The husband's son-in-law

There are many literati in Chuzhou.

Among the gentlemen who went to Zhaozhou this time, Du Ruoyong was the most inconspicuous. He was just a juren, and he was very old. He was not from the city of Chuzhou, but from a small prefecture in Chuzhou.

When he took the provincial examination, he repeatedly failed the rankings. Fortunately, Mr. Sun traveled around to give lectures. He passed the Juren examination at the age of 37. After his father heard that he had won the Juren, he left with a smile, saying that the Du family will be complete in this life. You can die with peace in your eyes, and you can see the ancestors of the Du family in the end.

Even if the road to becoming an official was not smooth, Du Ruoyong worked as a ninth-rank petty official for several years, then resigned and returned to his hometown, opened a private school in a small prefecture, and lived a leisurely life.

Until he heard that Mr. Sun had returned to Chuzhou, Du Ruoyong always remembered Mr. Sun's kindness.

If Master Sun hadn't given that lecture, I'm afraid he wouldn't be able to win Juren, and his father would also pass away with regret.Du Ruoyong knew he had no talent, so he didn't dare to ask for a post with the cheek until he heard the news.

Master Sun’s disciple was an official in the poor and remote Zhaozhou, and built an official school, but he had no wife...

After Du Ruoyong listened, his first thought was: he must go.

The friend persuaded after hearing this: "That Zhaozhou is poor. I haven't even heard of it before. It's farther south than that poor Mozhou. You should think about it clearly, why go there."

"I owe everyone Sun a kindness. If I don't pay it back this time, I'm afraid I won't have a chance in the future." Du Ruoyong said.

Master Sun's talent, education, fame and family background are far away, and Du Ruoyong is not willing to give up the opportunity to 'help Master Sun' at last.

"It's not like you are the only one listening to the lectures—" Mr. Sun must not remember you.

"Brother, don't say such things, Du will be angry."

After that, the friend just let it go and went with Du Ruoyong. Anyway, Du Ruoyong was the one who suffered, not him.Du Ruoyong bid farewell to his friends, knowing that Zhaozhou was poor, and couldn't bear to suffer from his wife, children, and mother at home, so he said that he would go there alone, and he would come back after five years. His wife took care of the old and the young.

Du's mother said: "You will go to you, you must repay the kindness."

The wife said: "I will close the door to thank guests, and take good care of my mother at home. My husband must take care of himself when he is away..."

The eldest grandson was young, with long hair and thin hair. This child was born weak and his hair was thin and soft.

Du Ruoyong dotes on this eldest grandson very much, now partingly touches the child's hair, "You must be obedient at home."

"Grandson knows, grandpa, take care of yourself."

A child is the tear of two eyes.

Du Ruoyong put his head away and got into the carriage. After the carriage had taken two steps, he secretly looked at his relatives behind him, his eyes were wet. It's good for other places, but Zhaozhou can't do it. He just suffers alone, how can he be tired Old mothers and frail children.

Starting from Chuzhou, it was originally said that there were eight Jinshi, three Jinshi, and five Juren like him. Later, there were two more Jinshi, one from the Liang family and one from the Sun family, all of them were side branches.

However, the Sun and Liang surnames are different, especially the Liang family, which is now full of flowers, and all members of the clan have entered the officialdom. Why are the Liang family's children also running here?

Then I thought about it, Master Sun has two direct disciples, one is Liang Zizhi from the Liang family, and the other is Gu Ziqing and Gu Zhao, who is now the Tongzhi of Zhaozhou.

On the way here, when everyone was bumped by chariots and horses, they still didn't forget to be curious.

"Where does this Gu Ziqing come from?"

"I don't know, I just heard that Mr. Sun has accepted such an apprentice, so why do you value him so much?"

"It's not just important, even the Liang family has come."

"Master and apprentice generally value this Gu Tongzhi, but what kind of family background is there?"

Everyone thought, it must be some kind of literati family. Later, someone said: "It is not from any family. I heard that it came from a small village in Wannan Prefecture..."

