When the Montenegrin brothers arrived at Tongbai County in the afternoon, the first snow fell in the sky, covering the earth-gray city with a thin white veil. The two brothers, this time they went into the city empty-handed, because there was nothing at home for them to bring, but fortunately, they helped people make stoves, so that the family had some savings, so they simply brought some money and went into the city empty-handed, and then bought slowly when they settled down.

Montenegro said to the second brother: "Second brother, you go directly to the county workshop to report, the last time I came to hang out, I knew that there were several private schools in the southeast of the city, first go there to find a private school, and I will go to the workshop to find you in the evening." ”

"Okay, be careful by yourself, if I'm not in the workshop, I'll leave you at the porter." The second brother confessed, and the brothers separated!

There are several private schools and a government-run government school in the southeast of Tongbai County. Don't think about going into the official school, the local educated intellectuals who have studied well can only go to the official school to learn Qin Yan, Qin characters, and Qin Law under the recommendation of officials, and after passing the examination, they can be arranged to go to various officials to be small officials.

The snow is getting heavier, wet and cold. Montenegro came to a larger private school and knocked softly on the door. After a while, the door creaked open, and a large head in a fur hat peeked out of it.

The big head saw a thin young man standing outside, wearing a new Ge cloth coat one size bigger on the outside, but the inside was in tatters, funny like a little flower child in new clothes, and shouted without waiting for Montenegro to speak: "What are you doing? I didn't get to the meal! No leftovers! As he spoke, he was about to close the door.

"I'm not asking for food! I want to go to school, do you accept students? Montenegro hurriedly asked.

"Thirty gold in one Chinese New Year's Eve, room and board at your own expense!" Prepare the money and knock on the door! The big fur hat left a word, and without waiting for Montenegro to answer, he closed the door with a bang.

Thirty gold is how much iron money Montenegro still doesn't know, but the family has sold several stones of grain this year, and they can't get a single gold. It seems that the tuition fees are very expensive in this era, and now they can't afford to pay them at all. I asked a few private schools in a row, wanting to try my luck, and most of them rushed out when they saw him dressed like Hanako. Montenegro secretly thought: No wonder there are so few people reading in this era, it seems true that the history books say that Wu Qi and Li Si both sold their land and went to school. The ancient text Montenegro was almost incomprehensible, and although later generations read a lot of books, they could not understand the words of this era.

Montenegro was not discouraged, and secretly decided to find a private school that engaged in basic education first, and learn to read Qin Seal first, so that he could save a lot of tuition. Montenegro inquired and walked, and came to the courtyard of a three-entry house, the words on the door could not be understood, but the sound of children reading loudly came from inside, but they understood, it was "the beginning of man, the nature is good...". When I asked the scholars passing by, I learned that the words on the door were "Kaimeng Academy".

Here it is! Montenegro plucked up his courage and knocked on the door a few more times. After a while, the door squeaked open, and a crepe voice floated out: "There are friends from afar, and I am very happy!" A middle-aged gentleman in a robe, with a medium stature and piercing eyes, a long beard and a drooping chest, opened the door. Montenegro hurriedly bowed to Mr. and said, "I came here to learn to read and write, does Mr. still accept students?" ”

The gentleman smiled and looked at the black mountain, which was as thin as Hanako, and was in tatters, but this time not only did not drive the black mountain away, but also replied very politely: "It's snowing outside, please go inside and talk about it first!" ”

There are two entrances inside and outside the house, and in the lobby outside, there are more than a dozen children wearing leather coats and hats, shaking their heads and singing books. Why do you say it's singing? Because each of their words is elongated, "the son does not learn one by one, the father does not learn one by one, and the father passes one by one."

Black Mountain and Mr. came to the side room and sat on the floor. The gentleman first asked: "Poetry, books, etiquette and music, which one does the little brother want to learn?" ”

Montenegro replied: "Since I was a child, my family was poor and illiterate, and my husband only taught me to read Qin characters!" ”

"The master said, 'There is no end to learning', why does the little brother only want to learn to read? I don't know what your ambitions are? The gentleman asked.

"People are poor, short horses, thin horses, long hair, poor families dare not be too high, but I hope to be able to read Qin words and Qin Yan within half a year, and I can learn the rest!" Montenegro replied confidently.

The gentleman found that Montenegro not only understood his literary language, but also could answer fluently, so he was very curious, and asked, "Has the little brother ever learned other scripts such as Zhao, Qi, Chu, and Yan?" ”

"Nor never". Montenegro replied.

