When Zhu Ping'an arrived at the main hall, he found that he was not the only one who came to preach the Dharma today.
There were five ministers waiting in the tea room of the main hall. All of them were famous teachers and scholars with a strong aura.
"Morning, Mr. Gao..."
Zhu Ping'an only knew Gao Gong among them, so he took the initiative to step forward and greeted Gao Gong enthusiastically.
After all, they are all colleagues in the Hanlin Academy.
However, after Zhu Ping'an took the initiative to greet him, Gao Gong still sat there motionless, as steady as a straight and tall mountain. He just nodded arrogantly, with a hint of surprise and contempt in his eyes.
Zhu Ping'an read his subtext from his eyes: Damn, why is this idiot here to preach
Okay, that's pretty high.
After greeting Gao Gong, Zhu Ping'an also took the initiative to bow and greet the other four seniors one by one.
Except for a white-haired old official who smiled and said a few words to Zhu Ping'an and introduced everyone present to Zhu Ping'an, the other three seniors all had a cold and aloof demeanor, and one of them even looked at Zhu Ping'an as if he were an enemy.
After hearing the introduction from the white-haired old man, Zhu Ping'an found out that there was a reason why these people were so aloof, because they were much more famous than himself.
Gao Gong, needless to say, was the top student in his village for his "Book of Rites" at the age of seventeen. Now, more than twenty years have passed, and Gao Gong's attainments in the Four Books and Five Classics are even better than before, and he is well-known in the court. Now Gao Gong is a lecturer in the Hanlin Academy and the chief lecturer in Prince Yu's Palace. It is not only legitimate for him to come to lecture the two princes today, but his level is also more than enough.
The white-haired old official who was talking to Zhu Ping'an with a smile just now was the Minister of the Honglu Temple, a fourth-rank official, Mr. Liu Boqing.
Although Lord Liu's official position was too high, he was a leading figure in the literary world and was once the chief academic officer of the Imperial College.
Opposite Gao Gong, with a strong atmosphere of confrontation, was the chief lecturer of Prince Jing's Mansion, Mr. Zhang Wentian.
Prince Yu and Prince Jing were competitors, so it was normal for their chief generals to confront each other.
Mr. Zhang Wentian was not much younger than Liu Boqing, and looked to be in his fifties or early sixties. His hair was gray, but every strand was combed meticulously, without a single stray hair. His slightly sunken eye sockets were covered with crow's feet, but his pair of black eyes were still as bright as an eagle's.
Mr. Zhang has a thin body, but he has the temperament of a famous scholar, and even the wrinkles on his face seem to reveal wisdom.
A famous scholar.
It was normal for him to look down on a junior like Zhu Ping'an, so what Zhu Ping'an saw the most was Mr. Zhang's chin.
Sitting below Lord Zhang was a handsome official in his forties, with an angular face, a high nose bridge, and a short beard. He looked a bit like Wu Xiubo, with elegance in his handsomeness and a sense of romance in his erudition. The only flaw in the old handsome man's appearance was that he was full of arrogance and publicity.
This handsome old official is the Doctor of the Five Classics of the Imperial College, Lord Yang Guoliang.
The Doctor of Five Classics was an eighth-rank official position. Logically speaking, Zhu Ping'an was a fifth-rank official, which was much higher than his.
But Lord Yang acted very arrogant, as if his official position was much higher than Zhu Ping'an.
Just now when Zhu Ping'an greeted him, he seemed to be indifferent.
Perhaps talented people generally have personality.
Those who could serve as Doctor of the Five Classics in the Imperial College were all well-known figures in the academic world. Lord Yang was no exception. He was especially famous in the Five Classics. Many senior officials asked him for the meaning of the Five Classics.
The last official, like Lord Zhang Wentian, was also a lecturer in Prince Jing’s palace. His name was Lord Ma Huating. He was in his forties, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and was very elegant and always had a smile on his face.
But when facing Zhu Ping'an, there was no smile on his face, but more of a look as if he was ashamed to be associated with you.
This Mr. Ma was also well-known in the academic world, especially in education and writing. His annotations to Zhu Xi's "Collected Annotations to the Four Books" became an important reference book for the imperial examinations of the time, and were also appreciated and praised by Emperor Jiajing. For this reason, Mr. Ma was transferred to the Prince Jing's Mansion to be the Prince Jing's lecturer.
Zhu Ping'an, who was somewhat excluded by everyone, became a little invisible in the tea room. He sat quietly in the corner, poured himself a cup of tea, and watched the adults chatting and laughing.
I just poured myself a cup of tea.
Someone else came into the tea room.
It’s King Jing.
Although Zhu Ping'an didn't know him, he could tell from his clothes that he was a prince, but he didn't know whether he was Prince Yu or Prince Jing.
"Zaizhen greets all the masters. I am deeply grateful to you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to come to the main hall to give lectures."
King Jing walked into the tea room, but did not go any further inside. Instead, he stood respectfully at the door, bent over and bowed, greeting Zhu Pingan and the other six people who were sitting in the tea room.
"King Jing is really embarrassing us."
Lord Liu and others in the tea room stood up to return the greeting, as if they had been visited three times by Emperor Liu. Their faces were flushed and they were extremely excited. How could they not be excited when a prince who might inherit the throne in the future treated them with such respect and courtesy and showed such great courtesy
Zhu Ping'an also stood up and returned the greeting.
"Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Parents, and Teacher, all of you who come to the main hall to lecture are Zaizhen's teacher, and naturally you deserve this respect from Zaizhen. Teacher Zhang, Teacher Ma... Teacher Liu, Teacher Yang, Teacher Gao..." King Jing insisted on completing the greetings before walking into the tea room with a slight smile. He first greeted Zhang Wentian and Ma Huating, two of the lecturers in King Jing's mansion, and then greeted Liu Boqing, Yang Guoliang, and Gao Gong in order of age.
"This must be Master Zhu Ping'an, right? Zaizhen has heard of Master Zhu's great name for a long time. My father has used Master Zhu to encourage me and my brother many times. Master Zhu is about the same age as Zaizhen and my brother. He comes from a poor family and his study conditions are far inferior to mine and my brother's. However, he has relied on his own abilities all the way and has already become the top scholar at a young age. Now he is a fifth-rank Imperial Academy student. Zaizhen is really ashamed... ... Today, Master Zhu, please give me some advice. Zaizhen will listen attentively."
After King Jing greeted Gao Gong and the others in turn, he came to Zhu Ping'an, bowed with a smile, and spoke in an elegant and polite manner.
Zhang Wentian, Ma Huating and Yang Guoliang, who were standing by, couldn't help but frown and look gloomy when they saw that King Jing thought so highly of Zhu Ping'an. They felt that Zhu Ping'an had no virtue or ability and was totally unworthy of being treated like this by King Jing, and they looked at Zhu Ping'an with unfriendly eyes.
"Your Majesty, I am ashamed of your praise. I dare not teach you anything. Today, I just hope to exchange and learn with you, Your Majesty and Your Majesty."
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Zhu Ping'an calmly stood up and bowed in return.
Seeing this, Zhang, Ma, Yang and others looked even gloomier, and looked at Zhu Ping'an with even more hostility. King Jing treated you so politely, and you are not grateful at all!!!
You are a boy who relies on flattery, fawning and opportunism to get to the top, and you are so greedy for money that you don't hesitate to mess with pig's offal!
Who gave you the face!!!
Boy!!!