Liaozhai: A scholar should draw a sword

Chapter 183 The Heavens Chain Academy
Zhou Yu returned to his hometown again.

When I was in the world of Liaozhai, the original owner returned home after winning the prize of Juren.

This time, Zhou Yu himself won the exam, and he was the No. 1 Jieyuan in the provincial examination, which is even more beautiful.

Even Song Zhi, the county magistrate, went to greet him outside the city in person, as solemnly as welcoming the number one scholar back home.

Of course, this is mainly because of their previous relationship.

Many squires and scholars in the city also visited the house one after another, and it was crowded with people for a while.

After all, a Xie Yuan could be considered a celebrity not only in Qiantang County, but also in the entire Jiangnan.

Zhou Yu would not refuse anyone who came to visit, because he had his own plans.

A few days later, Zhou Yu distributed invitations widely, and hosted a banquet in the largest restaurant in the county town for all the people who came to visit, including all the officials of the county government.

During the meeting, Zhou Yu announced one thing: he is going to establish an academy, and I hope everyone will support it.

This is the plan to establish the Tiantian Chain Academy.

When they heard that Zhou Yu was going to establish an academy, everyone expressed their congratulations and support.

It's just a matter of politeness, I have to say something.

Song Zhi supported him wholeheartedly, and made a special trip to find Zhou Yu the next day to discuss this matter.

As soon as they met, Song Zhi cupped his hands again to congratulate him: "I have long seen that Mr. is not ordinary, and sure enough, this exam will make you high school Jieyuan.

Here, Mr. Song congratulates Mr. the champion of the high school in the capital examination! "

Unexpectedly, Zhou Yu smiled and waved his hands: "I will not participate in the test..."

"Ok?"

Hearing this, Song Zhi was a little dazed.

"Why don't you participate? With Mr.'s talent, even if you don't win the number one scholar, it will be like picking something out of a bag."

Regarding this, Zhou Yu was not humble, and replied: "The reason why I don't want to take part in the examination is because I don't want to be an official. It's enough to have a good reputation, and I can concentrate on learning at home."

"So that's the case. Mr.'s ambition is really different and admirable."

"The adults have won the prize."

"By the way, the master said that he wants to establish an academy. I wonder if there is a suitable place?"

"Not yet, I just have this plan and am looking for a place."

"That's right!" Song Zhi smiled and said, "If sir is free, you might as well go with Song to see a place."

"Oh? Is it possible that the adults have a ready-made land?"

"Mr. will know when he goes."

Afterwards, Song Zhi accompanied his master and two yamen servants, and took Zhou Yu out of the city.

After walking not far, Zhou Yu saw a mountain villa from a distance, backed by green hills and facing the West Lake.

"Master Song is talking about this villa?" Zhou Yu couldn't help asking.

"That's right!" Song Zhi nodded.

"This... this villa is worth a lot of money, right?"

After all, this place is very close to the county seat, but it's just a meal.Based on this position and this scale, I am afraid that it will cost 3 to [-] taels of silver.

Song Zhi sighed and said, "Under normal circumstances, it is indeed worth a lot of money, but this villa is ownerless."

"An unowned thing?"

"Yes, as far as I know, the previous owner of this villa was named Lei, and it is said that he was a wealthy businessman from the north.

But later, the government received a secret report that this person turned out to be a well-known thieves in the north. He couldn't stay in the north any longer, so he took a group of men and fled to Qiantang, where they built this villa.

After receiving the secret report, the then magistrate of Qiantang County, Huitong Fuya, launched a secret investigation and finally confirmed the identity of the other party.

Therefore, people were mobilized to rush into the villa to arrest them at night, and the two sides fought fiercely.

According to the file records, a total of 78 people died in the villa in that battle..."

"So, this is a haunted house?" Zhou Yu couldn't help but ask.

Song Zhi smiled wryly and nodded: "Well, after the opponent is wiped out, this villa will be taken over by the Qiantang County Government.

After three county magistrates before and after, it has been idle, because those who have no money can’t afford it, and those who have money don’t want to buy it.

After all, dozens of people died in this yard, and the rich inevitably felt a little bit jealous. Secondly, this guy named Lei was a big thief, and some people worried that his subordinates would come to retaliate.

However, Mr. Song knows that Mr. Song is not an ordinary person, so he will take you to have a look. "

"Well, let's take a look."

Zhou Yu wouldn't care about the situations Song Zhi said, what kind of haunted house would he care about?Would you care about reckless revenge?

If the price is right, then take it, and simply modify it to recruit students, saving time, worry and effort.

After entering, there was indeed a gloomy atmosphere, and even a faint smell of blood.

The yard was overgrown with weeds, a desolate scene.