"If the little brother learns Qin characters in half a year, what do you want to do after half a year?"

"Join the army, fight for the Great Qin in one day, destroy the six countries and drive the Hulu, so that the world will no longer have the suffering of swords and soldiers, and if you have money, you will learn poetry, books, etiquette and music to rule the world!" Montenegro remembered that the ancient masters in film and television dramas liked young people with ideals and ambitions, so he simply talked nonsense and saw how Mr. reacted.

"Good! Little brother has good ambitions. I look at the little brother's hair, he is a duke, and his family should have a house and land, why is he so persecuted? The gentleman asked again.

"I just presented a sickle before the year, I got the duke, and the government just gave me an acre of land!" Montenegro replied.

"It turns out that the little brother is a new Sangong scholar in Dahe Township! Disrespectful, disrespectful! In Xia Mengzhao, he is the sixth grandson of Mencius, can he be your teacher? Meng Zhao said to Montenegro with satisfaction.

"Disciple, Black Mountain, Zhangjia Village, Dahe Township, meet the teacher!" Montenegro didn't know who Meng Zhao was at all, but he was afraid that he would be rejected again, so he immediately bowed down.

"Good! Montenegro, you come with me. Meng Zhao said happily and walked into the lobby of the inner house with Black Mountain. The lobby is very large and there are several rows of bookshelves, all of which are piled up with bamboo slips, and the wings on both sides are also bamboo slips! There is an incense case in the lobby, and there are two silk cloth portraits hanging behind the incense case, which are the portraits of Confucius and Mencius.

Meng Zhao asked an old servant to put an incense table, and asked Montenegro to worship the two sages respectively, and then bowed down to Meng Zhao!

Meng Zhao was overjoyed to help Montenegro and said: "Happy, I have a disciple Montenegro today, I don't regret this life!" ”

Montenegro suddenly felt that something was wrong! Don't I just want to know the Qin character? I haven't paid the tuition yet, so why should I apprentice first? Then he asked Meng Zhao tentatively: "Teacher, I don't know how much the tuition fee is for half a year?" ”

"Since I have accepted you as a disciple, you have entered the hall, and you will be a family in the future, what are you doing with this mundane thing?" Meng Zhao said a little proudly with his long beard.

"Oops, I was fooled!" Montenegro secretly screamed badly, hurriedly pretended not to understand, and hurriedly said: "How dare a student not pay the tuition fee when he asks the teacher for study?" My mother once taught me not to take advantage of others, since my husband does not charge tuition, I will find another place! Montenegro remembered that the second brother had worked for the master for several years in vain, and he felt uncomfortable.

"Hahaha, I know you regret it, it's too late! Since you worship me as a teacher, I am also your parents, and the grace of your parents is not the food that comes to you? Do you want to be a bad person and betray your teacher? Take things as they come! Don't think about it anymore! Meng Zhao laughed proudly.

Montenegro's inner thoughts were recognized, so he had to give up, and in the future, not only the mother's order could not be violated, but also the teacher's life could not be violated. I just want to know a few words, but I earn a cheap master for myself, and I will have one more object of filial piety that I can't violate in the future. Then he bowed down and said, "Thank you for your love, but the students are arranged by the teacher!" ”

"Well, that's how it should be!" Meng Zhao turned his head to the old servant and said, "Uncle Chen, come to see the young master, arrange for the young master to stay, and add meat and vegetables to the next three meals, the young master is as black and thin as firewood, because of malnutrition!" ”

"Meet the young master!" Uncle Chen took a few male and female servants to salute Montenegro, Montenegro had never encountered such a thing, and he was a little overwhelmed, and he also bowed to them and returned the salute.

After worshipping Meng Zhao as a teacher, Montenegro found that there were a lot of benefits, there was rice and fish for a meal, he didn't have to worry about it at all, he still lived in the same good room as the teacher, and even decent new clothes were sent by someone. So Montenegro lived a life of getting up at dawn every day to practice Yongchun White Crane Boxing, reading and reading after breakfast, and learning to write in the afternoon.

The first book that Meng Zhao taught Montenegro was the "Historical Chapters", which was the literacy textbook used for enlightenment in this era. Meng Zhao explained: "This book is copied by the teacher himself with Qin Seal, containing more than 3,000 commonly used words. ”

Montenegro opened the bamboo scroll, and although the characters were written very neatly, Montenegro did not know much.

