"Back to the emperor, Gonggong Cao was very smart when he entered the palace when he was young, no matter what he did, he could learn it once he taught it. The pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info to run errands is also very reassuring, there has never been an omission, it is to be deeply respected by the prince of Wang An, who is deeply regarded as the master of ceremonies, and is gradually entrusted with important tasks, and the other eunuchs in the palace are also very convinced. It's just a pity that later Wang Gonggong was framed by Wei Wei and died unjustly, and Cao Gonggong was also excluded to Nanjing......" Wang Chengen began to talk about Cao Huachun's life.

It's just that before he could say a few words, he was interrupted by Xiao Mu, "I didn't ask this, I asked you, the eunuchs in the palace, do they also have a place for reading and writing?" ”

"The emperor has come to test the slaves and maids again, and the eunuchs in the palace have already been studying. As early as the Yongle period, Grandpa Cheng ordered the establishment of the 'Inner Study Hall', which was dedicated to teaching young eunuchs around the age of ten to read and write. By the time of the Xuande period, this 'inner study hall' had become a rule, and it was first taught by university scholars, and then it has been taught by the Hanlin Academy. Although the slave is blunt, she also studied with her for a few years when she was a child, and she finally recognized a few words, not just a blind man with open eyes. Wang Chengen said modestly.

Wang Chengen's words do make sense, if the eunuchs in the palace of the Ming Dynasty are all illiterate, many important government affairs will not be carried out: the cabinet will give suggestions to the chapters sent from all over the country, that is, after the ticket is drafted, the eunuchs of the ceremonial eunuch will not be able to approve the red on behalf of the emperor, and a standard process will not be completed.

Of course, Xiao Mu is not very clear about these things, but there are more obvious ones, for example, in the TV series that Xiao Mu saw in later generations, the scene of those eunuchs with the same voice as a male duck reading the holy decree cannot be explained - there can't be so many eunuchs who read the holy decree who can't read, and the content on the holy decree is memorized by rote, right?

It seems that the Ming Dynasty has also put a certain amount of effort into the cultivation of eunuchs, Xiao Mu then asked: "Then you say, how many of the eunuchs in this harem can be literate and literate?" ”

"Back to the emperor, although there is a 'inner study hall' in the palace where you can read and write, but after all, you are talented and intelligent, and there are not many eunuchs who are self-motivated, and there are not many eunuchs of the right age; there are those who meet the requirements, and there are many poor families, who can't afford to buy paper and pens with money, and they can't afford to be bound; and then there is that reading in the inner study hall is also a very hard thing, as long as you can't memorize the book, you will be an iron ruler thug, and you will have to kneel in front of the statue of Confucius to reflect, and there are many little eunuchs who can't bear the hardships, so they give up halfway. Therefore, according to the estimation of slaves and maids, there are still a few eunuchs in the palace who can read and write, and those who are proficient in poetry, calligraphy, writing and painting like Gonggong Cao are even more one in a thousand. Like that Wei Wei, who can't read big characters, but can steal from a high position, slaves and maids are deeply ashamed. Wang Chengen replied, and by the way, he praised Cao Huachun a few more words, and derogated Wei Zhongxian again.

After listening to Wang Chengen's description, Xiao Muxin said that there are still many eunuchs in the harem who are motivated and eager to learn, should he help him in the back, so that every eunuch can learn some culture.

"In your opinion, if I want all the eunuchs in the harem to learn to read and write, do you think it is feasible?" Xiao Mu asked in a joking tone.

"Back to the emperor, it's not the slaves and maids who sweep away your interest, it's really unnecessary to let the eunuchs in the entire palace learn to write, and those eunuchs who do rough work are useless to be literate, some of them are lazy, and their minds are focused on drinking and gambling money, and they don't have that heart to work hard. Then there is a literacy to buy the four treasures of the study, and it is a lot of expenses, not every eunuch can take it, if it is paid by the palace, it is a lot of expenses, now I am in short supply of military funds everywhere, everywhere has to use money, the treasury has long been stretched, at this time it is really not appropriate to add unnecessary expenses. Of course, Wang Chengen didn't dare to say that Xiao Mu's idea was whimsical, but the euphemism in his words still meant this.

"Well, what you said makes a lot of sense, I'm just asking casually, don't take it to heart." Xiao Mu said.

Wang Chengen listened to Xiao Mu's words, and then let go of his hanging heart, while carefully wiping the sweat on his cheeks, he was glad in his heart: Fortunately, the emperor listened to the advice and did not insist on doing those unbelievable things, otherwise, if those imperial historians knew, they would definitely be persuaded again, and we, the slaves and maids who served by the emperor's side, might have to carry this black cauldron again.

Xiao Mu practiced for a while, and wrote the poem "Boundless Falling Trees Xiao Xiaoxia, Endless Yangtze River Rolling" several times, but he didn't find any good feelings, looking at the twisted and crooked handwriting on the paper, he didn't have a good mood, so he dropped the pen and didn't plan to continue writing.

It happened that the time was already noon, and after a brief lunch, Xiao Mu sent away the eunuchs and palace maids who were waiting around, intending to sleep quietly by himself.