"That must be the only way to be romantic when writing essays and poems." Someone asserted.

Otherwise, why would Master Sun and Liang Zizhi value it?So protective?It's only been a few years as an apprentice, so he has worked so hard to recruit favors for him to recruit a master.

Du Ruoyong thought, it turns out that such a talented person is not something he can talk about.In the past, I just taught honestly.

"arrive!"

"No, it's the cement road."

Sitting in the car, Du Ruoyong heard the driver of the carriage in front shouting, it's here again, it's not here yet, what's the matter?He opened the curtain to let in some air, and was stunned when he saw the scenery outside.

this way...

When I came here, I heard people talking about it, but seeing is believing, and those people's descriptions are not exhaustive.

The carriage stopped, and everyone got out of the car one after another, with surprise on their faces, even the sons of the Sun and Liang families were surprised, let alone the others.If it wasn't for being outside, Du Ruoyong would have wanted to take a good look at the road.

I heard before that it was a cement road, full of water and mud, but now my feet are flat and smooth. After the rain washes, there is no mud and dust, and it is very clean. Where did the cement come from?

The road is about two feet wide, with lush grass and wild flowers on both sides, which is quite wild.

"Let's take a walk, just to relax and relax." Liang Jinshi suggested.

Others responded one after another, Du Ruoyong was natural, he was so old that he was jolted in a carriage, his waist was sore and his back hurt, and the wind blowing in front of him was comfortable when he walked. sentence.

"Nice poem!"

Some people admired it, and naturally some people added the remaining two sentences.Du Ruoyong couldn't write a poem, so he followed beside him, and when he heard a good one, he applauded and nodded.

When I was tired from walking, I got in the car, and this time I sat on it without any bumps.

Du Ruoyong thought in his heart, if the road from Chuzhou to Zhaozhou was the same, he could take his whole family to Zhaozhou - then he thought, no, although the road is good, it is still poor, and it is not good for the young and old to suffer .

Everyone walks slowly on this road, two days to three days, the coachman said that it was getting late, he might as well borrow the nearby villagers’ homes to settle down, so the big guys went and ate the country’s rough tea and light food, which was a little different.

Sun Jinshi asked: "Old man, how far are we from Zhaozhou City?"

"The cement road is easy to walk, you drive the carriage faster and you will arrive in less than two hours." The old man said.

People blame themselves. It is because he delayed a lot to see the scenery on the road. He didn't expect to arrive in such a short time. If he knew it, he would hurry up and enter the city early.Du Ruoyong comforted and said: "Don't say that Brother Bai is delusional, I am too, how can you blame Brother Bai alone."

Others comforted each other.

"Old man, how is Zhaozhou City?"

"Do you want to ask about food, weather, or something else?" The old man was puzzled.

In fact, the person who asked the question wanted to ask whether Zhaozhou City was really poor, but when the words came to his mouth, he felt that such a question was not good, so he said it in general.Now when the old man asked back, the man followed suit and said, "Let's talk about it, we went to teach in Zhaozhou City. I heard that Zhaozhou City built a government school. Our group is from the north. We are not familiar with the place where we live. I will also ask you."

Chuzhou is also the south to Tangzhou, but the extreme south to Zhaozhou is the north.

When the old man heard that he was a teacher, he immediately respected him and asked his wife and daughter-in-law to cook another meat dish. Du Ruoyong was a petty official before, and he knew that life in the village was poor and it was rare to see meat. .

"Then why not, all gentlemen were invited by Mr. Gu, right? That is Mr. Gu's honored guest. When they come to our country, they will naturally have to treat them with delicious food and drinks." The old man decided to do it.

The others thanked each other gratefully, and then talked about Zhaozhou City.

Sun Jinshi saw that the old man was proud when he mentioned Mr. Gu, and he spoke happily and enthusiastically, so he asked: "The Mr. Gu that the old man is talking about is Mr. Gu Zhaogu from Beijing?"

