Chapter 312 Zhu Youtang and "Investigating Things to Gain Knowledge"

"I have no objection to my son being the prince's tutor, but can that eunuch Zhang Min really do it?"

In the meeting hall of the Wang family, Wang Hua, who is still a clean official in the Hanlin Academy, has returned home after a day of socializing. After drinking tea to sober up, he joined the conversation and listened to Xu Xin's deal with Zhang Min. He did not object to his son becoming the prince's tutor, but he was worried that it would not be successful.

The prince's tutor, also known as "companion reading", has existed in all dynasties. Sometimes, in order to make the prince study better, the emperor would summon folk prodigies to the palace to accompany the prince.

During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the prince's tutor was an official name, specializing in accompanying the prince to study, and was later abolished. It was retained in the Southern Song Dynasty and set up the seventh rank, and was abolished after the Song Dynasty fell.

Although the Ming Dynasty did not set up this official position, it occasionally recruited the sons of nobles and civil officials to enter the palace to read, and there were precedents for such things. But the key difficulty is that it is difficult for Xu Xin to compete for the position of the prince's tutor through normal channels.

As long as the prince's tutor has a good relationship with the prince, his future will be extremely bright. He is a true confidant. He only needs to survive the period when the prince becomes the emperor, and then he can become a phoenix from a sparrow, and he will be invaluable from then on.

Similarly, the more wealth and honor you have, the more hardships you have to endure, so that you can be equal.

If the prince does something wrong, the official who teaches the prince will not punish the prince, but punish the tutor, so as to serve as a warning.

Since it is not to beat the prince, and in order to serve as a warning, the action will undoubtedly be ruthless. Although he will not be beaten to death, it is not uncommon for him to be beaten half-crippled. Throughout the dynasties, there have been prince tutors who have been beaten to death.

However, Xu Xin is not worried about this, because the contemporary prince Zhu Youtang is a "good man" in the true sense, who knows etiquette and abides by the rules, is kind and sensible, and basically will not make any mistakes.

If it were his son Zhu Houzhao, the playful Emperor Zhengde... Xu Xin would not even think of being a tutor, it would be better to be a teacher directly.

The position of the prince's tutor is a position with more benefits than risks. As long as the tutor is not dead when the prince succeeds to the throne, it is easy for him to become a big boss in the court.

So once there is a rumor of selecting a prince's tutor, the dignitaries in the capital will definitely try their best to get their sons in. Xu Xin's background is really not competitive.

"It doesn't matter. I believe Zhang Min can do it well. Some good things that originally belonged to Cao Shaoqin are very much wanted by him."

Xu Xin was so sure that Zhang Min could do it well. That was the result of finding out when he maintained a good relationship with Cao Zhengchun over the years. Besides, even if this matter really didn't work out, for Xu Xin, it would be a little more difficult to lay out in the future.

With his strength and advantages, he can always reach the highest step by step with patience and time to lay out slowly.

After all, with his foundation and cultivation in this life, he can live for a long, long time. Not to mention Emperor Chenghua and the current prince, even the prince's unborn son will definitely not be able to survive him.

At worst, he would learn from Sima the Old Turtle, outlast his opponents, and finally... seize power.

…

"By the will of Heaven... select Wang Shouren as the prince's companion, and let him study in the East Palace with the prince!"

A few days later, the eunuchs of the Palace's Imperial Household Department came to announce the decree in front of the palace. Xu Xin stood in front of the eunuch who was reading the decree, listening respectfully until he finished listening to what he read, and he relaxed a little.

Since it has been decided that he will be a companion in the palace, the Ming Dynasty will usher in his era in the future.

The Ming Dynasty and the world will usher in a new saint.

…

In front of the main hall of the East Palace of the Prince in the Ming Dynasty.

Xu Xin faced the sun, squinted his eyes, and looked up at the plaque of the East Palace.

He was followed by a eunuch in a lake green satin robe. It was Cao Zhengchun, a subordinate of Zhang Min, who was leading the way for him and taking him to see the prince Zhu Youtang.

Xu Xin and Cao Zhengchun did not have much communication in the palace. Their friendship was private outside the palace. In the palace, there were countless people watching them. If they were too close, they might be targeted.

"Meet His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Xu Xin followed Cao Zhengchun and finally met the Crown Prince Zhu Youtang of the Ming Dynasty. He did not look outstanding and was not very majestic. After all, Xu Xin had been an emperor and... ahem, the father of the successor emperor of the Song Dynasty. He had seen a lot of the world.

Not to mention a crown prince raised in the deep palace, even Chenghua Emperor Zhu Jianshen and even his ancestor Zhu Yuanzhang were just a small altar master under his command.

So when facing Zhu Youtang, Xu Xin tried to avoid eye contact to avoid people seeing his "disrespect".

"You are Wang Shouren. Did you write these books?"

Zhu Youtang looked at Xu Xin curiously. Although it was the first time he saw the real person, he had heard of Xu Xin's name a long time ago.

A few years ago, when Xu Xin entered Beijing, the East Factory was suppressing the West Factory. Zhang Min also took people to watch the excitement. That was the first time Xu Xin met Zhang Min and Cao Zhengchun. It was on that night that Zhu Youtang heard the name of Xu Xin.

In the following years, while Xu Xin was making various arrangements in the capital, he was also raising his reputation. He edited several books with Mr. Wang and Wang Hua, several enlightenment books, and one... "Investigating Things to Get Knowledge".

Xu Xin didn't remember much about the history of the Ming Dynasty, but the story of Wang Yangming's bamboo was widely circulated in later generations and even included in textbooks. He still remembered it.

This story shows that the Confucian "investigating things" is too idealistic and not pragmatic.

But similarly, a story that can be widely circulated in later generations shows its classic nature, and it can naturally be promoted, so that this story can be widely circulated in the world, and it can also be "pragmatic" and truly "study" bamboo.

In history, Wang Yangming's method of "study" bamboo was problematic. Just looking with the naked eye, naturally nothing can be "studyed".

Xu Xin directly grinded a magnifying glass to make a microscope, and naturally he could observe the subtle structure of bamboo. The bamboo in a subtle state also opened the eyes of Mr. Wang and his father Wang Hua, the top scholar, and opened the door to a new world.

Three generations of grandfathers and grandchildren used the microscope made by Xu Xin to continuously "study things" and summarize, and finally wrote a book "Studying Things to Know" to explain the discovery, and then Wang Hua invited colleagues and fellow townsmen such as Xie Qian to study and publicize together.

The Wang family belongs to the "own people" in the system of scholars, and this volume of "Studying Things to Know" does not involve any thoughts and speeches. Instead, it is a practice of the "study of things to know" of the sages, which naturally caused a sensation in Beijing.

This book, "Investigating Things to Gain Knowledge", which is actually a modern introductory science book, is Xu Xin's exploration of this era.

In general, the scholars in the Ming Dynasty were better than those wastes in the late Qing Dynasty who were unwilling to open their eyes to the world. They were willing to learn and accept new things.

Through this incident, Xu Xin had a plan for his future "establishing words", which was to lay the foundation for "science". And today's meeting with the crown prince Zhu Youtang was the beginning of everything.