The father and son ran all the way back and found that there was no one in the pavilion. They became more and more anxious and could only ask the nearby tea merchant.
Tea households all said that Brother Qi had gone home.
Children in the countryside are not that refined. As long as they don't encounter wild animals, they can run all over the mountains at a few years old.
But Bai Qi waited patiently for them but didn't come back, so he went to the tea-making workshop, where many villagers from the mountain were helping. After asking casually, he found his grandmother and mother, and had a working meal outside the workshop.
The father and son went down the mountain in the dark. Shen Yourong was feeding silkworms, and Grandma Yan was feeding chickens.
The child almost lost sight of the child. Zhu Guoxiang was quite ashamed and raised his hands and said: "Old madam, we were busy buying land and forgot about Brother Qi..."
"It doesn't matter." Grandma Yan was a little unhappy about this, but she was not angry. She turned to ask, "Has the land been bought?"
Zhu Guoxiang said: "Including the barren slopes, there are more than twenty acres."
Grandma Yan was sincerely happy for them and completely gave up the idea of marrying her daughter-in-law. She said: "This is really a time to celebrate. Mr. Zhu finally bought a property and settled down. How expensive is Mr. Zhu this year?"
"Excuse me, thirty-five years old." Zhu Guoxiang casually mentioned his age.
Grandma Yan said: "You are only thirty-five. It's time to find a wife. There is a cousin outside the old Bai family. The granddaughter is eighteen years old. Her family lives next to the Bai family's mansion and has several tile-roofed houses. The girl originally After we got engaged, we were already looking forward to a good life, but the man got drunk and drowned in the river. Later, we talked about a marriage, and the man suddenly got promoted to Beijing and was attracted by a rich man from Yangzhou. He shamelessly regretted the engagement and married another man. Over and over again, until now, he is a perfect match for Mr. Zhu."
"There's no rush to continue the relationship for the time being." Zhu Guoxiang actually wanted to say, I think your daughter-in-law is quite suitable.
"How can we not be anxious?" Mrs. Yan became more and more enthusiastic. "Zhu Xianggong nodded, and the old lady went to find out the news another day. The girl has also read books, and recited "Women's Precepts" very well. She is an ordinary man. I don’t like her, it’s hard to find her husband’s family in the countryside, so I can probably negotiate the marriage.”
Shen Yourong suddenly came out with silkworm sand: "Aunt, Second Sister Bai has already said we will kiss you."
"Did you talk about kissing again?" Mrs. Yan was stunned.
Shen Yourong said: "It was only when I was picking tea today that I found out that she was engaged to the nephew of Mr. Yu from the Yu family'ao. I heard that Yu Silang had been studying abroad all year round and had never returned to his hometown to get married. The woman was furious. So we got married instead. Yu Silang is twenty-two this year, and Second Sister Bai is eighteen, so they are a perfect match."
Grandma Yan thought about it carefully and said to Zhu Guoxiang: "Ms. Zhu, don't worry, I will help you find it later."
Zhu Guoxiang couldn't laugh or cry: "I'm not in a hurry."
Zhu Ming counted money in the room with an oil lamp, and stringed five hundred coins together and came out: "I've been bothering you two these days. In addition to eating and drinking, I also borrowed beans and salt to feed the horses, and waited for the villagers to finish planting the rice seedlings before they could build a house. These five dollars Please accept the hundred cents, we have to stay for a while."
"It's too much, it's too much. If you really need money, just give me a hundred coins." Grandma Yan quickly refused.
Ju Ming forced it over: "Not much, that skinny horse can eat quite a lot. It has beans, salt, and a lot of straw. It can feed two people a day. I have been practicing martial arts these days, and my strength is used up quickly. Mrs. Shen Don’t sell the eggs you saved, please boil an egg every day from now on.”
Five hundred coins were pushed back and forth, but Grandma Yan couldn't bear it, so she had to accept it reluctantly.
Shen Yourong glanced at Zhu Guoxiang and said with a smile: "Then I boil two eggs every day, so Mr. Zhu should also make up for it."
"Cook three. Brother Qi is growing, and the three hens at home are just right for laying eggs." Zhu Guoxiang liked the child very much. He was much more obedient than his own brat.
"Then cook three." Grandma Yan also wanted her grandson to eat better.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law took the money into the house, took out a locked box, opened it, and counted the deposits in the box.
They worked hard today. Mrs. Shen earned 28 cash, and Mrs. Yan earned 21 cash. They were able to get two free working meals. In the next two or three days, they would go to the mountains to pick tea. It is estimated that they could earn about 200 cash in total.
Of course, this kind of money-making activity only happens a few times a year, and their help is only needed for large-scale tea picking.
Especially late spring tea, the quality is not very high and cannot be sold at a high price, so the wages for tea pickers are correspondingly reduced.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law counted and counted, and after including the five hundred coins given by Ju Ming, the total cash at home was more than six thousand yuan.
