Fang Xuanling's Daily Life

The school was quite large, with basically everything it needed and beautiful surroundings. Anyone who entered felt their spirits relax.

"May I ask how I should address you, teacher? There's something I don't understand, and I'd like to ask you about it."

"You're too courteous. My surname is Li, and my name is Zhengxian. Whatever you wish to ask, sir, I'll answer truthfully."

"Thank you, Teacher Li! Who compiled these books I'm holding, the Hundred Family Surnames and Mathematics? Could you introduce me to that person?"

"You jest, sir. I'm in no position to introduce you to such a great talent. Besides, I don't really know who compiled them.

Young Master Zhang brought all these books here. If you want to know who compiled them, why not ask him?"

"I see! Thank you for telling me, Teacher Li."

Since Fang Xuanling was only familiarizing himself with the campus today, no classes had been arranged for him.

Once Fang Xuanling had learned everything he needed to know, he went back to rest.

He was staying in the school's teachers' dormitory for the time being, so it was very convenient.

After returning to his quarters, Fang Xuanling couldn't help reflecting on everything he had seen and heard that day.

"Young Master Zhang really is different from ordinary people! This academy... no, it should be called a school.

It's very different from the academies I've seen before. Although it also teaches things like the Four Books and Five Classics,

that's only one of the subjects. There are all kinds of other subjects teaching practical skills, and whatever a student wants to learn, they can be taught.

It encompasses every trade. Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach him to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. How ingenious!"

The more Fang Xuanling thought about it in his room, the more he felt how great Zhang Sheng was and how broad-minded beyond compare. He also looked forward to the days ahead, teaching in Blue Silver Village.

The next day, Fang Xuanling ate breakfast and arrived at the classroom early.

He saw that the spacious, bright classroom had gradually filled with students.

His blood couldn't help warming at the sight. He seemed to see the students he taught bringing prosperity to their communities in the future.

When the bell rang, it was time for class. Since the students were still young, he only needed to teach them the basics.

"Good morning, students!"

"Good morning, teacher!"

"First, let me introduce myself. My surname is Fang, and you can call me Teacher Fang. Today I'll teach you the Hundred Family Surnames. All right?"

"All right!"

"Then repeat after me: Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li..."

The clear, bright sound of reading echoed throughout the campus, adding a splash of color to the quiet place.

The days passed one by one, and Fang Xuanling thoroughly enjoyed the peace and comfort.

Every day after class, he liked to stroll around the school. He found it more interesting than the sights on the streets.

After all, he was a scholar, and a place where people taught and nurtured students was where he belonged.

Of course, teaching wasn't the only thing at the school that needed his attention. There were other matters for him to handle as well.

After all, Zhang Sheng had entrusted the whole school to him. Though things could get complicated at times, he enjoyed the work.

"Young Master Zhang, after this time spent exploring and learning at the school, I can say I've gained a great deal of insight.

Many things I couldn't see clearly before, I'm now beginning to understand. I used to think that as long as I understood the words of the ancient sages,

I could govern a country well. But the reality is far from that.

To think I could govern a country well without even understanding the foundations of the common people's livelihood was rather wishful thinking."

"Mr. Fang, you're right. The common people actually need very little.

As long as they can eat their fill and have somewhere to live, that's enough.

Yet the people at the top often find it hard to satisfy even such simple demands, and they keep exploiting them.

In the end, when they simply can't survive anymore, they can only raise their farming tools and rebel."

"You're right, Young Master Zhang! Just like Chen Sheng and Wu Guang in the past, and the Yellow Turban Rebellion at the end of the Eastern Han. Weren't they all common people who had been driven too hard?"

"Heh! To put it bluntly, do the common people care who sits above them as emperor? They don't care at all.

They only remember who treats them well, and they support that person. Such simple principles,

yet so many people can't understand them. It's both laughable and sad."

Zhang Sheng's words struck Fang Xuanling. He had been born into an official family and raised on the teachings of Confucius and Mencius.

He had been taught to be loyal to the sovereign since childhood. Now, hearing Zhang Sheng speak this way, it seemed everything he had believed before was beginning to crumble.

"Young Master Zhang, what do you think the world would be like without an emperor?"

"Huh? Mr. Fang, what made you think of that?"

Zhang Sheng looked at Fang Xuanling in surprise. He hadn't expected someone so steeped in the ideals of loyalty to the sovereign

to come up with such a treasonous thought. He wondered if he had said too much and led him astray.

"It was just a flash of inspiration."

"Mr. Fang, your thinking is quite ahead of its time! Still, that idea isn't impossible to realize, but not now. It would take at least hundreds or thousands of years before it could possibly come about."

"Oh? How so?"

Hearing this, Fang Xuanling grew interested and couldn't help looking at him.

"It's rather complicated. It's a kind of social change. When a particular era can no longer adapt to the circumstances at hand,

something else emerges in its place. For example, during the time of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, there was a system of slavery.

It didn't end until the Qin dynasty unified the land. Then society entered the feudal era. That was the end of one era

and the beginning of another. The event that marked the end was the liberation of all slaves, returning them to freedom and providing society with more labor."

As Zhang Sheng explained, Fang Xuanling gradually came to understand some of it, making him admire Zhang Sheng even more.

For Zhang Sheng to see the world so clearly at such a young age, he truly was a child chosen by heaven.

After that first conversation, Fang Xuanling ran over to the Zhang family manor whether he had business there or not, to the point that Zhang Sheng became a little afraid of him.

Two months passed in the blink of an eye, and the autumn harvest arrived. Every year, this was a happy time for the common people, because their hard work was about to bear fruit.

Blue Silver Village was no exception. Though the villagers were wealthy now, how could they not take part in something as sacred as harvesting grain?

Even the emperor had to go into the fields and make a few symbolic cuts, let alone farmers who worked the land.

"One grain of millet sown in spring, ten thousand seeds reaped in autumn. No field lies fallow beneath the heavens, yet farmers still starve to death."

"What a fine poem! It goes straight to the heart of society! Does it have a title?"

"Sympathy for the Farmers!"

"What a title, Sympathy for the Farmers! I think only someone as beloved by the common people as you, Young Master Zhang, could have written such a poem."

"You jest, Mr. Fang. I didn't write it. I only happened to hear it."

"There's another great talent like that in the world? Might I have the good fortune to meet them?"

"Well..."

"If it puts you in a difficult position, Young Master Zhang, never mind!"

"I'm very sorry, but the old gentleman has already passed away."

Fang Xuanling had nearly made Zhang Sheng give himself away. Fortunately, he was quick-witted enough. As for whether Fang Xuanling believed him, that was his own business.

"What a pity!"