Chapter 450 It’s not just my achievement
As soon as Zheng Qinghe reached the entrance of Taohua Village, he was startled by the lively scene in front of him.
Dozens of wooden tables were lined up in the open space, filled with villagers eating.
Children were running around and playing, women were carrying dishes and walking around, the air was filled with the aroma of meat and the smell of gunpowder from firecrackers, and it was more lively than any unusual banquet he had attended in Kyoto.
"The county magistrate's visit is truly an honor to our Taohua Village!" Upon seeing this, the village chief quickly straightened his gown, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and walked quickly to greet him with a smile on his face.
Zheng Qinghe nodded and said a few words of encouragement in a gentle tone: "There is no need to be so polite, Village Chief Gu. Taohua Village has produced forty-one students at once, which is the glory of Annan County. I am here today to congratulate you and to encourage the children." After that, he winked at Chen Ada behind him.
Chen Ada immediately stepped forward, holding a plaque wrapped in red silk in both hands and respectfully handed it to the village chief.
The village chief carefully lifted the red silk and saw four big characters "Village of Farming and Reading" engraved on the plaque. The handwriting was vigorous and powerful, with a faint scent of ink.
"I personally wrote these four words for everyone in Taohua Village." Zheng Qinghe looked at the village chief's surprised expression and said slowly, "Taohua Village is both diligent in farming and values education, and has nurtured such outstanding children. Each of you has made an invaluable contribution."
The village chief's hands were trembling slightly, and he was even more excited than when he was a groom decades ago.
This is the calligraphy of the county magistrate!
He had heard long ago that Zheng Qinghe was not only the county magistrate, but also a former top scholar.
What a great honor it is to receive a plaque written by the top scholar himself!
He touched the wood grain along the edge of the plaque, then turned and shouted to the villagers around him, "Quick! Find a few people to hang this plaque on the archway at the entrance of the village! Let everyone see the glory of our Taohua Village!"
The villagers immediately responded, found ladders and ropes, and carefully carried the plaque towards the village entrance.
The village chief turned around and bowed to Zheng Qinghe again. "Sir, please come in!"
"Is Miss Gu Jiayue here?" Zheng Qinghe asked, scanning the crowd.
"Yes, yes!" the village chief nodded quickly. "She's in the back room entertaining guests from the city. I'll go get her right away."
What the village chief didn't know was that the guest being entertained in the inner room was of a more distinguished status than Zheng Qinghe.
Mrs. Song, the wife of the prefect of Juzhou, was sitting in the house drinking tea with her daughter Song Yao.
When Gu Jiayue first walked into the house, she was stunned when she saw the Song mother and daughter. She didn't expect them to come.
"Sister Jiayue! Long time no see. Have you forgotten me?" Song Yao stood up first and ran to Gu Jiayue with a lively smile on her face, no change from before.
Song also stood up with a decent smile on her face, and looked at Gu Jiayue with obvious admiration in her eyes.
This admiration is the recognition and approval from fellow women.
She knew too well how much effort a woman would have to put in to achieve something in this era, which was unimaginable to ordinary people.
She had previously thought that even though Gu Jiayue was knowledgeable, she was only slightly smarter than the average woman. But after her son, Song Zhixu, achieved excellent results in the Kyoto Imperial Examination, and after the other students who had graduated from Qiushi Academy also ranked highly in the imperial examinations back home, she realized that she had underestimated this girl.
"Zhixu has been asking me to come see you. Thank you very much," Song said slowly. "But as you know, last year there was a drought and then a plague. The prefect was busy dealing with the disasters, and I had to take care of the family and support him at home, so I never had time. Today, I took advantage of the banquet being held in Taohua Village and stopped by to see you."
"Madam, you're too polite." Gu Jiayue smiled and shook her head. "Zhixu has already written to tell me that everything is going well in Kyoto. He can even be taught by the Crown Prince's tutor himself. It's much better than going to school in my little mountain village."
After Song Zhixu finished his exams, he stayed in Kyoto and was sent by his family to study at Zheng Qinghe's home. Most of the other children who graduated from the school also never returned.
It's not that they are ungrateful, but Gu Jiayue had told them a long time ago that with her current knowledge, she could no longer better tutor them in further studies, and suggested that they find a better teacher after the exam.
Of course, if she can't find a suitable one, she is willing to continue tutoring.
