Chapter 65: Books to Study for the Scholarship Exam
Ten days passed in the blink of an eye, and Sun Bomin came back. After Sun Shan finished his homework, he walked into the yard and saw him eating taro. He said happily, "Dad, when did you come back?"
As for the words "I miss you so much", Sun Shan was too embarrassed to say it.
Sun Bomin quickly put down the taro, helped Sun Shan pick up the book box, and said with a smile: "You just came back. Are you doing well in school? Do you have any words from the teacher in the school?"
Sun Shan nodded and replied, "It went very smoothly. The teacher taught me very well. I understand a lot now."
Looking closely at Sun Bomin, he is a little thinner, but still in good spirits. It seems that this service is not too hard.
"Dad, where are you going to work and what kind of work do you do? Have all the uncles and aunts in the village returned?" Sun Shan asked a series of questions like firing cannonballs.
Sun Bomin put Sun Shan's bookcase in the study and said patiently, "It's in the suburbs of the county town, not far from your aunt's village. I also saw your uncle working there. All the villagers have returned, and they all came back together."
Su was also happy to see the head of the family return.
He must have come back not long ago. I just went out to pick up Shanzi and haven't seen him yet.
He asked with concern: "Boss, are you tired from serving this time? Is the work you do a lot?"
Sun Bomin shook his head and said, "Not tired. After so many years of service, this time is the simplest and easiest. I just helped the government repair canals. The canals were repaired neatly to facilitate irrigation of the government's fields. The food is just expensive. Oh, a bowl of wonton noodles costs 15 cents, which is much less than the last time I went to the county town."
After working all day and eating cold and stiff dry food for five days, Sun Boming couldn't stand it anymore and asked for a bowl of wonton noodles.
15 cents a bowl, I cried while eating it, it's too expensive.
Huang came out of the bedroom, handed Sun Shan two handfuls of salted dried peanuts, propped his stomach, and said gently, "Eat even if it's expensive. How can you live without a hot meal every day?"
Huang sewed about 100 coins into Sun Bomin's pocket, hoping that her son would have a hot meal. Although digging the canal was not hard, it was tiring.
After Sun Bomin finished eating the taro, he opened the package he brought with him. A cloud of dust rose up and a foul smell came.
Sun Shan took a special look at Sun Boming's clothes. Fortunately, his father came back and knew to change him first, otherwise he would have been smelly.
I heard that there was hot water for bathing in the place where they were serving, but it cost money, so the villagers were definitely reluctant to spend the money, so they simply didn't bathe and endured until the end of their service.
Sun Bomin felt around in his rags and took out a lot of copper coins. He counted them and found more than 50 coins left. He handed them to Huang and said, "Mother, these are the remaining coins. I'm giving them back to you."
Huang refused and said, "Take it if I give it to you. Mother still has some."
Seeing that Huang really didn't want it, Sun Bomin gave it to Su and asked her to take it back and keep it.
Sun Shan took a look at the big package that Sun Boming brought back. The quilt was even more torn, the clothes were even more torn, and the various daily necessities were all tattered and worn out.
That’s right, when we went to serve in the army, we all lived in a shed, so how could we dare to bring good things with us?
Sun Shan asked, "Father, are there many people in the place where we are serving? Are all the people in the county there?"
Sun Bomin shook his head and said, "No, some people went to build bridges, some went to build roads, and some went to open up wasteland. I heard that the county magistrate has taken a fancy to several places and wants to open up wasteland for farming."
The government rented the reclaimed land to nearby villagers for cultivation and then collected rent.
I don’t know if the rent is expensive. There is little flat land and many mountains in Sunjia Village, which is really not suitable for reclamation.
Over the years, Sun Bomin has gradually reclaimed more than two mu of land at the foot of the mountain behind him. All of it is dry land, so it is impossible to grow rice. He can only grow soybeans, sweet potatoes and the like.
The harvest was very small, but fortunately the land was cheap, only 1 tael per mu, and the tax was also cheap, so we could barely break even.
Sun Shan understood that the principle of arranging corvée labor should be followed, and the service work should be carried out according to demand.
At this time, it was still early and there was still some time before the sun set. Sun Boming came back, and Su felt much more at ease. She carried a bucket of water and went to work in the vegetable garden or the field.
Sun Boming rested for a while, and after catching his breath, he took a hoe and followed Su to do farm work.
The land at home needed to be repaired, the fields of the county government needed to be canalized, and the ditches on Sun Shan's fields also needed to be tidied.
Spring is here and it's time to get busy.
Huang and Guyu took Sun Bomin's quilt and clothes to the river to wash. Although they were tattered, they were still usable and would be used for the next service.
As for the remaining three sisters, they usually come back after dark. The second sister herds cattle at the beginning of summer and cuts grass for pigs. The third and fourth sisters go up the mountain to cut a small tree every day and carry it back for firewood, or cut wild grass and dry it for firewood.
Everyone has his own things to do, and Sun Shan is no exception.
First complete the homework assigned by Master Zheng, and then practice calligraphy until you can write it on paper.
Then I read books and learned the knowledge that was not taught in advance. Although I couldn't read, I could write and roughly understand the content of the book.
Sun Shan once asked Master Zheng what books he needed to learn if he wanted to take the imperial examination.
The excuse was that He's eldest cousin was going to take the Tongsheng exam in February, and he wanted to know what the exam content was.
It's normal for a younger cousin to care about his older cousin.
Master Zheng certainly knew that Sun Shan's eldest aunt had married into the He family in the provincial capital, and he had always sighed at how lucky Sun Shan was. It was a great fortune for her to marry into the He family, a family where farming and reading were passed down from generation to generation and poetry and literature were passed down from generation to generation. Even if they were from a side branch, it was still out of reach for a farm girl to marry into the He family.
Zheng Tongsheng was very envious of the fact that Sun Dagu was able to marry into the family and also support her family.
Master Zheng smiled and said, "The imperial examination is very difficult, but it is not difficult for your cousin. He has a great chance of passing the examination and becoming a scholar."
Master Zheng had also heard of the small reading circle of the He family in Guangzhou Prefecture in a remote mountainous area.
It is said that the head of the He family in the capital has reached the rank of third-rank minister, and some of the family members are in the Hanlin Academy.
For a young student like Master Zheng, it was difficult for him to even get promoted to the position of chief clerk of a ninth-rank official, let alone a high-ranking official in the capital.
Sun Shan was a little speechless when he saw Master Zheng's shining eyes. Master, I am asking you what books you need to read to take the exam for the scholar degree. Please don't look at me with envy.
Master Zheng did not disappoint Sun Shan and told him what he had heard about how the wealthy families took the imperial examinations.
After hearing this, Sun Shan roughly understood what books he needed to read in order to take the exam for the lowest "status" scholar.
Rich families start their education at the age of three or four and require their children to read primers such as "Three Character Classic", "Thousand Character Classic", "Youxue Qionglin", and "Sound and Rhythm Primer". These books have few words and simple content, and are mainly used to teach people how to recognize words.
After recognizing a certain number of characters, one enters the "primary school" stage, which mainly refers to the study of writing (character shape), exegesis (character meaning), and phonology (character pronunciation). The textbooks are "Liweng Duiyun", "Guangyun", "Erya", "Shuowen Jiezi", etc.