Chapter 115 114. The Most Beautiful Woman in Kyoto
The children all returned to their homes.
Before Liu Xiaocao left, Lei Li mentioned to him that a school was being built in the village, which would probably start after the New Year, and asked him to inform the village chief.
This was a great event for Sanlihe Village, and the villagers would definitely not refuse it. Liu Xiaocao was also overjoyed when she heard it, and even said that she would specifically deliver the message to Lei Li.
When Liu Xiaocao learned that Xiaobao could read and write in the county town, she felt a little envious.
But Xiaobao also learned calligraphy from an embroiderer who had a lot of money and connections that allowed Miao Fulang to follow some boys and girls from the neighborhood.
The embroiderer used to be the daughter of a wealthy family. She studied in a private school at home and learned to read. Later, her family fell into poverty, and she started working as an embroiderer and selling embroidered handkerchiefs.
Several women and girls were embroidering and sewing handkerchiefs. Knowing that the embroiderer was illiterate, they thought that her family had some extra money from business, so they wanted their sons and daughters to learn to read and write so that they would have more face when they married into their husband's family in the future.
The embroiderer's small private school was opened.
Speaking of which, it was all thanks to Lei Li. In order to let Xiaobao have more friends to play with, he chose a mid-range street with many boys and girls. Only then was Miao Fulang able to follow the clues and send Xiaobao to school.
"Auntie, go back and talk to Grandpa and your village elders about setting up a private school. I'll go with you to find a teacher."
Lei Li said to Liu Guo, "I'll pay for the private school. The monthly salary for the teacher is only a dozen or so taels at most, which isn't much to pay for each child."
"Life is good now, don't be reluctant to spend this money, teach your child to read and understand the principles. Even if he can't pass the imperial examination, he can still find a good job. For example, my husband benefited from his literacy and education, didn't he?"
"I know. I'll tell Grandpa and Grandpa when I get back."
Liu Guo was also overjoyed.
Who wouldn't want to send their child to school to learn to read and write? If they were a good student and passed the imperial examination, they would be called "Master Xiucai" or "Master Juren"!
Juren can still hold an official position!
For example, the snobbish head of household in the county government office was a juren. Although he was just a small official without any rank who was in charge of the household registration in the county government, he was still an official after all!
It would be a big deal if a farmer could get in touch with the "official family"!
At the very least, being literate can give you more options and make it easier to find a job than being illiterate. Zhu Qingshan got a job as an accountant because he could read.
This is the prototype of using academic qualifications to raise the threshold.
Zhou Yi said this to Lei Li.
"Of course, academic qualifications are not the most important thing. Reading thousands of books is not as good as traveling thousands of miles."
Zhou Yi said, "Words are the key that connects the human heart and nature, and a bridge for mutual understanding among people. Broad experience can broaden your mind and horizons, and the insights of others into life can enrich the depth and breadth of your own life."
“In the same way, you’re influencing the people you know without even realizing it.”
"They will unconsciously learn the good and bad things about you, imitate and emulate your way of doing things, may say things you have said, and may be moved by things you have been moved by."
"As you read through those vast books, you'll discover that some of the things you said were also said by people before you, decades or even hundreds of years ago. The suffering you experienced was also experienced by people before you, and sometimes even worse."
"They may have succumbed to suffering, or they may not have. But words are great things. They can transcend time and allow us to meet them."
"It's quite amazing."
"It's so wonderful that at some point you even feel like crying."
For example, the archaeologist who discovered the fingerprints of his ancestors on the Terracotta Warriors seemed to have returned to a thousand years ago. The craftsman who cast the Terracotta Warriors also stood quietly like this, looking at the present people through endless time.
People today are particularly unemotional. Lei Li: “…?”
What a mess.
I can't understand anything I hear.
Lei Li stared at Zhou Yi for several seconds and defined himself: "You're like one of those idiots who've gone crazy from studying. You're just talking nonsense and saying things that are just vague and confusing."
“…”
Zhou Yi paused and laughed, "Okay, I won't say any more. Didn't you say you wanted to drink lotus seed and mung bean soup? It's already cooled, go drink it now."
"good."
Lei Li nodded and smiled again, "The baby is so small, he can't eat anything except milk. What a pity, so his father can only drink it all..."
—
Mid-November.
The rice in Sanlihe Village has been harvested, and the ducks, rice fish, loaches and other items have been sold to "a Sichuan restaurant", and every household has made a lot of money.
Good fortune and misfortune go hand in hand.
This year, the rice tax on autumn rice was suddenly raised by five percentage points, from 10% of the yield per mu to 15%, which means that 75 kilograms of new rice per mu will have to be taxed.
75 kilograms of rice.
Although it is a bit painful for ordinary farmers, they can afford it. But for landlords and wealthy families with a lot of land, the base number is there, and even if the increase is small, it is still a considerable loss.
What is even more disturbing is that the tax was suddenly raised in mid-October. I don’t know if it will be raised again during the summer harvest next year, and if so, how much it will be raised.
Lei Li also keenly realized that something was not right and asked the simple-minded Meng Luo privately.
"It's Nanjiang Prefecture City."
"Nanjiang?"
Lei Li knew about Nanjiang Prefecture. He had heard Zhou Yi read travel notes and knew that there were nine large prefectures in the Dayou Dynasty.
