Fang Er rested his hands on the lectern, looking down at the children below.
"Tong," this word means: the same, together, with.
"Tongxue," the meaning is to learn together.
The Analects says: "When three people walk together, one must be my teacher."
The Headmaster wishes to learn with you all, and progress together.
So, are you willing, to learn knowledge, learn skills, and learn to be a person, with the Headmaster and the teachers?
What are little children?
"Little terrors!"
What are the characteristics of little terrors?
"They're like spoiled donkeys!"
So, as soon as Fang Er spoke, the children below immediately and loudly replied in unison.
"Willing!"
Fang Er nodded, looking at the children below.
"This lesson, the Headmaster will not teach you pinyin or arithmetic, nor will he teach you classics and history.
The Headmaster wants to talk to you about ideals.
Ideals are what you hope to become when you grow up, and what you want to do.
After speaking, he scanned the children.
He pointed at Bao'er and said.
"Bao'er, it's you. You first, tell me, what is your ideal?"
Bao'er pondered for a moment, then blinked his clear, bright eyes and replied in a childish voice.
"Before coming to Fangjia Village, Bao'er wanted to farm, to farm a lot of land, so that Mother would never worry about not having enough food.
Now that we have enough to eat, Bao'er wants to become a hero like the Headmaster!
Ride a great horse, lead soldiers, and expand the territory for Great Tang! To bring glory to our ancestors!"
Fang Er was amused.
"This little fellow has quite grand aspirations.
Good, with an ideal, strive for it!
Train your body well, learn knowledge well, only then can your ideal be realized.
Bao'er bowed to Fang Er.
"Thank you, Headmaster. Bao'er has noted it."
Fang Er nodded at him, signaling him to sit down, then looked at the others.
He casually pointed to a small child sitting in the front row.
"This is Hua Niang's son, Ma Chao's nephew.
Ma Yu, tell me your ideal.
The slightly thin and weak-looking child stood up.
"Answering the Headmaster, my student's name is Ma Yu.
My student is physically weak and cannot be a military general, but my student also has an ideal.
My student's ideal is to be like the Headmaster, to create more good seeds, so that the people of the world will not go hungry.
Good heavens, this child's goal is to be Tang Dynasty's Yuan Grandpa?
Fang Er gave him a thumbs-up.
"Good boy, this ideal is great! But, you must first learn knowledge well.
Then, learn the farming skills from your grandfather.
With that, plus your own continuous research, you will surely succeed one day!
Ma Yu bowed and thanked him before returning to his chair.
Fang Er again searched the crowd for a target to question.
But after looking around, he found he couldn't call the names of the others.
So, he pointed at Li Tai.
"Li Tai, tell me about yourself."
Li Tai scratched his head and stood up.
"Answering the Headmaster, this student does not want to join the army, nor does he want to be an official.
This student wants to pursue scholarship, to travel every inch of Great Tang, and to see different scenery.
Is this why you are compiling the 'Kuodizhi'?"
Fang Er did not continue to question Li Chengqian and Li Ke.
Instead, he picked up a piece of chalk and drew a shape on the blackboard.
The map of Great Tang in the early Tang Dynasty.
It was not precise, but it conveyed the general idea.
After finishing, he turned around and looked at them.
"Here, this is our Great Tang!
We are here, in Great Tang.
After speaking, he drew a small dot with chalk in the approximate location of Chang'an.
And then.
The chalk did not stop.
With a swoosh, he drew the maps of other countries on the blackboard.
Oceans, continents, the equator, and the North and South Poles.
The world is vast! Our Great Tang is small!
There are countless good places in this world, waiting for people to develop!
There is countless wealth, waiting to be discovered.
He had said these words to Li Shimin before.
This time, he was mainly saying them to these children,
So that they would recognize the world, especially the three brothers Li Chengqian.
Historically, Li Chengqian failed to ascend the throne for two reasons.
One was a leg ailment, but his legs were fine now.
The second was being incited by Hou Junji to rebel.
Li Tai was also a tragedy.
Because of his talent, he was doted on by Li Shimin, but because of this.
It gave Li Tai improper thoughts, and he acted to the extent that Li Shimin took notice!
Therefore, when Li Chengqian rebelled, Li Shimin believed he was trying to frame his brother and seize the throne!
As a result, Li Shimin demoted him to a郡王 (commandery prince) and sent him to Junzhou.
He eventually died of illness there.
As for Li Ke, he was completely invisible.
His mother, Yang Fei, was the daughter of Yang Guang, so, needless to say, he would have no chance to emerge.
On the contrary, the more outstanding he was, the more he would be attacked by ministers.
Eventually, he was implicated in the rebellion case of Fang Yiai and was killed by Zhangsun Wuji.
Since Fang Er and Chai Yue were engaged, he was considered a cousin to Li Chengqian.
To help him and ensure he could eventually ascend to that position, was merely a matter of convenience.
As for Li Tai.
Heh heh, such a clever little child should do what he should do!
As for Li Ke, that depends on his performance.
In any case, it's enough to not watch him go to his death.
As the map on the blackboard grew larger and more detailed.
The children listening below displayed different expressions on their faces.
Li Chengqian was shocked.
Li Tai was surprised.
Li Ke was eager.
The other children also had varying expressions.
Looking at the reactions of the three key individuals below.
Fang Er tossed the chalk onto the lectern.
"You see, the world is vast! So vast it's unimaginable!
The Headmaster's dream is to make our Great Tang stronger and stronger!
So strong that wherever the sun and moon shine, all will be tributaries of Great Tang, or even its territory!
Therefore, Bao'er, who wants to expand the territory, you must work hard! There are countless places here, waiting for you to conquer!
Ma Yu, who wants to farm, you must also work hard! There are countless lands here, waiting for you to sow!
Li Tai, who wants to travel throughout Great Tang, you must work even harder! Because, the Headmaster fears you won't be able to travel through these ten thousand miles of rivers and seas before you die!!
After speaking, Fang Er looked at Li Chengqian again, his eyes filled with meaning.
"Among you, there are eldest sons who must inherit the family business, so please work hard!
While safeguarding this family business, add to it!
Looking again at Li Tai and Li Ke.
"Of course, there are also second sons and illegitimate sons in the family.
Since you have no family business to inherit, then, create a new family business!
After speaking, he slammed his fist onto the blackboard.
"Here! This is the place where you will create your new family business!"