The return of the son-in-law

After the ditch was completed, it really brought great convenience to the farmers in Tonghua County.Guo Zhanan observed calmly for a few days, and felt that another matter should be put on the agenda.

"Building a private school?" Chen Xiehao was a little surprised, "My lord doesn't know that half-grown children here have to work in the fields, and no children have time to study."

Guo Zhanan shook his head and said: "The ditches have saved farmers a lot of time and energy. I have seen those children playing all day long. Didn't a child fall into the water yesterday? If it wasn't for an adult passing by , Rescuing people is a living life. Parents are working outside, and the children are left unattended at home. It is better to build a private school, which can not only cultivate talents for Tonghua County, but also save their parents from worrying about the future. "

When it came to this point, Chen Xiehao had no reason to disagree. He thought about it carefully, nodded and said: "My lord is right, most people in our county can't even write their own names, and they will inevitably be punished if they go out. Bullying. I remember there was an unused house in the county. I discussed with them and used that house as a private school. But this teacher..." Speaking of this, Chen Xiehao was a little embarrassed, "Your Excellency knows, my knowledge That's all, you can't be a child's husband, as for others, they don't have the qualifications either."

Guo Zhan'an had expected this a long time ago, and said: "You don't have to worry about this, I have already sent someone to Yong'an Mansion to inquire, if there is a suitable teacher there, I will invite him to come over."

Chen Xiehao did not heave a sigh of relief, but instead asked: "Master, we don't have much money in Tonghua County. Before building ditches, most of the money was paid by the adults, and everyone pooled the rest. This is the teacher's remuneration." , we may not be able to afford it."

Guo Zhan'an is not afraid: "I will take care of this matter, don't worry. As for the house, it depends on you."

In fact, Guo Zhan'an had already planned to build a private school in Tonghua County.At that time, Huo Yu had just come to Tonghua County, he was still very naughty, he didn't like to study, and he was thinking about how to go out and play with a group of children all day long.It happened that one day Guo Zhanan saw those poorly dressed children playing in the mud, and Guo Zhanan thought of building a private school.

It was just that there was too much resistance at the time. For Tonghua County, children at the age of seven or eight could sell on the street with their parents, and when they were nine years old, they could start farming.Naturally, these parents would not be willing to send their children to private schools, because it would only deprive the family of a source of income that could barely afford daily expenses.

It’s different now. After the ditches are built, two adults can do all the work in the field. There are more and more children playing on the street these days, and most of them are around seven or eight years old.If we don't build private schools and let them study, then this group of people will only be tied up in Tonghua County like their ancestors for generations.

If the farmers send their children to study first, then the merchants will follow suit, and Tonghua County will be able to develop a culture of sending school-age children to private schools.

Guo Zhan'an thought carefully for a few days, and felt that now was the right time, so he came to discuss with Chen Xiehao.

Guo Zhan'an took this matter very seriously. He asked Fuquan to go to Yong'an Mansion to inquire, and he didn't need to find those great scholars, because these people were really overqualified for enlightening the children in Tonghua County.Fuquan specifically selects those who have passed the exam, have no official career, and have few and poor families to inquire about.

Huangtian paid off, after inquiring for several days, Fuquan really found him!

Juren's surname is Jiang, and his name is Huanzhi. He is already past his age.He used to be an aide to the former magistrate of Yong'an Mansion, but because of his bad temper and hard temper, he didn't know how to adapt, so he just stayed at home for a few months.Jiang Ju was a bit arrogant, and he didn't want to make a living other than teaching. It's a pity that his teaching was too rigid. It was okay to teach school-age children, but not for those candidates who were about to pass the exam.

Jiang Huanzhi's family is simple. His wife passed away the year before last, and he has two children, a 13-year-old son and a [-]-year-old daughter.When the two children need money the most, the family's expenses are increasing day by day, and they are gradually unable to make ends meet.

Guo Zhan'an asked Fuquan to inquire about Jiang Huanzhi's character and knowledge in detail, and felt that his temper was just right to teach the children in Tonghua County who had been spoiled by their parents. To show his sincerity, he personally rushed to Yong'an Mansion to visit Jiang Huanzhi.

Jiang Huanzhi was not happy at first. After all, he had heard of Tonghua County, which is a place that is extremely poor. What future would his two children have if they went there?In Yong'an Mansion, at least he still has the one-acre and three-point land left to him by his ancestors. With the status of Juren, he doesn't have to pay taxes, so he can barely live on.

But since Guo Zhan'an came forward, he must invite him back. The method is also simple. The teacher's monthly remuneration is three taels of silver, which is four or five months of expenses for ordinary people, and it is a lot of income for Jiang Huanzhi.

