Establishing schools
It was already evening when we returned to Qingzhou.
Yu Roulan looked at Fu Zhiqiao and touched her face tenderly, "Did things go smoothly?"
"smoothly."
Since Fu Zhi Qiao has been away for so long, a meal is a must. "The kitchen has stewed some gastrodia elata and pigeon soup, which is just right to nourish your body."
During dinner, Fu Zhiqiao told Yu Roulan about Fu Mingjie's beheading and the Fu family's property being confiscated and their exile. Yu Roulan was so shocked that she opened her mouth wide and couldn't speak for a long time.
"how so?"
"They brought it all on themselves."
Seeing Fu Zhi Qiao's indifferent expression, Yu Rou Lan concealed the complexity in her eyes and said seriously, "A Qiao, tell your mother, did you get involved in this matter?"
Fu Zhiqiao paused in her soup-drinking motion. "Mother, this has nothing to do with me."
She was at most a catalyst in this matter. The root of the problem was that Fu Mingjie and Fu Wenyang had their own wicked intentions and tried to make a profit in troubled waters, which backfired on them. She didn't mention that Fu Yan'er intended to harm her, so as not to worry Yu Roulan.
Upon hearing this, Yu Roulan breathed a sigh of relief. She was somewhat puzzled, "What exactly did the second and third wives do wrong? Why would the government sentence them to such a serious offense?"
"Fu Mingjie privately changed the government's prescription for treating the plague, delaying the treatment of the infected and causing many people to die painfully without timely treatment."
Yu Roulan looked worried. "Does that mean the Fu family's medicinal herb business is also finished?"
"It's gone."
"Your father's life's work is gone?" Yu Roulan recalled the days when they still lived in the Fu family. Fu Changyue was busy with business deals and collecting medicinal herbs. Under his careful management, the reputation of the Fu family's pharmacy grew day by day.
Yu Roulan felt it was all absurd that the Fu family's pharmacy, a business with nearly a century of history and the culmination of Fu Changyue's life's work, had simply vanished.
"Mother, I bought back the Fu family's courtyard."
Yu Roulan hadn't fully processed the news of the Fu family's property being raided when Fu Zhiqiao dropped another bombshell.
"What?"
“Mother, the Fu family will never have any second or third wives again. It will only be us. I believe Father doesn’t want our ancestral home to fall into the hands of others.”
For the people of the Great Wei, their ancestral home is like their root.
With tears welling up in Yu Roulan's eyes, she said, "Good! Good!"
After resting for a night, Fu Zhiqiao rushed to the winery early the next morning.
The food that was stockpiled was first used to provide relief to disaster victims, and then a lot of it was used to refine alcohol.
As the grain in the warehouse dwindled, the daily winemaking output at the winery also decreased significantly. Fortunately, the Taibai caravan she had assembled had already set off with Taibai wine, and she believed that the grain shortage for brewing would be alleviated by the time they returned.
Prior to this, in order to ensure the supply of liquor to Taibai Wine Shop in the city and Taibai Tower in the capital, Fu Zhiqiao used the premium Taibai liquor stored in the wine cellar.
With a full thousand jars of wine distributed, a large area of the wine cellar was suddenly emptied.
Fu Zhi Qiao felt a pang of heartache. This batch of wine was a cellar wine she had specially saved when she first started brewing wine. She had originally planned to slowly release it to the market, but now, in order to fill the gap, she had no choice but to take this batch of wine out first.
The alcohol refining process consumed a lot of grain and wasted a significant amount of Taibai liquor. Fortunately, the money for the 3,000 jin of alcohol sold to Yuzhou has been received, and with this money available for working capital, the winery's operations have not been significantly affected so far.
After making arrangements for the remaining work at the winery, Fu Zhiqiao took some time to visit Liujia Village.
Unlike the bustling activity at the winery, most of the villagers are in a state of leisure.
Having missed the spring planting season, and with the fields flooded, they cannot be restored to normal planting conditions in a short time. It is too late to replant crops now, and the grain yield will inevitably be greatly reduced by autumn.
Although grain prices in Qingzhou City have dropped significantly, the pressure on farmers who experienced reduced production in the second half of the year remains immense.
Fu Zhiqiao looked around and saw children playing by the roadside. They all looked quite old. She asked, "Don't the children in the village go to school?"
Liu Pinggu sighed: "There used to be a schoolteacher in the village, but his house was flooded and became a dangerous building. Now it can only be demolished and rebuilt."
The only place in the village where one could go to school is gone.
Children aged eight or nine are considered part of the household workforce. Usually, children of this age are asked to start doing chores, such as washing dishes, cooking, and sweeping. Older children are sent out to cut pig feed and do simple farm work.
Fu Zhiqiao looked thoughtfully at the children playing in the mud by the roadside.
When she got home, Fu Zhiqiao was still thinking about the children she had seen during the day.
Yu Roulan sat at the table waiting for her to have dinner together. When she saw her come in, she smiled and said, "A Qiao, I asked the kitchen to make your favorite teppanyaki pork. Come and try it."
The maid brought a basin of water for her to wash her hands.
