Chapter 78 Irreversible - Years of pride as a man, and yet...
Teaching from scratch is no easy task.
When Qin Xiangfu was a young lady in the mansion, she never had to worry about the various chores in the mansion.
Every morning when she got up, a maid would prepare warm water for her and offer her new clothes, and a hot breakfast would always be laid out on the table.
After leisurely finishing her breakfast, she only needs to walk a few steps to her study to begin her day of learning.
Nowadays, however, the students at the girls' school are facing a variety of problems.
They were of different ages and backgrounds; the youngest were still children, while the older ones were already mothers of several children.
Therefore, many students have complex identities and are often bogged down by various trivial matters.
On the second day of school, when Qin Xiangfu stood on the podium and called roll with the class roster, she found that half of the seats in the classroom were empty.
"Is Zhang Cuiyi here?" she asked, glancing at the roster.
A familiar female voice answered timidly, "Teacher, Cuiyi's child caught a cold last night and probably won't be able to come today."
Qin Xiangfu nodded, noted it down, and continued calling out names: "Lu Xiaolian?"
Someone else stood up to ask for leave on behalf of their classmate: "Xiaolian said her husband's family has some miscellaneous matters to attend to, and she needs to go with her husband to handle them..."
After calling out each student individually, it turned out that half of the more than twenty students in the class were tied up with family matters and couldn't come to the classroom.
Qin Xiangfu was worried, but she also understood that it was already a rare treat that someone was willing to come.
The textbooks Su Lin gave her were profound, and she rarely even knew about subjects like astronomy and geography.
But Su Lin told her that the most important thing right now was to teach these women to read. Once they could read, they would be able to read on their own and continue their studies at home.
As for further studies, she can seek advice from the people at Luxi Academy, where the girls have already made remarkable progress.
Qin Xiangfu sighed. Their girls' school was just getting started, and thinking about these things was still a long way off!
She composed herself and carefully wrote the basic strokes and radicals on the stone slab, leading her students to recite them again and again.
Throughout the entire day, she only taught everyone a few dozen commonly used characters and assigned homework, and time passed by as evening approached.
As the students left one by one, she sat alone in front of the podium, lost in thought.
At this pace, when will everyone be able to truly get on the right track? Those who missed class for various reasons have fallen behind; how will we balance this out in the future?
"Miss Qin!" A clear voice brought her back to her senses.
She looked up and saw the young lady who had greeted her on the first day of school standing in front of her. She apologized and changed her address, saying, "Excuse me, I should call you Teacher Qin now."
Qin Xiangfu scrutinized the familiar face, recalling that she had just taken attendance that morning: "Tang Xi?"
"It is indeed me!" Tang Xi nodded repeatedly. "I felt that Teacher Qin was exceptionally talented at the poetry gathering that day. I never expected that you would pass Lord Su's test and come here to teach."
"Teacher Qin, could you share some study tips with me?"
Qin Xiangfu stroked the book in her hand and pondered for a moment.
From her personal experience, there are no shortcuts to learning; the most important thing is to concentrate and persevere.
But women in this world, even if they overcome all difficulties to enroll here, are always preoccupied with trivial matters and cannot concentrate on their studies.
Thinking of this, she asked Tang Xi, "How did you study at home before you came to the girls' school?"
"Well..." Tang Xi recalled, "My family didn't force me to study; they just hoped I could recognize a few words."
"But I admired that female leader, so I found some books to read and occasionally listened to my brothers' classes. That's how I managed to write a few poems and a few lines of writing."
Qin Xiangfu nodded and then asked, "When you first started learning, what did you find the most difficult?"
“Of course I can read.” Tang Xi scratched his head. “Those characters have many strokes and similar shapes. It took me a long time to distinguish them.”
"In class today, the older sisters sitting next to me often asked me this question. They said they could never distinguish between similar-looking characters and would confuse them when writing them."
This is indeed a problem.
Qin Xiangfu started her education quite early, and she has almost forgotten what she went through when she first started learning. It is also difficult for her to figure out the right level of explanation during class.
Some of the knowledge that she found simple and easy to understand was a difficult problem for the students.
Qin Xiangfu pondered for a moment: "What if we integrate different characters into words to understand them? This way, we can remember the shapes of the characters and understand their usage. Wouldn't that be killing two birds with one stone?"
Tang Xi's eyes lit up: "That's absolutely right!"
The two hit it off immediately, and despite the approaching nightfall, they gathered together to discuss the matter in detail and finally devised a teaching plan.
First, list the most basic characters, then match them with common words, and use word formation and sentence construction to help beginners consolidate their understanding.
Based on this idea, they also designed a set of fill-in-the-blank questions to test their learning outcomes, which they planned to use in the classroom later.
Looking at the draft paper, Tang Xi exclaimed in amazement, "This method is really good! It is not only suitable for laying the foundation for beginners, but if it is accompanied by simple illustrations, it can also be promoted to the general public in the future and used to enlighten children."
Qin Xiangfu carefully folded the draft paper, preparing to take it home.
Actually, she didn't have such long-term vision.
She simply hoped that women who were too busy with life to attend classes regularly could have more opportunities for self-study, even if they stayed at home.
Soon after, Qin Xiangfu printed more than twenty copies of the booklet that the two of them had jointly compiled and distributed them to every student.
