Chapter 608
Words:1422Update:22/06/25 06:02:31
Ma Zhou's heart tightened.
His eyes reddened involuntarily.
Who was he?
To put it bluntly, he was just a down-and-out scholar. If he hadn't met Zhang Feng, he might have starved to death in this famine. What did he do to deserve Zhang Feng's favor?
Was this the blessing of the ancestors?
It must be.
Ma Zhou hurriedly wanted to kneel, but Zhang Feng's cough woke him up. He didn't know whether to kneel or not.
He was so anxious that he scratched his ears and cheeks.
Seeing this, Zhang Feng couldn't help but smile.
"You don't have to do this. Although we are now teacher and student, if you don't want to, I won't force you …"
"Teacher, please rest assured. No matter what, I'm indebted to you for accepting me as your disciple. I will go through fire and water to repay you."
"Good, good, good. I'm relieved to hear your words."
Zhang Feng rubbed his hands and narrowed his eyes into slits.
He pulled Ma Zhou to sit on the bed beside him and said, "Let me tell you something first!"
"What does the Tang Dynasty need the most now?"
"Food!"
Ma Zhou didn't even think about it.
Zhang Feng asked again.
"Then why do we study?"
Why?
Ma Zhou couldn't help but be silent for a moment before he said, "If it were before, it would be to pass the imperial examinations and enter the official career to serve the Tang Dynasty."
"What about now?"
Zhang Feng asked again.
Ma Zhou was silent for a while before he said, "To save the people from water and fire. Now the Tang Dynasty has experienced countless disasters since the founding of the country. Now we are facing drought, locusts, and famine again. Although the wise emperor of the Tang Dynasty has set up the cooperative that is beneficial to the people, and you have also made beer."
"You took the wheat that sprouted from the poor people. In the eyes of others, you may be the kind of Bodhisattva who saves people from suffering, but more people say you are a prodigal. But I think if everyone in the world could be like you, there wouldn't be disasters in the world."
Zhang Feng was delighted to hear that.
Although he really didn't want to listen to flattery.
However, he still felt extremely comfortable when Ma Zhou flattered him.
Zhang Feng signaled Ma Zhou to continue.
Ma Zhou then said, "Actually, all of this was foreseeable. While everyone was working behind closed doors, the teacher put in twenty thousand dans of grain to suppress the price of grain. This forced the imperial court to lower the price of grain. What is this? This is carelessness! "
"This is also what we need."
"But in the Tang Dynasty, basically, out of ten people, ten of them are rough men who can't read big words. What's this? This was a crisis! If a country can't even popularize the most basic things, it's extremely dangerous. This is also why I thought about it for three days after I saw the imperial edict. Why did the teacher do such an unprecedented thing? Free! "
"Confucius once said in his book that one should not receive a reward for nothing, let alone knowledge. This is what I've been most confused about recently. Although I have a general idea after reading the contents of the imperial edict and seeing what happened on the mountain in the past few days …"
Zhang Feng interrupted Ma Zhou and asked, "You are right. Although my academy doesn't charge money, it is a little … However, I have a condition. Do you understand now?"
Ma Zhou nodded.
"This is also why I admire you the most. You use labor to replace labor! Although we don't charge money, we use another method to make up for it. However, this is only useful in the beginning. If we wait until Mount Yi is built, then this method will be … "
Zhang Feng waved his hand and said with a smile, "You are very good. There are not many people who can think of this now. Even Chen Tieniu and the others pestered me for several days because of this. I didn't expect you to be enlightened. In fact, this is also our task!"
"You're right. How can we free these poor commoners from their poverty? On one hand, we need the government to be benevolent. On the other hand, we need people like us to perfect it and then give it back to the commoners."
"This is also what Confucius taught us. I once saw a sentence in an ancient book. It is better to teach people to fish than to give them fish. This is my original intention of establishing this academy. Do you understand now?"
Ma Zhou could not help but be shocked.
Although he couldn't figure out where this sentence came from no matter how hard he racked his brain, the impact this sentence had on him, and what Zhang Feng was doing now really opened a door to him that he had never touched before.
Ma Zhou could not help but tidy up his clothes and bow respectfully.
"I understand!"
Zhang Feng saw that the time was ripe and said, "So, I will tell you one more thing."
"Teacher, please speak."
"I intend to hand over the matter of rearing pigs to you. They are the economic pillar of White Deer College. Are you willing to take over this heavy responsibility?"
"…"
Ma Zhou was dumbfounded.
After talking so much, all she wanted was for him to raise pigs?
At this moment, Zhang Feng added, "Don't worry. Every one of them who wants to study here will have a different task. This task will ultimately affect your academic credits. However, I can guarantee that after three years, no matter what, I will recommend you to the Ministry of Administration. Are you willing?"
What could Ma Zhou say?
He could only bow hurriedly.
"I will listen to Teacher's instructions!"
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