Fortunately, Bai Sanlang has been helping, and Mrs. Shen's family has been reduced to a fifth-class household. She does not have to pay many exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and she does not have to serve the male labor service. Otherwise, how could the orphans and widows save all this money?
Grandma Yan took a piece of soft linen cloth, moistened some vegetable oil on the cloth, then untied the rope stringing the money, and wiped it carefully one by one.
Shen Yourong also helped maintain the iron coins to prevent them from rusting when used in the future. While wiping them, he smiled and said: "Today in Chashan, Bai Sanlang told me that he could help Brother Qi to go to elementary school without having to pay tuition. "
"You don't have to pay tuition? That's great!" Grandma Yan was even more happy.
The Sanshe method founded by Wang Anshi set the country's official schools into four levels: primary school, county school, state school, and Taixue. Each school has five grades. One exam is taken every 100 days, and students can graduate in as soon as 500 days. .However, if you fail the exam, you may also be punished by being demoted, and students can be directly sent back to the state to study.
After Cai Jing came to power, he immediately restored the Sanshe Law and promoted official schools across the country. The ultimate goal was the same as Wang Anshi's - to abolish the imperial examination!
In other words, it has been abolished.
Nine years ago, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty issued an edict officially abolishing the imperial examination. Scholars must study in official schools and be appointed as officials from the graduating class of Taixue.
If you take too big a step, you will easily lose your temper. In the face of numerous objections, you can only adopt the dual-track system of higher education and imperial examination.
The current situation is: the imperial examination is held every three years, and seven to eight hundred people are selected as Jinshi. The tribute examination is held every year, and more than ten students from the Imperial College are selected, which is equivalent to the Jinshi origin.
Shen Yourong continued: "A few years ago, not only did official students not have to pay tuition, but they could also live and eat at school for free. When Cai Xianggong (Cai Jing) lost his official position, the court changed the rules, and all students at the state level and below were given money. Only then can we have room and board.”
Grandma Yan was a little confused: "They say Mr. Cai is a traitor, how can he treat his students so well?"
"I don't know," Shen Yourong speculated, "Maybe bad people sometimes do good things, just like those powerful men who build bridges and pave roads."
Grandma Yan said: "It would be great if I could continue studying at a government school. It would save a lot of tuition fees."
Shen Yourong said: "I asked Bai Sanlang and he said that you can't go to the state school. Students from the state are not allowed to take the imperial examination and can only continue to advance to the Imperial College. The Imperial College is only available in Bianliang. We have two state colleges in Yangzhou. It took three years to get a place for tribute. So I went to the Imperial College to study, and I could only become an official because of my connections. Unless I had learned a lot, I couldn't be suppressed by others."
"Then we must not let Brother Qi study at Imperial College. We don't have money to give gifts. We will be trapped when we go to Bianliang." Grandma Yan said quickly.
Shen Yourong smiled and said, "Don't worry, aunt, because the elite education is so expensive that even a farmer can't get in."
Grandma Yan carefully wiped the iron coins, hoping that her grandson would grow up quickly and take the imperial examination like her son. If she could not pass the imperial examination, as long as she passed the imperial examination, she could find a decent job in the city.
By then, even if she died of exhaustion and illness, she would be able to rest in peace.
Outside, Zhu Guoxiang sent Bai Qi to the door: "Brother Qi, go in and play with your mother. I have some things that I need to read."
After sending the child away, Zhu Guoxiang took his son back to the house, lit an oil lamp and asked, "Was there a dictionary in ancient times?"
"What does Dean Zhu want to do?" Zhu Ming asked.
"I'll choose a new nickname myself," Zhu Guoxiang said.
Ju Ming said: "There are only rhyme books, which are barely equivalent to dictionaries."
Zhu Guoxiang dragged out the box under the bed and rummaged around, and finally found "The Rhymes of the Ministry of Rites", but unfortunately there was only one incomplete volume.
This thing could once be brought into the examination room.
Because there were too many people taking advantage of the opportunity to bring in cheat sheets, Song Zhenzong banned them and instead asked the examiner to prepare a few rhyme books so that candidates could borrow and search them at any time. There were too many candidates and they often couldn't borrow them, so the poetry and prose exams were a tragedy.
Don't think too much about the ancients. Even the famous ministers and scholars in the Song Dynasty had a lot of mistakes in poetry and prose, because they could easily remember the rhymes and rhymes because they were complicated.
When writing poems, you can use rhyme, even if you don't follow the rules.
The poetry and prose exams are more rigid than the eight-part essay.
Take Fu as an example. The title comes from Jing Shi Zi. Maybe you have never even heard of the name of that book. Not only does it restrict the rhymes, but it also stipulates the order in which the rhymes should be used, and the eight rhymes must be consistent.
