Traveling through ancient times

Today is the day that Gu Wenzhi goes to the academy. Gu Dalian takes Gu Xiaolian and Gu Lun to see his second brother off!

The original plan was to let Yuzhu be the second brother's servant, but now there is a better candidate, and the fifteen-year-old Xu Xiuhe will be the one to do it!

Gu Yongfeng and his wife will go to the county for the time being to take care of the second brother's food, clothing, housing and transportation! Bring Wang Yingying back when you come back!

When we arrived at the gate of the academy, we thought that relatives were not allowed to enter. But as soon as we got off the carriage, we saw a handsome boy of about thirteen or fourteen years old coming out of the gate and asking:

"Who is Gu Wenzhi?"

Gu Wenzhi clasped his hands and said, "I am Gu Wenzhi. May I ask what can I do for you?"

The young man raised his eyebrows and said:

"The headmaster said that if you come, you should go see him first, and your family can come with you!"

Gu Wenzhi nodded, glanced at his elder sister, and Gu Dalian smiled: This headmaster is quite interesting!

Gu Yongfeng and his wife went to their home in the city first, and the brothers and sisters took Xu Xiuhe and followed the boy to meet Chief Hu!

Hu Shiwei was still wearing the sky-blue robe as when we first met. Although his face looked serious, there was a hint of gentleness in his brows!

"Gu is a few days late. Hu, please take Gu to class!"

The handsome young man pouted and waved to Gu Wenzhi, saying, "Come with me!"

Gu Wenzhi bowed to Principal Hu and followed the young man named Hu!

Xu Xiuhe is following behind him!

Gu Dalian thought for a moment and couldn't help but laugh. It turned out that the beautiful county magistrate understood the headmaster very well!

"Grandpa Shanzhang, have you finished the wine I gave you?" Gu Dalian spoke first!

Hu Shiwei's serious face instantly turned into a smile, and he laughed:

"The wine you gave me is really good. I drink a little at every meal. Alas, the wine is getting less and less. An old friend of mine even took away two bottles. I was so sad!"

Gu Dalian's eyes were smiling, just like a little fox:

"Grandpa Shanzhang, if you can give my second brother some guidance every day, I will take the time to go to the mountain again and try to get a few more bottles of good wine before you finish your wine!"

Hu Shiwei was delighted. The more he looked at the three in front of him, the more he liked them. Seeing that Gu Lun was small, he looked like a little teacher, so he said:

"What's your name? How old are you? Have you started elementary school?"

Gu Lun bowed in a formal manner, then said in a serious tone:

"Grandpa Shanzhang, my name is Gu Lun. I'm five years old and have been in elementary school for a year!"

Seeing the cute little kid speaking seriously, Hu Shiwei loved him even more and said teasingly:

"If Grandpa asked you to come and study with me, would you be willing?"

Gu Lun raised his short hand, held his chin, thought seriously for a while and said, "Grandpa Shanzhang, I don't want to!"

Hu Shiwei was a little surprised. Gu Xiaolian also took a step forward and pulled Gu Lun and said:

"Brother, why don't you want to? Grandpa Shanzhang is very nice!"

Gu Lun looked at his elder sister, Gu Dalian smiled at him, signaling him to be okay and relax!

Gu Lun then said:

"Grandpa Shanzhang, you are a learned man, and I am only five years old."

"My elder sister said that I should have my own childhood at this age, and I should be happy to learn while playing! I have to listen to my elder sister!"

Gu Dalian pinched his round face lovingly and said:

"My children are treasures. Without a happy and playful childhood, their lives are incomplete!"

This was the first time Hu Shiwei heard this view. He looked at Gu Dalian and said:

"Little girl, do you think so?"

“You know, the children of ordinary noble families receive elementary education from a young age, and therefore they are better than ordinary families!

Gu Dalian smiled and talked freely:

“Everything in nature is slow. The rising and setting of the sun, the blooming and falling of flowers, and the ripening of rice are all very slow.”

"Natural changes that occur suddenly are often disasters, such as volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, and rainstorms. It also takes a long time for a child to grow up."

Gu Dalian said in her heart: Mr. Bi, please forgive me for borrowing your ideas!

Hu Shiwei stroked his short beard, thinking about something. After a long silence, he said:

"Maybe you have some truth in what you said!"

Gu Dalian smiled and pushed Gu Lun over:

"However, Grandpa Shanzhang, my younger brother is very smart. As long as we are here, please give him some pointers when you are free."

"In a year or two, I will definitely let him come to your academy to study! I guarantee that he will pass the imperial examination and become the top scholar in the imperial examination!"

Hu Shiwei laughed out loud: "You are such a shameless kid, you are not afraid of biting your tongue when you brag!"

Gu Lun said in a serious tone:

"Grandpa Shanzhang, I learn things very quickly, just like my second brother. You must have confidence in me!"

Hu Shiwei looked Gu Lun in the eye: "Little kid, come and play when you have time. Grandpa welcomes you to come often!"

After staying for a while, several people said goodbye and returned to their homes in the county town. Wang Yingying had already packed her luggage and was ready to follow her host back to Cuiyu Village!

Gu Dalian hasn’t decided what to do with the two shops in front, so just leave them alone for now!

Take a walk down the street and see what’s for sale!

I took my younger brother and sister with me, but thinking that Wang Yingying was still in mourning and had no mood to go with them, I let her stay at home!

I have to say, after all, it is a county town, and the streets are much more prosperous than the town!

The main street is mostly shops.

The most eye-catching one is the Fuman Restaurant, which covers an area of ​​more than one acre and has two floors. Because it is late autumn and the weather is a bit cold, a few windows are open. It is not yet dinner time, so there are not many people!

There is a couplet on both sides of the first floor door!

First couplet: The distinguished guests at the table often drink freely, and the delicious wine and food attract guests from afar

Second line: Distinguished guests come frequently to the door, and the bright and clean room welcomes the guests!

From a distance, no one can compete with it!

On both sides there are pawnshops, money houses, cloth shops, clothing shops, silver shops, calligraphy and painting shops, and bookstores.

There really is a wide variety of businesses!

Several people walked into the library. The small library was filled with all kinds of books!

When Gu Dalian came to this era, she was unfamiliar with everything here and basically heard everything from her second brother!

But my second brother had little experience after all, so he thought of buying some miscellaneous books on history, geography, etc. and reading them slowly when he got home!

After picking up a few books, I remembered that the village head had already started arranging villagers to make adobe bricks to build a school, so I asked the boss:

"Excuse me, boss, if you have too many enlightenment books here, can you give me a discount?"

The shop owner was a scholar in his thirties, who was copying something at his desk. Hearing this, he said:

"It's really not much less. You see, I copied it myself, so I can charge a lower price."

"Although paper is expensive now, labor is even more expensive. A thin book would cost a hundred or so coins just for labor. Otherwise, ordinary people could have studied in a private school for two years and learned a few words!"

"Are there many people copying books?" Gu Dalian was a little curious!

The boss's name is Yan Ke. His family used to be relatively well-off, but his parents fell ill and he sought medical treatment everywhere until they passed away, and the family fell into poverty.

After he passed the examination to become a scholar, he gave up on studying and devoted himself to running the library, which enabled him to earn enough food and clothing!

"The copyists usually come from ordinary families and cannot afford to buy books, so they have to copy books to make some extra money. However, studying is expensive, and there are few people who can support their children to study, so there are not many people who come to copy books! ... Alas!"