Chapter 842: The Small Academy

When the capital was still Beiping, to defend against invasions by the Mongol Yuan dynasty, warehouses and other facilities were all built within the city walls. Alone in the Western City, there were the Fucheng Bamboo and Timber Factory, the Guangping Warehouse, the Western City Grassland, the Wanggong Factory, and so on. The first three were located in Hexi Fang, west of Wuanhou Hutong, with the Fucheng Factory even adjacent to Menlou Hutong. The main entrance of the Fucheng Factory faced west, and the area around it was surrounded by high walls. Near Menlou Hutong, it was relatively quiet, with few outsiders coming and going. Apart from a few residential houses, the rest of the buildings in the vicinity were constructed by the government back then. Since the Fucheng Factory didn’t need that many buildings, they were put up for sale by the Treasury. Zhang Yue easily purchased them.

After buying them, he transferred the property deeds to Fang Jing. During these days, taking advantage of the fact that the Shuntian Prefecture School was also on holiday, Fang Jing, along with Li Guoxiu and Rui Yixiang, busied themselves cleaning the houses, posting notices to recruit teachers, and eventually turning the entire area into one unified space. The cost of repairing the houses and furnishing them surprised him greatly. Selecting students also kept the old teachers busy, but they all looked happy.

That day was the second-to-last day of the Winter Solstice holiday. Fang Jing, who had been so busy that he went straight to bed as soon as he returned home and hardly had time to visit the Zhang family, finally arrived excitedly. As soon as he saw Zhang Yue in the study, he exclaimed, “Third brother, the academy will officially open tomorrow. A few days ago, we screened six or seven hundred candidates, and in the end, we accepted two hundred. By the way, families from various households have also come to inquire, but there’s no definite answer yet. Do you really plan to send Jingguan and the others to this school?”

Seeing Fang Jing take off his coat as soon as he entered in the cold weather, with sweat pouring down his face, Zhang Yue quickly sent someone to fetch water for him to wash his face. Then he smiled and said, “Of course it’s true. Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. We can’t let them travel far yet, but at least they can step out of their homes. Although they won’t study completely with ordinary students, it’s still good for them to be exposed to them.”

After wiping his face and washing his hands, Fang Jing sat down. Taking the tea poured for him by Zhang Yue from a purple clay teapot, he nodded with a smile and said, “Third brother is right. I used to think I understood the hardships of the people well, but it was only after you asked me to visit various academies in Guangzhou, read those books from foreign cultures, and oversee the renovation of the imperial examination halls that I truly began to understand people’s livelihoods… By the way, you ordered me to do this back then—did you already have the idea of establishing an academy?”

Faced with this question, Zhang Yue just smiled without answering, instead observing Fang Jing with interest. After a while, he asked, “You used to call me Brother Zhang San. Now you’ve omitted the ‘Zhang’—has your aunt already mentioned it to you?”
Fang Jing had been traveling outside for days and, as soon as he entered the room, he started talking excitedly nonstop. Now, he picked up his small teacup and drank it in one gulp. But before he could fully swallow, he heard those words. He was instantly stunned, then choked and spat out some water. Fortunately, Zhang Yue moved quickly, so the water only splashed on the floor.
“This… this…” Fang Jing finally managed to catch his breath and then stammered, “My parents passed away early. Although my aunt is a distant relative, she’s always taken care of me. Since she said so, I naturally… naturally…”
Although he already knew Fang Jing was easily flustered, seeing his voice grow quieter and quieter until it became as faint as a mosquito’s, Zhang Yue felt both annoyed and amused. He thought that Zhang Jing, being a girl, had only been shy for a moment before getting over it, but Fang Jing was still in the same state. After coughing lightly, he said sternly, “It’s of course right to follow one’s parents’ wishes and matchmakers’ advice, but what matters most is your own opinion. You’ve met Third Sister—she’s energetic and outgoing. Sometimes she really doesn’t act like a girl at all…”
“Brother Zhang!”
Fang Jing finally couldn’t hold back and interrupted Zhang Yue, “How can you speak like that about your own sister? Being energetic and outgoing isn’t bad at all. What matters is having a kind heart…”
Before he could finish speaking, he realized his mistake and quickly shut his mouth. But he saw Zhang Yue looking at him with a half-smile, and his face turned red. He thought about how he would answer if Zhang Yue pressed him further—how could he know that Zhang Jing had a kind heart? Yet, feeling guilty, he waited for a while but never heard any teasing words. By then, Zhang Yue had already sat down behind the table.
“Alright, let’s get back to business. I’ve already talked to your aunt. Once your uncle returns, let him act as the matchmaker and finalize the marriage first. As for your brother, it’s not convenient for him to get involved, as it’s possible someone in the capital still recognizes him. But you’ll have to wait two years for Third Sister—she’s still too young to get married…”
Although it was about his sister’s marriage, as Zhang Yue watched Zhang Jing grow up from a little girl clinging to her sister-in-law into a young woman ready to marry, he couldn’t help but talk a bit more. After talking for a while and seeing Fang Jing nod blankly, he coughed lightly to bring the conversation back on track.

