allonlinenovel Chapter 39 Li Zhen's Purpose in Opening the School
Chapter 39 Li Zhen's Purpose in Opening the School
It was already late at night when the Cui family steward returned to Anyang City. It was only because the Cui family was powerful enough that they were able to enter the city during curfew.
Cui Dake sat leisurely in his armchair, sipping his tea: "Is the matter settled?"
The butler replied respectfully, "Reporting to Master, it has been taken care of. I also have something else to bring you."
As he spoke, he gently placed the glass bottle of Erguotou on the table, and Cui Dake picked up the bottle and examined it carefully.
"I can smell that it's baijiu (Chinese liquor) inside. It must be good liquor if it's in such a nice glass bottle."
After saying that, he opened the bottle cap, smelled it first, and then drank from the bottle.
"Fine wine! This is the finest wine I've ever tasted in my life. Is this the good stuff you were talking about, butler?"
Seeing that Cui Dake liked it, the steward immediately smiled and said, "It's this liquor. I got the sales rights from Lijiazhai. In addition to grain, we can also sell this liquor. The quantity is also all-encompassing. I didn't expect that such a small village as Lijiazhai would have so many good things."
Cui Dake was very pleased. He smiled and said to the steward, "You did a good job today. The two maids I favored last night were quite good, so I'll reward them to you as a bonus."
The butler cursed inwardly: What a scoundrel! He used it all and then dumped it on me, making me drink his dishwater.
However, the butler still pretended to be very happy: "Thank you so much for your kindness, sir. I will repay your kindness even if it costs me my life."
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In the square of Lijiazhai, two tractors were circling around. Ever since Yue Peng successfully drove a tractor to charge against the Imperial City Guard's cavalry, the minor leaders of Lijiazhai had all lined up to learn how to operate this iron machine.
For Yue Peng, one of the first drivers in Lijiazhai, this is his moment of glory.
With a smug look on his face, Yue Peng loudly scolded Wang Changdao: "You old fool, shift gears! I've told you so many times, you have to reduce the throttle when shifting gears."
On the other tractor sat Yue Ying, enjoying the feeling of the tractor speeding along, unaware that a group of underlings were glaring at him with hatred. Unlike Yue Peng, Yue Ying never let go of the tractor's steering wheel once he touched it, either until the diesel fuel was completely used up or until he was too tired to get off, making it impossible for the others to follow his example.
Li Zhen was secretly watching the Li Family Village school. Inside, the children were listening attentively to Zhao Yingluo's detailed explanations of various subjects. Many children raised their hands to ask questions when they didn't understand something. Even the most mischievous children had become incredibly well-behaved, because their parents had told them that it was a stroke of good fortune for ordinary people's children to be able to attend school.
Because class divisions were very severe in this era, cultural knowledge was only in the hands of a few large families, while ordinary people were referred to as the ignorant masses.
In order to better popularize cultural knowledge, Li Zhen specially prepared a lot of enlightenment teaching materials for Zhao Yingluo before he traveled here, which made the children love the cultural knowledge in them, especially the colorful illustrations.
Widow Zhang—no, she should now be called Sister-in-law Wang—stood beside Wang Changdao and whispered, "Husband, do you really think these children can learn as much as those grown men?"
Wang Changdao rubbed his sore arms as he said, "I don't know, but I know the chief wants these kids to be different from us. How should I put it? I feel like he wants the kids to be like him."
The Song Dynasty's education and culture were based on a fundamental national policy of "venerating Confucianism and valuing literature." Despite Zhao Kuangyin being a military general, he greatly admired intellectuals. During this period, both government-run and private educational institutions flourished, cultivating a large pool of talent for the Song Dynasty. However, the majority of these talents came from established and powerful families, with the Jiangnan region being the most prominent.
During the Song Dynasty, education and culture reached a peak, and its educational system and cultural development had a profound influence on later generations. During this period, both government-run and private education experienced significant growth. In terms of government-run education, the Song Dynasty expanded the number and enrollment of students in the Imperial Academy (Guozijian), breaking the monopoly of children of officials and opening it to commoners.
As the highest institution of learning in the country, the Imperial College (Guozijian) managed all educational institutions nationwide. It comprised various departments including the Imperial Academy, the Imperial University, the Law Academy, the Martial Arts Academy, the Calligraphy Academy, the Mathematics Academy, the Medicine Academy, and the Elementary School, forming a comprehensive education system similar to that of modern times. Furthermore, the Imperial College also oversaw cultural dissemination activities such as printing and selling books, promoting the popularization of knowledge and the spread of culture.
In terms of private education, the Song Dynasty adopted an enlightened attitude towards private schools. The historically famous "Four Great Academies"—Bailudong, Yingtianfu, Yuelu, and Songyang—are typical examples of private schools.
These academies not only provided excellent learning environments for scholars of the time, but also made significant contributions to the cultural development of the Song Dynasty. The prosperity of these academies provided important venues for the innovation and dissemination of ideas, and many insightful individuals even traveled thousands of miles to study at these institutions.
As a result, many officials in the court would introduce themselves as graduates of certain academies. Over time, this led to the formation of small factions. While some commoners did enter officialdom through education during this period, they were extremely rare.
In fact, Li Zhen's original intention in opening a school in the mountain stronghold was mainly for future military development and people's livelihood construction. For example, he issued orders by letter on the battlefield. If he encountered someone who could not read, wouldn't that be a disaster?
You mean oral communication? Let's not even talk about whether they could remember the content in the tense situation on the battlefield. Even if they did, what if they got shot down by an enemy arrow halfway there? How could the military intelligence be transmitted then?
As Lijiazhai gradually expands, it may become Lijia Town or even Lijia County. If the warehouse keeper can't even remember the quantities, how can he manage daily affairs? Therefore, Li Zhen began to forcibly promote children's education in Lijiazhai, sending all children, regardless of whether they were boys or girls, to school to learn to read and write and do arithmetic first.
Li Zhen never imagined that his unintentional act would later bring him immense blessings. Because Professor Zhao Yingluo taught him modern cultural knowledge, the content of which far surpassed any school of thought in the Song Dynasty. Furthermore, as modern culture became deeply ingrained in the children's minds, their renewed understanding of the world as they grew up became a major asset to Li Zhen's development and expansion.
The only regret is that Zhao Yingluo is the only teacher at the school now. Originally, Li Zhen sent people to invite several private tutors from Tangyin City, but after seeing the teaching materials provided by Li Zhen, they immediately changed their attitude and left.
Some of the bolder ones even directly cursed Li Zhen, saying that he was uncivilized and unworthy of being a student of Confucius.
Li Zhen was completely bewildered: What does Confucius's Confucian culture have to do with me? I only require my child to be literate.