217 The One Beside is the Prime Minister of Yan Kingdom For Two Dynasties
A school without these things was definitely boring. Lin Wang suddenly lost most of his interest in going to school.
At the dinner table that day, Elder Lin unilaterally announced that he wanted to send Lin Wang to Mingsheng Academy in town to study.
Mr. Zhang from Mingsheng Academy was the most famous aged scholar in Woqian Town. He had once nurtured two High Scholars and they were both officials in other places.
Elder Lin thought that if he sent Lin Wang over, with Lin Wang’s intelligence, he would definitely be able to become the top scholar. He would bring glory to his ancestors and bring his entire family to the top.
As soon as these words were spoken, other than Lin Wang’s parents who were overjoyed, the other families all had sullen expressions.
Elder Lin’s third son, Lin Hu, said unhappily, “Father, Lei Zi and Wang Zi are the same age. He should go to the academy to study too!”
It was already difficult enough for the entire family to provide for one child to go to school. How could Elder Lin be willing to send another one?
Elder Lin’s eyes darkened. “Lei Zi is so silent all day long. He’s like a blockhead. He’s not cut out for studying at all. It’s a waste of money to go.”
Lin Hu clenched his fists at the bottom of the table. He was just biased. But he still had to insult his son for not being capable of studying. How could he know that his son was not good at studying?
The second brother also had two sons. Now, they were helping the family with labour work. They were a little old for school, but it was not impossible.
Upon hearing that the third brother had failed, he held back what he wanted to say.
Lin Wang raised his chin proudly. Even though he didn’t really want to wake up early every morning to go to school in town, he still enjoyed the envious gazes of the other children at home.
After dinner, the wives busied themselves clearing the dishes before returning to their rooms.
After closing the door, Lin Hu’s wife, Jin Xiuxiu, immediately complained unhappily, “Why can’t our Lei Zi go to school? Lei Zi has been writing and drawing on the ground without saying a word for the past two days. The children in the neighboring village taught him a few words! How is it worse than the little burden of the eldest family!”
As long as they did not split up the families, Elder Lin would have the final say in this household.
No one could go against him. Lin Hu had also tried his best for his child, but what could he do? He could only sigh helplessly and say, “Who asked Lei Zi to not be as eloquent as Wang Zi and make Dad like him?”
Jin Xiuxiu probed, “Brother Huzi, what do you think will happen if we split the family?”
Lin Hu was not angry. Instead, he rolled his eyes at her. “In your dreams. How can my father be willing to split up!” Unless he was dead.
In ancient farming society, sons were the labor of the family and were constantly exploited.
If these sons had split their families, they could not be exploited for labor, and Elder Lin’s right to speak would greatly decrease.
He would never allow any son to escape his control.
Jin Xiuxiu was very regretful. “Sigh, it would be nice if our son can go to school.”
Lin Hu was also very depressed. He blew out the oil lamp. “Let’s go to sleep.”
The next day, Elder Lin specially hired an ox cart to bring Lin Wang to town to register.
According to the news from the government, only the Imperial City and a city that was guarded desperately were left in the Yan Kingdom to conquer.
If not for the fact that King Chu had requested that the army not break through the city forcefully for the safety of the people, he would have long taken down the Yan Kingdom.
When the scholars heard this news, they were all excited. If the two countries were unified, the imperial examination would resume soon.
Why wouldn’t they be studying hard now?!
Hence, the two schools that had been inactive in town for a long time suddenly became popular.
In particular, everyone wanted to enter Elder Zhang’s Mingsheng Academy.
When Elder Lin heard everyone’s discussion, he became even more anxious to send his grandson to Mingsheng Academy.
He tried his best to find connections and gave the doorman in charge of registration a tael of silver before jumping the queue to register.
After paying the six yuan tuition fee, Lin Wang became a student of Mingsheng Academy and was immediately forced to purchase pen, paper, inkstone, books, and other things.
If he did not buy it, he would have to give the spot to others.
When Patriarch Lin thought of Mr. Zhang’s ability, he stomped his feet, gritted his teeth, and bought all the items.
Unexpectedly, these things actually cost five taels of silver!
Elder Lin knew that it would cost a lot of money to send Lin Wang to learn, but he did not expect to spend so much money in one go.
It was more than a few times higher than the cost of Qinghe Academy. He wanted to return these things and let Lin Wang enter Qinghe Academy, but he could not bring himself to do so.
Now that he looked at Lin Wang’s face, it was as if it was made of gold. He reminded his grandson again, “You must study hard and make a name for yourself. Be filial to me, understand?! I’ve used all my coffin money for you to go to school!”
When Lin Wang first came here, he was very curious about everything around him. He patted his chest and promised, “Grandpa, don’t worry. I’ll definitely make a name for myself! I’ll be the first to show my respect to you!”
When Elder Lin heard this, her heart burned. He felt that this money was really not wasted.
When he returned home, Lin Wang bragged to his companions about how good the town was. He could see a lot of delicious food and fun things every day. He could even see the scholar in the academy.
After bragging for a few days, his mouth was blistered.
Now, everyone knew that he had gone to town to register, and spent a few taels of silver to suppress Little Cat. At the same time, the other two families in Elder Lin’s family were even more dissatisfied.
Did he really think that money came from nowhere? In the past years, when the harvest was not good, no one had any money on hand, and Lin Hu could not take on any work, it was already not bad for the family to save half a tael of silver a year.
Lin Wang had just started school and had already spent a few taels of silver. Wouldn’t he have to spend even more money in the future?
Lin Hu glanced at his son, who was writing and drawing on the ground outside the door. He felt even more upset.
He as a father was really a useless coward.
Everyone praised Lin Wang for being more promising than Little Cat in the future. This made Elder Lin secretly proud.
There was suddenly a big commotion in Youjia Village again.
Dozens of carriages lined up in a long line drove over and stopped at the entrance of Youjia Village.
How could someone with a carriage be an ordinary person!
Besides, they were all dressed in graceful clothes.
The villagers of Lintian Village ran to watch the commotion. They immediately knew that these people were all here to learn.
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It was to enter Qinghe Academy and become a student under Yang Quanzi.
The villagers of Lintian Village were all stunned. Wasn’t Yang Quanzi just a fair and fat old man from the neighboring village who often stroked his beard and smiled like a fat fox?
They continued to prick up their ears and listen. Immediately, they were shocked.
The fat old man who did not look very outstanding was actually a famous teacher!
And Qinghe Academy was a very famous academy previously!
When these people received the news that Qinghe Academy was accepting students again, they rushed over from thousands of miles away.
The man in the lead of the team seemed to be the eldest son of the county magistrate. Not only did he want to study here, but he also wanted to bring his two sons over to study together.
Elder Lin’s mind was buzzing, as if he had suddenly missed a hundred million.
The county magistrate’s son had traveled thousands of miles to study here. How could this Qinghe Academy be worse than the Mingsheng Academy in town?
Elder Lin thought that this was already very unexpected, but to his surprise, he heard someone beside him lower his voice and remind his companion, “The person beside Great Scholar Yang is the Prime Minister of the Yan Kingdom, Cui Shize.”
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