“Once the holidays are over, I’m afraid I won’t be able to spare time, and the same goes for Scholar Shen. So this timing of yours is just perfect. Tomorrow, the academy will officially be inaugurated. Although I haven’t sent out many announcements, there should be quite a few distinguished guests coming to see it. Have you prepared enough staff and arranged all the necessary facilities? Remember, aside from the Lianhu family for whom I’ve arranged enrollment, I can’t assign any more people from the Zhang family to you. After all, this will soon be your academy, with no connection to the Zhang family’s school anymore.”

“Don’t worry, Third Brother.”

Unlike his earlier hesitation, Fang Jing nodded confidently this time. “All the preparations have been made. Just in case, those senior scholars have brought helpers from their homes. They’ve already been trained, so nothing should go wrong. This is a beneficial endeavor for generations to come—I certainly won’t let it fail under my supervision!”

At the beginning of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang strongly promoted official schools. Since the Central Plains were in ruins at that time with few literate people, those few scholars were absorbed by the official schools. Private education was not only not encouraged but also suppressed. As a result, private academies declined greatly throughout the early Ming period, especially in the north. Therefore, in a place like Shuntian Prefecture, having official backing was crucial. Yet even so, when Zhang Yue was brainstorming names for the academy, he chose the most unassuming one out of many grand and imposing options—Little Academy.

Even Shen Du couldn’t help but laugh when Zhang Yue personally visited him to ask for his help in writing the plaque for the academy. Thus, when the news spread from outside the palace to inside, those who already knew it was the Zhang family’s school understood who was behind it. Those who didn’t know, upon learning that the students were all under fifteen and the aim was to educate them, stopped gossiping. After all, not every official in the court came from wealthy families, and people still remembered the hardships they endured trying to study when they were poor.

The inauguration of Little Academy took place on an auspicious day. As it was the last day of the Winter Solstice holiday, although no large-scale announcements were made, the nobles in the capital were well-informed. Early in the morning, carriages came and went continuously across the few small bridges over the river. Soon, not only the small gatehouse and alley were filled but also the two alleys leading in and out. Add to this the commoners bringing their children to school, and countless eyes were fixed on the main gate of the academy.

The three large gates with five arches each featured a hard-top roof design, with glazed gutter drip edges and hollow-patterned ridges. The beams and rafters were simply carved with ordinary woodwork, without any paint at all, making the structure appear even more majestic against the white walls and green tiles. At this moment, the gatehouse was empty, and the pillars on both sides were covered with red paper. On those two white walls, large pieces of red paper were stuck up, filled with dense lists of names—those of the students selected for this small academy. They were divided into levels one to six according to their reading and literacy progress, plus one class specifically for the children of nobles, making a total of seven classes. Naturally, the nobles themselves wouldn’t get out of their carriages to crowd forward and look, but many of their servants did push their way through the crowd to find out more.

After what seemed like a while, someone suddenly shouted from the crowd at the entrance of the alley, “Scholar Shen is here!” Immediately, there was a lot of commotion, and almost all the nobles in the carriages along the wall pulled back their curtains. Seeing Fang Jing in a blue Lu silk robe riding on horseback, escorting a simple carriage with green curtains, everyone stepped aside to make way. As a result, some people inevitably squeezed closer to the nobles’ carriages. Normally, this would be a serious violation of etiquette, but no reprimands came today. Those well-dressed people watched as Fang Jing dismounted at the gate and personally helped Shen Du out, casting several extra glances at the old man with gray hair and beard.

During the reigns of Yongren and Xuan III, Shen Du had always enjoyed great trust. Even though he wasn’t constantly in the imperial edict office drafting and distributing imperial decrees, whenever there was an important order, a eunuch would summon him from the Hanlin Academy. His arrival today undoubtedly represented the nobility of the Hanlin Academy, especially with the plaque personally written by him using gold-plated characters on jade.

