"Coal Dan, Coal Dan, get up quickly, it's time to go to school."
Opening his little eyes and looking at his mother with a yellowish complexion in front of him, Tuandan responded, then got up and let his mother help him get dressed.
Immediately, he used the willow branches taught by his teacher to stick some charcoal ash on the stove, and started washing it under the eaves.
“Poverty is exquisite!”
Sitting at the dining table, Dad ate the porridge, added a piece of kelp skin, and muttered.
"This is what Mr. taught me."
Tandan's little face glowed, and she said plausibly: "Brushing your teeth will prevent worms from getting easily. When your teeth are white, you will get a beautiful wife."
The father did not expect that his son would dare to talk back. He just raised his right hand and suddenly put it down again: "Sir, you are right, scholars must be clean."
"I heard that officials should be fair and fair. If they become ugly in the future, even if they do well in the exam, they will be gone if they fail to get the top prize."
He said to his mother-in-law: "Isn't that the opera singer Zhong Kui? He is so ugly that even the emperor wouldn't give him an official position."
The mother-in-law said seriously: "That's right, we, Tuandan, will become a high official in the future, so we will be fair and handsome."
The family sat down laughing and had breakfast.
Porridge, dried radish, kelp skin.
This is a unique food at the seaside. Even the porridge is salty in your mouth.
They are boat people. They go out early and come back late. Their afternoon fishing is no less than farming. Besides, except on windy and rainy days, they have no time to rest at all. It is also very dangerous.
The family lives on a small island in the Miaodao Islands, which is not as large as Changdao County, the largest county, but a village under its jurisdiction, with about thirty families.
Fishing in the Bohai Sea is the biggest livelihood.
"Let's go!"
The young father is only thirty years old, but his face has been exposed to the weather and has made him look no less than forty.
He wore a singlet and applied fish oil to the exposed areas. When he saw his son leaving with his schoolbag, he directly pulled him over and applied fish oil on the exposed areas.
"Mei Dan, although this stuff is fishy, it won't hurt you."
Immediately, the father and son arrived at the door of the house, got on the boat and started paddling.
People in the same village joked: "You said you were studying at Xiucai?"
"That's right, you must study."
Gu Wufeng responded with a smile, and then took his son to Changdao County.
Although there are thousands of fishermen households in the entire Changdao County, the real social sciences are concentrated on Changdao, where there are thousands of households and a city wall, which is very lively.
Most of the fish caught were traded here, so it became prosperous.
Of course, no one can erase the navy's contribution.
Although the navy was not stationed on Long Island, daily consumption and business was done there, and a shipyard was established.
Although it is only a small boat with less than 1,000 pieces of materials, its powerful ship repair function has attracted many ship dealers to cross the Bohai Sea.
The father and son found a remote place to moor and put the boat down.
There are no berthing fees, which is the key to Long Island attracting boat dealers.
The social school is not large, only one acre square, and can accommodate thirty or forty school children.
Carrying her schoolbag, Tuan Dan went to school happily.
"Hello, sir!"
After everyone bowed, the book was opened.
Social Studies was a school established by the imperial court. The imperial court provided teachers with rice and food, and students only had to go out to study.
There are still differences between social studies and private schools.
For example, in private schools, the emphasis is generally on gaining academic merit, and the students who study are basically devoted to it, and generally have very few vacations.
Sociology, on the other hand, mainly focuses on cultivating schoolchildren, educating them in Confucian thoughts, and establishing Confucian etiquette, law, and morality.
Therefore, social science students will have a holiday during the busy farming period, and will take classes during the slack farming period, and the management will be looser. In addition to the general Four Books and Five Classics, they will also teach the "Imperial Imperial Edict", the laws and regulations of the dynasty, etiquette such as crowns, weddings, funerals, and sacrifices, as well as classics.
Historical calculations and the like.
The educational function is more than the pursuit of fame.
This is why schoolchildren under twenty will be temporarily exempted from corvee service if they are studying in social studies.
Gu Changfeng finished his book and started explaining taxes today:
"Shandong is our province, and we pay three cents per mother. If we want to be exempted from the service, we have to pay three cents. The corvee in our Changdao County is usually in winter, which can last for a month or as short as ten days..."
"If you want to serve in the government, it can't exceed half a month at most."
"As for other prefectures, it is absolutely impossible to hire people without spending money. This kind of benevolent government is thanks to your majesty. He has stipulated that corvee can only be collected in the four months of October, November, December, and January...
…”
"Sir, how can we fishermen pay taxes if we don't have land?"
Tuandan raised his hand with confusion on his face.
Gu Changfeng chuckled and said: "A fisherman only sells his catch. As long as he has copper coins, he has to pay taxes immediately. Ten taxes are one."
