Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 103 My Classmates Are Young

Lu Beigu was flattered and quickly stepped forward to help him up.

Li Tian leaned on his gnarled cane, his steps slow yet surprisingly steady.

The two strolled slowly along the path by the stream, the summer sun filtering through the bamboo leaves and casting dappled shadows on the ground.

"Your essay, 'On the Six States,' wasn't just written for the New Year's gathering, was it?" Li Tian asked bluntly.

Lu Beigu was startled and didn't know how to answer.

"No need to be nervous." The old man smiled kindly. "I've lived to such an old age, and I can see the concern for the current situation in your words."

"Mr. Baisha is wise." Lu Beigu honestly admitted, "I am indeed concerned about the ills of the world today, and I am using the history of the Six Kingdoms to express my views."

"Ah."

Li Tian nodded: "Your insight is good, but while many officials in the state school may agree with it, it may not be the case in the wider world. In this world, there are far more people who oppose the new policies than those who support them."

"The students understand, but they believe that academic pursuits are about seeking truth, not pandering."

Upon hearing this, Li Tian burst into laughter, startling several sparrows in the bamboo grove: "What a fine 'not pandering'! I admire the spirit of this young man!"

He stopped and looked at Lu Beigu seriously: "I have rarely taken on disciples in recent years, but seeing your quick wit and independent insights, and that you were first in the Hejiang County examination and also won first place in this New Year's gathering, you are qualified to become my disciple. If you are willing, you can study the classics and history with me."

This is exactly the opportunity that Lu Beigu has been dreaming of!
He suppressed his excitement and bowed solemnly: "It is my greatest honor to be able to become a disciple of Mr. Baisha."

"Don't be so happy yet." Li Tian winked mischievously. "Let's get into the middle dormitory first in the dormitory exam. I heard Jiang Zicheng say that there have been many people who got first place in the county exam over the years, but very few who can get into the middle dormitory on their first dormitory exam. The prefectural school is not easier than the county school. Even if you get first place in the county exam, you will mostly have to hone your skills in the lower dormitory for a period of time after entering the prefectural school."

"Students will certainly do their best in this dormitory assignment exam!"

Seeing that Lu Beigu's attitude was proper, Li Tian was also very satisfied.

"Go ahead, you have about ten days left. Prepare well. If you don't get into the middle dormitory, I won't accept you."

The old man walked away humming a nonsensical folk song.

After seeing him off, Lu Beigu clenched his fists and gave himself a pep talk.

"I must get into the middle school. After all, I don't know if this is the only chance I'll ever have to compete with the most outstanding geniuses of this era!"

The state exam is in just over two months!
The exam for the separate dormitories is just around the corner, only about ten days away!
Upon returning to "Lower Dormitory No. 7," Lu Beigu was taken aback as soon as he entered the room.

Why isn't there a seat for me?

Upon seeing Lu Beigu enter, Lu Guangyu immediately sat up straight from his cross-legged position on the couch, patting the bed and saying, "Brother Lu, please sit here first."

Zhu Nanxing is rather overweight and has a bit of a restlessness, so he lay down on Lu Beigu's bed while waiting. Now he feels a little embarrassed and wants to sit up.

"Don't get up, just lie down." Lu Beigu sat down next to Lu Guangyu's bed and pressed Zhu Nanxing down.

"Brother Lu!" Huang Jingji leaned forward and clicked his tongue, "Even the senior students from the middle dormitory came to inquire. They said they heard that this year's freshmen have produced a ruthless character who dared to write 'I regard the reform as if I were witnessing a flood,' and they want to see for themselves!"

Lu Beigu smiled wryly: "I'm not some kind of strange monster, what's so interesting about this?"

To be honest, Lu Beigu really didn't expect that his essay "On the Six States," written at the welcoming gathering, would immediately cause such a stir. Please, it's just using history to illustrate the present. Isn't it said that the state school allows students to discuss politics? Don't you usually give your opinions on state affairs?
"I have carefully read Brother Lu's article."

At this moment, Zhu Zhen put down his paper and sighed, "I could never write something like this in my entire life!"

Before Lu Beigu could answer, there was a knock on the door. He stood up to open it. "Brother Lu."

Standing outside the door were three people from Meishan: Su Zhe, Cheng Jianyong, and Yang Yaozi.

"Come in quickly." Lu Beigu stepped aside to let them in. "Where do you live?"

"It's also a lower-class dormitory."

Cheng Jianyong chimed in, "We're only staying for three days, and we've been assigned to the lower dormitory."

Su Zhe looked around and said, "I heard that the dormitories at the Luzhou State Academy were quite scarce, but I didn't expect that so many people would have a place to stay."

"Do you know why?"

Zhu Nanxing sat up in bed at this moment, suddenly feeling energetic.

"Why?" Su Zhe was also quite curious about this question.

"Because I heard from the local freshmen from Luchuan County in my dormitory that this year a group of students from the prefecture who had been unable to enter the dormitory for five consecutive years were just expelled."

“Your Luzhou Prefectural School is even more brutal than our Meizhou Prefectural School!” Yang Yaozi couldn’t help but click his tongue in amazement.

"The space is a bit small, so why don't you make do and sit here at the desk for now?"

“Okay, as long as we can sit down.” The three from Meishan weren’t picky at all.

The lower dormitory had four beds in the middle, and the space between the head of the bed and the wall was where the desk was placed. The desk was against the wall, and if you needed to face it to study or write, you basically had to kneel down.

But when you're talking, you can just sit with your back against the desk. Anyway, it's hot in the summer, and there's a bamboo mat under the desk, so you're not sitting directly on the floor tiles.

Lu Guangyu moved to a different spot and sat down at the desk by his bedside, so that the four of them sat on the edge of the bed and the four of them leaned against the desk.

The reason why so many people have to be crammed into one dormitory is that boarding students can only go out once on their first day of registration under the pretext of "moving their luggage," and once they officially start attending school at the state school, they cannot leave at will.

If you really need to go out, you have to talk to the teaching assistant in charge of your dorm and get a slip of paper approving your departure before you can leave the state school.

Yes, there was a position called "Assistant Teacher" in the state schools of the Song Dynasty. The earliest "Assistant Teacher" as an official title can be traced back to the Imperial Academy in the second year of Xianning in the Western Jin Dynasty. However, in the state schools of the Song Dynasty, the Assistant Teacher was a nominal official, belonging to the "tenth of ten ranks of nominal officials". It was the lowest-ranking official, and they did not usually undertake teaching responsibilities. They were only responsible for various miscellaneous management tasks in the state school.

The way to obtain a position as a state school teaching assistant is either through donation or through patronage.

In other words, this position was reserved for people who couldn't get ahead through the imperial examination system but had money and connections.

Once such individuals obtain a teaching assistant position at a state university, they are usually not very friendly to state students, so unless there's nothing else to do, no state student would be willing to ask the teaching assistant for a favor.

"Brother Lu."

Su Zhe spoke up, "I have some questions about your essay, 'On the Six States,' which I would like to ask you."

"That's right, we actually have a lot of ideas too!"

At this moment, several roommates were also talking. Looking at these carefree and spirited faces, Lu Beigu was momentarily dazed.

My classmates are so young, how wonderful!

(End of this chapter)