Chapter 366 Brand

Chang'an.

No. 1 Imperial Examination Hall.

Today is the last day of classes for the first batch of students.

During these five days, Li Nuo has provided special tutoring for each of their weak subjects and expanded their strong subjects.

He evenly spread calligraphy, painting, music, charioteering, and archery over five days, but the last hour of each day remains unchanged.

The students did not find this strange.

Among the six arts, the book subject has the most weight, and it is the first day of the exam. If you fail the book subject, you will be eliminated directly, and no matter how good you are in other subjects, you will have no place to use them.

After Li Nuo finished the last chapter of the classics, he stood in front of the blackboard, looked at the hundreds of students below, and said: "Today's class ends here."

The students looked up at him with respect in their eyes.

During these five days, whether it was knowledge or personality charm, they were deeply impressed by this gentleman who was younger than most of them.

Li Nuo swept his eyes over their faces one by one and said, "Before get out of class ends, I want to ask you a question."

He paused before speaking again: "Why do you study for the imperial examination?"

The classroom was quiet for a moment, and then voices answered one after another.

"To become an official."

"To cultivate oneself."

"To stand out."

"To establish achievements and serve the country!"

"To..."

...

The students gave different answers. Li Nuo looked at them and asked, "Then what?"

After the words fell, the classroom fell into a long silence.

Some people hesitated and couldn't speak, while some people thought for a long time and couldn't come up with a reason.

Looking back, they were arranged by their families to study the six arts since they were young, so that they could pass the imperial examination and become the best people in the future. They have always subconsciously believed so.

But today, sitting in this classroom, the teacher's "then what" almost made everyone confused.

No matter how high-sounding the reasons are, in the final analysis, isn't studying for the imperial examination just for becoming an official?

Then what?

These three simple words touch the soul.

"To promote Confucianism."

"To make the people live a good life."

"To govern the country and bring peace to the world."

...

The first to answer were a few students with a righteous face, while the rest of the students either bowed their heads and kept silent, or turned their heads and looked around with wandering eyes.

It's not that they can't say anything, but their answers are not easy to say in this atmosphere.

Others are for governing the country and bringing peace to the world, for promoting Confucianism, and for benefiting the people. They can't say that they are for making money, for tax exemption, for being superior, for having the power to control the fate of others...

Some things, even if they are facts, cannot be said openly.

Moreover, after five days of study, some of their original ideas in their hearts have also been shaken a little.

Everyone was talking at once. When the atmosphere eased a little, a young student stood up, looked at the figure in front of the blackboard, and asked, "Sir, what is the purpose of our study?"

All the students looked at him.

The person asking was named Chen Qi, a student of Qingfeng Academy. Although he came from a humble family, he was proficient in the six arts and was very balanced in all subjects. He was quite famous among the students in Chang'an.

Li Nuo smiled lightly and said, "Being an official, cultivating oneself, or making achievements, governing the country and pacifying the world, everyone has their own answer in their hearts, and no one can tell you why..."

He glanced at everyone again and said, "As a teacher and student, I have nothing to give you when we part, so I will give you a few words."

After that, he turned around and wrote a few lines on the blackboard with chalk.

Then, he threw the chalk on the podium, clapped his hands, and said, "All the courses are over here. I hope to see you all in the court in the near future--class dismissed."

"Farewell, sir!"

All the students stood up and bowed to him.

Li Nuo walked out of the classroom, but no one followed him out. Their eyes were all looking at the blackboard, where the teacher gave them the last motto.

His words were vigorous and powerful, and even with that strange white stone pen, it could make people feel extremely pleasing to the eye.

Looking at those lines of words, the classroom was quiet, with only the sound of gradually becoming rapid breathing.

They often say to cultivate oneself, manage the family, govern the country and bring peace to the world, establish virtue, establish merit, establish words..., these are the requirements of the saints for Confucian disciples. They have been saying it since the first day of school, and have been saying it for more than ten years. Now, they have no feeling in their hearts.

But these words on the blackboard, just a glance at them, made their scalps numb and blood rushed to the top of their heads.

Establish a heart for heaven and earth.

Establish a life for the people.

Inherit the lost knowledge for the saints.

Open peace for the world!

No scholar could suppress his inner impulse when seeing these words.

Everyone stared at these words in a daze, their thoughts fluctuating for a long time.

Outside the classroom, Li Nuo hid in a place where no one could see him. He used all his power, sweat rolled down his forehead, trying to carve this mark deeply into their consciousness at the last moment.

I don't know how long it took.

Chen Tieniu was the first to walk out of the Gongyuan. Standing at the gate of the Gongyuan, he looked at the bustling crowd on the street and breathed a sigh of relief.