The county magistrate around Song Zhi was quite stable, but the master and the two yamen servants were a little frightened.

One of the yamen servants couldn't help but said: "I heard that in the middle of the night, you can faintly hear the sound of fighting above this courtyard, as well as screams and cries..."

"Stop talking..." another yamen servant quickly drank.

Firstly, he was afraid to say it, and secondly, he thought that the adults wanted to fool Zhou Yu into buying the villa. Wouldn't it be a waste of business to say so?

"Hehe..." Song Zhi smiled: "It's okay, I have heard of these legends, and I can't say I believe them all, nor can I say I don't believe them.

Anyway, that's about it, sir, make up your own mind. "

Zhou Yu nodded, wandered around in a big circle, and was generally satisfied.

The layout of this villa is still very reasonable. I think the person surnamed Lei found an expert who is proficient in this way to design.

Generally speaking, there is a Jiangnan garden style, and there are many houses. Different functional areas can be delineated as teaching dormitories and rest areas.

When he saw that it was almost the same, Zhou Yu asked, "I don't know what the price of this villa is?"

Song Zhi replied: "To tell you the truth, the county government initially set the price at 5000 taels, but no one cared about it. Later, it dropped again and again until it was 1 taels, but still no one asked.

After that, it has been left idle, and the previous county magistrate remembered it again, and dropped another 2000 taels, making the price [-] taels..."

Hearing this, Zhou Yu knew what was in his mind, and couldn't help but smiled and said, "No one bought it in the end."

"Yes!" Song Zhi nodded.

This is understandable.

As Song Zhi said at the beginning, people without money can't afford it, and people with money don't want to buy it.

Coupled with the fact that it has been idle for many years, it will cost a lot of money to renovate it after buying it. The longer it drags on, the less people will buy it.

Afterwards, Song Zhi said again: "If sir is willing, Mr. Song can negotiate with the government office to see if the price can be 5000 taels."

Hearing this, Zhou Yu didn't bargain, and nodded with a smile: "Okay, then there will be Mr. Lao Song."

"Oh? Sir, you really want to buy it for 5000 taels?"

"Well, 5000 taels is not expensive, and Zhou doesn't care about what your lord said before.

Scholars are righteous, so why be afraid of a haunted house?When there are too many people, the filth will dissipate. "

"Hahaha, okay, sir is really extraordinary, so it's decided. Zhou will ask his superiors for instructions when he gets back, and give sir an answer as soon as possible."

"Thank you sir."

In fact, even at the price of 8000 taels offered by the previous magistrate, Zhou Yu would still buy it.

After all, if he bought the land and built it himself, it would cost far more than 8000 taels on such a large scale.

The key point is that the location is quite good. It is surrounded by mountains and rivers, and it is very close to the city.

After returning, Zhou Yu found the four beautiful wives, Bai Min'er, Bai Suzhen, Mo Chou, and Yingning, and told them about the villa.

"Great, this will save a lot of trouble." Bai Min'er said with a surprised face.

"Yeah!" Bai Suzhen also nodded with a smile: "At that time, the few of us will go together, and the yard will be clean soon."

It would be quite time-consuming and labor-intensive for ordinary people to clean the villa, and it would take several days just to clean the weeds inside.

However, for the four women, that means talking and laughing time.

You don't need to dirty your hands, just cast a small spell to make those weeds disappear without a trace.

Therefore, if Zhou Yu bought that villa, it would not cost much to renovate it.

A few days later, Song Zhihuan came to the door happily and said that he had discussed with his superiors. The superiors heard that Zhou Yu was used to run the academy, so they offered to give up some more at a price of 500 taels.

After all, 500 taels is not a decimal number, and the villa is also idle if it is idle, so it is better to turn it into cash and store it in the warehouse.

On the same day, Zhou Yu collected all the silver and handed it over to the county government, and Song Zhi personally issued the land deed for Zhou Yu.

Since then, the villa has changed owners, and Zhou Yu has become the new owner of the villa.

It was evening after returning, but the women were still happy and followed Zhou Yu to the villa.

Once in the yard, Bai Min'er couldn't help saying: "Sure enough, this yard is full of resentment and murderous intent."

Zhou Yu smiled and said, "It's normal. There were officers, soldiers and bandits who fought in the courtyard at that time. Dozens of people died. Of course, there will be residual resentment and murderous intent."

Bai Suzhen said: "It's nothing, just cast a spell to resolve it."

Within a few days, the yard changed drastically. The yard became clean and the waste soil and weeds disappeared.

Moreover, Zhou Yu also discussed with Song Zhi, and spent an extra 1000 taels of silver to buy all the sloping land on the back of the villa for future expansion.