Jiang Huanzhi was really moved, and within two days he agreed to Guo Zhanan, only saying that he would handle the matter at hand well and come to Tonghua County next month.

On the other side, Chen Xiehao also brought good news. The location of the private school has been decided. It is an abandoned house in the west of Tonghua County. The original owner moved to the north of Tonghua County. It is said that it is for the children of Tonghua County. Opening a private school, I agreed without saying a word, and only collected a little rent every month.In addition, there is a smaller house next to the private school, which happened to be for Jiang Huanzhi's family to live in.

There are many craftsmen in Tonghua County, and there is no need to go to other places to purchase tables, chairs, pens, ink, paper and inkstones. Guo Zhanan asked Fuquan to buy the Three Character Classic and Analects for enlightenment from Tonghua County.

Chen Xiehao watched the private school become more and more decent, but he was even more worried: "My lord, this private school is so exciting, what if no children are willing to come?"

His worry is justified, the children in Tonghua County are all wild, how can they sit on the stool quietly, shaking their heads and reading for several hours in a row?

Guo Zhan'an is not worried: "Reading is not the way out for everyone. If you can calm down, you can read. If you can't calm down, you don't have to come. Don't force it."

Chen Xiehao also thought about it: "My lord is willing to contribute to the construction of a private school for our Tonghua County, which is also a great achievement. The rest is up to them."

Although the matter of studying depends on the individual, Guo Zhan'an considered that he should encourage school-age children to study in private schools at the beginning, and he must set an example, so he called Huo Yu.

When Huo Yu heard that he was going to study in a private school, he was taken aback for a moment, then he said hesitantly, "Then go to the private school, do I still study the books my brother gave me?"

Guo Zhan'an also considered this point, knowing Huo Yu's worries, and comforted him: "At first, the private school only studied for an hour and a half in the morning, and it taught the Three Character Classic and the Analects of Confucius. You should just pretend to be a model in the past, and lay a solid foundation by the way. study at home."

Huo Yu was relieved now, and thought that this was the first time Guo Zhanan entrusted him with a task, so he worked hard to do it well: "Brother, don't worry, Huzi and the others usually only know how to play, and studying is a good thing, they will come. "

Guo Zhanan nodded in satisfaction and said, "Then I will leave this matter to you."

Huo Yu has a cheerful personality, is straightforward, quick-witted, and has many ideas. He usually speaks with weight among the children in Tonghua County, and he is vaguely the king of children in Tonghua County.Many children were secretly envious of Huo Yu, and when they heard that Huo Yu was going to study in the newly opened private school, even if he had to pay half a penny every month, many children clamored to go.

When Jiang Huanzhi came to Tonghua County, Guo Zhan'an took Huo Yu and Chen Xiehao to greet him personally.Jiang Huanzhi's house has been cleaned in advance. Although it is small, it is better than clean.Jiang Huanzhi had already prepared himself mentally before he came, and the current situation is much better than he thought.

Now that he decided to teach in Tonghua County, Jiang Huanzhi didn't feel sorry for himself anymore, and his two sons and daughters also studied in the private school, but their level has far left behind other children in Tonghua County. open small stove.

Huo Yu didn't have this kind of treatment. The teacher's own children didn't study with them, and if the county magistrate's foster brother didn't study with them, the attractiveness of this private school would be greatly reduced.

On the first day of the private school, Huo Yu woke up early and came to the private school with some trepidation. He found that it was already full of people, not only the school children, but also the parents of these children, just to have a look.

Jiang Huanzhi was a little displeased. In his opinion, these people behaved vulgarly, and all of them had loud voices, making a holy place for studying like a busy city.But he is just a teacher, and he is a newcomer, unfamiliar with the place, so he can only keep a straight face and hold back.

Huo Yu saw that Jiang Huanzhi's expression was not right, and Guo Zhan'an had specially warned him before, so he knew that the teacher disliked the atmosphere here, so he quickly got into the crowd, squeezed in front of Jiang Huanzhi, and saluted as a disciple: "Hi, Mr. Jiang."

Jiang Huanzhi saw that it was rare for a polite person to come, his complexion improved a little, and he forced a smile: "Okay, let's find a seat and sit down."

Just as he was talking, a child over there suddenly started crying, sobbing, not knowing what he was talking about.The parents were a little anxious, and after asking, they found out that their child had eaten cold food in the morning, and now his stomach hurts badly.

The parents hurriedly took the child out, but after a while, a stench came from outside.

Jiang Huanzhi couldn't bear it any longer, and shouted, "This is a place to study, not a place for you to eat and drink!"

Some people were not happy: "What's wrong with studying? So scholars don't have to eat and drink?"

Jiang Huanzhi was so angry that he stared at his eyes and blew his beard: "You, you, you are really, really, too much!"

