Beiliang Province's Lingzhou was worthy of being called the Jiangnan beyond the Great Wall. Other than being rich, it also had a rare scholarly atmosphere in the northwest. Therefore, in the past few years, Lingzhou was a bit arrogant when facing Liangyou and Youzhou. The military strength of the garrison was far from being as valiant as Liangyou Province, but we have a lot of scholars here. It was a pity that after a young scholar called Chen Wang appeared in Youzhou, the scholars in Lingzhou became a bit sickly. Even though Sun Yin could be considered a scholar who had walked out of Lingzhou two days ago and his highest position was the Right Chancellor of the Imperial College in the capital, compared to Chen Shaobao who was in the center, he was clearly a great distance away. However, this kind of dispute could not affect a small place like Huan Sha Province's Huang Hua County. Huang Hua County was a lower county and was located at the westernmost part of Lingzhou. Huang Hua County was famous for being poor. Because it was in Lingzhou, Huang Hua County appeared even poorer. Every time the county magistrate of Huang Hua County went to the provincial capital and met a colleague of similar rank, it would be a torment. However, even though this place was poor, compared to Youzhou, which did not like books and swords and spears, Huang Hua County had dozens of villages of various sizes. Other than the government's voluntary school, almost every village had a private school. The wealthier villages and families even had ancestral schools. Therefore, the sound of children studying here was no less than other places in Lingzhou.
Li Xian was the most knowledgeable scholar in the Li Family Village. He was an old man who had been to Liyang's capital. However, it was said that he had failed the examination. He had traveled thousands of miles and returned thousands of miles. Logically speaking, if he had passed the examination, it would not be difficult for him to get a job in Huan Sha Province's government. Unfortunately, unfortunately, the scholars from the Central Plains had flooded into Lingzhou and someone had taken his position as a lecturer. Li Xian was originally from a poor family and could not make any connections. It was unknown whether it was because he was angry or not, but he simply returned to his village and opened a private school. There were seven or eight children from his village who were studying there and could barely make ends meet. It was impossible for him to save money to buy books. Moreover, Li Xian took the initiative to recruit a few children who did not have a surname to enter the private school. Not only did he have to pay for books, but he also took care of their meals and drinks. As a result, many girls of the age in the nearby villages who originally admired Li Xian backed off under the pressure of their parents.
Today, Li Xian carried a small pot of wine to the neighboring village. There were no official roads between the villages, only a small sandy path that was about ten feet wide. When the villagers and women met Li Xian, they would respectfully greet him as Mr. Li. Li Xian would also respond with a smile and chat for a while. Li Xian arrived in front of a hut by a stream and surrounded by a fence. An old hen and a group of chicks were looking for food, pecking and pecking. When Li Xian pushed open the wooden door, he saw a familiar figure walking in the distance. He smiled knowingly and stood at the door, waiting. The old man walked slowly with a hunched back, but he was hale and hearty. In his hand, besides carrying a pot of yellow wine sealed in mud, there were also some food wrapped in oil paper. The old man was the same as Li Xian, a teacher at the village's private school. However, compared to Li Xian, he had been teaching for more than twenty years. The old people in the surrounding villages all said that this guy surnamed Liu was an outsider whose ancestral home was from the Central Plains. His ancestors were very noble. When he first came here, he was very extravagant and was very imposing at that time. However, after so many years, no matter how rich his family's wealth was, it was likely that he had spent it all. Or perhaps he was really old and could not straighten his back.
Compared to the villagers, Li Xian knew more. There was no doubt that Mister Liu was a remnant of the Spring and Autumn Period. When Li Xian was traveling north, he passed by Beiliang. He should have continued north and followed the aristocratic families from the Central Plains into the southern dynasties of Beimang. However, when Mister Liu reached Beiliang, his family was in a mess. Some died of illness, some went missing, and some went crazy. In the end, it seemed that Mister Liu was the only one left. He survived muddle-headedly. Li Xian did not know the truth, and Mister Liu was not willing to talk about such trivial matters. In short, he took root in Beiliang and set up a private school. Due to his eccentric temperament, rigid and harsh personality, coupled with his strange nagging, the private school had always been deserted. If it were not for the fact that he knew some strange medical skills that even the local doctors could not understand, this old man would have starved to death long ago.
