Just when Elder Qin thought that Ning Yi had some talent and felt sorry for Ning Yi, who had married into a merchant's family, for being poor and short-sighted, Ning Yi had already entered Yushan Academy in the early morning sun, preparing to spend the whole morning with a group of children learning the Analects of Confucius.
Yushan Academy was not located in a place called Yushan. It was a private school run by the Su family. Of course, they would accept outsiders with some connections, but the school was not big, mainly because there were not many people who came to learn. Yushan was the name of a mountain in the Su family's hometown.
Yushan Academy was opened on a street not far from the Su family's mansion. It was not a street densely packed with shops, so the environment was quiet and secluded. It was surrounded by gray tiles and white walls, a small bamboo forest, and a sign that said "Yushan Academy" written by a great scholar was hung up. It still had a somewhat scholarly atmosphere.
At present, the academy had a total of 49 students and seven teachers, including the head of the academy, Su Chonghua. In terms of proportion, the number of teachers could be said to be strong. Su Chonghua himself was a member of the Su family. In his early years, he had passed the imperial examination and served as an official for several years. Unfortunately, he had not made much achievements, and there were even rumors that he had committed crimes. In addition, there were also two old men who had been hired with high salaries and had experience as officials. In addition to the teachers and students, there were also several servants such as cooks and handymen.
The Su family had spent a lot of effort on this academy. Unfortunately, either the teachers were not very reliable, or the group of students happened to have poor aptitude, the academy had not achieved much. Some of the students who had been trained before had mostly entered the Su family's shops after finding that they had no hope of taking the imperial examination. Therefore, the nature of this academy seemed more like a technical academy. If the family really had the intention of letting their children take the imperial examination and become an official, then they would most likely have their children transfer to a better academy before the age of 12.
Ning Yi had been teaching here for three days. Su Chonghua was good to him and would not make things difficult for him because he had married into the Su family. People who had worked hard in society for a long time had already become sophisticated, so there was no need for such boring things. Considering that Ning Yi actually had no talent, as everyone said, he was asked to teach more than a dozen children who had just started learning. There were a total of 16 children between the ages of six and twelve. There were even two little girls with braids. They were all relatives of the Su family, and they were taught some words. After the previous teacher had finished teaching filial piety, he began teaching them the Analects. Ning Yi fixed to teach them one day. Every day he would teach them one morning and a little more in the afternoon. Etiquette, music, archery, archery, driving, mathematics, and so on.
If it had been a better and more formal school, these things would have been more standardized and detailed, but Yushan Academy obviously did not have such conditions. As far as Ning Yi was concerned, teaching the Analects was actually quite easy. Although he could not recite the Analects or say the general location of a certain sentence, if he only needed to be able to read it and give a simple explanation, then it was really a very easy thing. Any modern person who had received a high school education might be able to give a plausible explanation of the Analects if they spent some time, of course, in the vernacular.
Even in ancient times, the real great Confucian scholars were quite profound in the study of the Four Books and Five Classics. Perhaps the ancient writings written by a famous prostitute could put modern professors to shame. However, most scholars did not have the opportunity to receive too advanced education. They might not even be able to find a copy of Mencius after reading the Analects. However, the minimum standard for a teacher was very simple. To put it bluntly, they only needed to be able to teach people how to read. This was the case with Ning Yi's predecessor. He taught a group of children to read while shaking their heads. When he was excited, he would give the most basic explanation of the meaning of the text. After a while, he would ask the students to strictly memorize or write a paragraph from memory. This was a test. If they could not pass the test, they would be beaten on the hand.
It was very simple! Ning Yi did not intend to make too many changes. In the first two hours, he let a group of students read the Analects of Confucius while shaking their heads. In fact, reading for two hours without stopping made Ning Yi feel very painful. However, this group of children was used to it. In the next two hours, Ning Yi used the first half of the text to explain the content of the text. After that, he would randomly talk about some stories and facts. This was also to let the children relax.
This group of children was very easy to teach. Although it was only a mere three days, Ning Yi could already clearly feel the feeling of being a teacher in class. This group of children did not have any personality to speak of. Children who did not have any personality were the cutest. They cherished the opportunity to study. They were not naughty or chuunibyou. If there was a small matter, even if you spanked other people's children's buttocks until they were swollen, other people would feel that it was natural. This was simply a teacher's heaven. Ning Yi was very comfortable teaching. It was only a mere three days. This group of children was extremely satisfied with just a few lessons and stories. And when he talked about these things, Ning Yi did not even need to prepare lesson plans or anything.