The teacher only teaches 20 sentences a day, reading independently in the back hall in the morning and practicing writing in the afternoon. Montenegro got annoyed after reading it carefully for a few days, and secretly played tricks. As soon as the teacher finished speaking, he dipped his duck feathers in ink and wrote the corresponding simplified Chinese characters or pinyin next to the new words. At first, I was afraid that I would be scolded for scribbling next to the exquisite Qin seal characters carefully copied by the teacher, but later I found that the teacher never had to read books in teaching, so I was relieved. Reading and memorizing books every day is much faster. Later, the teacher taught fifty sentences a day, and Montenegro could easily memorize them. But in the afternoon, he suffered Montenegro, and in later generations he couldn't even write well with a pen, let alone a brush! No matter how much he practices writing! are not as good as the seven or eight-year-old elementary school children who are studying in front.

A month later, Montenegro was already able to memorize the entire volume of "Historical Chapters" backwards! But the calligraphy still did not grow at all, and the writing was messy, so angry that the teacher scolded: "Rotten wood cannot be carved!" ”

Meng Zhao was a little short-sighted, and he squinted at everyone. Montenegro remembered that the small eyeglasses of later generations could make things clear to the myopic eye, so he wanted the second brother to make a pair for the teacher. One afternoon after school, Montenegro asked the teacher for a leave of absence, and went to the county workshop to find the second brother Ming. There are soldiers standing guard in the county workshop, Montenegro used to guide the work here, and the soldiers standing guard knew Montenegro and hurriedly helped him to report.

After a while, the second brother Ming came out in a black Qin State official costume! "Second brother, let's go out to eat dog meat in the evening! The Chen family dog meat shop on South Street is very fragrant, and every time I pass by there, I drool greedily! Montenegro said to the second brother.

"Okay, we just paid our wages today, and our brothers are going to open a meat restaurant," the second brother agreed, and then asked, "How are you doing in Ke Academy?" Accustomed to it? I'll give you 500 dollars later, and you can use it to pay for tuition!" ”

"Since I recognized that cheap teacher, I eat well, live and sleep well every day, I don't have to worry about anything, and I don't have to spend a penny." Montenegro replied, but he was very moved.

"You don't want to be cheap, and sell well! Where else can you find such a good teacher? The carpentry master I used to talk to didn't have any money, and I worked for six years in vain. ”

"Don't talk about it, in the future you will know how much he took advantage of me!" After that, the two walked to South Street, which is the commercial street of Tongbai County, where merchants from the six countries are concentrated, and there are many hotels selling dog meat here, in this era, dogs are not pets but one of the six animals that provide meat for humans.

Chen Kee dog meat shop is very lively! Xiao Er's eyesight is excellent, and he knew at a glance that the two of them were knights, so he immediately greeted: "Please among the two heroes!" He led the two of them to the desk next to the hall, sat opposite each other, and Montenegro pretended to be skilled and ordered two stewed dog meat and two pieces of dough.

This is the first time in the brothers' lives to go to the restaurant to eat, and the second brother is a little curious and looks around.

Before the food was served, Montenegro asked the second brother to help make a small eyelet for later generations, use wood to make the lens and paint it with black paint, and then make five small holes in the lens and make a bracket with iron wire. Montenegro even explained with an analogy, and the second brother finally understood a rough idea.

"It's done, you try it first, try it out as much as possible! I want the size to be just right! I'll come to you in two days to get it. Montenegro explained.

"No problem, but what are you doing with this?" The second brother asked rhetorically.

"I don't know if I can't explain it in a sentence or two, so let's talk about it when you're ready!" Kuromi replied.

After a while, two tripods of dog meat were delivered! The copper tripod is divided into two layers, and the lower layer is placed with red-hot charcoal, which makes the dog meat on it steaming hot and fragrant. The two brothers had a great appetite and devoured it!

"My teacher asked me not to speak, to sit up straight, to chew slowly one by one, and not to make a sound! I can't eat every meal! "Montenegro complained about the teacher while eating.

"There are so many rules for eating? It sounds uncomfortable, and I have to thank people for not being enough, I see that you have grown a lot taller this month, and you have gained a lot of weight! People certainly didn't treat you badly! The second brother felt that Montenegro was complaining a little too much, and said, "If I have a teacher who lets me eat and live for nothing, and teaches me to read, I am willing to let me eat upside down!" ”

The two of them ate violently, sweating all over their bodies, and they were very happy! Suddenly, the hall was lively.

