17. Reading and bacon

The matter of Yantian and building a house came to an end, and Liu Yao wanted to rest at home for a few days. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info He wasn't going to make himself too nervous, and he didn't want people to think he had big intentions. After the run, he took his two children to the Meijia vegetable garden and carefully planted rubber and cinchona saplings. While planting trees, he also told his daughter about writing: "My writing is also ugly, not to mention that the current brush words are completely unreadable, even the fountain pen that is easy to write is also ugly." ”

Liu Man shrugged and said, "Me too." It's good that I don't have to write now. ”

"Not really. You just don't have to go to the original school. But here you don't just need to write, you also need to go to school. Liu Yao stood up and looked at his daughter and said.

"Didn't go to school very much? And I don't like to practice calligraphy, so this school really has nothing to do with me. Liu Man said scoundrelly.

"I don't like to practice calligraphy either. However, I also needed to write for others to read, so I never gave up trying to improve my calligraphy. Before I came to this world, I found that I used to put all my little fingers on the table when I wrote, and later I found that if I raised my little fingers, although the words were still not good-looking, I could write a little bigger. Your words are also too small, all crammed together. A little bigger, at least you can read and write clearly. ”

"I'll try. However, we don't have pens and pencils, which is a pity. Liu Man didn't look sorry at all.

"I'll make a pen. Before that, you practice the brush. We copied a thousand words from the scroll every night and studied them ourselves, as well as as knowledge that spread out. ”

Liu Man agreed with a sad face, and suddenly felt that his appetite for breakfast was gone.

Yao Ying sits under the eaves peeling sweet potatoes. This food, despised by the locals, was once a staple of the Liu family's breakfast, and now serves as the main force of fruit. Hearing this, she suddenly put down the sweet potato and the knife, got up and came to Mei Xianzhuo, and opened her mouth to ask if she could vacate the hall. The Mei family was brushing their teeth - they formed a habit of brushing their teeth under Liu Yao's guidance. As for the toothbrush, it's a small-sized bristle brush.

Mrs. May snorted out of the water in her mouth, opened her mouth and said, "Okay." When do you need to use it? Mei Xianzhuo smiled so hard that he couldn't see it: "If you don't say anything, you want me to vacate the house, and if you don't ask, you two just worship Jinlan." ”

Yao Ying smiled embarrassedly and dragged the two of them to the east wing. When I walked in, the shelves were full of messy things: some scattered silver, copper plates, grain, bacon, sweet potatoes, etc., and a few pieces of paper with "ten eggs" and "one live duck" written on them, all of which were in Yao Ying's handwriting, and there was even a piece of paper that read: "A pair of birds I don't know, let it go."

Liu Yuanyuan saw his wife walking into the house with the Mei family in tow, and followed him strangely, and he understood when he saw this formation. The Mei family couldn't understand it, and looked at Yao Ying with blinking.

Yao Ying pointed to the things on the shelves and said: "There are legends in the village that the Liu family, except for the 2-year-old children, can read, arithmetic, draw, and also know astronomy and geography, which is simply omnipotent." There are constantly parents with their children, carrying a variety of gifts to Liu Yao to apprentice. ”

"And the one who brought a handful of shells. It is Sun Qiaoqiao, Sun Zhuang's younger sister, who is only 8 years old. Xiao Man said with a touched face next to him.

"That must have been her own idea. It seems that Chinese people really want to study wherever they go. Liu Yao said with a sigh.

"Of course it's good to read. Everything is inferior, only reading is high. Our village is not rich, we can't afford to hire a teacher, and the children don't have any books to read. "Mrs. May was very clear.

Liu Yao looked at the various things sent and asked with interest: "That is to say, in addition to the silver and copper plates, some other things have been eaten, and some have been released?" ”

"You've been busy going in and out for the past few days, and I don't have time to discuss this with you." Yao Ying beckoned the three of them to sit down at the dining table, and solemnly poured tea before saying, "I want to open a school." ”

The two men looked at each other, and before they could speak, Mrs. May had already jumped up and said, "Great." I'm going to vacate the hall for you!" Don't drink tea, and get to work. ”

It has always been Liu Yao's wish to open a school, but now it seems that the conditions are still very incomplete, so he has not done it. Now seeing that his wife and Mrs. Mei are so enthusiastic, he made a decision, turned to Mei Xianzhuo and said, "Is this school also going to the government to report?" ”

"Not necessarily. It's just that this school is afraid that there is no provenance. Mei Xianzhuo said worriedly. The "primary education" of the Ming Dynasty was generally divided into three forms: private school, social science and Yixue, which can basically be understood as family schools, private official assistance and completely private three forms, all of which are private in nature. These schools have fixed school fields to support the operation of the school with output.