"I don't know Mr. Gu's name, but he is indeed a high-ranking official from outside." The old man talked too much about Mr. Gu, "You gentlemen have also seen it. Before the cement road leading outside was repaired, no one in our village passed by. Not too many, ten or so families, the crops in the field are not enough, barely make ends meet, then Mr. Gu came, said to build roads, and gave us five cents a day..."

"...The crops in the field are good this year. For generations, my ancestors have been planing for food. I have never seen so much rice grown in one mu of land."

You can understand that road construction costs money, although five cents a day is nothing in the eyes of how many people?When the crops arrived, I couldn't understand it. How come the crops were harvested, and it was Mr. Gu's credit?

Most of these people have resigned for more than ten years, and those who have resigned for less than six or seven years. They don’t say they don’t care about fame and wealth and don’t know how to eat and drink. Drinking, reciting poems and playing chess, sometimes traveling for a short time, or going somewhere to give lectures.

If the family background is mediocre, such as Du Ruoyong, then open a private school, with four or fifty taels of silver a year, and these literati and gentlemen don't need to worry about the family's food and drink expenses, and have their own wives to take care of them.

Therefore, I don't know how to fertilize the field.

Liang Jinshi and Sun Jinshi knew it and solved your doubts.The old man said he was right, "Who made us Zhaozhou remote, the outside world knows, that is, we only found out after Mr. Gu came, and we didn't dare to do it at first. The stone powder needs money, but Mr. Gu said that we can do it for work." Charge or give half of the money, I didn't expect it to be planted..."

"The factory was built a few years ago, and I made a lot of money. I sold enough rice for the family." The old man told the gentlemen to eat meat with their chopsticks.

Each of the ten took a sip and stopped eating more. They each had their own curiosity and admiration for Mr. Gu. They were exhausted when they were officials, and they were helpless with common affairs. Naturally, they had never heard of the common people. Sincere praise and respect.

When resigning from office, there are those who are indifferent by nature and do not love fame and wealth, and do not love officialdom. Most of them cannot continue in the officialdom, or they are angry with their colleagues, or they jumped into the trap. Anyway, they resigned in a hurry, and then did not regret it. Each understands in their hearts.

You can only be a leisurely and comfortable literati who do not seek fame and wealth.

This Mr. Gu has a brilliant literary talent, and he is also a good official. I don't know what he looks like?I heard that Tanhualang was appointed by the Holy Spirit, he is very good, maybe he lacks family background.

A few of them thought in their hearts, the peasants were born at a much lower level, no wonder they were demoted to Zhaozhou.

In the early morning of the second day, the coachman and the servants set up the cart, and the Jinshi Juren left money, not much, three taels of silver, but the old man was almost frightened, saying that it was so much that he could not accept it.

In the end, Liang Jinshi stayed for a couple of days, and everyone hurried into the carriage and left.

The old man stood at the gate of his yard with one tael of silver and looked at the convoy from a distance. He quickly put it away and muttered to himself, "I'm just staying for one night, just eating and drinking. How can I give you so much money?"

"Just now I have to give three liang of silver, how dare I ask for it, these people bring their own bedding." The old woman also said.

The old man's daughter-in-law said: "If people come every day in the future, our house is close to the cement road and entertains guests every day, won't we have money every day?"

"Where is such a good thing, who will come from our Zhaozhou City? It is Mr. Gu who has a lot of face, and has invited so many Mr. Master..."

Zhaozhou City, North Gate.

The city gate is still as old as ever, the gate is not high, and there are no cars and horses passing through the gate.The quasi-masters of the supporting education got down from the carriage and saw the city gate like this. They all felt cold. Yesterday they saw the concrete road and they were somewhat fantasizing. The word came to mind again.

Soldiers were guarding the gate, and when they saw many chariots and horses coming, they stepped forward to inquire.

"We are literati from Chuzhou. We heard that Mr. Gu in Zhaozhou City built an official school, so we came here specially." Liang Jinshi said.

Along the way among you, Liang Jinshi loomed ahead and became a "little captain". Logically, Sun Jinshi should be the one, but Sun Jinshi is really a faction of "not seeking fame and wealth" and doesn't like to care about these mundane things.

