Chapter 8: Recruiting a Disciple
Although Manbao can recognize a lot of words, she still can't understand complicated stories. She can only understand these stories based on her feelings.
Fortunately, these books are different from the books on Mr. Zhuang's bookshelf because they are written in plain language. As long as you can recognize the characters and read the whole book, you may not understand everything, but you can still understand the general story.
Manbao became excited and read the book with great interest.
The book begins with a preface, which says that these stories are anecdotes passed down from ancient history, some true, some false, and some half true and half false.
But regardless of whether it is true or false, the stories are evaluated differently in each era. This book aims to study the ideology of the time and the evolution of ideology through the different evaluations of these stories in different eras.
Manbao is still young and can understand every word in the preface, but he can't understand them when they are put together.
She tried hard to read most of the article, but she really couldn't understand it, so she just turned back to the story.
Still the story is good.
Although it is about a bad father, it does not look too tragic at the beginning. The first story is ranked tenth, about an emperor named Kangxi.
It tells the story of how he raised his sons like raising insects. In order to ensure his own rights, he deliberately let his sons fight with each other and create a balance.
At first, Manbao didn't see how this father was evil and just read it as a story. Then the system reminded her, "Look at the fate of his sons. Aren't they all miserable?"
Manbao was stunned for a moment and asked, "They are all princes and emperors, what's so tragic about them?"
Koko explained, "Look, they were princes, but most of them were eventually imprisoned or exiled. Do you know what imprisonment and exile meant?"
Manbao said confidently: "I don't know."
The system choked for a moment, then explained to her in detail the concepts of confinement and exile. Ultimately, it meant imprisonment and serving a sentence.
Manbao was stunned. "My father is the emperor, my brother is the emperor, and they still have to go to jail?"
Koko said: "That's why he's called a scumbag dad."
Manbao pouted, thinking that her father was indeed not a very good person. She read the story twice and figured out some of its meaning.
This is actually a father who wants to keep his power. In order to maintain balance, he deliberately let his sons fight with each other. In the end, he imprisoned three of his sons, then chose one son to be the emperor. The emperor's son imprisoned and exiled several more, so his sons were all miserable.
Manbao didn't like this story very much, and it gave her a headache to read. There were several people's names in it that she didn't recognize, so she pointed at Keke and asked.
Koko said that he not only taught her how to pronounce the word, but also explained the meaning of the word.
Manbao turned to the next story and started crying.
This father was much worse than the previous one, because he actually starved his daughter to death just because his daughter accepted a piece of bread from a neighbor.
Manbao was still a kind-hearted child. She burst into tears and angrily said to Keke, "This father is really too bad. How can he be an upright official?"
Keke: "Generally speaking, human character is diverse. Being an honest official and having a bad father are not mutually exclusive, so someone can be an honest official and also a bad father. However, this story was considered fictional in ancient times, which touches on another aspect of human character: to advance a certain interest, people can fabricate stories to serve their own interests. You're still young, but when you grow up and read more, you'll understand. Humans can distort even the words of those you consider sages for their own benefit, and this won't be a big deal."
Manbao was completely confused and didn't quite understand what was going on. Although she knew the story was made up, it was so well written that Manbao still decided to hate him. The little girl was about the same age as her, and she starved to death. How painful it must have been for her.
Manbao's eyes turned red from crying.
When Mr. Zhuang came back from get out of class, the system scanned the person at the door and immediately confiscated the book from Manbao's hand. So Mr. Zhuang saw Manbao sitting alone on the steps crying with red eyes.
Mr. Zhuang's grandson was only slightly older than Manbao, and he loved her the most. He felt incredibly distressed, took two quick steps forward, and asked softly, "Manbao, who bullied you?"
Manbao wiped his tears and grabbed Mr. Zhuang's sleeve, looking up and asking, "Sir, are you a good father?"
Mr. Zhuang was stunned for a moment, then thought for a moment and said, "Manbao, my grandson is older than you. Even if we talk about seniority, he should be the grandfather."
"Wow, sir, aren't there a lot of bad fathers in this world who specialize in bullying children?"
Mr. Zhuang asked, "Did your father scold you?"
Manbao shook his head, "My father is very good to me, he is not a bad father."
Mr. Zhuang breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced at Manbao and realized she was still young, so he sat next to her and asked patiently, "Why do you ask such a question?"
"I read a story about an honest official who had little food at home. His daughter was hungry, and a neighbor saw her and gave her a piece of bread. His daughter ate it, and when the official found out, he got very angry and locked his daughter up and starved her to death."
Mr. Zhuang's cheek twitched and he said, "How can there be such an official?"
Manbao insisted, "Yes, there is. The book also said that it was an era with very strict requirements for girls. What was the form of that era was that if a girl showed her ankles, any man outside the family would be forced to marry her. If she couldn't marry, she would commit suicide."
Mr. Zhuang frowned. Even though he knew that one shouldn't be too serious with children, he still shouldn't let a child of Manbao's age read such a book, lest it corrupt his character.
But the other party had already seen it, so Mr. Zhuang could only refute the contents of the book, "Even if there are such officials, they are just seeking reputation and fame. The reputation of being an honest official is undeserved. It's just a piece of cake, why go to such lengths? If they are truly honest, they should just give their neighbors two pieces."
"As for the outsider thing, that's completely absurd. Outsiders are like me to you, and like the students in the academy are to you. Although there are differences between men and women, there's no need to be so strictly guarded against. If there is, then the person is either a lunatic or a devil."
