Chapter Fifty-two Earthquake

  Outside, many people gathered to discuss the ten scholars, some saying they had forgotten their gratitude and others suggesting that they should be forgiven this once, as they were all from the same village.

  Zhao Kuangyi didn't speak, and Song Jiu also didn't speak. His face was unpredictable, probably thinking too. Behind the ten students, some relatives were crying and begging, before Song Jiu finally spoke up: "You can spare them, but during the graduation exam, you must deduct a hundred points."

  "Song Jiuzi, haven't you heard the story of Lian Po and the gate guest?"

  "Dr. Yan, without rules, it's hard to achieve perfection."

  "That's right, it's one hundred percent."

  "What's with the hundred percent?" Zhao Kuangyi asked in surprise.

  Dr. Zhang explained on the side, ten students left, Song Jiuxian was very disappointed, and thus established a graduation certificate and completion certificate system, but what kind of score would be required to graduate, Song Jiuxian only announced yesterday. Now six courses are taught: classics, arithmetic, accounting, civil law, material science, and practical skills, each with 100 points. Zhang Yan disagreed, thinking that the classics score was too low, the three argued for a while, setting the classics and arithmetic at 200 points to show their importance, practical skills mainly focused on material science and accounting, so they cancelled the substitution of material science and accounting, material science had 140 points, accounting had 160 points, civil law had 100 points. This was the result of haggling, if two doctors were to decide, civil law would not have been given 140 points, but Song Jiuxian decided that material science could have 200 points, while classics couldn't even get 200 points.

  Six subjects exam changed to five subjects exam, with a total score of 800 points. You must get at least 550 points to pass, and only then can you receive the graduation certificate. If not, there are only two options: either choose to graduate with a completion certificate or stay in school for another year.

  Don't think it's easy, Song Jiu himself said that only 60-70% of students will be able to graduate smoothly in the end. The remaining ones may not pass. These ten students who were bought out by merchants were all high-scoring students in previous exams. As long as they continue to work hard in the future, it's not too difficult to graduate. But if 100 points are deducted, then you must score 650 points, which increases the difficulty, and it's possible that only 60% will pass.

  Dr. Zhang also brought a test paper for Zhao Kuanyi to see.

  This was first worked out by Song Jiuxian, mainly for arithmetic. Later, two doctors saw it and thought it was good, so they took it and applied it to the study of classics, ink, poetry, fu, strategy, and theory, each with a certain proportion. Song Jiuxian then compiled several subjects into an examination paper, from time to time conducting a test to gauge the bottom line.

  There is only one drawback, it's a hassle to produce the exam papers. Four people can finish producing the exam papers, and then two doctoral students will take them back to the inner city for copying by scholars. With printing, the cost of engraving and printing is too high. Song Jiuzhou also considered movable-type printing, but at this time, only positive and negative casting are feasible, and the casting technology can barely pass. The key lies in the adhesive and ink. To develop it requires a lot of effort. For just over 100 copies of exam papers, even with copper movable type setting, it's not worth it. Therefore, each time an exam paper is produced, it costs a significant amount of money. If all subjects are tested, the scholars' salaries, stationery, and ink will cost at least six or seven taels of silver.

  Zhao Kuangyi listened quietly, and his impression of Song Jiu changed slightly in his heart. Although he was greedy, when it came to using money, he didn't hesitate; could this young man really have remembered those words: a gentleman loves wealth, but takes it by proper means?

  Dr. Yan and Song Jiu were still arguing in a low voice.

  Zhao Kuangyi remained silent, he had heard about some of Song Jiu's educational methods. Song Jiu's education emphasized humanization, while the two doctors were rational educators. Now, Yan Doctor wanted to handle this matter in a humanized way, while Song Jiu handled it in a rational way. In his heart, Zhao Kuangyi agreed with Song Jiu's approach. The imperial court had its own rules and regulations, and even though the school was small, it also needed rules and regulations. Not accepting them would be inappropriate, and letting them return easily would not be good either. If they were not severely punished, in the future, they would come and go as they pleased, which would not be beautiful.

  The imperial younger brother is here, and continuing to argue will inevitably leave a bad impression on the imperial younger brother. Dr. Zhang learned from Yu Ping, acting as a peacemaker, everyone retreated one step, and was fined 50 points.

