Chapter 7: Seeking a Master

Li Shikuan stepped out of the ancestral hall, passed by his nephew Li Wenhua's house, stood at the courtyard gate, and called out loudly, "Where is Ye'er?"

"Coming!" Li Wenhua's eldest daughter, Cuiye, answered and came out.

"Go on a trip and tell your father to come find me, right now," Li Shikuan instructed, then turned to walk back.

Not long after Li Shikuan arrived home, Li Wenhua entered the courtyard with his trouser legs rolled high, stepping in mud-stained wooden clogs. He first went to the well to scoop a few ladles of water to rinse himself before sitting down beside Li Shikuan and picking up a palm-leaf fan to wave.

"The heat has come early this year. What's the matter? Things are very busy in the fields."

"Here are three silver coins. Go back, change your clothes, and head to the Gaocun Market. Use two silver coins to buy the Four-Color Gift Set for Mr. Gao, and convey my thanks: tell him he has worked hard.

"The remaining one silver coin is to buy eggs. Deliver those to Mr. Gao's house as well. Tell him to send two eggs a day, and trouble Mrs. Gao to help boil them to nourish Xuedong's body. And tell him, once the eggs are finished, we will send more," Li Shikuan instructed in a low, careful voice.

"We have plenty of eggs at home; it's so expensive to buy them with silver coins!" Li Wenhua didn't dare say the last part out loud—that it was wasteful—for his eldest uncle was truly not a wasteful man.

"Just do as you are told!" Li Shikuan glared at Li Wenhua.

"I understand," Li Wenhua said, shrinking his neck.

"And do it like the last two times—avoiding people!" Li Shikuan added one more instruction.

"Don't worry, Uncle. I'll go right now, okay?"

"Go, go."

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Although Mr. Gao had only passed the Prefectural Examination a few times, he had studied at the Prefectural School for several years in his youth, so he generally understood the process and the key points of the examination path.

Regarding the subject of *Gezhi* (Natural Philosophy/Science), it was basically not tested during the County Examination. During the Prefectural Examination, if one was ignorant of *Gezhi*, they would suffer some setbacks. By the time of the Provincial Examination, if one was completely ignorant of *Gezhi*, they would certainly fail.

As for the subsequent Autumn and Spring Imperial Examinations, those who passed were all experts in *Gezhi*.

After all, passing the Autumn Examination meant having the opportunity to become an official. For those in charge of government affairs, it was absolutely essential to be proficient in mathematics, divination, and economics.

Mr. Gao was the sole teacher at the Gao Family School. Since he was not proficient in *Gezhi*, the school naturally did not teach it. In any case, for the past twenty years, the Gao Family School had never even made it into the inner circle of the County Examination, so they had no use for the subject!

Li Xuedong had placed third in the County Examination. On the way home from the county seat, Mr. Gao was already considering what to do about Li Xuedong's *Gezhi*.

At that time, however, Mr. Gao only thought about it briefly. He felt that given Li Xuedong's natural talent, placing third in the county was due to luck rather than scholarship. The chances of passing the upcoming Prefectural Examination were extremely slim. He decided he could plan for the *Gezhi* matter slowly and carefully.

By the time Li Xuedong placed eighteenth in the Prefectural Examination, Mr. Gao's surprise had not yet faded before he broke out in a cold sweat of anxiety.

Xuedong was riding a wave of great fortune; he had to take the Provincial Examination in the autumn no matter what, and perhaps he truly could ride this luck all the way through. However, his Xuedong was still completely ignorant of *Gezhi*!

As his teacher, he had failed in his duty!

Mr. Gao was so anxious he couldn't sleep all night.

Early the next morning, Mr. Gao took Li Xuedong and headed straight for Kunshan County.

Having spent the night tossing and turning, weighing the options seven or eight times over, Mr. Gao had roughly mapped out a path for Li Xuedong's *Gezhi* studies.

First, Xuedong needed a good teacher skilled in *Gezhi*.

Xuedong's strength was his extreme diligence, but his natural talent was quite average. Relying on self-study for *Gezhi* would be twice the effort for half the result, and there was no time left.

The only skilled teacher he could think of who would be willing to teach Xuedong was the County School Instructor (*Jiaoyu*).

Although Kunshan was a small county, this Instructor would at least be a *Juren* (a successful candidate of the provincial exam) who had passed the Autumn Examination, so his knowledge of *Gezhi* could not be poor.

Mr. Gao did not know the County Instructor, so he decided to take Xuedong to seek help from Magistrate Huang. He could clearly see how much Magistrate Huang admired and cared for Xuedong.

Mr. Gao took Li Xuedong straight to the Kunshan County Yamen. Just as they arrived at the entrance, they encountered Magistrate Huang's advisor, Mr. Yao.

Mr. Yao did not recognize Mr. Gao but recognized Li Xuedong. Seeing that they were clearly heading straight for the Yamen, he stepped forward and asked with a smile, "You are Li Xuedong, right? Is something the matter?"

