Chapter 150, Rebuild the school

Some people say that the poor mountains and bad waters come out of the people, but in fact, as long as the life is not too difficult, the people are also reasonable. Unless you can't survive anymore, you will take risks.

"Brother Li, that ...... Little Leopard, his uncle asked me to ask if I could let his children come and study with you. "Yang Lao Er came back from visiting relatives with his daughter-in-law that day and came to Li Shucheng to inquire.

"Yes, yes. Li Shucheng said, "But it seems that your brother-in-law has a lot of children, and if there will be more and more children coming, it is best to count how many children there are first, and then the parents will work hard to build a school, so that you can study on rainy days." ”

"Build a school?" Yang Lao Er said, "This is a good idea, take advantage of this time to build a school." ”

"Okay, I'll go with you to a few nearby stockades tomorrow. Li Shucheng said. There are five or six villages nearby, and there are six or seven families in each village, and only two or three families in the few, so there are not many children, and a few houses are enough.

At this time, there was only one private school in the entire town here, and ordinary people would spend money to go to the school? They were willing to contribute to the construction of the school, also because Li Shucheng did not collect money.

After the two small landlords talked to Li Shucheng, they admired Li Shucheng's knowledge, and they could send their children to Li Shucheng, and if they couldn't contribute, they would pay some money, and the school was built on the road to the town office, and the children of several villages walked not far to school, and the farthest was only more than three miles.

At the beginning of the year, Li Shucheng cut down forests to open up wasteland, but he called for a sum of money to buy land in the town office, and if he wanted to build a school, he naturally had to buy land.

"Brother Li is here, is there anything wrong? Come, sit. When the mayor saw Li Shucheng coming to the town office, he hurriedly greeted him. When Li Shucheng came to buy land, in order not to be embarrassed by the mayor, he came with a gun. You know, at this time, the atmosphere is not good, no matter how big or small the official is, if he has a little power, he wants to get some money and put it in his pocket, and a small official like the mayor who is not even an official will not let go of a penny or two. After the mayor saw Li Shucheng shoot down two flying birds with his own eyes, he no longer dared to make things difficult, for fear of accidentally angering Li Shucheng and losing his life.

"Mayor Town, I'm here to buy a piece of land to build a school. Li Shucheng said as he sat down.

"Is it okay to build a school?" said the mayor, "You also know that our town is large, has a small population, and is poor, and there is only one private school, and there are not many children who come to school. Brother, if your school is built, I'm afraid no one will have the money to send the baby. ”

"The mayor filtered that I built this school without tuition, and I don't live by collecting tuition. Li Shucheng said.

"Brother Li, your establishment of the school is a major educational event in our town, and I, as the mayor of the town, should help with all my might. The mayor said, "Where are you going to build the school?"

"Just outside our village, on the side of the road to the town office. Li Shucheng said, "In addition to building a house, there should also be a piece of land that can be opened to grow crops and support the teachers who are invited." ”

Then the mayor and Li Shucheng didn't even look at the scene, and discussed the demarcation of the site, and Li Shu traded for ten taels of silver and left with the title deed. Of course, the title deed is written on seven taels.

After coming back, Li Shucheng asked the brothers of the Yang family to go to the nearby village to inform them to build a school the next day.

The next day, people from the nearby village arrived, and when they saw a piece of land selected by Li Shucheng, Yang's second brother-in-law, Hong Zhuzi, said: "The school is here, and we are not far from the children in the old village to study. "Their village is called the new village, and the old village is on both sides of the school on the left and right, and the distance is only one mile.

When the people from the old well heard this, they said, "We are only three or four miles, and we are not far away. ”

"Three or four miles? I see, from Chaozi, turn a hill to arrive, it's really not far. Hong Zhuzi said.

"Let me tell you first! The school is built, and I will come to help clear the land in winter. Li Shucheng said with a stroke of his hand and said, "This piece is all from the school, and it needs to be opened to grow food." In the future, the students in the school will help to farm the land, and the food produced in this field will be the wages of other teachers in the future. In the future, the school will also feed the pigs and chickens, in addition to the teacher, you can also give your children two good meals. ”

"In addition, the girl can also be sent to study. Li Shucheng said, "Don't just think about sending your son to study, the girl will be tied to work at home." ”

"The girl is going to marry in the future, what is the use of studying?" said Asahko's Li Shishi. The three girls in his family can't support them if they don't work.

"It works. Li Shucheng said with a smile, "The girl is literate and literate, and if she marries a good family in the future, she can also reach out to help her mother's family, right? Maybe you will not rely on your son in the future, but a girl." ”

"My girl is older, and she can take care of her younger brother when she comes to study. Lao Jing Chen Wildcat said, "It's just ......"

"What's the difficulty?" asked Li Shucheng.

