Chapter 212 Da Qi is so poor!
As a couple for three years and married for two, Sang Luo could guess what Chen Lie was thinking. She said, "Don't think too much about it. Just give it a try. If it works, you can do the heavy work when you come back from school. Or you can hunt some game for money and hire someone to help with farm work. There are always more solutions than problems. If it doesn't work, just take it as an experience to accumulate experience and test how much you have learned in the past few years."
Wei Qinghe nodded repeatedly, "Yes, that's right. I heard that this year is a special case, and the provincial school is in a hurry to prepare. The chief secretary is probably worried that he can't recruit enough suitable students, so he didn't set an age limit, which is considered to be a relaxation of the conditions. I heard that it was originally limited to the age group of fourteen to eighteen years old."
"If the age limit is really fourteen to eighteen, then except for Yun Zheng, Wen Qing, Wen Hong, Chang Gong and Daniu, no one else will meet the age requirements. They are either too old or too young. It's okay for those who are younger. They can study for a few more years and take the exam when they have more solid knowledge. For people like you and me, don't miss this opportunity this year. Go and try it. We don't know if we will have such an opportunity next year."
When Chen Lie heard this, he became a little hesitant. In this world, if one could move up a little bit in social status, life would be much better.
Apart from anything else, even if Luo wanted to do business with her skills in brewing wine and cooking, she would inevitably run into trouble if there was no one to support her. This was different from when the world was in chaos and he could protect her with force.
When he first heard that studying could provide a career, he was not in a hurry. He wanted to at least stabilize his family business first. However, if there was an age limit, he might not have another chance to go to the provincial school later, and it would be a pity to miss it.
He looked at Sang Luo: "Then I'll give it a try?"
Sang Luo smiled and said, "Just give it a try. I think the first year should be the easiest and most beneficial to you."
Listening to Wei Qinghe's words, why was the chief secretary afraid of not being able to recruit enough students? No matter how bad the situation in Shezhou was, the King of Chu, who had occupied Shezhou for a long time, was determined to achieve great things. Those who were willing to donate money and food could at least save their lives. Therefore, there were many wealthy families like the Wang family who survived. Why would they recruit less than 40 students?
This made Sang Luo think of a possibility, to wait and see.
As long as the Great Qi had not conquered the whole world, no one would dare to say that he would be able to sit firmly on the throne of the emperor. The common people who had fled to the mountains were still waiting and watching, not to mention the wealthy families in Shezhou City?
It was fine for the common people to escape, as no emperor could do without the common people, the most inconspicuous but indispensable foundation. But if the children of these wealthy families entered the schools of the Great Qi and passed the examinations to become officials of the Great Qi, then if the Great Qi perished again, they would become officials of the previous dynasty.
This was a fight for the throne in a time of chaos, not a proper father-son succession. The children in their family were not extremely powerful, so what was the point of talking about being a veteran of several dynasties? It was more likely that they had no future.
Therefore, everyone is waiting and watching, and would rather wait another one or two years.
After figuring this out, Sang Luo decided to take the provincial entrance exam this year. This would allow her to take the exam faster than others, and would give an opportunity to people like Chen Lie who did not have a solid foundation.
She didn't elaborate on the reason, but she said the first year was the easiest. It was not difficult for everyone to hear that, although no one knew what the normal difficulty was, didn't you hear Wei Qinghe say that the age requirement was relaxed because of the special circumstances and the fear of not being able to recruit enough suitable students?
Doesn’t this mean that there are fewer competitors?
Ah Xu, who had been listening for an unknown amount of time, squeezed in and said, "Sir, can I go?"
Lu Erlang was happy as soon as he saw his son. In Lu Erlang's eyes, his son was really very capable. He shook his little head and read very well. He also wrote very well on the slate. In his opinion, everything about him was good.
Look, he even dared to ask if he could also take the state school entrance exam. He was so arrogant that he rubbed his son's head and asked, "Yes, there is no age limit, so can my son Xu go?"
When Lu Erlang joined in the fun, Erniu, Sanniu, Shen Yin, Chen Tie, Xiao Yaer and a group of other children all started laughing. Some of them who were not afraid of trouble had an eager gleam in their eyes. As Sister-in-law Aluo had said, let's go and give it a try and gain experience.
Ah Xu looked at Wei Qinghe eagerly.
Wei Qinghe looked at the tiny boy A Xu and felt at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
This child, if he remembered correctly, seemed to be eight years old? He laughed and said, "Normally, it's impossible. The previous dynasty also had schools for a few years. This state school is different from other schools. Usually, students go from the township school to the county school, and then from the county school to the state school. But this year, there is indeed no age limit..."
When he said this, he looked at the group of little kids in the village. They were so excited that if A Xu could go, they might be able to go too. He really couldn't imagine what the scene would be like when such a group of little kids showed up to get admitted to the highest institution of learning in the state.
Will he not be kicked out?
Sang Luo couldn't help laughing out loud: "Go find your teacher Wei one by one and recite the text. If you can recite it, he will test you in the same way as the entrance exam. If you pass, you can join in the fun. If you can't pass, just send him to take the exam. Take a look and walk outside the exam room, and try harder next year."
A few guys who wanted to join in the fun were immediately discouraged. Ah Xu was not afraid. He puffed out his chest and said, "I am not good at the two classics, but I can recite the Analects and write a lot. It is up to you to choose what to be tested. Can I ask to take the Analects after I get in?"
