65 Three Character Classic
She planted a seed in their hearts.
At first, I was worried that people would not be able to accept the mushroom tax, but I didn't expect everything to go so smoothly. When Ye Yunzhao happily returned to the county government office, it was already evening.
In the setting sun, a man was standing beneath the plaque of the county government office. Ordinary people wouldn't dare stand there casually. Curious, Ye Yunzhao quickly walked over and asked the man with his back to him, "Do you have something to report?"
The man turned around and said with a smile, "It is indeed important."
This person turned out to be Ming Wanjun, a man dressed as a woman. Ye Yunzhao didn't know why she was dressed like that today, so he just said, "Go inside and talk."
Ming Wanjun was still a suspect two days ago. Today, she was able to come to Lingnan County without permission. Either her suspicion has been cleared, or she has escaped.
Ye Yunzhao didn't know what her condition was, so he had to take her to his own courtyard first.
In the past, if someone visited, Ye Yunzhao would just make some sweet soup for them, but as Master Wanjun was a scholar, she might prefer to drink tea.
But because she didn't like to drink it, Ye Yunzhao had long forgotten where she had put the tea leaves she had collected at the government office. She scratched her head and said, "Wait a moment."
After searching for a long time, he finally found some. After brewing a pot of tea, Ye Yunzhao pointed at her clothes and said hesitantly: "What are you..."
Ming Wanjun was a smart person, so she naturally understood what she meant. She smiled and said, "The journey from Yuezhou to Lingnan is difficult. I dressed like this for self-protection.
By the way, the governor has cleared me of suspicion. Although I can't leave too far without permission, I reported my whereabouts to the governor, and now... I'm free."
When she finished speaking, she became emotional and tears welled up in her eyes.
"Really?" Ye Yunzhao was surprised and grabbed her hand.
Ming Wanjun's parents had passed away long ago, and the prefect had also died tragically. She and her parents had fled here due to famine, and now she had no relatives or friends in Yuezhou City to turn to.
Ye Yunzhao guessed her difficulty and said confidently, "Madam Wanjun, Master Wanjun, if you are willing, could you stay in Lingnan County and help me? I have been troubled by the search for a master these days. Now that you are here, the children finally have a master."
She spoke with sincerity, and Ming Wanjun did not disappoint her, saying firmly, "Okay."
After getting this answer, Ye Yunzhao hugged her fiercely. After his emotions calmed down a little, he said belatedly and embarrassedly:
"But the county's finances are tight right now, so I can only find you a place to live... and you can only eat with me... You should also know that the tuition at the county school is not high, and these children..."
She was afraid that Ming Wanjun would regret it after hearing this, so she added, "But don't worry, when the county gets better in the future, I will definitely give you a monthly stipend."
"Having a house and food is enough." Ming Wanjun's eyes drifted further and further away, and she murmured, "My mother really supports me becoming a teacher..."
Ye Yunzhao was afraid that she would be sad: "Okay, but there is no one in the county school right now. It would be a bit unsafe for you to live there alone. I think you can live in the county government office. What do you think?"
Ming Wanjun smiled and said, "I'll follow the county magistrate's instructions."
If Lingnan County was not so poor, with only a few yamen runners, there would not be so many extra houses for outsiders to live in.
Ye Yunzhao led her to the house next to Zhuang Xue's and gave a brief introduction to the two of them. In this way, Ming Wanjun settled down in Lingnan County.
*
The next morning.
It was Ming Wanjun's first day on the job, and she was very excited.
Ye Yunzhao made fried eggs with shiitake mushrooms. The two of them each ate a piece of corn cake with gusto.
"County Magistrate Ye, your craftsmanship is really good!" Ming Wanjun praised.
Ye Yunzhao smiled embarrassedly: "Maybe you don't know yet, but now there are only little girls in the county school. The older ones learn skills from me and Carpenter Sun, and the younger ones learn to read from you.
But having said that, when I was teaching them to read, I always taught them both the older and younger ones. Yesterday, I had Liu the yamen runner tell them that today they would only be learning about reading and arithmetic. I thought your first day would be a good opportunity to test their abilities."
"Okay." Ming Wanjun nodded while chewing corn cakes.
The two quickly finished their meal and parted ways in front of the county government office. Ye Yunzhao went west to Xixiang, and Ming Wanjun went east to the county school.
When she arrived at the county school, girls of all ages were already sitting in the library.
A braver one, upon seeing her enter the room, asked curiously, "Are you the new Master that Master Ye mentioned?"
Ming Wanjun smiled and said, "Exactly. From today on, I will be your teacher. My last name is Ming Wanjun. You can call me Teacher Wanjun."
Lingnan County had always been poor, and she knew this before she married the prefect. Therefore, when Ming Wanjun looked at the children sitting at the broken wooden table, she felt a little sad.
Even the tables were broken, not to mention pens, ink, paper and inkstone. There was a sandbox on each table. Ye Yunzhao asked Sun Ning to bring the girls to make this so that the children from the county school could write on the sandbox with branches and sticks.
Ming Wanjun is very good at dealing with children. She has a gentle personality and speaks softly, and she quickly became friends with them.
It took a whole day for Ming Wanjun to learn the words that they already knew and could write.
Ye Yunzhao's previous literacy teaching had no rules. Although he learned simple characters such as "人, 大, 小", he soon jumped to his own name, and even the names of bamboo items, mushrooms, 文, jin and other characters.
