Qing Yao

Chapter 85 Don't Be Too Clever
Zhao An has moved to a new house.

The school mobilized more than a dozen staff members to help Principal Zhao and his family of three move.

As a professor of the seventh rank, one must be provided with a nanny, driver, and security guard.

These small matters, of course, did not require the principal's personal handling; they were all arranged by Vice Principal Ma Xuezheng. In total, the principal's household was provided with a cook, a cleaning lady, two security guards at the gate, and a personal chauffeur.

All expenses were covered by the academy, and the principal's family's oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, rice, flour, fruits, and vegetables were all specially supplied by the academy's canteen.

If a different principal were to come, relatives from his hometown would definitely come along. However, Zhao An's identity is problematic, so it's not easy to pull off the trick of "one person attains enlightenment and all his relatives and friends benefit."

He always felt that he was bound to get into trouble sooner or later in Yangzhou Prefecture. After all, his hometown, Xinghua, was a county under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou. Many people knew Zhao Youlu, who was no longer alive. He could reduce the risk of being exposed by keeping a low profile in the short term, but it was hard to say what would happen in the long run.

Therefore, he was determined to be transferred to another province, which led to his idea of ​​inviting someone from National Taiwan University to visit and guide him at the prefectural school.

Regardless of the outcome, let's make a good impression on the students at National Taiwan University first.

Zhao An currently has nearly ten thousand taels of silver notes; he can simply give three thousand taels to the Imperial Academy Secretary.

This money must be spent; we absolutely cannot be stingy with it.

The opinions of superiors were an important reference standard when the Ministry of Personnel selected and transferred officials.

Luo Chunlan, who came from a rural background, had never seen such a scene before. Holding her daughter Xiaoxiao, she stood there dumbfounded for a long time, feeling very uncomfortable with the respectful way people addressed her as "Madam," and also feeling a sense of unreality about the happy life she had suddenly acquired.

Zhao An was not surprised. After symbolically completing the housewarming ceremony, he returned to the prefectural school to take charge of all the work.

According to Zhao An, Ma Xuezheng has already drafted a system for students to study on a temporary basis and has requested permission to renovate ten vacant school buildings in the northwest corner of the prefectural school for temporary students to study.

The matter of enrolling students in schools was a lucrative project for Zhao An in Yangzhou, so he attached great importance to it and personally inspected the school buildings with his subordinates, including Ma Xuezheng and Tong Xundao.

Staff members were already cleaning the vacant school building when they saw the professor arrive, so they quickly came over to pay their respects.

Every face wore a genuine smile.

It's the effect of a wage increase.

"I've just come to take a look. You all go about your business."

Zhao An smiled and waved to the staff, indicating that they didn't need to worry about him. He then walked into a cleaned-up school building with Ma Xuezheng and others. After standing inside for a long time, he offered his suggestions for improvement.

It simply involves installing a large blackboard so that lessons can be taught with chalk, making it easier for teachers to impart knowledge and for students to take notes.

Blackboards are easy to make; just paint the wooden board black.

The practice of mixing lime with water to make strips or blocks of chalk has existed for a long time. It's even possible that folk craftsmen have already created real chalk, but it wasn't used for education.

Zhao An is now introducing educational concepts and tools from later generations into this era, hoping to see if he can make Yangzhou Prefectural School a shining example of education in the Qing Dynasty and add a brilliant achievement to his career as a professor.

Ma Xuezheng dared not neglect the principal's instructions, noting them down and finding someone to follow up later, trying his best to meet the principal's requirements.

"After the prefectural examination results are released, the matter of temporary enrollment must be put on the prefectural school's agenda. You must take this matter seriously, as it concerns whether our prefecture's academic achievements can reach a new level, and it also concerns the future of us school officials."

As Zhao An walked out of the classroom with his hands behind his back, he made minor adjustments to the specific details of the student transfer program.

Ma Xuezheng asked whether to recruit a group of teachers from outside the area, because with the increase in the number of students studying outside the area, the teachers at the prefectural school were too busy. Zhao An nodded slightly: "We should recruit, but we should recruit the best. You should arrange for people to visit famous teachers in Suzhou, Songjiang and other places. Whatever monthly allowance the local schools give them, our Yangzhou prefectural school will pay double."

Why hire renowned teachers from Jiangnan and offer them double the salary?
Ma Xuezheng stood there stunned. Wouldn't this increase the expenses even more?

"We, as educational officials, cannot be concerned only with the expenses of our prefecture or our own petty calculations. We must have a long-term vision, consider things from the students' perspective, and aim to comprehensively improve the educational level of our prefecture."

Zhao An's philosophy can be summarized in one point: if you want to run a good education, don't be afraid to spend money.

"With more renowned teachers, students' grades will naturally improve. Once our prefecture's quota of scholars and successful candidates exceeds that of Jiangnan, students from Jiangnan can also come to Yangzhou to study."

Ok?
Ma Xuezheng and his classmates were drawn to Principal Zhao's freshly baked pancakes.

If all the students in the province came to study here, wouldn't the prefectural school make a fortune?

Compared to future financial prospects, how much does it cost to hire a renowned teacher?

You can catch a wolf if you're willing to risk your cub!
Seeing that his subordinates had deeply grasped the essence of his goal to turn Yangzhou Prefectural School into an elite industrialized school, Principal Zhao was naturally gratified. Then his gaze was drawn to the empty walls of the school temple in the distance.

"grown ups?"

Ma Xuezheng was puzzled as to why the principal was staring at the empty wall.

The principal has already given instructions: "Find someone to write this sentence on the wall for me: 'There are no shortcuts on the path to success, but every step of perseverance and effort is the most solid road to success.'"

After saying that, he pointed to the empty temple in front of the academy and said, "Put up another sign for me. There are fifteen days left until the prefectural examination, so write 'Fifteen,' 'Tomorrow is the fourteenth,' and so on until the prefectural examination. This will not only remind the students that the prefectural examination is approaching, but also spur them to work hard and study diligently."

"I will arrange for someone to do it immediately."

Ma Xuezheng nodded without hesitation, but Instructor Tong, presumptuously interjected, "Sir, could you interpret what you just said as 'The sea of ​​learning is boundless, and diligence is the only boat; the mountain of books has a path, and diligence is the only way'?"

The idea is this: directly writing "Learning is like sailing against the current; diligence is the only way to reach the mountain of knowledge" is definitely better than writing a line of plain language on the wall.

It looks more professional.

Principal Zhao didn't like people smarter than him, so he glanced at Instructor Tong, who was waiting for praise, and walked away with his hands behind his back.

"Foolish! What the adults say goes. Why are you interrupting? Don't try to be clever!"

After glaring at Instructor Tong, Ma Xuezheng quickly followed with small, quick steps.

"I?"

Realizing he had made a mistake, Instructor Tong was so anxious he almost slapped himself. Seeing the professor walk away, he quickly pulled up his slightly loose pants and chased after him.

"My lord, what I meant was... I meant no other than..."

The professor's grim expression made Instructor Tong not only unable to speak fluently, but also unable to know what he wanted to say.

Seeing this, Ma Xuezheng tried to smooth things over, but just as he was about to speak, the principal suddenly stopped, pointed to the empty walls of the academy, and asked, "Do you think it would be good to write 'Born into the Wenhua Hall, die into the Ziguang Pavilion' on the walls to encourage students to strive for excellence?"

(End of this chapter)