Chapter 170: Was this written by my child?
"This person's so-called teaching is actually abuse!
He actually made My Son clean night soil and even beat him in public!
How is such behavior any different from a cruel official?
I implore Your Majesty to punish him, close the Imperial Academy, and release all the children!"
"Your humble servant seconds that! Such a trend must not be allowed to continue!"
"Your Majesty, Shen Yulou must be severely punished!"
For a moment, public indignation flared, and the entire imperial court resembled a marketplace.
Emperor Ren frowned, his heart sinking.
He knew that Shen Yulou was a troublemaker, but he didn't expect him to stir up a hornet's nest so quickly.
The Imperial Academy was established yesterday, and it's only the second day, yet so many people are impeaching him?
He cleared his throat and placated them, "Ministers, calm yourselves. As the saying goes, 'a strict upbringing produces filial children.'
Back then, Minister Shen even pulled down Ninth Highness's pants on East Market Street and spanked him in public.
I tacitly approved of this matter, and now, looking at Ninth Highness, he is completely different from before.
Your sons are the same. If they are not disciplined, how can they achieve great things in the future?
It's a good thing to let Minister Shen manage them."
Grand General of Cavalry said indignantly.
"Your Majesty, that's different! This is abuse by Shen Yulou!
My Son is only eight years old; he can't even miss a single meal.
At home, he never lifted a finger, but there, he has to clean night soil for others!
This is not only abuse, but also humiliation!
It has nothing to do with discipline.
When he disciplined Ninth Highness, he still had some reservations.
But when disciplining our children, he shows no teacher's demeanor at all.
Your humble servant demands that my son be brought back immediately!"
"Your humble servant seconds that!"
"Your humble servant also seconds that!"
Emperor Ren's head ached from the noise, and seeing this situation, it seemed he couldn't dissuade them.
The children of these ministers were usually pampered, much more spoiled than princes.
Now, a little grievance was unbearable for them. Emperor Ren was too lazy to mediate their disputes; let Shen Yulou argue with them himself.
"Summon Shen Yulou to the hall!"
…As soon as Shen Yulou entered the main hall, he felt a dozen murderous gazes, especially from several military generals, whose eyes seemed to want to cut him down on the spot.
Shen Yulou thought to himself, 'It seems I need to quickly ask Sister-in-law to give me some special lessons to learn self-defense techniques, otherwise I might be ambushed and bagged on the street one day without knowing it.'
It was really a bit unsettling without some martial arts for self-defense.
"Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."
"Minister Shen, what did you do to Commander Zhang's son at the Imperial Academy yesterday?" Emperor Ren asked.
Shen Yulou, neither servile nor overbearing, truthfully recounted yesterday's events, finally adding, "Young Master Zhang is arrogant and unruly, refusing to be disciplined. If Your humble servant does not punish him severely, how can I command respect?"
"Shen Yulou! Are you even human?!"
"He's still a child!"
Grand General of Cavalry shrieked, "How can you be so harsh to him?!"
Shen Yulou, however, was unhurried.
"Commander Zhang's words are mistaken.
In the Imperial Academy, there are princes, princesses, and descendants of various imperial relatives.
If everyone were to follow your son's example and act like little tyrants, wouldn't this Imperial Academy become a training ground for mischievous devils?
How would Your humble servant teach then?"
He paused, then changed his tone, "Of course, if Commander Zhang is distressed for your son, you can take him away now. Your humble servant will not stop you."
"Take him away! He must be taken away!" Grand General of Cavalry shouted without thinking.
"We want to take ours away too!" Several other ministers also echoed.
At this moment, even Emperor Ren felt a bit unsure about Shen Yulou and frowned.
"Minister Shen, what achievements have you made in disciplining them?"
Shen Yulou had only run the Imperial Academy for one day and was already impeached by many ministers. If he didn't have some real ability, he would likely face more trouble in the future.
