Chapter 57 It’s time to harvest corn
Even so, Han Fei still did not agree to Zhang Liang's request.
It was enough for him to do such risky things. Why should he involve the child? If something happened to Zhang Liang, how would he explain to the Zhang family?
After being rejected, Zhang Liang was not discouraged.
After receiving the book from the teacher, he went back happily.
Two days later——
Zhao Yuanxi finally received the person sent by Li Si.
Master Wei received an order from Li Si, asking him to obey the Queen Mother and preferably gain her trust.
But as soon as he arrived, he was sent directly to Canglang Pavilion to live with Chunyu Yue.
......
If he wanted to see the Queen Mother, he would have no chance except when she came to pick up the two young masters.
Fortunately, although he could not get close to the Queen Mother, the environment here did not make him feel uncomfortable.
Especially those students, although they are not very talented, they are all very hardworking, which makes him feel happy as a teacher.
He began to understand why Chunyu Yue loved teaching these students so much.
The two of them used to dislike each other, but now they occasionally chat and exchange ideas. Although there are quarrels, it is still a kind of fun.
Zhao Yuanxi didn't have time to watch what they were arguing about every day.
The water wheels on the Mohist side have all been built and put into use.
The drought this time is not very serious and the losses caused are still within controllable range.
When Zhao Yuanxi went to her cornfield again, she found that the corn had grown taller than her and had bloomed, with small corns already taking shape among the leaves.
She looked at the filaments growing on the top of the corn and a look of joy appeared on her face.
She reminded Chu beside her, "The corn is growing so tall, we need to prepare for lodging resistance in advance. These corn fields need to be ridged and raised to about half a foot. I will also have someone send some wood ash and river mud over, and I will trouble you to apply these fertilizers when the time comes."
Chu nodded repeatedly and almost took out a small notebook to write down everything.
As they were walking, they met an acquaintance on the road.
"Sixth brother, are you going to fetch water today too?" someone joked.
Lao Liu didn't answer, but just walked forward with the bucket on his shoulder.
The man deliberately raised his voice again, "You liked betting, and now you've lost, you deserve to be here carrying water every day!"
Lao Liu glared at him and said, "I'm willing, what's it to you?"
"Hmph! Pick whatever you want! I don't have to carry water anyway, so go ahead."
Lao Liu's face flushed red as he continued to argue, "I don't care about that. The water I fetched myself is what I deserve. I'm not like you guys who are just being lazy here."
Everyone sighed and laughed out loud.
Zhao Yuanxi looked at Chu in confusion. Chu explained the whole story to her and laughed too.
Lao Liu truly lives up to his name.
A group of people were walking on the ridge of the field. Although they attracted a lot of people's attention, everyone was busy working. They just took a curious look and continued to work.
Zhao Yuanxi looked at these people working with their faces to the earth and their backs to the sky. They were obviously working so hard, but they had smiles on their faces, which showed the joy of harvest.
The waterwheel creaked as it turned, continuously watering the land.
Zhao Yuanxi couldn't help but smile happily.
She could vaguely hear the sound of a child reading, and looked over curiously, only to see Chu's child slowly returning on an old cow, reciting some incoherent words.
When Chu saw him, a look of joy appeared on his face.
That was his youngest child, Lian.
"Is he reading the Analects?" Zhao Yuanxi asked.
Chu scratched his head a little embarrassedly. "The child learned a few words from the village teacher. He said it sounded like the words of a saint. I don't understand it."
These days, sending children to school costs a lot of money.
Although Zhao Yuanxi is already preparing to enlighten the children, this is not something that can be done overnight.
If you want to study now, you have to pay a large tuition fee, and it depends on whether the teacher is willing to accept you. Even if the teacher accepts you, the subsequent expenses are still unaffordable for ordinary people.
Zhao Yuanxi said, "It's good to read more books."
"Yes! Li said the same thing. If you learn more words and can become a minor official in the future, it will bring honor to your family." Chu smiled.
The Qin State abolished the hereditary aristocracy system of the vassal states, and the talent selection system was mainly based on the military merit system, where one could be granted a title based on military merit on the battlefield.
Of course, there is also the guest official system still used by the vassal states, which is mainly aimed at high-level talents.
If Lian wants to be a Qin official, neither of these two paths is feasible. Currently, he can only study hard and take the local examinations. Only after passing can he become a local minor official.
This road is destined to be an extremely difficult one.
Zhao Yuanxi did not discourage Chu, but nodded with a smile. The way is there, so we have to give it a try, right?
It was only then that Zhao Yuanxi noticed that not only had the child changed, but Chu also seemed to have changed.
How should I put it? Maybe I gained a little weight!
She couldn't help but ask curiously, "Have you encountered any good things recently?"
"Good things? Since I met Madam, good things happen to me every day!"
Was this her business? Zhao Yuanxi became increasingly curious.
Chu didn't intend to hide it and explained with a smile, "Madam, have you forgotten? The tofu you taught us to make was too much for my family to eat, so I took it to the county and sold it."
"It wasn't easy to sell at first, but after everyone tried it, my tofu business took off. Now many people in Lugewu follow me to make tofu, and everyone's life has become much better."
"I don't have much talent, and I haven't saved much money over the years. The money I was able to use to send my son to school was earned from selling tofu!"
Chu started crying while laughing.
Zhao Yuanxi pursed her lips slightly. When she taught Chu how to make tofu, she didn't think too much about it. She just thought that if she could feed more people, that would be good enough.
But Chu did better than she imagined.
"Look at me, it's obviously a happy thing! Why am I crying?" Chu wiped his tears carelessly, crying and laughing at the same time, then asked worriedly, "Will my wife blame me for using this method to make money?"
Zhao Yuanxi suppressed the emotion in his heart and said with a smile, "How could that be? I'm naturally happy for you that you can find a way to make a living with this."
"Don't worry, you might as well expand your business and sell your tofu to the whole Yongcheng. You can even let people in Qin taste your tofu."
Chu Han laughed, "Madam, you think too highly of me. How could I dare to think of such a thing? I am just a farmer."
"Why wouldn't you dare think about it? Yidun was also born in a farming family. Later, he learned business from Fan Li, the Master of Tao Zhu, and became a wealthy man."
Chu didn't know who Yidun was, nor did he know who Tao Zhugong Fan Li was, but he understood what Mrs. Zhao meant, and his heart began to itch.
He couldn't help but ask himself, is it really possible?
At this moment, a voice in his heart told him, it’s possible!
Mrs. Zhao trusts him so much, how can he not trust himself?
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