He just needed to do as he pleased. On this day, he began to talk about the passage in the Analects of Confucius that was related to "Wealth and nobility are what people desire …". He talked about the methods of obtaining wealth and the ways of doing business. In between, there were some sayings and explanations such as "a gentleman loves wealth and obtains it in the right way." This was what Ning Yi did in his previous life. Regardless of ancient Chinese, if he simply wanted to express his emotions, it was enough to be taken to a modern university to give a lecture to a PhD student. But in front of him was a group of children who were not even twelve years old. After a few casual words, he did not say anything more. He just gave a few small examples to make fun of them. Then he talked about the Six Connected Boats of the Pu Yuan Poetry Club and the Battle of Red Cliffs. He began to tell the story of the Red Cliffs to the group of children.
These days, the main story about the Three Kingdoms was still Chen Shou's "Records of the Three Kingdoms". Ning Yi had not read it before. The story was based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In modern times, it had been embellished by various literary works. It was very interesting and imaginative. From Cao Cao's 800,000 troops marching south to Zhou Yu's attack on Huang Gai, the chain of boats, and the borrowing of arrows with straw boats, the group of children who had not heard many stories in their daily lives were flushed with excitement. They said from time to time, "Teacher, teacher, what's next …" The group of children only quieted down halfway through the story because Mountain Chief Su Chonghua had walked to the side of the classroom. He stood there with his hands behind his back, his face expressionless. But even so, it could not change the excited expression on the group of children's faces.
Since Ning Yi had already started, he naturally would not be distracted by such a small matter. He continued to tell the story. When it was almost noon, he finally finished the story of the burning chain of boats. Su Chonghua stood outside and listened. It was hard to tell what kind of expression he had on his face. After Ning Yi finished the story, he wrote down on the Xuan paper one of his favorites, Du Mu's "Red Cliffs":
The broken halberd sinks into the sand, the iron has not yet been worn off.
The east wind does not go with Zhou Lang, and the copper sparrow locks the two Qiaos in spring.
There was no blackboard in class, so it was very inconvenient to write. Ning Yi now had some passion for teaching. As he wrote, he thought that he should "invent" a whiteboard or something. Using a charcoal pencil to write was better than a sand table. After he finished writing, a group of students hurriedly copied it on paper. When he walked out of the door, Su Chonghua came to greet him. His expressionless face also revealed a smile.
"My dear nephew, you are very talented and have a deep understanding of the history of the Three Kingdoms, Wei, and Jin. The story just now must have been taken from Chen Shou's Three Kingdoms, right?"
If Elder Qin were here, he might have scolded Ning Yi, saying that he was making up nonsense and misleading the students. In fact, the real History of the Three Kingdoms was not so interesting. For example, in the story about the straw boat borrowing arrows, it was actually Sun Quan who was wandering outside and was shot by arrows. There were too many arrows on one side of the boat and it almost capsized. So Sun Quan ordered the boat to turn around and use the other side to take the arrows. Only then did the boat regain its balance and sail away. Ning Yi had only watched TV dramas like Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Su Chonghua had not read History of the Three Kingdoms either. Just now, he had listened to Ning Yi's story as if it was a storytelling and had enjoyed it. At this time, he came to praise him for his profound knowledge and fascinating story.
However, after a few words of praise, he also indirectly reminded him not to be so polite to these students. If Ning Yi had been an old pedant in his fifties or sixties, he probably would not have said this. However, he looked like he was only in his early twenties and did not have much hair on his mouth. He needed to be strict with these kids to show his dignity as a teacher. Obviously, he was not satisfied with Ning Yi talking about the Three Kingdoms in the Analects of Confucius class, especially when it was so vivid, just like a storyteller in a teahouse. Ning Yi nodded and humbly turned his head, pretending that he had not heard it.
Later, Su Chonghua invited him to have lunch at the Academy. Generally speaking, ordinary small families ate two meals a day, and some couldn't even afford two meals. However, the Su family was rich, so they still had an extra lunch. It was just that it was not formal, and sometimes they used cakes as a substitute. Ning Yi politely rejected the other party's invitation and went home to change his clothes. Then, he gave it to Xiao Chan. He planned to give it back to Old Qin after washing it. However, he didn't tell her about falling into the river, in case she made a fuss and gave him a bunch of medicine. During the few days that Ning Yi attended classes at the Academy, Xiaochan did not follow him all the time. She was free in the morning to deal with other things.
In the afternoon, they went to the Qinhuai River to play chess. In fact, Elder Qin was also a strange person. Ning Yi used to think that he was most likely an official, and this morning when he went to his house, he was even more sure of this. There were many styles and furnishings in his house that could not be owned by ordinary people. Coupled with his way of talking and vision, it was really strange that such a person would go to the river every day to set up a chess stall.
