Chapter 73 Chapter 73 Give me a boar bristle toothbrush.
Ji Xu used her spare time to make toothbrushes made of pig bristles. On this day of the Spring Equinox, she brought one of them to the public field.
I saw that spring plowing was also going on here. Looking around, I saw people in red clothes serving sentences, plowing the ground, breaking up the soil, carrying shovels and trampling the crops, each busy with his own thing.
The farmhand bent down and came out of the hut by the field. Seeing her on her way, he came out to greet her.
The two stood on the ridge outside the house, and Ji Xu said:
"This is the finished toothbrush."
Tian Shefu took it in his hand and measured it. He saw that the wooden handle was polished smooth, the pig bristles were dry and no trace of the original grease was left. Turning it over, he could see the delicate lines of stitching on the back.
"It's best to use it with bamboo salt for cleaning teeth." Ji Xu said, handing over a can of bamboo salt she had bought.
"Thank you very much."
Tian Shefu said, his calm look made it hard to tell whether he liked it or not.
On the way, two assistants from the Ministry of Agriculture came to him one after another to ask about farming. Ji Xu waited for a while, but knowing that he was not easy to talk to, he did not stay long. He found a gap and said:
"You're busy, so I won't bother you anymore. I have something to do at home, so I'll go back first."
"Please stay for a moment."
Tian Shaofu said, "I sent the assistant clerk away, and came forward and said,
"There have been a lot of thieves in the county lately, and some children have gone missing. Be careful when you go out."
**
"I told you not to run around! I told you not to run around! You're here in the time it takes to buy some groceries!"
The woman was carrying a basket and searching in sweat, but she saw her little boy standing in front of a small stall, biting his finger and licking the chewy dough inside.
I saw that this little boy had two buns on his head that looked like sheep horns, and he was still old enough to wear crotchless pants.
The woman was anxious and angry. She pulled him and made him fall, then hit him on the butt.
"I'm the reincarnation of a greedy ghost, I'll let you run around!"
The person being beaten screamed and shrieked, and passers-by on the market saw him and gathered around, pointing and talking, saying, "Beating him is the right thing to do, and he will learn his lesson only after being beaten."
"Your mother beat you to stop running around. Two families in this county have lost their children. The thief who deserved to be cut into pieces has not been apprehended by the county court yet."
"If you were kidnapped and sold by bandits, you'd either become a slave or a prostitute. You'd never hear from them again. You wouldn't even have a place to cry."
Ji Xu's tofu shop is right next door, and he can also see the scenery here. Recently, two cases of missing children in the county have been widely reported.
There are many different opinions about the thieves. Some say they are burly men, some say they are slim women, and some say they are elderly women. However, one thing is certain after the county court's investigation: they were abducted and sold by thieves and disappeared.
After selling the tofu, Ji Xu packed up his belongings, put them on a poplar wood cart, and drove to Duting.
As we entered the pavilion, a piece of cloth was nailed to the four corners of the notice board, with two large characters of reward standing out:
Anyone who can capture the thief who kidnaps and sells young boys and girls will be rewarded with 100 taels of silver by the county government; anyone who provides clues will be rewarded with 50 taels of silver.
A group of people gathered in front of him, pointing at the notice and chattering.
"Xu Nu, are you here to get the ox cart?"
The gatekeeper of Duting was already familiar with Ji Xu, and greeted her when he saw her coming.
Ji Xu smiled and nodded. Ox carts were not allowed to be parked in the city because if the cow dung was not cleaned up in time, it would easily affect the appearance and hygiene of the city.
As soon as the ox carts entered the market, the market officials would stop them and not let them in. Therefore, most merchants unloaded their carts and pushed them into the market by hand.
As for the cow, it was tied up in the cowshed in the capital, and ten coins were paid for fodder and water every day.
This Duting can provide accommodation, and there are many people coming and going from the south and the north. Most of them come out from the wing rooms and speak with accents from other places. Ji Xu went around to the cowshed at the back.
She gave the wooden plaque with the number engraved on it to the steward, who then let her go in to harness the oxen and the cart.
Ji Xu fastened the yoke and reins to the cart, drove away from the county town and headed home.