Liu Yao pondered for a moment and said: "We don't need money for the house in this school, the teacher is our family of three, and we don't need money, the children bring their own food to eat, and they can open it without a school field!" He stood up and discussed with his wife and daughter: "Then let's open a school, shall we?" You two are going to be teachers. ”

"Yay!" Liu Man jumped up. Yao Ying said happily: "I'm going to clean up the hall!" Liu Yao grabbed her and said, "Don't thank you Mei Yuanwai yet." Yao Ying walked up to Mei Xianzhuo, who was still sitting there pondering, and said thank you, Mei Yuanwai, and bowed happily.

Mei Xianzhuo hurriedly stood up, supported his hands weakly, and said, "It should be that I want to thank you for the whole village." Then he said, "I don't know about this tuition, what is the plan of the gentleman?" ”

Liu Yao looked at these things on the shelf, pondered a little, and said to Mei Xianzhuo: "You have to take back all this money, and keep the bacon." The tuition fee is one piece of bacon per year. The children who took the money back should each bring a piece of bacon, which must be as big as this piece. He pointed to a piece of bacon and said to Xiaoman, "You hang it outside the door." ”

"Why do you want bacon alone?" All are weird.

Liu Yao was about to answer, when Mrs. Mei walked in with a handkerchief tied to her head, and pulled Yao Ying to set up tables and chairs together. Liu Yao asked Mrs. Mei: "Madam, since you know that only reading is high, do you know the relationship between reading and bacon?" ”

"Confucius's rules." Mrs. May opened her mouth and came.

"Thank you, Mrs. May." Liu Yao said with a little surprise. "You're welcome." Mrs. Mei smiled and took Yao Ying away.

Liu Yao nodded and said to his daughter: "It's so decided, if you bring bacon, you will be considered to be enrolled in the school." Everything else we eat is counted as enrollment. ”

"What about Sun Qiaoqiao?"

"Shells don't count. Alike. Liu Yao pondered for a while and said.

The hall was already unrecognizable, and the executive's family called a few people, emptied the furniture, placed a Taishi chair and a table on the north wall, and placed several rows of tables and chairs in the middle of the room, and arranged a classroom in a decent manner.

The next morning, the news that the classroom was arranged, almost the whole village came, and a large number of people helping the old and the young gathered around the door of Mei's house. Most of the people crowded into the first courtyard, squeezing the Mei family to the brim, and those who couldn't squeeze in stuck out their heads to look in. Mei Xiang bravely stood at the door of the second courtyard, not letting people go in any further, and she couldn't stand it when she saw it.

Liu Yao frowned and asked his daughter to bring a chair, put it in the middle of the second courtyard, and sat on it with Erlang's legs crossed. People easily rushed away from Mei Xiang's block, and when they came to the courtyard at once, they saw Liu Yao sitting quietly alone in the empty courtyard, and suddenly they didn't know what to do, and they suddenly quieted down.

"Go back. There are no rules at all. Let your child sign up tomorrow. Liu Yao still frowned and said softly.

The villagers who rushed into the courtyard were a little embarrassed and pushed and shoved outside. When I came to the door, I saw Liu Man and Mei Xiang confessing one by one: "Boys and girls can come, over 7 years old, let the children come by themselves." When you come, bring a piece of bacon, oh, it's that big. ”

Liu Man wiped his sweat while confessing. Why is this not a taste?

Here, Liu Yao is also wiping his sweat. It was the first time he had tried his personal prestige, and it worked out well. Watching the last villager walk out of the courtyard gate, he got up with a grunt, found the executive's house, and instructed him to prepare for tomorrow.

The next day, three wooden boards were nailed to the wall on the left side of Mei's house, which read "Mengtong Class, 7-10 years old", "Children's Class, 11-14 years old", and "Youth Class, 15 years old and above". There were already several names written on the board, and it was the man who had delivered the eggs and live ducks. On the right side of the door, there is a piece of bacon that is used as a model.

In the courtyard outside the door, Yao Ying and Liu Man sat behind their desks. On the table was pen and ink and a stack of paper. The executives stood on the side with their heads held high, their hair still scattered.

Although it was said that the children were allowed to come by themselves, the villagers still came with them, but they did not dare to approach and stood in a bunch outside the courtyard. The children all followed the instructions and waited quietly in the courtyard, and were led to the registration place one by one, until the registration was completed, and then they handed over the bacon and got a bamboo chop with the name and number of the class written on it.

Children who have completed the registration will be guided to the Mei family's hall. I saw that there was also a large wooden board standing on the wall of the courtyard, on which were written: facts, logic, reason, and kindness. Liu Man told each child the meaning of these four words. Mei Xiang explained that she had to go out at dawn every day, where to sit down, bring her own lunch, and go home when it was almost dark. After the explanation is clear, let the child go back and set off from the house to school at dawn tomorrow.

