Chapter 618: The Prince's Teacher
Chapter 618: The Prince's Teacher
Xiao Xia left the new factory and rode to the dock. From afar, he saw hundreds of elephants busy unloading goods. The large amount of money, grain and supplies transported back from Jiangling City made the dock very busy.
Nowadays, cargo is almost never unloaded by manpower on the back, as that is too backward. Now we use scales to unload cargo.
There are many iron pillars standing at the dock, and on the top of the iron pillar is a rotating iron rod. On one end of the rod is an iron chain and an iron hook, and on the other end is a rope. There are five or six bags of rice on the deck of the ship. The bags are hung on the iron hooks, and the laborers on the other end pull the ropes together, and the iron hooks lift up the bags. Then the iron rod is turned and the bags full of grain are gently placed on the cart waiting at the dock.
In fact, it is a human-powered crane that uses the principle of leverage to transfer goods from the ship to the dock, but now elephants are used to pull the rope, and one elephant can easily match the weight of more than a dozen laborers.
What the laborers have to do is to unload the grain after the carts transport the goods to the warehouse. This is the laborers' main job. Other tasks are replaced by elephants that are skilled in loading and unloading.
"Your Highness, this way!"
A female guard looked at Xiao Xia and waved and shouted. Xiao Xia rushed forward and asked, "Where are the children?"
“They’re in the elephant park!”
Xiao Xia followed the female guard to the elephant park, where the elephants lived. In the distance, they saw countless children surrounding an area, and bursts of laughter could be heard from time to time.
It turned out that two baby elephants were having fun pushing a big wooden ball in the field. There was a stand next to them, and Xiao Xia's four children, Zhang Qiao and Xiao Mei were sitting on the stand.
Xiao Xia walked up to the stands and sat down with the children. Yang Junjun and Yang Qianer both squeezed into their father's arms. Yang Qianer pointed at the bigger elephant and said, "That one is Keke, a little lady elephant. The smaller one is her brother Dudu."
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "How about inviting the two baby elephants to our house to be our guests for half a day in a few days?"
The two young ladies clapped their hands happily, "Great!"
The eldest son Yang Chu hesitated and said, "Father, if you send him to our house, other children won't be able to see him. That's not good!"
Xiao Xia touched his eldest son's head and smiled, "I've asked, they don't perform every day, the baby elephants also need to rest, so send them to our house on their rest day, and they will only stay for half a day, so it won't affect others, let your mother see it too."
"All right!"
Yang Chu nodded and agreed, "Mother hasn't seen it yet!"
At this moment, Xiao Xia suddenly had a feeling that her eldest son could go to school.
After returning to the mansion, Xiao Xia sat down in the study. His wife Cui Yu brought him a cup of tea and said with a smile, "The little ones said that Daddy wanted to bring the little elephant back. They are so happy!"
Xiao Xia put down his pen and said, "Qiu Guan will be six next year. I am considering hiring a teacher for him."
Cui Yu nodded, "Actually, I've been thinking about this, and I even asked my aunt about it!"
"What did she say?"
"My aunt said that there are two great teachers in Jiangnan Imperial College, one is Yu Shinan and the other is Xu Wenyuan. She suggested choosing Qiu Guan's master from these two. I think if Yu Shinan can teach Qiu Guan calligraphy, it would be a great fortune for Qiu Guan."
Xu Wenyuan was a master of Confucianism. He was born in the Xu family of Donghai. His mother was Princess Anchang, the daughter of Emperor Xiao Yi of the Southern Liang Dynasty. Later, he became a doctor of the Imperial College of the Sui Dynasty and taught the children of nobles. The King of Han Yang Liang, Yang Xuangan, and Li Mi were all his students. When the Imperial College was established in Jiangnan, he came here with Yu Shinan.
Xiao Xia thought for a moment and said with a smile: "Both of them can be considered. Yu Shinan is in charge of Jiangnan education and is too busy. He may not have time. I'll go to the Imperial Academy to ask!"
The next morning, Xiao Xia invited Xiao Yu. Xiao Yu and Xu Wenyuan had a very good personal relationship. Xu Wenyuan's mother was Xiao Yu's aunt, and the two were actually cousins.
"Your Highness wants Xu Wenyuan to be the prince's husband?"