Now that she had the income from tofu skin, she calculated that after deducting the monthly chewing expenses, she could save about 8,000 coins, which was about 8 taels of silver.
Just as I was thinking about saving money, I saw a dot in the distance. When the car got closer, I saw it was a little girl about two years old.
His hair was tied with two small horns, and his clothes were made of fine cloth, but they were all covered with dust. He must have fallen and was crying for his grandparents.
"Wuwuwuwu... Mother, where are you..."
Ji Xu slowed down the car, got out and asked:
"Girl, where do you live? Why are you here alone?"
The little girl just cried and walked aimlessly along the road, but no one paid any attention to her.
This is a dirt road near the pavilion gate of Niupi Township. There is no one in front or behind, and it is the time of the banquet.
Having heard about the recent disappearance of children in the city, Ji Xu took out a piece of bread wrapped in a dry lotus leaf from his basket, caught up with the little girl, and coaxed her with the food in his hand:
"If you don't cry, I'll give you some bread. It's so delicious that it breaks into pieces in your mouth."
After all, she was young and greedy, so she stopped crying temporarily after hearing these words. Ji Xu then handed the cake to her.
I saw her holding the cake in her hands, which was as big as her face. Her face was covered with tear marks. She lowered her head and bit it, trembling. Perhaps she felt the deliciousness, so she took a second bite, and a third bite...
Ji Xu bought this piece of cake from a newly opened shop in the county town. According to the merchant, it was made with pure milk and honey-soaked flour, and then baked in an oven. It broke into pieces and was as crispy as snow when eaten. Many people lined up to buy it.
When Ji Xu heard about the milk and honey, he thought his two younger sisters would like it, so he bought a pound of it when there were fewer people around.
Seeing that she was eating with relish, Ji Xu wiped her tears with a handkerchief, and asked her what her name was, how old she was, and where she lived.
"Zhao Zhao is two years old."
She answered the first two questions immediately and even showed two fingers. I guess the adults in the family often asked her this, but she was too young to answer them.
Ji Xu thought that since she came from Xiangting, she must be from the same hometown as her, so he asked gradually:
"Jin's Village? Liao's Village? Shengchang Village? Xiaoshun Village?"
Obviously, when the word "filial piety" was mentioned, the little girl named Zhaozhao raised her head.
Ji Xu carried her into the car and drove into Xiaoshunli. Once they were back in the familiar place, the little girl's eyes lit up, and she stopped crying after finishing the biscuit in her hand.
Ji Xu then asked a farmer returning home with a hoe on his back, "Old man, do you know who this little girl is from? I ran into her outside, just as she was leaving the village pavilion."
"Zhao Zhao? This is the calligrapher's daughter."
After the other party argued, he pointed the way to Ji Xu and said,
"Go straight along this road until you see a house with a courtyard. That's the library. You can hear the sound of reading outside. There are often ox carts parked at the door. They are the parents who come to take their little boys and girls home. The teacher, Mr. Yang, lives next door to the library."
As we walked along the road, we saw the scenery as it was. The library looked ordinary from the outside, but the sound of reading aloud coming from inside added a touch of elegance and made people feel sacred.
"Employed officials studied and recited the "Book of Filial Piety", "Analects", "Spring and Autumn Annals", and "Book of History".
Studying etiquette and historical records can sharpen one's character, and one will gain wisdom and knowledge.
"His name is extremely famous and different from others. He is recommended by others for his good and bad qualities. His deeds are considered as noble people..." Ji Xu heard that the children's voices were reciting the "Jijiupian" in unison. The rhythm was catchy and it was often used as a textbook to help children learn to read.
Calligraphers of the Han Dynasty such as Zhang Zhi and Zhong Yao all wrote this book.
Ji Xu also practiced a lot of tracing when practicing calligraphy, so he was very familiar with "Jijiupian". The sentences he read have the meaning of encouraging learning and talking about the benefits of reading.
Among the people waiting outside for school to finish, a girl waved to her.
"Anai!"
She was the maid who served Mrs. Bai of the Gan family. Ji Xu had met her before, so he recognized her and answered.
