Chapter 9 Mother and son sit together to discuss their future Mother and son sit together to discuss their future
Su Fengzhang, who was in Yuexi Village, had no idea that Lord Cai had caused such a commotion, but he indirectly solved the Chen family's troubles.
Even though he didn't know, Su Fengzhang had a very good impression of Mr. Cai. After delivering bacon and salted fish to every family, the villagers' attitude towards the Su family became even better.
Before, there were a few poor people who saw that the Su family had no one and no money, and were thinking about going to their house to ask for some benefits in the future. But the next day, the news that the county magistrate had given gifts to the Su family spread throughout the village, and they didn't dare to do it anymore.
When Su Dianli passed away, everyone in the Su family, young and old, had to observe mourning, and Su Fengzhang and his two siblings had to observe mourning for three years.
At this moment, he had to thank the Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty for simplifying the system of observing mourning. You must know that in the previous dynasty, during the mourning period, not only was it forbidden to eat meat and drink alcohol, but one could only drink porridge, and even could only wear linen clothes, and was not allowed to take a bath, cut hair, or shave beards.
The emperor at that time personally wrote the Thirty-Six Rules of Mourning. Such strict rules of mourning naturally caused complaints from the people.
Anyone with a weak body could not survive the cold winter wearing only linen clothes. For many people, the mourning period became their own death anniversary. I heard that many officials were killed in this way in the last years of the previous dynasty.
Nowadays, the requirements of the Great Zhou Dynasty are not so strict. As long as you don't eat meat or drink alcohol, hold parties or banquets, or have a child, no one will usually bother you. There are even fewer rules in rural areas, after all, everyone has to eat.
During the 100-day mourning period, Su Fengzhang and his friends would not go out unless it was necessary.
He, an adult, could still stay there, but the two children were extremely bored. Su Huihui could still do some needlework, but Su Lanzhang spent the whole day messing with the ant nest in the yard, digging up the ground with potholes.
Aunt Bai couldn't stand it, so she grabbed her son's ear and scolded him, "You little bastard, you have nothing better to do than read a book and write. Why are you playing in the mud? Look at what's happened to you. It's very cold now, and I don't want to wash your clothes."
There are only a few people in the family, and the only ones who can work are Madam Wei and Zao'er. Madam Bai can also help. As for Su Zhao, she hasn't done any rough work for more than 20 years, so she definitely can't do it.
Generally speaking, Madam Wei is responsible for the rough housework and cooking, Zao'er is responsible for the rest of the housework, and Madam Bai just needs to lend a hand.
Su Lanzhang felt pain and covered her ears and cried out, "Auntie, let go quickly, I don't want to play anymore."
Su Fengzhang saw the mother and son's argument and shouted, "Auntie, let Lanzhang come to my room to read."
"Hurry up and go." Aunt Bai pushed her son.
When the master was still alive, the eldest and second sons were both studying in the academy, but now the family is in decline. Although there is still money, it is still unknown whether her sons can continue to study in the future.
Even if he can read, the child will be ten years old in three years, which is later than other people's enlightenment time. Since Su Fengzhang is willing to teach his younger brother, Aunt Bai is naturally willing to do so.
Su Lanzhang walked into the house reluctantly, with a drooping brow and an unhappy look.
Su Fengzhang smiled and patted the dust off his body, then asked him, "What's wrong? Don't you want to study?"
"Not really." Su Lanzhang still lowered his head and hesitated for a while before saying, "Second brother, I'm not smart enough to study."
"Why do you say that about me?" Su Fengzhang was helpless. Didn't he look quite smart normally?
"Both my father and elder brother said so." Su Lanzhang looked as weak as an eggplant hit by frost.
Su Fengzhang recalled for a moment and remembered that Su Dianli did not think much of this illegitimate son, and Su Zongzhang was even more contemptuous of this younger brother, and would often despise him for being stupid.
A good child will become stupid if he is belittled like this all day long.
Su Fengzhang stroked his hair and said with a smile, "Dad and big brother are just joking with you. You are our younger brother. Big brother is smart, second brother is smart, so why can't third brother be smart? Don't you think so?"
Su Lanzhang pondered for a moment, and looked up to see Su Fengzhang's smiling eyes. In fact, this second brother didn't take him out to play much before. Firstly, they had different mothers, so there were always differences. Secondly, there was a big age gap between them, so they couldn't play together.
"That seems to be the case." But his second brother was probably praising himself for being smart.
Originally, Su Fengzhang called him in just to kill time, but now seeing his appearance, he seemed a little more serious.
"It's good that you know. Then I will test you first to see your basics and then decide where to start teaching." Su Lanzhang said that he had never been to school, but he had some enlightenment at home, but Su Dianli only taught him when he had free time.
When Su Fengzhang tested her, he found that Su Lanzhang could recognize quite a few characters, perhaps twenty or thirty.
Before traveling through time, Su Fengzhang thought that the first thing people in ancient times did for enlightenment was to recite the Three Character Classic, but when he got here he realized that this world did not include the Three Character Classic as an enlightenment reading material, or that the Three Character Classic had not yet appeared.
When the Su brothers were first taught, they both used the "Xian Wen Zeng Guang" and another book called "Dui Xiang Si Yan".
When Su Fengzhang came across "Four-Character Couplets", he was amazed, simply because this enlightenment textbook was infinitely close to modern enlightenment textbooks.