Although Zhang Yue had arrived early, today was Fang Jing’s day, so he naturally wouldn’t overshadow him by showing up in front of everyone. He was sitting in a carriage right next to the wall on the west side of the gatehouse. Next to him, Zhang Jing had pulled back the curtain slightly, staring intently at the scene with curiosity on her face. However, from the constant movement of her eyes, Zhang Yue could tell that, aside from her curiosity about the small academy, her attention often lingered on Fang Jing, who was about to take on the role of head teacher.

Though in these days, marriages in wealthy families were usually arranged by parents, resulting in blind marriages most of the time, wouldn’t it be much less interesting if the first meeting between a man and a woman was right on their wedding night, with no memorable moments in between?

“Third brother, look! The plaque is up!”

“Wow, Scholar Da Shen writes really well!”
“Brother, look! The students are passing through the mountain gate—they’re going in to pay their respects and offer gifts to their teachers!”
Chatter kept coming from all around. Eventually, Zhang Yue couldn’t help but pull back the little girl who was trying to stick her head out and make her sit down, then tapped her forehead with his finger. “Be quiet. Mother scolded me badly just to get you out. If outsiders see this and start spreading rumors, don’t blame me if you end up being confined to your room!”
“I know…”
Zhang Jing sat down sullenly, crushing the handkerchief in her hands. Suddenly, she looked up at Zhang Yue and asked, “Third brother, since you’ve already let Brother Xiao Fang open this academy and petitioned the court to establish martial arts schools, can’t you set up a school for girls? There are quite a few girls from noble families too!”
Damn, the son is annoying, and the sister is too!
Seeing Zhang Jing looking at him expectantly, Zhang Yue really wanted to say yes, but all he could do was sigh. He stroked his sister’s hair before slowly saying, “Three people can create a tiger. It took me so much time to establish this academy. Setting up a school for girls would be even harder, as it involves a woman’s reputation. Even if I dared to defy everyone and open such a school, I guarantee there would only be you as a student. Do you believe that?”
Though she knew it was just a fantasy, Zhang Jing still looked disappointed, though not overly so. Her eyes, however, showed deep envy as she glanced out of the window. Just then, she suddenly saw several people coming this way, so she quickly pulled down the curtain and sat properly again.
Soon, a voice came from outside, “Young master, Marquis Wu Ding has arrived.”
Hearing this, Zhang Yue frowned. Seeing Zhang Jing acting as if nothing had happened, he realized she didn’t take this failed marriage seriously at all. After a brief pause, he lifted the curtain and got out of the carriage. Outside, he saw Guo Xuan already dismounted from his horse.
He had never met Guo Ying, who had been posthumously granted the title of Duke of Yingguo, so he couldn’t tell whether it was true that Guo Xuan resembled his father. But at that moment, Guo Xuan wore a mink hat and a fur-lined robe, with a green jade inlaid on the handle of his riding whip. Every part of his attire was exquisitely adorned, and even his bridle and saddle were precious. It seemed his family’s wealth was no less than Guo Ying’s, who had dared to keep 150 slaves during the Hongwu era.
“I greet you, Marquis.”

“Don’t be too formal, young nephew.” Guo Xuan smiled warmly as he helped Zhang Yue up, then added, “I happened to pass by today, so I came to take a look. I didn’t expect your little academy to be so lively…”
“My lord, from now on, it will not only accept the Zhang family’s descendants, so it won’t be just the Zhang family’s academy anymore.”
His words were cut off right away, which made Guo Xuan somewhat displeased. Remembering the moment Zhang Yue stepped out of the carriage, he clearly saw what seemed to be a young lady inside—considering Zhang Yue’s modest nature, it was easy to guess who she was. His own family’s marriage proposal had been rejected, yet Zhang Yue had chosen to marry a distant relative of the Duke of Yingguo, going so far as to establish such an academy—Guo Xuan felt extremely upset.
“Right, right, right! Look at my memory!” He forced a laugh to ease the awkwardness, then asked with a smile, “I heard that the eldest son of the Duke of Yingguo, the great-grandsons of the Marquises of Baoding and Anyuan, along with your son and a few others, are all going to study here? My own son is also of the right age, and I think I’ll send him there to temper his character.”
“This little academy is meant to educate children. If my lord is willing, then send them over.”
Zhang Yue naturally wasn’t someone who would turn people away. Seeing Guo Xuan nod happily, he exchanged a few more words before leaving. Only then did he rub his almost stiff face and climb back into the carriage.
He hoped Zhu Ning could help with that. Otherwise, kids like Tian Ci, who knew their place, were manageable, but the rest of the nobles were difficult to deal with—though making them suffer a bit would make things easier.