It's hard to find a teacher
Chapter 11: It’s Hard to Find a Teacher
"Then let me send two more people to take a look at a farther place?" Xiao Feng suggested.
"Okay, remember to just inquire about the situation first and don't alarm the gentleman." Chu Huaibei instructed.
"Yes, I'll arrange it right away." After Xiao Feng said this, he waited for Chu Huaibei to nod before going out to arrange the personnel, trying to find a gentleman that the prince likes as soon as possible.
After four days of drying, the chalk finally dried. Chu Huaibei wanted to try out the effect. Coincidentally, the palace soldiers brought back the customized blackboard. When he took a look at it, he found that the craftsmanship was quite good. It looked to be about 1.2 meters long and 80 centimeters wide. The whole wooden board was smooth and flat, and the black paint was translucent.
Chu Huaibei was about to write a couple of words with a piece of chalk in his hand when Deng Ran, carrying some medicinal wine, came into the study. Seeing Chu Huaibei standing in front of a black board, he went over to check it out. He saw Chu Huaibei holding a long, white object and meticulously writing the word "Chu" on the black board.
Deng Ran was surprised and asked, "Your Highness, what is this? It can actually leave clear words on it."
"This is chalk, made of quicklime. I got it from your pharmacy." Chu Huaibei explained.
"Excellent! Let me try it." Deng Ran stuffed the medicinal wine in his hand into the hands of the palace soldier beside him and reached out to take the chalk from Chu Huaibei's hand.
Chu Huaibei raised his eyebrows and put it in Deng Ran's hand, wanting to see how the ancients felt when they first came into contact with it.
Deng Ran first drew lightly, a very pale white line, then pressed harder, breaking a section of the chalk. Feeling a little awkward, Deng Ran coughed uncomfortably, "This thing is a bit brittle."
He wrote the word "Deng" neatly, and it looked okay. "This chalk is good, the white characters are clear on a black background. I wonder if it's resistant to water damage?" Deng Ran asked. If it wasn't resistant to water, he thought, it would be perfect to make a plaque to hang on the side door of the palace and write down the herbs he needed to buy.
"It will naturally become sticky when it gets wet. It's essentially lime powder. But if you add a rain shield on the blackboard, it should last for many days." Chu Huaibei said after thinking for a while.
Deng Ran thought it sounded good and wanted to make one for himself, so he ordered the guard to buy another piece of wood. He took the medicinal wine from the guard and pulled Chu Huaibei into the house.
"Uncle Deng, do you think this medicinal wine is good?" Chu Huaibei asked, looking at the medicinal wine in Deng Ran's hand.
"I already know the medicinal ingredients in it. I have stopped giving you medicine for the past two days. I will try this medicinal wine on you. It should be effective. Come here, I will apply the medicine to you." Deng Ran pressed the man on the chair and replied while untying the straps.
Chu Huaibei followed his instructions while thinking about other things. It had been several days, but he still hadn't found a suitable teacher. He wanted to find a scholar, but he found that there was not even a scholar in the private school on the outskirts of the city. They were all just students. Although students could teach people to read, Chu Huaibei wanted someone who could face two hundred soldiers in the military camp without fear. Obviously, when these students heard that they were going to teach such a large number of soldiers in the military camp, they were scared and unwilling to take the job even if the royal palace came to ask for them.
Chu Huaibei couldn't make things difficult for others, so this was a worrying matter.
After applying the medicine, Deng Ran told her to tell him immediately if she felt any discomfort in her arm. He then asked how to make chalk from quicklime, as he also wanted to make some for himself.
Chu Huaibei found the large ceramic basin from back then and gave it to Deng Ran. They went to his pharmacy with him, took half a basin of quicklime, and slowly added water while stirring until the reaction was complete. He then stopped the water and let it cool. He told Deng Ran to roll the gypsum paste into strips and let them dry. Deng Ran saw how simple it was to make. Adding quicklime to water to make gypsum paste was common sense, so why hadn't anyone thought of turning it into chalk for writing? The prince was indeed quick-witted.
If Chu Huaibei knew that Deng Ran praised her so much, she would definitely blush. This was just a commonly used tool in teaching in the previous life. Besides, wasn't this to save money? If everyone had a copy of the Three Character Classic and paper and pen, it would be a huge expense. She didn't expect those soldiers to be able to read a single word. As long as they could recognize it and write it down, it didn't matter whether it was written well or not.
At night, Chu Huaibei finally couldn't stand it anymore and started complaining to Hu Zhi: "Hu Zhi, Youzhou is so big, and I've been looking for five days, but I haven't found a suitable gentleman. He is so timid, or sour and devious. It's no wonder that he is still a tongsheng scholar at such an old age!"
Sun Mingsi never questioned Chu Huaibei's official affairs, but he knew a few things. For example, the imperial guards had been searching for a scholar in the suburban villages for several days, hoping to hire someone to teach him how to read for a few months, but they hadn't found anyone suitable. Hearing her humiliating him behind his back probably irritated Sun Mingsi. Some scholars in Daxia were quite self-righteous, and this was inevitable given the court's policy of prioritizing civil officials over military officials.
Sun Ming thought for a moment and decided to take this opportunity to bring Jin Yi and the others into the palace openly. This way, they wouldn't have to sneak in and out in secret. He then said, "My guards are staying in the inn outside the palace. You brought me in directly before, and I didn't have time to arrange for them. Could you please allow them to come and go freely? They're quite good at finding people."