"If you meet those green-skinned bad guys, you have to give up more money!"
"You must remember that everything is of inferior quality, except for good study. As long as you obtain merit and fame, all worries will disappear."
After chattering for a while, he assigned the task of asking the older ones to help the younger ones memorize the Thousand-Character Essay.
After returning to the back room, he breathed a sigh of relief. He took the time to read a book.
As a child student, he only passed the county and prefecture examinations, and he is considered famous in Changdao County, but there is still a huge threshold before he can leap over the dragon's gate.
He gritted his teeth, tucked a pair of Shen Zhou's paintings under his arm, and hurried to the county teaching office.
"Oh, Jing Cong, you are exaggerating."
Jiaoyu shook his head, his face full of reluctance, and he couldn't put down the painting in his hand.
Shen Zhou was the founder of the Wu School of Painting. His disciples included Tang Bohu and Wen Yuming, and he was extremely famous in Jiangnan.
On the market, an authentic copy of it costs no less than three to five hundred yuan.
However, because this Wu sect master was so generous, no matter who came to ask for a painting, he always responded to his request. Even if he brought a forgery, he would have it stamped and he would not be stingy with his private seal.
But there are so many paintings in the collection, and they have gone through wars. Authentic paintings are very rare.
"Students only want to seek fame and fame, and the art of calligraphy and painting is not something that students can play with at this time."
Gu Changfeng held up his hand and complimented: "I heard that the professor is a master of calligraphy and painting, so I thought that I should not be too secretive. I want you to keep this painting!"
"Hahaha!" Jiaoyu said with a happy smile: "That's true. Before the fame is achieved, everything is just a side detail."
"Since you want to seek fame so much, I am in the same class as the chief of Zhidao Academy and have a pretty good relationship, so I will recommend you to go!"
Zhidao Academy was founded in the 16th year of Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty and was originally named "Hunan Academy".
At the end of Jiajing's reign, Zou Shan, the deputy academic envoy, renamed Hunan Academy "Zhidao Academy" and became the academic and political yamen.
Yin Shidan, the cabinet bachelor of the Longqing period, came from this academy.
It can be said that its reputation is extremely great throughout Shandong.
If a painting or calligraphy is recommended, it is not a loss.
Gu Changfeng was overjoyed.
"I can't blame you."
Jiaoyu accepted the calligraphy and painting and sighed: "I don't know how many Koreans have settled in Changdao County."
"Seventy-eight percent of those who enter the school are Koreans. They come from wealthy families. How can they be compared to ordinary people like us?"
Hearing this, Gu Changfeng also became emotional: "I don't know why. It's extremely difficult to register in other places, but there is no restriction in Changdao. Those two classes in North Korea are reluctant to part with their legitimate children, and all the bastards are here...
…”
"I am so virtuous and capable in Changdao! Why doesn't the imperial court take care of it?"
"Control? How?"
The imperial edict sighed: "This matter is the court's idea. Who can take the decision locally? Even if the governor comes, it won't work."
"Besides, the arrival of this group of people will also be beneficial to Changdao County..."
Gu Changfeng had no choice but to do so.
"By the way, the imperial court issued an edict to establish a social school in each township."
Jiaoyu said softly: "If you made a mistake in Zhidao, please come back and help me. There are too many social studies..."
Gu Changfeng felt warm in his heart and backed away.
And here, after sending his son to school, Gu Wufeng took a net and went fishing with the fishermen in the village.
But in fact, it is only a few dozen miles offshore, and we dare not go too deep.
Even so, there are endless fish in the sea.
"I don't want to fish anymore."
At this time, his childhood friend approached him and said seriously: "I heard that the shipyard is looking for carpenters who can repair ships."
"We fish every day and repair boats is a daily routine, so it's just right to work as a carpenter."
"I heard there is one yuan a month!"
Gu Wufeng didn't want to pay attention to him at first, but when he heard about the money, he was immediately moved: "Is it that high?"
"Then there are so many people running the boats that the ship repairers are overwhelmed, so we have to recruit people, right?"
"Do you think there are any poor people on such a big ship?"
"Shit!" At this time, the second-rate man stepped in and immediately said with his hands on his hips: "What's the point of being a shipwright? How much does it cost for all your hard work?"
"Let's go fishing, whale hunting."
"whale?"
Noticing that all the fishermen in the village were attracted, Erlaizi said excitedly: "That's right, we often go out on boats and encounter big fish that spray water jets."
"With such a big one, the meat alone can be sold for several thousand yuan. The blubber can be used to make candles and the whale skin can be used to make clothes. One head can cost three to five thousand yuan."
