Training the Heavens

Chapter 248 Jishan Academy
In feudal society, ordinary people had an extremely low social status. They were burdened with heavy labor service, taxes, government, gentry, and clans, leaving them with almost no time to breathe. They could only barely survive by working all day.

Now that Zhang Xingjiu had passed the examination to become a scholar, he had finally escaped from his status as a commoner and became an upright person. He no longer had to kneel when he met the county magistrate, and he did not have to worry about being investigated when traveling around. He did not have to be harassed by corvee labor, and he also had many conveniences in taxation.

Because he had good test scores, he was also given a place as a student on government stipend, which means he could receive six dou of government rice every month and four taels of government stipend silver every year.

Of course, when it comes to actually collecting the money, the amount varies from place to place. The economic conditions in Shaoxing are better, so they can get more. If you add the income from guaranteeing candidates, Zhang Xingjiu can earn more money than Zhang Fuqing without doing anything all year round.

If he had been more creative, and had used his connections to ask for help from people in the government, or started some small business, or helped people with lawsuits, it wouldn't have been difficult for him to make dozens or even hundreds of taels of silver a year.

Kong Yiji lived such a miserable life. On the one hand, he failed to pass the examination to become a scholar, did not get the fame, and had not escaped from the status of a commoner. On the other hand, he was too pedantic because of his excessive reading and his brain was not active enough.

Zhang Xingjiu naturally would not do the same as him. After returning from the provincial capital, he went to the county school to register first. From then on, he could come to collect rice every month. Logically, he should continue to study in the county school, but in practice, there were not many scholars staying in the county school.

Those who were interested in the imperial examinations went to academies with better education quality, or went out to study. Those who were not interested in the imperial examinations were busy with their own careers, and only came to collect rice, silver, or show up when something big happened.

Then he returned to Sanwei Bookstore and solemnly thanked Shou Jingwu and Shou Pengfei, father and son, for their teaching over the past two years and their help in the imperial examination process.

It was really lucky for Zhang Xingjiu to meet people like Shou Jingwu and his son. If it were any other private tutor, let alone whether they were willing to accept him, the tuition fees and the expenses of pens, ink, paper and inkstone would be enough to give him a headache, not to mention the various troubles during the county, prefectural and academy examinations.

Shou Jingwu and his son were very pleased. "Xingjiu has achieved success now, but he can't slack off. He needs to continue studying hard."

"I will remember your teachings and continue to study hard in the future." Zhang Xingjiu promised solemnly, but the content he would read in the future might not be in line with Shou Jingwu's ideas.

After chatting for a few minutes, Shou Jingwu sent him away. "You passed the imperial examination, that's great news. You should hurry home to tell your parents and pay respects to your ancestors! Take a good rest at home these days, and come back to the academy to find me later. Pengfei and I will give you some advice on where you should study next."

"Oh, right, now that you've achieved fame, you should also have a name. I'll help you choose one! The Baozhang clan used the stars and earth to distinguish the lands of the Nine Provinces. Each of the fiefdoms they established had a star system to observe auspicious signs. They used the twelve years' phases to observe the auspicious signs of the world. They used the five clouds to distinguish good and bad luck, floods and droughts, and the signs of abundance and famine. They used the twelve winds to observe the harmony of heaven and earth and the signs of discord. All these five things were used to decree the restoration of government and to investigate and rectify affairs."

"Now that Jiuzhou is in turmoil and the situation is getting increasingly difficult, a young man like you should fulfill the will of heaven, comfort the people, and bring peace back to Jiuzhou. So your name should be Zhouping."

Shou Jingwu spoke without thinking. It was obvious that this word had been in his mind for a long time. Now the time had come and he just took it out.

"Thank you for the calligraphy, sir. I will keep it in mind." Zhang Xingjiu bowed again, then left the gift he brought back from Hangzhou and said goodbye.

Shou Jingwu certainly wouldn't accept an ordinary gift, so Zhang Xingjiu catered to his tastes by purchasing several books he had longed for but never had the chance to read from the Wanbi Bookstore in Hangzhou. Shou Jingwu finally accepted them. After leaving, classmates like Ah Zhang came to congratulate him. Those from more affluent families like Wu Shushen even prepared special gifts, perhaps with the help of their families. Zhang Xingjiu was only fourteen years old, and had already passed the examination to become a scholar. It wasn't impossible for him to pass the examination to become a juren or even a jinshi. Since his son had a classmate relationship with them, how could he not quickly establish a relationship? Otherwise, it would be too late to wait until his family became a juren.

Regardless of whether there were gifts or not, Zhang Xingjiu thanked them sincerely, invited them to a nearby restaurant for a meal, and then took a black-sailed boat back to Dupu Village in the afternoon.

As soon as he arrived at the village entrance, villagers came out to greet him, each one smiling broadly and saying, "Xingjiu, I heard you became a scholar?"

"I was lucky to win." Zhang Xingjiu greeted politely and returned home surrounded by everyone.

When Zhang Fuqing saw him, he immediately grinned and quickly asked his wife to light a fire and cook, to entertain these relatives and friends well. These people would not eat for free, and they brought fresh fish, white rice, cloth and other gifts from home.

Even the landlords and gentry in the village came to congratulate them with gifts, and sat down to drink a few glasses of wine with courtesy. As the saying goes, a fourteen-year-old scholar would be looked up to even in the capital, let alone in a poor place like Dupu Village?

Not only did they bring gifts, they also planned to find a good job for Zhang Fuqing. Some even planned to introduce a wife to Zhang Xingjiu. Zhang Xingjiu quickly declined on the grounds that he planned to study hard in the next few years. He didn't want to be like Ah Zhang and marry a wife with whom he could not communicate at all.

He didn't agree to the job. On the way back, he had already made up his mind to open a shop in Shaoxing City and buy some roughly processed local specialties. He had many ways of processing them in his mind, and his reputation as a scholar could also guarantee that no one would harass the shop.

With this shop, the Zhang family will be able to live a much more comfortable life, and his family members won't have to work as hard as they do now.

After staying in Dupu Village for a few days, I demonstrated to Zhang Fuqing how to process local specialties and quickly convinced them. Renting a shop was also easy. Wu Shushen's family had a lot of real estate, so after a visit, I rented a house with a shop in front and a yard in the back.

After hiring a few clerks who knew the business well, the shop opened. When the scholars in the county heard the news, they came to congratulate him. Seeing these products with obviously better appearance and quality, many people couldn't help but buy some to give to their relatives and friends from other places.

This shop quickly became famous. As long as nothing unexpected happened, it would bring the Zhang family an income worthy of a scholar's status every year.

Any more would be inappropriate. Nowadays, there are rules about how much money people can earn. Zhang Xingjiu doesn't intend to go too far.

After finishing all these, Shou Jingwu also helped her choose her next destination, which was the famous Jishan Academy in Shaoxing.

(End of this chapter)