In two days, he spent two hundred taels of silver just to attend a two-hour class.

He had never had such complicated feelings in his heart.

If you are poor, you should take care of yourself; if you are rich, you should help the world.

Worry about the world before you worry about yourself, and be happy after the world is happy.

Everyone has to die, some are heavier than Mount Tai, some are lighter than a feather.

Establish a heart for heaven and earth, establish a life for the people, inherit the lost knowledge of the past sages, and open peace for all generations.

Even if he is not a scholar, when he hears these words, he can't help but feel a little palpitation in his heart.

In the past, he only thought about making money and enjoying himself. After his son became a high official, he made more money, bought more land, hired more servants, and moved to a bigger house, but in the past two days, he has been thinking about a question.

How should a person spend his life?

If he lives like this for a lifetime, when he is old, will his death be heavier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather?

I'm afraid it's lighter than a feather.

Establishing a heart for heaven and earth, establishing a life for the people, inheriting the lost knowledge of the past saints, and creating peace for the world... He couldn't do any of these, but he had to do something, otherwise how could he prove that he, Chen Tieniu, had survived this?

Recalling that when he left his hometown, the villagers, even though they couldn't eat enough themselves, still gave him three taels of silver for travel expenses.

At that time, Chen Tieniu promised them that when he got rich, he would take them with him.

But he broke his promise.

After he got rich, he forgot about his fellow villagers and never returned to Chenjia Village.

Back then, he often cursed the black-hearted landlord in private with other tenants.

More than 20 years have passed, and he has become the most annoying person back then.

I'm afraid that many people also cursed him behind his back.

At this time, other students came out of the Imperial Examination Hall one after another.

Their expressions were a little dazed. Like Chen Tieniu, they stood in front of the Imperial Examination Hall, looking at the busy streets, and stood for a long time.

The streets were crowded with people. Skinny beggars, half-dressed, huddled in the corners. A nobleman with a golden hairpin and a jade pendant on his waist sat on a sedan chair carried by four people, teasing a cat slave in a gold-embroidered robe in his arms.

Two noble ladies in beautiful dresses, accompanied by maids, walked out of a gold shop, talking and laughing, showing each other their expensive jewelry. A woman in coarse cloth, holding rotten vegetable leaves in her arms, passed by them and couldn't help looking back with an envious expression on her face...

The major restaurants were bustling with people, and the aroma of wine and meat filled the streets. Ten steps away, several skinny children swallowed a few mouthfuls of saliva secretly, then reached out to tidy up the straw inserted in their heads, which represented selling their bodies...

The young students looked at the sentient beings in front of them, and their eyes showed a thoughtful look.

This world should not be like this.

Scholars should establish their lives for the people. Of course, they also know that they don't have the ability now.

They will not be like those officials who used their lives to promote reforms in the past. The teacher said that if they are successful, they should benefit the world. They are not successful yet. What they need to do is to be self-sufficient and secretly accumulate strength...

When they have enough strength and can do those four sentences, if anyone dares to stop them, then kill them all...

Although the teacher did not say this directly, they understood what he meant.

There are also some people standing at the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall, their faces red and white.

They were born in aristocratic families, and they knew why they studied from birth.

The family provided them with education and taught them the six arts, naturally so that they could repay the family after they became officials and use the power in their hands to gain enough benefits for the family.

But at this moment, there seemed to be two villains in their minds.

One villain said that studying is to repay the family's cultivation.

Another villain said that reading is to establish a heart for heaven and earth, to establish a life for the people, to inherit the unique knowledge of the past saints, and to bring peace to the world...

The two villains quarreled endlessly in their minds, and neither could defeat the other.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Finally, under this torment, a young man from a noble family covered his head, knelt on the ground, and said in pain: "Ah, my head hurts so much!"

Ningxin Garden.

Li Nuo got off the carriage and rubbed his temple.

Although the Zongheng family has successfully broken through to the fifth level, the headache has not been relieved much. This kind of pain cannot be avoided even with the medical qi. It seems that the next class time will be postponed for another day.

In Ningxin Garden, Jiahe and An Ning were holding their children and basking in the sun by the lake.

All the maids and servants in Li Mansion and Ningxin Garden have received their indentures for free. Those who are willing to stay can continue to stay. The monthly wages they can get are generally several times higher than those outside.

Those who are unwilling to stay can also receive an additional resettlement fund.

The little girl from the Dongfang family came here again today.

Since she came here last time, she would come here to eat almost every two days, and she was already very familiar with Yiren Fenghuang and the others.

The house was quite lively today, and Song Yu and Yuanyang were also there.