The dishes tonight were indeed plentiful, including pan-fried pork, braised pork with arrowhead, sweet and sour lotus root, ghee tripe soup, and sesame candied fruit cake, all of which are her favorites.
With something on her mind, Fu Zhiqiao ate her dinner somewhat absentmindedly.
"Mother, I want all the children of the workers in our winery to be able to go to school."
Yu Roulan put down her chopsticks. "If you want to do it, then do it."
Aren't you going to ask why?
"Ah Qiao, you are a smart child. No matter what you do, your mother will support you."
Fu Zhi Qiao smiled sweetly and rushed into Yu Rou Lan's arms, hugging her waist. "Mother, thank you."
No one knows a daughter better than her mother. Yu Roulan stroked her hair, once again marveling at whether Fu Zhiqiao had been born into the wrong family, as she was clearly a girl but had such lofty ambitions.
With such a smart and sensible child, what more could a mother like her ask for? The mother and daughter quietly enjoyed their time together.
With Yu Roulan's support, Fu Zhiqiao had no more reservations and began to seriously consider what she should do.
Having lived two lives, both times she was born into wealthy families, and Fu Zhi Qiao felt fortunate. Especially before she transmigrated, she was pampered and spoiled as she grew up, enjoying a life of luxury that many people could only dream of.
Her excellent family genes allowed her to display her intelligence from a young age. Under the influence of her father and grandfather, she entered the family company early to hone her skills and later became the heir to the Fu Group.
As a leading enterprise in the industry, the Fu Group is a target of intense scrutiny, with countless eyes watching it closely. Even the slightest mistake could lead to a public backlash. To cultivate a positive corporate image, the group established its own foundation, allocating a substantial sum annually to donate to disadvantaged groups, thus maintaining a strong reputation.
The more important a person's position, the more humble and cautious they should be.
Although she is now in the Great Wei, she always keeps her father's teachings in mind.
Perhaps she can do something for these children.
*
"Village chief, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."
Seeing Fu Zhi Qiao's serious expression, Liu Ping Gu couldn't help but feel a little nervous. He put his hands at his sides and made a listening gesture.
"Please speak, sir."
"I wonder if the village chief has ever considered setting up a school in the village?"
"This..." Liu Pinggu was stumped by the question.
The villagers of Liujia Village have been tenant farmers for generations, barely achieving a subsistence level, and haven't yet had the chance to pursue higher goals. Their living standards only improved after Fu Zhiqiao opened a winery there, giving each household some disposable income, which allowed them to send their children to school to learn to read and write.
Fu Zhiqiao smiled and said, "I want to build a school in the village so that children from several nearby villages can come and study there."
Liu Pinggu looked on in astonishment. Building a school in the village?
"With grain prices so high this year, the village's harvest will be reduced in the second half of the year. I know that many villagers in our village don't have the money to send their children to school, so I thought I would find a place in the village to build a school so that all the children in the village can go to school."
In the Great Wei Dynasty, official schools were established by the government and provided free education. However, those who could enter official schools were mostly children of noble families. Wealthy families would hire tutors to teach at home, and they usually had their own clan schools.
Children from poor families rarely had the means to attend school; only relatively wealthy families would send their children to school, and the best place for them was a private school. Most private schools were run by private teachers who charged fees for instruction. In those days, the idea that education was the key to success was deeply ingrained, and parents would go to great lengths to ensure their children could attend school.
Liujia Village originally had a private school, and the teacher was a scholar who was over fifty years old. However, the flood destroyed the scholar's house, and the children had nowhere to go to school, so they were forced to stay at home.
Building a school is a big deal. Liu Pinggu stroked his beard and pondered, "But there are only three or five children in the village who go to school. There's no need to build a school with such fanfare."
"My idea is to have a few acres of land in Liujia Village to build a school. The village school will be centered around Liujia Village, so that people from the surrounding villages will have the opportunity to go to school. That way, we won't have to worry about not having enough students."
Fu Zhiqiao continued, "I have seen how hard everyone has worked in the winery over the years, and I also wanted to do something for everyone. After thinking it over, I decided to open a school so that future generations of Liujia Village can benefit from it."
Liu Pinggu was stunned by what she said.
“Go back and discuss with the villagers whether they are willing. Of course, the village only needs to provide the land. I will cover the costs of setting up the school, hiring teachers, and using pens, ink, paper, and inkstones in the classroom.”
After Fu Zhiqiao finished speaking, she looked at Liu Pinggu, waiting for his reply.
Should the children in the village go to school for free?
There are many children in the village, but only three or five can go to school because everyone is poor. Even if they can afford tuition, the writing implements, ink, paper, and inkstones needed for schooling are expensive, and most families cannot afford them for a long time.
Liu Pinggu could not hide his excitement. "Our employer is setting up a school for us. We're all so happy about it, how could we possibly disagree?"
"That's good. Go back and tell everyone the news. Also, find out how many children there are in the village and the surrounding villages. We're all from the same village, and I'm thinking of helping out if I can."
"Thank you for your kindness, sir! Please accept my bow!" Liu Pinggu bowed deeply, his eyes filled with gratitude.
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