When the father of the executive's family came to call everyone to go to lunch, all the children had registered, and Xiao Man ran to say excitedly: "Dad, even the people from the next door Chahe Village have also signed up, there are 79 people in total." ”

"Sure enough, I can't sit down. Luckily, I had different classes in different classes. Some study in the classroom, and some take classes outside the classroom, such as physical education and labor. That should be enough. Liu Yao shook his head and showed foresight.

"What about a rainy day? Don't you have to be indoors? Yao Ying replied.

"Do you want to build a shed in the yard? This courtyard can seat a lot of people. Liu Man had an idea.

Liu Yao said worriedly: "No." Originally, the hall was dark enough, and with a roof in the courtyard, no one could be seen in the hall. I'm still trying to get some oil lamps, but there won't be enough light on a rainy day. ”

"As for rainy days, students can go to the lab and the factory. Therefore, there is a need for a teaching director, and the work class of the juvenile class on a very rainy day in a few months crowds out the physical education class, and it has to be made up on the day of the month. As for this dean, you are the one who belongs to you. Liu Yao patted Yao Ying on the shoulder and said with a grin.

"I don't know what time it is. Oh yes, it's the 4th year of the Apocalypse. ”

"We have a very precise calendar, and we can know what day of the Gregorian calendar it is just by comparing it to today's lunar calendar. It's just that there's no point in figuring out the exact time now. Next year, next year we will issue a new calendar. ”

"A new calendar?" Liu Man's eyes widened.

"yes. The calendar in use today is odd. The big and small moons are haunted, and there are only 28 days in February, which is very abnormal. I'm going to set a new calendar. Each quarter is 91 days, specifically 30 days for the first two months and 31 days for the second month. That's 364 days, and giving a 32nd in December is 365 days a year. By the way, leap years give a number 33. ”

"Numbers 32 and 33? I'm not used to it. ”

"There are also those who are not used to it, there is no 7 days a week, and one day off every 5 days. Every day of 5 and 10 and days greater than 30 are public holidays. Such a calendar is clearly regulated and self-explanatory. ”

"It seems to be good. Just 5 days off and one day off? Isn't that only 4 business days? What's in it for you? Yao Ying thought for a moment and asked.

"Yes. In fact, such rest days are less than weekends, which is conducive to improving the efficiency of the whole society. ”

"Except that No. 33 is really weird, it sounds very good, so let's get it up quickly?" Liu Man said hurriedly.

"Not now, we have to wait until we have more influence before releasing a new calendar. In this world, the promulgation of the calendar is basically equivalent to the proclamation of a regime. ”

"It's amazing." Xiao Man shrugged his shoulders and turned back to draw lace on the board.

According to the list of applicants, there are 32 and 25 children in the Mongolian and children's classes, respectively, and the youth class is all children from the village, with a total of 21 people, 6 girls and 15 boys. The boys' class assigned Mei Jiaju to be the class leader. According to the organization of the ancient army, 5 people were divided into 3 teams. Liu Yao asked everyone to form a team on their own, and chose a captain by themselves, namely Mei Jiaju, Sun Zhuang and Zhao Fei. There were too few girls over 14, and there was no division, so they mixed with 25 children aged 10-14, and formed another class, which was also handed over to Liu Man.

After the class is compiled, the important thing is how to compile the basic teaching materials. After some discussion, basic courses such as literacy, arithmetic, surveying and mapping, physical education, and labor were set up. The curriculum has been practical as the principle, the literacy course is basically a general knowledge class, arithmetic also adds a lot of accounting and statistical knowledge, physical education is physical training plus military training, and labor is the reproduction of various techniques and tools. Yao Ying and Liu Man taught literacy and arithmetic, and Liu Yao himself taught surveying and mapping, physical education, and labor.

When we sat around the dining table, the school affairs had been basically decided, and everyone happily picked up chopsticks to eat. Only Xiaoman shouted: "We have collected so much bacon, why haven't you seen it?" ”

Liu Yao nodded his daughter's head and asked, "Do you know why I want to collect bacon?" ”

"Confucius's rules, Mrs. May said. But I think it's because you like bacon. Xiao Man replied with a roll of his eyes.

Liu Yao said proudly: "You, you just have no culture." In the Analects, it is recorded that Confucius said: "I have not been without teachings if I have restrained myself above." "The general explanation is that as long as he hands over bacon, I will definitely teach him. Therefore, it is very elegant for the school to collect bacon. ”

Liu Man thought for a while and asked, "Do we need to get in touch with Confucius?" I mean, does the civilization we want to rebuild have a lot to do with Confucius? ”

"Good question. In fact, the world we left behind was running a civilization along the line from Greece and Rome to Europe and the United States, and there was really not much need to learn from the past. However, it is a bit local, which is conducive to gaining a sense of identity. ”

Several people from the Mei family sitting next to him couldn't understand at all, glanced at each other, and buried their heads in eating.