As for the person who brought the wine to visit the two of them, he was also an unknown teacher in Yellow Flower County. Li Xian's enlightenment of three hundred thousand was taught by this old man. The first time Li Xian kowtowed in his life was to the memorial tablet of Sage Zhang of the Confucian School and the old man who was a teacher. Now that he thought about it, this teacher's knowledge was neither high nor deep. He definitely could not compare to Mister Liu who hid his knowledge well. However, to Li Xian, who was already an official, a teacher was a teacher. He would not add a surname like how he addressed Mister Liu in front of him. The villagers did not have as much respect for this poor private school teacher as Li Xian, who believed in 'Teacher for a Day, Father for Life'. They liked to call him Old Baldy Wang. Incidentally, when some naughty children were working in the neighboring fields, or when the teacher borrowed money from their parents, they also dared to laugh and call him Old Baldy Wang. As for whether they would be beaten later on, that was another matter. The children in the village were all thick-skinned and could run around the mountain barefoot. So what if they were beaten a few times?
Li Xian's enlightened teacher, Wang Changqing, was not on good terms with Mr. Liu. The two old men were about the same age but had been through a lot. They quarreled from their middle age to their twilight years. Generally speaking, Mr. Liu's words were vague and vague. It would take a few years for people to realize what he had said. His words were not vicious at the moment. Wang Changqing's village slang was always eloquent. It was not very literary, but its lethality was not something that Mr. Liu could match. However, Mr. Liu was always calm and in an invincible position. Their quarrel often became like a chicken talking to a duck, or playing the lute to a cow. They never got tired of it. It had been more than 20 years.
This time, Li Xian took out money from his savings to buy a pot of Green Ant Wine because his teacher had just been taken over by someone else and had lost his job as a private school teacher. In a fit of anger, he was bedridden. The new teacher was even younger than Li Xian, who was nearing 30 years old. Li Xian had seen him once before. He spoke well and was a foreign scholar. Unlike the majority of scholars who went to Northern Liang to enter yamen, this scholar did not seem to like being an official. He was only interested in teaching. As for why he came to Northern Liang to teach, only God knew. However, there were also rumors that this scholar had fallen in love with a young lady in the village at first sight at the Yellow Flower County market. Therefore, he came all the way to the village to stay. Li Xian was a person who did not pay attention to the outside world when he was studying and was now teaching. He was not willing to investigate this matter. He felt that if it was true, then they could be considered a scholar and a beauty. Of course, he was willing to give his blessings to the lovers in his heart.
From the corner of his eyes, Li Xian had already seen the teacher who wanted to go out and bask in the sun. When he saw the two figures, he immediately retreated into the house. His legs were very nimble. He probably went back to his bed and pretended to be sick.
Li Xian and Mister Liu walked into the slightly dark room together. The latter slammed the rice wine and food on the small table and said angrily, "There's wine and meat today. Old Baldy Wang, if you can get up, then you and I can eat and drink until we're clean. If you don't get up, then I'll help you eat and drink in front of you!"
Wang Changqing, who was lying on the bed, snorted coldly, "Rice wine?"
Mister Liu said angrily, "If it's not rice wine, then is it Beiliang's Green Ant Wine?! If you want me to drink Green Ant Wine, then the sun will rise from the west! Drink it or not! "
Li Xian could only act as a peacemaker and said with a smile, "Teacher, I brought a pot of Green Ant Wine. Mister Liu has soy sauce meat. How about it?"
Only then did Wang Changqing slowly get out of bed. After getting up, he straightened his clothes.
Mister Liu sneered, "A monkey wearing a hat."
Wang Changqing slanted his eyes and said, "Look at the clothes I'm wearing. It's brand new! This year, I'll even buy a new set of clothes. Look at the clothes you're wearing that year after year. You're completely disgraced! "
Mr. Liu calmly said, "To be noble when there is nothing to do, to be rich when there is no need to sleep early, to be rich when there is no need to walk slowly as a carriage, to eat late as meat, to wear ragged clothes as a fur coat, this is to live in peace and happiness.
Wang Changqing rolled his eyes and said, "If you're poor, then you're poor. Do you have a reason for it?"
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