The person who was called the fifth master by the boss laughed and said nothing, and pulled the newsboy up, "You sent all this elm money to my house, I complained," the fifth master said an address, counted three copper dollars from his purse and gave it to the newsboy, "What about you go home quickly, and pay the tuition for your brother, in the future, your brother will learn knowledge, and he will definitely teach you, a good brother who made money for him." Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info"

The newsboy took the money, there was no hole in the middle of the copper circle, the workmanship was exquisite, the front was printed with "Tongzhi Yuanbao", and the following line of words "Twelve years and June system", and looked at it in turn, writing the number of money, "Fifty Wen", the newsboy thanked him a thousand times, turned around and ran away, and the fifth master smiled and said to the boss, "It's rare to have time today, take out all the good books in your bookstore and show me." ”

"I've been prepared for a long time, I know that the fifth master is resting today," the boss smiled, "Biluochun is also hotly prepared, just waiting for the fifth master." ”

On the third day of the third month of the third month of March, the yamen also rests on this day, from central Beijing to the localities, and officials will take advantage of this rare day to do some elegant things, such as spring safaris, picnics, cultural gatherings, etc., or drunk and lying in the eight major alleys -- in the past few years, it may have been the world's increasingly luxurious and open atmosphere, and the ban on officials not being allowed to enter and leave the bright places in the past was ignored by everyone.

But in the past few years, it seems to be very different, and on this day, the officials' previous interests and hobbies seem to have disappeared, either working overtime to run errands, or taking advantage of this break to think about how to learn more.

The fifth master entered the bookstore, half complaining and half showing off, "These days, the ministry is really going crazy, the matter of the spring festival, it was done with the Ministry of Rites, and it was done in an orderly manner, and it was not too busy, and it was a pilot primary school in Hunan, Anhui and other provinces. Every day, he asked for the construction of primary schools in various places, and the provincial school administration blocked the door of the Ministry of Education and scolded him. said that the Ministry of Education was eccentric," the fifth master spread his hands, "I have never heard that there is a precedence, and I have never heard that there is a precedence in running a school, and Lord Shangshu is hiding at home and does not dare to go out." I'm afraid of being spit on by these Xuezheng, my cousin, knowing that today's Zhili Xuezheng was my teacher in the hall of Beijing Normal University, but Baba sent me out to take up the post. ”

"Then the fifth master is miserable, can your teacher still let the fifth master go like this?" The boss snickered.

"Hey, who's to say it's not?" The fifth master shook his head, "My teacher, in terms of age, is younger than me, but it is the Chinese style of the imperial examination." I have been trained in the same museum, and I have been in the posture of a teacher here every day, and when I meet, I don't scold, but I just look up at the sky, roll my eyes, and say that I am really useless, and the good apprentice I taught does not help myself, but also helps outsiders. I was scolded in front of my father, and I was still talking about what was going on in this world, and where did I go to respect the teacher. You see, what are you talking about. ”

The bookstore owner laughed. "This is your teacher making fun of the fifth master, looking at him talking, he is an extremely witty person."

"I didn't dare, I was almost on my knees, but the teacher took the tent and followed me home to eat and drink for three days. After wiping his mouth and going back to Baoding, before leaving, he also said that this matter must be done, Zhili is close to Gyeonggi, Jingshi and Tianjin have done it, Zhili does not do it, how to become a system? In the future, when the Lord asks about it, he will tell the truth and will not come to the Ministry of Education to fight in the ring again. This is true, I can't do it, so I have to report it truthfully. ”

The owner of the bookstore personally poured a cup of tea for the fifth master, "I know that the fifth master is worried about the affairs of the ministry at this time, so there are a few books prepared, just waiting for the fifth master to see." The boss took out a green cloth bag from the side and handed it to the fifth master, who opened it and saw that the first book was "The German National Education Examination", and the author was the upstart of the dynasty just talked about, the Chinese ambassador to Germany.

The fifth master opened it and took a look, and the preface was very amazing, "At the beginning of the founding of Germany, it first defeated Denmark and Norway, then Austria and Hungary, and finally defeated France, captured the emperor of France, shocked the world, and ceded Lorraine and other places, which are places where coal mines gather...... Germany is a country of four wars, and the heroes are eyeing each other, far from being comparable to China's geographical advantages, why can it become the new hegemon feared by the Western countries? ”

"In addition to the developed industry and advanced armaments, the rest of the three years in Germany, from a private point of view, the most fundamental thing to dominate the West is education, the Kaiser said: 'Those who die without education' are sincere!"

Seeing this, the fifth master's heart was shaken, and he hurriedly closed it, "I can't look at it anymore, I'm afraid I'll be here today." ”

"The ambassador wrote a few chapters, intermittently, and then he was asked to write a book on the German state, and the ambassador wrote this one on education."

"That's right, Germany is a Western upstart, so it should be paid more attention," the fifth master nodded and said, "And Germany has not had a conflict with China, so it must be able to make friends with China," the fifth master saw that there was also a "Western Travelogue" written by the French ambassador Guo Songtao, as well as a few books introducing the West, the fifth master nodded, very satisfied, "Very good, these books are all available." The bookstore owner smiled: "In the newspaper, I heard that Guo Songtao is going back to China?" ”

"Not yet," the fifth master got up, "you are also from Hunan, your fellow countryman is very good at errands, successive ambassadors to Britain and France, diplomatic matters, properly handled, the DPRK and China are quite satisfied, there are rumors that after returning to China, you will enter the Shangshu immediately, but it is not the time now, you have to wait for the British business, so you are already waiting in the UK." ”

The fifth master walked all the way home, because he was worried about the books in the bag, he walked very fast, and arrived at a small alley in the south of the city, and entered his own house, this house is a little small, but it is very clean, the sound of selling and the sound of cars and horses outside are all blocked outside the gate, the fifth master entered the house, shouted, an old family came out with a basket of elm money, and saluted to the fifth master in a dignified and meticulous manner, and the fifth master asked: "Where is the wife?" ”

"Back to the uncle, in Gege's room, Gege is not very happy today."

The fifth master shook his head helplessly, turned around and went to his daughter's room, where a teenage girl with bright eyes and bright teeth was crying and crying, and a lady was quietly comforting, and the girl saw her father coming in, and cried more and more, "Amma, I'm just going to school!" (To be continued.) )