Chapter 93 Yuanxi College
Zhao Yuanxi had the woman buried and asked the child's name.
The child was named Taoyao. Her mother was originally a slave in a wealthy family. After she accidentally became pregnant with this child, she was driven out by her master. It is said that the name Taoyao was given by her biological father.
Zhao Yuanxi brought people to the large courtyard she had chosen to use as a school. She had already bought it and was just waiting to find teachers so that she could accept students.
This was her original plan, but now she suddenly had another idea.
Winter is too cold and too long.
Zhao Yuanxi asked people to spread the word that this place could take in children over three years old and under fifteen years old. For those who could no longer afford to eat, they could send their children here temporarily and wait to take them back next spring.
If there is one less person to eat at home, there will be more food, and perhaps more people can survive.
Jang Geum hesitated to speak, but couldn't help but remind her, "Your Majesty, this will cost a lot of money."
A penny can make a hero fall.
These are the children of the entire Yongcheng. Even if we only take in those who are starving, there are at least hundreds or thousands of them.
The daily food needs of these people are not a small amount.
Zhao Yuanxi also knew this and said with a bitter face, "What can we do? We can still make more money!"
Anyway, she will have to recruit students at that time, and she can use these children as students, which is the best of both worlds.
As for the money, at worst, she can just go and fleece her cheap son!
He has enough money to build a palace, so what's wrong with taking some food to save these starving children?
However, Zhao Yuanxi had no intention of seeking help directly from Ying Zheng unless it was absolutely necessary.
That guy is sometimes generous and sometimes very stingy. What he does depends entirely on his mood, but Zhao Yuanxi doesn't want to coax him now.
She is angry now too!
If he had not vetoed the establishment of a government-run school, she wouldn't have to run around so much now.
Isn't it all about making money? Don't underestimate the high-level talents of the 21st century.
On the same day, Gao Sheng received a large bill. Seeing the expenses recorded in it, his eyes almost popped out. He took a deep breath, held on to the stool at hand, sat down with shaking legs, and asked Jang Geum in a trembling voice, "What is the Queen Mother doing?"
One thousand gold coins were used to buy a house, another thousand gold coins were used to buy food, and another thousand gold coins were used to buy daily necessities such as cloth, shoes, and charcoal.
With so many things, could it be that the Queen Mother wants to raise a private army? Gao Sheng subconsciously guessed.
He even wondered whether it would be more reliable for him to follow the Queen Mother or to join the King if the Queen Mother wanted to rebel.
"The Queen Mother opened a private school. These are the expenses for running the private school."
Gao Sheng's mouth twitched slightly, and he asked with confusion, "Doesn't the Empress Dowager's private school charge any fees? And why does this private school need to buy its own food?"
In order to cultivate their own talents, aristocratic families would set up private schools to teach their own disciples, and occasionally recruit people from other families. These people often had to pay high tuition fees and bring their own food and clothing.
Are there any private schools that provide these things?
"The children the Queen Mother recruited are those who can't afford to eat and don't have the money to pay their tuition for the time being."
......
Gao Sheng felt a headache. This was all the money he had worked so hard to earn! And he was just giving it away to these people for nothing!
Although he was reluctant, Gao Sheng had to do it.
The Yong paper business has been growing bigger and bigger. Now there are papermaking workshops not only in Yongcheng, but also in several other counties of Qin State.
Just as Zhao Yuanxi expected, as paper gradually became popular, similar competing products emerged like mushrooms after a rain. Although their quality was not as good as Yong paper, they were cheaper, and the overall price of paper began to decline.
Gao Sheng felt that if the Queen Mother continued to act like this, he would be doomed sooner or later.
Taoyao, who was placed in Yuanxi College, had changed into clean and warm clothes.
This day seemed like a dream to her.
She sat alone in the yard, looking at the plaque above her head.
An old man came over and saw her gazing at the plaque intently. He asked with a smile, "Do you recognize the words on it?"
Tao Yao came back to her senses and shook her head, "Master, can you tell me?"
The old man was the first teacher Zhao Yuanxi invited, his name was Lu Sheng.
He is actually not that old, only in his fifties, but because he lost his father in his early years, his wife in his middle age, and his son in his old age, he has white hair early. People around him think that he has a bad life and keep their distance from him. On weekdays, he can only make a living by writing letters for others.
A few days ago, he was met by Zhao Yuanxi, who thought his handwriting was beautiful and invited him to be a teacher.
He had no worries, so naturally he was willing to have such a place to stay.
After so many days, he finally welcomed his first student. Although it was just a girl, Lu Sheng was still very happy.
Especially after hearing about Taoyao's experience, he felt even more pity for her.
"The words 'Yuanxi College' are written on the plaque."
"What does this mean?" Tao Yao asked with her head tilted.
Lu Sheng shook his head. "Your Excellency didn't explain the meaning of these four characters, but I guess that Yuan means the beginning of all things, and Xi represents nature. Yuanxi represents the origin of life. This is your Excellency's best wishes for you and your expectations for this academy."
If Zhao Yuanxi were here, he would definitely be unable to stop laughing after hearing Lu Sheng's analysis.
The reason why she chose this name was because when Lu Sheng asked her, she couldn't think of it for a while, and she thought that no one in this place knew her real name anyway, so she just used these two words.
If this academy can leave some traces in the history books, then from another perspective, she can be said to have left her name in history!
Tao Yao silently recited these two words in her heart, and a light appeared in her watery eyes.
On the first day that Yuanxi College opened its doors, not many people believed that such a good thing could happen. Some even suspected that this was a place for human trafficking and specifically warned their children not to get close to it.
However, there are always some people who are really desperate. If the children continue to follow them, they will only die. After hearing about such a place, they can only regard this place as their last hope.
After a few days, the college received dozens of children.
As more and more people came, the college finally became lively.
When these children first arrived, they thought they would be beaten and abused, and were terrified all day long. It was not until they were given a set of clothes and actually had free meals at mealtime that they realized all this was real.
"We really don't have to pay for these?" someone asked weakly.
These things probably couldn't be bought even if they sold them, and now they are given to them for free. Isn't this really a dream?
"Of course not!" Zhang Liang, who was forced to do hard labor, was almost exhausted these days!
He had never thought that there was anything more tiring than farming, but the Queen Mother said that now was not the time for farming. Since he didn't have to farm anymore, he should come and do other work for her.
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