Wang Ci couldn't refuse, thinking that no matter what the thieves were trying to do, it would always be good for the family. Then he got up and said, "The students have thanked them here." He bowed deeply.

"Hehe, you're welcome." Xiong Buyou saw his attitude soften, and thought that this Jihua had seven or eight points of certainty. Of course, whether this sour son is willing or not will not affect the result of Zuihou, but with his participation, things will go more smoothly. The matter of encircling the indigenous intellectuals still needs the help of the teachings of his county.

The Executive Committee did not attach much importance to indigenous intellectuals - their own knowledge structure and system far exceeded that of any scientist of the time and space, Chinese or foreign. These little intellectuals, who only know a few books and five classics, in the eyes of the traverser, have the greatest value of literacy.

However, with the passage of time, the feedback of social information collected in the work of the Executive Committee has changed the views of indigenous intellectuals to a certain extent. After all, no matter how impoverished the intellectuals are, theoretically they are all people who have knowledge, and they are also the reserve army of the bureaucracy. Therefore, they still enjoy considerable status and prestige in society.

In this way, indigenous intellectuals have risen from the available manpower to a class that needs to be emphatically wooed. In ancient societies where knowledge was scarce and illiteracy was extremely high, literate people not only had the right to speak, but also the power to judge right and wrong. The attitudes and backs of this group of people can affect many ordinary people.

In addition, it can be seen from the incomplete list of students and children they collected that with the exception of some poor scholars from small civilian households, many scholars were actually children of the gentry and landlords. Being able to envelop them is tantamount to encircling the local gentry class in disguise.

Therefore, the Foreign Business Commission began to carry out a special project to attract students in the county -- codenamed "Jasmine Xuan". In addition to students, lifters, and jinshi, children who have no merit are also included in jihua.

After a period of investigation and research, the Foreign Business Commission has generally grasped the cultural situation of Lingao.

Overall, the level is extremely low.

Of course, this level is extremely low in the context of the Ming Dynasty, if from the Hainan Island, the cultural construction of Lingao is still among the best in Qiongzhou. After all, Lingao is also a thousand-year-old county, and there is always some accumulation.

However, because of the sparse population, the proportion of students in the county is also low. There are about 30 students in the county, who have registered in the county school, and the number of children who have taken the county examination is about 60 or 70.

There is a quota for the number of students in a county. The most valuable is naturally the Lisheng, there are six buckets of rice to receive every month, generally 30 in large counties and 20 in small counties. There are 20 places for Lingao. There are additional places such as hyperplasia and epiphytes in addition to the birth, but there is no subsidy, and there are many such people in the area where the literary style is extremely prosperous, but there are only a few dozen or so people in Lingao.

The county is in financial difficulty, and the income from the school field is almost none, and even the students have not been able to get rice for many years, let alone others. Of course, there are many scholars who are well-off and are not uncommon for this amount of money, but for the poorer, life is very difficult.

After grasping the situation in general, it happened to meet Wang Ci's request for the Heaven and Earth Association to help plant the study field, and the Foreign Business Committee felt that this was a very good opportunity to meet the high education cause.

Xiong Buyou stood up, walked around the hall for a while, looked at the barren situation in the courtyard under the corridor, shook his head and said, "I didn't expect this county Xuewen Temple to be so deserted!" ”

Wang Ci's face flushed: "It's always the incompetence of the students......"

"I can't blame you for this," Xiong Buyou said with a big grin, "The county hasn't given you a penny or a grain of rice in the past few years." It is not easy to support it to this point. For the sake of Lingao's literary atmosphere, Wang Jiaoyu really deserves to work hard and do his best. ”

When these words came out of the thief's mouth, Wang Ci's eyes were almost red.

God pity! He thought, I went to Lingao, a small county in the south of the country, as a teacher, not a day without running, I thought of a way to think of everything, looking for the gentry everywhere to raise donations, my shoes broke several pairs, I was robbed by bandits, I almost lost my life, I encountered a hurricane on the beach, I almost died in the belly of a fish, I had seen enough of the cold faces of the gentry, and barely survived until now. The county order is just a "hard work". I can't imagine that this Australian, who has only been here for more than a year, can see it so clearly. Suddenly, I felt a sense of confidant.

"I don't dare to take it seriously." Wang Ci calmed down, "Even if you become the teacher of this county, you have to do your best." He sighed, "But it's just a matter of having a clear conscience." ”

"Good one, but ask for a clear conscience!" Xiong Buyou looked at his expression and knew that this bowl of rice soup was effectively filled. Before coming, they discussed how to impress the king's teachings. After discussing it, this aspect can tickle his itch even more. After a try, it didn't work.

