Chapter 14: Raising a Son

  Kangxi was on an inspection tour outside the Great Wall, but along the way, he issued edicts continuously, frequently transferring and appointing officials in key departments in various places and the capital. As for the appointment and transfer of officials, Yin Zhen had always been quite neglectful, but the edict on July 21 caught his attention.

  On the twenty-first day of July, Qi Shi Wu was appointed as the Minister of Justice, Yin Tai as the Governor-General of Sichuan and Shaanxi, Ge Li as the Governor-General of Jiangnan and Jiangxi, Jiang Qi as the Provincial Military Commander of Gansu, and Shi Yi De as the Provincial Military Commander of Jiangnan.

  After reading the imperial edict, Yin Zhen felt a wave of depression. Gao Li was appointed as the Governor-General of the Two Rivers, and this guy was notorious for his greed. As for Shi Yide, Yin Zhen didn't have much impression of him, only remembering that he was promoted to Deputy General two years ago and served as the Commander-in-Chief of Tianjin, and now he was promoted again to be the Commander-in-Chief of Jiangnan, apparently a favorite of the Emperor.

  Gaoli was on the side of Ba Ge during last year's Crown Prince incident, but Shi Yi De didn't understand the situation and was about to leave for Jiangning. What is the deep meaning behind Kangxi's arrangement?

  When an official is sent out of the capital, he should normally have an audience with the emperor, but since Kangxi was not in the capital, this was naturally waived. However, it was unavoidable for a group of officials to bid farewell, which was also an opportunity to openly receive gifts.

  Yuan Zhen thought for a moment, it's better not to send gifts. Those brothers are all like sharp people, if they send gifts, they might guess that they will go to Jiangnan immediately. This matter is still temporarily hidden, besides, with this identity, it's better to have less contact with officials to avoid being talked about.

  Yuan Zheng was self-cultivating when suddenly outside the door, Hai Feng's voice rang out, "Hai Feng pays his respects to Young Master Fourteen."

  "Come in." Yinzhen said lazily.

  Hai Feng came in with a joyful expression, "Congratulations, Fourteenth Master. The private school in Da'er Hutong has been renovated and more than ten Western missionaries have arrived. The children have also moved in. I beg the Fourteenth Master to instruct me, can we start classes now?"

  This is good news, and Yong Zheng asked excitedly: "How many children are there?"

  There are one hundred and twenty-two in total.

  Although it was different from what he had expected, there were 122 of them, and Yin Zhen was satisfied. He smiled and said, "Well, not bad, let's go take a look."

  Just out of the hospital, Yun Zhen looked at Hai Feng again, "Has Grandpa asked you to find someone to make a blackboard and chalk?"

  "Done." Haifeng nodded, "Those missionaries and the few porters liked it very much, all praising the method you thought of as good, only that chalk was a bit disappointing, easy to break."

  Chalk is easy to break, that's the ratio of plaster and limestone powder not adjusted well, this ratio also can't remember, had to instruct Haifeng, "You let the person who makes chalk do a few more times, make out not easy to break reward him a few taels of silver."

  Yin Zhen and his entourage arrived at Da'er Hutong, where the missionaries and the Confucian scholars came out to greet them. To Yin Zhen's surprise, Min Mingyi also rushed over. Upon seeing Yin Zhen, Min Mingyi led the way in performing a courtesy ritual, which the group of clumsy missionaries followed suit.

  Yuan Zhen Lang laughed loudly and said: "No need for courtesy, please get up." Then he entered the private school under the support of the crowd.

  The private school was rebuilt according to Yongzheng's plan, the dormitories of the missionaries and the students as well as the miscellaneous servants were all separate, the children's dormitory and classroom were also independent and separate. Especially the classroom, not only did it have glazed tiles on the roof, but it also had windows open on both sides, and the lighting was quite good. After a tour, Yongzheng felt that it was already taking shape as a school, except that due to the terrain, the students' activity area was a bit small.

  Overjoyed, Yin Zhen wrote a horizontal inscribed board for the private school - Hopeful Academy, and left his own seal at the end. This was to prevent some unscrupulous minor officials from causing trouble when he was not in the capital. Later, he began to divide classes and arrange courses like later generations' primary schools. After finishing the arrangements, Minming led a group of missionaries to leave first, while several examinees stayed behind.

