Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 1004 Zhu Su Enrolls
"This is the Ming Dynasty's concession."

Li Cheng lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked at the city wall of Wuqu Port in front of him with some amazement. To be honest, the city wall of Wuqu Port was not very tall, only about two meters high, and the city gate was not very tall either. The cement-plastered city wall looked a bit bare, not as magnificent as the one built with blue bricks.

But it was only a few months since the Ming Dynasty began to build this concession port. In Annan, only some old cities left over from the Han and Tang dynasties and the capital city of Thang Long can be compared with such a wall.

In just a few months, the Ming Dynasty built such a magnificent city. Li Cheng was naturally amazed.

"The city is nothing but a dead thing, brother. We have no time to lament about these things." On the other side, Li Cang, who was cramming with a copy of the Spring and Autumn Annals, glanced at his brother, with a hint of contempt in his eyes.

"King Zhou is a great scholar in the Ming court. If he wants to accept a disciple, I think he wants to test us... Brother, you should review your studies more, so that you won't be unable to answer King Zhou's questions and lose face for your father."

"Oh, right." Li Cheng lowered the curtain as if waking up from a dream, smiled gratefully at his brother, and picked up a copy of Spring and Autumn Annals to read in the carriage. But before he had read for a while, his thoughts flew to the wall of Wuqu again.

"I heard that the Ming Dynasty used something called 'cement' to build the city walls. Moreover, they also improved the fire gun and made a loom that could spin wool..."

"If I become His Majesty King Zhou's disciple, will His Majesty King Zhou also teach us all these knowledge in Annan?"

Li Cang raised his eyes and saw his brother's face full of respect, and the contempt in his eyes was even stronger. He pretended to be casual and said lightly: "Strange skills and tricks are not worthy of being in the hall of elegance. We are here to learn the great principles of Confucianism."

"Brother, I will keep this secret from father. You'd better not tell anyone about it in the future... Otherwise, if father finds out, you will be blamed again."

Speaking of his father, Li Cheng was shocked again, and then he scratched his head with a lingering fear and said, "Yes, yes, I almost forgot again."

"Brother Cang, luckily you helped me keep it a secret from my father..."

Li Cang nodded, unwilling to pay any more attention to his brother, and turned to the driver on the shaft and said, "Please wait a minute."

"The earlier you arrive, the better impression you can leave in front of King Zhou. If you fail to make matters worse for the Li family, you will be in big trouble."

"Yes, yes, Second Young Master..." The driver whipped the horse quickly.

The rather large Li family convoy entered the gate of Wuqu City, attracting the attention of the people in the city. There were not many people settled in Wuqu City yet. Most of the people in the city were Han merchants, Yue merchants, and a group of Confucian scholars who came here because of their reputation. They were all people who had seen the world.

But when they saw the flag of the Li family, which had absolute power in Annan, they all moved aside, making the Li family seem quite grand.

There were still many open spaces in Wuqu Port, and the land was not very large. The first government office of the concession was built there, and it could be seen at the city gate. Li and his entourage walked along the wide cement street and headed straight for the government office. Zhou Wang Zhu Su, Nanyang Navy Commander Li Jinglong and other prominent figures of the Ming Dynasty were now staying in the government office.

Soon, the group arrived at the back of the government office. The government office here was built in imitation of the government office in the Ming Dynasty, and it was also in the same vein as the government office in Annan: the front was the government office where officials worked, and the backyard was a garden residence for the officials' families to live in.

Li Cang ordered the driver to drive the carriage straight here. As expected, unlike the main gate of the yamen, there was also a gate with red lacquer stone steps behind the yamen. However, this gate was closed, leaving only a side gate next to it, and there were soldiers guarding the gate. Obviously, this was the entrance to the garden where King Zhou and others lived.

The Li brothers got off the carriage with the help of the driver. On the other side, a soldier stepped forward and shouted, "This is the residence of His Majesty King Zhou."

"Don't stay here, leave immediately!"

"Trouble you." Li Cang smiled and walked past his brother Li Cheng in a few quick steps, saying, "General Shangguo, we are descendants of the Annan Li family."

"I have come here on my father's orders to present some gifts to Your Highness."

As he spoke, he pointed to the three carriages behind him.

The soldier frowned and said, "Your Highness has ordered that we do not meet with outsiders in private, nor accept gifts. You can go back now."

"General." Li Cang still had a smile on his face, not showing any sign of discouragement, and continued, "My father is the governor of Annan. When King Zhou first visited Annan, he also met my father."