This book starts with sky, earth, clouds, rain, etc., and includes nearly four hundred words, all of which are closely related to daily life. Pictures are provided when the words are entered, and the words and pictures correspond to each other, so even illiterate people can use them.
However, considering that the books were expensive and ordinary families could not afford them, they eventually became enlightenment textbooks for scholars.
Su Lanzhang has a good memory. Although his handwriting is as slow as a dog's crawl, his strokes are very good.
Su Fengzhang nodded in satisfaction and said with a smile: "Not bad, Lan Zhang writes very well. Since you have memorized the previous ones, let's start from here. Then my second brother will find some calligraphy for you to copy."
The sound of reading aloud could be faintly heard from inside the house. Aunt Bai was still worried and stood outside the house for a while before she smiled.
Madam Wei was just sweeping the floor when she heard the voice and said, "From now on, our second and third young masters will all become scholars."
"I don't ask for anything else. It's enough for me to be able to read and write and make a living in the future." Aunt Bai said with a smile.
Su Zhao on the other side also heard the noise here. She stopped what she was doing and fell into deep thought.
Reading requires a combination of work and rest. Su Fengzhang took Su Lanzhang to learn a few characters, and asked him to copy and write them ten times each. Then he did not refuse him and let him go out to play for a while to relax his muscles.
As Su Lanzhang left, Su Zhao came in right after him. When she saw Su Fengzhang still holding the book in his hand, her eyes lit up.
"Mom?" Su Fengzhang asked when he saw her puzzled expression.
Su Zhao walked to the table and looked at the words on the paper. The well-written ones were most likely Feng'er's, and the messy ones below were probably written by Sanlang. She didn't know many words, but she could tell the good from the bad.
Su Fengzhang felt a little embarrassed when he saw her looking at it carefully. The original owner's calligraphy was very average. He had practiced it when he was a child in his previous life, but he had no time to practice it after he started working, so the words on the paper looked soft and ugly.
"It's not well written. I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, mother." Su Fengzhang said with an awkward smile.
"How can this be bad? Feng'er wrote it very well." Su Zhao said this sincerely.
Seeing this, she seemed to feel more confident and said, "Feng'er, do you plan to study hard and take the imperial examination in three years?"
"Ah?" Su Fengzhang was surprised when he heard it.
Su Zhaoshi continued, "That's how it should be. You've been studying for ten years, and your teachers say you're smart. It's just that your mind wasn't focused on studying before. Now, as long as you work hard, you'll definitely be able to pass the imperial examinations like your elder brother."
Su Fengzhang was sent to school at the age of five, but he had a naughty personality and could not stand hardship, so his grades were average. In the end, the teacher gave up on him, saying that his intelligence was just a compliment. Unexpectedly, Su Zhao believed it.
"Mom, I'm not that kind of person. Don't have too much hope in me." Su Fengzhang said quickly.
Su Zhao patted him and said, "Why are you not one? One should not underestimate oneself."
Well, the words he had just used to persuade his brother now fell on him.
Su Zhaoshi continued, "For a family like ours, the only way to succeed is through education."
"Your father was just like that back then. He passed the imperial examination with great difficulty and was able to enter the government as a clerk. He was an official at least."
"Although your father is gone, we still have some money at home. The magistrate also gave us 100 taels, which is enough for your studies. If that doesn't work out, mother and Aunt Bai can make a living by sewing."
Su Zhaoshi had obviously been thinking about it for some time. Since she cheered up, the old age in her had disappeared, and was replaced by various plans. It was obvious that her life as an official's wife was not in vain.
When Su Fengzhang thought about taking the imperial examination, his scalp tingled: "Mom, I, I really am not cut out for it."
"You are so smart. As long as you are willing to study, you will definitely pass the exam." Su Zhaoshi was more confident than him.
"Besides, what else can you do if you don't study? Our family only has two acres of land, so there is no need for you to farm. Even if there are more land, look at your small body, you are not cut out for farm work." Su Zhao said.
She also knew how hard it was to do farm work. Her son had been spoiled since he was a child and was not cut out for farm work.
Su Fengzhang had never worked in the fields to farm, not only in this life, but also in his previous life. He looked at his slender fingers and felt that it was indeed a challenge for him to support his family by farming.
"Why don't I wait until the mourning period is over and then go to the city to find some small business to do?" With his abilities, he should be able to do business.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Su Zhaoshi's expression changed: "Feng'er, how could you have such thoughts? Give them up quickly."
"The Su family is a family of farmers and scholars, how could they go into business? Once they become merchants, their ancestors will never have a chance to rise to prominence. Even though merchants in the city have a lot of money, they dare not spend it. They only dare to show off their gold and silver at home."
Su Fengzhang suddenly remembered that this seemed to be the case. The Zhou Dynasty had a strict system of classifying people into scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans. Merchants were severely suppressed by the Zhou Dynasty. Unless you had connections, your status would be low even if you were rich. This could be seen from the fact that Mr. Chen was eager to marry into their family.
Farming is too physically demanding, and his mother won't allow him to do business, so is studying really the only option left for him?
Su Zhaoshi, not knowing if she could guess what he was thinking, frowned and said, "Feng'er, what better way out in the world is there than studying? If you can read, you can find a job, but are you willing to help others with accounting and endure the boss's bullying for the rest of your life?"
"Mom, let me think about it carefully." This was all Su Fengzhang could say.
Su Zhao sighed and left.
The author has something to say:
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My little Feng'er doesn't want to take the imperial examination yet
Little did I know that I would be exhausted from running around for the imperial examination in the future.
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