Except for talented writers like Su Shi, all officials who came from the imperial examinations hated poetry and poetry in the imperial examination. Therefore, Wang Anshi and Sima Guang, despite the party disputes, joined forces to cancel poetry and poetry from the imperial examination.
After opening the rhyme book and looking at it for a few times, Zhu Guoxiang threw it back.
He can not understand……
When the book comes to use, I will regret it. Zhu Guoxiang plans to choose the word table again, but he doesn't know what is suitable.
Choosing random words is going to make a joke.
Seeing his father's depressed face, Ju Ming sat next to him and suppressed his laughter. Finally, he couldn't hold it in any longer and went to the latrine to pee.
Zhu Guoxiang thought alone: Xiang means good omen, and Guoxiang means national auspiciousness. Is it called Anbang or Xingbang? It doesn’t sound good, and it’s not as good as Yuanzhang... Oh, it’s so annoying, that bastard, that’s it It's not good to bully me!
…
Rich people in the countryside usually eat two meals, but they have snacks to fill their stomachs.
The meal tonight is very sumptuous, both to celebrate the tea harvest and to entertain two distinguished guests.
The old lady of the Bai family took the main seat, the two distinguished guests took second place, and all the female relatives of the family also attended the table.
The family status of women in the Song Dynasty was much higher than that in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. Especially in the Northern Song Dynasty, Neo-Confucianism was not only not distorted, but was not even fully formed. Later generations also attributed Wang Anshi's new learning to the category of Neo-Confucianism.
Shixinxue and Neo-Confucianism were mortal enemies.
The distortion of Neo-Confucianism began in the Yuan Dynasty.
"The white-headed old man wears red flowers in his hairpin, and the black-headed girl has three buns. She sleeps on her back and goes up the mountain. She is already free to pick mulberries and pick tea..." Bai Chongyan's first wife is called Zhan Youniang. She recited the poem twice and said with a smile,
"This scholar, Xiao Zhu, writes very interesting poems. It seems that he is indeed a talented man."
Bai Chongyan highly praised him: "Not only is he talented in poetry, he is also very proficient in classics and history."
Li Hanzhang interjected: "This man casually drew the directions of Pengcheng, Xiayi, and Lingbi cities. It can be seen that he has long been familiar with geography, which is beyond the reach of ordinary scholars."
"Indeed." Bai Chongyan nodded in agreement.
Take Bai Chongyan himself as an example. Although he knew the names of these cities, it was absolutely impossible for him to tell their locations.
Bai Dalang's wife, Mrs. Liu, suddenly said: "I heard from the maid that Mr. Zhu traveled all over the world, even overseas by boat. The sea is like the Han River. There are water bandits, what are they called pirates? Zhu
My husband once led a merchant ship to fight against the pirates in Nanyang. Further south in Nanyang, there is a large island with cannibals on the island..."
Bai Chongwen didn't like hearing this, so he interrupted his wife and said, "Make up some stories to deceive that stupid man and woman, and you actually believe it?"
"It's so vivid that even if it's made up, I'm sure someone has actually sailed a boat and gone to sea." Mrs. Liu said.
Li Hanzhang said: "The father and son must have been to many places, and it must be true that they sailed to sea. My family is in Chuzhou (Huai'an). I traveled to the south of the Yangtze River when I was young, and I also heard a lot of overseas experiences in Hangzhou."
Zheng Hong, the little fat guy, became interested and asked: "What is the sea like? Is it really all water? Can you get to the other side of the sea by boat? What is the other side of the sea?"
Li Hanzhang thought: "Perhaps, there are many islands. I heard from merchants in Hangzhou that there are also small countries overseas with different customs and different languages."
"I met the Western Yi in Bianliang," Bai Chongyan said. "They have settled in Tokyo for many years. I heard that their ancestors came from further west in the Western Regions. Some people also say that Persia in the far west can also come to our Song Dynasty by boat.
.”
Zheng Hong asked Bai Dalang's wife: "What other overseas stories has Madam Liu heard?"
Mrs. Liu replied: "I also heard what the maid said, and the maid heard what others said, and she couldn't understand it even after passing it on. What kind of daughter country is there? There are only women in the country, and there is not a single man. Even the country
The Lord is also a woman.”
"The country of daughters," Zheng Hong said sadly, his eyes gleaming, "I wish I could come here in person!"
Madam Liu said: "Xiao Zhu Xiucai also told many stories. I can't remember them clearly. I still remember the story of the Monkey King. It is said that Nuwa made stones to mend the sky, and there was a five-color stone that was not used up.
…”
Madam Liu spoke very briefly, with dry details and nothing to do with vividness.
But with just this, Zheng Hong became interested and eager to know the follow-up plot.
This guy only has two hobbies, one is eating and the other is playing. He has already read all the poems and dramas on the market. How can he hold back when he hears new stories?
