Zhao Yan didn't expect that he would meet Shen Kuo and Zhang Zai by chance in front of the gate of Daxiangguo Temple. The three of them were walking and chatting in a carriage. It happened that Zhao Yan hurried into the city today and didn't even have time to eat lunch. At this time, they felt hungry, so the three of them came to the Qiwei Building opened in Zhao Yan's house. This restaurant has now become one of the most famous restaurants in Tokyo. If you want to eat here, you can only book it, otherwise there will be no seat at all. Of course, Zhao Yan naturally does not need to book a meal here. Even if he is not in the capital, he will leave him a private room for him all year round.

Zhao Yan ordered a banquet, and then called Zhang Zai and Shen Kuo to sit down. Because they were all acquaintances, Zhao Yan was not polite to them. He ate a few bites of the dishes, relieved the hunger in his stomach. Then he smiled and said, "Don't blame me, you two, you are running all the way, and you didn't even have to eat at noon today. You were still hungry just now!"

;When hearing Zhao Yan say this, Zhang Zai and Shen Kuo laughed, and then asked about Zhao Yan's war in the Liao Kingdom. Zhao Yan said while eating, explaining the war after he arrived in the Liao Kingdom in detail. Although Zhang Zai and Shen Kuo knew a little, the specific situation was not clear, so they listened very seriously. When they heard that Zhao Yan and Emperor Yelu of the Liao Kingdom signed an alliance in Luanhe, the two, like Zhao Xu, showed very excited expressions.

After talking about the war in the Liao Kingdom, Zhao Yan asked Shen Kuo immediately: "Brother Cunzhong, have there been any changes in the college in recent years? What are the annual enrollment and students after graduation?"

When he heard Zhao Yan ask about the situation of the School of Geology under his charge, Shen Kuo was also excited. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Your Highness, the college has changed a lot in recent years and cannot be explained clearly in a few words. However, the enrollment of students every year is very simple. Now more and more people have accepted the knowledge we spread, so the number of admissions has been steadily increasing. Therefore, the college has more than doubled compared to a few years ago. As for the situation after graduation, a considerable number of professional talents were recruited by the court and assigned to various departments. However, these students are still too young, so their official positions are not high, not as noticeable as the students in the military academy. As for the remaining students, they are either recruited by people at high prices or work hard by themselves. In addition, some excellent students are kept by the college to teach, or they enter school or colleges in various places to teach. It can be said that our college has begun to take shape."

When hearing the above, especially when hearing the wide distribution of students who graduated from the college, Zhao Yan also felt very pleased that a science cannot be a castle in the air, and it must be applied to last for a long time. Therefore, before running the college, Zhao Yan had already considered the application of various disciplines in practice. Therefore, when teaching, he also asked the teacher to combine what he said with reality, such as physics. Many of them are related to machinery. After graduation, many of these students entered the Ministry of Works or Military Equipment Supervisors in the court. Starting from technical officials, although they cannot be compared with officials who have passed the Jinshi, they are still an official. It is precisely because of their prospects that many students who have no hope of taking the imperial examination are willing to choose to go to the School of Physics.

"Although it is a bit utilitarian, the world is bustling for profit. The world is bustling for profit. Driven by profit, it is a good thing that can spread our knowledge more widely." Zhao Yan said with a smile.

"Haha, when it comes to the dissemination of knowledge in our college, we have to mention the changes in the college over the past few years. Just now, Xu will explain it in detail to Your Highness!" Shen Kuo suddenly said with a hint of elegance, as if he was very happy about the changes in the college over the past few years. With his explanation, Zhao Yan gradually understood the reason why Shen Kuo was happy.

I won’t talk about the changes within the college in recent years. It’s nothing more than that the college has expanded a lot, adding many lecturers and students. In addition, many lecturers have advanced to the professor level. It can be said that they are full of talents and the college has become very prosperous. It can already be alongside several major academies in the Song Dynasty, Imperial College, etc.

However, compared with the changes within the college, what really made Shen Kuo so happy was the change in external attitude towards the college. When Zhao Yan just founded the college to teach knowledge of various disciplines, although many interested people came to study actively, these people were a minority after all. Most of the others, especially many great scholars, often said disdainful to Zhao Yan's those things, and even thought they were fallacies. Although they did not dare to publicly slander Zhao Yan's identity, they still refuted the views in Zhao Yan's theory behind them.