Next, Zhou Yu started planning.

After discussion with the whole family, it was decided that the family would also move to the villa, but it should be separated from the academy. Home is home, and academy is academy.

After several revisions, the plan was finally settled.

For the new home, more than ten acres have been newly allocated for construction. At that time, a canal will be dug to bring water from the West Lake into the courtyard for circulation.

The main body of the academy is the mountain villa, and a large area is expanded on the hillside as a school ground, which is convenient for students to practice horseback riding, archery and physical fitness.

In a word, the purpose of Zhou Yu's establishment of the academy is not to allow students to read dead books, but to return to Confucian orthodoxy as in the world of Liaozhai.

Next, craftsmen were found to start construction and reconstruction, including the required furniture, which was also built simultaneously.

A few days later, Luo Ji'an finally came to the door.

After all, he won Juren, and he has a lot of things to do after returning, such as worshiping ancestors, socializing, and many people came to visit him.

Affiliation is a custom that has been passed down for a long time, and it is also a kind of welfare given to Juren by the imperial court.

Under the ancient background, the rule that the imperial power does not descend to the county has always been followed, that is to say, the imperial court appoints officials only to the county level.

The villages and towns adopt the method of self-government by the gentry, and only when major cases are encountered will they be reported to the county government.

General matters are handled by the local gentry themselves.

Among the local gentry, the status of juren is undoubtedly very important, equivalent to half of the court order.

In order to appease Juren from all over the country, the imperial court granted various privileges and benefits.

Not only are Juren himself and his family members exempted from corvee taxes, but they are even exempted from corvee taxes on farmers attached to their names.

Of course, there is a limit to this. If there is no limit, then all farmers will go to rely on it. Where will the court collect grain?Where are the soldiers collected for labor?
Therefore, according to various factors such as the number of local recruits and population, the local governments will set different limits.

If there is only one juren in a township, then the number of households and fields allowed to join will be correspondingly more.

If there is more than one Juren, the number will be reduced accordingly.

Luo Ji'an was lucky. The township he was in hadn't had a Juren for many years, so after he won the Juren, it was naturally very beautiful.

According to the rules, he can accept [-] households under his name. If the property under his own name does not exceed [-] mu, he will be exempted from paying taxes, and the property under his name will be exempt from tax on [-] mu of land.

Now, there are more people looking for him.

Many families dragged their children with their mothers, and the whole family took refuge in him.

Of course, taking refuge is not just a nominal affiliation, but only a nominal affiliation, what kind of welfare can a person be called?
After the affiliation, although they do not pay taxes to the imperial court, they need to pay money or food to the affiliated Juren, but compared with the imperial court's taxes, it saves a lot, and the most important thing is that they do not need to serve corvee.

Some rich local households even sent real money to seek support. They were not to save taxes, but mainly to exempt from corvee, and at the same time to curry favor.

Therefore, the poor scholar who was always looked down upon by others suddenly became the object of everyone's vying to please.

Luo Ji'an was not overjoyed by this, he only agreed to join two rich families, and these two families have a good reputation in the local area, not the kind of people who are rich and unkind.

For the remaining places, try to let some poor families be affiliated with. After all, he is also a child of a poor family and knows the suffering of the poor.

"Jian, hahaha, what wind brought you here."

As soon as they met, Zhou Yu came forward to greet him affectionately, but there was no such kind of ostentatious politeness, such as saying that you are here, and you are flourishing.

After all, the two sides are already very familiar with each other.

"I'm sorry, I've been delayed by something, otherwise I should have come to visit..."

When Luo Ji'an saw the four daughters Bai Min'er, Bai Suzhen, Ying Ning, and Mo Chou come out to say hello, he was completely dumbfounded.

At the beginning Zhou Yu only said that they were married, but he never expected... to be a four-bedroom wife?And each of them is as beautiful as a fairy, what a blessing this is?How much financial resources can do it?
This time, Luo Ji'an's clothes are much brighter. After all, he is a Juren, with status and status, so he can't deliberately wear old clothes.

After some chatting, Zhou Yu learned something about Luo Ji'an's current situation.

At the same time, he also mentioned the matter of establishing an academy by himself.

"Ah? Brother Zhou, what do you mean, you won't go to the test?"

"Correct!"

"This...isn't it a pity? At first, I thought Brother Zhou might have a chance to win three yuan."

Zhou Yu smiled: "Perhaps it's not weird to win the top prize. If I really want to win, if I say I don't want to be an official, won't the emperor be furious?"

"This……"

Logian didn't know what to say for a while.

Others dream of being the number one scholar in high school, but Zhou Yu actually avoids it because he doesn't want to be an official.

How can this embarrass other students?

(End of this chapter)