Chapter 224 225 School Starts, Corn
When the two gentlemen arrived in Qingchuan, they saw that the county school had indeed prepared a private courtyard, and they were satisfied and stayed.
With the husband already in place, Zhou Jia asked the yamen to go to the towns and villages to publicize that for those whose families were too poor to send their children to school, the county society would exempt them from tuition and miscellaneous fees. Children who attended school for free must have the signatures of the village chiefs and respected elders as guarantees. Anyone who commits fraud will be expelled from the county school to pay the tuition if someone reports it.
Zhou Jia also sent an enrollment notice to be posted at the gate of Rencheng. Before long, lists of Mongolian children from the county to various villages and towns were sent to the county government. There were nearly a hundred poor Mongolian children, and there were also Mongolian children who went to school at their own expense. There are more than 40 children, and a total of 136 Mongolian children have been recruited.
The county school was completed at the end of May or early June, but there was still no edict sent from the state capital.
Zhou Jia decided not to wait any longer and had people notify the parents of Meng children that the enrollment procedures would start from the sixth to eighth day of the lunar month.
Tu Dianshi hired three women over fifty to help with cooking and managing the children's accommodation.
Mengtong's family took their household registration and after checking it with the Yamen, they sent their child to the county school with anticipation and reluctance.
Li Yu's newly-opened store (Li Ji Wenfang Encyclopedia) also took advantage of the opening of the county school to have a successful business.
On the ninth day of the Lunar New Year, Zhou Jia took the county government officials and two gentlemen to pay homage to the sages and held an opening ceremony with gongs and drums. The lively scene attracted people all over the county to go to the county outside Dongcheng to study. Looking at the excitement, the gate of the county school was crowded with people, and the walls of the county school were also covered with people. Even the New Year's Eve opera was not so lively.
Zhou Jia did not let anyone drive him away and said to Mr. Qian enthusiastically: "The reopening of county schools is a major event in Qingchuan County. Let everyone be happy together."
Mr. Qian looked at the lively scene and praised: "Sir, you are having fun with the people."
Li Yu and Mr. Wen stood at the door of the newly built pen and ink shop. They smiled at Zhou Jia who was standing at the door of the county school opposite and looked high-spirited. Mr. Wen said to Li Yu: "Xiaoyu, look at Xiaoxi's smile. The appearance makes people feel comfortable just looking at it.”
"Yeah! You have such a beautiful smile." Li Yu thought of Zhou Jia in the past, who always looked gloomy behind his back. Since he returned to Kyoto to take revenge on the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in the old house, he has become less gloomy and more sunny. It seems that he has really let go of those sad things in the past.
Zhou Jia saw Li Yu and Mr. Wen standing at the door of the shop, said hello to Yu Xianwei, strode towards Li Yu, and asked with a smile on his face: "Sir, Yu'er, have you gone to the county school to see it? "
Mr. Wen smiled and said: "I've seen it, the construction is pretty good, everything else is good, it's just that it's missing a little bit."
Zhou Jia spread his hands and laughed at himself: "I can't help it, who made Qingchuan a poor and remote place! You see that today's official enrollment, the prefecture did not send any teachers. Only Mr. Tu, Mr. Qian and I took turns to come to the county to study. Helped with class.”
Li Yu thought of the private school run by Zhou Jia in the past, where a Meng boy was charged four taels of silver for a year's tuition. Did Zhou Jia at that time think that he would teach Meng children for free?
Mr. Wen joked: "Then these children are lucky, the county magistrate will teach them personally."
Zhou Jia smiled proudly: "That's true! There are not many gentlemen like me."
Li Yu smiled and said to Mr. Wen: "Ah Qing used to study with him and even charged me four taels of silver for tuition!"
"Really? Ask him to refund the money!" Mr. Wen burst out laughing.
Zhou Jia had an innocent expression on her face, "I didn't know you were my future wife at that time, otherwise how could I dare to accept the money?" Zhou Jia said and looked inside the shop again, "Where is this child A Qing going today? Well, the county school has started so busy and you haven’t seen anyone else?”
Li Yu pointed to the slope behind and said with a smile: "I'm watching corn earing in the cornfield behind!
"Has the corn eared yet? Come on, let's take a look too."
"Okay." Several people walked happily towards the slope behind Zhuangzi. This was Zhou Jia's first time to come to the corn field since the corn was planted. Outside the fence, he saw corn that was taller than the fence. Zhou Jia He was shocked and said: "Fish, is this really food? How can it grow so tall?"
Li Qing, Ruyi and Yang Wei emerged from the cornfield and stood by the fence.
Li Qing smiled and said to Zhou Jia: "Brother-in-law, a corn plant has two or three corn cobs, one is almost a foot long, and it makes people like it. There are also soybeans planted in the ditch, and one or two stone beans should be harvested. .”
"Really?" Zhou Jia stepped into the corn field and saw the corn cobs growing on the corn stalks. He excitedly said to Li Yu: "Yu'er, you and Jixiang have made great contributions. Such good grain seeds are so good." I’m afraid I can harvest eight or nine shi of grain from one mu of land.”
Li Yu said with a smile: "Although this is the first time to plant, my land is fertile enough, so I should be able to harvest so much. After harvesting this season, carefully select the seeds, and then you can plant them again for two seasons a year. If you plant on the hillside, the food should be enough.”
Everyone stood in front of the corn field, looking at the corn in the field with great anticipation, looking forward to the final result.
Before Zhou Jia left, he told Yang Wei and Ruyi to have people watch the corn fields carefully before harvesting, and not to spread the news, otherwise the seeds would be stolen and spoiled by people who did not know the details.
Yang Wei and Ruyi knew that these seeds only came from two acres of land. If they were wasted, the loss would be immeasurable. The two promised: "Master, don't worry, we are not going anywhere, there are breeding fields, we will also take good care of them."
Li Yu said reassuringly: "We are relieved! We know that you are doing things prudently. Ruyi, has Xiaoyu asked Mr. to check your pulse? Are you really planning to confine yourself in the Zhuangzi?"
Ruyi touched her head and smiled sheepishly: "The old lady showed it to Xiaoyu when he came here. Both mother and son are doing well. I haven't decided where to do the confinement yet. There are still more than two months before the birth!"
Li Yu thought about the medical technology in this world and felt that women giving birth in this era felt like one foot in the gate of hell and one foot in the human world. Maybe one person would die and two people would die.
He told Ruyi: "You two should think about it earlier and invite Po Wen in advance, and then we will go back to the city."
Ruyi nodded and watched a few people get in the car and go back to the city.
Li Yu and others chatted all the way back to the gate of the county government office. As soon as they got off the car, they saw Yu Hui running over in panic and said to Mr. Wen: "Doctor Wen, my mother suddenly fainted for some reason. , could you please help me find out what’s going on?”
"Ah Qing, go back and get my medicine box!" Mr. Wen ordered Li Qing. Then he turned to Yu Hui, who was still crying, and said, "Don't worry. How long did you say your mother had been unconscious? Have you called a doctor?"