Be a small county magistrate in ancient times

After receiving Meng Changqing's affirmation, Yang Zheng said happily: "This is a great thing! My wife discussed with me a few days ago that she wanted to send the child to Yangmen County to study.

Now that our county is going to open a school, it will save the children from having to run to Yangmen County.

To be honest, I was a little worried about sending my child to Yangmen County, but now it’s fine.”

Yang Zheng's excitement faded and he asked again, "Do we need to build a school specially, or use the existing vacant buildings in the county? And do you have any candidates for teachers?"

"The school still needs to be built, but before it's completed, let the children take classes in an empty room." Meng Changqing replied, "As for the teacher, find someone in the government office to take his place first."

"Who do you think is suitable?" When Yang Zheng asked this question, he went through all the people in the yamen in his mind. Some of them could read, but they were not yet able to teach others. So there were only Lord Meng's family members. When Yang Zheng thought of this, a person suddenly popped up in his mind.

"The master is quite good. He is very patient in teaching us the moves. He often says that he has nothing to do, so we can let him be the master."

Meng Changqing looked at Yang Zheng and asked incredulously: "Master, are you very patient in teaching you?"

"Yes." Yang Zheng nodded. "No matter what the moves are, after he breaks them down, they are so simple and easy to understand."

"He also broke down the moves for you?" Meng Changqing was surprised. This was not the Xi Bei she knew. Over the years, no one could understand his moves and they had all been beaten by him. When he taught people martial arts, when had he ever given them a good look?

Yang Zheng had no idea what Meng Changqing was thinking, so he continued to nod, "Yes."

Meng Changqing coughed twice and said, "No, Master Xi's handwriting is too ugly."

"It's okay if my handwriting is ugly, right?" Yang Zheng said, "It's enough if I can write and recognize it."

"Since you want to teach, you have to teach well and not mislead the students." Meng Changqing said, "I will ask Bafang and Laicai tonight. If they are willing, let them take turns to teach."

The person who can be named by Lord Meng must be good. Yang Zheng immediately said, "Then I will go and check the children in various places."

After Yang Zheng left, Shitou, who had been rolling on the ground, stood up and ran to Meng Changqing, "Master Meng, you should be the referee. My sister only likes to beat me."

Meng Changqing held his head and said, "I won't play anymore, silly Shitou. Have fun now. You won't be happy for many days."

"What do you mean?" Luo Shitou didn't understand.

How could Meng Changqing be so kind as to explain to him? She was waiting to see a fool of herself.

It was very easy to count the number of children. Yang Zheng gave the exact number before the evening. Meng Changqing asked him to find tables, chairs and benches. If he couldn't find them, he would ask someone to make them.

Yang Zheng was very enthusiastic about this matter. He didn't even have time to eat dinner and went to the new village to find Bai Hongfeng.

Although there were some unused chairs and benches in the county government office, they were not enough. He heard that Bai Hongfeng was also good at carpentry, so he went there overnight.

I bought him tables, chairs and benches, and also shared with him the good news of the school opened in the county government, "Your son Manshan is about the same age, so it's a good opportunity for them to go to school together. No matter what they learn, as long as they can write and read, it's better than hanging around outside."

Bai Hongfeng said regretfully, "My family's Manshan is exactly fifteen this year, what a pity."

"What a pity! Lord Meng always calculates age based on actual years. According to his calculation method, you should subtract one year from your age. Your Manshan Mountain is just stuck at the top."

"Really?" Bai Hongfeng was surprised.

"That's right." Yang Zheng got back to the point, "When will the tables and chairs you asked for be ready?"

"I'll do it now and it will be done in two days at most."

At the same time, Meng Changqing was also talking to Wen about the school.

Laicai has always been with Wen. If you want to transfer Laicai to do something, you have to say hello to Wen.

"There are more children in the county. For the future, these children cannot follow the old path of their parents. Even if they are farming, they must be literate farmers." After hearing what Meng Changqing said, Wen nodded in agreement and said, "Anyway, I have nothing to do in the back court. If you can't find a teacher, I can go and teach for a few days. Although I haven't passed the imperial examination, I can still teach children to recognize words."

"Mother is willing to teach!" Meng Changqing was surprised.

Wen smiled and said, "As long as you allow me, I will be happy to teach."

"With your mother's talent and knowledge, it's more than enough to teach the children to read and write. I would be very happy if you are willing to help."

Meng Changqing originally wanted Bafang and Laicai to take turns teaching, but he didn't expect his mother to agree. In her eyes, there was naturally no one more suitable than Wen.

The school was still under preparation. On April 16th, Zuo Datou returned.

He brought back good news that the section of road that the camp was responsible for had been repaired.

"Captain Zhang asked you to check it out in the next two days."

Zuo Datou looked a lot thinner, and it must have been difficult for him in the camp, but the fact that he was able to get things done showed his ability.

Thanks to his supervision, Meng Changqing did not spend extra money building that road.

"I understand." Meng Changqing walked up to Zuo Datou and said, "Thank you for your hard work. I'll give you two days off to rest up. I'll also ask the kitchen to stew some meat for you to replenish your body."

Zuo Datou smiled shyly, "I'm fine, everyone in the camp is like this. By the way, what are you going to check? I have to report to Captain Zhang."

"Just tell him that I don't know when I'll go. Let him take care of his own business. The road is there. I can go and see it when I find time."

"Yes!"

Now that the official road in the camp has been repaired and the busiest time for spring planting has passed, Meng Changqing is thinking about continuing to repair the official road.

But the government office was extremely poor and she had no money to build roads.

Just like building official roads and government offices, the imperial court would allocate funds, but it was often not enough, and the local governments had to contribute part of the money. Meng Changqing did not even have this part.

She was worried because she started losing her hair at such a young age.

How come there is no rich person in her Beishan County? The richest person is Qi Renli. But seeing that he was working and even contributing money, Meng Changqing really couldn't bear to cheat him.

After all, she has already tricked people from the capital to Beishan County, so she should just behave like a decent person.

Apart from Qi Renli, there was only herself.

Thinking of the twenty kilograms of gold she brought with her, she really couldn't bear to part with it. That was her salary for ten years. After thinking carefully, was it necessary to build this road?

It really is.

If you want to get rich, you must first build roads. This is the experience summarized by many predecessors. The Emperor of Daliang also believed in this and stipulated that each county must have an official road. It was not enough to just build it, but it also had to be maintained regularly.

Meng Changqing was troubled for a long time and had to use the gold, which she considered as a loan to the Beishan County Government. When Beishan County had money, she would have to withdraw her own money no matter what.

After figuring it out, Meng Changqing went to find Wen.

She liked to give her valuables to Wen for safekeeping, and this had been her habit for many years.

(End of this chapter)