It is precisely because of the opposition of most people that Zhao Yan can only classify his theory as a miscellaneous theory, which is considered a theory that cannot be regarded as a prestigious one. However, after several years of adjustment and since the reform, Zhao Yan and most scholars in the world have stood on the same front, which has greatly changed many people's attitude towards Zhao Yan and have begun to face up to the theories proposed by Zhao Yan.

The theories proposed by Zhao Yan cover a very wide range of issues, and there is no need to mention mathematics. This is also the most easily accepted theory by others. In addition, there are physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, geography, etc. Due to Zhao Yan's own relationship, many of these theories proposed are not systematic. However, these theories are already profound for this era. Therefore, after carefully studying these theories, many people soon discovered the depth of these theories. Many people even became addicted to it and began to use the theories proposed by Zhao Yan to improve their own theories.

Those who can accept and study Zhao Yan's theory are not stupid people, but they are all top figures of this era. For example, Zhang Zai and Shen Kuo were the first to accept Zhao Yan's theory. Among them, Shen Kuo absorbed Zhao Yan's theory and had profound attainments in physics, chemistry, machinery and other aspects. Zhang Zai absorbed Zhao Yan's theories in astronomy, physics, etc., and integrated them into his own Guanxue, becoming an important branch of Confucianism.

In addition to Shen Kuo and Zhang Zai, there were more great Confucians who absorbed Zhao Yan's new learning into their own Confucianism, which was equivalent to giving Zhao Yan's new learning a more orthodox background and a closer combination with Confucianism. They even added some core ideas to Confucianism, bringing a strong storm to the academic community of the Song Dynasty.

In fact, Zhao Yan was also influenced by some views of later generations, believing that Confucianism was a group of stubborn people and did not know how to adapt, let alone absorb some scientific theories from later generations. However, he did not know that Confucianism was indeed solidified in the Ming and Qing dynasties in later generations, but in the Tang and Song dynasties, it was the most active period of Confucianism, and various new ideas and theories emerged one after another.

Especially during the Song Dynasty, Confucianism suffered a huge blow due to the turmoil at the end of the Tang Dynasty. This also made Confucian scholars no longer stick to the original theories and liberate their thoughts. Each great Confucian scholar has his own set of theories, and the status of scholars is high, so Confucianism in this period was blooming. In addition to Zhang Zai's Guanxue, there was Wang Anshi's Jinggong New Study, and the Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, which had the greatest influence in later generations, also began to take shape during this period.

It is precisely because of the above reasons that Zhao Yan's theories are easily absorbed by Confucianism in various schools and become part of Confucianism. For example, Zhang Zai's Guanxue used qi to explain the universe, which is the theory of Qi-based, which is very similar to microscopic physics in physics. As a result, he introduced some views from microscopic physics into his own theory of Qi-based, making this theory more scientific and complete.

Zhao Yan not only did not object to his own doctrines being introduced into Confucianism by others, but also supported them very much. Firstly, these new doctrines were not studied by him, but brought by him from later generations. Strictly speaking, he also borrowed other doctrines, so it was nothing to be cited by others. Secondly, after these doctrines were introduced into Confucianism, the spread of other doctrines can be more convenient, so Zhao Yan was also happy to see them.

Zhao Yan's theory has gradually been accepted by most people, and it has naturally had a great impact on the college. Many great scholars who were addicted to Zhao Yan's theory even came to the college in person, but they held their own identities and couldn't bear to study with ordinary students. So they entered the college to teach, teaching their own Confucianism while learning. These people were originally famous figures, and with their joining, the College of Geophysics also made their reputation famous. Many students came to study thousands of miles away. Every year when the college started enrolling students, there were crowds outside the college. Even if the college expanded several times, a large number of students still could not enter the college to study every year.

"Your Highness, I heard that the branch you opened in Guangzhou is also very prosperous. Many scholars from the south come to study, sharing a lot of pressure for the main courtyard in the capital. I think this is a good idea. Should we open more branches so that more students can enter the college to study?" At the end of the day, Shen Kuo suddenly suggested to Zhao Yan that the expansion speed of the college has not kept up with the speed of students studying in recent years. Every year, many acquaintances or unfamiliar people come to him personally, hoping to send his children and nephews to the college, so he came up with the idea of ​​opening more branches.

Hearing Shen Kuo’s proposal, Zhao Yan thought for a moment and finally nodded: “It’s better to open more branches, but the quality of teaching must be guaranteed. In addition, some trustworthy people must be sent to take responsibility. After all, teaching is nothing small, and you must not delay the students’ learning!”
Chapter completed!