When the soldier heard this, he immediately saluted and hurried to call the captain.The gate is not too messy, the team leader sent his men to the Yamen to send a letter, and then checked the household registers of the visitors, and let them go if there was no problem.

When the convoy entered the city, the road turned out to be a cement road.

Du Ruoyong looked at it for a while, except for the cement road, the rest of Zhaozhou City was similar to his hometown, but after walking in for a while, Du Ruoyong thought that he was still poor, not as good as him when he looked at the pedestrians on the street Jiafu County.

Most of the people on this street are wearing old clothes, patched, colorless, and there is no clothing on their heads, not even a red-headed rope.After walking further in, there are fewer inns and more houses, some with gates and courtyard walls, some with wooden fences as courtyard walls and gates, and some with open doors.

However, a cement road is neatly drawn, and the open doors of every house are swept clean.

Du Ruoyong saw these Zhaozhou people, although they were not well dressed, but the front door was clean and the people were tidy...

"Master, the carriages and horses in front have all stopped, saying that they are approaching the Yamen soon." The carriage driver shouted.

Du Ruoyong got down and walked with the others.When they looked at the people of Zhaozhou, the people of Zhaozhou were also looking at these outsiders with curiosity and a little awe and fear—these people had servants and wore robes.

"This Zhaozhou is really poor." Someone said.

Du Ruoyong said: "It's poor, but it's much better than expected."

"Oh? Isn't that poor?" The man asked back.Knowing that Du Ruoyong is a Juren, and also from a small family, he has never seen anything in the world, but when he saw Zhaozhou, he said that it was "much better than expected".

Du Ruoyong heard the voice, but didn't take it to heart, but said: "Looking all the way, although the clothes of the people in the city are simple, they seldom dress up, but every house is clean, the people are tidy, and the spirit is good. See Although we are a bit timid, we have enthusiasm with a smile on our faces.”

The Jinshi who asked the rhetorical question heard it, and when he glanced over it, it was really true.

He has also been to poor places, the people are dressed in dirty clothes, each face is like a face, all of them have no expression, unlike the people of Zhaozhou, who can tell what they think at a glance.

There are those who are curious, those who have expectations, and those who welcome them with enthusiasm.

"Brother Du saw it very well, I didn't pay attention." The Jinshi answered with hands clasped.He thought of Zhaozhou terribly, and he was prejudiced all the way here, how could he really look at Zhaozhou.

Now that it's here, it can't be like this anymore.

"My lord, I just heard at the gate of Beicheng that many scholars in robes have come, and they said that the official school has been completed and came to look for Mr. Gu."

The errand boy hurriedly replied after hearing the news.

The soldiers at the North City Gate just ran errands to the yamen to deliver the news, and after a while almost everyone in charge of these small shops in the middle street knew about it.In the past, only a few businessmen came to Zhaozhou City, but this is not the case. Now that this year has just passed, so many convoys have come, can we not attract everyone's attention?

"Really?! Is there really a master here?"

The merchants who got the news couldn’t sit still, and were overjoyed. Years ago, Mr. Gu built the official school, and it was the official school that was built, but the master didn’t. Some people couldn’t help but think that Mr. Chen also overtook the official school when he was in power, and it’s gone later. In other words, there is no teacher teaching.

Some people naturally murmured in their hearts, wouldn't they be like Mr. Chen again, building an empty shell official school?

Seeing that the new year is over, the official school is still in the east of the city, but there is no one there.I also didn't hear Mr. Gu say about accepting people, when the school will open, those gentlemen who got the places to go to the government school are actually waiting.

He didn't say it out loud, but doubts began to arise in his heart. It didn't mean that he didn't respect Mr. Gu, but if this matter failed, Mr. Gu's previous prestige would inevitably be compromised in the hearts of these people.

"Really, I heard people say that there are a series of carriages and horses. There are more than 20 carriages from Chuzhou. The servants and servants drive the carriages, as well as luggage. They have brought a lot of bookcases."

