Daming talker

Chapter 644: Education of Nephews and Nephews
Today, the Lin Mansion in Canglang Pavilion is also decorated with lights and colors, and the whole family, young and old, men and women, gathered together in a joyous atmosphere.

When Lin Tailai entered the room, he saw his parents, brother, wife, concubines, and son were all waiting there.

Then he sent word out that Mr. Lin would not see any outside visitors today and tomorrow and would only reunite with his family.

After Lin Tailai greeted his parents, he accepted the greetings from his wife and children.

Now, among the three sons in Suzhou, Lin Jiuyi and Lin Jiuwu are both six years old, and the legitimate son Lin Shuangxi is also three years old.

Watching his three sons growing up and listening to their childish voices calling "Dad", Lin Tailai felt dazed and suddenly felt that he had lost something called youthfulness.

Madam Wang Shiwu took the opportunity to say to Lin Tai: "Jiuyi and Jiuwu are already six years old. They will be seven after the Chinese New Year. It is time for them to start to learn."

Although these two children are not Wang Shiwu's biological children, as the mistress of the main house, she still has to take care of some things.

And you have to pay more attention to it, otherwise people will gossip about you.

Hearing that they had just entered the house and before they had time to exchange pleasantries, the topic began to turn to children's education, Lin Tailai was in a daze again.

Not only have I lost my youthfulness, but middle-agedness is also approaching me at a rapid pace. Fortunately, I don't have to worry about buying a school district house.

Wang Shiwu just felt puzzled. Why did her husband always stare blankly after entering the house? Was he seduced by some wild woman outside?
She couldn't help but gently push Lin Tailai, "Husband, please say something!"

Lin Tailai came back to his senses, looked at Madam Fan and Huang Wuniang beside him, and asked, "What do you think?"

But what opinions could these two semi-illiterate people have? They could only leave it to Lin Tailai to make the decision.

Lin Tailai asked Wang Shiwu again, "Have you considered how to arrange it?"

Wang Shiwu replied: "If you want to be a teacher in the Lin Mansion, first, you must have talent and good moral character; second, you must teach for as long as possible to ensure continuity; third, it is better to have a certain background.

I had originally planned to let my elder brother teach my two younger brothers while he was doing his job at the government office.

But he suddenly encountered mourning and returned to Shandong, so he had to look for another famous teacher. "

The Wang family of Xincheng, Shandong, had strong educational strength in the imperial examination system, so there was naturally no problem in the original mansion respecting the king's ideas, but it was impossible for them to return to their hometown because they were in mourning.

Then Wang Shiwu continued, "I searched again in Suzhou and found an old gentleman who was born in the Hanlin Academy. He is truly respected and has a very high level of calligraphy and painting. He is now unemployed at home.

Moreover, this old Hanlin is a loyal and honest man who is not good at managing his life. He has left his house and garden in ruins. We are short of money at this time, otherwise we would not have been able to hire him.”

Lin Tailai said in surprise: "There are actually people like this?"

Looking at Zhang Fengyi, Wen Yuanfa, Zhang Youyu, Wang Laodeng and others, how could they not be clear about Suzhou's scholarly style and Lin Tailai?

In such an environment, it is really unusual that there is a Hanlin who can bankrupt his own family.

Or from another perspective, it proves that he is a kind person.

Wang Shiwu introduced him, "This person is a Jinshi in the second year of Longqing, and he is the oldest among the Shujishi of the same class."

Lin Tailai immediately felt that the name sounded familiar, and asked quickly: "Could this person be called Han Shineng?"

Wang Shiwu was not surprised. After all, her husband was also a figure in the Hanlin circle. "It seems that my husband has also heard that for such a person, my husband must personally invite him."

Lin Tailai said, "Don't worry about it. He has been recommended by the Prime Minister to be reinstated as a tutor for the Imperial Academy. He may even be given the title of Minister of Rites!"

Wang Shiwu was very disappointed, "For the sake of my two brothers, I have finally carefully selected such a teacher, but it's all in vain.

Given the status of our Lin family, not just anyone can teach the Lin family's children."

Lin Tailai suddenly remembered something and turned around and ordered, "Let Gao Changjiang represent the Lin family and immediately send a gift to Senior Han! Five hundred taels!"

If Han Shineng became a teacher of the Shujishi, he would have a certain say in the fate and stay of this batch of Shujishi, and five hundred taels of silver would not be expensive.

In fact, when it comes to his sons’ education, Lin Tailai wants to keep them by his side, teach them by example, and instill more “advanced ideas” in them.

But I have been running around and fighting in the past two years, and the child is too young to follow me, so I can only wait a few years.

As for now, Lin Tailai thinks it will be enough to find a teacher to teach the basic knowledge.

So Lin Tailai tried to say to Wang Shiwu: "You may as well let your wife teach these two brothers to read and write first, and then send them to Hengtang College after a few years to receive a more comprehensive education."

"No!" "No!" "No!" Wang Shiwu, Madam Fan, and Huang Wuniang said in unison.

Lin Tailai: "."

Are the educational philosophies between husband and wife so different?
Wang Shiwu seemed to be even more angry than his two biological mothers, Fan Niangzi and Huang Wuniang, and accused Lin Tailai:

"Both of you are my husband's flesh and blood, how can you favor one over the other just because of the difference between legitimate and illegitimate children?
It would be fine if they didn't invite a famous teacher to teach them, but how could they throw them into Hengtang College to hang out with those lowly people and learn those unorthodox ways?"

There is another meaning that Wang Shiwu did not express explicitly.

If she sent the two illegitimate sons to Hengtang College to roam freely, wouldn't she, as the legal mother, be seen by others as a narrow-minded and intolerant mistress?