When he came today, there was already another old man playing chess with Elder Qin. The old man's surname was Kang, and he was about the same age as Elder Qin. He came from a well-off family, and the style of the Old Master was lavishly dressed, with two manservants and two maids clearing the way. This guy looked strict and had a mean mouth, but he was very good at chess. Every time he saw Ning Yi criticize his playing style as "simply obscene", "not a gentleman's style", "how can you be so pestering", and "the younger generation is hateful", he would immediately absorb this style and play a game with Elder Qin after a little modification. In fact, Elder Qin was at a higher level than him, and after absorbing a new way of thinking, he changed it into a game with Elder Qin.
When Ning Yi came here, he also met a lot of people, ordinary people, children with little education, and people who had some education but still had rigid thinking. It could be said that they were pedantic and honest, and their vision and way of thinking were indeed not as flexible as modern people, but when it came to the top, they were not worse than modern people. For example, Elder Qin did not say anything verbally, but his heart was naturally digesting what he found novel, thinking about the ideas and principles behind it. This old man surnamed Kang talked about etiquette, justice, honesty, shame, benevolence, righteousness, and morality, but when it came to playing chess, he was still ruthless and unscrupulous. Of course, if it were not for people like Ning Yi and Elder Qin, they might not be able to see where he was ruthless. He was only inferior to Elder Qin, but compared to ordinary people, he was still much better.
Recently, Elder Qin and several chess friends often studied Ning Yi's chess moves. After all, they suddenly saw these novel moves, so it was still worth studying. Ning Yi did not have much intention of giving in to the old man. Sometimes, he would ignore Old Kang's glare, and sometimes, he would say a few words to him, "Old man, you say one thing and do another, you're not a good person." "You dare to make this move, you dare to make it! Go on and try! " Usually, there was no junior who dared to talk back to Elder Kang. The two of them quarreled by the chess stall, and Elder Qin laughed for a while. If it was Elder Kang who played against him, he would say, "Liheng is right." If the opponent was Ning Yi, he would help to criticize Ning Yi's move.
However, even if they quarreled, there was no malice between them. At first, Elder Kang did indeed reprimand Ning Yi as an ignorant junior. Later, he realized that Ning Yi was indeed a worthy opponent, and Ning Yi naturally did not put himself in the position of a junior. No matter what, Elder Kang always brought a pot of good tea when he came over. He asked the servants to bring the tea set, tea leaves, and water, and the maidservant brewed the tea on the table of the tea stall. Ning Yi did not stand on ceremony. He took a cup for himself and moved a stool to sit by the chess board. After a while, he took a sip of tea and said, "Oh, Elder Kang is going to lose."
The old man was calculating in his heart when he raised his eyebrows and said, "You brat with a hairless mouth, what do you know about winning or losing? You still dare to say such things after drinking my tea … Humph, I already have a clever move …"
He raised his hand and was about to make a move when Ning Yi coughed lightly. The old man's hand immediately stopped. He looked at the chess board suspiciously for a while and then withdrew his hand. Ning Yi took another sip of tea and said, "This cup of tea is worth so much … Hmm, what tea is this?"
"Ignorant brat, what a reckless waste of God's gift. Have you heard of purple bamboo shoots?"
Elder Qin was also sipping his tea. At this moment, he laughed and said, "Gu Zhu purple bamboo shoots, good tea. But it's a pity to boil it on the street now. If I knew that he would bring this tea today, I would have gone home to play this game of chess."
Elder Kang did not care. At this moment, he finally thought of a move. He stretched out his hand and placed a chess piece. "Tea is for drinking. Everyone is in the mood for chess, and we are like-minded. Therefore, we should drink this tea together. This is the most important thing. Tea is an inanimate object, born to please you and me. Only when you and I feel that it is tasty will it have value. Why should we cherish it? "
"Elder Kang's words are quite heroic. You sound like a big shot."
"What big shot? This old man …"
"This old man, you have lost."
"Uh …"
Ning Yi patted him on the shoulder and stood up with a smile. At this time, the scenery by the Qinhuai River was beautiful. He walked away with his cup of tea. Behind him, Elder Qin had already placed a chess piece with a smile. Elder Kang said, "How can you do this …"
"Haha, seeing that Duke Ming brought good tea today, I wanted to deceive you and secretly let you win a game. But your words are awe-inspiring. Friendship between gentlemen should be like this. This old man does not want to be pretentious. Hahahaha …"
Old Man Kang was obviously unhappy that he had brought tea and lost the game of chess. But since he had lost anyway, he had to admit it. He called Ning Yi over and everyone reviewed the game. After that, it was still Old Man Kang and Old Man Qin playing. During the game, Elder Qin told the funny story of Ning Yi falling into the river in the morning to save someone and getting slapped in the face. Inevitably, Ning Yi was mocked by Elder Kang. Then, he heard the two old men talk about the recent invasion by the Liao people in the north.
The sun at the end of autumn was still bright, but in the afternoon, the wind blew on the Qinhuai River. After the game, it was already late and everyone went home.
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