Mr. Zhuang said, "The latter is crazy to think so. The former did it on purpose, exchanging his daughter's life for a reputation. You should stay as far away from such people as possible in the future. But I have never heard of such a story. Where did you see it?" so that he could confiscate it.
Manbao immediately said, "It's a book called 'The Ten Evil Fathers in History'."
"Since it's history, it must be recorded. I wonder which dynasty the honest official you just mentioned belonged to?"
"A person from the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty."
Mr. Zhuang couldn't help but burst out laughing. He patted her little head and said, "It seems that these are all fictitious stories of characters and experiences. There is no such thing as the Ming Dynasty in this world."
Manbao blinked, but still believed Koko, and asked it in his heart: "Koko, history doesn't even exist? Are you lying to me?"
The system, which had been silent until then, suddenly showed a joyful mood. It said, "No, host, just because you don't have Daming in this dimension doesn't mean it won't exist in other dimensions. Just because it doesn't exist now doesn't mean it won't exist in the future. Just like me, in this dimension and this era, only you own me. But in the era of my inventor, I was not rare. I wouldn't say everyone had one, but as long as they had the money and were willing to buy, everyone could buy one."
Manbao seemed to understand, but she still summarized her understanding, that is, Keke did not lie, but Mr. Zhuang was also right, so she decided to listen to both of them.
She looked up at Mr. Zhuang and asked, "Sir, do you know any bad fathers in our history?"
Mr. Zhuang asked, "Why are you interested in this? You know, a son shouldn't criticize his father. Even if his father did something wrong, few people would publicize it to the world. It would bring shame to his father and the family, and what good would it do him?"
Manbao was stunned for a moment, so Mr. Zhuang simply took the opportunity to talk to her about etiquette. After a while, he said, "Manbao, you are a smart child. I know you love reading. In that case, then study hard. You have already finished learning the Thousand Character Classic. Now it's time to learn the Analects of Confucius. After you finish the Analects, the teacher will teach you about etiquette."
Manbao was stunned, and the system couldn't help but remind her: "Host, why don't you thank your teacher?"
Manbao came back to his senses and immediately knelt on the ground, "Sir, teacher!"
Manbao kowtowed to Mr. Zhuang.
Mr. Zhuang felt a moment of regret as soon as he said this, but when he saw her kneeling on the ground and calling him teacher with a happy face, that trace of regret disappeared.
Forget it, although she is a female apprentice, she is smart and cute, which is some consolation.
Mr. Zhuang helped the child up and said, "Go back and tell your parents what happened today."
"Why? Didn't the teacher never let me tell my parents about what happened here?"
Mr. Zhuang touched her head and said, "Since I asked you to kneel down, it's better to do it properly."
Mr. Zhuang touched her head and sighed, forgetting about confiscating her books.
When I first met Manbao, she was just a little girl who could just stand up by holding on to the wall. She seemed to be only eight or nine months old and could barely stand by holding on to the wall.
Xiao Qian came to cook. Since she had just taken on this job, she cherished it very much and always came early. Not only did she have to clean inside and outside the house, but she also had to chop wood, light the fire, and cook.
So he couldn't help but neglect the child. At that time, Manbao climbed to the threshold of the classroom, turned over and hugged the door to listen to his lecture.
At first, Mr. Zhuang was a little angry, thinking that Xiao Qianshi was incompetent, so he put down the book, hugged her and went to find Xiao Qianshi.
I originally wanted Xiao Qian to take good care of my child, but I saw her chopping wood with an axe and sweating profusely.
Mr. Zhuang was invited by the white landlord to teach in such a mountain village. Naturally, his family was not rich. In fact, he also came from such poverty.
As far as he could remember, this was how his mother raised him, so Mr. Zhuang hesitated for a moment and did not call Xiao Qianshi. He turned around and took Manbao back and let her sit on the doorstep.
Fortunately, this child is well-behaved. She sits on the doorstep without crying or making a fuss. She eats when she is given food. When she sees the students reading aloud, she also starts talking to them.
Later, the first word she said was "Sir", and Mr. Zhuang insisted on this statement.
This child is really smart. As soon as she could speak, she followed the students to read "The Mysterious World of Heaven and Earth..."
The youngest of his students was six years old. He would read it ten times and remember it, but would forget it the next day. However, this child remembered it very clearly in his little head.
Of course, she could only shout and could not recognize any words.
So Mr. Zhuang copied a copy of the Thousand Character Classic and gave it to her.
Later, Mr. Zhuang liked her even more because he found that Manbao not only could recite quickly, but also could remember everything she heard, and she could recognize words quickly as well.
After reading it a few times, she will remember the word.
How can such a smart, cute and kind child not be a boy?
Mr. Zhuang expressed regret more than once.
Then he couldn't help but teach her, teach her to recognize words, teach her the truth, and even specially found some books for her to practice calligraphy, and then gave her the manuscripts for her to keep.
Although the idea of taking her in as his disciple came out suddenly, he had been thinking about it for a long time. He was just hesitant because she was a girl.
In fact, he was just a scholar who was expelled from the provincial school. His knowledge was limited after all, so why should he care too much about those false reputations?
Does she really want to seek fame and reputation like the bad father she mentioned?
Mr. Zhuang rubbed Manbao's head even harder and said with determination, "Go find your sister-in-law now and ask your parents to choose a good day to bring you home."
Manbao left in a daze.
This chapter has been modified based on the suggestions of book friends, so please don’t misunderstand it because of some changes.
(End of this chapter)
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