stroked his beard with satisfaction and said, "That's not bad. What did you learn from it?"
Zeng Jiajun stammered and said what he understood.
Hong Xiucai said with satisfaction: "Very good, let's move on to the next question."
Sun Shan stopped reading and looked at Mr. Hong curiously as he asked questions. After a series of questions, Zeng Jiajun finally broke down. This time he didn't stammer, but spoke nonsense.
Hong Xiucai was like a chameleon. He was amiable one moment and turned into an evil devil the next. He widened his eyes and said viciously, "I have said all this before and asked the questions countless times. Why can't you answer them? Stretch out your hands!"
Zeng Jiajun lowered his head and stretched out a pair of tender white hands.
Mr. Hong was not polite at all. When the board came down, not only Zeng Jiajun, but also Sun Shan who was sitting in the first seat felt the pain deeply.
Mr. Hong beat him so hard that Zheng Tongsheng's beating was nothing compared to him.
Zeng Jiajun endured the pain and said nothing.
Don’t think that the beating was over. Mr. Hong continued to ask questions, one after another, and spent a full hour on Zeng Jiajun. Zeng Jiajun was beaten with 1 boards, and his hands immediately swelled up like pig’s trotters.
Sun Shan hid aside trembling, not daring to look at the podium.
I finally understood why the students trembled all over when they heard about beating people, because Mr. Hong beat people to death without showing any mercy. It was so scary.
I couldn't help but shout in my heart: Mom, I want to go home!
Mr. Hong's amiable, kind and gentle image was immediately overturned. It was the first time that Sun Shan had seen such a violent teacher.
In his previous life, the complaint would have been made to the Education Bureau long ago, and Hong Xiucai would have been fired from his teaching position in minutes, and his teaching certificate might even have been revoked.
Unfortunately, this is an era of "Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Parents and Teachers", and students can only accept it and must not resist.
The random checks continued, and one student after another walked up, and all of them received 1-5 strokes of the cane.
There were originally 6 people in Class C, and with Sun Shan, there are now 7 people.
All six students were wiped out, and none of them could escape being beaten by Mr. Hong.
After the random check, Hong Xiucai said angrily: "Did you listen to me before the holiday? I clearly arranged for you to take time to study, but what happened? Copy the school rules and hand them in tomorrow."
The six students quickly responded: "Teacher, we got it."
Sun Shan knew the rules of Hong's School, so Uncle Hong gave him a copy when he first registered.
The content wasn't that much, but my hands were swollen from the beating, so it was still difficult to copy.
It was already noon when Mr. Hong finished teaching his students. He said "dismiss" and left.
Sun Shan looked at Hong Xiucai's elegant figure. He felt that he had learned nothing in the whole morning. He only saw Hong Xiucai's extremely stern look.
As soon as Mr. Hong left, the students began to wail everywhere.
Sun Shan looked at his classmates with pity. He felt so pitiful that he almost cried.
Ou Hanjun, a classmate and roommate, said sadly: "My hand hurts so much, the teacher is so cruel."
The remaining five students nodded desperately.
A tall and thin student among them said, "Everyone keep your voices down. If the teacher hears us, we will be in even worse trouble. Do you still think the beating is not harsh enough?"
Zeng Jiajun, who was the first to be checked and was beaten the hardest, said with a pout, "My hands hurt more. I was beaten five times. I'm afraid I won't be able to copy the school rules today."
One of the chubby boys, about 12 years old, reminded him, "Ajun, you must copy, or the teacher will beat you even harder."
Even without Xiaopang’s reminder, everyone knew that they would die faster if they didn’t copy.
Hong Xiucai is the kind of person who keeps his word. If he says you need to copy, you must copy. He will not let you go unless you are paralyzed in bed and unable to get up.