Master Lin, who was drinking tea in the courtyard, immediately got up to greet Zhao Xian when he saw him coming.
"Greetings, Lord Shaofu. You've brought another student. Who is she?"
“Master Lin, you are too kind. This girl is the granddaughter of Old Master Chen in the village. She is seven years old this year. Please accept her as your disciple.”
Master Lin looked at Er Ya and saw that the child was very nervous and a little afraid of him, so he said:
"Please rest assured, Your Excellency, I will accept any child from the village who is willing to come to the school."
I owe my becoming a teacher to Lord Shaofu.
That's exactly right. His younger sister, Zhao Lingling, was Master Lin's first student, and it was from that time that Master Lin began teaching and nurturing students.
Zhao Xian looked at Master Lin again and found that he was in very good spirits and looked well. It seemed that Master Lin was very satisfied with his current situation.
"How many students does the Master's school have now?"
"Including Chen Erya, there are exactly thirty students."
Zhao Xian was taken aback. He remembered that when Wufang Academy opened, there were only a dozen or so students in Master Lin's classroom.
In just a few months, the number of students in the school increased to thirty.
It seems that more and more villagers are willing to send their daughters to school, which should be a good thing.
"The teacher must be working very hard teaching so many children."
Master Lin stroked his beard and began to speak:
“Teaching and nurturing students is my responsibility. I have now divided these children into two classes, which makes things much more convenient, but it is also much more tiring for me.”
I can manage for now, but if the number of children coming to study continues to increase, I will have to ask a tutor for help.
Since the children have come to my school to study, I will definitely teach them well and help them achieve their goals.
Several students in the academy were very intelligent, but throughout history, women were forbidden from holding official positions and therefore could not participate in the imperial examinations.
It is indeed a bit of a pity, as Zhao Xian still agrees with Master Lin's words.
Master Lin was of upright character and integrity. He devoted himself to teaching and truly embodied the spirit of educating people, enabling children to achieve academic success and apply what they learned.
After bidding farewell to Master Lin, Zhao Xian arrived at the construction site on the barren beach, where construction had already begun.
According to the prior arrangement, the villa will be built first, and then other projects will be constructed.
Zhao Xian assigned Zhao Xiaosheng to be in charge of the project here. Seeing the villa change every day, Zhao Xiaosheng was very excited.
The villa was his and Chen Xiaoxiao's marital home. Zhao Xian told them that once the villa was completed, he would let them get married.
In order to move into the villa with Chen Xiaoxiao as soon as possible, Zhao Xiaosheng spent almost all his time there, keeping an eye on the progress of the villa's construction.
Seeing Zhao Xiaosheng's eager and expectant expression, Zhao Xian couldn't help but laugh.
Zhao Xiaosheng didn't notice Zhao Xian's arrival, but Zhao Xian's laughter brought him back to reality.
"Brother, you're here." Zhao Xiaosheng greeted him.
"Yeah, where is Chen Xiaoxiao?"
"Xiaoxiao is at the farm. Li Guang and I have both come out, and Meng Yaoyao has gone to the lakeside construction site. There's no one at the farm, and the two little ones need someone to look after them."
Xiao Hei has a huge appetite now, eating several meals a day, and whenever it gets hungry, it looks for Xiao Xiao to ask for food.
Since Li Guang and Zhao Xiaosheng were both busy at the construction site during the day, the farm was empty and definitely needed someone to look after it.
Once Zhao Xiaosheng and Chen Xiaoxiao get married, they will settle down at the villa, and Meng Yaoyao will need to take care of the two little ones.
"When will the winter wheat be harvested? I see that the 300 mu of wheat is growing well, and the harvest this year should be good."
"There's only one month left before harvest, and Li Guang has put a lot of effort into these winter wheat crops."
When the land was being cleared and prepared, plenty of base fertilizer was applied, resulting in winter wheat that grew better than the surrounding wheat.
Even seasoned farmers who have been farming for many years cannot match Li Guang's farming skills.
It's truly incredible that Li Guang, who appears to be a frail scholar, could cultivate the land so well.
Zhao Xiaosheng said with emotion.
"Li Guang was intelligent and wise, and his abilities were immeasurable. He cultivated the land well and produced more grain in order to reduce famine. He was truly doing this for the people of the world. This is what makes him a great talent."
Zhao Xiaosheng nodded and continued:
“At this time of year, the food supply would have already started to decline. Last year, the food supply period was very long, lasting more than two months, which was actually a famine.”
The situation in the village is much better this year. So far, almost every household has surplus grain, enough to last for a while.
In our village, as long as you are willing, you can do some small business in the market and earn some money, so there won't be a food shortage like last year.
Most of the craftsmen in the village are from out of town. They say that many places are facing a shortage of workers, and they've reduced their meals from three to two a day.
Zhao Xian nodded. In ancient times, food crises were common, occurring almost every year. In the event of a major famine, people would starve to death.
The main focus here will be on the food processing industry, and the construction of the workshops should follow this approach.
When there is an abundance of grain, it is purchased and processed into easily preserved food.
When food is scarce, bringing these foods to market can not only curb rising food prices but also enrich the variety of food available, thus helping to alleviate famine.
The wasteland area is very large, so we could consider building a grain reserve here to regulate the supply of grain in the market.
Although his idea was good, the Great Northern Dynasty was too big. Even if he built more and more grain reserves, it would be a drop in the ocean and would not make any difference.
In comparison, Li Guang's approach was quite good.
He wanted to cultivate some high-yield crops and promote them nationwide so that every household could grow these high-yield crops and truly have surplus grain in every family.
However, in ancient times, productivity was low and it was difficult to achieve high grain yields. Coupled with natural disasters, man-made calamities, and the government's heavy taxes, life was still difficult for ordinary people at the bottom of society.
Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore. This is ancient times, and I'm just a time traveler, at most a remnant soul attached to the body of an ancient person.
It is already very difficult to do all this. No matter how great one's abilities are, one cannot change history.
At this moment, Zhao Xiaosheng spoke up:
Last year, I collected a large number of purslane seeds and sowed them everywhere.
A few days ago, I took a look and saw that a large number of small seedlings of *Caesalpinia vegetans* had grown on the barren land and hills, and along the edges of the fields in the village.
There are so many water spinach leaves this year; once they grow a little bigger, they'll be ready to be harvested and used to make kimchi.
“You did a good job. You can move the kimchi workshop here so the house won’t feel so crowded,” Zhao Xian said.
It was getting late, and Zhao Xian decided to go to the lakeside.
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