I will never be Renzong

Chapter 196 The Poor House
In Kaifeng Prefecture, there is a place called Chengjia Village in Chenliu County.

Every time the morning glow first appeared in the sky, in a dilapidated courtyard, a thin woman was struggling to pick up an ax and split the trees picked up from the forest.

"Li Niang! I'll help you!"

A thin scholar walked in front of her, and then saw that the lady's weak body was carrying such a heavy housework, and he couldn't help but feel a little distressed.

"Husband! You are up! There is rice porridge in the pot for you! Go and eat it quickly! Just a little firewood, I will try it if I come to cook. After you eat the porridge, go to study quickly. I heard that reading in the morning is the best. alright!"

The woman quickly stopped her husband who was about to help, then raised her head and spoke softly.

"Liniang! Let's eat together! We'll chop later!"

The man said anxiously.

The woman hurriedly said: "Husband, hurry up and eat it! I really want porridge today, but my family just accidentally ate two bowls, so I only left a bowl for my husband. I hope my husband will forgive me for being greedy!" "

Seeing this, the man walked to the kitchen, opened the wooden pot lid, and saw a large bowl of steaming porridge in the pot. The man took it out, and then glanced at the dusty bowl beside him, feeling wet tears.

The man's surname is Cheng, and his name is Cheng An. He is a scholar, while Liniang's surname is Zhang, and she is the child bride-in-law of the Cheng family.Cheng's family was originally a family of scholars, but the family was in decline. Cheng An's grandfather was admitted as a scholar, but even though Cheng An's father was also able to read and write, he still failed to obtain the honor and finally died of depression. Orphans and widows brought a child daughter-in-law, Mrs. Zhang, who was rescued by the Cheng family in a famine year, and her baby name was Liniang.

Although Cheng An is not very intelligent, he can make up for his weakness with hard work, so he is good at reading. He was supposed to take the government examination two years ago, but his mother died of illness suddenly, so he could only give up the examination for the time being and stay at home to observe his filial piety. .

And all the chores at home fell on Zhang Liniang's head. Zhang Liniang not only had to do the housework, but even did some needlework from big families to earn some money to buy Cheng An's pen, ink, paper and inkstone.

Cheng An took all this into his heart, so even though he was not very smart, he still studied hard. On the one hand, he wanted to revive the Cheng family, and on the other hand, he wanted to live up to Liniang's dedication to him.

Cheng An cleaned the other bowl, poured half of the porridge in the bowl into the bowl, and then glanced at the empty rice jar, as if thinking about it.

"Li Niang! Here!"

Cheng Anjiang took two bowls of porridge and handed one of the slightly larger bowls to Liniang.

"Husband! I have just eaten! You go ahead and eat! Only when you are full can you have the strength to study!"

Liniang wiped the sweat off her face, then said softly to Cheng An.

"Liniang! Let's eat together. If you don't eat, I won't eat either!"

Cheng An resisted the tears from overflowing his eyes.

Seeing this, Liniang picked up the porridge and picked up the wooden spoon and ate it bite by bite. Cheng An glanced at the half bowl of porridge in the bowl, and remembered the empty rice jar at home, so he couldn't help but put the half bowl of porridge aside. Then he said, "Liniang! You also ate the half bowl of porridge. I suddenly remembered that I forgot to return the book I borrowed from my friend. I have to return it to him quickly."

Cheng An walked quickly into the room, and then wrapped up a few books with a bundle. These books were bought for him by Liniang, because Liniang heard that next year's talent trial meeting With some changes, more Confucian classics will be tested, and even mathematics will be tested, so I have been saving money for the past half month, just to buy these books.

Cheng An took the baggage and went to the county town, planning to sell all the books in it so that he could buy some rice and grain to go home.There is a pawn shop in the county that accepts everything, but what about the price? It is a pure black-hearted businessman.

Cheng An originally thought that these [-]% new books would be able to pawn at least half of the money, but he didn't expect that the pawnshop clerk only gave two hundred cash, which was less than one-fifth of the total price of the books.

Thinking of Liniang's sallow, emaciated, and frail appearance at home, Cheng An gritted his teeth and decided to do so. He originally thought of spending two hundred cash to buy some rice, and then went to buy some bones to cook soup for Liniang's health.

But he didn't want to suddenly see two Jin Yiwei posting notices all over the county, so he went up to them and saw that the notice clearly stated that the imperial court was recruiting a number of primary school teachers with a monthly salary of two thousand yuan. As long as they passed the assessment of the county magistrate, they would be eligible. You can receive one year’s teaching salary in advance.

Cheng An suddenly remembered that a private school was built in Chengjia Village not long ago, and it was said that it was built with cement. It was thought that it was a private school built by a wealthy family, but it was unexpected that it was a primary school funded by the imperial court. One primary school can accommodate one hundred people. students, two gentlemen are needed.

Cheng An did the math and found out that according to the regulations, he only had to attend classes five days out of seven, and there were also winter and summer vacations, which would not delay his studies at all. What's more, twice a month was enough for him and Liniang to live a well-off life. .

Seeing this, Cheng An couldn't help but move his mind, so he walked towards the county government office, and explained to the official that he was here to apply for the teacher of Chengjia Village Primary School, and the official immediately greeted him respectfully.

The county magistrate is also surnamed Cheng, and his name is Cheng Feng. He is worrying about the matter of Mr. Chengjia Village Elementary School these days!Because although Chengjia Village is large, it is located in a remote area with rugged roads. Other villages have already recruited teachers, but Chengjia Village has not recruited teachers so far.

Today's officials attach great importance to this matter, and have established a new education department under the official department. Kaifeng is only a pilot project, and it has been said above that in the future, primary school education in various places will be one of the important factors in the performance evaluation, so County Magistrate Liu has been I am very anxious about this matter.

As soon as someone came to apply for a job as a teacher in Chengjia Village, he hurriedly entertained him warmly. He thought that as long as the other party could read and write, even if he was not good at reading, he would definitely recruit him. But after discussing with Cheng An, he realized that the person in front of him This young man is still somewhat talented.

The county magistrate of Cheng couldn't help but love talents. After some inquiries, he found out that it was because of his mother's death that he did not participate in the talent test.

So they asked people to prepare leeks, and after drinking for three rounds, after the two talked about their genealogy, the county magistrate Cheng happened to be in the generation of Cheng An, and the two called each other nephew and uncle, and their relationship was deep.

When the banquet was in full swing, the magistrate of Cheng county suddenly said seriously: "To tell you the truth, my nephew, after receiving the order from the imperial court, the county has been keeping its business private and busy recruiting teachers, but I don't want to. Not recruited. However, according to the order issued by the imperial court, all primary schools must start classes on the first day of September. Now that my nephew has joined, it can be said that the urgent need has been solved! But... "

Cheng An saw that the county magistrate seemed to have some scruples, so he said: "Uncle treats me like this, I will go through fire and water. If there is anything wrong with uncle, please speak up."

(End of this chapter)