"What kind of thing is Jun Shouteng, betraying the country for glory and disgrace the face of the Koreans!" In the center of the hall there were four people drinking together, all of them dressed in silk and very luxurious, and one of the big fat men deliberately shouted loudly.

"Teng Yue is a traitor, in order to be prosperous and rich, he sold Nanyang County, and forced us to sell our fields and houses! Pity our Feng family's century-old foundation! It's all gone! Everyone, give a review! The other fat man also scolded.

When many diners heard this, they didn't want to cause trouble, and they were ready to pay and leave.

There were several people sitting together to eat next to the Black Mountain, one of them was a middle-aged man dressed as a scholar in white, and the other four strong men all wore long swords at their waists. One of the strong men, hearing the scolding, stood up angrily and pressed his long sword in his hand. was stopped by the middle-aged man in white with his eyes and sat back again. Montenegro sees all this.

The second brother Ming is also preparing to open with Montenegro! "Hey!" As he walked past the four people in the middle, Montenegro deliberately sighed and shook his head!

This brother sighs here, I guess he is also Korean! Are we right? The fat man who scolded loudly just now heard Montenegro's sigh, so he stopped Montenegro and asked Montenegro with a mouthful of wine.

"I used to be a Korean civilian, yes, but now I am a citizen of Great Qin, may I ask you, Wang Qian, the general of the Qin army, led 200,000 troops to attack South Korea, who in South Korea can lead troops to retreat from the enemy?" Seeing that everyone was silent, Montenegro said: "Since there is no one to retreat from the enemy, the battle will be defeated, and the defeat will be surrendered, and the Qin army will behead the young and strong people in Nanyang County into headless corpses." Thanks to the Nanyang County Guard who returned to Qin without a fight, you were able to leave your heads here to eat and drink! Besides, if you buy your farm house cheaply, you can not sell it at all, and the victor will insist on it, can you still not give it? Buy your farm house cheaply, you have already taken advantage of it! ”

"You little brat, I see that you were also Korean in the past, how can you forget your ancestors so quickly!" The fat man scolded angrily again!

"When I was a Korean civilian, my family and I worked hard every day, and every year we had a good harvest but no clothes and food, why? also has property, rents to sixty percent, and has to pay taxes on chopping wood, fishing, and hunting, and can hardly survive. It has been less than half a year since Qin, and now the whole village is full of food and clothing! Montenegro replied.

"Nonsense, my South Korea has always pursued a light and meager approach to supporting the people, why is it so harsh?" The other fat also scolded.

"Do you know why Qin is strong and Han is weak? Although Qin Fu is heavy, the officials are honest, and the country is strong and the people are rich. Han Fu is light, and the aristocratic officials are greedy. South Korea will be weak if it is a light country! The aristocratic officials were insatiable, and the peasants were poor. Therefore, the country is weak and the people are poor. The officials of the Qin State only obey the law, and when they take it, they must take a small drop, and if they don't take it, they will not take a drop. On the other hand, the Korean aristocratic officials have thousands of fertile fields and thousands of mansions, and they do not know that the capital retreats from the enemy, and they only take care of the people. Those who die in Korea are by no means kings and people, and those who die in Korea must be Korean nobles and officials! ”

"Color" and "big color" everyone applauded one after another, and raised their big mother fingers towards Montenegro. The four of them knew they were bored, so they walked away.

Montenegro bowed his hand to everyone and expressed his gratitude! As soon as he reached the door, a dog suddenly ran out of the hotel kitchen and hid behind Montenegro. A fat-headed, big-eared chef chased out of the kitchen with a butcher knife in his hand! Montenegro looked at the dog, the coat on his body was black and white, but the white head had two panda eyes! It was very cute, Montenegro stretched out a hand to it, and it licked Montenegro's hand and wagged its tail desperately, as if asking Hei San for help. Montenegro hurriedly said to the shopkeeper: "Shopkeeper, how much is this dog, I want to buy it back and raise it." ”

The shopkeeper said with a smile: "This dog's coat color is more mixed, it is worthless, and if you objectively want to pick one in the back, there are also solid black dogs." ”

"Don't pick anymore, this dog has a fate with me, you only say a price? Hei San said impatiently.

"In this case, the guest officer will give fifty dollars." The shopkeeper said.

Montenegro immediately paid fifty yuan, bought a puppy, and walked out of the hotel with his second brother Ming.