Lying on the bed, Xiao Mu didn't fall asleep immediately, all he thought about was what Wang Chengen said about the "Inner Study Hall", originally Xiao Mu once asked Gu Bingqian, Feng Quan, and Wei Guangwei to go to the Inner Study Hall to teach the eunuchs to read and write: Aren't these people the leaders of the eunuch party, isn't it a legitimate thing to teach the eunuchs to read as a eunuch? This is bound to be despised by other clear streams, and it can also achieve the effect of punishing these people.

But after listening to Wang Chengen's description, the professors in this inner study hall seem to have a high status and are deeply respected by the students. Although the students are all eunuchs with low social status, enjoying this kind of superior treatment does not seem to be a punishment, but it will allow them to enjoy a few blessings.

So Xiao Mu was dreaming in a daze, and at the same time pondering in his dream how to improve this inner study hall, and then place Gu Bingqian and them there - anyway, according to the normal way of dealing with it, they were only exiled for a few years, and they couldn't do anything serious when they arrived in the place of exile, so it was better to come to the palace to receive an errand, which could be regarded as squeezing their last use value.

After sleeping in a daze for more than half an hour, Xiao Mu got up, of course, it is impossible to have any organized thoughts in his sleep, he still has to continue to think, Xiao Mu drank a cup of tea, and made up his mind in his heart: "I heard Wang Chengen say that this Cao Huachun is so powerful, if it is not a eunuch, it seems that it is not a problem to go out to take a fame or something, if this matter is not handled well, let such a generalist come out as a scapegoat, and carry this black cauldron, wouldn't it be a big loss in the palace?" ”

So Xiao Mu continued to think about divergent thinking, and then this thinking became more and more divergent......

Before he could figure out how to place Gu Bingqian and them in the inner study hall, Xiao Mu's thoughts ran to Xu Xianchun again, "Since you can let Gu Bingqian and them come to the palace to teach the eunuchs to read and write, it seems that it is not impossible to let Xu Xianchun come to the palace to teach the eunuchs to practice martial arts, after all, since ancient times, there have been literature and martial arts, even if it is a team of eunuchs, it must be comprehensively built and developed in a balanced manner, and there can be no bias." ”

However, in this way, the handling of Xu Xianchun, a martial artist, and Gu Bingqian, a few literati, is very similar, according to the theory of "noble and lowly" mentioned by Lin Yi, this will definitely still cause criticism. In order to cause unnecessary trouble, Xiao Mu reluctantly gave up the absurd idea of letting Xu Xianchun come to the palace to teach the eunuchs martial arts-although the idea of letting Gu Bingqian and them teach the eunuchs to study is also ridiculous, but compared to the two, the latter is relatively slightly more reasonable......

"In short, we must not let them have a sense of superiority as a teacher, but also increase the number of students, let them carry the heavy teaching task, and punish them both mentally and physically." Xiao Mu sorted out his thoughts and came up with the two aspects that he thought were the most important.

So how do you do that? While thinking about it, Xiao Mu unconsciously came to Lin Ye again and discussed it with Lin Ye.

……

When it was almost evening, Xiao Mu ordered someone to bring in a few elders such as Lai Zongdao to discuss the disposal plan for these eunuch leaders.

"I have decided to change the system of the Inner Study Hall, and it is no longer the professors sent by the Hanlin Academy, but by Gu Bingqian and others." Xiao Mu said.

Lai Zongdao and others are confused, is this also a punishment for the eunuchs? Isn't that a bit too nice?

Xiao Mu ignored the elders with question marks on their faces, and continued: "Kneel in front of the statue of the saint for two hours every day to repent, reflect on the past sins, and spend the rest of the time teaching the eunuchs and palace maids in the palace to read and write. ”

Xiao Mu put forward the preliminary plan, and several pavilion elders had already turned from confusion to surprise at this time, and did not give them a chance to breathe, Xiao Mu continued: "While teaching the sage's words, they themselves can also comprehend the sage's subtle words and fully understand how wrong they have been in the past. ”

"At the same time, all the eunuchs and palace maids have to come to learn, and the sage doesn't pay attention to 'teaching without class'. During this period, they did not have the treatment of ordinary gentlemen in the academy, and the eunuchs and palace ladies who came to study did not need to bow to them. Xiao Mu said in a natural tone.

What kind of salute do you have to give to these rebels? It would be nice to keep them alive.

After Xiao Mu finished speaking, Lai Zongdao and the others finally had a chance to speak, but no one spoke for a while, because they still had difficulty digesting so much unbelievable information for a while.

When they finally relented and tried to persuade Xiao Mu to take back his fate, Lai Zongdao and the others found that Xiao Mu's position was unprecedentedly resolute, and the scene was at an impasse for a while......

In the end, after a period of bargaining as if doing business, Lai Zongdao and others finally reached a compromise with Xiao Mu: the final plan became to temporarily teach only all the eunuchs in the palace to read and write, and as for the palace maids, they were not among the professors Fan Wei; Although there is no need to bow to Gu Bingqian and others, the etiquette of Confucius cannot be lacking; And all teaching activities should not add too much additional expense.

"Finally half of the problem is solved, the next thing is how to deal with Xu Xianchun, in short, he must not be allowed to die." Xiao Mu thought in his heart, obsessive-compulsive disorder flared up again, and Xiao Mu in the city seemed to have long forgotten the original intention of dealing with the leader of the eunuch party, and what he valued most at this time was how to break the strange circle of "noble and cheap".