"If the whole village goes to catch one, even if it is divided evenly, it will be more busy than the whole year."
These words made the person who said them excited.
Although everyone is not highly educated, there are only thirty or fifty households in the whole village, and each family has at least a hundred silver coins.
This can last three to five years.
"Wu Feng, your boy doesn't go to school? Pen, ink, paper and inkstone are free of charge? Hiring a good gentleman is free of charge? Do you have to work fishing every day until the end of the year of the monkey?"
The second lieutenant began to persuade one by one: "Big head, don't you want to marry a wife? Others can have a sister in exchange for marriage, but you are alone, do you still want to be a son-in-law?"
"To catch a whale, you have everything."
"Brothers, I have made inquiries clearly. We don't have whale harvesters in Changdao, there are whale harvesters in Dengzhou Prefecture, and there are also whale harvesters in Liaodong..."
Er Laizi's words made everyone lose their mood in fishing.
Whose family doesn’t have any difficulties?
If you catch a whale, you can overcome any difficulty.
At night, the men in the village got together and decided to hunt whales.
The group of people were experienced and asked a blacksmith to make two huge hooks, with ropes tied behind them and a blown-up sheepskin float.
Once it hooks a whale, it will not let go and will kill it after it is exhausted.
The desire for life makes the fishermen full of momentum and fearless of death.
They even dared to dive directly into the water and insert large iron hooks into the whale's flesh.
In just ten days, they captured their first whale.
This is also the first whale since Nagashima County Chronicle.
It immediately caused a sensation throughout Changdao County.
Thousands of kilograms of whales were packed and bought by merchants for 5,000 silver coins.
The whole village became rich instantly.
In this way, a whaling craze immediately set off, and then swept the entire Shandong Peninsula.
People compete to take pride in hunting whales.
When fishermen have money, they are more willing to buy big ships and go out to sea to catch more whales and become rich.
Shandong's shipbuilding industry suddenly boomed, and more and more people were working as sailors.
Even the navy sometimes couldn't bear the loneliness and went fishing privately, stealing the fishermen's business.
This aroused public outrage, violated the rules, and was directly impeached by the local government.
This matter is very simple for the cabinet. Officials are demoted, and their salaries are deducted.
For the civilian court, soldiers cannot be privately owned and generals cannot be tampered with. This is an important red line for keeping an eye on the army.
Even the navy is no exception.
Du Yinxi, the chief assistant of the cabinet, took this opportunity to come to the inner court and began to communicate with the emperor.
If you want to secure your position in the cabinet, a close relationship with the emperor is an important guarantee.
Du Yinxi understood this truth deeply, so he came to the inner court every now and then, even if the conversation was about trivial matters.
"Whaling!"
Zhu Yixi suddenly remembered: "This thing is very popular in Heilongjiang. I heard Bai Wang say that no less than a hundred whales are slaughtered every year."
"If it weren't for the sea closure, their number would have doubled."
"There are very few whales in the Bohai Sea, so we have to go farther."
Du Yinxi glanced at the arm-thick candle in the palace. Wasn't it the emperor who started the spermaceti culture?
"Your Majesty, the fishermen are sailing out to sea. Some are fishing, and some are doing business, thinking of evading taxes!"
"tax evasion?"
Zhu Yixi was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said: "Can they escape? The sea is not safe!"
"In addition to tax evasion, the sea is too big and fishermen are running around. People with bad intentions can come and go at will, colluding with each other and infiltrating."
Du Yinxi began his analysis from a political perspective: "In the past, in order to avoid being pursued by the government, those robbers and bandits either threw themselves into Taoist temples or became bandits in the mountains."
"Nowadays, you can go out to sea at will, but once you go out, you will be looking for a needle in a haystack."
Obviously, Du Yinxi felt that such a loosening of control would be detrimental to public security.
Politically, I have always been absolute.
Since there is a risk, then block it. As for the survival of fishermen, isn’t that how it has been in the past?
It's just a return to the past.
"You'll die if you take care of it."
The emperor said solemnly: "Going to sea to fish is a good thing. If the court strictly controls it, it will probably cut off the fishermen's livelihood."
"As for the issue of order, just work harder on land and be more relaxed on the sea!"
After saying that, the emperor added: "Looking at it now, Shandong's commercial tax will probably increase again this year. This is a happy thing."
When he thought of Shandong, he thought of Jinan.
Daming Lake, Minghu Lake is big, there are lotus flowers in Daming Lake, and there are toads on the lotus flowers, they jump when you poke them!
He suddenly wanted to go to Shandong.
Jinan is known as the City of Spring.
In recent years, he has basically walked around Yuquan Mountain and Beijing, and he is really tired of it.