Chu Huaibei was a little surprised to see Hu Zhi finally bring up this topic. After all, he had been holding it in for more than a month and thought he didn't want to talk about it. After all, guards with such agile skills were not common and not something ordinary merchants could afford.
I've been observing them for over a month now, and they've been staying there obediently every day, weathering the elements. Well, let them in. Their owner sleeps in the same bed with them every day, so it's not good to treat them too badly.
Chu Huaibei patted his hands and said cheerfully, "Okay, let them in tomorrow so I can recognize them. They can stay in the back house on the side of the palace soldiers. I'll allocate a separate house for them to live in."
Seeing Chu Huaibei agree without hesitation, Sun Mingsi looked up at her in surprise. Seeing no sign of surprise on her face, it dawned on him that she had long known there were guards lurking in the shadows of the palace. Perhaps her martial arts skills were even better than Jin Yi's. Had she been waiting for him to bring this up? He was being petty. Given his past life, he wouldn't trust anyone easily. As the King of Zhenbei, it was natural for Chu Huaibei to be cautious, yet she trusted him so much.
Sun Mingsi was moved by her again when he thought of this. He quickly closed his eyes and buried his head in the crook of her neck, not wanting her to see the tears in his eyes. He whispered, "Okay, after breakfast tomorrow, I'll call them into the mansion."
Chu Huaibei hummed, held his hand and said, "Go to sleep." Then he went to sleep too. He had been too anxious to fall asleep, but now he felt a little sleepy.
The next day, Sun Mingsi woke up on his own, a rare occurrence, without Chu Huaibei's urging. Chu Huaibei's amusement nearly irritated Sun Mingsi. Chu Huaibei harbored no ill will, simply thinking it was just like a date or meeting family in his past life; waking up early showed he was taking it seriously. But Sun Mingsi apparently thought Chu Huaibei was mocking his usual sleepiness. After some irrelevant banter, the two of them hurried to the dining hall for breakfast.
After breakfast, Sun Mingsi picked up Hengheng and said to the concubine, "Mother, I want to take Hengheng to play in our yard today and meet my guards. Is that okay?"
The concubine glanced at Chu Huaibei, knowing that they had already made their way through, so why not? "Okay, okay, go ahead~"
By the way, Hengheng hasn't played in his father's yard for a long time. Ever since his mother came, his parents have been playing with him in his grandmother's yard. He misses Uncle Deng a little. Only in his father's yard will Uncle Deng play with him.
Chu Huaibei saw Hengheng with his arms around Sun Mingsi's neck, his head resting on his shoulder, his toes curled up, looking quite content. He felt a little jealous and said to Sun Mingsi, "Huzhi, let him get down and walk on his own. He'll have to start training in a month or so, so he should curb his laziness."
Sun Mingsi didn't understand why, but he had heard that children in the Chu family had to start practicing martial arts when they turned three years old, so he didn't think much of it. He put the child on the ground and walked together holding hands.
Little Yiheng had no idea what his father was thinking, but he was always obedient. He just walked down by himself and even held his father's left hand. He walked in the middle, swinging both hands, and looked very happy.
Now it was Chu Huaibei's turn to feel embarrassed. Tsk, he was so old and jealous of a child. He was so shameless. Fortunately, no one noticed.
The three of them returned to the courtyard, each with their own thoughts. Chu Huaibei sat in the main hall with Hengheng in his arms for a while, and his guards would arrive shortly. Before breakfast, Chu Huaibei had instructed the palace guards that Liangqie's guards would come into the palace and let her in after verifying her identity.
Just as Hengheng had recited the first few lines of the Three Character Classic, he saw the palace guards leading people in. There were three of them in total, and they all looked dignified and had none of the wretched air of those who crouched in the dark.
Sun Mingsi stood waiting at the door. After the palace guards left, he led them forward to greet Chu Huaibei and introduced them together, "The one on the left is Jin Yi, the one in the middle is Jin San, and the one on the right is Jin Si."
"I'm honored to meet the King of Zhenbei." The three of them knelt on one knee at the same time and saluted.
Chu Huaibei carefully looked at the faces of the three people, memorized them, and then put Hengheng in Sun Mingsi's arms, got up and left. "You guys have a good chat, I'm going to the study first." She is a considerate and kind person~
"Greetings, master, young master!" said the three of them.
"Well, get up quickly." Sun Mingsi lowered his head again and said to Hengheng in his arms, "Hengheng, these three uncles are mother's bodyguards, and they will be your bodyguards in the future. I just introduced them to your father. Do you still remember their names?"
Hengheng looked at the three of them and called out in turn: "Uncle Jin Yi, Uncle Jin San, Uncle Jin Si." In fact, their names are quite simple. His father praised him for being very smart. Hengheng was proud, but he didn't say anything.
The three of them were so excited that their eyes were red, and one of the tough guys almost cried. Especially Jin Yi, to be honest, he had been prepared for his master to be alone, and now a surprise came from the sky, thinking that God had finally opened his eyes!
After their emotions calmed down, Sun Mingsi said, "You three can come and go freely from now on. The prince has allocated you a house on the back wing. Stay there tonight. It's already been cleaned. The rest of you should stay in the house across the street. It will be more convenient for everyone. Also, send someone to inquire about teachers in the suburbs who can teach the imperial guards and palace soldiers. As long as they can learn to read, it will be fine. It will take a few months, depending on their progress."
The three of them were slightly shocked when they heard this. The prince even wanted these people to study. As secret guards, they had to learn this from a young age. How could they do anything if they were illiterate? Finding the right person for this job was difficult, so Jin Yi planned to send more people and search a wider area.
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