After that, these children would write to Gu Jiayue regularly, telling her about their studies, chatting about the local customs and practices they had seen in other places, and occasionally raising questions about their studies.
Gu Jiayue would always read the letter carefully and then reply carefully.
During this period, she not only taught the children in the school, but also continued to learn the knowledge of the times.
Today's knowledge is more than enough to answer these questions.
She even occasionally thought that if the government allowed women to take the imperial examinations, perhaps she could try to become the top scorer.
After listening to Gu Jiayue's words, Song Shi felt more satisfied with her.
She was originally worried that Gu Jiayue would feel resentful because the children "left", but seeing her speak frankly and without any grudges, she knew that she was an open-minded girl who did not care about trivial matters.
The three of them talked for a long time, from the children's studies to the changes in Taohua Village, when suddenly footsteps were heard outside the door.
Zheng Qinghe pushed the door open and walked in. When he saw the Song mother and daughter, he was stunned for a moment, then bowed and saluted: "Aunt, cousin."
After the ceremony, his eyes fell on Gu Jiayue, and his tone was gentle. "Miss Gu."
Song had long known the real reason why Zheng Qinghe came to Annan County to serve as the county magistrate from her sister's letters.
She had a different opinion from her sister. She did not think that Gu Jiayue was not worthy of her nephew. Instead, she felt that Zheng Qinghe was not worthy of such a bright and ambitious girl.
In her opinion, a woman like Gu Jiayue should not be trapped in the small backyard like herself, revolving around her husband and children; she should have a wider world and soar in the sky like an eagle, instead of being a bird with clipped wings, devoting everything to her family all her life.
Thinking of this, Song couldn't help but think of her youth.
At that time, she liked painting and wanted to travel all over the mountains, rivers and streams of Dagan and paint all the beautiful scenery into her paintings.
But her mother and sister told her: "Women learn music, chess, calligraphy and painting so that they can be good companions to their husbands in the future, not to expose themselves to the world and make a living."
At that time, she didn't understand why everything women learned had to be for men?
If a woman is proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting and has a gentle temperament, she will be praised as "suitable for family life"; if she does not like these and wants to have her own pursuits, she will be scolded as "heretical" and "unfaithful to husbandry".
These women seem to have been vassals of men since birth and have never been independent "people".
It is also because of this that many people cannot accept Gu Jiayue's temperament and behavior.
She opened schools, educated students, and even discussed political affairs with men, all of which went beyond the world's perception of "women."
Song felt that Gu Jiayue was right to leave Kyoto.
If she stayed in Kyoto, the resistance she would encounter in opening a school or starting a business would be ten or even a hundred times greater than it is now.
Those "old-fashioned" people in Kyoto hate to see women out of their control. Not only will men use various means to suppress them, but even women will take advantage of them out of jealousy or prejudice.
Zheng Qinghe's gaze was too hot when it fell on Gu Jiayue, making her feel a little uncomfortable and she subconsciously moved her body.
Fortunately, Song Yao broke the awkwardness in time. She took Gu Jiayue's hand and said excitedly, "Sister, you are really amazing! It's unheard of that you have so many children admitted to the Tongsheng examination at once! Now, not only in Annan County, but even in Juzhou City, people are talking about your deeds! I also heard from the servants at home that a storyteller compiled your story into a storybook and told it to customers in the teahouse!"
Gu Jiayue was stunned for a moment, feeling a little helpless.
Isn’t this too high-profile?
This completely contradicted her principle of keeping a low profile. "This isn't just my achievement. The school has many teachers, and the children themselves are very hardworking. Without them, even if I had three heads and six arms, I wouldn't be able to accomplish this."
"You are too modest, girl!" Song interrupted her with a smile, "The credit that is yours is yours, and the honor that is yours should be accepted calmly. You don't have to be modest about everything."
Gu Jiayue scratched his head and smiled a little embarrassedly.
She didn't mean to be modest, but she really felt that way.
If there were no other teachers to help share the teaching load, if the children did not cherish the opportunity to learn and were unwilling to work hard, even if she had the best teaching methods, she would not be able to teach forty-one students.
At this moment, Song Yao suddenly remembered something, her eyes lit up, and she said to Gu Jiayue, "Oh, sister, I also heard from father that the battle in Yanshan was won, and our great soldiers will be returning to the court soon!"
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