Chapter 118: Hanging Hair from the Beam, Pricking the Thigh with an Awl

Seeing the state of the three, Yan Ning said, "Rest assured, I am not here to find fault; I have come to discuss a matter with you."

Once they arrived at the Village Chief's house, Yan Ning said, "I intend to build Official Schools in various places, but the funds are insufficient. I thought of erecting a Merit Stele; anyone who donates money will have their name carved onto it. The names of the top three donors will be in larger characters, and they may also have a short biography carved after their name."

"Of course, this money is not mandatory; it is entirely voluntary."

The Village Chief could not help but ask, "What are these Official Schools for? And why come to the village to build them?"

Yan Ning said, "Official Schools are for the village children to study in. There will be schools in both villages and towns, and we will hire scholars to teach. Children can attend without paying tuition."

Village Chief Jin of Taowu Village could not help but ask, "This... how much silver would that cost..."

Yan Ning was dead serious, "We have roughly calculated the accounts; it may cost five million taels of silver. That is why I thought of building a Merit Stele to see if anyone would donate."

"If not, the schools will still be built, just a bit more slowly."

The three village chiefs and the Village Chief were all somewhat astonished.

Five million taels of silver?!

This silver is actually being used to open schools for the village children?!

The Village Chief felt a bit dazed.

Could he have misheard?

Yan Ning continued, "I know it is not easy for village children to study. Besides the Official Schools, I have also promoted methods for making paper and ink, as well as Bamboo Pens that cost two wen each, to minimize the burden of studying."

Others might not have thought of it, but the Village Chief's eyes grew somewhat moist.

Waiving tuition was already quite good, but this person was actually thinking of saving them the cost of the four treasures of the study. This was likely to have every child in the entire village go to school.

The Village Chief said, "Rest assured, I will go speak to a few of the local gentry."

Yan Ning followed along, and as it turned out, Master Lin of Taowu Village and Master Li of Shiqiao Village were each competing to be the first to donate.

This was a Merit Stele to be erected next to the school; students would see those large characters every time they came and went, and who knew, perhaps a few great figures might emerge from this school.

Master Li gritted his teeth, "I will give two hundred taels!"

Master Lin, "Then I will give three hundred taels."

"Four hundred taels."

"Five hundred taels. Since we are building a school, let us build it large and impressive!"

Under their contention, one gave nine hundred taels of silver, and the other gave one thousand taels of silver.

Others in the village with a little extra money also came to donate, with bits and pieces of five or ten taels rolling in, and in the end, they actually donated two thousand two hundred taels.

Yan Ning said with a smile, "From this money, we will take one thousand taels to build the school, three hundred taels to repair the roads, and the remaining nine hundred taels will be used to buy brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones for the students. Every expenditure will have a detailed record. Do you have any objections?"

Master Lin, who had secured the top spot with one thousand taels, said with a smile, "No objections."

The villagers were also very grateful.

Yan Ning left, satisfied.

The several villages on the outskirts of the Capital were all the same.

The ministers were shocked by Yan Ning's unconventional tactics.

The silver donated by the local gentry was actually more than expected.

If that were not enough, Yan Ning was actually using this silver to buy brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones for the students.

Nine hundred taels of silver would be enough for the school to buy brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones for several years. If they bought cheap paper, brushes, and ink, it would not be used up in ten years, right?

The people Yan Ning sent to other villages also obtained quite a lot of money, and there was even a rice shop owner who donated two thousand taels of silver directly.

The ministers' hanging hearts finally died.

The Minister of Revenue regretted his initial actions; why did he have to mention the lack of money?

If they were not repairing gardens or fighting wars, three or five hundred taels could still be scraped together.

If he had agreed at the time, perhaps many people would have given up because of the high price of brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.

Now, it was better; as long as people went, everything was prepared for them.

Those local gentry and wealthy families also had more money than they knew what to do with.

The most miserable were those children of noble families.

The children of the Wang family and the Xie family studied at the Clan School, and now they got up before dawn every day to recite books, and those who did not pass had to recite at night as well.

Xie Luyan had returned from the front lines.

He returned to the Xie family and was surprised to find that his nephew, who used to get a headache at the sight of a book, was now hanging his hair from the beam and pricking his thigh with an awl.

Xie Luyan found it strange.

The Xie family in the imperial court consisted mostly of civil officials; only Xie Luyan was a military general.

This nephew had previously said he wanted to go to the frontier with him to be a general and did not want to study.

Yet, he was now studying so diligently.

Xie Luyan looked at his eldest nephew, "You actually have times when you are this hardworking."

Xie Jiayou was almost crying; seeing his uncle, he let out a torrent of words:

"Uncle, you do not know how strict the teacher at the Clan School is. We have to recite books every day, there are assessments every month, and a major assessment every half year. If one does not achieve Grade A in the assessment, family law will be served."

"Uncle, boo-hoo, I really want to be a military general."

Xie Luyan, "You, a military general? You would not even be able to run away when the enemy arrives. You had better obediently prepare for the Imperial Examination."

Xie Jiayou could not hold it together this time.

Xie Luyan saw that he was actually crying and was startled, "What has happened to you?"

Xie Jiayou, "Boo-hoo..."

Xie Luyan asked, "Why are the requirements of the Clan School so high? Has something happened recently?"

Xie Jiayou wiped his tears and said with a sob, "It is because the Imperial Crown Princess wants to set up Official Schools in every village and town, allowing everyone to study for free, and even providing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. That is why the Clan Head has gone mad."

Xie Luyan, "The Clan Head has not gone mad; you indeed need to study hard."

Xie Jiayou continued to cry: "Wuwu, but the Imperial Examination is so hard. The Emperor dismisses officials at the drop of a hat, so wouldn't my years of study be for nothing? I might as well go to the battlefield."

Xie Luyan patted his shoulder, leaving him to fend for himself.

He hadn't expected Yan Ning to come up with some new things again; no wonder these people were anxious.

But Xie Luyan knew nothing about the Imperial Examination, so he said: "You should study well; they might not be able to invite a Recommended Scholar to be a Master."

Xie Jiayou felt even worse; as he moved, he tugged at his hair, and for a moment, it hurt terribly.

"Hiss—"

Xie Jiayou sighed and said to Xie Luyan: "No, they can get a Presented Scholar to be a teacher. The Prefecture School has teachers who are Presented Scholars; as long as you can pass the entrance exam, anyone can study."

Xie Luyan was surprised.

Could the ministers in the imperial court agree to this?

Thinking this, he asked it out loud.

Xie Jiayou was somewhat helpless: "Of course they can't object. Even without the Prefecture School, with cheap paper and brushes, those students from humble backgrounds can still study."

Xie Luyan didn't know what to say either; he only felt that the world was about to change.

The Emperor must want to break the situation where noble families monopolize the Imperial Examination.

Xie Luyan began to worry about the future of the Xie family.

Imperial Study.

Seeing that the ministers had all left, Yan Ning whispered to her father: "These ministers, respectful on the surface, have been gossiping about the two of us behind our backs."

Yan Ze said happily: "As long as they don't gossip to my face, it's fine. At worst, I'll just stop being this Emperor."

Yan Ning hurriedly said: "Father, you still need to be Emperor for a few more years; you must let people get used to the government-run School."

Yan Ze began to worry: "I mentioned a one-year trial period; what if they want to change the Emperor because I've dismissed too many officials?"