Huo Yu hurried over to smooth things over, and first said: "Reading requires meditation and study without distraction. If someone is eating, drinking, and messing around, then you won't be able to read it, and this book will be for nothing."

When Jiang Huanzhi stroked his beard and nodded, Huo Yu comforted everyone in Tonghua County: "Everything is written in black and white. If you don't study, you can't even write your own name. What should you do if you are tricked?"

There were a few families in the room who were engaged in small businesses, and they were often tricked by others. Hearing what Huo Yu said, I was deeply touched: "Master Huo Yu is right, reading is indeed useful, but... "Speaking of this, the man took a special look at Jiang Huan, making it clear that he didn't trust Jiang Huanzhi to teach these children well.

Huo Yu also said: "Mr. Jiang is the Juren of the current court. How many people have studied hard for more than ten years and failed to pass the exam. He is a scholar recognized by the court. Don't worry. Besides, Mr. Jiang was invited by my brother. Yes, don't you know how brother behaves?"

Seeing that Huo Yu had moved Guo Zhanan out, everyone present did not dare to say anything more.The child who was so upset that he had diarrhea outside the private school also came back at this time, and their parents were wise enough to clean up the excrement outside, and then came in to apologize to Jiang Huanzhi.

Jiang Huanzhi wanted to sarcasm again, but Huo Yu was afraid that there would be another dispute, so he quickly stopped him: "It's getting late, everyone go to work, there are Mr. Jiang and I here, nothing will happen."

In the afternoon, Guo Zhanan knew about the dispute in the private school. After checking the homework he assigned to Huo Yu, he smiled and praised, "I have improved a lot."

Facing Guo Zhan'an, Huo Yu wasn't as calm as he was in the morning. He was flattered in his heart and said, "I've been following my brother all this time, just follow suit."

Guo Zhan'an stretched out his hand and scratched his nose, and said, "Okay, don't be humble, this is your credit. This is also my negligence. I thought that these children are almost qualitative, so I have to take it step by step, subtly, so as not to be confused. People are scared away. It seems that the rules have to be settled from the very beginning, even if some people are scared away, it is better than having disputes every day."

Huo Yu shook his head, and said, "Brother is right. I was still struggling at the beginning of my study this morning, but it will get better later on. If strict rules are established from the beginning, I'm afraid it will kill everyone." scared away."

Guo Zhan'an originally thought that this matter should not be rushed for a while. Huo Yu has experienced it personally and has more right to speak.Seeing that Huo Yu said that his original method was good, he was not in a hurry to change it, but continued to implement it according to the original plan.

The private school is closed every six days. After the first six days passed, most of the children did not come, and the noisy school immediately became deserted.

Chen Xiehao was very worried, so he came to the county government to discuss with Guo Zhanan: "My lord, there are only a dozen children left in this private school, what should I do?"

Guo Zhan'an was not in a hurry: "Since they don't want to study, we can't force them. By the way, take a look. This is the rule I set for the private school. You can see if there are any additions or deletions."

Chen Xiehao read one by one, and his brows became tighter and tighter: "My lord, there are only a few people in this private school. These rules are so strict, how can these children bear it?"

"Strict?" Guo Zhan'an wondered, "When I was enlightened, the rules of reading were much stricter than this. Later, when I entered the palace as a servant, it was even more common to beat the palms of my hands. These rules are just to let them Don't be late for reading, don't eat, don't gossip, don't doze off, don't walk around casually, how can you be strict?"

Chen Xiehao insisted: "That's the rule of the palace. Our Tonghua County is a small place, so we don't have to follow the rules."

Guo Zhanan narrowed his eyes: "A private school is not a shop. There is no reason to come and leave as soon as you say it. Since they can stay and continue studying, it shows that they want to study hard. If they refuse to abide by such a few rules, How can I read into the book?"

Seeing that Guo Zhan'an insisted on his own opinion, Chen Xiehao simply said, "If that's the case, let everything be as you wish!"

Guo Zhan'an was too lazy to argue with Chen Xiehao, instead he nodded and said, "Thank you for your kind words, the county magistrate."

As soon as Guo Zhanan's rules were promulgated, the number of students in the school, which originally only had a dozen or so students, became even smaller.But Guo Zhan'an didn't care. The matter of studying was not something that others could force.If you eat snacks and go out to catch sparrows while reading, what kind of books are you still reading?

It's better to go home early and farm with your parents, and you can also subsidize the family.In case you have studied hard for several years, you are still an idiot in the end.

As for the remaining schoolchildren who persisted, Guo Zhan'an specifically asked Jiang Huanzhi to teach them well and not to disappoint the hopes of the schoolchildren's parents.