Do you know: I, a commoner prime minister

Chapter 76 Hu Yuan, the Chief Clerk

Several days passed in a flash, and everyone submitted the articles that Hu Yuan had asked them to write.

Hu Yuan spent two days reading through the articles, praising Zhou An and Guan Yan highly, but not mentioning any of the other articles.

Other people's articles are too conservative, with many concerns, and they dare not touch on some sensitive topics.

During this time, Zhou An gradually adapted to Hu Yuan's teaching style.

Hu Yuan's teaching was strict but not demanding; he didn't teach the Four Books and Five Classics at all.

In his words, when they entered school, they had already learned what they were supposed to learn, such as the Four Books and Five Classics; the rest they had to figure out on their own.

No matter how much others teach you, it's still theirs. Only by figuring it out yourself can you achieve a significant breakthrough in your thinking.

Hu Yuan mainly taught texts like "Guanzi: Light and Heavy Chapters", "Discourses on Salt and Iron", and "Essentials of Governance in the Zhenguan Era".

In addition, they will be given explanations of the advantages and disadvantages of the systems of different dynasties.

Many students complained bitterly about his teaching methods, and if it weren't for Hu Yuan's reputation and status, some might have even started a disturbance.

These kinds of books, if described in modern terms, are all extracurricular reading materials.

The teachers who used to teach them would only mention these things occasionally, and would not make them the main focus of their lessons.

They read them privately and don't waste too much time and energy on these books.

If Hu Yuan had simply taught normally, that would have been fine. But every few days, he would choose a topic from the material he had taught and have them write an essay on it.

This forced them to study these things seriously and to work hard to supplement their knowledge in private.

Not only is it hard work, but they don't even have time to study the Four Books and Five Classics.

You have to understand that their goal was to pass the imperial examinations. How could they pass the imperial examinations if they didn't study the Four Books and Five Classics?

However, Zhou An and those sons of officials were not among these people.

Zhou An felt that Hu Yuan was very pragmatic and taught things that were truly useful.

The imperial examinations of today are not like those of the Ming and Qing dynasties, where studying the Four Books and Five Classics and memorizing the eight-legged essay was enough.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the imperial examination essays had to be written in the format of the eight-legged essay, with the topics being the Four Books and Five Classics. They had to be interpreted according to Zhu Xi's "Collected Annotations on the Four Books," speaking on behalf of the sages and refraining from using later allusions or personal interpretations.

All you need to do is study the Four Books and Five Classics diligently and thoroughly research the "Collected Annotations on the Four Books".

Even if you have deeper insights or other viewpoints, it's not acceptable.

However, the imperial examination questions and answers in the Great Zhou Dynasty were relatively lenient and did not have such strict restrictions.

By the time the imperial examinations were held, the questions were almost all related to systems, current affairs, and laws.

The things Hu Yuan taught were almost mandatory for all candidates. Only those who had taken the imperial examinations and were relatively intelligent could truly understand the importance of learning them.

Many commoners fail the imperial examinations repeatedly, largely because they know how to answer questions, mainly relying on the words of sages from the Four Books and Five Classics.

For example, the question might ask how to bring peace and stability to the people.

When answering questions, test takers will first list relevant statements from the Four Books and Five Classics, and then use some good examples from various dynasties as supporting evidence.

As for how to actually do it, there's practically nothing.

No matter how beautiful the vocabulary used, in the eyes of the examiner, such an essay is devoid of substance.

But those students had no choice; that was what they mainly studied.

The examination papers for the metropolitan examination were all burned after the imperial examination ended and were not circulated.

They can't see the essays of those who passed the exam, so they don't understand where their problems lie.

Some people are smart; they might figure out the problem after experiencing a failure once.

Some people may need several attempts, and those who can't figure it out will keep failing the exam.

But once those people figure it out, they won't make it public.

Since they haven't passed the exam yet, if everyone knew, it would only increase their competition.

Once they passed the exam, they would definitely not announce it. After all, this was so that their descendants could have an advantage in the imperial examinations.

It is precisely because of this unspoken understanding that it has become a secret that is not a secret at all.

Of course, some people are selfless and disclose this information to the public, but most people simply don't believe it.

The reason is simple: such selfless individuals are only a minority, and very few people believe in them.

Zhou An learned about this from Hai Simian when he was studying in Jinling.

Zhou An felt that Hu Yuan's teaching was very practical. He knew the importance of studying these books, so he only taught those.

Don't those teachers in the county and state schools know this?

They actually know, but why are they unwilling to teach?

The first reason, as mentioned earlier, is essentially a form of disguised monopoly.

Another important reason is that after Emperor Wu of Han dismissed all other schools of thought, the mainstream books studied by scholars were the Four Books and Five Classics.

This is like telling students that textbooks are not important, but extracurricular reading is.

The problem is that Confucianism has a very special status, and they are all beneficiaries of it, so no one is willing to bear the infamy of undermining Confucianism.

Secondly, when they took the imperial examinations, they may have specifically studied those books in order to pass with flying colors.

But after they passed the exam, most of them abandoned their studies and went on to study Confucianism.

Because Confucianism could bring them fame and fortune, while those books could not.

Even if they teach, they might not teach well.

Wouldn't that be like shooting yourself in the foot?

It is precisely because of the combination of various factors that the current situation has been formed.

Hu Yuansong's approach was to move his morning classes earlier and his afternoon classes later when the weather got hot.

A class will not last too long, avoiding the hottest two or three hours.

Half a month after Zhou An returned to Tongzhou, news came from Bianjing.

Lu Wang, the Commissioner of Revenue, submitted a memorial stating that there were serious problems with the accounts of the Salt and Iron Bureau and requested a thorough investigation of the salt administration.

This proposal received the support of Han Da Xiang Gong and Fu Xiang Gong, among others.

However, due to opposition from many in the court, the emperor did not make a decision in court that day.

For a time, the question of whether a thorough investigation into the problems in the salt industry was necessary became a hot topic of discussion.

Many people suddenly realized what was going on when they thought of the article that Hu Yuan had asked them to write before.

Hu Yuan immediately turned his attention to Zhou An and Guan Yan, because only their articles had been praised by Hu Yuan at that time.

Zhou An was brought to the school by Hu Yuan, while Guan Yan was the son of the prefect. In their view, the two must have known something in advance.

Zhou An didn't care about these stares; they had indeed taken advantage of a loophole.

But Hu Yuan was well aware that if the two writers' articles were not well-written, why would she deliberately praise them?

Another month later, news came from Bianjing that the Emperor had agreed to a thorough investigation of the salt administration and had entrusted the task to Minister Fu personally.

The affairs of the imperial court were too far removed from Zhou An's life, and the investigation into the salt administration would not yield results in a short time, so he did not pay much attention to them.

Before we knew it, August had arrived.

Early that morning, Zhou An arrived at the academy and waited for a while before Guan Yan's carriage arrived.

"De Kuan!"

When Zhou An saw him get out of the car, he smiled and greeted him, but then noticed that his expression was a little off.

"What's wrong?"

"Huai De, last night an imperial edict came from Bianjing, appointing Scholar Hu as Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince and summoning him back to the capital."

"Um?"

Zhou An was taken aback and said, "Hasn't His Majesty not yet appointed a Crown Prince?"