Shopkeeper He was a businessman, so naturally he only cared about business matters. For the first time, he knew that the provincial examiner Xie Yuan Cheng Zhao in Yuncheng who even the governor couldn't help but praise was actually the nephew of a native of Sui'an.
It is a great honor to become Jieyuan. Coupled with the honor of Huiyuan, this is an achievement that many scholars dream of.
He still remembered that when the eldest son of the He family got first place in the capital examination, the whole He family was shocked. There was a feast for three days and three nights. Later, the eldest son got fifth place in the joint examination. The He family held a banquet again... The eldest young master was ranked fifth in the imperial examination and has now become a third-rank official in the court. Cheng Zhao is the first in the imperial examination. Judging from this, I am afraid he will be able to gain a foothold in the imperial court soon. .
A country woman is naturally not something to be afraid of, but if she is the top scholar in a new subject, it is something to be afraid of.
The He family is accustomed to attracting talents and will never offend a future high official for the sake of business.
There are so many profitable businesses in the business world, but there is only one person who can take the first place...
Shopkeeper He's mind turned over and over again, and he quickly analyzed the stakes. He did not leave in a hurry, but after the villagers dispersed, he quickly walked towards Cheng Wanwan: "Sui'an people, He just There are so many rude words in my words, please don't argue with me, a mere businessman, from Sui'an, I'm here to apologize to the An people."
Cheng Wanwan took a step back: "Shopkeeper He, this is going to hurt me. I am a village woman. Even if I want to argue, how can I argue with you?"
After she finished speaking, she turned around and walked up the steps and into the courtyard.
Shopkeeper He wanted to follow, but Cheng Jia raised his hand to stop him: "If you don't leave, I will have to throw you out of Dahe Village."
"Don't be violent." Shopkeeper He didn't dare to go any further, "I'll go by myself. I'll leave now."
He turned around and walked towards his carriage, and couldn't help but sigh. He originally wanted to win this business without any effort, but he didn't expect that he seemed to offend the people of Sui'an.
If the He family fails to win over Cheng Zhao in the future, they will definitely blame him for causing complications.
Forget it, in a few days he will come to apologize with a generous gift. For the sake of the generous gift, the people of Sui'an will probably not argue with him anymore.
He was about to get into the carriage when he looked up and saw two children walking towards the big yard.
A boy of more than ten years old and a little girl of six or seven years old were talking happily.
"Brother Jing Si, your cousin is really awesome. My dad said that as long as he doesn't make mistakes, cousin Cheng will definitely become the number one pick this year. You need to have a cousin who is the number one pick."
"Of course." Zhao Sidan raised his head proudly, "I will also be the number one scholar in the future and earn my mother's honor."
When he said this, he couldn't help but wave his hand, as if he was giving advice.
He was holding a stack of paper in his hand. This was the drawing paper he and Yu Jiao used to practice this morning. Today's theme was drawing figures.
Yu Jiao painted her imaginary grandmother. Her father was expelled from the Yu family, so she had never seen her living grandmother since she was born.
What Zhao Sidan drew was the master and the third brother. The master and the third brother had been away for four or five months. He missed them so much that he couldn't help but draw them on paper. Maybe he missed them too much, but the drawings were quite similar. , the master praised him for a long time.
He raised his hand and the drawing papers in his hand fell away.
Shopkeeper He, who was not far from the door, didn't pay attention to the two children at first, but when he saw the drawing paper falling on the ground, his expression suddenly changed.
He walked over and picked up the drawing paper on the ground. The more he looked at it, the more shocked he became.
He held Zhao Sidan's shoulders and pointed to the portrait on the right: "Here, where are the people on this painting..."
"What are you doing!" Cheng Jia came over suddenly, pinched Shopkeeper He's wrist, then grabbed the drawing paper and said sternly, "You dare to cause trouble at the door of An Ren's mansion, who gave you the courage!"