The weather was sunny that day, and the school was unexpectedly full of people.
Qin Xiangfu asked them to open the booklet: "This is a literacy booklet we prepared for you. Tang Xi also added easy-to-understand illustrations. You can not only learn it on your own, but also teach your family members to learn it together."
The booklet contains common words and phrases found in everyday life: sun, moon, heaven and earth, wind, frost, snow and rain, grains, wheat, seedlings, rice, pots, pans and bowls... The illustrations next to them are clear and easy to understand, and you can tell the meaning of the words at a glance.
"From now on, no matter where you are, you can use this notebook to study on your own," Qin Xiang said, looking down at the audience.
She knew that many students' families deliberately used housework to hold them back.
Therefore, she solemnly said, "If you really can't come, just tell me and I will come to your door to teach you myself."
The students nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.
Qin Xiangfu understood that this matter could not be rushed, as these women would find it difficult to break free from their original identities in a short period of time.
She only hoped they wouldn't give up halfway.
It's not easy to break free from your old life, and it's even harder to persevere.
----
Upon learning that Su Lin was about to be transferred, Lu Hongguang was overjoyed.
After years of hard work, he finally got the position of chief official he had always dreamed of, and he became very proud of himself.
The servant repeatedly offered his congratulations: "Congratulations, sir! Congratulations, sir!"
"Hmph! Good thing he left quickly!" Lu Hongguang scoffed.
He hadn't even figured out Su Lin's background when the man was about to be transferred.
But it doesn't matter, with this stumbling block gone, his future is bright.
"I heard that Su Lin is currently running a girls' school?" Lu Hongguang suddenly remembered this.
Although the princess's decree was sent to various places, very few people actually carried it out.
Su Lin, who was about to leave office, acted quickly and got the girls' school up and running in just a few days.
He made a special inquiry and learned that the girls' school had actually reached the point of opening classes and teaching.
"Could it be that Su Lin has climbed up to the princess?" Lu Hongguang broke out in a cold sweat. "Yes, it seems that the one who transferred him this time was also a princess..."
The more he thought about it, the more alarmed he became.
Princess Zhaoxin has always advocated that women should do the things that men should do. It seems that the three female doctors who were appointed as imperial physicians last time were also recommended by Su Lin through the princess...
What exactly is the princess plotting?
Lu Hongguang shook his head sharply, dispelling these distracting thoughts.
The movements of those in high positions are not something a local official like him can arbitrarily speculate on.
Moreover, Princess Zhaoxin is deeply favored by the Emperor, and whatever she does must have been approved by His Majesty, so it is not his place to interfere.
The thought that from now on, women would have to study and learn just like men struck him as utterly absurd.
Lu Hongguang waved his hand indignantly: "This Su Lin is ridiculous. Everyone else is holding back, but he's in such a hurry to curry favor!"
"Thanks to him, Luzhou produced a female champion in a previous exception, and now they've started a girls' school. At this rate, won't men and women each hold up half the sky in a couple of years? What kind of order is that!"
The servant dared not contradict him, so he could only agree, "Yes! Yes!"
Lu Hongguang shook his head and said, "Women can't take the imperial examinations or enter officialdom, so what's the use of learning these things!"
Just as he was getting stuck on this, the servant interrupted, "Sir, because of the three female doctors who were appointed as imperial physicians last time, the capital has issued an order... From now on, women will be allowed to serve as medical officials in various regions, making an exception."
"Now, women can also enter officialdom."
"What?" Lu Hongguang's eyes widened.
The servant quickly added, "The higher-ups said that everyone gets sick sometimes, and it's inconvenient for a woman to be treated by a male doctor if she has some unspeakable ailment. Therefore, the position of female physician has been set up in various places, allowing women to study medicine and treat women exclusively."
This reason is irrefutable.
They believed in the Three Cardinal Guides and Five Constant Virtues, and thought that it was a major taboo for unmarried women to have casual contact with men outside their marriage. They had no reason to refute this perfectly reasonable request.
If men treat women and women treat women, what more could one ask for?
Lu Hongguang was speechless for a moment, and could only say awkwardly, "It's fine if they study medicine, but why are they studying literature?"
"The princess said that children in the common people are mostly raised by their birth mothers. If the mother is illiterate, it may hinder the children's upbringing..." the servant whispered back, "Therefore, every woman should be literate so that their children can better succeed in the future..."
What a high-sounding reason.
Lu Hongguang was speechless for a moment, but a sense of fear lingered in his heart.
If all women in the world could read and understand reason, and unite as one in the future, how should men deal with them? If they really become learned and eventually rise above him, how should he conduct himself?
The pride he had held for so many years as a man was shattered by this seemingly insignificant little thing.
He was unwilling to admit it, but he had to face the possibility.
Even his son Lu Chengzhou, whom he had carefully raised for many years, was defeated by an unknown country girl at the literary gathering, causing him to be so embarrassed in front of everyone. This matter remained a thorn in his side.
Lu Hongguang suddenly realized that he was being too concerned about this matter, which made him seem guilty.
He suddenly flicked his sleeve, sweeping all the pens on the table to the ground with a "clatter".
The servant was so frightened that he knelt down on the ground.
He gritted his teeth for a long time, but couldn't say anything. Finally, he said angrily, "Fine! Let them go. Let's see what kind of trouble they can stir up!"
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