Xiao Xia nodded, "The eldest princess recommended him, but I don't know him very well. I heard that you two have a deep friendship, so I want to hear my second uncle's opinion."
Xiao Yu stroked his beard and smiled, "Wenyuan has taught three rebels. Your Highness, aren't you worried?" "Are you talking about Yang Liang, Yang Xuangan, and Li Mi?"
"That's right. The late emperor asked Xu Wenyuan to teach the King of Han and asked Yang Xuangan and Li Mi to study with him. The reason why Yang Xuangan and Li Mi had a good relationship was that it was formed at this time."
Xiao Xia pondered for a moment and said, "Second Uncle, do you mean that Xu Wenyuan's ideas are not orthodox?"
"It depends on how Your Highness understands it. Xu Wenyuan's philosophy is that the people are more important than the monarch, the people are the foundation of the country, and the monarch should love the people like his own children. Therefore, the three disciples he taught all believed that they were the chosen monarchs who saved the people from danger."
Xiao Xia smiled and nodded, "The idea that the people are more important than the king is in line with my thinking. Second Uncle, go talk to him on my behalf and see if he is willing. I won't force him!"
Xiao Yu happily said: "I will go and talk to him at noon today!"
Xiao Xia has already checked Xu Wenyuan's background. He was expelled from Luoyang by the emperor because he publicly criticized the emperor for abusing the people's power and treating the people as worthless in the Imperial Academy. Xu Wenyuan is an upright and conscientious Confucian scholar, and by no means a corrupt Confucian scholar. Xiao Xia needs such a person to teach his son, and he also hopes that his son will become an upright and people-loving ruler.
At that time, the emperor's grandfather also hoped that Xu Wenyuan would teach his youngest son Yang Liang to be an upright and kind prince. Unfortunately, Yang Liang was not a kind person at heart. This was his innate character, and no one could teach him well.
Xu Wenyuan was about fifty years old, not tall but very energetic. Xu Wenyuan hated the idea of Emperor Yang Guang who spared the people's efforts and treated them as grass. In particular, he criticized the emperor for building the Grand Canal and the Great Wall, which resulted in the deaths of a large number of civilians.
His remarks made Yang Guang very angry, so he sent him directly to the Jiangnan Imperial Academy.
However, Xu Wenyuan admired what Xiao Xia did very much, including solving the problem of the charity granary and his determination to rescue northern refugees at all costs, which moved him deeply.
He often told his colleagues that if the emperor could have half the love for his people as the Prince of Jin, the Sui Dynasty would not have declined so quickly.
At noon, Xiao Yu invited him to have a drink at Qingfeng Restaurant at the foot of Beigushan Mountain.
"Brother has been very busy lately!"
Xu Wenyuan nodded. "This year, both Yanling County and Piling County have invited me to be the chief examiner for the autumn examination. I happen to have time today, and I will be in seclusion tomorrow."
"Thank goodness I invited my brother today. What good luck!"
"Is there anything wrong, brother?"
Xiao Yu nodded, "The prince will start studying next year, and Your Highness would like to ask your brother to teach him."
Xu Wenyuan laughed dumbly, "You want me to teach a six-year-old kid to read?"
Xiao Yu said solemnly: "He is the prince of Jin. In the future, your thoughts may be his thoughts on governing the country. Do you want to give up such an opportunity to be remembered for generations? If you don't want to do it, I will go to find Yu Shinan."
"No! No! No!"
Xu Yuanwen waved his hands and said, "That's not what I meant. I mean, I have never taught a child and have no experience. I need to ask my brother for advice. He opened a private school to teach children for a living."
Xu Yuanwen's elder brother is Xu Wenlin. He opened the largest private school in Jiangnan, Zhongwenguan. His other business, Zhongwenshe, is also one of the three largest bookstores in Jiangnan.
Xiao Yu smiled slightly and said, "You won't start studying until next year, so there's no rush. You have a few months to prepare. The key is whether you are willing to do so. His Royal Highness Prince Jin will not force you."
Xu Yuanwen stroked his beard and said happily: "His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin trusts me so much and is willing to let me train the prince. How can I not be willing? I am very willing and will definitely do my best to teach the prince well!"
(End of this chapter)