Zhao Yan didn't expect to meet Shen Kuo and Zhang Zai in front of the Great Xiangguo Temple, the three of them walked and chatted in a carriage, it just so happened that Zhao Yan hurriedly entered the city today, and he didn't even have time to eat lunch, and he also felt hungry at this time, so the three of them came to Zhao Yan's house to open the strange flavor building, this restaurant has now become one of the most famous restaurants in Tokyo, if you want to eat here, you can only make a reservation, otherwise there is no seat at all, of course, Zhao Yan naturally does not need to make a reservation to eat here, even if he is not in the capital, In the restaurant, he also has a private room all year round.

Zhao Yan ordered a table of banquets, and then beckoned Zhang Zai and Shen Kuo to sit down, because they were all acquaintances, so Zhao Yan was not polite to them, and ate a few mouthfuls of food at the moment, relieving the hunger in his stomach, and then said with a smile: "Two don't blame, this way on horseback galloped wildly, I didn't even bother to eat at noon today, I was still hungry and uncomfortable just now!" ”

Hearing Zhao Yan say this, Zhang Zai and Shen Kuo also laughed, and then asked about Zhao Yan's war in Liao, Zhao Yan said while eating, and explained the war after he arrived in Liao, although Zhang Zai and Shen Kuo knew some, but the specific situation was not clear, so they listened very seriously, when they heard that Zhao Yan and Liao Emperor Yelu signed an alliance in Luanhe, the two of them showed very excited expressions like Zhao Xu.

After chatting about the war on the Liao side, Zhao Yan asked Shen Kuo at the moment: "Brother Cun, has there been any change in the academy in the past few years, and what is the annual enrollment and the situation of students after graduation?" ”

Hearing Zhao Yan ask about the situation of the Gewu Academy in his charge, Shen Kuo was also in good spirits, and after thinking about it for a moment, he said: "Your Highness, the academy has changed a lot in recent years, and I can't say it clearly, but the annual enrollment is very simple. Now more and more people have accepted the knowledge we have disseminated, so the number of students enrolled has been steadily increasing, so the college has more than doubled compared to a few years ago, and as for the situation of students after graduation, a considerable number of professionals have been recruited by the imperial court and assigned to various departments. It's just that these students are still too young, so their official positions are not high, not as noticeable as the students of the military academy, as for the remaining students, they are either recruited at a high price, or they are going to work their own, and there are also some outstanding students who are left by the academy to teach, or enter the study or academy in various places to teach, it can be said that our academy has begun to take shape. ”

Hearing the above words, especially hearing that the students graduating from the academy are so widely distributed. Zhao Yan also felt very gratified, a knowledge cannot be a castle in the air, it must be able to apply what it has learned to last for a long time, so Zhao Yan has taken into account the application of various disciplines in practice before setting up the college, so when teaching, he also requires the teacher to combine what he talks about with reality, such as physics. Many of these students were mechanically related, and many of these students went on to work in the imperial court or to be in the ordnance department. Starting from a technical official, although he cannot be compared with the officials of Jinshi and Di, he is also an official, and it is precisely because of his prospects that many students who have no hope for the imperial examination are willing to choose to go to Gewu College.

"Although there is some utilitarianism, but the hustle and bustle of the world is all for profit. The world is crowded for profit, and driven by interests, it is a good thing that our knowledge can be spread more widely. Zhao Yan said with a smile.

"Hehe, speaking of the spread of knowledge in our academy. Then I have to mention the changes in the academy in recent years, and it just so happens that I am free now, Xu will give His Highness a detailed explanation! Shen Kuo suddenly said with some eyebrows fluttering at this time, as if he was very happy about the changes in the academy in the past few years, and with his explanation, Zhao Yan slowly understood the reason why Shen Kuo was happy.

In recent years, not to mention the changes within the college, it is nothing more than that the college has expanded a lot, adding many lecturers and students, and there are many lecturers who have advanced to the level of professors, which can be said to be full of talents, and the college has also become very prosperous, and it can already keep pace with several major academies and Guozijian in the Great Song Dynasty.

However, compared to the changes within the academy, what really made Shen Kuo so happy was the change in the external attitude towards the academy, when Zhao Yan had just founded the academy to teach the knowledge of various disciplines, although there were many interested people who took the initiative to come to learn, but these people were a minority after all, and most of the others, especially many Confucians, were disdainful of Zhao Yan's often sayings, and even thought that they were crooked heresies, although they did not dare to publicly slander Zhao Yan's identity because of Zhao Yan's identity, but they still said behind their backs that they had refuted the views in Zhao Yan's theory.

