Chapter 932 Teaching
Manbao took the time to copy the two booklets. The booklets were very small and only contained questions but no answers. In addition, she had a lot of experience in copying books and was fast, so she finished copying them whenever she had the time.
"You, Li Wei, and Li Jun should copy a few volumes and sell them tomorrow morning for one tael of silver each. Essays and poems are more expensive, two taels of silver each."
Zhou Lizhong was very skeptical. "Auntie, can such a small booklet be sold for only one or two taels?"
Zhou Liwei nodded repeatedly, also expressing doubt, "Isn't it too deceptive?"
Manbao: "...Do you know how much I spent on these two booklets?"
They both shook their heads.
Manbao said, "Fifteen taels. This one is five taels, and this one is ten taels."
Zhou Lizhong and Zhou Liwei: ...It's really easy to make money from scholars.
Man Bao stuffed it in their hands and said, "After all, you've studied for a few years. Hurry and copy it. Remember it and check it twice to make sure there are no typos, so as not to mislead others."
The two agreed, but Zhou Wulang asked, "Where can we sell it? The only people who need this booklet right now are the forty or so? I don't know where they live."
Manbao said: "Ask Liu Gui, he will definitely know."
Zhou Liulang was puzzled, "Why would he know?"
Zhou Lijun, "Because he went to ask around. That's what my aunt always says, 'Know thy enemy, know thyself, and you'll never be defeated in a hundred battles.' In two days, we'll all be rivals, so of course we need to get to know our opponents."
Zhou Wulang felt something was wrong. "Manbao, isn't it a bad idea to sell this good thing to our rival? And they're selling it cheaply, while we paid a huge price for it."
"There's nothing we can do. This is second-hand goods. It's good enough to make money. Don't worry, I believe in you, Mr. and Shanbao, and also in me and Bai Erlang. Even if we give the booklet to others, we won't fall behind."
Moreover, they saw the two booklets earlier than others. There might only be two people among them, but there were five of them, okay?
The people in the Zhou family were persuaded by her, so Zhou Lizhong took his younger brothers and sisters to copy the book, while Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang went to find Liu Gui.
Manbao turned around and went back to the study. As soon as he entered the study, he saw Bai Erlang and Bai Dallang talking happily.
As soon as he saw Manbao coming in, Bai Erlang immediately picked up the textbook on the table to cover his face. Bai Dalang standing beside him said: ...
"Have you memorized everything I just said?"
Bai Erlang nodded confidently and said, "I've finished reciting it."
Manbao pressed the book down in his hand and motioned him to recite it.
Bai Erlang began to recite. He had memorized "The Analects" before, so basically he could remember it as long as he read it a few times or got a hint, so reciting was not difficult for him.
Manbao continued to hold down the book and asked, "What does the 'Dao' in 'Dao Qiancheng Zhiguo' mean?"
Bai Erlang paused for a moment and then said, "'Dao' means to govern?"
Manbao looked at him, and Bai Erlang looked back at her guiltily, "Isn't that right?"
"Yeah, can you be more confident when you say that? Don't you believe it yourself?"
Bai Erlang puffed out his chest and said loudly, "It means governance."
Manbao nodded slightly and continued to ask, "What does the 'time' in 'making the people follow the time' mean?"
Bai Dalang, who was sitting next to him, felt useless in an instant. He looked at it for a while, couldn't help scratching his head, and simply got up and went back to his room to take out the exam questions he had compiled before.
He copied down the essays and poetry topics from previous years' examinations and sent them to Mr. Zhuang. Only then did he begin to study the meaning of calligraphy and ink.
When Manbao finished his explanation, he said to Bai Erlang, "Let me tell you about the exam questions."
Manbao nodded, "We can also study this."
Aunt Rong called out from outside, "It's time to eat!"
Bai Jilang immediately looked out the window.
Manbao continued, "We'll still go over Mo Yi tonight. You'll have to memorize it early the next morning so it stays with you. I'll circle any parts you don't remember and copy them down into a booklet for you. You can read it while you wait in the exam room the day after tomorrow."
Aunt Rong saw that no one paid attention to her for a long time, so she called out again, "It's time for dinner!"
Bai Erlang raised his head and looked outside again.
Bai Dalang was so upset watching this that he couldn't help but pat him, "Don't always think about eating. You have an exam in two days. Do you know how difficult the four subjects are? Do you know what Imperial College is? It's the highest institution of learning in the country."
"Isn't the Imperial Academy the highest institution of learning in the country?"
"Excluding the Imperial College, ninety-nine out of a hundred people there got in by imperial favor. If you count the Imperial College, then the Hongwen Academy is the highest." Bai Dalang also had the arrogance of a scholar. He said seriously, "The Imperial College is the highest institution of learning. Now you don't have to compete with thousands of people for a few dozen spots, but with forty-seven people for the top fifteen. Do you know how lucky you are?"
Bai Erlang nodded blankly.
Bai Dalang said, "So, you have to work hard, understand?"
Bai Erlang nodded blankly, then asked, "But brother, if I get into the Imperial College, doesn't that mean I'm more powerful than you?"
Bai Dalang was stunned for a moment, feeling very upset when he saw his miserable brother.
Man Bao said, "You're overthinking it. Do you really think the students at the Imperial Academy are better than those at the Four Schools? There are quite a few who got in through imperial favor, like you. Aren't you partly due to imperial favor?"
Otherwise, even if he was given another two years, he probably wouldn't be able to pass the four subjects.
Bai Dalang looked at him arrogantly and nodded in agreement with Manbao's words.
Bai Erlang was angry, "So are you going to encourage me or discourage me?"
Manbao and Bai Dalang were silent for a moment, then said in unison, "You're quite impressive. If you work harder, you'll definitely be better than the other forty or so people."
"That's right. Food and drink are all illusory. Only reading is the most real thing. Let's study first."
Aunt Rong outside had already laid out the food, but no one came out to eat. She couldn't help but pinch her waist and yell, "Come out to eat quickly, the food is getting cold!"
Bai Erlang forced himself to lower his head, but still couldn't help but turn his head and look outside.
Manbao also smelled the aroma of meat. She took a deep breath and looked at Bai Dalang. "How about we eat first and continue after we're done?"
Bai Erlang nodded repeatedly.
Bai Dalang put the book down helplessly, "Well, I see you guys don't have the heart to read anymore."
Manbao ran out of the study first. Seeing that Mr. Zhuang and Bai Shan had not come yet, she knew they were still in the garden, so she simply ran to the garden to find them.
The master and the disciple were so engrossed in talking and listening that they didn't hear Aunt Rong's call at all.
When everyone in the yard was finally gathered together, Aunt Rong retreated to the front yard to eat.
Mr. Zhuang said to his four disciples, "Da Lang, go back to sleep. You three can light the lamps at night."
Manbao led his two fellow apprentices to stand up and bowed in response, while Bai Dalang said, "Sir, I will stay and help as well."
Mr. Zhuang thought for a moment and nodded, "Okay. I need to look for some books sometimes, so you can help me find them. Also, you can help me find the reference answers to the essays and poems for the previous exam."
Bai Dalang agreed with a smile.
The next update will be around 6:00 PM
(End of this chapter)
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