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** County faces the imperial capital Nanjing across the river. It is about a hundred miles away from Nanjing and can be reached in half a day by horse.
Except for the alluvial plains in the lower reaches of the Chu River and along the Yangtze River, the county mostly consists of basalt square hills and loess hills. If you take the land route from Nanjing to Huai'an, Qingjiangpu, Haizhou, Sizhou and other places, you have to pass through Tianjin. Therefore, the commerce in Tianjin is also quite developed, and there are bustling cars and horses every day.
As the rainy season approaches, the sky is often filled with drizzle. Zhang Zhinian was over fifty, his beard and hair were slightly gray. He was wearing a bamboo hat and a raincoat, with a fishing basket tied around his waist and a fishing rod in his hand. He braved the drizzle and came to Longchi in the southern suburbs of the county.
The crucian carp produced in Longchi in the southern suburbs is famous for its tender meat and delicious taste, but its price is 30% higher than that of crucian carp from other places.
Zhang Zhi rolled up his sleeves and trousers. Because the poolside was muddy, he even took off the worn-out "thousand-layer bottoms" on his feet and pinned them around his waist. No matter how you looked at him, he looked like a country man.
However, most of the nearby farmers knew him. When they saw him, they would always stop, step to the side of the road, bow respectfully, and call out: "Zhang Xundao."
In the Ming Dynasty, each county had a "County Confucian School", which was the highest educational institution in a county. The county school usually had one person to teach and several others to teach.
Most of the edicts at the government level were Jinshi and were appointed directly by the imperial court.
Most of the instructions, instructions, and instructions from the government schools and county schools were appointed by local officials who were not eligible for the Jinbang.
Among them, the entrustment is to hire teachers, similar to the substitute teachers in later generations.
Regardless of the teachings, instructions, or instructions, they have nothing to do with local administration or litigation. There is no oil or water to get involved in. "Being humble and frugal, being humble and self-respecting" is their truest portrayal.
Their salary is extremely meager. Moreover, as a weak scholar who deals with the Four Books and Five Classics every day, he cannot let go of his intellectual pretensions and is often not good at business management;
Relying on their meager salary, they can barely support themselves. Therefore, they often have to leave their wives and children to take up their posts alone, and live a life of "wives and children separated" for a long time. Even his parents. No one can support them.
Zhang Zhi took the fishing rod to the edge of the dragon pond, took out earthworms as bait, and set the hook. Looking at a pool of misty rain and spring scenery covered with green onions, I tightened my coir raincoat and slowly chanted: "Egrets fly in front of Xisai Mountain, peach blossoms flow in the flowing water, and mandarin fish are fat. Green bamboo hats. Green coir raincoats." The slanting wind and drizzle do not have to return. ”
In fact, he was far from as comfortable as described in the poem. His first wife stayed in his hometown to support his mother, who was over seventy years old. It turned out that his wife could barely maintain the family's livelihood by weaving, but half a year ago, his wife fell ill due to overwork. , has not recovered yet.
Zhang Zhi went to his colleagues one by one to borrow money, but his colleagues received the same meager salary as him, and every family had their own problems. How can I lend him any money
Zhang Zhi had no way to seek help and was desperate and helpless. I am preparing to resign as a tutor and go home to think of a solution. In the end, a student from a relatively well-off family went back and begged his parents to help Zhang Zhi, and he managed to survive.
Nowadays, fishing in Longchi is not for recreation, but to supplement family income.
Zhang Zhi finished reciting the poem pretending to be relaxed, then noticed that there were many more people fishing at Longchi today. It was drizzling, and everyone was wearing bamboo hats and raincoats, so it was hard to tell who they were.
Zhang Zhi couldn't help but sigh in his heart, because the number of fish in the pond is always limited, and with so many people coming to fish, it is inevitable that there will be more fish than enough...
Next, Zhang Zhi realized that the position he was in today probably had bad feng shui, and no fish caught the bait for a long time. Through the confused mist and rain, he found that others were catching fish from time to time, and he was so anxious that he picked up his own fish from time to time. The hook and earthworms are still there, but why are there no fish to eat the bait
He looked around, lifted the fishing rod, and moved the empty fish basket to another place, but still didn't catch any fish.
He wanted to be shameless and get under the ancient willow tree in the south, because he noticed that the man under the ancient willow caught the most fish, so this place should be the best.
