From the Imperial College to the Outer City Public School, the King of Jiangdu certainly would not ride a horse like the young people—although the emperors older than him often liked to ride horses even when they went out of the palace incognito, but he was afraid of the cold and loved to enjoy life, so he would rather sit comfortably in the carriage with a fur coat and a hand warmer. When he heard the voice of the attendant outside announcing that they had arrived, he actually took a short nap.
He and Xu Heida went to the Imperial College first. Although he did not come in person, he sent someone to announce the exam questions. As for who announced the exam questions... Is there any need to say it? Of course, it was he who just told people in the Imperial College, his useless future son-in-law!
Not feeling at all that he was favoring his friends due to personal connections, Prince Jiangdu yawned and stepped off his horse, only to find that there was not even a ghost in front of the gate. It was nothing like the scene before in the Imperial College where all the academic officials came out to welcome him with great fanfare.
Although he was not a person who cared about empty courtesy, he was still a prince after all, and he certainly would not be happy to be neglected like this. He looked around, wanting to ask if there was not even a gatekeeper, and finally heard a familiar voice: "Father-in-law, you are here so soon!"
The person who rushed out to greet him was none other than Mr. Song. Seeing King Jiangdu looking at him with a smile, he quickly explained, "Mr. Zhang is teaching. After all, this public school is not just about Banshan Hall. Other teachers are also teaching. Liu Zhanshi and Lu Jijiu are here now. They definitely don't take you, the Grand Master, seriously."
This time, King Jiangdu was immediately relieved. Especially when he saw Liu Zhiyuan and Lu Wan really come out together, he immediately changed his face to a smile, where could he see any blame in his expression
After a few pleasantries, he asked about the exam situation in Banshan Hall. As expected, he saw a very subtle expression on Lu Wan's face, and then his eyes became noticeably vague.
"The three questions that His Royal Highness asked were really well-thought-out. For those guys in Banshan Hall, it would be great if they could answer one question. Not many could answer two, let alone three." Having said this, Lu Wan paused, then said with a wry smile, "If these questions were asked in Jiuzhang Hall, the math question would naturally not be worth mentioning, but the other two questions would probably be difficult for them as well."
"I don't know about Banshan Hall, but the essay titled 'Three years without changing one's father's way' from the Analects is probably difficult for the students at Jiuzhang Hall. There may not be many people who can write this essay well, but there is definitely no one."
The one who refuted Lu Wan was none other than Mr. Song. He did not notice the expression of King Jiangdu stroking his chin with interest after hearing this, and said to himself: "Because Lu Gaoyuan's bookstore prints a lot of books, among which there are collections of contemporary essays. There are many model essays on the Four Books topic such as "Three Years Without Changing the Way of the Father". It is said that he once gave away the collection of contemporary essays for free in order to promote the mathematical classics."
"And the students of Jiuzhang Hall can earn some money by working part-time in public schools. Nowadays, most of them can afford to buy the mathematics textbooks instead of borrowing them as before. In other words, nine out of ten of them have a few collections of contemporary literature. Even if some people have never read them, or even resell them because they lack money, there must be some who have read them. Even if most of those who have read them don't remember them, there may be some who remember them."