  Then there was another change, originally the two doctoral students had divided the classes well, but this time, class A had more students again, so they had to let a few students return to class B. Moreover, with one move, all the tables and chairs had to be moved again, it took a while to settle down.

  Zhao Kuangyi moved a chair over and sat down casually by the door. Song Jiu had interacted with him several times before, so he slowly regained his composure, but Xuezhi was not able to, even though Zhao was just sitting by the door, his powerful aura still intimidated Xuezhi into silence.

  Song Jiudao: "Get up."

  The students stood up together and said: "Good morning, sir."

  "Bow to His Majesty King II and ask for his well-being."

  The students bowed to Zhao Kuangyi and then said in unison: "Greetings, Your Majesty."

  "No need for the formalities," Zhao Kuangyi said, but in his heart he thought that this method was good. When he was young and saw his private school teacher, he would also ask how they were doing, but not as neatly as now. Not only could it show respect to the teacher and the way, but also make the students focus their minds.

  Song Jiubai ignored what he thought and said: "Sit down."

  The students sat down together, and Song Jiu called out the names of the ten new students, letting them walk up to the stage. He said to them: "These students are your seniors, you should pay respects to them and ask for their guidance."

  Ten students from Hebei followed suit, possibly nervous and not as uniform as before. Song Jiu didn't blame them, looking at the older students sitting below, he said: "The way of the master is loyalty, integrity, filial piety, and brotherly love; loyalty to the monarch and love for the country, being kind to others and strict with oneself, respecting parents and loving younger brothers. You are the seniors, you are the elders, they are the juniors, so you should take care of them even more."

  Little effect, no one uttered a sound.

  Song Jiuyou frowned slightly, and continued: "The establishment of the book house is thanks to two things. Firstly, it's due to the hard work and savings of the laborers in Hebei, and secondly, it's because of the imperial court. Without the imperial court, you wouldn't have your parents' and relatives' happy times, and without the imperial court's support, you wouldn't have the books in your hands, or the brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones you use. There wouldn't be Zhang Doctor or Yan Doctor either. You should thank the imperial court, and some of you will be reused by the imperial court. You can't hold onto regional prejudices anymore; both Hebei and Henan are children of the Great Song, and citizens of the capital city. That's why the two princes have selected ten students from Hebei to study with you together, which is a breakthrough in resolving the discord between the people of Hebei and Henan. Do you understand what I mean?"

  This time several people answered, and it was also because Zhao Kuangyi was sitting at the door that they dared to answer.

  Song Ji couldn't help but scratch his head, and then looked at Zhao Kuangyi again. Suddenly, he thought of "ping" (peace), and since being soft didn't work, he decided to be tough. He said: "I have one more thing to announce. From now on, you two rivers are not allowed to have any conflicts. If any student bullies or beats up these ten students from the North River, they will be deducted 50 graduation exam points. Those who insult them will be deducted 40 points. At the same time, five students will be selected every day to escort and pick up at Bian Bridge. If other students from the river beat up those being escorted, the escorts will be deducted 30 points. If other students from the river insult those being escorted, they will be deducted 20 points."

  Zhao Kuangyi knew what was going on and silently agreed that this method was good, and his worries were reduced by half.

  But in the hearts of Heshang Middle School students, there was a mournful cry.

  Song Jiuzai personally appointed several students to deliberately guide these ten new students in the evening, as they arrived late and it was impossible to let more than 60 students move down together from the beginning. They could only follow others in the evening to start from the basics and gradually catch up with the progress through supplementary lessons.

  After finishing the instructions, he let the ten new students go back and sit down.

  The class begins.

  The students gradually became less tense and began asking questions as usual. Song Jiu also patiently answered, even raising one question to refute three, letting the questioning student and other students think.

  This teaching method seems really good, Zhao Kuangyi surprisingly listened to a class with relish and even understood some of the content.

  Song Jiuyi was not very satisfied with this school, not only the examination papers, but also the desks and chairs, which were all brought by the students themselves, were not standardized. There were too many students in each classroom, and now ten more students have been squeezed in, making it even more crowded. Except for the classics, there was no textbook, and the classics were precisely what Song Jiuyi disliked the most. Was he really going to study the Nine Classics? However, letting him write his own book would be difficult, not to mention the cost of printing. Especially when it came to the material aspects, he had only casually written a rough outline and then improvised according to the students' progress. This was clearly also an unstandardized education.