It is precisely because of the opposition of the vast majority of people that Zhao Yan can only classify his doctrine as miscellaneous science, which is considered a doctrine that cannot be put on the table, but after several years of running-in, coupled with the fact that since the change, Zhao Yan and the vast majority of scholars in the world have stood on the same front, which has also made many people's attitude towards Zhao Yan greatly changed, and they have also begun to face up to the doctrines put forward by Zhao Yan.

Zhao Yan's theories cover a wide range, including arithmetic, needless to say, this is also the most acceptable doctrine for other people, in addition to physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, geography, etc., because of Zhao Yan's own relationship, many of these proposed theories are not systematic, but these doctrines for this era, it is already broad and profound, so many people after carefully studying these doctrines, they soon found the profundity of these doctrines, and even many people indulged in it, began to use these theories put forward by Zhao Yan to improve his own doctrine.

The people who can accept and study Zhao Yan's doctrine are not stupid people, but all of them are the top figures of this era, such as Zhang Zai and Shen Kuo, they are the first to accept Zhao Yan's doctrine, among which Shen Kuo absorbed Zhao Yan's doctrine in all aspects, and has very profound attainments in physics, chemistry, machinery and other aspects, while Zhang Zai absorbed Zhao Yan's doctrine in astronomy, physics and other aspects, integrated into his own guanxue, and became an important branch of Confucianism.

In addition to Shen Kuo and Zhang Zai, there are more Confucians who have absorbed Zhao Yan's new learning into their own Confucianism, which is equivalent to making Zhao Yan's new learning have a more orthodox background, and the combination with Confucianism is also closer, and even added some core ideas to Confucianism, bringing a strong storm to the academic world of the Great Song Dynasty.

In fact, Zhao Yan was also influenced by some views of later generations, thinking that Confucianism was a bunch of old stubborn people who didn't know how to be flexible at all, let alone absorb some scientific theories from later generations. However, he did not know that in the Ming and Qing dynasties of later generations, Confucianism was indeed solidified, but in the Tang and Song dynasties, it was the most active period of Confucianism, and various new ideas and theories emerged one after another.

Especially in the Song Dynasty, because of the turmoil at the end of the Tang Dynasty, Confucianism suffered a huge blow, not this also makes Confucianism no longer stick to the original theory, the mind is greatly emancipated, each Confucianism has its own set of doctrines, plus the status of the reader is high, so this period of Confucianism can be said to be a hundred flowers blooming, in addition to Zhang Zai's Guan Xue, there is Wang Anshi's Jing Gong Xinxue, in addition to the most influential Cheng Zhu Lixue, which also began to take shape in this period.

It is precisely because of the above reasons that Zhao Yan's doctrines are easily absorbed by various schools of Confucianism and become a part of Confucianism, such as Zhang Zai's Guanxue in which the universe is explained by qi, that is, the theory of gas, which is very similar to microscopic physics in physics.

For his own doctrine was introduced into Confucianism by others, Zhao Yan not only did not object, but also very supportive, first, these new doctrines were not studied by him, but he brought them from later generations, strictly speaking, he also borrowed other people's doctrines, so it is nothing to be cited by others. Second, after these doctrines were introduced into Confucianism, it could be more convenient for the spread of other doctrines, so Zhao Yan was also happy to see them.

Zhao Yan's doctrine was gradually accepted by most people, and the impact on the college was naturally great, there were many Confucians who were addicted to Zhao Yan's doctrine and even came to the college in person, but they held their own identity, and they really couldn't pull down their faces to study with ordinary students, so they entered the college to teach, while teaching their own Confucianism while learning, these people were originally famous figures, with their joining, so that Gewu College is also famous, many students are thousands of miles away to study, every year when the college begins to enroll, There are a lot of people outside the college, and even though the college has expanded its enrollment several times, there are still a large number of students who cannot enter the college every year.

"Your Highness, I heard that the branch you opened in Guangzhou is also very prosperous, and many scholars in the south are coming to study, sharing a lot of pressure for the main academy in the capital, I think this is a good way, should we open more branches, so that more students can enter the academy to study?" In the end, Shen Kuo suddenly proposed to Zhao Yan that the speed of the expansion of the college in recent years has not been able to keep up with the speed of the students' studies, and every year, many acquaintances or unfamiliar people come to him to intercede in person, hoping to send his children and nephews to the college, so he came up with the idea of opening more branches.

Hearing Shen Kuo's proposal, Zhao Yan thought for a moment and finally nodded: "It's okay to open a few more branches, but the quality of teaching must be guaranteed, and some trustworthy people must be sent to be responsible, after all, teaching is no trivial matter, and you must not delay the learning of those students!" ”

After talking about the academy, Zhao Yan turned his head to ask Zhang Zai about the military school, but when he mentioned the military school, Zhang Zai frowned and smiled bitterly. (To be continued......)