The two came here to send wedding invitations to Li Nuo's family. The second uncle finally agreed to their marriage, and they were going to get married next month.

Song Yu's cultivation level was improved by one level a few days ago, and he entered the second level of military strategy.

Daxia was facing external threats, and the generals who had been silent for many years showed signs of gradual recovery. If nothing unexpected happened, he would definitely be reused in the army in the future.

After dinner, Li Nuo went back to his room to rest.

Only adequate sleep can eliminate mental fatigue.

In order to recover better, Li Nuo let himself fall into a deep sleep shortly after going to bed.

at the same time.

Zhongshu Province.

Somewhere in the government office.

The left prime minister did not review the memorial, but held a piece of paper, his hands trembling slightly, and the true energy in his body was surging.

Establish a mind for heaven and earth, establish a destiny for the living and the people, carry on the unique teachings of the past saints, and create peace for all generations.

As long as you can do one of the four sentences on the paper, you will die without regrets.

This is the real statement. From today on, these four sentences will surely become the lifelong pursuit of students all over the world.

This son has the appearance of a Confucian sage!

Shangshu Province.

There are also several pieces of paper on the table of the Right Prime Minister.

He picked up these pieces of paper and read them repeatedly. A rare smile appeared on his usually solemn face.

The same piece of paper appeared on the desks of many officials in Chang'an.

Jingzhao Mansion Office.

Pei Zhe stared at these four sentences blankly, his eyes gradually became hot, his breathing gradually became faster, and a force spread out of his body uncontrollably.

But before the breath came out, he took it back again.

After carefully concealing all his breath, he breathed a sigh of relief.

It is not a good thing to develop an awe-inspiring attitude when serving as an official in the court.

When most people do not have the spirit of awe-inspiringness, the owner becomes an outlier.

Ministry of Punishment.

Household Department.

Ministry of Rites.

Taichang Temple.

Guanglu Temple...

An official put away a piece of paper and tucked it deep into the pages of the book.

An official threw a piece of paper with four lines of words into the furnace and watched it turn to ashes in the flames, with an inexplicable smile on his face.

There was an official sitting in his seat, writing something on the table with his fingers, his eyes flashing with strange colors.

Dali Temple.

All the officials in the temple were discussing something.

In the government office, Li Xuanjing put down the paper in his hand and looked out the window, with relief and a hint of regret in his eyes...

…

Chang'an.

Establish a mind for heaven and earth, establish a destiny for the living and the people, carry on the unique teachings of the past saints, and create peace for all generations.

In the past few days, everyone from officials to common people are talking about these mottos given by Li Nuo, the top scholar in six subjects, to students all over the world.

These ordinary words didn't sound like anything to the common people.

But for those officials who have studied Confucian classics since childhood and are familiar with the thoughts of various sages, these four sentences can stir up the deepest throbbing in their hearts.

This is what readers should do!

Even the corrupt official couldn't help but feel his heart beat faster when he saw it for the first time, and he felt a little proud in his heart.

Of course, they are no longer just students, and they will not think about changing something just because of this excitement and pride. Ideals are always ideals, and no matter how noble their ideals are, they must bow to reality.

A restaurant somewhere.

In the elegant room, several figures took their seats one after another.

One of them looked around and asked doubtfully: "Why isn't Shopkeeper Chen here?"

The other person waved his hand and said, "Don't wait for him. I went to the Chen Mansion to invite him. He said he had something to do and wouldn't come. Let's have a drink!"

After three rounds of drinking, someone asked: "I heard that shopkeeper Chen exempted the tenants from three years of rent and also reduced their future land rents?"

Speaking of this person, everyone spoke one after another.

"Not only did he lower the land rent, I heard that he also raised wages for his servants and store clerks. The wages of Chen family servants and clerks are three times what they are outside. Many people are vying to work in their house!"

"I also heard that the servants of the Chen family can take six days off every month without any reason, and their wages are paid. These days are more comfortable than the adults in the court. Officials can't even take six days off in a month. …”

"Is Chen Tieniu crazy or stupid? Does the Chen family have too much money to spend?"

"Yes, all we need to do with those tenant farmers is to keep them from starving to death. Why treat them so well?"

"Isn't that right? The person surnamed Chen is designated to have green smoke coming out of his ancestral grave. He actually gave birth to such a good son. This little money is really nothing to him. When his son wins the Jinshi, he will be able to earn thousands of times more in the future. Earn back twice as much..."

"What's wrong with my son being great? My father is stupid. He doesn't make any money but gives it away to others..."

"Hahaha!"

Everyone laughed and the room was filled with joy.