  Of course, Zhao Kuangyi did not see it.

  After one class was over, the students began to be free and easy, but because Zhao Kuangyi was there, they were all a bit restrained. Zhao Kuangyi also felt it himself, so he reminded them of a few things before leaving, as there were still many matters waiting for him to deal with in Kaifeng Prefecture.

  The commotion caused by Song Ji's open-air education gradually subsided, but there were still many people coming to watch, which invisibly increased the pressure on the officials of Kaifeng County. However, this education aroused great interest among some high-ranking officials, and finally someone proposed that the imperial court establish a Taixue as Song Ji had suggested.

  It's a proposal, how to do it, what system, where the address is located, and so on, are all particular about it. That is the imperial court school, not Song Jiuxian's private school, can't be sloppy. Even if it's settled, thinking of getting on the horse in one or two years' time is also impossible.

  Zhao Kuangyi still instructed people to secretly observe, and the news kept feeding back to him, saying that Song Jiu led twenty students to buy many things and enter that strange new house one after another. After closing the door, nothing could be seen. Several plainclothes officers wanted to sneak in and take a look, but that house was too shabby, who dared to climb over? It's just unknown what connection these things have with opening up mines. Next, the three summer vacation periods at the academy ended, and Song Jiu and the two doctors quarreled again. If the three of them didn't argue for a few days, that would be a miracle, and the students had long been accustomed to it as natural. Finally, they reached a compromise, the class time was advanced by half an hour, the delayed homework must be made up next year, originally the graduation exam could be held in March, but now it's not possible, the graduation exam can only be held at the end of April, so that students can learn more things. The two doctors took a large group of students to the river embankment to teach, Song Jiu took twenty students to the new house to toss around, and sometimes called other students over to help. This point the two doctors did not dare to oppose, it was for doing things for the imperial court.

  After more than a dozen days, the scorching heat gradually subsided, and at least it was cool in the morning and evening. Song Jiu would occasionally set off firecrackers in that new house, which were of good quality and quite loud. This made things even stranger. As the first month's deadline approached, Zhao Kuangyi felt a bit anxious and couldn't help but ask the yamen runner about Song Jiu's expression. The yamen runner replied that Song Jiu seemed busy and didn't show any signs of tension or worry, only returning home after dark every day. Of course, he couldn't cook for himself, so he would go to his elder sister's wine shop with Zhu San and the others to scrounge for food. Moreover, no one knew what he was doing inside, but every time he came out, his face and those of the other students were all blackened. Zhao Kuangyi could only suppress his curiosity and wait quietly for news.

  After a few more days, he was handling official documents when he heard the yamen report that Song Jiu had invited many generals to go hunting on the riverbank. Zhao Kuangyi smiled slightly - the hunt was just an excuse, and Song Jiu's prey wasn't the wild pheasants and rabbits, but these generals themselves. Whether or not they would be caught depended on Song Jiu's abilities. Suddenly, a loud explosion shook the ground, seemingly coming from underground. Unlike thunder, which often occurred but came from above, this explosion seemed to come from beneath their feet. As the sound faded away, the houses seemed to shake and tremble.

  There was an earthquake.

  Zhao Kuangyi's first reaction was shock, and his second reaction was also shock. He hastily escaped from the Kaifeng Prefecture and stood on the main street. Not only him, but all the citizens of the capital city ran out of their homes, discussing in a daze.

  "Your Highness, what's going on?" Liu Yue asked in surprise.

  "I didn't know that."

  Not only the common people, but also the imperial palace was shaken. Zhao Kuangyin was shocked and hastily sent a eunuch to Kaifeng Prefecture with an order, instructing Zhao Kuangyi to dispatch officials to investigate what had happened. Just as Zhao Kuangyi was about to send someone to make the rounds, two imperial guards on duty at the East Water Gate suddenly rode up on horseback and dismounted, saying loudly: "Reporting to the prefect, Song Ji, Song Ji has caused an earthquake in the capital."

  "Nonsense!" Zhao Kuangyi said in a harsh tone. An earthquake is such a big deal, it's a disaster sent down by heaven, or as that painting by Song Jiu imagined, it's the result of huge blocks of earth moving, it's the power of nature, not human power. This is seditious talk to deceive the masses.

  "Your Highness, it's true! Song Jiu released something and then the capital city had an earthquake."