CHAPTER 408: CHAPTER 389: AGITATION TACTICS (1)

Prince Luling asked dazedly, "Why?"

"Because, Dad, you’ve accomplished nothing. You’re not old, not sick, all limbs intact, yet you rely on others to support you! In the village, a man your age should be the pillar of a family, but you’ve become just an idle stick. If you want others to respect you, you need to show some skills to impress them." Li Yuzhu said.

Prince Luling widened his eyes, "Skills?"

Li Yuzhu said, "Yes, even an emperor would be looked down upon without skills, slighted and ignored by ministers. A particularly useless emperor would be deposed by ministers, and the throne seized by other imperial family members."

Prince Luling glanced at his younger daughter, "This logic, your father here doesn’t understand?"

"Dad, you understand everything, yet you don’t act, making people think you understand nothing, just a waste." Li Yuzhu spoke bluntly.

Understanding everything but being too proud to act, or understanding nothing and just standing around, what’s the difference?

"Your dad here is not a waste!" Prince Luling puffed and glared.

Li Yuzhu snorted coldly, "Then show some skills to prove it, Dad. Mr. Song is just a scholar who has repeatedly failed the exams, nearly seventy years old, yet he’s teaching students. You, a former prince, can’t even compare to an old scholar from a poor village? Haven’t you read more books than him? Yet you’re no match for him. No, you’re afraid to even compete. If this spreads to the capital, aren’t you afraid of being laughed at till your teeth fall out? Ha, my cousin, the emperor, would feel even more justified in demoting you."

Prince Luling was provoked, "Who says I’m no match for the old scholar? I’m definitely better than him!"

"Indeed, I also believe you’re better than him, Dad! It’s said that among the students Mr. Song taught, several became scholars, and one even became a scholar-official. Dad, surely you’re better than Mr. Song, you could teach two scholar-officials, and produce a dozen scholars." Li Yuzhu cheered Prince Luling on.

With a mix of anger and encouragement, Prince Luling immediately gained confidence.

"Tomorrow morning, I’ll go to Qingshui River Village." Prince Luling said with confidence.

"Dad, I believe you’re the most amazing dad." Li Yuzhu hugged Prince Luling’s arm, showering him with praise.

Praising Prince Luling till he was floating with pride, "Of course, hehe, your dad here even dared to scold the Little Emperor."

Blowing past recklessness.

Not mentioning would be fine, but recalling the past made Li Yuzhu angry.

Of all people to offend, why offend the Little Emperor?

Look, the whole family suffering hard here.

.

When Li Xing’an went to the Liu family, they had just finished lunch and were sitting at Liu Er’s house chatting about daily matters.

Upon hearing that the Li family was opening a school, the Liu family was supportive.

Liu the bricklayer immediately said, "Mr. Li’s writing is even better than Mr. Song’s, his knowledge must also be superior, he couldn’t be more suitable as a teacher."

Liu Er also said, "Perfect, my two brats at home can go to school now. We sent them to Mr. Song’s for a while, but it was too far, the two kids barely went for a year before quitting. Now the school is near our village, it’s close, and they can attend classes every day."

Liu Laoda laughed, "My grandson will also go in the future."

Liu Er laughed, "Brother, your grandson is still in Da Niu’s belly, he won’t be born until next spring."

Liu Laoda laughed, "Can’t I reserve a spot?"

"Sure, sure, reserve for your great-grandson too." Liu Er laughed heartily.

The two brothers laughed together.

Liu the bricklayer asked, "Li Sanlang, what material are you using for the house?"

When the Li family first came here, they were so poor they lived in caves, not a single coin to their name.

They cut bamboo from the mountain, mixed it with mud to build bamboo mud wall houses.

Now the Li family is much better than before, even the county magistrate, a distant relative, came to recognize the connection, Li’s third girl knows medicine, earned quite a bit from consultations, and married the wealthy Miss Chai.

Not to mention building a brick schoolhouse, they could even afford to build an entirely brick mansion.

Li Xing’an said, "Let’s build a brick house, it’s sturdy and durable." He’d run to the county town a few times, made some extra money working with the county magistrate, spent some on the decoration of a shop in the county town, and now had about ten taels of silver left, which was enough to build a brick house without using the family’s savings.

Several siblings made money together, and the family had already saved around a hundred taels.

In a little while, they could repay the 300 taels of silver owed to Mu Yuanxiu.

So, if they could avoid using the family’s money, they would.

