"Not bad, really good. Although the location is a bit outside, it takes full advantage of water conservancy."
After settling some matters at home, Wang Xu quickly went to Hangzhou Mansion to start preparations for selecting a site for the academy.
After a few days, I visited several places, and this place called Jin'aojiao was the one Wang Xu was most satisfied with.
Jin'aojiao is located in the southeast of Hangzhou Prefecture. It should be considered a suburb of the city, but the location is very good. The moat and canal happen to cross here, turning Jin'aojiao into a delta.
In addition to being connected to Hangzhou Prefecture in the north, the east, south, and west directions are cut off by moats and canals respectively.
What's even better is that this place is quite small. It was originally intended to be used for building a river terminal, but later it was not used for some unknown reason. It was bought by a cloth merchant and turned into a cloth warehouse.
When asked about the price, Jin Aojiao, which covers an area as large as two football fields, was sold for only eight million taels of silver. This price is not expensive in Hangzhou, where land is at a premium.
"Young Master Wang, once you sign the land deed, this golden horn will be yours.
However, I have to say something ugly up front. Although this Golden Aojiao is good, it is not perfect. If you plan to build a restaurant, I congratulate you. This is a Feng Shui treasure land bordered by water on three sides. You have made a profit.
If you plan to build a cargo terminal here, I advise you not to pay attention to it. If a terminal can be built here, this good land will not fall into my hands."
After signing the land deed, the cloth merchant hesitated to speak.
"why is that?"
Wang Xu asked in reply, but the cloth merchant just shook his head and said nothing.
Seeing that the cloth merchant was unwilling to say more, Wang Xu didn't ask any more questions.
He had reserved this piece of land for building an academy. Building a wharf would be a waste, and it should not be in line with the concerns of the cloth merchants.
After signing, stamping, and filing a case with the government, Jin Aojiao was officially under Wang Xu's name.
Once the space is available, the academy still needs to be built, and this cannot be done carelessly.
Wang Xu was not afraid of spending money and hired the most famous craftsmen in Hangzhou to build an academy that would be handed down from generation to generation.
It was not possible to rely on land in the north of Jin'aojiao. Wang Xu asked workers to dig out a three-meter-wide canal on the land and then build a bridge over it.
In the future, Jin'aojiao will not be connected to any place by land. If you want to get in, you will have to take a bridge or waterway.
Jin'aojiao, which hangs alone on the water, has a five-story wooden building built in the center. The building is mainly in the shape of a circle, similar to that of an opera house.
There is a three-foot-high stage in the middle, which will be Wang Xu’s lecture place from now on. Wang Xu sits on the round platform in the middle and gives lectures. Students can sit on three floors to listen to the lectures.
With the lecture building as the center, there are three more reading buildings to the north, two of which are named Xiucai Building.
A little further back, there is another Juren Building, dedicated to recruiting people as students.
As for children, Wang Xu does not accept them here. If you want to enroll, wait until you are admitted as a scholar. If you don't have this magnanimity, how can it be called a high-end institution?
With the lecture building as the center, corridors and rain pavilions are built on the left and right sides, and some exotic flowers and plants are planted for students to relax, and goldfish can also be raised to enhance the style.
In the innermost part, there is a row of two-story dormitories. When you are tired of studying, you can listen to the flowing water under the small bridge.
This is what Wang Xu thought and did.
As a result, during the construction, someone still came to find me.
"Are you the owner here?"
A group of big men came, shouting at the workers to stop, and the leader approached Wang Xu: "What are you building?"
"Academy"
Wang Xu didn't know the purpose of these people's visit, so he just thought they were idlers who came to fight in the autumn wind. He waved his hand and said: "Liu He, bring me three hundred taels of silver and give some brothers some tea."
"Yes, Master."
Liu He is the son of the old housekeeper Liu Quan. Now that the old housekeeper is really old and can no longer run away, Liu He inherits his father's legacy and continues to serve the Wang family.
"Fuck you, do you think I'm begging for food?"
The strong man Jian Liu He, the leader, came over, pushed him away, and said loudly: "Don't be cold, uncle, I am not a beggar. Remember, you are building an academy, and it can only be an academy. If you dare to build
Pier, be alert when you go to bed at night, let's go."
A group of people came and went quickly, and they were gone in the blink of an eye.
Liu He took the silver and looked at these people with a strange expression. He came close to Wang Xu and whispered: "Master, where did these people come from?"
"What else could it be? It's from the boat gang. At present, several docks in Hangzhou are managed by people from the boat gang. Behind these people are aristocratic families, and they will never allow anyone to build another dock and take food from the tiger's mouth. However,
, these have nothing to do with us, we are building an academy, not close to the dock."
Wang Xu explained briefly, waved to the workers and said: "Keep working, you will have enough food and wine in the evening."
Building an academy is a delicate job. The wages are sufficient and the materials used are good, so there is not much to worry about.
In addition to the Hangzhou Prefecture, not to mention that the four seasons are like spring, the general structure of the academy will be completed by February of the next year.
With the academy's structure in place, all that's left is to name it.
The name is easy to come up with, just pick a catchy one. Wang Xu was lazy and directly chose Ziyang Academy from among the four major academies of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
After months of busy work, the news that the new top scholar was going to build an academy came out with the spring breeze in February.
Regarding Wang Xu's actions, the Jiangnan nobles laughed and laughed, and no one took him seriously.
If you are able to win the top prize, it means you are good at studying, and being good at teaching are two different concepts.
Chongxue Academy and Chongzhi Academy in Hangzhou have been passed down through the ages. Wang Xu established an academy under the eyes of the two major academies in Hangzhou. Isn’t this asking for trouble?
When the news came out that Wang Xu was going to set up an academy, no one was optimistic about him.
By the beginning of March, the academy was completed and it was time to accept students.
Sure enough, just as everyone thought, even if he is the top scholar in a new subject, given his age, an eighteen-year-old top scholar and an eighteen-year-old academy dean, which family would be willing to send their own students here.
If you look at other academies, you will find either famous teachers or great Confucians. Although the reputation of a new top scholar is great, it cannot stop people from being picky.
After a month, by early April, Wang Xu had admitted a total of eighty-six students.
It seems that eighty-six students are quite a lot, but among the large academies in the south of the Yangtze River, there are tens of thousands of students, and Wang Xu didn't even make a splash among them.
What's even more annoying is that among these eighty-six students, most of them are problem students that other academies are unwilling to accept.
The only exception is that when I asked why I came to Ziyang Academy, they said it was close to home and it was convenient to go home.
Liu He jumped up and down in anger, complaining about Wang Xu.
Wang Xu laughed at this, how could he dare to go to Liangshan without Sansansan? Since he planned to open an academy, he was not afraid of not having students.
At the end of April, Wang Xu began to expand his skills, and this move was called the Three-Character Classic.