Half a month later, Monk Kongming came to Zheng's house to visit Zheng Zhilong again. Zheng Zhilong happened to be meeting guests. When he heard that Monk Kongming was coming, he thought about it and said to the servant who came to Tong: "Let Uncle Kongming wait a moment in the east small living room, and let A Cai accompany the master, and then said I'll arrive in a while."

The servant responded and stepped back.

After a while, Zheng Zhilong saw the guests away and went to the small living room to the east. Before entering the door, he heard Zheng Cai laughing inside.

"This monk can chat and laugh with anyone, but he is also a real talent." Zheng Zhilong thought this way, and a servant opened the curtain and said, "The master is here."

Zheng Zhilong walked in with a giggle smile, but saw that Monk Kongming and Zheng Cai had already stood up from the chair, so he smiled and said, "Master, Zheng has not come far away to welcome him, so please forgive me."

The monk also replied with a smile on his face, "How dare you?"

Zheng Zhilong sat down in the main seat, and Monk Kongming also sat on the chair. Zheng Zhilong asked, "Master is here, but what happened last time Zheng and the master mentioned has a glimpse?"

"Amitabha." Monk Kongming first clasped his hands together and recited the Buddha's name, and then replied, "I have been running around for this these days, but I have also gained a little bit of a look. It's just..."

"Just how?" Zheng Zhilong knew that this monk was trying to cheer him up, but he just had to cooperate.

"Does the donor know who the donor met in the temple when he came to Kaiyuan Temple last time?" Monk Kongming asked this.

After Zheng Sen came back, he did not mention to Zheng Zhilong about his encounter with Hong Cheng-chan and Chen Hongshou, so Zheng Zhilong was not aware of this. Now that he heard Monk Kongming ask, Zheng Zhilong had to shake his head and answer, "The last time I came back, I didn't talk about this to Zheng."

"The young master met Hong Chengsheng, the younger brother of the governor of Yansui, Hong Chengchou, and Chen Hongshou, the disciple of Mr. Qishan, in Kaiyuan Temple..." Monk Kongming slowly told Zheng Zhilong about what he heard from Hong Chengzheng and others. When Zheng Sen defended Zheng Zhilong, he compiled the so-called "no compassionate heart can't be a general." He couldn't help but smile and said, "This child can only talk nonsense."

"The donor is too humble. Mr. Hong and Mr. Chen praised the young master. They all said that when the young master grows up, he will definitely be a pillar of the country. This is why the donor is good at accumulating virtue on weekdays. When I heard that they praised the young master, I would talk to the two gentlemen about the donor's plan to find a good teacher for the young master. After hearing this, Mr. Hong came up with such an idea for the young master."

"Master, please speak, Zhilong listen carefully." Zheng Zhilong said.

"Mr. Hong said that with the talent and intelligence of the young master, I am afraid that ordinary students cannot teach the young master. The donor's family's clan school is also newly established. He does not have a famous teacher and has the status of a military general. He is afraid that scholars who are interested in fame will not want to teach in the donor's clan school." At this point, Monk Kongming paused for a moment and looked at Zheng Zhilong's face.

Zheng Zhilong's face was a little sad. He knew that Monk Kongming did not tell lies. Nowadays, the status of military generals is humble. Not to mention civil officials in the court, even ordinary scholars, they most likely look down on him, a guerrilla general who is from the third rank. Any scholar who is enterprising and wants to be an official will never go to the family of a third rank military general to be a Mengshi. This will be laughed to death.

Seeing Zheng Zhilong's performance, Monk Kongming continued, "Mr. Hong said that he and Mr. Zheng are also fellow villagers, and they also appreciate the talent and virtue of the young master, so they might as well let the young master go to the Hong family's clan school to enlighten the country. The Hong family's clan school was originally hosted by his clan's uncle, Mr. Hong. This Mr. Hong is named Qi Yin, and is a juren from the Yiyou Department of Wanli. Now he is a censor in Yunnan. Hong Hengjiu was taught by him. Although he is not in the clan school,

However, the tribe is quite popular, and the Mr. Wang hired in the tribe was also born. However, he had no intention of fame and fame and made great friends with Mr. Hong Hengjiu, but he taught a museum in the Hong clan. Mr. Hong said that if the donor is willing, he could let the young master go to the Hong clan to study and study with the descendants of the Hong family. Mr. Hong and the friends he had made friends can guide the young master from time to time. I wonder what the donor thought?"

Zheng Zhilong frowned. Of course, the level of the Hong family's academic performance is not a problem. At least it is much better than the one Zheng Zhilong had just started. It seems that he is embarrassed to ask Zheng Sen to study in the Hong family's academic performance.

"Master Zheng, there is a saying that I don't know whether to say it or not." Monk Kongming said again.