"Are you still bringing books? I brought luggage and books. The journey from Chuzhou must be heavy. This is not just staying for a few days and leaving, it must be staying in Zhaozhou."

The brain has already thought of it.If you come to Zhaozhou to play - although there is nothing interesting in their place, but it will be different if you bring books and luggage, then you must live.

"How many people came?"

"I heard that there are seven or eight people wearing robes."

"Less, less, I heard that there are more than ten."

Seven or eight less?The big merchants were all overjoyed, even two or three of them had to make offerings, take the money to manage it well and keep it, and it is not a dream for the children in the family to study in the imperial examination in the future!

"Master, Mr. Gu in the yamen has gone out."

The big merchants all smiled happily, and hurriedly asked their servants to prepare gifts, put on new clothes, and left the house one after another.

"Master Gu is here to meet you, and we, the people, naturally have to keep up, hurry up and see the world."

Almost every household went out to watch the excitement.

Gu Zhao was also overjoyed when he heard that someone reported his arrival. He didn't expect his senior brother to be so powerful, so he naturally couldn't let his senior brother favor him, so he immediately changed into an official uniform—Gu Zhao didn't usually wear it, it was too troublesome.

"My lord, the carriage team has just arrived at Baijia Street."

Gu Zhaogang changed into his official uniform, put on his boots, and walked out of the yamen briskly. When he arrived at Baijia Street, it was a little closer. He walked there for less than two quarters. arrive.

These are his relatives! ! !

After the official school is completed and there is no wife, can Gu Zhao not be anxious? He has already planned to ask Chen Weng to do it first.

"how many people?"

"Ten."

Gu Zhao was flattered to hear that, not to mention a government school teacher, there is also a comprehensive school teacher next to him—but this school is a mixed school, recruiting girls, boys who don't take the imperial examination but can only read, so you have to take your time, you can't Say it right away, otherwise the literati Qinggao will give him a shake of his sleeves and leave in anger.

You have to coax these relatives with words.

We have already arrived in Zhaozhou, Mr. Gu has to keep people here first.

In less than 10 minutes, Mr. Gu Zhaogu saw the convoy ten meters away, and felt an urge to cry in his heart—now he knew why the ancients burst into tears.

He thought too.

Communication is inconvenient and the road is difficult. Unlike modern times, one can call to know whether he will come or not, and how things are going. Gu Zhao has been worried since he started his official school last year. The two of them are serious wives, and he couldn't be more grateful.

The expectation was not fully fulfilled, but the result was unexpected, can you not want to cry?

"Everyone has worked hard all the way." Gu Zhao walked over quickly with a smile on his face, his eyes were a little more moist, and he bowed to him as a scholar's salute.

It scared the ten of them.

No matter how poor Zhaozhou is, Mr. Gu knows that they are officials from the fifth rank. They have no official rank and are white. How dare they accept such etiquette?

They all bowed their hands and went back, saying that Mr. Gu was too serious and polite.

"Today, whether it is based on official rank or personal friendship, Ziqing should bow down to everyone. Yu Gong, Gu Zhao is an acquaintance of Zhaozhou. He should greet the people of Zhaozhou and welcome everyone. Yu privately, Then we can't treat you coldly, you can come to Zhaozhou, it must be because of the kindness of the teacher and brother, Ziqing thanked the teacher and brother, and it is even more important to thank you who are kind and righteous."

Du Ruoyong's eyes were wet when he heard that, and he was very moved. Mr. Gu is a good official if he can do such a good job for the people.It's no wonder that Mr. Sun is over a hundred and half years old, and he still accepts this person as a disciple, no wonder.

Those who are present come and go, sincerely, Gu Zhao is holding the hand of the visitor for a while, and if he says a compliment, Gu Zhao will say that he is only serving the people, and then he will compliment the other party for his noble character...

Anyway, the merchants who came here were stunned when they saw this, and they didn't dare to come forward to talk. They were really frightened. Scholars are like this, like this——

It's really hard to describe.

If Gu Zhao said it, it would be the word nasty, and this nasty is not intentional, but from the heart and sincerity, then the atmosphere of this nasty scene will be very different.

