Chapter 661 When the granaries are full, people know etiquette.
In the vast square stands a monument to merit, engraved with the names of all those who donated to the Dahe Academy.
The square was neatly arranged with many benches. Parents whose children attend Dahe Academy put aside their work to attend the meeting.
Cheng Wanwan was also sitting among the parents.
Whether in her past life or this one, this was her first time attending a parent-teacher conference, and it felt quite novel.
When the time came, Headmaster Yu appeared on the podium, looking spirited and several years younger.
"As you all know, our Dahe Academy achieved excellent results in this year's academy examination. A total of twenty-three students went to Huzhou to take the exam, and eighteen of them passed. We are the town with the most newly promoted scholars in the entire Huzhou." Headmaster Yu smiled and stroked his beard. "A while ago, when Dahe Village was building a school on a large scale, many people were not optimistic about it, and some even said that it was a waste of manpower and money. In just over a year, Dahe Academy has proven its value with its results. This is all thanks to the students."
"In order to encourage students to continue their studies, Zhao Lizheng of Dahe Town has specially allocated a portion of the village's education funds as scholarships. The prize money is not much, but it is an honor, an honor that you should remember for a lifetime. As long as you become a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations), you can come up on stage to receive your own award."
The parents below immediately applauded, and amidst the thunderous applause, the eighteen scholars walked toward the stage.
The oldest scholar was twenty-four years old, while the youngest were Zhao Sidan and Yu Zhan, who had just turned thirteen. The group lined up according to their height.
"Next, please have the parents of these students come and tie big red flowers on their children."
The parents sitting below were unaware of this procedure, and one by one they immediately stood up and walked proudly onto the stage.
Cheng Wanwan also stood up, and the people quickly made way for her, letting her walk first.
She walked onto the stage and stood next to Zhao Sidan.
In the past, every time she was the center of attention, it was because of herself.
This time, however, she became the center of attention because of her son.
This feeling is truly different.
Headmaster Yu handed her the big red flower, which she carefully tied around Zhao Sidan's neck. She smiled gently and said, "Jing Si, you are very good. Your mother hopes that you can continue to study hard, not to pass the imperial examinations, but to broaden your horizons, improve your thinking, and strive to become a useful person."
Zhao Sidan nodded vigorously: "Mother, I will definitely work hard and live up to your expectations!"
After all the scholars tied on big red flowers, their imposing presence immediately became apparent.
Headmaster Yu looked at the students and said, "Everyone who comes to study at Dahe Academy must have a seed buried in their heart. Everyone hopes that the seed in their heart can sprout, grow, and become a towering tree... After becoming the headmaster of the academy, I have an additional mission on my shoulders. With this mission on my shoulders and a responsibility as heavy as a mountain, I must lead you all further and further on this path..."
"Young people, you are young, this is the time to strive, the time to work hard..."
His impassioned speech inspired everyone present.
The students and parents applauded enthusiastically, the applause lasting for a long time, startling the birds perched on the treetops and resonating in everyone's hearts.
The Great River Academy thus gained fame.
People from outside Huzhou came to visit, and instead of asking for admission, they immediately donated money and pleaded for their children to be accepted to study there. Because there were so many people, Headmaster Yu had to open another class specifically for these students from other places.
However, it was made clear beforehand that he would only teach once a month. If you could accept it, you could stay; if you couldn't, you could leave at any time.
Those parents can certainly accept it.
They had inquired and learned that the reason Dahe Academy's results were so outstanding this time was because Master Yu had compiled a collection of practice questions for the academy's entrance exam. These practice questions were not sold on the market; only students of Dahe Academy were qualified to copy them. It was said that many of the questions in these practice questions were similar to those in the academy's entrance exam, and that was why they had come...
While Dahe Academy was busily recruiting students, Cheng Wanwan was also busy.
Many villagers from Lijia Gou came to my door, all concerned about crayfish farming.
The food festival in August made the crayfish famous overnight. Later, it was transported to Yangzhou and sold on the market. It is said that it became a hit overnight, and the Yangzhou Chamber of Commerce made a fortune.
The villagers of Lijia Gou went to inquire about it. They found that the mantis shrimp, which cost 800 wen per catty, could be sold for as much as 10 or 20 taels of silver after being transported to Yangzhou. This huge profit tempted them.
They certainly don't have the capital to open a restaurant, but they can get involved in aquaculture.
“Sui Gongren, we have come here today to participate in crayfish farming.” Li Lizheng from Lijia Gou said respectfully, “Our Lijia Gou is located between two mountain valleys, with many small ponds. The villagers usually raise some fish and shrimp, but they don’t make much money. We heard that crayfish are quite expensive, so we wanted to ask if we could also raise some.”
Cheng Wanwan put down her teacup.
Her fifty mu of land in Lijia Gou only produced less than 30,000 jin of crayfish, which was far from enough to supply so many customers.
Originally, I was thinking of having Wu Xiaochui rent another 200 acres of land next year to expand the breeding, but digging ponds is too troublesome, so it's better to just use the existing ones.
Each family in Lijia Gou raises some, and together they make up a considerable number.
She smiled and said, "Of course you can raise them, but I'll take a cut of the profits, and I'll decide who gets to buy the crayfish. If you can agree to that, you can buy the crayfish seedlings to raise next spring."
Li Lizheng was overjoyed. If they were asked to find their own sales channels, wouldn't that be asking too much trouble? They didn't know any merchants from Yangzhou or Qingzhou.
Moreover, the profit from one layer isn't much, so why can't we agree to it?
He immediately said, "If Sui Gongren doesn't trust us, we can sign a contract right away. Whoever breaches the contract will be compensated a hundredfold."
Cheng Wanwan nodded and instructed someone to prepare the contract. After the contract was signed, Wu Xiaochui would teach the people of Lijia Gou how to raise crayfish, and they could start raising them after the spring.
The people of Lijia Gou know that crayfish are profitable. Some families have relatively small ponds, so in order to raise more, they have the whole family work together to dig ponds. The larger the pond, the more crayfish they can raise, and the higher the harvest will be the following year. It's a sure-fire way to make money.
Cheng Wanwan still had potato and tomato seeds, which she distributed equally to the village heads of other villages so that the villagers could plant them.
Although potatoes and tomatoes did not receive the same market response as crayfish, they were still quite popular. In the first two years, no matter how much was planted, it could be sold.
It was too much trouble for her to grow these things herself, and she didn't earn much compared to other businesses, so she gave the profits to the villagers. After the villagers in the vicinity became rich, Ping'an County naturally became rich as well.
Even Guihua Village, known for its laziness, has joined the planting effort and is busy working non-stop.
When granaries are full, people know etiquette; when food and clothing are plentiful, people know honor and shame.
Only when people's lives become more prosperous can they live with greater dignity.
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