"Now that I heard that the King of Zhou was recruiting many disciples, my father ordered my brother and I to come and worship the King of Zhou as his teacher... The things on the cart can be regarded as the tuition for my brother and me, not just ordinary gifts."

"Oh, so you two gentlemen want to become my disciples." The soldier suddenly realized. "In that case, you two have come to the wrong place."

"The academy where His Highness teaches is on the east side of this street. You two should just go straight ahead along this road."

"Well, can we first meet His Royal Highness King Zhou and at least give my two brothers the gifts..."

"Sorry, His Highness has ordered that no outside visitors are allowed today." The soldier said calmly, unmoved by Li Cang's words. "Besides, you two are not His Highness's disciples, so why would you want to pay me?"

"You two should go to the academy first and pass the exam first."

"Examination?" Li Cheng was stunned and asked blankly, "To be His Highness's disciple, do I still need to take an examination?"

"Of course." The soldier looked at the two brothers in luxurious clothes as if they were country bumpkins, and said calmly, "What kind of person is my prince? In the Ming Dynasty, those who want to worship my prince as a teacher can line up from the east to the west of Yingtian City... Anyone can become your prince's disciple, wouldn't that be a mess?"

"Entrance to the Imperial College of the Ming Dynasty requires an exam. What an honor it is to study with His Highness. If anyone could become his disciple, how could it be your turn, Annan people?"

Li Cang and Li Cheng blushed and were speechless. They had thought that given the nobility of the Li family, as long as they were willing to worship the King of Zhou as their teacher, the King of Zhou would at least show some joy, even if he did not immediately welcome them.

However, he did not expect that he would be turned away by this little gatekeeper before he even had the chance to meet the King of Zhou.

Let alone the Annan Li family. In the eyes of this soldier, the status of the Li family is probably even lower than that of the most ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty.

Seeing that Li Cang was a little embarrassed, Li Cheng pulled Li Cang's sleeve and said, "Brother Cang, since His Royal Highness King Zhou has already made the rules, we should just follow them. Let's go to the academy to take the exam now."

After saying this, he bowed to the soldier and thanked him for showing him the way.

After all, he was the eldest son, so Li Cang could not refute his brother too much. He was just quite angry when he returned to the car, saying: "You are just a warrior, and you dare to look down on my Li family like this!"

"They are soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, so they don't need to look at the face of our Annan Kingdom." Li Cheng consoled. "It's fine to take the exam. Brother Cang, you are so talented and learned."

"Of course I will be able to stand out in the exam. By then, maybe I will even be favored by His Royal Highness Prince Zhou!"

After hearing what Li Cheng said, Li Cang reluctantly put away his anger. The convoy continued to move along the road pointed by the soldier, but before taking two steps, it stopped again.

"Why did you stop?" Li Cang was still angry and lifted the curtain to scold the driver.

"Second Master, look..." The driver was a little afraid. He pointed to the road ahead and showed him a helpless and innocent expression.

Li Cang turned his head and looked in the direction the driver pointed, only to find that for some reason, the very wide road ahead was crowded with people.

Not to mention a carriage, even a person wouldn't be able to squeeze through, so the driver had no choice but to stop the car.

"This...what happened?" Li Cheng was a little confused.

"Eldest Master, Second Master, here!"

The two brothers were at a loss when they suddenly heard someone calling them from the crowd. They looked over and saw a face in the crowd. It was the uncle who had been an envoy to the Ming Dynasty and the Li family member who had arrived at Wuqu Port before them, Li Jibai.

"Uncle." "Uncle."

The Li family had decent upbringing. Although their lineage was vastly different from Li Jibai's branch in status, Li Cheng and Li Cang quickly jumped out of the car and stood beside the car to greet their uncle who was squeezing in. Li Jibai, who had finally squeezed out of the crowd, wiped the sweat off his head and smiled at them, "You're finally here."

"If we were a little later, I'm afraid it would be a wasted trip. I wonder how many disciples His Royal Highness Prince Zhou wants to recruit..."

"What does this mean, uncle?" Li Cang asked in confusion. "I wonder what's going on with this crowd?"

"What could be going on?" Li Jibai shrugged helplessly. "They are all people who come to register for the teaching academy exam, intending to become disciples of His Majesty King Zhou."

The brothers Li Cheng and Li Cang were both shocked. Li Cheng pointed at the crowd in front of him and said in astonishment: "Who are these people?"