It’s just that the ancient willow area is narrow, and except for one area where the water surface is relatively clean and full of aquatic plants, it’s not suitable for fishing, so Zhang Zhi had to give up. It was not until dusk was approaching that he caught two crucian carps. Thinking of the desolate situation at home, Zhang Zhi picked up the fish basket and stroked his beard that was wet by the rain. He couldn't help but sigh: "Jiang Han misses his returning guests, and the world is full of rotten scholars." The clouds and the sky are far away together, and the moon is alone in the eternal night... "
"My heart is still strong when the sun sets, and the disease of the autumn wind is about to disappear. Since ancient times, old horses have been kept, and there is no need to travel long distances."
"Li Yu, why is it you?"
"Teacher, it's not just me, all the other students are here. Teacher, please accept my greetings."
Who stood up from the ancient willow, not his student Li Yu? Zhang Zhi saw that he ignored the moisture on the ground and knelt down to worship him. Those who were fishing by the Dragon Pond wearing bamboo hats and coir raincoats also stood up and bowed to him, then took their own fishing baskets and poured the fish into his fishing baskets...
"You... What are you doing?"
Li Yu said: "Once a teacher, always a father. The teacher's family is in trouble, and the students and others are unable to help, and they feel guilty. These fish are the only ones that the students and others can repay the teacher. In case of emergency, please bring them down."
"Master, please come down!"
"Master, please come down!"
“………”
Looking at the familiar faces, Zhang Zhi's gray beard was trembling slightly, and he couldn't say a word. The drizzle at dusk made his eyes wet.
Zhang Zhi, surrounded by Li Yu and other students, braved the drizzle and walked in the mud, one foot high and one foot low, back to the county school. From a distance, I could see some people surrounding the county school. Wang Baizhen, the instructor of the county school, was holding something in his hand and looked very excited. The other two instructors, Kang Zhuang and Wei Cheng, were kneeling on the muddy ground, crying and laughing. Looks like crazy.
Zhang Zhi and a group of students were shocked and ran over quickly.
"Wang Jiaoyu, what happened? What are you..."
"Zhang Xundao, it's good that you come back. Come and take a look. Let's... Emperor Shengming! Emperor Shengming!"
Zhang Zhi took the official document from Wang Baizhen's hand and looked at it carefully. Strictly speaking, it was an edict issued by the imperial court. The edict began with the words "Lord of Heaven and Earth, Lord of Heaven and Earth, Personal Teacher" to point out the teacher's lofty status. After listing the teacher's contributions and hardships, Zhang Zhi's eyes were fixed on the words "two stones more salary". The fish basket in his hand fell to the ground with a bang, and a basket of crucian carp jumped on the muddy ground.
"Is this true? Is this true?"
Zhang Zhi asked murmuringly, as if in a dream. Wang Baizhen replied excitedly: "It is true, of course it is true. This is the will of the Holy One, the will of the Holy One..."
Although he was an official in training, he was not in the mainstream. His salary before was only two shi meters per month, and sometimes he could not get the full amount. His life was miserable. All year round, he could not even afford new clothes. I can't even eat it more than once.
Now the salary suddenly doubled to four stones per month, which is almost as good as the county magistrate in the Ming Dynasty. Looking at the past dynasties, this has never happened before.
A monthly salary of four stones, a monthly salary of four stones... Zhang Zhi repeated this repeatedly. Like the other two instructors, he felt the emperor's grace and couldn't help crying. He knelt down in front of Jing and kowtowed three times, shouting long live!
After the people in Zhou Guan figured out the truth of the matter, they started talking a lot, and most of them praised the emperor's act of benevolence for increasing the salary of academic officials.
The academic officials who teach and teach have always been respected by ordinary people. They spread knowledge and hope, but their salaries are very meager and their lives are very hard, which is in sharp contrast to their status. These ordinary people are See it in your eyes;
Therefore, now that the emperor is increasing the salary of academic officials, most people think it is appropriate.
This time, all academic officials in Da Qin will receive a salary increase. The entire Da Qin will set off a wave of respecting teachers and valuing education. It is not difficult to imagine that touching scenes like this in ** County will appear in hundreds of states and counties, and tens of thousands of teachers will benefit from this and become grateful to the emperor.
Next, when the court wants to conduct training and assessment for all teachers, the resistance will be minimized, and Qin Mu's plan to promote the integration of mathematics and science teaching also has universal support.
The imperial court only invested three hundred thousand dragon coins in education every year.
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ps: Thanks to book friends such as Ba Bajiejie, Ru Zhu Wan Zhan Xie, Desert Bookworm, Little Tiger in the Demon Realm, Wu Gou Shuang Yue Han, Forever King?, Magic Dragon Boy, Niu Huitou, Mo Tianzhai, Yang Zixun Ge and other book friends for their monthly votes. Or give me a reward. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to every friend who has given me support. (To be continued...)
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