Chapter 395: Chapter 234: Precious Son
At noon, after the studies ended, Zhao Yao was called by Mr. Xiao and then followed him to his office.
Mr. Xiao gave Zhao Yao a stack of books, neatly wrapped in a clean cloth.
"Your Highness, this is my birthday gift to you."
Zhao Yao looked at the pile of books in front of him and slightly frowned, "Mr. Xiao, what are these books?" Although he was starting to read seriously now, it did not mean that he really enjoyed reading.
"These are books like ’The Analects’, ’Mengzi’, ’The Doctrine of the Mean’, ’The Great Learning’, ’The Book of Documents’, ’Ritual Records’ and so on." Mr. Xiao lightly patted the stack of books with his right hand and smiled, "I’ve already annotated these books, Your Highness, you can take a good look at them."
Hearing Mr. Xiao’s words, Zhao Yao was startled and then solemnly bowed to Mr. Xiao, "Thank you, sir."
Mr. Xiao reached out to help Zhao Yao up and kindly smiled, "Your Highness, as long as you don’t find them unworthy."
"Sir, the books annotated by you are hard to find in the world, how could I find them unworthy." Mr. Xiao’s annotations were very popular, and his fourth brother had said that literary scholars greatly admired Mr. Xiao’s annotations. "But I feel you gifting me your annotated books is somewhat of a waste."
"Your Highness, how could you say such a thing." Mr. Xiao disagreed with Zhao Yao undervaluing himself, "With Your Highness’s wisdom, you will surely understand my annotations. If there’s anything Your Highness doesn’t understand, you can come find me anytime."
"Sir, can I print the books you gave me and give them to others?" Zhao Yao asked.
"Of course you can." Mr. Xiao, unlike other scholars who hid their annotations like treasures, wasn’t secretive about them.
"Thank you, sir." Zhao Yao thought that more than himself, Ding Yuan needed Mr. Xiao’s annotated books. "Sir, on your days off, you can visit the villa in Dahua Village, it’s a great place to rest. You can also observe the students’ studies and meet with your friends."
"I was planning to do just that."
"Sir, have you ever thought about compiling a dictionary?" Only recently did Zhao Yao realize that both in the Great Zhou and during the previous dynasty, there was no such thing as a dictionary.
It was the first time Mr. Xiao had heard the word "dictionary", and he curiously yet puzzledly asked, "Your Highness, what is a dictionary?"
Zhao Yao explained, "A dictionary is a reference book for looking up characters or words. For example, Zhao, when looking it up in a dictionary, the first explanation would be that Zhao is the name of an ancient country..."
After hearing Zhao Yao’s words, Mr. Xiao’s eyes filled with shock, followed by a look of delight on his face.
He spoke with excitement, "Your Highness, the dictionary you mentioned is truly... a great book."
"I just think it would be very convenient to have a dictionary that allows us to look up any character, so that whenever we encounter a word we don’t understand, we can find it immediately without needing to ask others." Zhao Yao smiled and said, "Sir, a dictionary is a reference book, different from other books."
"A reference book?" Mr. Xiao’s face was filled with joy, "The term reference book describes it very aptly."
"Sir, I think you could compile a dictionary for the Great Zhou."
Mr. Xiao was inspired by Zhao Yao’s words. Throughout his life, he had written many articles and poems, which were highly praised, but he was not satisfied with just that. He had always hoped to publish a book that would benefit scholars. Now that the tenth prince suggested compiling a dictionary, it was exactly what he had in mind.
"Your Highness values me so highly, I will certainly give my all to compile it."
"Sir, I believe that while compiling the dictionary, you could add explanations, such as the origin of the character Zhao, and how to use the character Zhao to form words and sentences..." Zhao Yao explained in detail how to form words, create sentences, and apply the character Zhao. "By the way, you could also include idioms related to Zhao."
Mr. Xiao listened intently, with eyes shining brightly.
"Your Highness is truly talented." After speaking, he solemnly bowed deeply to Zhao Yao, "I thank Your Highness on behalf of the scholars of the world."
"I only made a suggestion, the dictionary still relies on you, sir. At that time, it will be you that the scholars of the world should thank." Speaking of idioms, Zhao Yao thought of an idiom dictionary, "Sir, you could also compile a lexical dictionary in the future, including all idioms in one dictionary, making it very convenient to look up idioms. What do you think?"
Mr. Xiao was incredibly surprised as he looked at Zhao Yao, then praised in an extremely admiring tone, "Your Highness, you are truly remarkable!"
"I am only making a suggestion, not compiling it, so it doesn’t count as being remarkable." Zhao Yao humbly said, "The dictionary and idiom dictionary will still rely on you to compile."