Chapter 870 Visiting the Prefecture School
The head of Daqian Prefecture School is called a professor, who is of the ninth rank. He is responsible for managing the daily affairs of the prefecture school, teaching students, and presiding over examinations.
When Sun Shan saw the professor again, he found that he was the same professor from ten years ago, who was his original teacher.
He bowed and said, "I greet Professor Ren. I haven't seen you for a while. Is everything going well?"
Sun Shan is now the magistrate of Yuanlu County, a seventh-rank official, which makes him higher in rank than Professor Ren.
However, once a teacher, always a teacher. Although Sun Shan was not what Professor Ren called an apprentice, he graduated from the provincial school after all, so it was not wrong to show respect to him as a student.
Professor Ren gently helped Sun Shan up, smiled and said, "Mr. Sun, I'm glad you're back. Was it hard on your journey?"
So Sun Shan and Professor Ren started talking about this and that again.
Sun Shan had already recounted the story of his trip to Beijing to take the imperial examination many times, and he could tell it easily without any need for a draft.
Professor Ren talked to Sun Shan about the current situation of the prefectural school and the students' learning situation.
Sun Shan said to Professor Ren that he was quite familiar with him, but also not familiar with him, so he was better than a stranger.
After all, Sun Shan had no direct contact with Professor Ren at the provincial school. They were just familiar with each other by chance.
At this moment, Professor Ren regretted very much that he did not have the foresight to recognize a talent and did not see that Sun Shan was a potential stock.
If he had known that Sun Shan would one day pass the imperial examination, he would definitely have accepted him as his disciple and taught him carefully.
Professor Ren had taught in the provincial school for many years and knew the situation of the students in Zhangzhou Prefecture. He felt despair when he thought that since the new dynasty, not a single student from Zhangzhou Prefecture had successfully gone to Beijing to take the imperial examinations.
Fortunately, the education in Zhangzhou Prefecture was not good when he took over. As for the fact that it was not good under his leadership, that was none of his business.
Anyway, I teach very hard. It's not that he is useless, it's that the students are not good enough.
Of course, it is indeed difficult for him, a professor who is a juren, to teach a jinshi, and we cannot blame him.
Thinking back to the time when Sun Shan studied in the provincial school for a few years, he took a long vacation and went to study at Yuelu Academy. Professor Ren gave him his best wishes, hoping that he would get good grades and have a bright future.
After graduating from Yuelu Academy, he passed the exam on the first try. Even though he was the last, he still qualified to go to Beijing for the exam.
It was different when Professor Ren originally thought about studying in a famous school. Sun Shan, a last-rate scholar, was able to successfully advance. He wished that his own children and grandchildren could study in Yuelu Academy, but he was worried that it was not possible and he had no financial support.
Professor Ren thought that it was already Sun Shan's best chance to pass the imperial examination, after all, he was the last one on the list.
There is no hope for him at all.
I have confidence in Lu Yuming who is from the same class.
The result, needless to say.
After Sun Shan successfully took the exam for the second time, he was on the list again. What's even more bizarre is that he was ranked last, and Professor Ren was convinced by this.
On the contrary, the hopeful Lu Yuming failed the exam three times in a row and finally had to seek an official position.
Professor Ren lamented the unpredictability of life, and he never expected that the one who flew the farthest was the ordinary Sun Shan.
Professor Ren said happily: "Mr. Sun, I was so happy when I heard that you passed the imperial examination. Our Zhangzhou Prefecture finally has a Jinshi. Thanks to you, Zhangzhou Prefecture has finally been built from scratch."
In fact, Zhangzhou Prefecture's performance was still at the bottom, but it achieved a breakthrough from zero, and everyone was very happy, including officials and people.
If there is one, there will be ten, and if there are ten, there will be a hundred.
The earth is spinning and the sky is revolving. Everything is difficult at the beginning.
Sun Shan set a good example for the local students in Zhangzhou Prefecture. As long as they passed the exam, they would be better than Sun Shan.
Who said Sun Shan’s grades are still at the bottom?
Sun Shan had answered this question no less than ten times. He said gently, "I am honored to be a Jinshi in Zhangzhou Prefecture. I hope that after me, there will be more Jinshi in Zhangzhou Prefecture."
Sun Shan continued to chat with Professor Ren, saying the same thing over and over again.
Finally, Sun Shan said, "Professor Ren, I brought a batch of provincial and metropolitan examination papers from the capital this time. I want to put them in the prefectural school for students to use. In fact, the students in our Zhangzhou prefecture are not bad, but the conditions in the prefectural school are really difficult.
Alas, if we want to produce more Jinshi, we must not only read widely, but also write widely.
I visited an academy in the capital and was saddened to see that many of the books there were not available in Zhangzhou.
I couldn't bring the books back, but I could sort out the papers. I printed several copies this time and wanted to leave one for the prefectural school for reference by the students there."
Sun Shan gave Gui Ge'er a wink.
Gui Ge'er immediately opened the package and handed over the thick stack of papers.
Ren Jiaoyu was stunned for a moment, looking at the thick test paper, his mind full of thoughts, and he held the test paper tightly.
He was touched and said, "Mr. Sun, I didn't expect you to bring back such a useful paper to the prefectural school. You are so thoughtful."
Professor Ren looked at Sun Shan again. He was short, thin and dark. Perhaps because of the hardships of the journey, his face looked very haggard. He did not have the spirited and ambitious spirit of a successful Jinshi, nor did he have the arrogance of a successful Jinshi.
Sun Shan seemed to be the same Sun Shan when I first met him.
It was ordinary, but it became a big hit.
Not only did Sun Shan make progress himself, he also planned to help his fellow villagers make progress together. Such a broad mind is rare in the world.
Although the provincial school only produced one Jinshi, it also produced many Juren.
So far, Sun Shan is the only one who still cares about the provincial school and wants to help students achieve better results.
No wonder Sun Shan was able to pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi. With such a kind and pure heart, if he didn’t pass the examination, who else could?
Professor Ren said excitedly: "Mr. Sun, the Academy will cherish the papers you gave us and store them in the library for the students to use. I hope the students will remember your kindness and live up to your expectations."
Sun Shan smiled slightly, waved his hand and said, "Professor Ren, you are too kind. I just did my best, it's not worth mentioning."
After a pause, he continued, "If I come across better books in the future, I will bring them back to the prefectural academy. The prefectural academy will be good only if its students are good, and Zhangzhou will be better only if the prefectural academy is good. We are all Zhangzhou people, and whether we stay in Zhangzhou or live in other places, we always hope that Zhangzhou will be better."
Professor Ren could not believe that Sun Shan would actually say such words as “the world belongs to the public” and act according to such precepts, and he felt inferior to him.
Professor Ren said ashamedly: "I have been in the provincial academy for ten years, but there has been no change in the academy. There are only a few juren and jinshi graduates, which is embarrassing for others."
Sun Shan quickly consoled him, saying, "Professor, please don't say that. The current situation at the prefectural school is not your fault, nor is it anyone else's fault. The professor has been teaching diligently and has done his best. Don't blame yourself."
Sun Shan said with a wry smile: "The academies outside not only have more books, but also many great scholars. Our school cannot compare to them. I only hope that the school can improve little by little in the future."
Sun Shan chatted with Professor Ren for a while and asked for some advice before leaving.
Hehe, Professor Ren must give him a red envelope to congratulate him on his success.
Sun Shan touched a thin piece of red paper and confirmed it was a silver note.
Hey, I really want to know how much it is!