Confucius only had three thousand disciples, and the people in front of him probably numbered at least hundreds or even thousands.

They all want to become disciples of His Majesty King Zhou!

"How could it be?" Li Cang was even more incredulous. He keenly noticed that in the crowd, in addition to young people like them wearing gorgeous silk clothes, there were also many people wearing linen and cloth clothes. He was surprised and asked: "Do these people also want to become disciples of King Zhou?"

"Do they know anything?"

"Your Highness said that there is no distinction between people in education," Li Jibai explained. "The new school is the true Confucianism, and there is no distinction between people of high and low social status. Whether you are a scholar, farmer, worker, merchant, or even the son of a slave, as long as you are interested in learning and pass the examination, you can become your Highness's student."

“Therefore, many children from poor families and even ordinary people’s families have gathered here, hoping to find a way out,” said Li Jibai.

"This...this, letting those peasants get involved in knowledge, isn't this a blasphemy against knowledge?" Li Cang asked in confusion.

He did not feel that it was a blasphemy against knowledge, but that it was a blasphemy against himself. The Li family had a high status in Annan, and almost every generation in the family had served as an official. The same was true for other Annan noble families. Although Annan also had imperial examinations, the noble families monopolized knowledge, and even if there were imperial examinations, most of the people who passed were children of the noble families.

The bureaucratic class is rigidified, the gentry is high and mighty, the poor and the common people are not qualified to have access to knowledge, knowledge is the privilege of the gentry... Such thoughts are natural in Li Cang's mind. Now, knowing that he has to compete with those "lowly" poor and common people for the opportunity to become King Zhou's disciple, Li Cang feels that his dignity has been greatly insulted.

"This is what His Royal Highness King Zhou said, and we have no way to deal with it." Li Jibai said with a wry smile. They, the Annan nobles, controlled knowledge, but they could not ask the princes of the Ming Dynasty to cooperate with them in controlling knowledge.

Besides, Confucianism is a Chinese discipline. People can teach it to whoever they want. What can you say?
Our ancestors learned everything from other people's ancestors. Can we really interfere in other people's affairs?

Li Cang was speechless. Although he was quite disdainful of the fact that the prince of the Ming Dynasty was so close to these peasants, he dared not turn around and leave because of the instructions given by his father Li Jilin.

Besides, Wuqu Port was a concession of the Ming Dynasty, so the Li brothers did not dare to act rashly. They had to let the servants take the carriages and horses to find an inn to rest, while they followed Li Jibai, who had arrived earlier, and lined up behind the crowd.

After waiting from morning till evening, the Li brothers finally entered the so-called teaching garden as the sun was setting. They saw a large training ground at the entrance of the teaching garden, with a statue of Confucius in the middle. On the side of the statue, someone had brought a desk and was sitting behind it, examining the students.

Under the guidance of several Confucian scholars who seemed to be teachers, the Li brothers first went forward to pay their respects to Confucius, and then the person behind the desk asked them: "Do you two want to apply for the general category or the elite category?"

"General course? Elite course?" The Li brothers looked at each other in confusion, and Li Cang asked, "May I ask, what's the difference?"

"If you have never been exposed to ancient classics and only know Chinese characters, then you can apply for the general course. We will teach you the new classics from the basics."

"If you already have a basic understanding of my teachings, you can apply for the Elite Course. The Elite Course exams are more difficult to write, but the content taught will be more in-depth and will not be too basic."

"My brother is applying for the elite course." Li Cang said decisively. As a member of the Li family, he has his own pride. Besides, he has been learning since he was three years old. Does he have to start from the basics?
The scholar behind the desk nodded, registered their names, and asked them to come to the teaching garden for an exam tomorrow. Li Cheng and Li Cang nodded and left, and saw a young man in cloth clothes behind them walking up to the desk.

"Fan Huai, the son of a merchant...what subject do you want to take?"

"General."

"Okay, the name has been recorded. Tomorrow you will..."

"Oh, the sons of merchants are only worthy of applying for the ordinary course." Li Cang looked at the son of the merchant named Fan Huai and silently bowed his head and left, thinking disdainfully in his heart. "I think King Zhou also knows that these peasants are not worthy of studying with the sons of the nobles like us, so he took great pains to divide the ordinary course and the elite course."

"Ordinary, elite... Isn't this the truest portrayal of us and those people? In this light, His Royal Highness King Zhou is not so disrespectful."

He thought with some pride.

(End of this chapter)