The city of Zhongchuan Prefecture where the Meng family lived was an economic center with tall and luxurious buildings everywhere. It was said that even beggars were rich.
Dongyuan Prefecture has a large population and is home to many plains and swamps, but it is also bordered by fierce nomadic tribes; Xiling Prefecture is a major grain-producing province and a rice city, with hills and rice fields everywhere, but it is also surrounded by an aggressive neighboring country that is eyeing it covetously.
Beijing Capital, the capital and political center of the Dayou Dynasty, is home to the largest number of high-ranking officials and dignitaries; Nanjiang Capital is the transportation hub of the Dayou Dynasty, with the largest number of rivers, lakes and seas, and is also the place most prone to floods and mountain torrents.
A city of Wensheng is a holy city for scholars; a city of Wuxing is a prosperous city for military families.
Songyong Prefecture is famous for its strange peaks, steep cliffs and many unusual cypresses; Baihui Prefecture has a developed fishing industry, but is relatively backward in other aspects.
"Nanjiang Prefecture suffered a lot of flooding this year. Floods flooded many areas, and the harvest was almost wiped out. Many people became refugees and were forced to leave their homes."
Mengluo was completely defenseless and was completely defeated. "The imperial court sent an imperial envoy to provide disaster relief, allocated hundreds of thousands of taels of silver and hundreds of thousands of dan of grain, and also transferred grain from other places."
"But you know the true colors of those officials. After scraping away layer upon layer of benefits, there's not much left for the common people. Officials protect each other, and it's hard for those above them to know the truth."
"The floods, the long journey, and the lack of food caused many people to starve to death. The people could only eat tree bark and white mud. I heard that some people even traded their own children for food."
As he spoke, Meng Luo revealed an expression of resentment. "You can even eat your own child. You're not a human being! If it were me, I wouldn't touch my child even if I starved to death, and I would never touch another family's child!"
Lei Li frowned upon hearing this. "So what do we do now? If we raise the rice tax in Xiling, and collect so much rice, and it ends up in the pockets of those wealthy people, won't that harm the people of Nanjiang?"
"That was before the Fifth Prince took over."
Meng Luo spoke with a beaming expression, as if he had witnessed it himself. "The Fifth Prince is quite capable. With one move, he established irrefutable evidence of corruption against the Imperial Envoy and the Nanjiang Prefect. He then brought down a whole series of officials, both high and low, for corruption and poor governance."
"Those who were imprisoned were imprisoned, their properties were confiscated, and those who were demoted were demoted. One person who escaped with silver was caught by the Fifth Prince's men and was beheaded on the spot as an example to others."
"The remaining officials were all trembling with fear, fearing they would lose their jobs. They all followed the Fifth Prince's lead. Under the Fifth Prince's watchful eye, even the most daring of them wouldn't dare to be greedy again."
"So now the rice transported from Xiling to Nanjiang will be distributed to the people, so that they can have hot porridge and hot meals, and no one will starve to death anymore."
Lei Li pondered in his heart and agreed, "It seems that this Fifth Prince is quite good."
"That would be great!"
Meng Luo acted like a little fanboy, "I heard that the fifth prince was writing poetry at the age of three and practicing martial arts at the age of five. Even the emperor praised him for his intelligence and talent, saying he is a pillar of the country."
"Furthermore, the Fifth Prince is incredibly handsome, like a beautiful orchid. Every noblewoman in Kyoto falls head over heels in love with him. Every year during the Lantern Festival and the Seventh Love Festival, the flowers and scented handkerchiefs thrown at the Fifth Prince are so abundant they could overwhelm him."
"Besides, the Fifth Prince has just come of age this year and hasn't married yet. If any family's daughter could marry the Fifth Prince, it would truly be a blessing from a previous life."
"yes."
Lei Li smiled.
I thought, it’s hard to say whether it’s a blessing to be involved with the royal family, and he is only the fifth prince. Even if he is the crown prince, he may not be able to become the emperor.
Zhou Yi once said that the first bird to stick its head out gets shot. This fifth prince is so high-profile that he might be made a target without even knowing it. But it cannot be ruled out that he is truly talented.
"Besides the Fifth Prince, I'm sure the other princes also have many outstanding qualities, right?"
"Of course!"
Meng Luo rambled on, "The eldest prince was an unrivaled martial artist, his spear skills were superb, even the great generals of the dynasty praised him highly. However, it was a case of God being jealous of his talent. When the eldest prince was 25, he went to battle against the Border Nomads and was struck by a hail of arrows and died."
"The Second Prince is a brilliant writer, and has proposed many strategies that benefit the country and the people. However, his biological mother's status is relatively low, and he has no outside support."
"The Third Prince is even more handsome than the Fifth Prince. His appearance is like a spring flower, and his eyes are like waves. He is known as the most beautiful man in Kyoto. Otherwise, he is very mediocre. His mother died young, and his maternal family has fallen on hard times."
"The fourth prince's biological mother is the queen, and his grandfather is the prime minister of the current dynasty, and he is very powerful."
"The Sixth Prince died young, and the Seventh Prince is still young. The most capable contenders are the Fifth and Fourth Princes, and many in the court support them."
Mengluo realized belatedly that he had said too much, scratched his head, and said with a chuckle,
"These are what I overheard my father telling others. Some of them are just rumors, so they may not be true. Don't tell anyone else."
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