"Yes, this boy and I wish to see Magistrate Huang," Li Xuedong replied quickly with a respectful bow.

"What happened?" Mr. Yao looked at Mr. Gao with concern.

"Nothing serious, it is regarding this child's Provincial Examination," Mr. Gao replied with a polite smile.

"As long as it is nothing serious. The Magistrate is inside; follow me," Mr. Yao said with a smile.

Mr. Gao nudged Li Xuedong along as they followed Mr. Yao into the administrative office.

"Sir, I met this child at the gate; he said he came specifically to see you," Mr. Yao turned back to Mr. Gao. "Regarding the boy's Provincial Examination?"

"Yes. Greetings, Magistrate," Mr. Gao gave a respectful, deep bow.

Li Xuedong followed Mr. Gao's lead and performed a deep bow.

"No need for such formality. Sit down. What difficulties are you facing?" Magistrate Huang asked Mr. Gao with a smile.

"Yes," Mr. Gao glanced at the two high piles of documents on the table and spoke directly. "I am completely ignorant of the study of *Gezhi*, and Xuedong has never studied it. I fear he will suffer greatly in the Provincial Examination this July. Therefore, I have brought this child to ask the Magistrate: could you allow Xuedong to attend a few classes at the County School? I have heard that Instructor Wu of the County School is skilled in *Gezhi*."

Magistrate Huang gave a soft "oh." "No wonder during the County Examination, he didn't write a single word on the *Gezhi* paper. Hmm, if one writes nothing on the *Gezhi* paper during the Provincial Examination, it will indeed be extremely difficult to pass."

Magistrate Huang looked at Mr. Yao. "How is Instructor Wu's *Gezhi*? Have you spoken with him?"

"He loves poetry and dislikes *Gezhi*. However, that Mr. Shao from the Hong family is skilled in *Gezhi*," Mr. Yao smiled.

"Old Master Hong likes to sponsor talented but poor scholars. Let Xuedong write to that boy who took the top spot in the Hong family's exams—Hong Zhenye, right? Writing a letter to ask Hong Zhenye will surely work," Magistrate Huang said to Mr. Gao with a smile.

"I understand. Thank you, Magistrate. Thank you for your guidance, Sir," Mr. Gao rose and gave a deep bow of thanks.

Li Xuedong followed closely behind Mr. Gao, bowing deeply in thanks.

After bidding farewell to Magistrate Huang, Mr. Gao went out and immediately bought paper and brushes. He found a teahouse and guided Li Xuedong in writing a letter to Hong Zhenye, which he then delivered to the county's courier station.

Early the next morning, the second young master of the Hong family, Hong Zhenye, arrived outside the Gao Family School accompanied by a long-term attendant and a young servant, riding three tall horses.

The servant was not tall, but his voice was loud. Perched on his horse, he shouted, "Is this the Gao Family School? Is Master Li in?"

"Who are you shouting at! Classes are in session!" Mother Huang, an old servant of the Gao family, rushed out, brandishing a fire poker at the servant.

The servant was startled and quickly pulled his horse to the side.

The middle-aged attendant hurriedly jumped off his horse, stepped forward with a bow, and apologized with a smile, "Please forgive us. We have come from the county seat. This is our second young master, surnamed Hong. He has come to seek Master Li Xuedong. Please inform them."

"Inform them? What informing? Wait until class is over!" Old Mother Huang gripped her fire poker, her brows furrowed in anger.

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A County Instructor is roughly equivalent to a County Superintendent of Education.

Regarding the *I Ching* (Book of Changes): When people speak of the *I Ching*, the first thing they usually think of is fortune-telling. Fortune-telling is the lowest level of its application. The greatest use of the *I Ching* is to observe heaven and earth; it can be broadly understood as a synthesis of meteorology, geography, and astronomy.

The sixty-four hexagrams of the *I Ching* correspond to the solar terms, astral phenomena (astronomy), and geography. Mastery of the *I Ching* allows one to determine directions and to deduce changes in climate from the minute changes in one's surroundings. In the past, military commanders were all masters of the *I Ching*.

Scholars of old were not merely writers of essays. Among the Four Books and Five Classics that served as the foundation of learning, the *I Ching* was the head of the Five Classics. In fact, the *I Ching* can be compared to the modern "Science Comprehensive" subject; in my humble opinion, it is much more difficult.

In addition, there is *Li* (Ritual/Etiquette). This concept is extremely broad, encompassing ritual laws and legal regulations—such as elderly care, which modern law also covers; etiquette, ranging from the specifics of funeral arrangements to the protocols of international relations; and additionally, *Li-Yue* (Ritual and Music), which refers to music. One had to be quite proficient in all of these, as they were all within the scope of the examination.

For the *Juren* and *Jinshi* of the past, writing essays was merely a skill; their true strength lay in their scholarship.

Modern scientists also write excellent essays. For example, the author of the textbook passage on the Zhaozhou Bridge was a famous architect and bridge engineer.

(End of Chapter)