Chapter 430: History

Early May, dawn.

Since the Xianya no longer required Chen Yan to intervene much, and several future pillars of the nation have taken up posts, the idle Chen Yan grew increasingly fond of teaching the children.

Of course, a few older children also slipped in.

Besides Prince Wei, there was originally Li Lizhi who liked listening to his lessons, and after Gao Yang gave birth, she also came by every day.

Add Prince Wei's wife, and there are more big kids than small kids.

However, today a slight unexpected situation arose... hmm, just a little.

"No, what are you all trying to do?"

Chen Yan stared at the group of diligent officers who scampered to his mansion early in the morning, and everyone was stunned.

Du Gou cleared his throat and said, "Brother Chen, stop pretending. I've heard you tutor Princess Jinyang and His Highness Prince Wei in their celestial arts; now each of them can wave a hand to turn things to ice and carry people aloft."

"We were thinking, whether you teach a few or many, it's still teaching, so you shouldn't mind taking on a few more students, right?"

Li Yifu, Dai Zhide, Zhang Wenguan, and Ma Zhou all nodded, looking at him with eager faces.

Having dealt with Chen Yan for so long, they naturally knew this wasn't some celestial art but a discipline called science.

How marvelous science is, need not be said.

Since Prince Wei flaunted it everywhere, they had long learned of hot air balloons and countless small scientific experiments; in the past, many strange phenomena in the world could be explained by science.

For example, the ghostly fire that makes people turn pale upon hearing about it.

It turns out it's a natural phenomenon that occurs in moist environments after a corpse decomposes, with bones and teeth containing a large amount of... phosphorus.

It's not some mountain spirit or monster.

Of course, besides science, Chen Yan's teachings in mathematics and the like are equally astounding.

A three- or four-year-old child can, with casual scribbles, solve problems that stump the scholars of the Imperial Academy.

How could that not be inspiring?

"So you all came... what about the Xianya?" Chen Yan hesitated a bit; it wasn't that he was unwilling to teach more, after all they were his own people.

Teaching a few is no big deal.

But that Xianya, you won't take care of it?

"No problem, we'll teach two classes in the morning and head back right away, and won't delay any important matters," Du Gou quickly assured.

Li Yifu said with a smile, "Sir, you must trust our abilities."

"At present, the Xianya's affairs don't really require much of our attention; if we speak of busyness, it's only Miss Xu who is busy, and we are still quite relaxed."

Chen Yan: "......"

"...... Alright, you may come in."

He hesitated a moment, then finally agreed.

Because he understood that Li Yifu was right.

Weinan County was just a county town at best, and with this group's abilities, the Xianya's affairs were truly nothing to them.

Only Xu Lianyue, who handled trade, was busy every day to the point her feet never touched the ground.

The others, seeing his agreement, were delighted and cheerfully followed Chen Yan into a specially renovated classroom inside the residence.

At that moment, a group of students of all ages sat properly at their desks in the classroom, and even Gao Yang behaved obediently.

Seeing Chen Yan bring a group of people in, their expressions varied.

Li Lizhi and Gao Yang were more curious, while Prince Wei was more pleased.

Having been in Weinan County so long, he had already become familiar with Du Gou and the others.

"Everyone, from now on we are fellow disciples; please give me much guidance, much guidance, ha," Li Yifu said with an eager smile, greeting the group of senior students.

Du Gou, still smiling, waved at Sizi, "Little Princess of Jinyang, we meet again."

Sizi pursed his little mouth, "Brother Yihuo, you're here again? What doubts do you have today?"

Du Gou: "......"

Du Gou felt a bit embarrassed; recently he had indeed been pulling the Princess of Jinyang into asking many questions.

He didn't expect the Princess of Jinyang to dub him 'Brother Yihuo'.

Li Lizhi's mouth twitched imperceptibly, and she said nothing.

"Alright, everyone, sit down," Chen Yan raised his hand in a vague gesture, indicating they should be quiet.

The newly arrived few quickly found empty seats and sat down, faces full of anticipation.

Chen Yan pondered briefly and said, "Today, because several new classmates have joined, and their identities are rather special with many duties, I have decided to alter the class order and add a new subject."

"New subject!" the senior students' eyes instantly lit up.

Li Tai immediately raised his hand, "Mr. Chen, may I ask what the new subject is?"

"Hmm, Li, you are particularly polite today; the teacher is pleased," Chen Yan nodded calmly, and Li Tai's eye twitched.

"Ahem, the newly added subject is a decision I made on the spot," Chen Yan said from the podium, scanning the crowd, "Those present are either of distinguished background or have promising futures, like Du and his classmates, who can be considered future pillars of the court."

"Therefore, I have decided to teach you—History!"

History?

The students all looked puzzled upon hearing it, not quite understanding why Chen Yan wanted to teach history.

If you say that elsewhere they might be like little brats before Chen Yan, knowing nothing, in history each of them, including Li Lizhi, could be considered experts.

No one knows how many times they've flipped through the annals; even if they don't recite them verbatim, they're close enough.

What is there to teach?

Chen Yan understood their doubt and smiled lightly, "You may think that by reading the histories you know them well, that you can recount every famous figure in history like a treasure."

"But clarity aside, have you truly delved deep?"

"Citing classics is easy, but using them as warnings is as hard as scaling heaven!"

"It's like last year's flood, the plague after the flood; history clearly recorded various omens before the flood, yet among you who have studied history extensively, has anyone noticed?"

"Just a few short words instantly silenced everyone present."

"Why study history? As for this question, I believe you all will feel puzzled."

"What I want to say is, history is a grand scroll depicting the imperishable traces of each era, recording the good and evil of human nature, displaying its unique charm, and letting us clearly recognize our insignificance."

"In this grand scroll, perhaps there are myriad changes, but the underlying law is the law of human nature."

"Only by studying history extensively, understanding history, and approaching history can you truly appreciate its charm."

"After he spoke, many students did not dare to be careless, sitting upright one by one with solemn expressions."

"Chen Yan was very pleased with this and raised today's first question: "The Yellow Emperor and Chiyou—I believe everyone is familiar with them.""

"Then, when mentioning these two figures, what comes to mind first?"

"Gao Yang said softly: "The Battle of Zhuolu?""

"Exactly!" Chen Yan agreed: "It is the Battle of Zhuolu, the first large-scale war on our Huaxia land, whose significance is profound."

"Then here's a question: why did the Battle of Zhuolu break out? Why did the Yellow Emperor and Chiyou go to war?"

"......"