Lin Tailai sighed deeply. Even though he had developed so many new industries and opened Hengtang College, his family still advocated traditional education and believed that learning the Four Books and Five Classics first was the right way. The transformation of people's minds is not something that can be achieved overnight, and it cannot be reversed by just a few years of hard work.

Cultivating oneself, managing the family, governing the country, and pacifying the world is a long and arduous task.

At this time, Old Master Lin deliberately changed the subject and said to Lin Tai: "Now that Brother Yi has grown up, I don't know what to do. As his uncle, you should also pay attention to it!"

The Yi brother mentioned by the old man is Lin Yi, the son of Lin Lao Da, and also the old man’s eldest grandson.

As the saying goes, the oldest son is the eldest grandson. Now that the eldest son Lin Tailai has become independent, the eldest grandson has become the old man’s treasure.

This year Lin Yi is exactly sixteen years old, which is considered an adult according to the customs at that time.

At this time, Lin Yi was standing behind the old man. He had grown into a big boy. When Lin Tailai first came here, his nephew was only about ten years old.

Lin Tailai said with a smile: "With my elder brother here, why should I worry about anything?"

Boss Lin, who was also present, said quickly, "This beast is so stubborn and always contradicts me! He can't study, and he can't work. I can't discipline him anyway, Ah Si, please give me a hand!"

Lin Yi smiled playfully and tried to please his uncle, the most powerful man in the family, without showing any signs of being naughty.

Lin Tailai glanced at his eldest nephew and said to his eldest brother, "I don't know what skills you have learned over the years. You can't even take care of your own son?"

Boss Lin responded very smoothly: "If you can do it, go ahead?"

Lin Tailai sighed, pointed at his nephew who was still smiling, and said to his elder brother:
"He's old enough, find him a wife! As the saying goes, it's the parents' orders and the matchmaker's words, isn't it up to you to decide?"

Boss Lin was puzzled. How could he handle this? Giving a hot-blooded young man a wife would not pose any threat, right?
Lin Tailai emphasized: "As the saying goes, marry a virtuous woman, and her beauty is not important, right?"

Boss Lin is an engineer after all, so if he still didn't understand, he would be really stupid, so he immediately slapped his thigh in joy.

Then he turned around and shouted at his son: "If you dare to talk back to me again, I will marry you the ugliest wife!"

The smile on the young Lin Yi's face gradually disappeared. His uncle was indeed a bureaucrat. He had a dark heart!
But he knelt down in front of his uncle without hesitation and shouted, "A good man has great ambitions. I want to follow my uncle and travel the world!"

Lin Tailai said with a half-smile: "You don't have to follow me to travel the world. If you really want to travel thousands of miles, I will send you to Shanghai Ship as an apprentice for a few years.

If you are really lucky and willing to work hard, I guarantee that you will become a little overlord who roams the East China Sea in the future.

Twenty or thirty years from now, he may have hundreds of warships and tens of thousands of sailors, and he may visit foreign lands and burn, kill, and plunder at will."

Lin Yi was confused. His uncle's big pie was too fantastic, wasn't it? Was this how you usually fool people in the court?

The old man said angrily: "He is still a child, why are you messing with him?"

Lin Tailai replied: "I didn't force you. It was all voluntary and fate."

While the Lin family was gathering together, in Taohuawu in the north of the city, Han Shineng, who was over 60 years old, squatted in his dilapidated garden, feeling sad.

There are so many people in Suzhou who are renovating gardens, why did he spend ten years turning the garden into a wasteland?

Also, I am obviously an expert in calligraphy and painting, so why is it that my works are sold for less than those of Lu Shidao’s son?

The life of a hermit in the countryside was really unbearable, so he had to respond to the call and go to the Hanlin Academy to serve as a tutor.

Suddenly, an old servant of the Han family led a group of people and hurried to the old scholar Han.

A middle-aged scholar bowed and said, "I am Gao Changjiang, the manager of Lin's residence. Nice to meet you, old scholar!
We in the Lin Mansion heard that the old scholar was about to go to the capital, so we specially presented him with 500 taels of silver as a token of respect!"

Old Scholar Han looked at the ten large silver ingots and said firmly, "This gift is too valuable. I am sorry that I cannot accept it."

Gao Changjiang replied in a somewhat overbearing manner: "In Suzhou City, no one can refuse a gift from our Lin Mansion."

This is not a threat, but the truth. The goodwill of the Lin family cannot be rejected.

Han Laoshi was stunned for a moment, then said: "I can accept the five hundred taels, and then I will go to the Lin Mansion to teach for five years.

Therefore, these five hundred taels of silver can be regarded as my advance payment for my tuition!"

Gao Changjiang couldn't quite understand the train of thought of this kind of person, so he could only say, "I can't make the decision on this matter, I need to go back and ask for instructions, but the old gentleman must accept these five hundred taels of silver today."

When Gao Changjiang returned to the Lin Mansion, a grand family banquet was being held.

After listening to Gao Changjiang's report, the ladies all expressed their welcome to the old scholar Han to come to the Lin Mansion to teach. Five hundred taels and five years was really not expensive to invite a teacher of the Hanlin scholar level.

But Lin Tailai spoiled the mood by saying, "Why do I need him to be a teacher? He would be really useful to me if he became a tutor to the Shujishi!

Lao Gao, please invite him over tomorrow. I want to talk to him in person!"

Next year is the year for the grand examination in the capital. The current batch of Shujishi will be disbanded and arrange their work. At the same time, the Hanlin Academy will select a new batch of Shujishi.

The teachers of the Shujishi can play an important role in all this, and this is what Lin Tailai values.

So the three ladies started arguing with Lin Tailai again, whether their sons’ studies were more important, or official calculations were more important?
(End of this chapter)