Chapter 4 4. Qingyang College
Cangshan Town, the whole town has only two streets, one horizontal and one vertical.
It is a little-known small town in the southern part of Chu State, within the jurisdiction of Qingyang County. There are more than dozens of such small towns in Qingyang County.
Wan’s Leather Goods Firm, a shopkeeper yelled loudly: “Moths eat rats, bald and hair loss, a piece of wild wolf skin, fifty cents.”
Wang Hong gritted his teeth secretly, and did not engage in unnecessary disputes with him, and reached out to take the fifty coins.
The leather goods in Cangshan Town are all monopolized by Wan's, and the pricing of all fur goods is decided by Wan's one word.
Those who got involved in the fur business, some disappeared mysteriously, some were robbed in their homes, and the whole family died. Then no one got involved in the fur business anymore.
Out of the Wan's Firm, I went to the pharmacy to sell the medicinal materials. The three sealworts sold for 75 yuan, the kudzu root sold for 130 yuan, and the other medicinal materials collected before sold for more than 20 yuan.
Walking on the street, Wang Hong reached into his arms from time to time to touch the heavy copper coin. A sense of accomplishment in my heart.
Not far away, I saw a group of people in front of me, chattering endlessly.
Wang Hong also went up and saw a big notice on the wall with a red official seal on it.
As for the specific content above, Er Gouzi didn't know a single word.
At the front of the crowd, a middle-aged man with a white face and a goatee, dressed as a poor Confucian scholar, was chanting loudly.
Nine out of ten of the onlookers were illiterate, and they all pricked up their ears as if they were listening.
Although it was very hard to listen to the text, Wang Hong still understood the general meaning.
Qingyang College in the county seat will expand the enrollment scale next spring. At that time, as long as you are under the age of fifteen, pass the admission assessment, and pay an annual fee of ten taels of silver, you can enter the college.
Before the students are twenty years old, those who can pass the graduation assessment will have the opportunity to be recommended to serve as local officials, or enter the army, and have the opportunity to serve as military officers.
"I heard that the magistrate came from Qingyang College."
"The magistrate of the county is a liberal arts student of Qingyang College. Qingyang College's martial arts is the most exciting. The current General Wu of the Northwest Army is also a student of Qingyang College."
"I just hate that I was born a few years earlier! Otherwise, I will definitely pass the examination and become a general. Then I will ride a tall horse, carry a treasured sword, and charge into the battle. It's so majestic!" I saw a character with eight-character eyebrows, triangular eyes, and a pair of rats in the crowd. The young man with bared teeth was beating his chest and stamping his feet, deeply annoyed.
"Come on! Triangular eyes, you still want to be a general like you. You look like chickens. The generals are all big and round, just like you, a little chicken. Carry a fire stick and stand in front of the battle. My triangular Here it is. People think that there is no one in my Great Chu Kingdom." A black-faced and strong young man taunted.
Wang Hong ignored the noise of the crowd and left the crowd silently. My heart also moved a little thought.
"This is a good opportunity, that is, the tuition fee is 12 taels per person, and my younger brother and I get 20 taels of silver. We need to earn enough 20 taels of silver in these few months, so we have to plan carefully."
"I have a piece of land, and the passage of time is more than 20 times that of the outside world. The wheat and rice can be cooked in about half a year, and one piece of land can harvest 20 to 30 catties of grain every season. Even if I eat dry rice for every meal, it only takes half a minute to grow. The land is enough to eat."
"The other half of the land needs to grow something of higher value. Now the first thing that comes to mind is to grow ginseng. There are still about five months before the next year's assessment, and it has been almost ten years in the space."
Went to the pharmacy again and bought 150 ginseng seeds for 100 Wen, and bought some wheat seeds, rice seeds, rice, coarse salt, and ended the trip to Cangshan Town.
"elder brother!"
I heard the younger brother's shouts from a long distance.
"Why did you come back? I made all the meals."
"Little brother is really capable!" He took out an oiled paper bag from his arms and shook it a few times in front of the little brother.
"Guess, if you guess right, I'll give you this sugar figurine."
"Hmm... pig's head meat!" The younger brother deliberately showed a sly expression on his face.
"Brother! I am already eight years old, and I am not a child of three or four years old, and I still play such childish games with me."
"Give me the sugar man!"
Open the oiled paper bag, and there is indeed a very delicate sugar figurine inside.
The two brothers walked home, shoulder to shoulder.
"Brother! It's so sweet, take a bite too."
Wang Hong glanced at the sugar man who was licked and drool everywhere.
"Don't eat!"
"Take a bite, it's really sweet! I won't lie to you."
"Crack!" Wang Hong closed his eyes and took a bite.
"You bit off your head, I licked it for a long time but I was not willing to bite it." The younger brother was short of breath, his face was a little red.
"Next time I go back to town, I'll buy another one to accompany you."
"Keep your word?"
"Of course! Your brother and I have always been a spittle and a nail." Wang Hong patted his small chest that only had ribs.
Back home, he filled two bowls of porridge with small wild vegetables. Wang Hong thought to himself, this porridge is so thin that it probably fell to the ground, and even dogs could not catch up with it.
"Little brother, from tomorrow onwards, we will cook rice at home."
"Eat every meal?" The younger brother was a little surprised and didn't react.
"Of course it is eaten every day, every meal." Wang Hong proudly patted the bag of rice, speaking proudly and authentically.
"In the future, our family will also eat delicious food and drink spicy food. We will eat whatever the landlord's house eats!"
"Xu Dasha still ate chicken legs two days ago. I went to dig wild vegetables outside their village, and saw that big fool holding a chicken leg and standing on the side of the road eating it. I was afraid that others would not know, and his nose flowed on the chicken leg. , and chew it so vigorously." The younger brother said a little sourly.
"We will also eat chicken in a few days, and then we will squat in the village to eat chicken legs." Wang Hong licked his lips and said.
"They still kill pigs during Chinese New Year!"
"Let's kill too!"
"Where's the pig?"
"Go and buy!"
"Bragging! Brother! If you often brag, you won't be able to marry a wife." The little brother didn't believe it at all. He hadn't eaten meat a few times since he was a child.
"Your brother and I! I never brag. Besides, we can do laundry and cooking by ourselves. Why marry a wife?"
Little brother suddenly realized: "Yes! Don't marry, if you marry a daughter-in-law, you will grab our chicken legs to eat. Niudan next door married a daughter-in-law and fought every night, screaming and screaming, it was scary."
Wang Hong felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't figure it out for a while.
The two brothers served a bowl of porridge each, and sat on the stone at the door to pick it up.
After dinner, I discussed with my younger brother about going to the academy next spring. My younger brother is also eager for this, dreaming of becoming a hero with a sword in his hands.
In the evening, I entered the space again, and the Huang Jing planted before was growing gratifyingly. After planting half of the land with wheat and rice, and planting ginseng seeds, I found that there was still a small piece of land left vacant. Er Gouzi was thinking about finding something to plant the open space. As a farmer, it is unbearable to waste the land.
"Tomorrow, I will go to the mountains to search, dig some other medicinal herbs and plant them in the space."
The next morning, Wang Hong entered the space and found that the wheat and rice planted last night had grown several inches in height, the rice was no worse than that in the paddy field, and the ginseng had also grown green seedlings.
(end of this chapter)