Chapter 1045: Giving Papers to County School
Sun Shan led a group of officials, under the guidance of Instructor Deng, to the county school of Yuanlu County, which was also the highest institution of learning in Yuanlu County.
Sun Shan asked, "Teacher Deng, how many students are there in our county school now?"
Students were divided into first, second, and third classes. Sun Shan was originally a third-class student, equivalent to a county school student.
It was only because the education in Zhangzhou Prefecture itself was not good that Sun Shan, a parasitic student, was sent to study in Zhangzhou Prefecture School.
Teacher Deng bowed and replied: "Your Excellency, there are currently 12 students enrolled."
Sun Shan nodded. This number was not the best, but it was not bad either. It was much better than what he had in his hometown.
Although Yuanlu is deep inland and surrounded by mountains, the education here is quite good, and it seems that there is cultural heritage here.
Teacher Deng continued to lead Sun Shan and his party through the county school gate and into the county school.
Two instructors who had heard the news rushed over to greet Sun Shan at the door and bowed hastily, "Greetings, Your Excellency the County Magistrate. We apologize for not coming from afar to welcome you. Please forgive us."
A county school is equipped with one teacher and two instructors, but they are not in the official ranks and have no official rank.
But because he was a scholar and had good knowledge, he could become a teacher. Although he was not a rank, he was respected.
Sun Shan took the path of being close to the people and scholars, so he was very polite to teachers and instructors.
Sun Shan nodded and made a gesture of invitation: "No problem."
He turned to Teacher Deng and said, "Teacher Deng, please take me to visit the county school. After the tour, I will meet with our students later."
Sun Shan deliberately visited the county school first to leave time for Deng to make arrangements. He was not unreasonable to come here in a hurry and give others time to prepare.
This is the first time, so we must give him enough face, but the second time may not be an option.
Teacher Deng said quickly, "Follow me, sir."
The scale of Yuanlu County School is similar to that of Huangyang County School. It is as large as a high school in a third- or fourth-tier county town.
There are not many buildings, except for classrooms, library and dormitories.
There are classes for students and classes for students who are ready to take the examination ...
Sun Shan walked and looked around, and found a large Cuju field. He couldn't help but think of the time when he was studying in Zhangzhou Prefecture.
After a brief tour of the county school, Teacher Deng said, "Sir, do you need to see a student?"
This was a question that Sun Shan answered knowingly: "Yes."
The group arrived at the classroom, where twelve students, including students and pupils, were already waiting.
Sun Shan took a look and saw that there were scholars of different ages, some old and some young, and of course there were many who were older than Sun Shan.
When the students of Yuanlu saw Sun Shan coming in, they quickly bowed according to their teacher's instructions and said, "Your Highness, I greet you."
Sun Shan responded with a greeting: "Thank you. Everyone, please stand up."
Sun Shan smiled and said, "I just took office today, so I want to come to the county school to take a look. I like scholars the most, and I also like to chat and discuss knowledge with scholars the most."
No one knew whether what Sun Shan said was true or false, and they just treated everything he said as true.
Today they learned that Yuanlu County welcomed a new official, and the teacher also brought student representatives to greet him.
Those who stayed behind in school also wanted to join in the fun, but the teachers were strict and required them to study in the county school.
Fortunately, the teacher was strict, otherwise Magistrate Sun would have come to the county academy only to find nothing, which would have been a very embarrassing scene.
The students didn’t know why Magistrate Sun came to visit the county school as his first stop, but what shocked the students the most at this moment was that Magistrate Sun was so young.
According to information gathered from various sources, County Magistrate Sun was only 24 years old, had just passed the imperial examination and became a top-three Jinshi last year, and had been appointed by the court to be the county magistrate of Yuanlu.
The students were still very shocked when they saw Sun Shan. They were so envious of him for going to high school at such a young age.
Among them, there are many who are older than Sun Shan, and after all their studies they are still scholars, while some scholars have already become local officials.
Comparing people will make you die, comparing goods will make you throw them away!
I feel so desperate. What should I do?
Sun Shan still looked very happy and said, "Dear students, I am here today to test your knowledge at the county school."
The students looked at each other and knew that the magistrate was coming to test their knowledge.
If you don’t have the academic knowledge, you definitely won’t come here.
The students were afraid that Sun Shan’s questions were too difficult and they would not be able to answer them.
I just hope that Magistrate Sun can show some mercy and ask simpler questions.
Teacher Deng saw that the students were a little nervous, so he stepped out and said a few words to comfort them: "Dear students, answer the questions from adults later."
The student quickly responded: “Yes.”
Sun Shan tried to keep smiling and appear amiable, and said soothingly: "Don't be nervous, just treat it as a discussion between old and young friends. Just answer whatever comes to your mind."
The student quickly responded, “Yes, sir.”
How can I not be nervous? How can a student not be nervous? I was really afraid that I would not be able to answer and leave a bad impression on Magistrate Sun.
In fact, Sun Shan did not intend to conduct a thorough and easy-to-understand examination. He was also worried that the students would not be able to answer the questions, which would be embarrassing.
It’s my first day in office, so I can’t make things difficult for the students.
So Sun Shan asked some simple questions.
Sun Shan threw out the question and randomly selected a student to answer.
The student stood up and answered the question a little nervously.
Although he stuttered a little, he still answered the question.
Sun Shan nodded with satisfaction: "Not bad, very good, keep up the hard work."
When the students heard the praise, they were overjoyed. They went from being a little nervous to being a little excited, their faces flushed, and they instantly felt that they had a good chance of passing the provincial examination and that they would soon become juren or even jinshi.
Then he called on a few more students to answer questions.
Sun Shan said one by one: "Not bad, you have a solid foundation. You have a solid foundation. If you continue to study hard, you will definitely achieve something in the future."
Even if the answers were perfunctory, Sun Shan would use all-purpose encouragement to encourage students to study hard.
From now on, Sun Shan’s achievements in education will depend on these students, so he must give them “praise of love” no matter what.
After the examination for students, the next step was to examine the students who were to become students of the Tongcheng School. Students who were also preparing to become Tongcheng students were also taken for the examination. In short, all the students in the entire county school were examined from beginning to end.
Finally, the highlight came, which was also the purpose of Sun Shan’s visit to the county school.
Sun Shan winked at Gui Ge'er.
Gui Ge'er hurriedly took out a large package and placed it on the desk.
Teacher Deng led a group of students and officials to look at the big package in confusion.
What the hell is this?
Sun Shan personally opened the package, took out a booklet from it, and handed it to Instructor Deng.
He said cordially and solemnly: "Teacher Deng, here are the examination papers of the imperial examination, provincial examination and metropolitan examination that I sorted out from Yuelu Academy, Jinling and the capital. I sent these papers to Yuanlu County School, hoping that they can help the young men of Yuanlu, and I also hope that Yuanlu can produce more scholars, juren and jinshi."