Yang Lao Er smiled and said, "What else can happen? Everyone is poor, and they can't even afford a pair of clothes." Brother Li, you see that everyone has clothes during the day, and some people are still dressed neatly, but in fact, there are only one or two sets of clothes at home, and they are still old ones to buy. You also gave us a piece of cloth for our children, so that they can have clothes to wear. ”

"Isn't that right?" Li Shucheng said, "When you came, the whole family was wearing clothes, but we just thought it was too old, and your life was not easy, so we loosened a piece of cloth to make clothes." ”

"The garments were borrowed. Yang Lao Er smiled bitterly, "You can't come bare-butt in broad daylight, right?" Most people work hard for a year, and there is not enough to eat, so where can they exchange food for money to buy clothes?

"I see!" Li Shucheng came to his senses, looked at the people working around him, most of them were only wearing pants, and some of them were even half-cut, and sighed, "Everyone is really having a hard time! In this way, I will give two sets of clothes to each child who comes to study." ”

"That's great!" Li Shishi said, "for these clothes, all three girls in my family have sent them to study. Seeing that the older is more than ten years old, it will be time to get married in two years, and it is easy to go out with a set of clothes. ”

"I'll only be twelve or thirteen years old in two years. Li Shucheng said, "Twelve or thirteen years old is still a child! It is too dangerous to marry and have children." Now the girls in the city are all married at seventeen or eighteen, and some of them have to wait until they are twenty-two or thirty to get married. ”

"The atmosphere is to make a (like this), if you don't marry, you will become an old girl, then you can't get married. Hong Zhuzi said.

"You guys, they have come to the school to go to school, and when the time comes, they will be able to read and write, but they are afraid that they will not be able to get married?" Li Shucheng said with a smile, "How many literate girls are there? ”

Everyone's eyes lit up when they heard this, and Zhang Heiniu said: "That's right! Which girl in Fang Yuantuan (around) is literate? Even the landlord's young lady can't read." "The landlords here are all small landlords, and although they also work long and short-term, they also have to work in the fields. Although the landlord's girl has the title of a young lady, she also has to work.

"Moreover, the boys in the village can't get married early when they study in the school, are they?

Laying the foundation, Li Shucheng led people to carry over the trees cut down from the wasteland, these trees have been dried and can be used as pillar rafters.

The lower half of the pillar is made of stones more than ten or twenty centimeters thick, more than one meter high, and two or three meters long to make the wall, and the upper half is made of wooden planks, and the top is a thick and tight wheat straw thatch.

When Li Shucheng came back from the city, two thatched houses, one large and one small, were completed, the big one was divided into two classrooms, and the small one was for the teacher to live, and the teacher invited by Li Shucheng had already come.

"Brother Li, you're finally back. Song Zhengwen saw Li Shucheng driving two horses back, and shouted from afar.

"What, I'm afraid I'm lying to you?" Li Shucheng said with a smile after entering the playground to stop the horse.

"Not this one. Song Zhengwen said, "People from the nearby villages have come to ask when school will start, but I'm not sure when you'll come back." ”

Li Shucheng said with a smile: "It's not just a day to go back and forth to the city, you just say that school will start tomorrow." No, you have to get your clothes done first, and how can you go to school without clothes. ”

Speaking of this, Song Wen also laughed, and then sighed with emotion: "Brother Li, you have made a great merit! Running a school without charging money and returning clothes, Sage Kong can't do it." Although the big cities outside are criticizing Confucius and even shouting the slogan "Down with Confucius", there is no news in this remote place. Confucius is still a saint.

"Confucius had no other income at that time, and of course he had to rely on the contributions of his students. Li Shucheng said with a smile, "If he also has money and doesn't live by collecting dried bacon strips, I think he will be free." ”

As he spoke, Li Shucheng took off the cloth tube from the saddle, and then lifted the basket directly down.

"Slow down, slow down, don't break things. Song Zhengwen saw that Li Shucheng was careless, and said hurriedly.

"It's okay, it's just paper, pen and ink, and it can be used if it's broken. Li Shucheng said with a smile.

"You can use the paper when it's wrinkled, you can use it when the ink block is broken, and you can't use it if the brush is broken. Song Zhengwen said.

"Actually, I don't want to buy a brush, it's too difficult for children to write calligraphy. Li Shucheng said, "But there are no pencils sold in the city, and there are a few fountain pens, but they are very expensive." ”

"Brushes have been used for thousands of years, and the pens you mentioned may not be easy to use. Song Zhengwen said.

"Teacher Song, you're wrong. Li Shucheng said, "It is good to practice writing with a brush for many years, but it is very slow to learn, and the writing speed is not fast." It is easy to learn to write with a pencil and pen, and it is quick to take notes in class. ”

Put paper, pen and ink in the classroom, and then tell someone to come and pick up the cloth and go back to make clothes. He looked around the classroom and suddenly noticed that there was no blackboard. Then make one by yourself, and paint it to the blackboard. There was a blackboard, and there was chalk. Chalk is found to lay the foundation, and the remaining lime is added, with some firewood ash and pulp, kneaded into strips, and placed by the fire to dry.