Chapter 112 I Don’t Want to Be an Official

In the eighth year of Zhaoqing, on a soft and long spring night, Su Zhizhi had a turning point in her understanding of her life experience.

That night, the five people chatted for a long time in the house.

It was not until the moon was past its zenith that Wu Yingniang and Hao Ren came out, leading Su Zhizhi and Xue Che, who were almost asleep.

Wu Yingniang sent Xue Che back to Doctor Yu's courtyard, while Hao Ren took Su Zhizhi back to their room.

There are only three rooms in Hao Ren's courtyard. Su Zhizhi's room is temporarily occupied by Murong Di, so Su Zhizhi will sleep with the couple tonight.

The moon is very bright tonight.

Every wisp of flowing cloud was illuminated clearly.

Su Zhizhi yawned while leaning on Hao Ren's shoulder, and counted on her fingers:

She learned a lot today.

It turned out that her grandparents were very powerful. They had read a lot of books and held high positions, but they had also suffered a lot of injustice.

She had an aunt who was a concubine in the palace. It was said that she was very beautiful, like a fairy in the sky.

It's a pity that she married such a fool.

She has a cousin who is a prince and is now a prince.

My cousin is good-looking and seems smart, but he doesn't look very happy.

And Zhizhi also heard that her biological father was also a prince.

But my mother said that the man was the idiot's younger brother and a wimp. He was not worthy of being her biological mother's husband, nor was he worthy of being her father.

But this is not important to Su Zhizhi. She already has parents, and her current father is very good.

"Dad, are there a lot of princes in the capital? I heard that the imperial palace and the prince's mansions are very large. If Chang'an City can accommodate such a large imperial palace and so many prince's mansions, it must be much larger than Black Bandit Mountain and Baiyun County combined."

Su Zhizhi spread her arms and gestured.

"Yes, many times larger."

The moonlight made each of Hao Ren's drooping eyelashes stand out clearly, casting shadows on his eyelids.

He suddenly asked:

"Does Zhizhi envy Di'er being in Chang'an?"

Su Zhizhi shook her head, and after a while she said softly:

"Dad, my cousin seems very tired."

"I gave him porridge, but he refused to drink it at first. He said he wasn't used to eating anything he hadn't tested for poison."

"Dad, Liu Xiangxiang and Qing Ning all said that being a prince is very majestic and wealthy, but my cousin doesn't look majestic at all, and I'm afraid he's been poisoned."

Hao Ren tightened his arms around Zhizhi and walked slowly.

Su Zhizhi turned her head, unable to see her father's face against the moonlight.

But she could feel that her father was very sad without having to see clearly.

It's really sad.

A sadness that even the dark night cannot hide.

Su Zhizhi hugged Hao Ren and patted his back with her two small hands:

"Don't be sad, Dad. I'll find a way."

Hao Ren felt a little relieved by Su Zhizhi's confident tone:

"Okay, think about it when you have time. You need to go to bed now. Don't forget to go to the academy tomorrow morning."

Hao Ren buried Su Zhizhi in the quilt.

Su Zhizhi slept in the dry quilt with her eyes closed, feeling very happy.

She had never been to Chang'an, but she dared to eat anything in the mountains.

Even if I eat poisonous mushrooms, Doctor Yu and Hua Er Niang are here, so I don't have to worry about eating poison.

She was not afraid of being chased by monkeys or wild beasts, and she could practice martial arts while hunting.

She also made many friends in the academy. Principal Liu and Master Qiu were also very nice, although they always assigned a lot of homework...

The next day.

Su Zhizhi and Xue Che got up early and went to Mingde Academy in the county with Wu Yingniang.

They started studying at the academy in the spring of the sixth year of Zhaoqing, and two years have passed now.

Su Zhizhi was promoted from Taoli Hall to Wendao Hall last year, while Xue Che worked as an assistant to the teachers in Wendao Hall for a year.

Now, Su Zhizhi has finished studying at Wen Dao Tang and is about to graduate from the academy with Xue Che.

Not only the two of them, many other classmates are also leaving the college.

A few outstanding ones went to the county school, while the others returned home to help or became apprentices.

After arriving at the academy, Principal Liu said some words of farewell and blessing to everyone, and then let the students say goodbye.

Su Zhizhi and Xue Che first went to say goodbye to the headmaster and the teachers and thank them for their guidance over the past two years.

Shanzhang Liu looked at the two promising youngsters with a look of pity:

"I've been teaching for many years, but I've rarely seen students as bright as you two. Do you really want to return to the village? Don't you consider attending the state academy?"