Next to Anai was a cart pulled by oxen, and the cart boy came with her to pick up the daughter of the King of Gan from school.
She smiled and said, "Why are you here?"
After hearing the reason, he was horrified and said:
"My little girl, you can't run around right now. I heard there was a child missing in the county. Look here, everyone is here to take the child to school. There aren't so many people here on weekdays. Our wife has also warned us not to let the princess be left alone outside."
She was familiar with the place, and when she heard that it was the scholar's daughter, she hurriedly showed Ji Xu the way.
Ji Xu thanked him and said, "Then I will take her there first, so that my family won't worry."
After they parted, they arrived at a house next to the library. There was a peach tree planted at the door, and it was blooming with pink buds in season.
There was no need for Ji Xu to say more. Zhao Zhao in the car pointed at the house and said:
"Zhao Zhao's family!"
He turned his head and looked back, and called out in surprise,
"Mother!"
I saw a woman with a straw hat and a cloth skirt, with a sad face and wiping her tears with her sleeves. The little boy who followed her was looking around anxiously. I saw him pat the woman and point at her happily.
The woman looked up and saw the scenery in front of her house. She hurried over and picked up the little girl in the car. She was anxious and angry, and asked her where she had been.
It turned out that Zhaozhao was taking a nap at home alone. After waking up, he went to look for his mother, and she walked farther and farther away. When the woman and the child came back from buying vegetables and found that she was not there, they shouted everywhere in panic, fearing that she had been kidnapped by thieves.
Now that her daughter was found, the woman was relieved and thanked Ji Xu profusely.
"My benefactor, how can I thank you so much? Please stay for dinner. I will kill a chicken and make some rice soup to entertain you."
After that, he warmly pulled Jixu into the house and said:
"You are too polite, Madam. I am just dropping her off on the way. My sister is waiting for me at home, so I won't stay any longer."
After some prevarication, Ji Xu drove the car back.
At that time, the library next door was in the middle of the school day, and little girls and boys swarmed out, wearing all kinds of clothes, most of them with pigtails. The page boys who accompanied them carried book boxes, looking like a group of long-legged radishes, very sturdy and cute.
They could tell at a glance which ox cart belonged to them, ran over, and excitedly talked about what books they had learned and what words they had written that day. It was very lively.
These little girls and boys were only about seven or eight years old, which was the age for enlightenment.
For example, some families in the nearby villages were relatively wealthy, but their ancestors were either engaged in business or farming and had no education, so they had no way to educate their children. So they sent their children to this library to study elementary school.
Today, Confucianism is the only doctrine that is respected. Confucius' idea of "teaching without distinction" is inherited. Students are not restricted by gender or identity. No matter what their family does for a living, both boys and girls can come to the library to study and receive enlightenment.
However, after the boy has received his initiation, he can continue to study under a teacher in the Classics House in Xiaoshun Village and learn one of the Five Classics. If he has learned enough, he will most likely be recommended for an official position and be promoted. His future is limitless, so many poor gentry send their boys here for initiation.
There were also little girls, but nowadays girls did not enter official careers, and after enlightenment they only studied the classics to enrich their knowledge and experience. Few families were as wealthy as the Gan family, and would find ways to send their little girls to be enlightened. Therefore, at a glance, there were obviously fewer little girls, and those who could be seen all had the same excitement on their faces.
Seeing this, Ji Xu couldn't help but think of what they had just recited: "To study rituals and history, one must sharpen one's character, and to be intelligent and knowledgeable, one must have broad horizons and extensive experience."
I had a thought in my mind. Now that the important matters of food, clothing, housing and transportation at home have been taken care of, what about the future of my two younger sisters?
Although she could read, she was in the county during the day and had no time to teach them how to read and write. Now that she was here, she could not bear to see them grow up in a muddle and then casually accept the matchmaker's proposal when they reached the age of 15.
She thought that now that the tofu shop was earning money every month and they had enough money, it was a good opportunity to send them to the library for their education.
I don't intend to be an official in the future, but at least I can be "intelligent, knowledgeable and experienced" so that I can have a plan for myself when encountering problems in the future and will not be deceived.
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