The tendons on Shopkeeper He's wrist were pinched, and he almost fainted from the pain. He explained: "I, I just wanted to ask who the person on this drawing is. He looks familiar..."
Zhao Sidan's eyes narrowed.
Although my mother never told me the identity of my master, he was not a fool. He more or less guessed that the master was not my mother's cousin at all.
The identity of the master is a secret, and this person has met the master. He may be a relative or friend of the master, or he may be an enemy.
But judging from Cheng Jia's attitude towards this person, it is obvious that he is not a good person.
Zhao Sidan raised his face with an innocent expression: "I saw this man in a book who looked very heroic, so I copied it and drew it. Does this uncle think my drawing is good?"
"Good-looking, good-looking..."
Shopkeeper He quickly broke free, climbed into his carriage and left.
Cheng Jia turned to Cheng Ding and told him, "Go to the village entrance and tell him that this person will not be allowed to enter the village in the future."
Cheng Ding nodded and went immediately.
Zhao Sidan quickly walked into the house, placed the drawing paper in front of Cheng Wanwan, and then told what happened just now.
"Si Dan, you did a great job." Cheng Wanwan looked up with a face full of joy and said, "Cheng Jia, ask Li Zheng to inform you. If someone uses Master He's portrait to search for someone, let the villagers have a unified statement. never seen it."
As for the village next door, not many people have seen He Xiao. Even if they have, they only have a brief encounter and you may not be able to tell the difference just by looking at the portrait.
As long as the people in Dahe Village insist that they do not know this person, and there is indeed no such person in Dahe Village, then the He family will have no choice.
The fact that Cheng Zhao became Huiyuan became the biggest news in Ping'an County.
For several days, the threshold of Cheng Wanwan's house was broken through, and people came to congratulate her.
Dahe School also became popular. Originally, only people from several nearby counties and towns sent their children to study. Now, people from distant counties and towns are also sending people to inquire about the news, especially those literati who are about to take the college examination. , I couldn’t wait to sign up, for fear that I would lose my degree if I arrived late.
Li Zheng was very worried: "Dashan Niang, this can't go on... Our school was specially built to be bigger. We were originally worried that there weren't enough students, but suddenly so many students signed up that the classroom couldn't fit in any seats. Cheng Zhao If he becomes the number one scholar, it would be even more serious. I am afraid that the school will be overcrowded. Is there any good way to control it?"
Cheng Wanwan was also helpless.
In ancient times, Mencius' mother moved three times, and in modern times, there are school district houses, all for the education of children.
But the school is already very big now, bigger than Nanfu Academy, the largest nearby, and it is unlikely that it will be expanded. Those students who come here in admiration are all for Master Yu. How can Master Yu teach so many people? Exhausted.
Then we can only use modern methods.
"Issuing an announcement saying that only the following categories of people can come to Dahe Village to study. The first category is the locals of Dahe Village, the second category is the children of workers and business people in Dahe Village, and the third category is those who live in Dahe Village. There are houses, shops, fields, etc." Cheng Wanwan said in an orderly manner, "And those who have achieved excellent results in the government examination can be specially recruited to enter the school."
Li Zheng's eyes lit up: "Wonderful, it's really wonderful. In this way, the shops in the market built in Dahe Village can be rented at high prices... and some unclaimed wasteland on the edge can also be sold. Wow...this move is very good, very good, I will let Tiezhu prepare the announcement."
Cheng Wanwan sighed. If she hadn't had to, she wouldn't have pursued the concept of school district housing in this era.
I hope Dahe Village can attract some literary scholars to come here in the future, and only then can we talk about expansion once we have teachers...
But now that there are more and more students, library matters should be put on the agenda.
Just as Cheng Wanwan was about to go to Master Yu to discuss the matter, Mrs. Qi walked in: "Anren, Mrs. Cheng and Mr. Cheng are here with the entire Cheng family."