This really stumped Wei Qinghe. He subconsciously said, "This is not listed in the provincial exam content."
Ah Xu rolled his eyes and said, "Then I should memorize Gongyang and Zuo Zhuan? Zuo Zhuan is too long, and I can't memorize much. If the teacher tests me and I can get 20% right, then let me try. I don't want to go to the state school right away, but there must be paper and ink during the exam, right? I want to take the test and try writing with paper and ink."
This sentence stunned everyone, and Wei Qinghe was also stunned.
Zuo Zhuan is a great classic. Yun Zheng's situation in the Wang family was not good at first. Although he was the son of the Wang family, a concubine who was regarded as a thorn in the eyes of his stepmother was in a much worse situation than the legitimate son, even worse than the servants who were respected. Not to mention that he was not welcomed in the third house, even the servants in the outer courtyard and the teachers in the school treated him differently. In order to please the third wife, he did a lot of humiliation and embarrassment.
The Wang family did have a small collection of books, but Wang Yunzheng could not get many of them. Even if he took books with him when he fled that year, they were actually only two primers and the Analects of Confucius, Zuo Zhuan, Book of Rites, and Gongyang Commentary. Many of the latter books were obtained by him after he privately asked Sixth Master for help.
There are not many books, so there is not much choice, and they can only learn from these.
It is actually extremely rare for an eight-year-old child to learn the primer "Thousand Character Classic" and "Jijiupian" and read "The Analects of Confucius" and "Gongyang Zhuan" in more than three years. It is not important if he does not understand the meaning of the text well and may not be able to write every word correctly.
Wei Qinghe nodded and said, "Okay, you don't need to take the Gongyang and Analects exams anymore. If you can memorize a few chapters of Zuo Zhuan, I'll take you with me. I was stopped because of my age, but I'll try my best to fight for you."
Lu Erlang was moved and tried to persuade her: "Don't fight, don't fight. If you really can't get in, just wait until you are older."
Then he touched Ah Xu's head and said, "Whether you can pass the exam or not, I will buy you some paper and ink and ask you to write with real pen, ink and paper."
Lu Erlang really loves his son. Chen Lie and Sang Luo looked at each other after hearing this. Chen Lie and Wei Qinghe said, "We are indeed negligent. Not many people in our village have ever used brushes and ink. We have always used brushes dipped in water to write on stone slabs. Those who want to take the exam should come to you first. If you think you have a chance, you can learn how to use brushes, ink, paper and inkstone. Don't go into the exam room without knowing how to grind ink."
He looked at Sang Luo, and found that there was some stock of pens, ink and paper at home, which had been kept for many years and he had never been willing to use them.
Sang Luo knew what he meant and said, "I have some over there, some of which were given to me by Shopkeeper Xu. You can give them out later."
Shopkeeper Xu said, "I have some at home too. If you need some paper and pen, maybe the two families can put it together. If not..."
He wanted to go buy some, but then he remembered that when he entered the city just now, apart from the shops selling food, there were no other shops open. He turned around and asked Wei Qinghe, who had been to the provincial school, "Is there anyone selling paper near the provincial school?"
Wei Qinghe was a student, so how could he not go to the pen and ink shop to have a look when he went to the provincial school? When his brother-in-law asked, he said, "There are some, but not many, and the price is very high. They won't accept money, and you can only exchange it with grain. They said that they only have the stocks on hand, and they have nowhere to buy more after they are sold. I don't even know if the papermakers are still alive."
Sang Luo was stunned when she heard this. She looked at Chen Lie and asked, "Is the situation in Shezhou City very bad?"
Chen Lie nodded. "Except for those selling food, few shops are open. Most people on the street are skinny and there are many beggars. I'm afraid the food was brought from somewhere when the enemy attacked. The gate was open when we entered the city, but it was closed when we left."
As he spoke, he took out a small roll of bamboo slips from the bag beside him that contained several small bags of seeds and handed it to Sang Luo, saying, "This is the book our family received today. I'm afraid the government is short of even paper."
Sang Luo unfolded the bamboo slips and took a look. She sighed in her heart, "Da Qi is really poor! After all these years of chaos, what's left in Da Qi's hands is just an empty frame with thousands of holes, right?"
"We can give out some food, but why not collect some dried meat? If we do, we can bring some into the city to exchange for some paper and ink."
Chen Dashan said, "They should have received it. When writing the notice, the idle man used a bag of meat to exchange for paper to hire the person."
At first, A Xu, who said he wanted to write with paper and pen, was a little confused. It turned out that this thing had to be exchanged for meat.
Each family had to send back the grain and seeds they had obtained first. Chen Lie handed the newly obtained ten taels of silver to Sang Luo. Sang Luo had always kept the money in the family, and Sang Luo also had to go back to get the five taels for Chen Dashan.
As Sang Luo walked, she thought carefully, how is paper made?
It is indeed very inconvenient to live without paper, too inconvenient, but she doesn't know how to make it. When she thinks about it carefully, she only knows some common sense. She roughly knows that trees, bamboo, mulberry bark, hemp, straw, reeds and the like can all be used to make paper.
How to make it?
After obtaining fibers, the key word comes pulp. How do we obtain fibers, how do we make pulp, and how do we make pulp into paper?
Sang Luo really wanted to rub her head. If she had known that time travel was possible, she would have trained herself to become an encyclopedia spirit before doing so.
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