After returning all the way from Cangzhou, they wandered around the public school without even going home. Of course, Zhang Chen and Zhu Er did not realize that they were a bit like Dayu who passed by his own house without even entering it during the flood control.
They saw the simplest preschool class, which Zhang Shou simply called the general education class. In addition to literacy and poetry and recitation that were also taught in rural community schools, it was said that it also taught the simplest arithmetic and natural geography, etc.; in addition, there were accounting classes, typesetting and engraving classes, and map reading and drawing classes... In Zhang Chen's joking words, would there be cooking classes, carpentry classes, and blacksmith classes in the future
Zhang Shou's answer was quite frank: "The reason why the word 'public' is emphasized in public schools is because they are aimed at the poor, so they are different from private schools. The purpose is to let students learn to write and calculate, while compared with community schools, they hope that they can master technical skills. Whether it is a cook or a carpenter, most of them can be passed down from master to apprentice, and many of them do not require high literacy, so there is no need to set up special courses in public schools."
"Of course, these are all very elementary educations now. If we encounter students with excellent qualifications, they will be selected. For example, teachers like Tang Ming and Xie Wanquan, who are well-read in poetry and literature, were originally prepared for these students with talent in writing. Of course, if students are very sensitive to numbers, they will also be used as backup students of Jiuzhang Hall..."
Young Master Jiang followed behind and listened, and couldn't help but think that although his father had donated money to support education in the past, it was all used to support young talents who had the hope of entering officialdom in the future. Even if it was used to support those poor people who had been struggling in the imperial examinations for decades and could not become a scholar, maybe their luck would turn around. As for the children and grandchildren of the peasants, it would be enough for them to donate money to charity schools.
Zhang Chen and Zhu Er were born into prominent families. As long as they did not commit suicide, they would have more money than they could spend in their lifetime. They also had a status that ordinary people would find difficult to achieve even if they worked hard for their entire lives. Therefore, although they did not think there was anything wrong with talking about fame and fortune with teachers and students in the public school, they themselves did not care about fame and fortune. At least, they preferred to do something to prove themselves rather than pursuing rapid advancement.
As a result, the two of them became very interested in the various classes in the public school. They were even interested in coming up with ideas and thinking of ways to deal with them. They had long forgotten what they had just learned, that Zhang Shou had teamed up with Lu Wan to trick Lu Sanlang.
By the time the sun set, the two followed Zhang Shou out, having come up with no less than ten new ideas. Zhang Chen even shook Lu Wan's hand and said enthusiastically, "Uncle Lu, I used to think you were too gloomy because of that fat guy, but I didn't expect you to be so capable and good at doing things! This public school is all thanks to you, no one else could have achieved this!"
Zhang Chen, who was always rebellious, was so good at speaking, so how could Zhu Er, who was now much more sensible, not be able to flatter him? Not only did he throw a lot of flattering words at him, he also pulled Young Master Jiang forward and vowed that he wanted to open a public school in Cangzhou, and asked Lu Wan to help write a plaque and hang it up... With just a few words, the former Minister Lu, who was now the Priest Lu, was overjoyed.
And Lu Wan was indeed overjoyed.
In the past, although the Minister of War held a high position and power, it was not easy to choose sides, and it was even more difficult to form alliances. Today's ally might be tomorrow's opponent, and the open backers might also be enemies secretly plotting against you... Now that he has bowed and stepped down, he has also pulled Lord Jiang down with him. He has regained the emperor's trust, but has taken himself out of that circle.