Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 13 Enrollment
  When Li Nan returned home, he learned from his wife that Li An wanted to study.

He neither supports nor opposes this.

After spending the night at home, he took Li An to the academy the next day.

The nearest academy to their village is in Zhuangzi, not far outside Yangzhou City.

This academy was established by three scholars. It is said to be an academy, but in fact it only teaches some enlightenment education.

The academy provides room and board, but students need to bring their own rice and pay part of the food and processing fees, which makes Li An feel like he was in elementary school in his previous life.

At that time, not only did I have to bring rice, but I also had to bring desks and stools.

Ms. Liu has not been idle these days. She feels that her son is going to study and it would be too shabby to wear clothes full of pudding, so she specially made two coats for him.

Although it is not a good material, it is still new clothes.

After Li An put it on, if his skin wasn't rough and a little dark, at first glance, he would have thought he was a kid from the city.

In this way, Li Nan carried dozens of kilograms of rice on his back, and Li An carried a change of clothes and bedding. The father and son left home under Mrs. Liu's reluctant eyes.

"A Niu, Xujiazhuang is not far from the pier. If you need anything, come to the pier to find me."

During the break, Li Nan warned his son while drinking water.

"Dad, I understand." Li An nodded.

"Every time I go home, I will go to the academy to see you. If there is anything missing, just tell me then and I will bring it to you..."

Li Nan talked a lot, and after almost resting, he started on the road again.

Xujiazhuang is located in the northern suburbs of Yangzhou, not far from Baobao Lake.

Speaking of Baobao Lake, not many people may know it, but when it comes to Slender West Lake, many people must have heard of it.

Baobao Lake is actually Slender West Lake. The name Slender West Lake only came into existence during the Qing Dynasty.

There are hundreds of households in Xujiazhuang, which is much larger than Lijiacun.

The academy is not far from Zhuangzi. It occupies a small area. There is a plaque with some peeling paint hanging on the door, which reads the four characters Qingfeng Academy.

The father and son came to the academy, explained their purpose to the boy guarding the gate, and were taken in.

The boy took them outside a house and knocked on the door.

"Come in." A slightly hoarse voice sounded.

The boy opened the door and walked in. He cupped his hands and said, "Master Zhou, someone sent a child to the academy to study."

The person called Master Zhou was a thin old man in his fifties.

Master Zhou looked at the father and son, waved his hand to let the boy go down, and then smiled and said: "Since you are sending your child to study, you should know the rules of our academy, right?"

"Master, my nephew is studying in the academy. He naturally knows the rules of the academy."

As he spoke, Li Nan put down the rice behind his back, took out a cloth bag from his arms, held it in both hands and handed it over, saying, "This is Xiao'er's Shuxiu."

In the apprenticeship ceremony set by Saint Kong, the disciples must send ten pieces of bacon as a bundle.

However, people open academies to support their families, so naturally they cannot just collect bacon.

Qingfeng Academy's tuition fee is two taels of silver per person per year, including food and accommodation fees.

Of course, everyone brings rice and food from home.

Master Zhou took the bag without even looking at it, put it directly on the table, looked at Li An and asked, "Have you ever been able to read before?"

"Return to Master, no." Li An said.

Master Zhou nodded slightly and said, "Then I can only start reading from the lower house. Have you bought all the pen, ink, paper, inkstone and books?"

"Master, we don't know what books we want to buy. We want to ask about them and go to the city to buy them after they are settled." Li Nan said. "At the beginning, you only need to buy "Hundred Family Surnames", "Thousand-Character Classic" and "The Analects of Confucius"," said Master Zhou.

When Li Nan heard this, he quickly made a note in his mind and said, "Thank you, Master. I will take him to buy it when it is settled."

"Ah."

Master Zhou nodded, asked Li An's name, and then called the boy to take the father and son down to settle them.

The boy first took them to the canteen and gave them rice. After registering, he took the two of them to the scholar's house.

The academy is a brick and wood structure with three rows of houses.

In the first row are the offices of the three wives and a colored room with miscellaneous items.

The second row is the school. The academy is divided into upper, middle and lower buildings, with a total of three schools.

The last row is the dormitory, with latrines and bathing areas on one side, and the cafeteria on the other side.

In order to provide sufficient light in the school, there are half-person-high windows on both sides. When the weather is good, the bamboo curtains are rolled up, and the light is very good.

When following the boy to the dormitory, Li An needed to pass by the school. Through the window, Li An saw the students inside shaking their heads and reading books with the master.

The boy led the father and son to the dormitory in the back row, pushed open the one on the left, and said, "This is the dormitory for the lower dormitory, because many students are from nearby villages, and there are not many accommodations."

When Li An walked into the dormitory, he saw that there were more than a dozen small beds the size of later single beds placed in the dormitory. Only seven or eight beds had bedding, and the rest were empty.

"The empty ones are all unoccupied. You can just choose one. I'll leave first." The waiter said.

"Sorry to trouble you, brother." Li An said with cupped hands.

After the boy left, Li An chose a bed in the corner, and the father and son started making the bed together.

After making the bed, Li Nan said: "Aniu, dad will take you to the city to buy books first. After buying, dad will send you back and then go to the dock to work."

Li An is studying and his eldest son is also very young, which makes Li Nan very stressed.

He wanted to settle his son quickly, so he went to work on the dock to earn money.

"Dad, I'll go to the pier with you later to find out the way." Li An said.

"Okay, go to the city and buy some books. Dad will take you there."

The father and son left the academy and came to Yangzhou City. They spent two taels of silver to buy all the books, pens, inks, paper and inkstones. They returned to the academy and put them away before heading to the dock.

I have to say that studying in ancient times was really expensive. Before I even started, I spent four taels of silver on tuition, books, pens, ink, paper and inkstones.

This is the cheapest pen, ink, paper and inkstone. I don’t dare to buy more of the two consumables, ink and paper, otherwise I will spend more.

……

The world calls Yang Guang a foolish king, but the construction of the Grand Canal is indeed a good thing that will last forever.

Before the Grand Canal, the South had always been inferior to the North. It was not until the emergence of the Grand Canal that the South slowly caught up with the North and finally surpassed it.

Later generations will say that Zhu Yuanzhang was the first to unify the world from south to north. To be honest, Lao Zhu could do this, and he owes a lot to Yang Guang.

It is undeniable that Zhu Yuanzhang is really powerful. After all, he conquered the world with one bowl at the beginning.

But he was able to unify the world from south to north. In fact, the existence of the Grand Canal allowed the south to develop greatly and gave it the foundation to unify the world.

If Lao Zhu were left before the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Lao Zhu would not be able to unify the world from south to north with his ability.

It’s a bit far-fetched, so let’s get back to the point.

The docks along the Grand Canal are very lively. As one of the important towns in the south of the Yangtze River, Yangzhou docks are naturally very lively.

Yangzhou Wharf is located three or four miles outside the eastern suburbs of the city. It is said to be a wharf, but in fact it is similar to a small town.

(End of this chapter)