"Master, it's okay." Zheng Zhilong hurriedly replied.

"Master Zheng is so concerned about choosing a teacher for the young master. I am afraid he wants to let him take the path of academic performance in the future." Monk Kongming asked with a smile.

Zheng Zhilong nodded. Now the Zheng family is not short of money, but has no status. If a civil servant can be produced, it would be completely different. At least, his property can be kept safe.

"Amitabha." Monk Kongming said again, "If you want to take the path of imperial examinations, it is certainly not possible to have no knowledge, but if you have no connections, you will be struggling. Donor Zheng, do you think this is reasonable?"

"What the master said," Zheng Zhilong nodded.

"It goes without saying that the young master's talent is. If you have a good relationship with the Hong family, you can use the Hong family's connections, which will be of great benefit to the young master's future. Moreover, the career and knowledge are somewhat different. No matter how good the academic knowledge is, you may not necessarily win three yuan in a row. The time of this exam is also very particular. If you only think about getting a student's fame, it is easy. It's just that the donor Zheng's expectations are more than just a student, right? But this juren is not a student. The Hong family has been a juren and a Jinshi, and there are countless students. The young master goes to the Hong family's clan school to study, which is definitely very beneficial to the young master's future."

Zheng Zhilong knew that Monk Kongming was right, and now he fully understood that face and other things are not worth mentioning at all. Moreover, as a military officer, it is definitely a matter of face to be able to establish a relationship with the civil servant family. So Zheng Zhilong replied: "I would like to thank the master for this..."

...

After seeing off Monk Kongming, Zheng Zhilong had nothing to do, so he walked towards the yard where Zheng Sen lived. When he walked to the gate of the yard, he saw a servant squatting at the door, looking down at the ants. Zheng Zhilong walked to him, and the servant discovered it. The servant hurriedly said, "Hello, master. The young master is studying inside. I'll go and read..."

Zheng Zhilong smiled and waved his hand, indicating that the servant should not speak out, and then walked in gently. Through the corridor, he walked out of the study room to the south. The door of the study room was open. Zheng Zhilong looked inside, but saw Zheng Sen holding a book with both hands, his eyes closed, and he muttered something in his mouth, saying: "The Master said: 'A fond of learning is almost knowledge. Practice is almost benevolence. Knowing shame is almost courageous.'

If you know these three things, you will know how to cultivate yourself. If you know how to cultivate yourself, you will know how to govern people. If you know how to govern people, you will know how to govern the world..."

This is a chapter in "The Doctrine of the Mean". In the previous life, Zheng Sen had more or less exposed some Confucian things, but the basic foundation was still far from enough. Zheng Sen also understood that although he did not really need to take the imperial examination all the way, and the Ming Dynasty did not have so much time to give himself the imperial examination, at least in the past few years, in order to gain status in the family and open up the situation in society, the image of a prodigy and the identity of a first-class scholar were still necessary. Therefore, Zheng Sen was not idle during these times. Although there was no good enough teacher at present, he could do it himself by memorizing the Four Books and Zhu Xi's annotations.

After memorizing these sentences, Zheng Sen opened his eyes and read them again in accordance with the book. He was sure that he had not recited it wrongly. He reached to the table to get the water cup and prepared to drink a sip of water before he recited it. Only then did he find that Zheng Zhilong was standing at the door.

"Sir, Father." Zheng Sen hurriedly put down the water cup and book and stood up.

"Don't be so rude at home." Zheng Zhilong smiled with satisfaction, walked in, and said to Zheng Sen: "Sit down first, and have something to tell you for your father."

Zheng Sen sat down. Zheng Zhilong looked at Zheng Sen with a smile and said, "Sen'er, do you remember the last time I took you to Kaiyuan Temple to meet Master Kongming? Now the master has found you a place to study. I think it's good, so I agreed."

Zheng Sen didn't ask, but just waited quietly for Zheng Zhilong to continue talking.

"Sen'er, you met Mr. Hong in Kaiyuan Temple last time, right?" Zheng Zhilong asked.

"Yes." Zheng Sen nodded and replied.

"Do you know the identity of Mr. Hong?" Zheng Zhilong asked again.

"I didn't know at that time, but later I found out that he was the younger brother of Hong Chengchou, the governor of Yansui." Zheng Sen replied.

"Well, he thinks you are good, so he plans to recommend you to study in the Hong family's clan school. The Hong family has produced many scholars, juren, and jinshi. You should be able to learn a lot wherever you go." Zheng Zhilong thought about it and felt that although his son was still young, he was very sensible. He could tell him some things, so he continued to say: "Sen'er, after working hard for so many years for his father, the family property he earned is enough for our whole clan to enjoy every day.
Chapter completed!