Zhao Lin was born into an official family, but he was terrified of the schoolteacher in front of him. Unlike other teachers who would usually let him have his way after learning about his family background, this teacher was different.
The schoolteacher in front of me treated everyone the same, regardless of their family background.
A student who had been reprimanded by his teacher came to cause trouble again, but the next day, the elders of the family personally came to apologize.
The student who caused trouble because of his family background was almost beaten to a pulp by the elders in his family.
After scolding the unfortunate student who couldn't get back up with his ruler, the teacher continued walking step by step through the schoolhouse.
Students with poor grades were secretly swallowing their saliva, praying that the teacher wouldn't call on them, as the feeling of being hit by the ruler was truly unbearable.
The high-achieving students stared intently at the teacher, clearly wanting to tell him that they knew the answer and that they could do it.
The teacher gently tapped his ruler on his hand, in a rhythmic motion.
As the ruler passed by another student who was quietly swallowing, it gently fell and tapped twice on the desk.
The student whose name was called stood up, wiped the sweat from his brow, and said tremblingly:
"The teacher's words come from the chapter on honor and disgrace in Xunzi."
The schoolteacher nodded, said nothing, and continued walking.
The student who had just answered breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a sense of relief after surviving a disaster. In fact, he only had a vague impression of the source of the sentence and didn't know if he was right or wrong.
“Recite the text.”
At this moment, the teacher walked up to a very confident student and tapped the desk with his ruler again.
The student who was called on stood up naturally and said with great enthusiasm: "Those who know themselves do not blame others, and those who understand fate do not blame heaven. Those who blame others will be poor, and those who blame heaven will have no ambition. To blame others for one's own loss is not absurd. Therefore, the virtuous follow the constant, while the petty follow the strange."
The teacher nodded; the student had memorized it very well, without a single mistake.
"Bowen, how should this sentence be interpreted?"
This time, the teacher didn't draw a name randomly; instead, he directly called out a student's name.
The student was exceptionally handsome, with delicate features, a beautiful beard, and a white robe, exuding an air of superiority.
Xunzi was admonishing the world that those who understand themselves will not complain about others, and those who understand destiny will not complain about heaven; those who complain about others will fall into distress, and those who complain about heaven lack ambition.
The schoolteacher nodded. This guy truly lived up to his reputation as a master strategist, showing his talent even in his youth.
That's right, Bowen was this student's courtesy name. As for the student's given name, his surname was Liu and his given name was Ji.
Liu Ji, courtesy name Bowen (for plot purposes, don't worry about it), was a ruthless man who assisted Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, in unifying the country. He became famous in history for his brilliant strategies and masterful planning.
There's an old saying: "Zhuge Liang divided the world into three, Liu Bowen unified the country; Zhuge Liang was the strategist of the previous dynasty, Liu Bowen was the strategist of the later dynasty."
This schoolteacher was none other than Li Boyang, who had traveled the world.
As for why he appeared in the academy, it is directly related to his wish this time.
This wish is rather disappointing.
The dead man was a scholar, and a poor scholar full of ambition, who had not even passed the county-level imperial examination.
The current era can be described as a chaotic time, roughly the end of the Yuan Dynasty.
In this era, the imperial examination system had long been completely eroded by power. Not to mention becoming a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial examination), even becoming a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the county-level examination) required bribing the officials in charge of the examination, otherwise the Xiucai quota would have been predetermined.
This academy has two wishes, one of which is relatively simple: to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty and restore the Han rule.
This wish is actually quite easy to fulfill. In the chaotic late Yuan Dynasty, uprisings were happening everywhere. All you need to do is participate, and as time goes by, the Yuan Dynasty will naturally come to an end.
The second wish was rather disappointing; it was to achieve the highest honors in all three levels of the imperial examinations.
However, this is actually normal for a scholar; achieving the highest honors in all three levels of the imperial examinations can be said to be the dream of every scholar in ancient times.
There's a poem that goes like this: "The sordid past is nothing to boast about, today's boundless grace is immeasurable; riding high on the spring breeze, I see all the flowers of Chang'an in a single day."
This poem vividly depicts one of the ultimate dreams of ancient scholars.
Songyang Academy was the closest large academy to Li Boyang after he transmigrated. He originally came here to study, but after a long talk with the academy's instructors, he ended up becoming one of the academy's teachers.
So be it, I'll just supplement my knowledge base anyway, I can learn on my own.
Half a year passed in the blink of an eye, and Li Boyang had a general understanding that this world was not the end of the Yuan Dynasty in history. This world had experts in the Qi Refining Realm and various magical internal skills.
After recalling his memories, Li Boyang confirmed that this dream world was indeed the Wudang world. Amazing! (=)
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Chapter 76 The Grand Show Begins
In just six months, Li Boyang has become a scholar in the Yuan Dynasty.
Liu Bowen can be considered Li Boyang's greatest gain from his visit to Songyang Academy.
Li Boyang took great care in teaching Liu Bowen, not only imparting his experience as the head of Baozhilin, but also occasionally giving him private lessons, explaining his insights that were hundreds of years ahead of his time.
As for the purpose of teaching Liu Bowen, it was actually very simple: to hasten the demise of the Yuan Dynasty.
He doesn't intend to personally overthrow the Yuan Dynasty this time; he'll train Liu Bowen, and using that manpower will be enough to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty.
As Liu Bowen's teacher, I can naturally be considered to have participated in the process of fulfilling his wish.
Liu Bowen truly lived up to his reputation as a master strategist; his ability to absorb information was terrifying, and he could apply what he learned to other situations.