Ye Yunzhao was more practical and naturally thought that the best characters would be those that could be used. However, in Ming Wanjun's mind, the most important thing for children who were just beginning to learn to read was enlightenment.
Kaimeng (opening the door to enlightenment) involves seven or eight-year-old children learning the "Three Hundred Thousands," the Three Character Classic, the Hundred Family Surnames, and the Thousand Character Classic. This learning process is both about literacy and about understanding. Once children have mastered the "Three Hundred Thousands," they are considered "opened to enlightenment," laying the foundation for reading the Four Books and Five Classics, and ultimately opening the door to a career in government through their studies.
But books are very expensive, and enlightenment reading materials like "Three Hundred Thousand" are more expensive than miscellaneous books. Fortunately, we have Ming Wanjun now. She sent the children out of school early today, and after returning to the county government office, she memorized a copy of "Three Character Classic".
The "Three Character Classic" has only more than a thousand words. Although it is short, the principles it conveys are very useful.
She planned to use the meal as an excuse to discuss the content of literacy with Ye Yunzhao. Although she was a teacher, she still had to greet the previous teacher.
When Ming Wanjun came over, Ye Yunzhao was busy in the kitchen.
Ever since she traveled through time, her favorite thing to do was to cook. The events of her time travel were so unbelievable that every time she opened her eyes, she always felt like she was in a trance, a dream that gave her an unrealistic illusion.
Only when he tasted the flavors he had eaten in his previous life could Ye Yunzhao be sure that he was still alive and not crazy.
As soon as Ming Wanjun entered the kitchen, she was startled by the dead chicken in the basin.
Ye Yunzhao fell seriously ill a few days ago. Unexpectedly, when she went to Xixiang today to teach them how to build a mushroom shed, Aunt Wang secretly stuffed a bamboo basket into her arms.
At the time, she didn't know what was inside. She just whispered to Aunt Wang, "You and Sister Xia Hua don't have to pay the mushroom tax I mentioned yesterday. I will use your mushroom sheds for my research."
In her previous life, Ye Yunzhao had led the entire town in growing mushrooms, but they had been grown in greenhouses. In this life, there were no greenhouses, and although she had come up with a plan to build one, she wasn't sure if it would work. It wasn't until Aunt Wang's mushroom shed was completed that Ye Yunzhao knew it was right the moment she stepped inside.
The biggest function of a mushroom greenhouse is to keep warm and prevent wind. The fact that the mushroom shed can be built now has a lot to do with Aunt Wang and Sister Xia Hua who built it according to her requirements. If it had not been successful the first time, it would have had to be demolished and rebuilt.
Therefore, Ye Yunzhao decided not to let the two families pay the mushroom tax after careful consideration.
At that time, she was only thinking about this important matter, so naturally she had no time to study what was in the bamboo basket.
When Ye Yunzhao had some free time, he opened it and found that it was a hen that had been cleaned. The two of them argued for a long time, and Ye Yunzhao gave in.
Thanks to Aunt Wang's hen and the radishes and wild fruits that Xia Hua secretly gave her, Ye Yunzhao and Ming Wanjun had a feast tonight.
Ye Yunzhao put the blanched chicken pieces into cold water, and after the water boiled, he threw in the chopped radish and morels.
The hen soup didn't need to be stewed for too long, so she took the time to throw in the wild fruits.
Ming Wanjun was stunned when she saw this scene, and hesitated, "County Magistrate Ye...isn't this a fruit that can be eaten raw?"
Ye Yunzhao smiled and said, "You'll know after you eat it."
She had tasted it before putting it into the pot. The wild fruit was sour and sweet, and it was bright red, looking like a miniature apple.
Ming Wanjun felt embarrassed to just wait for dinner. She squatted beside the stove, stuffing some firewood into it, and said, "County Magistrate Ye, I want to discuss something with you... I want to teach them the Three Character Classic. Is that okay with you?"
Hearing this, Ye Yunzhao's eyes lit up and he said excitedly: "Of course!"
In fact, she had thought about teaching "Three Character Classic" at first, but she had learned it in the senior class of kindergarten in her previous life, and then there was the magical thing of time travel. She could only recite one-third of the "Three Character Classic". Even when it came to writing, Ye Yunzhao now only remembered the ancient poems she had recited in high school.
Although her original body was very talented in writing, she tried her best to recall what she had learned, but most of it was rather confusing knowledge from the Four Books and Five Classics. The children in the county school naturally couldn't understand it, so Ye Yunzhao gave up the idea.
There was a sizzling sound inside the stove. Ye Yunzhao opened the wooden lid and the fragrance spread out domineeringly.
As she served the soup, she smiled and said, "Master Wanjun, thank goodness you're here, otherwise I probably wouldn't be able to finish the work at the county school."
At first, she was impulsive and reopened such a large county school despite the pressure of having no teacher. Later, various things piled up and Ye Yunzhao was indeed a little overwhelmed.
However, Ming Wanjun didn't think so. Although the woman in front of her didn't do anything perfect, she herself might not even know what she had done.
Thinking of this, she suddenly recalled today's experience at the county school. She asked, "Now that you've entered the county school, you've become children. Does anyone know what you're going to do in the future?"
Immediately, a little kid said in a baby voice, "In the future, I want to be like Master Ye, studying, working as a court lady, and helping the poor!"
"Before, I only thought about finding a good husband after I came of age... But after listening to what Master Ye said, I only thought about using my own abilities to own a shop in Yuezhou City."
…
She planted a seed in their hearts.
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