Chapter 83 - Famous Scholar (2/2)

After the Great Ming Dynasty was established, the current emperor emeritus had admired his capabilities and had asked him time and time again to leave his mountain and become an official. However, the old man had refused and could not be easily found. Afterwards, he was moved by the emperor emeritus’s persistence and sincerity, and so, he recommended his knowledgeable and experienced son, who was in no way inferior to him, Yuan Guoan. He would later become the person who would always clean up the emperor emeritus’s messes from behind, the man who was only under one but above ten thousand, the upright and meritorious prime minister.

When the Great Ming Dynasty was first established, the emperor emeritus, who was still emperor at that time, was obsessed with making war on all borders. If he didn’t have the illustrious prime minister as his left hand and the unshakeable imperial tutor as his right hand, it was likely that the Great Ming Dynasty would have fallen apart!

After the current emperor ascended to the throne, Prime Minister Yuan was given the title of a duke with unlimited succession rights. In an instant, he had become the most favored official in the court and had no opposition.

On the other hand, the famous scholar, Yuan Sinian, had just reached the age of seventy, but had long gotten used to his current leisurely life. In the small town of Tanggu, he had established the Rongxuan Academy. At first, he would teach classes every day, take care of his garden, and had a comfortable and leisurely life.

Later on, as word got around about the quality of his teachings, more and more students enrolled. Many high ranking officials from the capital did every possible method they could to use their connections to let their children enter the school. As the academy’s student population grew larger and larger, the operations became larger and larger. Furthermore, a lot of famous scholars recommended themselves to the academy to become teachers, among them included his former disciples...

When Great Scholar Yuan noticed that Rongxuan Academy had almost veered from his original vision, he set down a series of stringent requirements for admission. If you wanted to enter the academy, it was possible! However, you either had to pass a series of difficult admission exams or catch his eyes with your talents and potential. Otherwise, it didn’t matter what position you had, or how much money you had, this old fellow would still not allow admission...

Although Yuan Sinian was outwardly in appearance the perfect example of a famous scholar, in his bones he was actually a mischievous old urchin. He had an insatiable curiosity and loved to keep up with gossip. In addition, he loved to eat good food—few people knew about this aspect of him. Otherwise, the parents who wanted their kids to enter the academy would search high and low for delicacies to tempt him. It would truly become chaotic!

Parents who would think of any possible method to fawn on Great Scholar Yuan for the sake of their children’s futures could be found everywhere. For example, the fat man dressed in glittering gold at the docks was one of them.

Great Scholar Yuan frowned and secretly rolled his eyes. He coldly snorted and said, “Didn’t I say that I didn’t need anyone to meet me at docks, eh? Shopkeeper Jin, you are publicly going against my wishes right now!”

Inside he was roasting the man, ‘You dummy, how about you use gold to build a suit of armor for yourself? This old man’s eyes aren’t very good, do you want to blind me with all of the gold on your body?’

The round and plump Shopkeeper Jin’s attempt at flattery had gone awry. Immediately, sweat started to roll down his fat and pudgy cheeks. For the past six generations, the Jin Family had all been merchants. Although they had a lot of wealth and material goods, they were still considered within the lowest classes of citizens in the four classes—scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants.

After the current emperor ascended to the throne, he had issued an ordinance that improved the status of merchants in society. The children of merchants could also participate in the imperial examinations. Shopkeeper Jin was overjoyed at the unexpected good news and wanted to hire the best tutor for his son, who had been clever and intelligent since childhood, so he could break away from a merchant’s fate.

He had heard that Tanggu Town had Rongxuan Academy, which had been established by a Great Scholar from the previous dynasty who was wise and knowledgeable and conversant in things of the past and present. In addition, the current dynasty’s prime minister had been raised and educated entirely by the founder. Shopkeeper Jin had brought his son on a long journey to get to Tanggu Town. To his delight, his son had passed the academy’s entrance examination in one try and had formally become a student at the academy.

However, something bad quickly happened. Shopkeeper Jin felt his son had it difficult having to live so far away from home to go to school. In addition, he was afraid his son would feel wronged since this was the first time his son had ever left home. So, he had redone his son’s dormitory room at school to be full of luxurious materials and furniture. Everything had been switched to the best that money could possibly buy, even the ink stones and pens were expensive antiques. In the academy, there were very few who had seen such items.

When Teacher Yuan, who had a moody personality, found out about all of this, he sent Shopkeeper Jin’s son out with a remark, “The academy is a place for learning and studying, not a place to take a vacation at. If you’re afraid your son can’t bear any hardships, then bring him back home to live comfortably instead!”

Shopkeeper Jin was stunned silly. He was counting on his son to bring honor and glory to the family, but who knew after entering the academy for a few days, his prospects had been ruined by his own mistake! His son had been so angry that he didn’t eat and drink for a few days in a row and only laid in his bed. Shopkeeper Jin was so remorseful over his mistake that half of his head had turned white overnight. In order to not be the cause of his son’s ruin, Shopkeeper Jin every day without fail would go and see what he could do to remedy his mistake.

However, there were very few opportunities to see Teacher Yuan. Before a few days had passed, the academy had closed for the yearly holiday. Teacher Yuan had brought his grandson back home to visit family. However, Shopkeeper Jin was unwilling to give up, and didn’t even go home to celebrate the New Years with his family. He stayed at Tanggu Town in hope that he could find an opportunity to redeem himself.

For the whole first month, he stayed at the docks of Tanggu Town, waiting and hoping that Teacher Yuan would be able to see his sincerity and give his son another chance. Finally, he had an opportunity. However, he never would have thought…he apparently had made the scholar unhappy again.

Shopkeeper Jin was so anxious that he wanted to hop around in frustration, but he didn’t know what he could do to remedy the situation. As he was worrying himself sick at the side, Teacher Yuan’s grandson, Yuan Yunxi, slowly came back and spoke to his gossipy grandfather, “It’s nothing really, just someone selling something called ‘braised food’...”

“Braised food? It’s a type of dish? I’ve never heard of it, does it taste good? There are so many people waiting to buy some, the flavor must be good!” Yuan Sinian’s eyes suddenly glowed in excitement when he heard there was a new type of food to be tried. It instantly destroyed his elegant and scholarly temperament and showed him as a crazy and fanatical glutton.

Shopkeeper Jin, who was in the midst of worrying about how to get Great Scholar Yuan to like him, hastily interjected, “Teacher Yuan, please find a place to sit and rest for a bit, I’ll go see what’s going on…”

His exceedingly fat body, which looked like a gold colored ball, bolted quickly towards Xiaocao’s side. He said, “Little girl, the braised food that you’re selling right now, I’ll take all that’s left…”