amaotonovel Chapter 293: The girl can read, and her heart is "high"
Chapter 293: The girl can read, and her heart is "high"
Several students, led by Fang Ziyan, were peeking outside the hall, looking extremely curious.
"Are those two the new teachers in our county school?"
"It looks like one of them is actually younger than Principal Li and Mr. Jin. He must be very knowledgeable!"
Fang Ziyan was unhappy when he heard this.
"No one is more knowledgeable than my master! Maybe they are just here to sweep the floor?"
"How is that possible! Ziyan, your Fang family is a wealthy family, does your sweeper look like this?"
Fang Ziyan was stumped by the question.
He was unwilling to admit that the two men did not look like sweepers, but he was even more unwilling to admit that there was someone more powerful than his master.
He pouted and argued: "Don't worry about what the sweepers look like, they can't be our masters anyway!"
"Why?" the students asked.
Fang Ziyan's eyes rolled around, and he spent a long time thinking of a suitable reason.
"There are only a few of us students, and my master and three teachers are teaching us. How do they say that... it's quite aggressive."
The student next to him frowned and whispered, "It's more than enough, right?"
"oops!"
Fang Ziyan didn't care much about these things. "Don't they all mean the same thing? You scholars love to quibble over words!"
Those who read:... Is this called nitpicking?
Just as several people were watching with great interest, Shen Zheng glanced over.
Fang Ziyan screamed: "I told you to hide well, but you didn't. Lord Shen has found us!"
The students looked at each other in bewilderment.
"Zi Yan, most of your body is outside..."
Fang Ziyan looked down, smiled awkwardly, and walked away quickly with a few people.
"The children in the county school are quite naughty. I'm sorry to make a fool of myself, gentlemen." Li Hongmao said with a smile.
Zheng Xiaoxiang did not comment, but another young gentleman, Wei Jing, said:
"At this age, they are very active. Although I am not qualified to be their teacher, in my humble opinion, it is better for children to be more active. They should learn to be human beings first and then study, so as not to lose their nature."
As soon as he said this, the other people present nodded in agreement, and even Zheng Xiaoxiang's gaze lingered on him for a moment.
Li Hongmao picked up the teacup and took a sip, then asked the question in his mind:
"Mr. Zheng, why did the student's family throw stones at you?"
Everyone present looked at Zheng Xiaoxiang.
He touched the bump on his forehead, chuckled and replied, "Because that family doesn't want their children to study."
"Is there such a thing?"
Wei Jing exclaimed in surprise.
He has traveled all over the country for several years, and has found "private schools" like Zheng Xiaoxiang's are extremely rare. They allow children to learn to read and write almost for free. It is a good thing that many people would love to have, yet there are people who are unwilling to do so?
He asked, "But that family is quite wealthy and wants to send the child to a school when he is older?"
Some wealthy families felt that the teaching level of private school teachers was limited and naturally looked down on private schools.
But they couldn't afford to hire a teacher to teach at home, so they were stuck in the middle, waiting for their children to grow up a little so that they could be sent to an academy to study with the teacher.
Apart from this reason, Wei Jing couldn't think of any other reason.
But what he didn't expect was that Zheng Xiaoxiang actually denied this reason.
"They either want their children to study with Mr. Li when they grow up, or they simply don't want their children to learn to read and write."
"this......"
After hearing his words, several people present frowned and were confused.
Zheng Xiaoxiang smiled bitterly and pointed out the most essential problem:
"Because of the child, it's a girl."
Everyone was stunned.
Shen Zheng frowned and said, "In the past, there was no precedent for ordinary people to let their daughters go to school, but now that the emperor has opened up the imperial examination, some families have begun to have this awareness. In the future, it will only be more common for daughters to go to school."
Zheng Xiaoxiang nodded.
His idea coincided with Shen Zheng's.
When his "private school" was half dead, he did not choose to revive it, but chose to teach in the enlightenment class in Tongan County. One of the reasons was...
The magistrate of Tongan County is a woman.
Even if she doesn't support the girl's study, she will definitely not oppose it.
After his last conversation with Xu Zhubu, he knew he had come to the right place - this County Magistrate Shen strongly recommended that girls study.
He sighed softly and said:
"It is a general trend for girls to study, but in the minds of some people, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages."
Xu Zhubu tapped the table with his fingers and asked, "What do you mean by that, sir?"
Before Zheng Xiaoxiang could answer, the teacup in Li Hongmao's hand knocked against the corner of the table, and the tea splashed all over him.
He frowned, brushed the tea off his clothes, and said with an indistinct expression:
"For some families, it is difficult to sell a girl for a good price once she can read and write."
He gritted his teeth, suppressed his anger and asked, "Mr. Zheng, is that the case with that family?"
After hearing this, Zheng Xiaoxiang began to look at Li Hongmao with a new respect.
Lady Shen is a woman, and there are reasons and grounds for supporting women's education, but except for her, all the others present are men.
In the past, only men studied, so no matter what one's family background was, as long as one was labeled as a scholar, he would be considered superior to others.
He thought most educated men thought the same.
Studying is a big deal, and they don't want women to squeeze in and get a piece of the pie, because they can wear the high hat of "scholars" and always stand in a position superior to women.
——Men are the beneficiaries.
Li Hongmao was the county school principal and held a high position. He thought he had no chance of getting along with him.
But I didn’t expect...Tong’an County is a place that lives up to its name.
Tongan Tongan.
Men and women are safe together.
Zheng Xiaoxiang nodded and replied, "That's true."
He let down his guard a little and told the story of that family.
"In addition to the girl, there was also a boy in their family. The boy was sent to me to study for a period of time, but he was really naughty and even spoke rudely and said some treasonous words many times, so I drove him out."
"How treasonous is this?"
"He said......"
Zheng Xiaoxiang pinched his fingertips.
When he thought about what he was going to say next, his mouth felt dry.
"He said that if his sister is not allowed to study, she will not be willing to marry hastily after her vision is broadened and she will receive less betrothal gifts. If she receives less betrothal gifts, he will have less betrothal gifts to give when he gets married in the future. How can he marry a good girl? He said that his sister is being unfaithful to her family and to him by doing this."
After Zheng Xiaoxiang finished speaking, the entire hall fell silent.
After a long time, Li Hongmao let out an inexplicable laugh.
"It's short-sighted, pathetic and ridiculous."
Wei Jing continued, "That's true. Haven't they ever thought that if the girl could read and write, she would be able to find a good job and give back to her family in the future?"