mtlumby2d Chapter 302: Shen Xiao, a Rare Person 3
Chapter 302: Shen Xiao, a Rare Person 3
After catching two nets of fish, it was really late, and everyone was ready to go home for dinner, but Shen Zhiqiu offered to share the fish, but did not take any, saying that he would leave them all for them to eat.
Old Lady Hua, Li Jingshu, and the girls from the nine clans came to deliver jelly. Shen Zhiqiu also reminded them: "Make more jelly in the afternoon and send some to every household."
But just after the meal, the strong laborers and women of Tangjia Village came to the west side of the river with sickles, shovels, axes, saws and other tools, as if they had made an appointment in advance.
Shen Zhiqiu stared blankly at Tang Lizheng, who was smiling: "Uncle..., you guys..."
Tang Guangzheng raised the shovel in his hand and said, "Nephew, it's not autumn harvest yet, let's open up the wasteland for you.
Have you decided where to build your house? Let me tell you, look at the houses in our village, you can't build them on flat ground, you have to pile up the soil first, at least four steps high, and then build the house on a slope."
This is all based on their experience, otherwise the river water might really flood the house during the rainy season.
When Shen Zhiqiu had chosen a place to build a house, Tang Guangzheng waved his hand and
Woman mowing the grass to clear the wasteland.
Men dig soil to lay the foundation.
Every household in the rural area has a large population, and each household occupies a large area of land, so a lot of soil has to be dug to lay the foundation.
Shen Zhiqiu, Tang Guangzheng, Mr. Shen, Tang Jiugong and several experienced old men decided to dig a pond and put some fish fry in it to raise fish.
There is no other way around this. After all, the stone bridge has not been completed yet. It is not realistic to dig soil from the place where Tangjia Village in the east often digs soil and transport it here.
Moreover, Shen Zhiqiu's plan was to build houses with five northern rooms in a group, four groups in a row, and a total of five rows. He also wanted to build a high wall with rammed earth outside, leaving only two gates in the north and south.
Nowadays, the wild beasts rarely come down the mountain because there is no shortage of food in the mountains at this season. However, in the north, it snows and many animals hibernate. The wild beasts have less food, so they may have to target the animals living down the mountain.
Therefore, the wall must not only be built, but also be at least two meters high, plus a slope of earth to ensure that they cannot jump over.
In an era without mechanization, this was definitely a huge project, as it required both reclaiming land and building houses.
The problem of staff shortage is like a hoop around their necks, giving Shen Zhiqiu a headache.
Now with the help of people from Tangjia Village, the problem has been solved.
But a new problem arises: can you not provide food for others when they help you? Not to mention ancient times, even in rural areas in later generations, when someone is building a house and other villagers come to help, even if you don't pay them, you still have to provide them with food.
More than 2,000 people came to help at once, but the money they had was not enough to last them a month.
However, Shen Zhiqiu did not show it at all, because in his opinion, other problems could be solved by finding ways to solve them. If that didn't work, he could just use the money his family had saved, as well as the little silver saved by every household in the nine clans.
Now we can make jelly, and we will have dry food to go with the jelly. We also have a river next to us, and there are plenty of fish in the river. Even if there is not enough to eat, we are still thinking of other ways.
Building a house is a must, after all, safety in winter is the top priority.
However, digging a pond is not an easy job. After all, there were no excavators in those days. Not to mention excavators, even the shovels most people used were the old-fashioned ones.
Shen Zhiqiu found some men in Tangjia Village who were good at blacksmithing, and followed Shen Tietou to make shovels.
Although there were not many professionals, there were many farmers in ancient times who could make their own machetes and axes.
Tang Jiugong was next to Grandpa Shen, while Old Man Shen was squatting on the ground cutting grass. "You know what, the tools in your hometown are better than the ones we have here. Let's not talk about the sickle, this shovel looks better too."
Mr. Shen narrowed his eyes and smiled. He said, "What? The tools we have are almost the same as yours. They are all the same. These tools! They were all invented by our little Sanzi."
After saying this, he pointed to his head and said, "Our little Sanzi is a scholar, but he has won the first place in the exam three times in a row, so he is the little Sanyuan!"
Tang Jiugong's eyebrows moved. Others might only know that it was difficult to pass the examination for a scholar, and it was even harder to pass the examination for a junior top three. But as a person who had been through it and had passed the examination for a juren, he really knew the difficulty best among this group of people.
Thousands of years ago, dynasties changed and the imperial examination was held countless times. Among so many scholars, how many passed the examination and became scholars?
Xiucai, the most talented person, is the outstanding talent among scholars.
Passing the examination to become a scholar was not an easy task. One had to pass three examinations: one at the county level, one at the prefecture level, and finally one at the provincial governor of education.
Each prefecture and academy holds examinations twice every three years, and admits 45 students each time. The average number of admissions per year is about 30. If we break it down further, there are basically only five scholars in each county who can pass the examination to become a scholar.
This is equivalent to the top five scholars in the whole county. Which of these people is not a rare talent?
But "Little Sanyuan" is the first in the province, which is as rare as the stars.
Most of the scholars were just like everyone else. Not to mention passing the imperial examinations to become a top scholar, even if they passed the examination to become a student, they would happily treat the whole village to a banquet.
Although he himself was a juren, he was almost at the bottom of the list, so Tang Jiugong was full of envy: "Brother, I am so impressed that there is such an ambitious young man in the clan. I believe it must be one of the most powerful clans in my hometown."
Master Shen’s legs were numb from squatting, so he sat down on the ground and continued cutting while he was doing it.
He answered, "No, no, all the people of our tribe are here. There are only these people in one village, our entire tribe, and three other surnames. But since the day we fled the famine, we no longer talk about the entire tribe or other surnames. We are nine tribes, all one tribe."
Tang Jiugong was stunned: "This statement is strange, but it seems that you were close in your hometown."
Doctor Guo also interjected, "Dear, dear, my family is an outsider who came to Shenjia Village later, but we are like a clan together."
Although the old men were quite old, they worked very quickly. Even Tang Jiugong, who was a juren, looked very skilled at cutting grass and doing farm work.
It's a pity that Shen Youyou and his friends haven't come back from the stall yet, otherwise they would be surprised: "Isn't it said that scholars in ancient times didn't work in the fields? What's the matter with this old scholar?"
Even though they mowed the grass and chatted a lot, it didn't take long for the honest old men in Shenjia Village to get a clear picture of Tang Jiugong's background in his hometown.
But it was precisely because he knew everything that Tang Jiugong admired Shen Zhiqiu even more. He patted Old Man Shen on the shoulder and said, "Nephew, you really raised a good son. Not only is he smart, but he is also loyal and righteous."
The pride on Old Man Shen's face couldn't be concealed even if he wanted to. Mainly, he didn't want to hide it:
"My sons and daughters are all good. Although the eldest and the fourth son do not have a good mind for studying, they are honest and filial. They have supported their brothers in their studies for so many years without any complaints.
My daughter is also very considerate and attentive. Even my eldest son-in-law is honest and hardworking, and he is also a good carpenter."
In fact, Old Man Shen is not a talkative person. He really feels this way. Not to mention his own children, even the other younger generations of the Nine Clans are all good children in his eyes.
After hearing this, the old scholar Tang Jiugong, who had several children and grandchildren who were good at studying, was actually a little envious.