Farmhouse Green Plum

Chapter 106: Grandmaster Arrives

The head of Qinghua Village was also confused. Zhang Xiucai took several steps before he reacted. He took a quick step over, grabbed Zhang Xiucai, and asked anxiously, "Mr. Maocai, what are you doing?"

"Hmph! You are sycophants and fawning on the powerful. I am ashamed to be associated with you!" Mr. Zhang's face turned pale. He said this and wanted to leave.

The headman held on tightly, getting angry and saying, "No, how can you be a sycophantic person?"

He is still confused, and so are the villagers. They don't understand why Mr. Zhang suddenly got angry.

The head of the village and others were extremely anxious. The superintendent of education was about to arrive, but the person who had been accompanying them in daily life and talking to them had to leave. When this matter came to an end, where could they find someone with a good reputation?

At this time, Yuan Qing suddenly said, "Wu Tixue is the deputy envoy of the Censorate, a fourth-rank official. Ringing the gong eleven times does not count as a violation of the rules."

Zhang Xiucai paused and turned to look at Yuan Qing, "How do you know that Wu Tixue is the deputy envoy of the Censorate?"

Yuan Qing didn't say anything.

After a moment's silence, Zhang Xiucai came back and rebuked Yuan Qing: "Scholars don't concentrate on their studies, but are instead scheming for these trivial things. This is a disgrace to civility!"

Song Ying curled his lips, thinking that this Mr. Zhang was really talking without any worries. Yuan Qing wanted to gain the praise of Wu Tixue in order to enter the academy, so naturally he had to find out more about Wu Tixue.

If I really did as he said and just buried my head in studying, then wouldn't I never be able to enter an academy in my entire life? Without a teacher who is good at classics, how could I take the imperial examination to become a scholar?

The head of the village heaved a long sigh of relief, finally getting the situation under control. After hearing what Zhang Xiucai said, he was worried that Yuan Qing would lose face, so he immediately changed the subject and asked in a low voice: "Master, how did you become the deputy envoy of the Censorate again?"

Yuan Qing did not take Zhang Xiucai's rebuke to heart, and explained quickly and concisely: "The Education Department is under the jurisdiction of the Censorate, and the Inspector must hold a title there."

Although the head of the village did not quite understand what he heard, he still nodded. He glanced at Mr. Zhang and thought to himself: Mr. He is really good at judging people. They used to wonder why Mr. He did not invite Mr. Zhang, a scholar, but instead invited Mr. Wang, a student, to be his tutor.

With Mr. Zhang's pedantic and inconsiderate character, he is sure to corrupt the students.

Thinking of this, the head of the village said, "Yuan boy, be smart for a while."

As he said this, he glanced at Mr. Zhang secretly. It was obvious that he was worried about Mr. Zhang, so he asked Yuan Qing to remedy the situation in time if something went wrong.

Yuan Qing didn't know whether he understood his implied meaning or not, he just nodded slightly.

Soon, two yamen runners holding badges came into everyone's sight.

Song Ying's eyes naturally fell on the titles. He saw that one title plate read "Deputy Envoy of the Ministry of Justice" and the other title plate read "Superintendent of Jinchuan Academy".

He is indeed the Deputy Censor.

Then came the officers holding up signs reading "Keep Away" and "Silence", then the yamen runners in black robes and carrying swords, as well as many attendants and court attendants, and behind them were several green sedan chairs, which came towards this side in a mighty procession.

The villagers quickly retreated to the sides of the road and knelt down, waiting for the sedan chair to pass before they got up and followed.

The sedan chair did not stop until it reached the entrance of the community school. Song Ying stood on tiptoe and stretched his neck to look, only to see a middle-aged man with an ordinary face coming out of the sedan chair and scanning the crowd with awe-inspiring eyes.

When he glanced at her, Song Ying unconsciously retracted his head, held his breath, and dared not even breathe.

This man has great authority.

The official walked to a blue oilcloth sedan chair, lifted the curtain and said, "Sir, we have arrived at the Qinghuali Community School."

As soon as he spoke, Song Ying immediately recognized that he was the ridiculous Hu County Magistrate who had rewarded Aunt Liu and his wife.

After a moment, a man in his forties wearing an official robe embroidered with cloud and goose patches came out of the sedan chair.

Compared with Magistrate Hu, this Magistrate Wu is gentle and elegant, and has the temperament of a scholar.

After the group entered the community school and sat down, the village head quickly signaled the people who had been arranged earlier to come forward and serve tea and water.

After drinking the tea and moistening his throat, Wu Tixue looked at the crowd and said, "Zhu Zi once said that during the prosperity of the Three Dynasties, the laws were gradually established, and then the royal palace, the capital, and even the streets were all equipped with learning.

At the age of eight, all children, from the princes to the common people, enter elementary school and are taught the etiquette of sweeping, answering, advancing and retreating, etiquette, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics...."

Wu Tixue's words came from the Great Learning, which Song Ying had heard Yuan Qing recite, and he roughly knew what it meant: Starting from the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, our ancestors gradually accumulated a wealth of experience and knowledge;

In order to pass on this experience and knowledge, schools were set up from the royal palace to the ordinary streets; eight-year-old children, whether they were descendants of the royal family or the children of the common people, could go to elementary school to learn the basics of interpersonal relationships and etiquette, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics...

In short, it is words of encouragement to study.

Sure enough, after Wu Tixue had finished showing off his knowledge and confusing the villagers, he began to conclude his speech: "This time, the emperor ordered me to supervise the education in this province. All teachers and students in the community schools should be examined and evaluated together, and we must ensure that wise teachers are responsible. At the same time, we should also select talented people from the people and appoint them to positions. We must not let the virtuous and good people be left behind in the countryside."

As soon as these words were spoken, Song Ying saw that not only the students but even Mr. Zhang were eager to try, and the aloofness he had just shown was completely gone.

That’s right. When you meet a noble person who can change your life with just one sentence, who can hold back and not try their best to show themselves?

Moreover, this display is encouraged by the above.

Magistrate Hu leaned forward slightly and said respectfully, "Your Excellency the Superintendent of Education is right. I believe that Qinghuali is a place of outstanding people and will not disappoint you."

As he spoke, he glanced at a young man in brocade clothes standing next to Wu Tixue, as if he was hinting at something.

Wu Tixue pinched his beard and nodded, then looked at Yuan Qing and the other students and asked, "Are all the students in the community school here?"

Zhang Xiucai suppressed his excitement, stepped forward, and replied, "To reply to the Grand Master, all is here."

When Wu Tixue saw that he looked handsome, his expression softened a little, and he asked in a friendly manner, "Are you from this village, old friend?"

People who have achieved fame and honor in the world call students "old friends" and students "little friends".

"In reply to Grand Master, I am from Rongshu Village."

Wu Tixue turned his head and glanced at the young man beside him, and said with a smile: "So he is your fellow countryman, Yonghui."

Fellow countryman?

Mr. Zhang looked at the strange young man in brocade clothes with a bewildered look on his face, and the other villagers were equally bewildered.

There were also some who were quick to react and guessed something, carefully sizing up the face of the young man in brocade clothes.

Song Ying also guessed that the person in Rongshu Village who could be addressed in this way by Wu Tixue, a fourth-rank official, must be the descendant of Shen Zhuangyuan, who was promoted to the position of Shangshu and married a noble lady from the capital. And considering the age of this young man, it is more likely that he is a grandson.

Shen Yonghui smiled and said, "I grew up in Kyoto and have never been back to my hometown. I don't know my neighbors."

Then it was gone.