Liu the bricklayer said, "If there’s ready-made bricks, building a brick house wouldn’t take long, it could be done in five days. The only worry is there’s no ready bricks, so we’d need to check with the brick kiln."

Villagers were all poor, only the very wealthy would build brick houses, most had wooden huts or bamboo houses, and more had yellow mud wall houses.

A brick cost a coin, plus labor and other material costs, building a three-room house cost at least over ten taels.

Thus, the brick kiln wouldn’t stockpile too many bricks.

Liu Laoda volunteered to inquire.

Liu Er said he has some trees cut down last year, which could be used for beams.

After inquiring the results, Li Xing’an returned home and told his parents about the situation.

It only takes a few days to build a house, and Prince Luling can rest assured. Once the house is built, he won’t have to make the hard trip to Qingshui River Village.

.

Now speaking of Li Xingmao and Mu Yuanxiu, they dug small trenches with shovels on the vacant land on the left side of the residence, outlining the size of the school.

With about thirty students, an area three zhang square is enough.

However, when Li Yuzhu went to see how they outlined the land, she suggested expanding it a bit more.

Currently there are only about thirty students, but there might be more students in the future?

If they have to tear down the courtyard wall and expand the land again, it will be time-consuming and laborious.

The house doesn’t need to be built large at first, but the land can be prepared more as a place for the children to play.

In modern times, the standard playground had a badminton court, a basketball court, a football field, and a 400-meter standard track.

Schools with good conditions can accommodate thousands of students exercising at the same time.

At this time, teachers only focus on teaching words and promote the notion that all things are inferior, only reading is high. However, she hopes her father at home will teach children some martial arts knowledge.

Failing to achieve fame, having a strong body to return home to farm or hunt can also be a way to make a living.

Li Xingmao agrees very much with Li Yuzhu’s suggestion, saying, "Third Sister is right, children shouldn’t only study literature, they can also learn martial arts, like archery and wrestling."

Li Yuzhu laughed, "Then an area three zhang square won’t be enough, expand it three times larger."

It’s just leveling weeds and trees to make a playground, not building a house; this matter isn’t difficult.

Mu Yuanxiu also agreed with their suggestion and started extending the trench outward with the shovel.

.

In the evening, Second Young Master Li Xingsheng and the others came back, everyone told them about Prince Luling’s plan to open a school.

Li Xingsheng looked at his father with wide eyes, as if seeing something curious, "Dad, can you manage that?"

Prince Luling, being coaxed by Li Yuzhu, was full of confidence, immediately puffed his beard and glared at him, "What? You look down on your father? Back in the day, I even became..., uh-huh, your cousin’s honored teacher."

The cousin of the Li Family brothers is the current Little Emperor.

After the late Emperor passed away, Prince Luling indeed served as the Little Emperor’s honored teacher, although he taught the imperial family etiquette and temple school subjects like Emperor Skill.

When their cousin was mentioned, Li Xing’an curled his lips in disdain.

The Great Princess then asked, "Where will the students take lessons? How many students are coming? Is there enough space in our place for them to sit?"

She worried about her room being occupied.

Li Xingmao said, "Two more rooms will be added next to the residence, Big Sister, you don’t have to worry about these things."

"Oh, that’s good," the Great Princess sighed in relief, "It’s good for Dad to have something to do, I support it." No need to idle and gain weight.

The Second Princess always seemed indifferent, "That’s fine."

The whole family agreed, the children even started giving their father ideas, telling him how to manage the students.

Prince Luling snorted coldly, "What’s the point of your meddling? Just take care of your own matters."

Does he need his children teaching him how to do things? He’s not useless!

.

The next day was a rainy day, the weather was chilly early in the morning.

The light rain pattered continuously, and Second Young Master Li Xingsheng routinely took the Second Princess and the Great Princess, riding Li Xing’an’s large black horse carriage to the market.

The children being so diligent, Princess Consort Luling urged Prince Luling, "Work well, don’t let the children laugh at you."

Prince Luling wore the square scholar hat most favored by literati, raised his chin and said, "Don’t worry, how could I let my children laugh at me?"

Princess Consort Luling laughed and said, "Yes, Husband is the most capable, Husband is the dignified head of the family, the model for the children."

Is this praise or mockery?

Why does it sound so peculiar?

Prince Luling glanced at his own wife, gathered his sleeves and walked forward to find a carriage.

It’s raining, wonder how many kids will go to the school.