He then deliberately sighed: "If only the officials of the Ming Dynasty could afford to have a clear conscience!" ”

This remark smacks of criticism of current politics. Although Wang Ci is a small teacher, he is not a frog at the bottom of the well, and what he saw and heard on the way to his post, as well as the correspondence between his family, friends, and classmates, made him feel that the situation was going downhill day by day. He didn't want to comment on this in front of the thief, so he simply kept his mouth shut, just sighed.

Xiong Buyou felt that the time had come. said: "I saw that the Jasmine Xuan next to the county school has been dilapidated, and if it is not repaired, I am afraid that it will collapse, and this good story in the high literary world will be annihilated......"

"Students don't want to renovate." Wang Ci has also been worried about this matter. He is not from Lingao County, but if this important relic of Lingao's literary circle is destroyed in his tenure, how will the county chronicle write himself a hundred years later? When he thought of this, he felt that he could not sleep well.

"I also begged for the county order, but the county warehouse is empty, and there is no extra money and rice. Even if you recruit a few migrant workers to work, you still have to feed them. In addition, carpenters and bricklayers refused to come just to feed people. "Wang Ci is helpless. Renovating a house is not a small sum of money, it requires hired labor, wood, bricks, and lime. The overhead is significant.

"Since the county doesn't have any money, we can help repair Jasmine Xuan." Xiong Buyou took the opportunity to make a request.

"You guys?" Wang Ci looked at him in surprise. What is this thief's plan? What do you do to help repair the house for no reason? What's in it for them.

"Exactly, not only Jasmine Xuan, but also here." Xiong Buyou pointed outside, "Your Confucian Temple and the county school also need to be repaired." Otherwise, it's really unsightly. ”

"This—" Wang Ci was a little ignorant for a moment, and muttered, "this, I can't afford it, I can't afford it." ”

"Eh, what to blame. I have already said: Since I have settled down in Lingao, this is my hometown, what is there to learn for my hometown of Wenmiao County, the so-called benefit of the throat, haha. ”

Wang Ci couldn't think of anything to refute these strong words for a while, but he instinctively felt that this was a weasel greeting a chicken. There must be some kind of intention.

"Alright, that's it. Hear the good news. Xiong Buyou didn't wait for him to react, got up and arched his hand, and said goodbye and left.

"Eh-eh-please stay-" Wang Ci felt that it was inappropriate, and wanted to discuss it again, but how could his steps compare to Xiong Buyou? chased out of the house, Xiong Buyou was already out of the hospital.

Helpless, I had to go back to the house first, and it was best to say to the county magistrate first. Otherwise, you will be acting arbitrarily, and something will happen.

"Master—" Menzi is here again.

"What's the matter?!"

"Master Xiong left two boxes of gifts, do you want to bring them in for you?"

"Gifts?"

"Yes, it's a gift list." Menzi presented the gift list.

Wang Ci opened it and saw that there were six gifts listed on it: 300 catties of brown rice, two jars of fruit and wine, 1,000 pieces of fine white paper, 100 brushes of various kinds, 100 ingots of pine smoke and ink, and 50 books. Rice is replaced with an equivalent negotiable bill.

The gift is not very heavy, but it is very affordable. In addition to wine, everything else can be used to help poor scholars. Whether it is papermaking, pen making, ink making or printing, it is blank here. Pen, ink, paper, inkstone books, all of which should not be trafficked from the city, are far away, and the price is naturally high, which has become a great burden for readers.

"And books?" Wang Ci is strange. Do they think that they are like mud legs, and they will want that kind of book full of vulgar characters and incomprehensible literature?

"Yes, there's a box."

"Throw it away!" Wang Ci said without hesitation, "No, take it and burn it!" ”

"Huh?" Menzi is illiterate, but he also knows the preciousness of books in the local area, "Master, this-"

"If you are told to burn it, you will burn it."

"Yes, sir." Menzi retreated.

Wang Ci hurriedly got dressed and went to the county government to ask to see the Wu county order.

The official soon came out: please meet him in the flower hall.

Wang Ci came to the flower hall, only to see Wu Xianling wearing a kudzu robe, sitting on a new-style "Australian-style" rattan chair, next to a huge wooden basin, in which a large piece of ice was placed like a crystal mountain, curling white gas. As soon as I walked into the room, I felt that the room was full of coolness.

"Greetings—"

"Well, well, it's hot. This false gift can be waived. Wu Mingjin waved his hand, "Come, Lao Wang, you can also sit in wide clothes!" ”

"Don't dare to lose your honor in front of the chief." Wang Ci said respectfully.

Wu Mingjin secretly scolded: "Sour rot! He said, "Then please sit down with the old gentleman." Come on, send a bowl of chilled sour plum soup to the old gentleman! ”

"Go back to the master," the messenger said, "the sour plum juice is gone, I sent someone to Dongmen City to buy it, and there is a new kvass from Master Xiong at home......"

"Take this, tell the kitchen, get some crushed ice." Wu Mingjin nodded.

"Don't dare to bother." (！ )

[зZcｎ.]