Master Qiu also said: "Given time, you will surely be able to pass the imperial examination and become officials."

Many people were shocked when they heard that Su Zhizhi and Xue Che did not want to study to become examinees, but wanted to return to the village.

Even Gu Qingning asked Su Zhizhi again and again in disbelief:

"You have beautiful handwriting and are good at studying. Do you really not want to be an official in the future?"

Su Zhizhi had previously told her classmates that she would not study after graduation so that she would have more time to play and practice martial arts.

But today Su Zhizhi's expression seemed a little different.

Su Zhizhi said: "Education doesn't necessarily mean you can become an official, and being an official doesn't necessarily mean you'll be happy. Being a bad official can get you beheaded by the mob, while being a good official can lead to being demoted and suffering many injustices."

"Even if I become a high-ranking official in the future, I will be no different from the villagers in my village. I will be hungry if I don't have food to eat, and I will be cold if I don't have clothes to wear. I will laugh when I am happy and cry when I am sad."

The sorrow in Principal Liu's eyes turned into astonishment, and he was obviously surprised that Su Zhizhi would say these words.

Everyone looked at Su Zhizhi.

Su Zhizhi continued calmly:

"Officials rely on salaries from the court to make a living. No one in our village is an official, and no one receives a salary. But we rely on farming, hunting, weaving, and doing business, and we are also able to feed more and more people."

Xue Che nodded beside Su Zhizhi: "Shanzhang, my thoughts are the same as Zhizhi's."

The fat man and Yuan were saying from behind, "Becoming a high-ranking official would be so prestigious! How could a high-ranking official be hungry? How could a high-ranking official be sad?"

Wu Zhan firmly agreed with Su Zhizhi and Xue Che:

"Su Zhizhi is right. Being an official doesn't necessarily mean a good life. I don't want to be an official. I want to follow my father into business, sell the goods of Liangmin Village to more distant places, and bring rare items from outside back to our Baiyun County.

Confucius said, 'When you are poor, you should take care of yourself; when you are rich, you should help the world.' When our Wu family's business grows and becomes prosperous, if we do some good deeds, wouldn't that also be practicing the gentleman's way of helping the world?"

After Wu Zhan finished speaking, he turned to Su Zhizhi and said:

"Su Zhizhi, our Wu family is mixed up with your village."

Gu Qingning pulled Su Zhizhi and nodded: "Then I don't want to be a female official either. I want to follow Zhizhi."

Liu Xiangxiang squeezed next to Su Zhizhi: "Me, and me, I want to go to Zhizhi Village to work."

Many other classmates followed suit and shouted, "I also want to live a good life with Zhizhi Village."

"I heard that Liangmin Village is getting better and better. Many people from neighboring counties go to Liangmin Village to work and even settle there."

The capital city and high-ranking officials were too far away to be seen, but Liangmin Village really allowed the locals to make money and eat meat.

Su Zhizhi: "You can also come and settle near our village in the future, but our villagers and farmhands are very capable and strong, and no one eats for free."

A thin male classmate asked softly, "I don't have the strength, but I can learn to make soy sauce from my dad. Does that count as a skill?"

His family runs a soy sauce shop and can make some money. The family is well off, but the shop will be passed on to his eldest brother in the future, and neither his second brother nor he will have a share.

He thought it would be nice if he could go to Liangmin Village to make soy sauce.

Su Zhizhi: "Sure, then you should learn how to make soy sauce. It would be great if you could make delicious soy sauce. Then hundreds of people in our village will buy your soy sauce. Who knows, maybe Wu Zhan's family can even sell your soy sauce far away."

After hearing this, Wu Zhan immediately straightened his chest and looked full of fighting spirit.

Someone else immediately asked:

"My family makes jewelry, is that okay?"

"Next month I'm going to my aunt's house to learn how to make tea cakes...

"I can learn carpentry from my grandfather..."

Su Zhizhi analyzed them one by one to the classmates and said they were all feasible.

Everyone originally regretted that they could not go to the county school or the provincial school and could only go home to do small business, but after hearing what Su Zhizhi said, they suddenly felt very motivated.

As long as they have a skill, they can grow bigger and stronger with Liangmin Village in the future.

Since they couldn't go to a prosperous place like Chang'an, they would make Baiyun County more and more prosperous.

Everyone discussed excitedly for a long time, and only said goodbye reluctantly when it was time to leave the academy.

Before leaving, Su Zhizhi walked up to the headmaster and the teachers again.

In the surprised eyes of the teachers, she solemnly invited:

"If our village becomes very big in the future, many villagers will need to learn to read and study, and the headmaster and the teacher can come to our village."