"No..." He was forced to swallow the words back before Wu Qing glared at him. "Your second uncle was being sarcastic. Anyone with a brain knows what running a village school means! Let's continue our discussion."
At this time, the five clan elders also arrived. After hearing what Wu Qing said, they said, "Second brother, you are confused. Do you think we shouldn't use the money from selling wild boars to run a village school?"
Upon hearing this, the second elder responded, "Isn't it? The whole village is counting on this money to have a good New Year, and now you're saying you want to use it to build a village school!"
Wu Qing said, "So the villagers are just pursuing temporary enjoyment, disregarding the future of their descendants?"
The elder of the Five Clans sneered and said, "We had such hard times before, but we still celebrated the New Year. What's wrong with celebrating another year now?"
Wu Qing said directly: "Alright! Let's listen to the Tong family. Think about what our village was like before the Tong family came! Now that the Tong family is willing to guide us, we should just follow their lead!"
As soon as these words came out, the two of them fell silent. The atmosphere was somewhat frozen. Tong Wenyao said, "Let's all sit down and talk about how to develop next."
"Xing'er, pour them a cup of tea to cool them down."
Seeing that there was tea, the second elder's expression improved a little, and he sat down and stopped talking.
She glanced at the others, seeing that they were all waiting for her to speak, and then she said, "All things are inferior except for studying. I believe you all understand this principle. Our Tong family will provide three years of tuition for the tutor. After three years, you can decide whether to let the children stop studying or just hire a tutor."
The second elder fell silent. Compared to the wild boar's price, the Tong family's three-year stipend for tutoring was more than they had paid. Remember, the monthly salary for tutors in the county was two taels of silver, and if a scholar taught, it was five taels of silver. The Tong family directly paid for three years. He calculated, but couldn't figure it out. Anyway, it was more than he could earn in his entire life.
"Before you came, I talked to Grandpa Qing and I said I could lend you the money to buy the bamboo forest in the back mountain, and then teach you papermaking."
"Papermaking?" The people present were surprised when they heard this and murmured, "Papermaking?"
The five elders said, "No, this is too expensive! Why don't you just hire people from our village to do the work? That way we can feel more at ease."
Wu Qing coughed in his throat, and the five clan elders finally reacted and interrupted the eldest brother.
He said, "Wen Yao is willing to lend a hand to our Wu family, so we can't be ungrateful. We can give her 40% of the money."
The five elders nodded in agreement after hearing this, and the third elder quickly agreed, "I have no objection." The second elder snorted coldly and said nothing more.
But this time it was Tong Wenyao who spoke up: "I don't agree!"
The second elder glanced at her and said, "Why don't you agree?"
"Forty percent is too much, twenty percent is better!"
When Wu Qing heard her say this, he refused to give in and said, "30%! No less, or we won't do it!"
His attitude was so firm that she couldn't refuse, so she could only agree: "Okay."
After the negotiation, Uncle Qing originally wanted to use the money to buy land from the government, but she stopped him. In the next few days, he would find a few trustworthy people to go to the back mountain to cut bamboo, and try it out first. When it succeeds, he will use the money to buy the bamboo in the back mountain.
Wu Qing thought it made sense, so he immediately said, "I'll find a few people to go up the mountain to cut bamboo. There's a cave in the back mountain with water nearby. Few people go up the mountain in this weather, so why don't we set up our location there?"
The elder of the Five Clans was worried and said, "Brother, find two dogs to go with you, so that they can be more alert when the time comes."
This is papermaking! They didn't expect that they could learn it now. At the same time, they also had some yearning for the capital. People from the capital had different experiences and knew more. If their descendants could live in the capital in the future, it would also be the blessing of their ancestors.
"When you cut bamboo, cut one-year-old bamboo, then soak it in water for ten days! Then pick it up."
When Wu Qing heard her instructions, he wrote them down seriously, and then left in a hurry with his men.
After Tong Wenyao returned to her room, she asked Xing'er to go about her business, and she slipped into the space to look through books. She remembered that she had read a book before, which recorded how to make paper, but it was made of a tree called qingtan.
After copying the tools made above, she read the book once before slipping out of the space.
"Xing'er, take this blueprint to the village chief and tell him what tools are needed. Have him find someone in the village to make it."
After giving the blueprint to Xing'er, she said, "Yes," and then went out.
At this time, many people in the village were cutting dead bamboo to use as firecrackers for the New Year. Xiaohua went up to Tong Hong and asked, "Second Master, should we also go cut some bamboo and burn it during the New Year?"
Tong Hong didn't understand, but he thought of the firecrackers he bought in the capital, so he said, "They sell firecrackers in the city. When you go in, buy some and burn them." He glanced at Wen Jiang and Xin'er playing outside the yard and said, "And buy some fireworks for the children. You can give them some to play with when the time comes."
Xiaohua was happy after hearing this. He had rarely seen firecrackers before, but this time, when he followed the host, he could see that their steps were much lighter when they went to find the second wife.
When Cui's mother heard Tong Hong say he wanted to buy fireworks, she laughed and said he was still childish. Although she said that, she didn't hesitate to give Xiao Hua the money. "You can go to the city to buy them this afternoon. I'll make some cakes now. You can also deliver them to the county magistrate's mansion this afternoon."
After hearing the order, Xiaohua responded, "Yes, Second Madam."
Today, Cui's mother cooked pastries in the kitchen. She used to like drinking tea, which required good pastries to pair with it. Now that the Chinese New Year is approaching, she can make some pastries for the New Year and also give some to the county magistrate's wife.
The weather was a bit dry, so Tong Wen Yao went to the kitchen and got some pear paste to drink with hot water.
As Cui's mother kneaded the dough, she asked, "Yao'er, you mentioned digging a cellar to store ice before. I've thought about it and it's not a good idea. I used the two thousand silver coins you gave me back then to buy the mountain behind the spicy noodle workshop. There are two caves halfway up the mountain. When we built the house, we had extra cement and lime. Besides paving the road, I also sealed the extra entrance to the other cave and built a thick iron door at the entrance. When the time comes, we can just dig ice from the neighboring cave and transport it to the sealed cave."
After hearing this, Tong Wenyao couldn't help but give her second aunt a thumbs up, "Second Aunt, your idea is great!" Mother Cui felt a little shy when she heard her praise, and said directly, "If we didn't have enough money, we wouldn't want to get the ice halfway up the mountain. We could just make it in the cellar."
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