Chapter 78

In the Great Ming Dynasty, land must have confirmed ownership. It's convenient for the imperial court to check who owns which land and how much tax should be paid, to prevent others from evading taxes. The rest is similar to other dynasties.

Officials can own land under their names, but they cannot engage in business. Starting from the level of a child student, for every level up, one can have a certain tax exemption quota.

It's not that once you become a high official, you can have unlimited tax exemption; otherwise, how would the imperial court support the army?

Qiao Mai inquired: child students can be exempt from five mu of tax, scholars from twenty mu, provincial graduates from fifty mu, metropolitan graduates from one hundred mu, bachelors from five hundred mu, and grand secretaries from one thousand mu.

For statuses below metropolitan graduate, the imperial court no longer issues salaries after tax exemption. For those without land at home, a provincial graduate is given five taels of silver a month, a scholar is given one hundred catties of flour, and a child student is given ten catties.

It seems the laws of the Great Ming Dynasty are relatively sound, and the distribution is relatively reasonable, especially in terms of taxation, which made Qiao Mai, a modern person, feel a tiny bit of fairness.

Of course, just a tiny bit. After all, this is a feudal society; fairness does not exist.

All systems are for the rulers to better govern this country.

After signing the documents, Qiao Mai paid a deposit of five hundred taels in silver notes and then took Ling'er home.

"Yes, I brought the teacher to the house to take a look."

"Greetings, Teacher!"

Miss Wang, who was on the side, chuckled and tugged at Qiao Mai's clothes.

Qiao Mai rolled up her sleeves, went to the kitchen, and took out the ready-made dishes she had bought in modern times from the freezer in her space.

"My family was poor, and I audited classes at the school when I was young."

Qiao Mai heard the commotion in the bedroom, held Ling'er, and went to the living room. Once she saw the scene, she knew what was going on.

"Hmm, I'm hungry, let's eat first."

"Wrong. Constant dripping wears away the stone. An army is strong because it is composed of every soldier. The things you learn—if you don't have them, you are just talking on paper."

Seeing so many people, he only recognized Miss Wang and hurriedly lowered his head and bowed.

"After testing, none of you have a foundation. You must know that the foundation is the most important thing. Just like when a child is born, if the foundation is not good, the body will be very poor and always sick. But if you just want to learn to read, this is already completely enough."

She intended to heat these things up to whet the old gentleman's appetite, and occasionally bring out one or two things when there was nothing else. Otherwise, if he got enough of it all at once, what else would she have to attract him?

"She said she would buy a new house after the New Year."

Old Master Wang was amused by Chuan'er's actions. He sat at the table, drank a cup of tea, and began to ask questions, with Yuan Jiaqi accompanying him on the side.

"Oh? Tell me, what are your ambitions?"

"Grandpa, my father is very smart. He has great ambitions."

The old man looked her over. She was an ordinary person, but this spirit and this bearing were not something that could be cultivated by people in a small town.

"I like it, I love eating it very much."

She took her grandfather and younger brother inside. When they reached the living room, Feng'er, Yun'er, and Chuan'er were reading and writing. Seeing guests, they hurriedly put down the books in their hands, stood up, and bowed.

Wang Zihan pointed at the two racks in the corner, "Eat."

"Please, Teacher, instruct the students."

"Yes."

"Bring it here for me to see?"

"Hehe, want to have something fresh?"

Yuan Jiaqi returned to the room and brought the book he had half-copied to Old Master Wang.

"This house is not big."

Yuan Jiaqi gave a bitter smile, "I didn't have money to buy books. In order to see books, I practiced my handwriting diligently, and only then was I able to see many books by copying them."

Just as they arrived home, Miss Wang's carriage stopped at her door.

"Miss Wang is here, please come in."

On this side, Feng'er and the others had already brought tea. Old Master Wang looked at the three children of this family; each one was bright and clear. There was no need to teach them; just looking at the liveliness in their eyes, he knew these three children were teachable.

It was at this moment that Yuan Jiaqi realized the old gentleman was a truly learned person.

"Hmph, you are quite protective of her."

"Hmm, you must be Lady Qiao?"