Outsiders can't see and touch their heads, and they still think it's something.

The people in the atmosphere already treat each other as if they are confidantes-to put it simply.

Sun Jinshi and the two Juren were the most obvious ones. Gu Zhao wrote them down one by one, and there was a list of preparatory teachers for the comprehensive school.It's not that he cheats people. Nowadays, comprehensive schools are the first class in Dali. They are simply "unruly" and "rule-breaking". Naturally, teachers must be "eclectic".

The deeds of Mr. Gu’s meeting with ten literati in Baijia Street today will become a good story in the future, and hundreds of years later, it will be included in textbooks and history textbooks.

Strictly stick to Chinese textbooks, then Gu Shoufu will go to history textbooks.

Let's just say that in the city of Zhaozhou nowadays, the people are talking about today.

"Master Gu said that he would run a government school, but unexpectedly, there are so many masters here."

"What master, I heard that he used to be an official."

"Ah?! Since you are an official, why do you come to teach now?"

"Didn't you listen to what Mr. Gu said? He is a scholar. Anyway, he doesn't care about being an official. He loves reading. He came here to take care of Mr. Gu's face."

"That's natural. If it wasn't for Mr. Gu's face, how could someone come to our Zhaozhou."

"What kind of official is it to be an official? How can it be possible that no official will be an official? Could it be nonsense—"

"How dare you fart recklessly!" Master Lin scolded someone first, because there are three places in his family.

The little merchant didn't dare to say anything now, but he was upset and still suspicious.

Those who understood the way said: "The five Juren masters and the five Jinshi masters say that the county magistrate of Minzhang in Zhaozhou is from the Juren master, and the other officials are all Jinshi."

"So powerful?" The small businessman was speechless, "Why don't you become an official? If my child passes the exam and is not a good one, I must beat him to death."

In fact, all the merchants here think this way, but they can't say it like this. Could it be said that the ten masters who came today are all fools?Then someone reprimanded: "You know what a fart, Mr. Gu said it all, it's the old man Gao Jie, does Gao Jie understand?"

What Gao Jie?What do you know, Gao Jie can serve as a meal, and Gao Jie can collect money?

Do not understand.

"Anyway, these things are not allowed to be mentioned in the future. If you don't take care of the adults, you will respect the ten masters. If you offend, your children won't go to government schools?"

This, this is naturally what I want to go.

"But if you want to go to other government schools, you don't have to ask for it."

"Hey, if I knew it earlier, I would have donated more money. Mr. Gu is really capable."

Of course, the few companies that got the quota are happy in their hearts. After so many years of business, only spending money in the hands of Mr. Gu is the happiest.

"By the way, where do those gentlemen live?" Those who didn't get the quota thought of a wrong idea, and put some money and gifts in order to curry favor with them first.

Someone figured it out a long time ago, and pointed the way, saying: "The old mansion of Mr. Tongzhi was in the east of the city, and it was built in a very grand and grand style. Mr. Gu had already thought about it that day, the masters will go to teach in the future, and they will arrive in a quarter or two..."

"Isn't there another one? What kind of school is it? It's on the other side of the house, much closer to the city."

"I don't know. How can we guess Mr. Gu's thoughts? Anyway, both of them were built by the government. With so many gentlemen coming, they should be recruiting more students? Isn't that because they didn't send money? Participate too?" The more the man spoke, the more hopeful he felt.

If it is true, wouldn't those who donated silver and spent a lot of money lose their money?

Some who watched the show looked at the few sitting above.

Who knew that the big merchants were not only annoyed, but also didn't show any displeasure, and said cheerfully, "I don't know when I can send my children to go to official schools?"

"Isn't that right, the masters are here, so the official school should open, right?"

One mouthful, one official school, I originally wanted to pick up the leaks, but now I will notice that it is different, yes, if it is the same, why is it not called official school, but a government school, a school.

Two days later, the ten literati who had settled down also wanted to know.

Why is there a 'school'?What is this?