  Hai Feng was also quick-witted, seeing the situation, he immediately introduced these six young men one by one. These six young men were mostly in their twenties, namely Ding Shan, Pan Xiang, Bai Ziyun, Wu Anbang, Yang Min and Song Shifan. The six of them couldn't help but greet each other again.

  Yin Zhen was about to offer some words of comfort, but Yang Min stood up straight and said in a loud voice: "Thanks to the kindness of the 14th Master, the six students can have a place to settle down in the capital. This Hope Academy is full of novelty and is very suitable for reading. However, there is one thing that is not clear in my heart, and I hope the 14th Master can dispel my doubts."

  It turned out to be a loudmouth, and Yong Zheng secretly smiled, but also admired his boldness. A scholar dared to speak freely in front of him, the Beizi master. He said calmly: "Yang Min, is it? What doubts do you have, speak up."

  Yang Min did not show any weakness, and with his head held high, he said: "I don't understand why the fourteenth master allowed those foreign devils to teach these children. Our country's learning is profound and vast, isn't it enough for these children to learn?"

  Yuan Zhen smiled and said: "The national learning is indeed profound, but Western learning also has its own strengths. Why not learn from both and make the best of it?"

  Yang Min immediately retorted, "Please forgive a student's ignorance, I don't see what's special about Western learning."

  "You are arrogant, narrow-minded and self-important, unaware of your own ignorance." Yinzhen did not expect this guy to retort without hesitation, and his anger flared up instantly. After a severe reprimand, he knew that he couldn't crush the spirits of these scholars, who might stir up more trouble in the academy. So, he asked: "You are also well-read in poetry and books, claiming to know everything about heaven and earth. Then I ask you, can you do land surveying and mapping? Can you draw a map of our Qing dynasty's territory? Can you even draw a map of one prefecture or county? Can you create a hydrological map of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers? How much do you know about astronomy and calendar systems? Do you know why a solar eclipse occurs? Do you know how a lunar eclipse forms? Do you know why earthquakes happen? Do you know how big the world is? Do you know what shape the Earth is? Do you know where our Qing dynasty is located on this Earth?"

  Facing Yong Zhen's rapid-fire questioning, not only Yang Min and several other candidates, but also Hai Feng on the side were stunned. Although they had read books for so many years, they really couldn't answer these questions, and some hadn't even heard of them before.

  Yang Min still didn't give up and muttered in protest: "Can those missionaries really answer that?"

  The Master said, "When three people are walking together, there must be one who can be my teacher. Choose the good ones and follow them, and change the bad ones. Why can't you learn from them? In your spare time, communicate with missionaries more often, it will be beneficial."Yong Zheng slowed down his tone and said seriously: "Be humble and benefit, be proud and lose. Don't think that after reading a few books of Four Books and Five Classics, you can look down on others. Our China is vast, with a history of five thousand years, our culture is brilliant, and no one can surpass us. However, the Western countries, which you call 'foreign devils', have caught up with us, not only have they caught up, but in terms of astronomy, geography, physics, etc., they have begun to surpass us."

  Do you know why they are making progress so fast? Four words, negation and innovation! They dare to negate the conclusions of their predecessors and innovate, putting forward their own insights. Although they were ridiculed, mocked, beaten, and even brutally persecuted, they did not retreat and continued to prove their insights with facts.

  But what about us? We don't know how to explore or innovate, and we don't have the courage to negate the conclusions of our predecessors. We are limited to one corner, blindly reading books, without any flexibility, only indulging in the brilliant civilization created by our ancestors, completely unaware that we are in a great era of change that has not been seen in 3,000 years.

  These missionaries have traveled across the ocean from forty thousand miles away to our great Qing, what did they bring? Maps, globes, sextants, and telescopes. Don't tell me about **techniques**, these things are all instruments that can be widely used for military and astronomical purposes, with very practical value.

  Do you know why I let these children learn English and French from a young age? Do you know why I named this private school Hope Academy? It's because I hope that when they grow up, they can be like these missionaries, leave the Qing Dynasty, open their eyes to see the world, and go to Western countries to learn their most advanced knowledge.

  You only see these missionaries coming to our Great Qing to spread their cultural knowledge, but you don't know that they have forbidden us from learning the two crucial subjects of analytical geometry and calculus.