Chuan'er went up and took Old Master Wang's hand, "Grandpa, come eat. This is made by my mother; it's clean and delicious. Would you like to taste it?"

"Have you ever read any books?"

"Please, Teacher, instruct us. There is no end to learning; the students want to learn more knowledge."

"Grandfather, this is Sister Qiao's home."

"That's a nice way to put it. If it weren't for the long distance and the difficult road, I should have been the one to take my family over to pay a New Year's visit."

"My grandfather is a metropolitan graduate from the first rank; he's a hundred times better than a provincial graduate."

"Greetings, Aunt, greetings, Grandpa, greetings, Little Uncle."

"Watch the children for me; I'll treat you all to a good meal at noon."

A flash of light appeared in Old Master Wang's eyes, "Not bad. To be a useful person—useful to the family, useful to the people, useful to the country. In fact, as long as a person is alive, regardless of the size of their achievements, they are useful. It's not just reading and becoming an official that is useful."

With food, Wang Zihan stopped making a fuss and sat obediently at the table to eat.

"Qiao Mai greets Teacher."

The Feng-Yun brothers and Chuan'er looked at Qiao Mai. When she nodded, the three little ones went to the kitchen to get plates, filled each one to the brim, and brought them to the table.

Everything was already prepared, and there were still many seafood dishes that hadn't been brought out yet.

"Please sit, we'll go brew some tea."

"Does your grandfather like eating fish and shrimp?"

"The students understand. Great things have great uses, small things have small uses."

"Hehe, since you've figured out who the teacher is, I won't hide it from you. This is my grandfather. At home, he keeps complaining about being bored, so I thought I'd find him something to do. Whether there's tuition or not doesn't matter; just let him eat well and drink well. Like me and my younger brother, he loves to eat."

He nodded after seeing Yuan Jiaqi's handwriting, "Your handwriting is not bad, but it's too conventional. You must have your own style. Seeing the handwriting is like seeing the person."

"I heard you copy books at home?"

"Hmph, forget it. I know your narrow-mindedness well enough. You and your younger brother both have your eyes on her family's food."

"Travel ten thousand miles, read ten thousand books, apply what you've learned, and for the imperial court and the people, be a useful person."

"Oh my, you're getting more sensible and more polite; it's a joy to look at you."

He asked the children first, and then asked him last.

Wang Zihan also came along. He went up and patted the door hard, and Yuan Jiaqi came out to open it.

"Hehe, Grandpa, don't you like those foods?"

"Hmph!"

Qiao Mai didn't stand on ceremony either and shoved Ling'er to Miss Wang.

"That's for sure. She is the only woman my granddaughter recognizes; otherwise, who else could make this young lady call them sister?"

"Then there's no way to handle it."

Miss Wang went up and took her hand, "Sister Qiao, I was busy at home during the New Year and didn't come over. Don't be angry with me."

"Yes."

"Start cooking, my grandfather is hungry!"

"Teacher is right."

After saying this, she winked at Qiao Mai, and Qiao Mai smiled, "No problem."

Pickled fish, braised prawns, three-delicacy spicy blood curd, garlic oysters, stir-fried squid rolls, steamed crab, scallops with vermicelli, steamed sea bass, stir-fried sea cucumber, stir-fried clams, cheese shrimp balls, and finally, an Australian salt and pepper lobster.

Fortunately, the space has a replication function; otherwise, she really wouldn't be willing to take these things out.

She looked at the appearance of the three of them and immediately knew who this old gentleman was.

"I heard you've never been to school?"

Old Master Wang glanced at him and then at the three children, but didn't answer. Chuan'er peeled a chestnut and stuffed it into Old Master Wang's mouth.

These were her favorites. After the food was delivered to her home, she hadn't even had time to enjoy them before coming here. If it weren't for this old man loving this, and her wanting to use this to keep him, how could she possibly have taken them out?

Some of these dishes were heated in a large pot, some were roasted in the oven in her space, and some were microwaved.

In short, the kitchen door was bolted, and she fiddled inside for a long time before the dishes were finally ready.

Old Master Wang's eyes went straight when he saw the table full of fish, shrimp, and seafood dishes. He pointed at them excitedly.

(End of chapter)