Emperor Ren had gone to such great lengths to establish the Imperial Academy for Shen Yulou; he couldn't possibly have only this much ability, could he?
Just then, Grand Tutor Wang Shushi and Junior Tutor Li Deguang exchanged glances and also stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, Shen Yulou's previous teaching of Eighth Prince and Ninth Prince was merely a coincidence, simply because the two Highnesses were undiscovered talents, which allowed Shen Yulou to take advantage."
"That's right, teaching Eighth Prince and Ninth Prince was not Shen Yulou's achievement. Your humble servant believes this person still has no real ability. I ask Your Majesty to remove him from his position as head of affairs."
"Your Majesty, the position of head of affairs at the Imperial Academy should be held by Grand Tutor Wang to command respect."
These two old men seized the opportunity, seeing that Shen Yulou had provoked public outrage, and immediately began to impeach him.
The Imperial Academy had already been established; that was an unchangeable fact.
But if Wang Shushi became the head of affairs of the Imperial Academy, then his reputation as Grand Tutor could be preserved.
Moreover, this would grant him much more power than before.
"Your humble servant supports Grand Tutor Wang taking over the Imperial Academy."
"Your humble servant seconds that!"
All the ministers stood against Shen Yulou.
Although they didn't know if their own children had suffered grievances, upon hearing that Commander Zhang's son was in such a state, their children surely wouldn't be doing too well either.
One by one, they all began to attack Shen Yulou.
Facing a thousand fingers pointing at him, Shen Yulou merely smiled faintly.
"Your Majesty, esteemed sirs, although I have only taught for one day, the Highnesses and young masters have already undergone a transformative change."
"As for whether Your humble servant can continue to serve as the head of affairs of the Imperial Academy, I ask Your Majesty and everyone to take a look first before deciding."
He slowly pulled out a stack of papers from his In my arms and presented them.
"These are their first assignments from yesterday, titled 'Business Plan'."
"Business Plan?!"
The hall erupted again.
"Absurd! Scholars, farmers, artisans, merchants—merchants are the lowest class! You actually teach princes and noble heirs to engage in such a lowly profession?!"
Shen Yulou declared loudly, "Esteemed sirs are mistaken. What I teach is not the art of low-level merchants, but the scholarship of aristocratic families who control the economic lifelines of the world!
Hundreds of years ago, why could aristocratic families lord over imperial power?
Precisely because they controlled the economy!
What I teach the princes and young masters is precisely this skill!"
Emperor Ren picked up the top paper, half-believing, half-doubting. It was from Ninth Prince.
"Royal Express Delivery?"
Emperor Ren read it aloud, his eyes growing brighter as he read, "Using imperial carrier pigeons to provide expedited letter services for ministers and wealthy merchants, charging by the character, and also offering membership with discounts for top-ups…"
He then picked up the second paper, which was from Eighth Prince.
"Turning portraits of princes and famous generals into artworks to sell to wealthy merchants…"
The more Emperor Ren read, the more astonished he became. There were also plans to sell consecrated amulets from imperial temples, to publish a tabloid of court secrets, and even to develop the imperial hunting grounds into a tourist attraction and charge admission… "Good! Excellent!"
Emperor Ren slapped his dragon throne, smiling broadly.
"These lads, they've only been there for one day, and their minds are already so active?"
Although these suggestions might not be very mature, it had only been one day!
And most of them were just eight or nine-year-old children.
To have such ideas, it was clearly all thanks to Shen Yulou.
If these children could maintain such minds, they would surely govern the country much better than these old fellows below in the future.
He waved his hand, instructing the eunuch to distribute these assignments to the ministers below.
The ministers who had just been clamoring to withdraw their children were now all dumbfounded.
They looked at their own children's crooked handwriting and their naive yet wildly imaginative ideas, and each of them was stunned.
Relief, shock, disbelief… various emotions surged in their hearts.
This… this was really written by my foolish son who only knew how to cockfight and dog race